A targeted Pilates program for low back pain

During my recent trip to Melbourne I had the pleasure of observing Dr Lynn Bardin in the SPINE Pilates class. I thought it was a great time to reflect on what I have learnt this year about the Pilates method, discuss a few ways that my thinking and teaching has changed, and discuss how Lynn Bardin tailors a Pilates program to be specific and effective for the management of low back pain.  

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San Francisco slopes & stairs slaughter my soleus

How often do you assess the function of the calf muscle in lower limb injuries and what strategies to you give your clients for home-based exercises? Inspired by my own experience from the past 3 months in San Francisco, walking over 10km a day, this blog explores the clinical anatomy and functional significance of the calf muscles.

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Turning down TFL

TFL pain and tightness is a common problem in hip/knee injuries. Recently I asked a group of Australian Physiotherapists what their tips for reducing TFL overactivity were. Precision of technique and quality of movement was the message that came from every therapists. 

The aim of this blog is to briefly discuss why TFL becomes overactive, review the literature behind minimising TFL activity and then to share some addition clinical tips that I use to progress rehabilitation into all planes of movement. 

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Being specific about functional exercises

Recently I had the opportunity to observe Michael Vadiveloo, a Specialist Sports Physiotherapist, as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2011. Michael shared with me his tips for retraining the lower limb kinetic chain for knee, hip and foot/ankle injuries. One unique aspect of these way he taught exercises was his focus on the entire lower limb. This blog explores some of these exercises and provides tips for getting the most out of each one. 

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Functional assessment of a water skiing injury

The aim of this blog is to outline a case study on a lower back injury sustained from waterskiing and the importance of performing a thorough functional assessment. After completing my Masters I developed a framework for performing a initial musculoskeletal assessment, which I could apply to almost all presentations. For this presentation however my main focus was on the functionally task and mechanism of injury. 

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