Rehab on Tap

🔸TIGHT/COMPRESSED LOW BACK?🔸 Many patients say to me that their back is “always tight” or “feels like it never lets go”.
This can due to a protective mechanism by the body, where the muscles around the low back have tensed up to protect the area, especially if there is a history of low back pain, injury, or discomfort. The patients who make the above statements tend to have difficulty loosening their lower backs for motions such as pelvic tilts, cat-cow, bending forward; and also cannot breathe into their low backs.
In the video, I demonstrate breathing into the low back as one way to teach your body to relax and “open” the area. A lot of people have difficulty connecting to this area, so in these cases I recommend to use a band to help. Once you are able to do this, that can help you to locally relax your low back.
Give it a try! Please comment or share if you
have tried this successfully, unsuccessfully, or if you have found it helpful!

🔸ADVANCED GROIN REHAB🔸These are exercises that can be beneficial for the later stages of a adductor (groin) injury, as in 4-8 weeks post injury, depending on the grade of the initial injury.
They can also be beneficial as general adductor strengthening exercises.
The first one (the “Captain Morgan Side Plank”) is one that I learned from as an option for a progression towards the Copenhagens-thanks Antony!
The rest are progressions/variations of the Copenhagen Plank. These exercises targets the adductor of the top leg, and it is important to engage the deep core, especially the pelvic floor portion, while doing these or there can be pelvic discomfort. This can also be stressful on a new MCL injury, so as usual, I recommend to consult your health care provider before starting these exercises!
1️⃣ CAPTAIN MORGAN SIDE PLANK
2️⃣ COPENHAGEN CAPTAIN MORGAN
3️⃣ COPENHAGEN WITH ADDUCTION
4️⃣ FULL COPENHAGEN PLANK
As always, this video is for educational purposes only and not meant to substitute for medical advice. Please consult a health care professional if you have pain.
Please comment below or share if you found this helpful!

For those of you who limp around because it’s “just an ankle sprain”…consider using a walking aid such as crutches or a cane/hiking pole. Why?
Having an altered gait can contribute to further issues, including but not limited to:
▪️Developing compensatory problems up the body (eg. Observe my stiff trunk movement, rounded shoulders, forward head position, and asymmetrical arm swing to name a few)
▪️Tightness and/or pain in the compensatory muscles (eg. the QL and glutes when you are doing a hip circumduction),
▪️Increasing the muscle imbalance between the injured and non-injured sides
It is also a much slower and more guarded way to mobilize.
Some people do not want to use a walking aid because it makes them look or feel “old” or “too broken”… but trust me: you definitely do NOT look like an athlete hobbling around, hunched over, and grimacing. 😜
Tag a friend who thinks they look suave limping around! 👊🏼👊🏼

🔸ACUTE MCL INJURY🔸Reposting this with some edits to provide better information than I did in my first post about this!
Last week, I injured my MCL (medial collateral ligament, a ligament on the inside of the knee) at BJJ and diagnosed myself with a grade 2 sprain, which means a partial tear.
An ultrasound has since confirmed it. The mechanism of injury was a typical one for an MCL injury, which was a valgus force (my knee was vigorously twisted inward in a leg drag attempt while my foot was stuck). The ACL and medial meniscus can be sometimes also be injured in this manner but fortunately, the injury appears to be isolated to the MCL.
With grade 2 injuries, we typically recommend to limit ROM in the acute stages by wearing a hinged knee brace, which has lateral supports. It is also important to avoid valgus forces, which again refers to any movement that would push the knee inwards.
Rehab goals at this point are: pain management, ROM (I regained extension immediately but flexion is painful and limited, as is expected), gait normalization, restoring muscle contraction (both my quads and hamstrings felt inhibited-a protective response to injury), and avoiding twisting/lateral forces. I have been using a walking aid around the house and outdoors.
Rehab exercises the first week, as shown in the video, consist of:
1️⃣ SUPPORTED MARCHING
2️⃣ STANDING KNEE EXT
3️⃣ KNEE ROM WITH BALL
4️⃣ ACTIVE STRAIGHT LEG RAISE
5️⃣ ISOMETRIC HAMSTRING
6️⃣ SIDELYING HIP ABDUCTION

As usual, this video is for educational purposes and not meant to substitute as health advice, so these exercises may not be right for you, especially if you do have a concurrent meniscus or ACL injury. So, please consult a health care professional before proceeding with rehab!
Please share or tag a friend who might find this helpful!

🔸SPINE MOBILITY FOR BJJ🔸Your spine extends from your neck to your tailbone, and different portions of it can feel restricted. However, when there are areas of hypomobility, your body will sometimes try to compensate for it by creating more mobility in the regions above and below; and vice versa. Either of these scenarios can lead to pain or injury.
In grappling, it is important to have full spinal mobility because your body will often be manipulated by others, and under the weight of others. Having full mobility can allow for better acceptance of these positions (without injury) as well as improved movement out of uncomfortable positions.
To address restrictions in your spinal mobility, particularly into flexion and extension, these exercises can help:

1️⃣ CAT-COW
2️⃣ CAT-COW with LUMBAR FOCUS (I find that many people with low back pain or stiffness benefit more from this one)
3️⃣ CAT-COW with THORACIC FOCUS
4️⃣ SPRAWL PRESS-UPS
As usual, not all of these will be suitable for you. This video is for educational purposes only and not meant to substitute for medical advice. Please consult a health care professional if you have pain.
Please comment or share if you find this helpful! 👊🏼👊🏼

Strong calves are important for any sport on your feet because they help with force and power production and can increase your speed and agility, which are all attributes that help with dynamic sport performance.
Having strong calves can also help to prevent common injuries such as Achilles tendinopathies, patella tendinopathies, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, calf strains, ankle sprains, and other lower body issues. This is especially true in runners and striking athletes, where you are using your calves for the entire activity.
In BJJ, when playing on top (eg. standing, sprawling, side control, passing guard, knee on belly) our calves are very involved in maintaining that forward pressure into an opponent as well as keeping us balanced yet agile. When playing on bottom, our calves are important in helping us to shrimp and pivot our hips.
In striking, you are frequently on your toes and pivoting; thus, calf strength is pivotal in preventing injuries.
Here are some exercises that can be helpful for strengthening your calves:

1️⃣ WALL SIT + CALF RAISE
2️⃣ SINGLE LEG CALF RAISE
3️⃣ REVERSE LUNGE TO CALF RAISE
4️⃣ SEESAW PLANK
5️⃣ SPRAWL PLANK WITH CALF DRIVE
As always, this post is simply for education purposes; therefore, this exercise list is not comprehensive and might not necessarily be the best exercise choices for you. Consult with a health care professional near you for individualized health advice.
Please comment below or share if you find this helpful, and tag a friend who looks like they could grow their calves! 👊🏼

🔸TIGHT OR PAINFUL TRICEPS🔸
Sometimes a couple of weeks after an arm bar or after a heavier push or press day at the gym, your triceps will feel tight. This can be due to a muscle guarding reaction (in the case of an arm bar) or just tension from accumulated exercise stress.
We also don’t tend to stretch our triceps enough, but they are important to keep mobile as they have attachments to both the elbow and shoulder. Your radial nerve also runs through your triceps. Thus, tight triceps can certainly restrict your upper limb function and mobility.
So, if you have posterior elbow discomfort, it could be due to tight triceps. Here is a quick stretch and lacrosse ball release that you can do against the wall!
As always, this is for educational purposes only and not intended to be medical advice.
I recommend to see a physiotherapist near you to diagnose the cause of your pain.
Tag a friend who still has elbow pain 👊🏼

🔸DYNAMIC HIP OPENERS🔸 These are my three favourite dynamic lower body warmups!

1️⃣ LUNGE ROCK: Rock forward into a lunge stretch for the hip flexors, then rock back into a hamstring stretch
2️⃣ FROG ROCK: Start in a frog stretch, then rock back into a unilateral groin stretch. Repeat on other side.
3️⃣ WORLD’S GREATEST STRETCH: Inhale and reach across your body, then exhale as your rotate towards the ceiling

I like to do 4-6 of each, holding each for about 10 seconds. If you like to also do these stretches after exercising, then I recommend to hold longer-30 seconds for relief, or up to 2 minutes if you want a more permanent tissue length change.
Tag a friend who complains about tight hips!

🔸DO YOUR KNEES FEEL TOO TIGHT TO KNEEL OR LUNGE?🔸Long after a knee injury or surgery, many patients still struggle with their knee range-of-motion with kneeling or lunging. These patients commonly report a sensation of “pressure” or “tightness” in or around the knee.
This sensation can be due to a variety of issues, including but not limited to a bit of fluid or tissue restriction/irritation in the joint. One technique that can help with this is to use a rolled towel to provide some traction to the joint.
You can do this in a progressive stretch, as I demonstrate in the first video, or with a folded towel or belt in a dynamic manner, as I demonstrate.
If your restriction is with the lunge motion, you can apply the same concept to that movement, as per the last demonstration in the video.
However, as always, I recommend to consult a health care professional near you to identify the cause of your restriction and provide you with individualized treatment plan. Recall that this is a general educational video and not necessarily appropriate for you.
Please comment or share if you find this helpful!

🔸ACUTE KIMURA REHAB🔸 A kimura submission targets the glenohumeral joint (a.k.a the shoulder joint) by forcing it into internal rotation. The structures that are often injured are: parts of the anterior glenohumeral ligaments; the rotator cuff (often the supraspinatus and infraspinatus or teres minor); the labrum; and with aggressive kimuras, there can be a fracture of the humerus. Note that this video does not apply to acute fractures nor shoulder dislocations. You should be at the hospital or in urgent care if you suspect a fracture or experienced a significant dislocation.
Symptoms in the acute stage of a soft-tissue kimura injury (ie. injury to the rotator cuff or ligaments) are typically pain and a loss of mobility, particularly with lifting the arm. The first stage of rehab is to restore range-of-motion (ROM) manage pain, regain muscle activation and proprioception. Examples of exercises to help this, as shown in the video , are:
1️⃣ WALL CRAWL (flexion and scaption angles) ; 8-10 reps, 3x/day
2️⃣ ACTIVE-ASSISTED ROM (into flexion, scaption, and external rotation);
8-10 reps, 3x/day
3️⃣ ISOMETRIC ABDUCTION (5 x 10sec, 3x/day)
4️⃣ ISOMETRIC EXTERNAL ROTATION (5x10sec, 3x/day)
5️⃣ BALL CIRCLES ON WALL (10 circles/direction, 3x/day)
Remember that the exercises should be pain-free, and they may not all be right for you.
DISCLAIMER: Recall that this video is for educational purposes and not intended to function as medical advice. As always, I strongly encourage anyone with an acute injury to consult a health care professional in person for a proper diagnosis.
Tag a friend who needs this!

🔸ARM BAR REHAB- PHASE 2🔸After the initial pain has settled down and active elbow movements do not hurt, which generally occurs around week 2 post-injury, rehab can be progressed to add gradual load.
I generally recommend to start the exercises below with resistance bands for 7-10 days, then progress to free weights when the heaviest band feels comfortable or easy. If you only own free weights, start with the lightest or improvise with items such as a full thermos. I used both a band and dumbbells in the video just to demonstrate options.
1️⃣ ELBOW EXTENSION (neutral grip, as in palm facing inwards)
2️⃣ WRIST FLEXION
3️⃣ SUPINATION/PRONATION
4️⃣ BICEP CURL-I recommend to not go to full extension for the first week of doing this with a dumbbell.
As always, these are general educational guidelines and not intended to replace individual medical advice. I recommend that you consult with a physical therapist to progress your rehab appropriately for your unique situation.
Tag that training partner you arm barred! 👊🏼
Please share or comment if you found this helpful!

This last minute idea became my favourite project of the year because it has reminded me of how rad my patients are and how lucky I am to know them! 💛
My primary goal as a physiotherapist is to help my patients achieve their goals, so I ask every patient what their goals are. The answers have included everything from sensory goals (eg. decreasing pain, resolving numbness), objective goals (eg. increasing mobility or strength), functional goals (eg. putting on pants, play with grandkids, active pregnancy), to performance goals (eg. compete, race), and preventative goals (eg. healthy aging, avoiding surgery). These are all great objectives of course.
So, I decided to highlight a few of the goals that my patients aimed for and achieved this year because I am so dang proud of them! (I am also very proud of everyone not in this reel by the way-I couldn’t fit everyone in! I’ll catch you next year!)
I cannot wait to see what next year brings! Happy New Year!