Blog

May Newsletter 2021

Clinic Updates

Welcome to our May newsletter of 2021. The clinic remained very busy throughout the month of April and certainly we are seeing the return of some old friends such as Achilles’ problems and knee pain now that people are back out exercising in the (slightly)better weather. We will soon be excited to announce a new member of Staff so look out for June’s newsletter.

We continue to practice using strict clinical governance guidelines using PPE, rigorous cleaning, risk assessments, social distancing, and client triage. Our therapists are also completing twice weekly lateral flow testing. Remote sessions are also currently being offered.

What’s New this Month:

• We now offer Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy
• Latest blog on returning to exercise
• Introducing Bobby Anand
• How to squat like a pro!

Returning to exercise

Returning to exercise after nearly 5 months off can be both daunting and exciting. With gyms, pools, and exercise facilities re-opening, it can be very tempting to try and make up for lost time.

Overtraining occurs when you are training more frequently than the time it takes for your body to recover. Overtraining is a common cause of tendonitis, muscle strains, and repetitive stress injuries. Signs and symptoms can include fatigue, disturbed sleep, soreness that lasts longer than 48 hours, and a decline in performance and motivation.

Now, how do we avoid overtraining and how do we safely return to exercise maximizing our efforts? Firstly, it is important to have a graded return to activity. Start at around 60% of your previous weights/ distance or intensity and progressively increase this by 10% every few sessions over the coming weeks.

Ensure you have adequate rest between sessions and mix up your training to cover the whole body and all facets of fitness. Maintaining flexibility while improving cardiovascular fitness and strength has been proven to decrease injury risk and provide a great foundation for sport specific fitness. If you are unsure where to start or would like some guidance, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Meet the Specialist

PhysioSW19 in our continued partnership with the Fortius Clinic would like to introduce you to Mr. Bobby Anand who is a specialist Consultant of the knee working at the Fortius Clinic on Worple Road. He has a large sports knee injury practice, and he has acquired considerable knowledge in treating high demand athletes. He applies these principles to all the patients he treats. His passion within knee surgery is in sports injuries, ACL injuries, robotic knee replacements, partial knee replacements and patella instability.

Fortius remains open for consultations, diagnosis and treatment and have introduced enhanced protective measures to maintain the highest level of patient safety. Link to Mr. Anand at the Fortius Clinic

Squats and knee pain

Squatting is a common exercise performed in the gym and in the rehab setting. However, a lot of people experience knee discomfort with this exercise. A recent stud

y completed by Kernozeket al (2017) identified two different techniques people used when squatting. These two techniques described as; being knees before toes and squat while allowing the knees to go past the toes. Their results showed that the forces through the quadriceps and patella were significantly higher when performing the knees past toes technique. Knee flexion, hip flexion and force through the knee were reduced when using the knee before toes technique. What does that mean for me? When performing squats (especially under load), to reduce pressure on the knee and prevent discomfort keep the knees behind the toes and push the bottom backwards to ensure maximum glute and quadriceps activation.

Gluteal stretching There are several ways you can do this, but the easiest is in sitting, put one foot on your opposite knee and lean forwards from the pelvis. Hold for 30 seconds and swap sides