Surf Longer/Better with these 4 Pillars
Surf Better and longer with more longevity with these 4 pillars.
Surfing is a thrilling sport that demands physical strength, balance, and coordination, often in dynamic and unpredictable conditions. As a physical therapist and passionate surer, I emphasize the importance of injury prevention exercises tailored specifically for surfers. There are 4 critical components to ensure surfers have a long span enjoying their craft at the highest level. Excellent shoulder mobility, scapular strengthen, core stability, and hip mobility.
Having excellent shoulder mobility is necessary for the demands of paddling. If you are lacking shoulder mobility, the repetition of paddling will cause compensations in your shoulder, neck, or even low back leading to pain and dysfunction. I first make sure I have excellent shoulder internal rotation, and the secondly lat flexibility to I can reach overhead with no compensation in my low back.
https://youtube.com/shorts/UH4d2rDvVCY?si=QtvlZznz-1dQwY6N
https://youtube.com/shorts/RspLOSx26LY?si=IUjwf3RtrZPiqx3v
Strengthening the muscles around the shoulders blades, such as Prone Ts, Ys are excellent for helping with paddle endurance while taking pressure of your neck. However these have to be done very precisely and correctly to make sure you’re not compensating with your neck muscles.
https://youtube.com/shorts/1KHLlJbqWWo?si=hPofm-tYu6BYnQRw
Core stability is imperative for reducing the pressure on your low back during surfing. I recommend starting with an exercise called “dead bugs” to make sure your back is flat while reaching overhead to mimic the demands of surfing while getting out of lumbar extension.
https://youtube.com/shorts/g13rvb31nTs?si=UapHfVLHAViB4PMw
Finally, making sure you have adequate hip internal and external rotation are necessary for high level surfing where you are turning your whole body on a fixed board. Having great mobility here can allow you to turn better while minimizing the pressure on your knees. I recommend the hip airplane because it allows you to get more range of motion and also working on controlling with your hip stabilizers.
https://youtube.com/shorts/l2qTyQKBzeU?si=jkygwEJdWgeP-IBq
By integrating these injury prevention exercises into their training regimen, surfers can enjoy their time in the water with confidence, knowing that they have taken proactive steps to protect their bodies and prolong their surfing careers.
Train BJJ longer/better with these 3 simple exercises
Train BJJ longer and better with 3 simple exercises
As a Physical Therapist and Brazilian Jiujitsu Black belt, I understand the demands placed on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes and the importance of injury prevention in their training regimen. Jiu-Jitsu involves complex movements that require strength, flexibility, and agility, making it crucial for athletes to prioritize exercises that enhance these aspects while minimizing the risk of injury. Incorporating exercises that target core stability, scapular strengthening, and hip mobility can improve overall balance and control during grappling exchanges, reducing the likelihood of strains or sprains.
It's essential for Jiu-Jitsu athletes to approach their training holistically, incorporating both physical conditioning and injury prevention strategies to ensure longevity in their sport and optimize their performance on the mats. By investing time in targeted exercises under the guidance of a knowledgeable physical therapist, athletes can mitigate the risk of injury and continue to excel in their practice of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Here are 3 injury prevention exercises to start on your Brazilian Jiujitsu Journey. Always remember to train sensibly, tap early to submissions, and get adequate rest between sessions.
1: Deadbugs with Swiss ball
Very good for helping you before more effective in the guard and take pressure off your back and hips
https://youtube.com/shorts/g13rvb31nTs?si=eieKjUcepLXG3ndV
2: Hip Posterior glide
Helps you get more hip mobility to have a more effective guard and put less strain on your back in knee during scrambles
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LZcBtaj8xKw
3: Face pulls:
Helps you get scapular stability to make arm drags more effective, harder for your posture to get broken down, and take pressure of your neck
Run longer/faster and with less pain
Want to run faster/longer and with less pain? Train this muscle!
If you’re an avid runner, you know that your legs can take a beating. The miles of impact can add up. Although running is a skill we’ve been doing for thousands of years, aspects of our modern lifestyle have made it hard for us to develop the fine stabilizing muscles needed for efficient running. In the realm of running, the focus often falls on the legs—strengthening the calves, quads, and hamstrings. However, one critical muscle often overlooked is the glutes. From a physical therapy standpoint, prioritizing glute strength is paramount for runners seeking to improve performance and prevent injury. The gluteal muscles play a pivotal role in stabilizing the pelvis and controlling hip movements during running. Any weakness in the glutes can lead to biomechanical imbalances down the chain causing compensation to the knees, ankles, and low back. This weakness can contributes to issues such as IT band syndrome, patellofemoral pain syndrome, and even lower back pain.
By incorporating targeted glute strengthening exercises into their training regimen, runners can enhance their hip stability, stride efficiency, and overall running mechanics. If you have more muscles working as a team, this not only reduces the risk of overuse injuries but also lets you run faster and longer. So, whether you're a seasoned marathoner or a novice jogger, don't overlook the importance of glute strength in your training routine.
If you are unsure if you have a glute weakness in your running, it’s best to go see your physical therapist for a running analysis. However if you want to get a head start here are some of my favorite glute strengthening exercises.
https://youtube.com/shorts/08en9Adlz7I?si=5qfKlOGbr99rI2_Q
Do you have flat feet?
Have you been told you have “flat feet”? Let’s discuss if this can be fixed and what to do?
You may have been told you have flat feet. But did you know some people’s flat feet are “fixed” and others are “flexible” meaning they can be improved with muscular strengthening. It’s a pretty easy test to determine. If you cross your arms and twist side to side and your aches lift it’s a pretty good chance your “flat feet” is flexible and can be improved.
If that is the case, then we need to determine what muscles do we need to work on to improve the foot posture. For instance, the muscle imbalance can be coming from the foot and ankle muscles or it can actually be coming from the hip. If your glutes are weak or inactive, then it will force your knees to roll inward and as a result your arch will “collapse” and your foot will appear to be flat.
The good news is once you identify the root cause you can easily work on it and improve it so you can run, dance, or do whatever sport activity you enjoy more.
How to activate muscles?
We need our muscles to be balanced before training? How do we do that?
Certain muscles are notorious for being quiet. It may sound silly but that is actually one of the biggest challenges in rehab. What happens is that being sedentary, injured, or doing the same thing over and over again changes the activation pattern of your muscles. This can cause pain, bad movement leading to injury, or just not letting you progress forward. So how do we fix that?
Well the first question is: Are we seeing a problem because a muscle is in fact “quiet” or is it because another muscle is being too “loud”? If a muscle is being too loud, that is where hands on techniques such as massage, stretching, deep trigger point pressure and more can quiet it down. I like to utilize this before my own training. If I’m trying to squat but my back muscles are taking over instead of my glutes, I will get on the foam roller and stretch those back muscles out to calm them down. Now I’m ready to fire those glutes up.
If instead the muscle is too quiet this is where activation exercises are great. The best one generally in my opinion are isometrics. That’s a really good place to start but some people respond better to different things which is why having a physical therapist analyze that for you is key. For instance, often times people have this called “glute amnesia” which means forgetting how to use their glutes. It sounds silly but it can lead to so many injuries and dysfunctions that cause pain. Getting people to turn on their glutes take a little bit of finesse because you’re asking someone to change a habit. We know that is not that easy. So I will make sure I position someone where there other muscles are quiet and have them do some basic glute exercises. All the while I’m monitoring that they’re not compensating with their bad habits. Once we dial it down, I want the person to turn on those glutes for so long that it starts to burn. This is so the brain can remember what that feels like. If it’s their first session and they don’t have any competitions coming up, I want those muscles sore so that when they’re walking around, going up stairs, sitting down and standing up, their brain remembers that feeling and they learn how to fire those glutes on command. There are definitely a few more nuances hard to explain on a blog post but if you feel like you need help getting certain muscles fired up so you can train harder or get out of pain, definitely consulting with a physical therapist is a great idea.