Digby Biokineticists

17/08/2020

Make sure to book your Vitality Fitness Assessment and get up to 7500 points.

Full COVID-19 precautions will be followed during your testing.

14/11/2019

26/08/2019

Shoulder Pain

It has been said that 90% if shoulder problems originate from scapular (shoulder blade) instability and mobility issues.

So let’s create some awareness about the scapula.

For overhead movements such as the shoulder press, the humerus (arm) needs space to move. In order for this to physically happen, the scapula needs to rotate upward and protract (see figures E & D), if aren’t actively aware of “flaring” your shoulder blades out on overhead movements (figure G), your chances of impingement and general shoulder pain are enhanced.

For pulling movements the opposite is true, the scapula needs to move downward and retract (see figures F & C) to make space for the humerus. This is a very common mistake when completing a pull-up, where one only moves the humerus in the shoulder joint with no scapular movement. Cues of squeezing the shoulder blades together and down towards your lower back can be helpful in executing the perfect pull-up (figure H).

Basically overhead pushing activities the scapula must rotate upward, for pulling activities focus on the downward rotation of the scapula.

If you cannot move into these positions or feel restrictions, give us a shout and we can help get you back on track 💪🏼.

# nopainnogain

21/08/2019

Work smarter, not harder! 😎💪🏼

Adjusting “simple” movements and using correct form can make a world of difference, thus saving you energy and allowing you to increase the volume of work done in a typical gym session.

As seen in the push-up, having the forearm perpendicular to the floor saves you energy by pushing through the bone. Your forearms; triceps and chest will thank-you for it!

It makes you think what other simple cues you are missing in some of your daily exercises 🤔.

16/08/2019

Spring is around the corner, so has introduced an outdoor training area to improve your overall mood and connect with Mother Nature.

Pull-in to have a look!

14/08/2019

It’s important for you as a patient to understand the need for rehabilitation.

The “Reason” is why you are experiencing the pain, or the cause of pain. It may be due to trauma or an overuse issue which needs an explanation to possibly prevent reoccurrence.

Knowing the cause of pain, makes it easier to plan the steps for “Relief”. Such intervention would include strengthening and/or stretching the areas concerned, as well as avoiding bad habits such as sitting for long periods at a time.

Re-assurance from the practitioner is important to keep the rehabilitation process moving, making sure the exercises and homework are contributing to pain-free movement.

12/07/2019

Sciatica 😱. Yes a term that you and many others have used to describe lameness or pain down the leg. It does get thrown around a lot, so let’s break it down and make you more aware of this term 💪🏼.

The sciatic nerve is one of the largest nerves in the body, and is about 2cm thick. It basically fires the muscles in your thigh, leg and forefoot. It moves through the glute muscles, down the hamstring into the knee and calf.

Sciatica is the term used for impingement of the sciatic nerve.

Sciatica isn’t only caused by bulging discs in your lower back, but also tight muscles that are pressing onto the nerve. Due to modern life, we do sit a lot and use on our phone/laptop on a daily basis, limiting the movement that our bodies crave. The deeper muscles in our hip, the piriformis for example, can become tight for whatever reason (weakness, overuse or lack of movement) and irritate the sciatic nerve, giving you referral symptoms such as a deep ache down the leg known.

How you fix it is up to your medical professional, but keep the body moving and don’t fall in the trap of sitting in a flexed position all day.

04/07/2019

Do you have a weak glute medius?

A muscle commonly known for hip stability. Stabilizing the hips during functional movements, such as when we walk; run; squat; lunge and deadlift.

When weight-bearing on 1 leg or both, the pelvis should always be in-line with each other. Any shift or drop of the hip, puts more pressure into your lower back. When this happens too often over periods of time, you may experience groin and/or lower back pain. A whole syndrome can develop from one simple weakness, fix your imbalances before they turn into something nasty.

Keep that pelvis in neutral during all movements. Give me a shout if you think your glute medius needs some work 🍑💪🏼.

26/06/2019

What is your body type? Body type is formally known as a Somatotype. There are 3 different “body types”, namely the Endomorph (the couch-potatoe, round around the edges and has too much calorie intake for his/her daily activities); the Ectomorph (lean running machine, long distance runners’ physique, endurance athletes) and the Mesomorph (muscular individuals, gain muscle size quickly, strong and powerful such as sprinters and weightlifters).

How can you find out your somatotype? We can objectively measure your body fat percentage, circumference of particular sites on the body and measure key diameter sites to take general bone mass into consideration.

Give us a shout if you want to find out your somatotype, and get some insight on your body to help reach your summer goals.

24/06/2019

It is normal for everyone to experience degeneration of the spine. When someone is asymptomatic, or one who isn’t experiencing specific pain, for your age you may have some natural wear-and-tear in the spine. Just because a X-ray or MRI indicates some pathology, it may not necessarily be directly related to your pain. The spine gets it’s fair share of work and accumulates over the years. Overall core stability, movement and mobility will help reduce the rate of degeneration.