Constant injuries a pain?

Martin Haines, a pre-eminent physiotherapist has developed a holistic step by step approach to Biomechanics, which can be adopted in your day to day patient assessments. Martin has collated over 25 years of measurements & research and incorporated it into 3 one day courses;

Normalise Course Assess the biomechanical function of the body & prescription of exercises

Stabilise Course Assess core function & prescription of core exercises

Functionalise Course Assess functional performance & construct a functional exercise programme

Adding to your expertise

If you are a Physiotherapist, Osteopath, Chiropractor or a Sports Therapist

>Add biomechanical screening to your assessment repertoire

>See how to prescribe evidence based self help programmes for your patients

>Understand the link between biomechanical screening and injury prevention

If you are an Orthotist, Podiatrist or a Chiropodist

>Discover the link between pelvic screening and orthotic prescription

>Understand why your orthotics prescription will be enhanced when you can screen the pelvis

>See how to look at the body more holistically

If you are a Sports Coach, Strength and Conditioning Coach, Sports Scientist or Personal Trainer

>See how biomechanical screening can help prepare your clients and athletes better for their chosen sport or activity

>Understand the link between biomechanics and injury prevention

>Add a biomechanical screen to your repertoire and see how this affects the performance of your clients and athletes

Expand your Expertise now, call 0161 678 0233 or log onto www.mobilisperformance.comfor more information on our 3 courses.
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Injury advice for athletes

WHEN I run for any length of time I get lower back pain. What exercises would help this? AS you can imagine, this could be due to a number of factors. Three common causes are: postural problems, a running style issue or perhaps muscle inflexibility or weakness. To a large degree they are all linked. If your abdominal muscles are weak, for example, this will affect your posture and cause your running style to be compromised. The repetitive compression from running merely highlights the load and exaggerates the aching beyond that which you may get on a daily basis from prolonged standing, sitting or driving a car for example. Try doing some mobility exercises for your lower back, such as: lying on your back with your knees bent up with your feet on the floor, and roll your knees from side to side. You may also try lying in the same position and tilting your pelvis forwards and backwards. Make sure you keep your hips on the floor and don’t exaggerate the arch in your back when you tilt your pelvis forwards. People often find that the hip muscles (your buttocks) are inflexible or stiff. Using a foam roller or cricket ball can help. Place the roller or cricket ball on the floor and then lay on your side with the ball under your buttock muscle. Rolling your hips on the roller or ball will provide a deep

DO you have any injuries or niggles, whether they be new or old, that will not go away and that you would like further advice on? Write to our resident physiotherapist and biomechanic expert, Martin Haines from Mobilis Performance, and he will advise on the up-to-date treatment techniques and help you on the road to recovery.

Who are Martin Haines and Mobilis Performance? MARTIN HAINES qualified 25 years ago as a remedial gymnast and recreational therapist and then two years later as a chartered physiotherapist. Martin has worked with 11 Olympic medallists, who have collected 23 medals between them. In addition, he has been the biomechanics advisor to strength and conditioning coaches and athletics coaches, top UK football teams, including Chelsea and Liverpool, the McLaren F1 racing team and the PGA. Martin is currently working with UK Athletics, providing one-day biomechanic courses to their coaches, which focus on injury prevention and optimal performance.

massage and can help loosen them off. In addition, doing some gluteal stretches might also help. Finally, core stability work, emphasising your abdominal muscles will most likely be of benefit too, especially if the problem is postural in nature. Of course there is always the possibility that you have a problem with your back which needs assessing and treating professionally. If the above doesn’t help, you’d be well-advised to seek advice from a therapist who specialises in sports medicine for specific guidance.

Rolling your knees from side to side while lying on the floor will all help with your mobility

RogerThornhill

IAM a sprinter and I have a very sore bursa on the back of my heel which stops me going at top speed – what could help? OFTEN this is caused by ill fitting shoes, inflexibilities in your calves or Achilles tendon or possibility from a biomechanical problem with your pelvis and spine. In the first instance you should be icing the area regularly and also try some anti-inflammatory tablets from your GP. At the same time try some calf stretches as this can take the pressure off the bursa. Make sure you stretch the calf with the knee bent and straight, but if you feel any discomfort (especially on the stretch with your knee bent), avoid it for the time being. You can also try stretching around your hip as it can help your running style and reduce the risk of increasing the pressure on the heel by having your foot rotated too far out, for example. Additionally, you need to make sure that your heel tab (or any part of the heel cusp) doesn’t rub on the heel and inflame the area. If it does, cut the offending piece off, or get a new pair of shoes. If all this fails then electrotherapy in the form of laser treatment may be helpful. If that doesn’t help, you are left with orthotics as an option but make sure you see an experienced sports podiatrist if that is a route you have to take.

IHAVE just run the Flora London Marathon and I am feeling stiff and sore – what exercises can help with the recovery? IT IS going to take some time before this goes away, no matter what you do, but you should find that general stretching and mobility exercises for the stiffened areas are usually beneficial. Try gently stretching your key muscle groups, like hamstrings, quads, lower back, calves, etc a couple of times per day, but concentrate on the areas that feel worst. Gentle aerobic exercise, perhaps on a bike to avoid weight bearing, will help. Plunging into a cold tub is becoming more fashionable these days, but an icepack to the worst areas is also very effective and less extreme. Rest, but only from training, not from movement, is also good. Training through it will most likely cause further problems, but then the other extreme and becoming a couch potato is not the answer either. Try to find a balance between enough activity to keep your body mobile, but not that much that it causes problems.

A period of rest after a marathon is beneficial

n Find out more FOR further advice, tips or for more information on Mobilis Performance Injury Prevention courses, log on to www.mobilisperformance.com or call 0161-678 0233 now

MarkShearman

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