Your exercises

Your physiotherapy & osteopathy exercises

Exercises and movements.

Normal movements are taught such as bending and rotating your lower back, these movements are sometimes avoided during daily activity due to pain or fear avoidance. The movements we teach are about reminding your body of its capabilities. As well as calling them normal movements we also call them enjoyable movements; playful movements and challenging movements. Don't worry about the reps and frequency so much, just move.

Exercise vs movement. "You need to exercise more", said almost every physiotherapist, osteopath, doctor and personal trainer etc. What if that is correct, many of us could do with more cardiovascular exercise, something that gets us a bit sweaty and slightly out of breath, it does not need to be a marathon, ironman or triathlon. These events are good for many reasons; the ego being one of them;-). Exercise has many health benefits including emotional and psychological. All we need to do is put our training gear on and get out there, easier said than done, given our busy lifestyles.

What if, movement was pushed just as much as exercise? And every physiotherapist, osteopath, doctor and personal trainer told you to move more. Movement is everything in our lives, if nothing moves then nothing changes. Your movement is of high importance, it is something to be proud of and something to continuously work on, not just for now but for the rest of your life. Many physiotherapists and osteopaths are trained in all things to do with movement and they will teach you to move and not only offer exercises. Yoga and Pilates teachers are also great at getting you to move in ways you may have long since forgotten.

We have a fully equipped boutique studio space in Kew, Richmond to explore your movements to improve your strength. Physiotherapy, osteopathy and yoga all have a common goal and that is movement, book online today for your movement to begin. Movement is a sign of your cababilities as well as a sign of your robustness. Your brain may have forgotten some movements or may have been over-protective for a long time. It's time to rediscover some forgotten movements. Your movement is your strength.

Have a look at some of our movements and exercises from the list below. Please be careful and seek advice from us if you decide to do any of these exercises especially if you are unsure or in pain as we can not take responsibility.

Movements and exercises

• Abdominal workout with a BOSU

  The exercise

  The abdominals play an essential part to our everyday life; we need them to control our trunk movement, to help us cough, to maintain pressure on our abdominal contents, they even play a part in our shoulder health. They are not the easiest muscle group to exercise, check this exercise it is great for a specific abdominal workout. It's particularly good because it doesn't put strain on the neck.

  How to do it

  Lie on your back with a your head rested on a BOSU. Alternate your knees towards chest. Breathe and keep the lower ribs zipped in. Repeat 20 times.

• All Four's strength exercise with a BOSU

  The exercise

  We all need to be stronger and continually find ways, especially fun and interesting ways to be strong. We do not realise that most of our muscle issues are a direct consequence of a lack of strength. The human body needs continuous working on, leave it to its own accord for a week, month or a year and things start to go side ways. Movement and strength are two important life long commitments. You do not need to be an extortionist or a body builder but you do need to put time and effort in to your body to keep it moving well and to keep feeling strong.

  This is a great abdominal, quads and arms strength exercise. You will need a BOSU, found in most gyms and we have one in our clinic Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy.

  How to do it

  Get on all four's and place your hands on a BOSU.
  Lift your knees a few inches off the ground, hold for 8 seconds and repeat 20 times.

• Arm fling

  The exercise

  It is just a quick movement that will get your shoulder, ribs and upper back moving. It is very easy and quick to do. For anyone spending time working at a computer will benefit from doing this a few seconds here and there throughout the day.

  How to do it

  Stand with one foot forward, holding a toning ball on the same side as the forward foot. Fling your arm in front of your body and behind your body. Start slowly and speed up as you feel more comfortable. Swap sides.

• Back side bends

  The exercise

  Bend your back to the side. It will increase the energy supply to those hard working muscles in your lumbar spine.

  How to do it

  Stand with feet wide apart. Connect your toes to the ground and bend to the side. Bring one arm up and across and the other behind and across. Repeat on the other side. It’s just to move and energise your back muscles. It should feel nice. If it doesn’t seek advice and treatment.

• Big toe & plantar fascia strengthening

  The exercise

  This exercise is great for overloading the plantar fascia and getting your big toe to do most of the work. We have seen patients do this exercise and still manage to avoid actually using the big toe. So make sure that your big toe is bent and there is a bit of pressure going through it from your body weight. It should not be painful, if it is speak to one of us here.

  How to do it

  Place one foot behind you, lift your heel off the ground. Be sure to apply pressure down through the big toe even at this point. Remember the brain is lazy and will avoid using the big toe. Slowly lower your heel down whilst continuing to apply pressure through your big toe. Repeat 8 or 9 times.

• Big toe and plantar fascia strength exercise with a BOSU

  The exercise

  This exercise is great for strengthening the big toe and plantar fascia. It is highly recommended for anyone with hip, knee, foot or ankle pain. And of course anyone with plantar fasciitis. Please consult us or your physiotherapist or osteopath before doing it.

  How to do it

  All you need is a BOSU. Stand in front of the BOSU and drop your knees on it. Then push through your toes and feet to get back up. Repeat a few times.

  Any weakness will encourage compensation from your upper body to help you get back up.

• Big toe crouch

  The exercise

  This is to help get more movement through the big toe. The big toe is big for a reason, it does the bulk of the work. In order for it to be efficient, it needs frequent movement and it needs to be strong. This is one way of encouraging those two things.

  How to do it

  Crouch down with your heels off the floor. Shift your weight so that your weight is on top of one foot underneath your body. Lower the knee of the foot that is under your body towards the floor, allowing the toes to bend.

• Big toe movements

  The movement

  Here at Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy we make sure that all your exercises and movements include your big toe. It may sound strange but your big toe is really important in everything you do such as standing; walking, and running. Your big toes need to bend upwards and downwards and they also need to be strong, your big toes are big for a reason, they do most of the work or at least they should do.

  How to do it

  Here is a really easy movement that will keep all of your toes moving and also help strengthen the plantar fascia and calf muscles.
  Simply stand with your feet together and lift all of your toes upwards and back down again. Repeat about 30 times.

• Big toe scrunch

  The movement

  Bending your big toe (flexing) is really good for the health of the big toe joint, maintaining movement and strength. At Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy we know that the big toe is important for many things such as sstanding, walking, running, your calf muscles, your knee and hip joints etc. We also know that for some reason or other, the big toe can become neglected over time. The exact reason for this is unknown but the theory is, the brain protects it too much and therefore you/we tend to forget about it. Another possible reason is that the brain is lazy so, if it can get away with it, it will avoid using certain parts of the body, the big toe being one of them. Awareness is the biggest benefit of doing this movement. Remind your brain to move your big toe. Your movement is your strength!

  How to do it

  Bend all of your toes whilst standing or sitting and apply a bit of pressure. This should not be painful, if it is reduce the amount of pressure or stop and seek advice from your physiotherapist or osteopath.

• Big toe strengthening

  The exercise

  At Get strong physiotherapy & osteopathy we are forever talking about the big toe because we recognise the importance of it. The big toe is big for a reason, it does a lot of work. It has more muscles attached to it than any other toe because it needs to be strong.

  The big toe is closely linked to your plantar fascia and calf muscles, without your toe doing what it is supposed to do the plantar fascia and calf muscles end up working twice as hard. Your big toes need to pull their weight!

  This exercise is a really good way to keep your big toes moving and to keep the plantar fascia strong.
  Runners especially need strong plantar fascia.

  How to do it

  Simply crouch down and lower one knee to the ground and then the other and eventually both knees without falling. Repeat the movement, one knee, then the other and both knees to the floor. Control the movement with your big toes and feet.

• Bridge with a BOSU

  The exercise

  Not everyone has a BOSU at home but they are found in most gyms and we have one here in our clinic in Kew.

  It's a great way to improve lower back; glute, and hamstring strength. We believe the body needs strengthening throughout the week, the key is to find a way to do it that you enjoy. Physiotherapy and osteopathy exercises can be fun, challenging and functional.

  How to do it

  Bridge with a BOSU exercise: Lie on your back as with a normal bridge, place your feet on the BOSU and lift your bottom up, hold and lower down. Keep the BOSU still!

  Repetition of 20. It should take no more than 5 minutes.

• Calf raises leaning backwards

  The exercise

  The calf muscles receive forces from different angles so they need to be stretched and strengthened using different angles. This exercise will strengthen different fibres of the muscles just as when standing, walking and running, different fibres are used.

  How to do it

  Stand leaning backwards at your lower back and go up and down on your tip toes. Repeat 10 - 20 times. Make sure to go up and down through your big toes. You should not feel any pain, if you do stop and speak to us. It will be a bit og a workout for your lower back muscles too, expect them to ache slightly but they should not be painful.

• Calf strength exercises. Tibialis posterior

  The exercise

  Here are some exercises we give patients at Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy to strengthen the tibialis posterior muscle in the calf.
  Tibialis posterior strengthening exercises are a great way to improve the function of the medial arch of your foot! Great for runners.

  How to do it

  The first exercise is easier with a partner holing the band at 45 degrees from your foot and maintaining tension throughout the exercise. Turn your foot outward but keep your toes, especially the big toe in contact with the floor at all times! You want to feel the muscles in the inner arch of the foot working. Brace your knee to stop it dropping inwards.

  The second exercise is similar with a your foot on a towel, knee bent at 90 degrees, slide to turn your foot inwards keeping your big toe firmly planted on the floor at all times! You want to see the inner (medial) arch if the foot raise. If you feel the muscles cramping in the inner arch of the foot area or calf, you're working the right muscles! Relax for a short period then continue.

• Calf strengthening exercise for runners

  The exercise

  At Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy we see a lot of runners in the area of Kew and Richmonds and with running comes a myriad of injuries and weak muscles. This exercise is a great way for strengthening the calf muscle. It’s also an endurance type exercise which again is great for runners. Calf muscles are your power houses for running they should be strong enough to be doing 60% of the workload. If in doubt strengthen your calf muscles!

  How to do it

  Your aim is to get to 100 steps, start with 20 and build up. Go up on to your tiptoes and bend your ankles upwards, don’t allow your heels to hit the ground and bend your ankle up as much as possible. You are moving forward with your ankles and not your hips. It's harder than it looks.

• Face Pulls shoulder exercise

  We see a lot of shoulder issues most are due to being desk bound and not having enough time to exercise due to work and family commitments. Being based in Kew people tend to be quite active, osteopathy exercises and rehab are a really important part of our philosophy. We're happy to teach you the exercises and practise them with you. Face Pulls are a brilliant exercise to both help maintain shoulder health as well as for the later stages of rehabbing rotator cuff injuries.

  You want to feel contraction of the muscles between the lower part of your shoulder blades, while remembering to keep your shoulders away from your eyes!

  They work to strengthen the muscles between the shoulder blades that often get neglected such as the lower fibers of the trapezius. It also helps to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles.
  If you have shoulder pain and would like hands-on treatment with a mini exercise programme to get you moving and feeling stronger then give us a shout.

• Hip opener and glute stretch

  The exercise

  This is great for stretching the glutes and opening the hip on the opposite side. Used in Pilates and yoga classes. On one side the hip gets opened up a lot, this is great for cyclists or deskworkers and on the other side the gluteus and piriformis muscles are stretched. This exercise should feel nice and not painful in any way, if it is back off or stop.

  How to do it

  Roll forwards and walk your hands into a plank, push into a downward dog. Bring your right knee forward towards your right wrist. Lower your body down to feel the stretch in your buttock on the right and open the hip on the left. Push back to a downward dog and stand up by walking your hands to your feet. Repeat on the left.

• Jump and turn exercise

  The exercise

  This is a fun and dynamic exercise to work the muscles in the feet and calves. It's great for runners! This exercise is often prescribed towards mid to end-stage rehab for knee or ankle injury.

  There are over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments in each foot, that’s a huge amount of sensory information going on just in our feet! These muscles are highly specialised and can be seen as the ignition to firing up the calf muscles. As we already know the calf muscles can feel tight and sore sometimes, especially after running. Foam rolling and having them massaged is very therapeutic and often needed, however, there should be some room for strengthening them. This exercise is great for doing that, there is a jump part, a turning part and a landing part. Each part of the exercise will challenge all of those muscles to either power up to push off, relax in order to absorb shock, and negotiate turning in order to maintain balance and reduce risk of injury.

  The muscles in the feet and calves are sometimes ‘bursting’ with tension, just waiting to spring forwards in a happy and healthy way and then have the ability to use and dissipate the forces that have been generated. What we are saying is that tension is good and this is just one little way of exercising that tension.

  How to do it

  Standing, leap forwards, turn to face the opposite direction and end by landing on the same leg you leaped forwards with. Try to land softly and have a bit of spring to the leaping and landing.

• Knee strength exercise

  The exercise

  When you have increased your running mileage but have not increased your strength input, knees can sometimes feel a bit sore. This is a great exercise to put a bit of strength into them and it also feels great on the shoulders and upper back. Have you got something to hold on to to try it?

  How to do it

  Bend forwards and hold on to something sturdy, settle down into a squat, lift one foot off the ground bearing full weight on the other leg. Reach sideways with the lifted leg, feel more weight go through the stance leg as well as a nice stretch in the shoulders and thoracic. Repeat on the other side.

• Lower back bend forwards/rolls

  The movement

  Bending forwards is a really important movement for spinal health. As we go through our daily routines; we stand, we sit, we walk, we repeat. Through all of these activities, if your back is any of these things; stiff, weak, tight or in pain, the deep lower back muscles will be working super hard. They will be over worked and under paid. What they need is feeding with oxygen and nutrients, this is their salary. How to feed them is simple, you have to do movements outside of your daily routine. Pain reduces the endurance energy of the lower back muscles, so when your rest the pain reduces or goes away but when you do something such as stand, sit or walk the pain comes back because the energy is low. Movement helps to replenish the energy. Your movement is your strength.

  How to do it

  This movement is a really simple way of feeding your lower back and paying it more salary. You do not need to wait for your yoga or Pilates class to do it just do it every day.

  Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, keep a slight bend in the knees to take the pressure off the hamstrings and roll forwards. Don't worry about the technicality of it just bend and roll forwards. Roll back up and repeat 10 times.

  This exercise helps maintain the natural curve in the lower back. The spine is designed to bend, try it.

• Lower back movement

  The movement

  At Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy we are passionate about how the human body moves. We analyse posture and movement for a living and this is a movement that is so important to everyday life. Your lower back bends backwards every time you stand, take a step and even turn over in bed. Have you ever tried rolling over in bed when you have a stiff back or muscle spasm? It is near impossible! When we do these actions such as taking a step or standing up from sitting the lower vertebrae move backwards on each other to set up the hip, knee, ankle and big toe. Without this set up a simple action of stading, walking and turning over in bed becomes very difficult. Often especially after pain or injury the lower back (or should I say the brain) can avoid this movement in order to 'protect' us and avoid further 'injury'. Unfortunately it is a movement we tend to lose as we get older.

  Let's not allow our brains to be so protective that it ends up avoiding this movement everyday. Let's keep it healthy by doing this simple movement in the video. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

  How to do it

  Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, bend backwards just a few inches at your lower back. It is a short movement so don't worry about bending far. Keep your knees very straight and tune into your big toes as your sway backwards and forwards. The bend comes from your L4/5 vertebrae. Check the video to see how simple it is.

• Lumbar and knee extension exercise

  The exercise

  This exercise is to practise bending your lower back backwards whilst keeping the knees are completely straight. The reason for setting up this movement is because of how important bending your lumbar spine is.

• Lumbar roll variation

  The movement

  Lumbar spine roll. It’s such a simple and easy movement. Bending the spine is great for activating the lower back muscles especially after lower back pain or after sitting at a desk all day. Bending the lower back is essential for every day activities. After pain or injury our brain may prevent this essential movement resulting in stiffness and weakness. Try it daily to move the spine and improve strength.

  How to do it

  There are 3 different movements 1: with feet shoulder width apart, 2: with feet and legs zipped together, and 3: feet wide apart. Try it. If your lumbar spine muscles are weak this will help strengthen them.

• Neck Owl

  The exercise

  Sometimes you just have to practise turning your neck, we often don't realise our neck has stiffened up until we attempt to reverse the car.

  How to do it

  Stand or sit, turn your neck, using your eyes, turn that little bit further, and further again. A bit of discomfort may be felt. Slowly repeat on the other side.

• Neck strength exercise

  The exercise

  Neck strength exercise to improve the tension in your neck. Use a Pilates soft ball, place it on the wall and put your forehead on it. Push your forehead into it. Repeat 20 times.
  Neck tension is something we hear a lot from our patients here at Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy. It occurs a lot especially amongst desk workers. A build up of tension happens across the shoulders, upper back and into the neck and sometimes into the head causing tension headaches. It can range from feeling uncomfortable to feeling very painful, where whatever you do to try to relieve it doesn’t seem to effect it.

  Why does it happen?
  Tension is a normal and necessary thing to happen, our neck is structured in a way to receive tension from other parts of the body. The neck will hold onto some of the tension is receives and also get rid of some. The muscles needs a certain amount of tension in order to get rid of the excess. This may sound strange but tension can come in many different forms, it can come in the form of movement, in the form of strength, in the form of sustained posture, and in the form of bursts of shock from jumping or running.

  If your neck is not coping with the amount of tension it receives and it is therefore unable to get rid of the excess, it may be due to not having enough tension to begin with. If this is the case your neck muscles will fatigue, get weak and become painful.

  Let’s give your neck more tension! How? Basically it means doing a lot of things that your neck may not like doing such as movement, strengthening and putting some forceful bursts of shock through it with activities such as running and jumping. The key thing to take away is that tension is normal, it is your neck doing a perfectly good job and what it is designed to do, it’s good to give it some gratitude. So the next time you get an uncomfortable build up of tension in your neck be aware that tension is normal and needed. It may be a sign that your neck needs a bit more tension in the form of movement and strengthening.

  Osteopathy treatment will help reduce the fatigue and get rid of the pain with massage and joint mobilisations and show you how to put movement and strength in your neck so you get less uncomfortable tension.

  How to do it

  Stand facing a wall with a soft Pilates ball, put your forehead on the ball and the ball against the wall. Gently headbutt the wall as shown in the video for a few seconds and repeat 2 or 3 times. It looks like a commical exercise so you may get a few funny looks if you do it in the gym :)

• Pec Stretch for Office Workers

  The exercise

  The pec muscles are naturally strong and tight that’s why it feels nice to stretch them. Give them some movement and blood especially if you are sitting at a computer at the office all day. We see many patients with high pressured office jobs at Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy, if we can find a quick and effective way of helping we will.

  The pecs are attached to your upper ribs and shoulders and if there’s one thing we know about the shoulders and ribs is that they love to move. Moving your ribs and shoulders will ‘feed’ the pecs with blood, nutrients and oxygen. It’s a win-win situation.

  Because everything is in front of us there is a tendency for us to migrate forwards; our shoulders become over protracted, our thoracic becomes kyphotic, and our ribs become stiff, these are all the exact opposite to what they all prefer to be. Doing a pec stretch because it feels good has many more benefits than you realise.

  How to do it

  All you need is a doorway and a few seconds of your day. Stand in the doorway with your arms at right angles, take one step forwards, you will immediately feel a stretch across your chest. To increase the stretch gently push forwards. Change the position of your arms to get a different stretch. Stretch for about 20 seconds, repeat 2-3 times.

• Petersen Step Up exercise

  The exercise

   The vastus medialis muscle (VMO) is one of the quadriceps muscles. Strengthening it helps to stabilise and protect the knee. It is very important to strengthen this muscle, especially after knee injuries as it helped to fully extend the knee joint. Often a patient will avoid knee extension and lose range of movement when they have had an injury or surgery.
   
  This is the Petersen Step Up, a brilliant exercise which aims to increase the strength of this muscle.

  How to do it

  ·      Have the raised foot turned out 15 degrees. Raise the toes up with the knee bent.
  ·      Have the bottom foots heel in line with the toes of the raised foot.
  ·      Pull the toes up of the bottom foot and keep them up throughout the exercise.
  ·      With control, straighten the raised leg while dropping the heel. The bottom foot should rise off the floor and should keep the toes raised.
  ·      Slowly lower the bottom foot back down bending the raised sides knee. Make sure to keep the toes up of the bottom foot.
   

  How many times

  You should aim to perform this for 3 sets of 10 reps. If it becomes too painful or you no longer can maintain good form then stop. 

• Plank variation

  The exercise

  The plank is a great way to use your body weight to put forces through your shoulders, back, pelvis, knees and toes. All to improve your strength. Many classes including yoga and Pilates use many variations of the plank in their routines, why? Because it's a simple easy way to weight lift, with your own body weight. At Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy we use it for a wide range of injuries such as; knee patella tendonitis, lower back pain, ankle rehab, big toe movements and so on. Functionally, we use it to turn over in bed, get on the floor, get back up again, many of the same muscle groups are used to achieve these actions.

  How to do it

  Standing, roll down and walk your hands into a plank position. Push into a downward dog a couple of times.
  Lower down to the ground completely and lift your chest.
  Stand up by walking your feet to your hands.

• Plantar fascia exercise

  The movement

  There are a lot of runners in the Kew and Richmond area and with that come a variation of foot and ankle injuries. A really common injury is plantar fasciitis. Please don't worry plantar fasciitis can and will get better. You do not need to live with it but you do need to help it. This is a quick and easy way to get the plantar fascia and the little bones in the feet moving.

  How to do it

  Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and start gently twisting from one side to the other gradually increasing momentum, it needs momentum and the big toes need to stay on the ground. Be careful with the knees, as they may not be used to this movement and may complain, if they do reduce the speed of the twisting or stop.

  If you are a runner or suffer with plantar fasciitis we can help.

• Plantar fascia training

  The exercise

  Our feet are often forgotten and neglected part of our bodies, until something goes wrong with them. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of awareness that they are there, and a little bit of attention can go a long way to keep you mobile.

  How to do it

  This exercise is quick and fun to do.
  Stand with one foot in front of the other and spring from the foot on to the back foot. Repeat for a few seconds at a time.

• Plantar fascia workout

  The exercise

  Workout your plantar fascia with a Manta Health Foam roller. Check out their website on how to buy and other things you can do with it: Manta Health foam roller

  The reason it has to be a Manta Health foam roller is because it has prongs that press into the plantar fascia as you roll. The plantar fascia will really feel the workout as you roll and try to not fall off.

  How to do it

  Hold onto something and aim to roll the full length of your foot along the foam roller, without falling off. Play around and have fun.

• Progressive bridge exercise

  The exercise

  Hamstring tension is important, they are meant to have a certain amount of tension because they are powerful muscles that are waiting for an explosive movement such as running and jumping. However, they can feel uncomfortably tight. If your hamstrings feel uncomfortably tight it may be because they are weak. Many of our patients who suffer from low back pain have a weak posterior chain of muscles, including the low back muscles, the glutes and the hamstrings. With all the different running events in and around the Kew and Richmond area, hamstrings and glutes are defintley a priority to strengthen. Here is a great progression routine of exercises that will definitely challenge those muscles and help to strengthen them! Of course, stretching your hamstrings will feel nice and we do recommend it but for now let’s do this exercise to strengthen.

  How to do it

  These exercises should be performed with control. You can hold each pose to make them more challenging.

  Glute Bridge - Keep your core engaged and squeeze your buttock muscles to raise your hips. Control the movement slowly.

  Single Leg Glute Bridge - Make this exercise harder by raising one leg at a time out straight but make sure to not let your pelvis drop on one side as you do so.

  Hamstring Bridge - By taking your feet away from you slightly in comparison to where they are in the glute bridge will increase the recruitment of the hamstrings. This is an exercise used to help rehab hamstring strains towards the end of their recovery.

  Straight Leg Bridge - By lying flat and raising your hips off the ground by engaging your glutes. Don’t let your low back arch, keep it in a neutral position and maintain your core muscles engagement.

  Hamstring Walk Outs - By walking the heels up and down will both challenge the hamstrings as well as your core. Make sure again to keep your pelvis from dropping.

• Put pressure on your ankles

  The exercise

  Put pressure on your feet and ankles by crouching down and moving

  How to do it

  Crouch down with one foot in front, rock forwards on the foot, as much as feels comfortable, rock backwards and then step through whilst staying crouched. Repeat. Tune into your ankle, toes and feet whilst doing it.

• Scapular pull up

  The exercise

  💪 Scapular control exercises 💪
  A few common exercises we at Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy prescribe patients to help improve scapular (shoulder blade) control. This is important with most sports! 🏊🏋🏌

  How to do it

  The scapular pull up. You want keep your arms straight at all times as you hang from a bar performing this exercise. You want to pull your shoulder blades down, imagining you're putting them in your back pockets dropping/pulling shoulders away from ears This should raise your torso up but your arms should remain straight.

• Scapular push up exercise

  The exercise

  The scapula and the muscles around the scapula have a tendency to weaken, deskwork and lack of exercise may be the cause. Our upper bodies need strength for everything, from sitting to walking, to running. It needs strength to be able to absorb shock travelling through the body in order to be able to get rid of it.

  How to do it

  In the push up position, press yourself away from the floor so that you feel you scapular spreading away from each other. Slowly and controlled, allow yourself to sink towards the floor, keeping your arms straight, allow your shoulder blades to come together. Repeat, pushing yourself away from the floor.

• Shoulder rotator cuff exercise

  The exercise

  Shoulder rotator cuff exercise. This is a good and subtle exercise to work the rotator cuff. Keep the movement slow and smooth. You might hear some clicking and clunking from time to time. This is normal, and can be a sign of movement of the joints and muscles. If it is painful, please seek advice.

  How to do it

  Stand or sit holding a toning ball weighing no more than 2lbs. Lift your arm up, keeping your elbow bent, and then lower your arm twisting from the shoulder joint, placing your arm behind your back. Repeat the movement 7 or 8 times.text in bold

• Sit to stand example

  Being based in Kew we see a lot of fit and active people, however when I ask them to get on the floor and back up again without using their arms they really struggle. The reason I like this exercise so much is because it is fun and it is always challenging. It's a challenge that we should continue with forever in my opinion. I wound recommend this exercise or a variation of it for life.

  As stated earlier there are a lot of variations to this exercise this is just one of them. We will add more variations.

  It is an essential way to maintain the movement in your joints including your hips, knees, ankle and lower back. The movement that happens in your lower back as you go down to the ground and then get back up again is great. These essential lower back and vertebral movements are accomplished all by trying to get on the floor and back up again without using your arms.

  Try it! It's also good for core stability. You can cheat as much as you want until you achieve what you want to achieve.

• Sit to Stand exercise (variation)

  The exercise

  The Sit to Stand exercise is a great all round exercise to do. It targets many joints and muscle groups and it is a function that we should continue to do throughout all of our life stages.

  At Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy in Kew we practise this movement a lot with our patients. Patients with plantar fasciitis is one example, the idea is to connect the feet to the ground but also to connect the feet to the rest of the body. This may sound strange as the feet are connected to the body, but feet often get neglected and forgotten about. The Sit to Stand exercise in one way of reminding the brain that the feet exist.

  Try getting on the floor and back up again without using your arms and with emphasis on pushing through your feet. It takes a while for your brain, feet, floor and the rest of your body to communicate the intent.

  The Sit to Stand exercise is a good exercise to do because it moves your ankles, knees, hips and lower back through a lot of their range of motion. You are literally squashing these joints and joints like to be squashed. They like that close impact position because it gives them sensory feedback about the quality of the joint and the quality of the movement, it also pushes a lot of WD40 type fluid called synovial fluid in there to nourish and feed the joints and the surrounding tissues.

  We like to practise it with our patients because it is fun, challenging and covers a lot of joint movements. Going back to the plantar fasciitis example, because we wear shoes and walk on flat concrete surfaces for most of our lives the muscles in our feet can become disconnected and less responsive. This means that they will still do their job of standing, walking and running for us but there is a risk of muscles becoming weak resulting in; plantar fasciitis, big toe weakness, big toe stiffness, calf strains, knee and hip injuries. This is just one example of the benefits of the Sit to Stand exercise, there are many more, which we will cover some other time.

  How to do it

  In the meantime, have a look at our video and give a few different variations a try. All you need to do is, stand with your feet shoulder width apart or a bit wider, bend down either with your legs crossed or not, control your bottom towards the floor until you are sitting. To get up, push through your feet, pull in your core and allow your feet and quads do most of the work. You will need a lot of lumbar flexion to get your centre of gravity past your hips. Try it. Please take caution if you have instability or injury. Call or book online for an appointment.

• Sit to stand test

  We give this exercise to almost everyone. It's a great way to improve movement in your hips, knees, ankles and lower back as well as improve your core strength. According to some research it can predict how long you will live! Read the article or watch the video below. Sit Stand Test

• Spinal side bend

  The movement

  Spinal side bend. No need to take it too seriously just bend even if more than your spine bends. At Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy we believe that movement is a big part of getting strong, this movement looks easy in the video but it was actually quite difficult especially bending to the left. Don’t put a set number of repetitions on it, try to trick the brain a bit. Sometimes you might bend as far towards the floor as possible other times you may only bend a bit. The idea is to bend sideways in an non structured way. Your movement is your strength!

  How to do it

  There's a time and place for pulling in your core and keeping in 'alignment', for this movement we would like you to see it as just that, movement. Standing with your arms by your side and bend to the side. Put a little bounce in if you wish. The aim is to bend your L4/5 vertebrae side ways. It will also stretch some of the muscles around your waist which is nice.

• Split lunge & Bulgarian split squat

  The exercise

  The split lunge and Bulgarian split squat exercises are brilliant for improving both strength of the quadriceps and the glutes. These exercises help with core strength and hip control which reduces the risk of injury from excessive rotation of the hips while performing exercises such as running.
  Here is a progression of exercises we teach at Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy, working from a reduced range of motion split squat up to a Bulgarian split squat (easier to harder).

  How to do it

  It is important to keep the upper body upright and not let the shoulders round while performing the exercise.
  When taking position to perform this exercise keep your feet hip width apart with one forward and one back.
  You want to travel directly down rather than forwards as you descend and then squeeze the buttock of the forward leg side as you return to the start position.
  Make sure to not let your knee buckle in and keep your hip square facing forwards.

  Give this exercise a go and add it to your routine if you need to improve leg and glute strength!

• Sumo squat

  The exercise

  The Sumo squat is a great way to strengthen the whole chain and to move your joints. Especially your ankles, knees, hips. pelvis and lower back. This exercise needs more credit for the amount of movement that go through the joints in your lower body as well as credit for the strengthening benefits. How far you are able to squat down will depend on your body type, you may be able to go all the way with ease, or you may only be able to go part of the way. Either way it will take your ankles, knees and hips towards their end of range, controlling your movement, whilst under the pressure of your body weight and gravity. All of these components help improve movement and strength.

  How to do it

  Stand with your feet wider than shoulder width apart. Stick your bottom out and squat down as far as your ankles and knees will allow. Repeat 4 or 5 times. No pain should be felt, if it is, ease off or stop and contact your physiotherapist or osteopath.

• The 'I' exercise

  The exercise

  💪 Scapular control exercises 💪
  A few common exercises we give to our patients at Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy to improve scapular (shoulder blade) control. This is important with most sports! 🏊🏋🏌

  How to do it

  The 'I' exercise. You want to be lying on your front, with your chin tucked to your chest, resting your forehead on the floor throughout the exercise. Have your palms facing inwards. Then reach them down towards your feet. Next, try and pull your shoulder blades together but keeping your shoulders dropped away from ears as you continue to reach with hands towards your feet. Lastly slightly raise your arms off the floor and hold for a few seconds. Relax and repeat. You want to feel the muscles in the area between your shoulder blades working and just under them.

• Thoracic rotation exercises

  The exercise

  Let's talk about thoracic rotation!
  As an Osteopath, I believe thoracic mobility (aka upper back flexibility) especially rotation is very important.

  What is the thoracic?
  The thoracic spine is apart of the thoracic cage which collectively is made up of 24 ribs; 12 vertebrae, and the sternum, a very boney cage. The main ‘jobs’ of this cage are protection and movement. A bit contrasting if you think about it. It protects the heart; lungs, liver, kidneys, diaphragm, blood vessels and nerves, (just a minor job). The other main job is movement. The movement part is where we can help, movement of all of those joints of the ribs, vertebrae and sternum allows for the absorption of forces and shock; it keeps the stress away from your neck and lower back. Movement and shock absorption are particularly important in those who play sports such as tennis and golf which require a good range of rotation to perform optimally.

  At Get Strong physiotherapy & osteopathy we help our patients improve their thoracic mobility through both hands-on treatment and exercises.

  How to do it

  Here are a few examples of exercises we use to help:

  Sitting rotation exercises are easy to do at your desk! Keep yourself sat up tall and just turn as far as feels comfortable.

  Plank to downward dog foot taps are great to encourage rotation while your upper body is loaded. Be controlled with this movement and try to keep your shoulders away from your ears at all times.

  Threading the needle is a classic yoga rotation exercise which goes through a large range of movement. Don't let your low back arch as you bring your arm up above yourself.

  Give them a try and let someone know who you think could benefit from better upper back mobility!

• Toes, knees & back exercise

  The exercise

  This will get your toes, knees and lower back all at once. It is great for runners, you will really feel it in your quads. Keep the repetitions low. Be sure to have awareness of your toes bending as you bend forwards.

  How to do it

  Stand, bend forwards and place your hands on the mat. Walk your hands forwards to a high plank. Walk them half way back, bending your knees and hover them over the mat. Hold there for a few seconds. Continue your hands backwards as close to your knees as possible, this will work your lower back, and then stand up.