A regular restriction that I see in clinic is difficulty extending the upper back when looking upwards. Typically, I will see this with patients who have had trauma around the head, neck or shoulder. As with any musculoskeletal injury, this makes sense. When you injure an area, that region goes through a protective phase of bracing. As healing progresses, and the unpleasant sensations one experiences begin to lessen, we can encourage return to pre-injury ranges. So why does the upper back seem to consistently come up as a restricted area? There are a few potential reasons.

Long standing groin pain is common issue amongst athletes of all levels (1). It is one of the top five regions to be injured in multidirectional sports (1). It can be a tricky area for clinicians to assess and treat due to the complexity of the area. What is complex about it? Simply, there are many structures which can get injured (2,3). Read more to learn the solution!

This week's topic is about the skill of breathing. Specifically, how we can utilise three different aspects of the skill and mechanisms of breathing in an active and dynamic environment. These include breathing gears and anaerobic threshold, perfusion and breathing flexibility. I will not discuss specifics of breathing in a static environment. However, some of the topics can apply to all of the above. The skills are considered in a context of improving cardiovascular health and chronic low back pain populations.

Recently a study was published examining the metabolic effects of a novel prescription of a well known exercise, the soleus raise (1). The focus of the study, was to examine the potential effects of the what was coined the ‘soleus push up’ (SPU), during and afterwards, on markers of metabolic health e.g. resting blood glucose and lipid levels. Positively, they found that the SPU was very useful in improving these markers at the measured timepoints. However, on reading the study, I feel it is important to make a couple points before considering if it is useful for you.