|
Focusing on muscles of the hips and abdominals in addition to diaphragmatic breathing, can assist in pelvic biomechanical dysfunctions. Pelvic issues such as incontinence, prolapse, constipation, tension and urgency can be helped by focusing on the positioning of the pelvis as it relates to the ribcage. This alignment is considered “The Stack”. In this ideal position of the ribcage being aligned with the pelvis, the thoracic (respiratory) and pelvic diaphragm have a better chance of working in synchrony. They are designed to work as a piston in the body, to pressurize air, move content and support the pelvis floor. This alignment and movement of the ribcage with the pelvis dictates the movement and the 2 diaphragms and their ability to do their jobs.
Before I touch base on the mechanics of breathing, I want to describe the pelvic diaphragm/floor: It is a wide and thin muscular layer of tissue that forms the inferior border of the abdominal cavity. This tissue is composed of pelvic muscles and fascia. It acts as a “sling” to support the bladder, bowel, and uterus, while also acting as a continence controller. It works best when the pelvis and ribcage are in alignment and the breathing is efficient. I want to bring attention to the actions of the 2 diaphragms during the respiration cycle. When we actively EXHALE, the intercostals rotate down and inward causing compression on the ribs as the diaphragm “domes," which pushes air out of the lungs and creates room for the content that lies beneath it in the abdominal cavity. The pelvic diaphragm follows as the pelvic inlet internally rotates and the outlet opens causing the floor to “tense" and sling content up. INHALATION is considered a passive part of the respiratory cycle. As we inhale, the energy stored within the “dome” shaped thoracic diaphragm pulls on the ribs, which opens up space to allow air to enter our lungs. The pelvic inlet will then externally rotate to make room for the content to drop into the pelvic cavity as the ischial tubes approximate and the pelvic floor descends to “catch” content. We want the pelvic floor and the thoracic diaphragm to be springy so it can do its job. Many dysfunctions of the pelvic floor can be attributed to improper position of the pelvis and its relationship to the tissues that surround it. In summary, the importance of the alignment of the ribcage to pelvis, also known as “the Stack” allows for the best utilization of the “outside” musculature and allows our respiratory system to be efficient and the tissues of the pelvic floor to be in the most optimal position to do its job. We can all start from attaining a more efficient alignment and improved breathwork in dealing with biomechanical pelvic floor dysfunctions.
0 Comments
Prevention of disease processes as well as regaining mobility is key to the Strive Therapy Model of Physical Therapy and Fitness. This month we are deep diving into all things heart health and how to support the body. During the month of February, we are paying special attention to detail on how to look at our heart during exercise and what can be done on a daily basis to improve your overall fitness while conditioning your heart.
There are a few factors that will play a role in heart health that we would be remiss not to review. Keep your weight at an ideal number to keep undue stress to the cardiovascular system. Focusing on proper nutrition is important to ensure the absorption of minerals necessary for the electrical component of the heart rhythm. Those that do not stay hydrated and eat a diet high in sugar and fats are placing more demands on the heart, as it will need to work twice as hard to pump the blood to vital organs. Lastly, Individuals who find a difficult time controlling their stress levels will also place extra work on the heart and the nervous system. Moving forward on your heart health journey, it is also critical that you understand numbers and what they mean when we are discussing heart beat per minute, and how it relates to exercise. Below will give you the basics for getting started: We should all know what our numbers!
Example: 50 year old Max heart is 220-50 (age)= 170 BPM Target heart @ 60-75% ( moderate intensity) of Maximum heart rate If that person wants to exercise Moderate intensity, 60-75% effort. Their target heart rate would want to range between ( 170 x .60) (170 x.75) 102 bpm- 127.5bpm If you are looking to start or revamp your heart health and put more purpose to your daily habits, Strive Therapy Systems can help you. Here at Strive, our Therapy model works to educate people with proper posture, breathing technique and corrective movement patterns to stay pain free and moving. We offer various therapeutic classes with emphasis in strength and cardio for a healthy system. Learning to feel good in your body is important to your physical health. For most people, that entails feeling the need to stretch daily to achieve this feeling of unwanted tension. As an educator in the practice of Physical Therapy with an emphasis on corrective movement, optimal posture and positional breathing, I have covered the topic of stretching in my last Strive to Learn Session. We discussed taking another approach with movements that will be more effective and long lasting over time instead of some of the common poses and stretches that I see in the gym, on youtube and elsewhere. We need to be more mindful and apply purpose to what we are doing. In the case of finding comfort, I talked about looking at the position of the structures that we are stretching and paying attention to the body as a “whole” system. Most individuals experience the feeling of tightness and don’t feel comfortable in their body because the skeletal structures are at an imbalance. These imbalances are partly due to patterns that have been acquired throughout your life, secondary to innate internal asymmetries and environmental right sided dominance. Through my study of the body and a deep dive into Postural Restoration, I have discovered tightness or the feeling of tightness in a joint doesn’t require stretching but rather the structure requires a better position. Through the process of positioning and breathing into those spaces, we can use pressure management to safely unwind and sense security on our joints. The long term effect is long lasting and most of all, provides a safer move to the body without causing harm or further biomechanical issues.
Our brain is the most important tool we can focus on to make changes in our daily lives. Today, our Strive to Learn focused on mindset and meditation. We looked at talking points that included the importance of a positive mindset, techniques we can utilize to become more cognizant of our thoughts, along with the benefits that exercise has on our mindset.
Keeping a positive mindset has many health benefits. When keeping negativity from our daily habits and thoughts, we are increasing the chances of longevity with less anxiety and stress. A happy brain helps keep the stress hormone “cortisol” under control and allows our brain to release serotonin. If our body always feels under threat, it will produce cortisol, which in turn can affect blood pressure, increase anxiety, increase risk for illness. All of which can cause us to head into a spiral. There are mindful exercises that you can incorporate into your daily routine that allows the brain to become “grounded” while focusing on our surroundings and utilizing the 5 senses. This is called the 5-4-3-2-1-method, this is just one of many that we practiced in our Strive to Learn Class. Breathing is always at the forefront of Strive’s framework of healing and rehabilitation, and today we learned techniques we can incorporate into our everyday lives. We looked closely into the 4x4 square breathing for regulating our nervous system and bringing our minds into a calm state. Our session progressed with learning movement patterns that incorporate contralateral moves and rolling on the ground, in order to connect the mind and body, while crossing midline. Movement should be a positive and nourishing experience for your brain and body. It should not be thought of as a form of punishment or restriction. Now, this doesn’t mean exercise will be easy and not challenging, as the human body thrives on challenge. We should walk away feeling empowered and confident as a result of our exercise. We finished our session with a mini circuit of movement to be inspired to move daily. 1. X15 air squats with low reach 2. X10 push ups 3. X5 each side floor to stance get ups ( working on not using our hands) Give it a try!! If you would like to learn more about the concepts of meditation, rolling and/or breathing techniques, reach out to Strive Therapy Systems Part 1: Why you should invest in your health with a Physical Therapist. Valuing the expertise and schooling involved in the profession of Physical Therapy.
Rethinking Movement : How do you move daily? Is it causing you pain? Will it cause you pain in the future? How to change your habits to improve your health. This is where a Physical Therapist, skilled in human movement, can be beneficial to you. Physical Therapists help heal, rehabilitate and have the knowledge to educate you with prevention. “Form Follows Function”; this is an old statement that has stuck with me since P.T. school and seems to be a statement I teach and rehabilitate by: When you do an activity over and over again, your body adapts to that activity. Likewise, when you do no activity, your body also adapts. For example if you sit all day, your back will become rounded, shoulders hunched and your head will start to pull forward. Your musculoskeletal system will start to form into this position and certain muscles will become overactive and tight, throwing off the symmetry and flow of your body. Having a Physical Therapist as part of your individual health routine is a must! People should have a Physical Therapist in their lives as they have Dentists and Doctors. I am on several missions in my life, professionally and personally; but I want to share with you now one of my Professional missions. That the Physical Therapy Profession and all those great Physical Therapists are valued for our knowledge, skill set and the ability to formulate a plan of care that transforms people’s lives while moving them forward with longevity. With the changes in Health Care and with the Profession’s structure changing to DIRECT access , we have more autonomy to help all people who want our expertise without being controlled by Insurance companies!!! I want to give you a brief outline the education and process behind becoming a Physical Therapist;
Outline of how an assessment by a Physical Therapist on a annual/ bi-annual basis can benefit you with your health.
Contact me today to get started! When experiencing back pain, it is important to stay moving, and regular exercise can actually help to reduce the risk of recurrent injuries. One thing to note though is that the same exercise program does not work for everyone, but under the guidance of a physical therapist, they can help you determine an exercise program that will work for you. A physical therapist can also help to modify exercises in order to prevent compensations that can actually make the problem works. To help give you a place to start, here is a list of the top 5 recommended exercises at STRIVE Therapy Systems for clients experiencing back pain:
#1) The best and most noted advice I give to my patient's is MOVEMENT. Make sure you move your body within a pain free range to keep blood flow moving, muscles working, and to break the pain cycle. Bed rest is NOT the best medicine. #2) Pelvic Movement: finding your "safe or neutral" pelvic position is the first exercise to be performed to keep your spine in a protected position. In standings or on your back, roll your pelvic forward and backward in a gentle fashion to allow your lumbar muscles and abdominal muscle to stay activated; your neutral position is the place you note the least amount of stress. #3) Dead Bugs: The best anterior core activation exercise to engage the abdomen and turn off the over active back muscles that are causing you pain. #4) Bird Dogs: A basic form of this exercise is best to involve the neuro-dynamic aspect of resetting the "CORE" and initiates lumbar stabilization of the low back. #5) Hip Lifts: I find activating the hip stabilizers "gluteus medius" to be very helpful to my patients in pain. The hip stabilizers help in unloading the stress on the lumbar spine and providing the initial stages of gaining the strength needed for functional movements. ( stairs, sit to stands, stairs) Remember mechanics is key and if your pain continues or progressively gets worse, speak to a physical therapist or healthcare for recommendations. Last week we discussed ways to prevent low back pain from occurring but what happens when you are already having pain. As a physical therapist I think there are some misconceptions people have about how to deal with their back pain. [...]
A low back pain patient walks into a physical therapy clinic. It may sound like the start of a riddle however, there is no funny punch line. Ask a physical therapist about low back pain and most will answer that it can be complex and that not all back pain presents the same. With 30 bones that make up the spine and more than 20 muscles that have attachments to it, it is no wonder the back is prone to injury. There are a variety of things that can go wrong. Some of the common culprits muscle strain, disc related injuries, hypo and hyper mobility as well as sacroiliac joint dysfunctions. So how can we prevent these injuries from happening? Before we can answer that question I think it is important to get an understanding of the anatomy so you are better able to understand the source of your pain. [...]
|
RSS Feed