Rotator cuff injuries, including tears, impingement or tendonitis, are very common, especially among active individuals.  Whether you have a tear or simply tendonitis, the focus should be on keeping all of your range of movement and boosting your rotator cuff strength.  While some people choose to self-treat with stretching and strengthening, this can be hit or miss and really cannot take the place of a hands-on examination and physical therapy.  Either way, understanding how your shoulder works will help you take care of it in the future...be sure to read our great article on shoulder mechanics and the rotator cuff for a nice background on the basics of understanding your shoulder.

Lower Back Pain (LBP) is one of the few ‘sure’ things in life.  Well, it’s almost a sure thing…there’s about an 80% chance you will have an episode of LBP at some point in your life.  And, once you’ve had an episode, you are much more likely to have one or more repeat episodes.  We’ve known this for 20+ years now, yet the statistics have not changed…so why can’t we do anything about it?

In a word, YES.  But like most things in life, flexibility is a relative term and its importance really depends upon what activities you are performing.  Different activities have very different demands and our bodies respond to our training by improving in the areas that we stress them.  This is called specific adaptation to imposed demands and is really why when we lift weights we get stronger, when we run we get in better cardiovascular and aerobic condition, etc.  Our bodies respond by getting bigger, looser, stronger and more efficient.  Likewise, when we stop training our bodies respond by getting smaller, tighter, weaker and terribly inefficient!

Remember when you were a kid and you heard that old song…”The knee bone’s connected to the leg bone…the leg bone’s connected to the hip bone…”?  Well, guess what?  It’s true!  The body really is a series of bones that are connected and inter-dependent.  That means that the movement of one bone or joint often depends upon the movement or position of another.

Being injured is NOT fun!  Your immediate concerns are usually, “How can I get the pain to go away?” or “When will I be able to get back to normal?”  These are great questions and we address them in separate articles.  But you also need to be thinking more actively (and proactively) about what you can do to help the process along as quickly as possible.

Does a day of yard work, a tennis game or a quick house project leave your shoulder aching for days?  Shoulder pain can range from a constant, dull ache to a sudden sharp pain with movement.  Whatever symptoms you are experiencing and no-matter how short-lived they are, they are a warning sign and you should pay attention to them.

The ‘shoulder’ is actually made up of four joints.  The shoulder joint itself is made up from the ‘ball’ of the upper arm (humerus) fitting into the shallow ‘socket’ of the shoulder blade (scapula).  The shallow socket is more properly known as the glenoid fossa and this joint is called the gleno-humeral joint.

Breathing.  We all do it but rarely think about it.  Breathing, or known by its more medical term, respiration, happens automatically as the diaphragm (muscle across the bottom of the rib cage) contracts and expands the lungs downward.  This is like stretching a rubber band and it creates a negative pressure (vacuum) within the lungs, causing outside air to rush in and fill the spaces called alveoli (small air sacs).  This is the first part of respiration, called inspiration or inhalation, and it occurs actively through muscle contraction.  The alveoli are covered with tiny little blood vessels called capillaries and this is where the ‘exchange’ takes place. 

It's a safe bet we've all had them and probably know many others who have them as well. So, what are they...Trigger Points!!  Small but powerful, they can cause severe pain and debilitation.  Trigger Points can cause people to miss days at work, be unable to compete and, left untreated, can cause problems in the surrounding tissue and spread to other areas.  Described as small areas of tightness, spasm, a thick knot in the muscle or even scar tissue, they typically start in muscle or tissue that is tight, weak or overloaded.  They can eventually become painful or even refer pain to other areas.  Are we destined to be at their mercy?

With Pilates programs increasing in popularity over the past ten years, Pilates and core stability have become common terms in exercise.  Many people pursue the dream of the “6-pack abs”, or a flat stomach, by doing sit-ups, crunches, and working out on a variety of abdominal machines. Although having a toned abdomen looks good, and a “gut” can put a strain on your low back, traditional abdominal exercises do not provide core stability. These exercises, along with hip strengthening, increase superficial muscle strength or what’s called core strength.  However, these muscles do not necessarily provide the stability that the spine needs to function.