EquiPhysio - Alison Barr, MPT

Hey everyone! I'm taking a step back from Facebook, which is why this page hasn't had updates in a long time. But feel free to continue to message me, and of course book in to see me at the clinic. I'm always happy to hear from you!

A great post! The "healing times" portion I'm less sold on, but the general info is great!

🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️ “Most injuries occur from doing too much too fast after doing too little for too long.”
Thanks for the great quote.

🤔 Tis the season - gym memberships go through the roof, the lycra gets dusted off, the rowing machine stops being a clothes horse, people start pounding the streets........ 🏃‍♀️🏋️🚴‍♀️🤸

🙈 And then in the next few weeks the physio clinic waiting lists go up as all the injuries occur!! 🤕

So here’s my advice:

➡️ If you are new to exercise build up slowly.

➡️ Find an exercise programme you like, you are much more likely to stick to it.

➡️ If you have an injury you are recovering from seek physiotherapy advice before starting a new exercise regime.

➡️ If you are short on time but want to improve your fitness and strength, use resistance training.

➡️ If you want to lose weight you MUST reduce your calorie intake as well as doing exercise.

➡️ It’s never too late to start exercising - I have clients using the bungi from 13 years old up to 80 years old.

Want to do exercise to improve your riding?

✅ The Activate Your Seat exercise programmes are specific, targeted exercises designed by a specialist physiotherapist for horse riders.

✅ Using the resistance of the bungi we target all the muscles of the seat improving your strength, suppleness and balance in the saddle.

✅ Portable and practical - the bungi secures into any door frame so you can do your exercises at home, at the yard, at shows, anywhere, and all year, not just January 😉

🌟 To purchase your bungi and receive a link and password to the online exercise video head to www.activateyourseat.com 🌟

💥 DOMS - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness 💥

So in a bid to combat my laziness and my cheese addiction over Christmas, two days ago I did two sets of level 1 Activate Your Seat in the bungi, followed by three sets of level 2. Yesterday I had an amazing but tough flatwork lesson and today I’m feeling it in my abs and glutes!!

So what is DOMS??

➡️ Delayed onset muscle soreness is the muscle stiffness and pain you feel 24 and 48 hours after doing higher intensity exercise than your body has been used to.

➡️ It’s not a bad thing. It usually means you’ve done something right and that your fitness and strength journey is progressing.

➡️ We used to think it was a lactic acid build up in the muscles but we now know that is a myth.

✅ DOMS is actually due to micro tears and inflammation in muscles that have been overworked. It usually peaks up to 48 hours as blood cells rush to the inflamed area to heal the micro tears.

✅ The whole idea of resistance training is to create these micro tears in the main muscle groups so that they recover stronger and firmer and able to produce more power.

🤔 How can we aid recovery??

➡️ Static stretching has been shown to be of no use to aid DOMS.

➡️ Gentle exercise such as swimming or walking or yoga is of much more use.

➡️ Some people swear by Epsom salt baths whilst top athletes often use ice baths post exercise 🥶

➡️ Usually after 48 hours your body has sorted itself out and is ready to go again 💪

Anyone else working off the Christmas cheese yet???

This is so true! Bad MRI or xray results can be really scary, but are not the whole picture. Getting assessed by a registered physiotherapist can help you get a better understanding of your findings and what improvements you may be able to get :)

Such a great summary of the basics on back pain!

💥💥 RIDER BACK PAIN WEEK 💥💥

This week we’re talking all things back pain in riders. This is the first in a series of posts. Tonight is an overview of back pain facts 😊

✅ Back pain is common and normal

80% of people will experience an episode of back pain at some stage in their lives. Back pain is like getting tired or feeling sad, it’s not great when it happens but it does happen to almost everyone.

✅ Most episodes of back pain improve quickly

That’s the good news. Most episodes of back pain are as a result of simple sprains and strains and the prognosis is excellent. Most people will make a full recovery within a few weeks and almost 85% of people will be fully recovered within three months. Only a small percentage go on to have long term, disabling conditions.

✅ Pain does NOT reflect tissue damage

All the recent research evidence shows us that pain does not reflect tissue damage but is a complex and highly sophisticated protective mechanism. Pain is actually an output of our brain. Our bodies contain specialised nerves which detect changes in temperature, chemical balance or pressure. These danger detectors send alerts to the brain but they cannot send pain signals, only the brain can do that.

✅ Pain is all about protection

Pain is as a result of our brains evaluating information, including the danger data from this specialised detection system, our expectations, previous pain exposure, our beliefs, as well as our cultural and social norms. Our brains correlate all this information and come up with a “best guess” scenario based on this information. So, as Lorimer Mosley a leading pain scientist says, pain depends on how much danger your brain THINKS you are in not how much danger you are actually in. Anything that suggests you need protecting brings pain up and anything that suggests you don’t brings pain down.

✅ Pain and tissue state are poorly correlated

You can have major pain without major tissue damage. Think of when you have cut your finger or sprained your ankle - these things stop hurting WAY before the tissue is back to normal physically.

✅ We are amazingly adaptable

The longer we have pain, the longer our nervous and immune systems learn to make pain. But we can retrain the nervous system.

✅ Movement is key

Movement gradually suppresses the pain system. Exercise has been shown to be THE best modality in the treatment of acute and chronic back pain. Studies have shown long term benefit in a wide variety of exercise, including resistance training. No one exercise type has been shown to be better than another so find what you like and can tolerate, and build up as you can.

I'm trying to gauge the interest in in-clinic education sessions for equestrians! They would be free, for groups of 6-8 people, approximately 1.5 hours on an evening, held at Eclipse Physiotherapy. Is this something you would want to attend? What subjects would interest you the most? Core, stretching, strength training?

Welcome to Eclipse Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic Our goal is to provide​ the highest level of physiotherapy services to all members of the community. We utilize treatments supported by current evidence based research. We believe in approaching treatment with strong emphasis on manual and manipulative therapy combined with exercise and education....

This is generally how I do massage ball releases, and a lovely explanation of how to sue them!

Using a tennis ball for self massage (or self myofascial release as it’s known) is an amazingly effective and cheap way to release knots and tension within the body. Simply trap the ball between your body and something else… like the floor or a wall. This can be used on any part of the body that you are feeling tightness.

Ok so this is the ‘fun’ part… you are looking for the painful spots. Yes I said painful. But what I actually mean is those spots that are uncomfortable when you press on them. You’ll know when you find them. *

When you find a spot, hold the ball in place with sustained pressure (or alternatively you can ‘milk’ the area by moving a couple of mm over the area).

Put enough pressure on so that you are reaching around a 7-8/10 on the discomfort scale. Breathe. Relax into the ball. Let your muscles release. Drop your shoulders.

Hold until the discomfort reduces to around 2-3/10. This sometimes takes around 2-3 minutes. If it still hasn’t dropped after this time come off and try a different spot. **

Listen to your body and stop if anything feels “not right.” It should feel like a ‘good’ pain. Again, you’ll know what I mean when you hit the right spots ;-)

* If you’re not sure if you have or not, chances are you haven’t!

**Use the 10 second rule….if the pain INCREASES after 10 seconds and you haven’t increased the pressure then this could be more of an acute injury to the tissues. This doesn’t need massage. It needs time to heal.

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For videos on how to move freely, be sure to subscribe to my channel here on Youtube: https://goo.gl/gXNqWR

For blog posts and articles, head over to my website: https://goo.gl/gXNqWR

A fun challenge, and a good warm up for no stirrup November!

🌟RIDER CHALLENGE🌟⁠
⁠
“SIT FOR TWO, RISE FOR TWO”⁠
📌To improve your coordination, balance, leg stability, and rhythm in the rising trot try sitting for two beats, and rising for two beats during the trot (instead of rising/sitting with every beat). ⁠
👉🏻How controlled are you in your descent from rising? ⁠
👉🏻Do you rely on your reins for balance? ⁠
👉🏻Can you keep your leg still when you go from rising to sitting and vice versa? ⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
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🏇🏻🏋🏼‍♀️⚙️EQUESTRIAN BIOMECHANICS ⁠
www.equestrianbiomechanics.info⁠
__⁠

Dressage Today Online - Susanne von Dietze - The Rider's Seat Lecture Long-time Dressage Today contributor Susanne von Dietze takes us through an unmounted session where she describes the use of the rider’s seat and leads auditors...

This is so true!

A very interesting post about the anatomical differences between men and women, and why we need very different saddles!

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Vanessa this week! It's lovely to meet a yoga instructor who knows the importance of flexibility and strength for riding, and to have another resource for riders in the lower mainland!

A nice movement sequence with some great exercises!

I do this short sequence a lot, it takes less than 10 minutes, moves you in all directions and strengthens and mobilises at the same time. It’s perfect to prepare you for riding or equally good to mobilise you and lift your energy if you have been sitting a lot. 😃 Click on the link at it will take you to the full article.
https://equipoisepilates.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/helen-fletcher-january-2018.pdf

I'm creating a FAQ section for Eclipse's webpage. What would you most want to know about in clinic equestrian assessments?

A very interesting view of the way a horse bends through their neck and ribcage!

Dorsal view (www.horsesinsideout.com)

What Horses Used to Eat: Feeding Horses, 1856 | BioStar US Considering what we know about feeding horses today, it's fascinating to do a little compare-and-contrast with Stewart's 1856 observations.

Do you know what neutral posture feels like? This is a great way to work on finding it on the ground!

How to Develop Ideal Posture on Horseback | HORSE NATION How does one achieve ideal posture on horseback? By practicing -- on the ground! This excerpt from The Dressage Seat by Anja Beran details a great standing...

A great post about our deep hip muscles!

I just submitted the first of 5 new articles for Horse Canada in 2019. This year's articles will focus on specific riding flaws, and simple exercises to help correct them. Keep your eyes peeled!

Stop the Tilt I’m sure you’ve heard me say the phrase “stay straight on circles” or being equal left to right. Perhaps you are aware of it on yourself or as you watch other people that there is a tilt or a shift of the ribcage in an otherwise beautiful position. Firstly, why does it matter? Any deviation ...

Exciting news, we now have a saddle stand in the clinic! This allows you to have hands on feedback on your posture, and practice exercises to apply while riding. Come in to get your riding posture assessed!

A good read!

This is an absolute must read for every horse owner and especially those with younger horses!
People can certainly debate and argue over different training techniques and styles but we can not argue the science.

"Owners and trainers need to realize there's a definite, easy-to-remember schedule of fusion - and then make their decision as to when to ride the horse based on that rather than on the external appearance of the horse.
For there are some breeds of horse - the Quarter Horse is the premier among these - which have been bred in such a manner as to LOOK mature long before they actually ARE mature. This puts these horses in jeopardy from people who are either ignorant of the closure schedule, or more interested in their own schedule (for futurities or other competitions) than they are in the welfare of the animal.

The process of fusion goes from the bottom up. In other words, the
lower down toward the hoofs you look, the earlier the growth plates will have fused; and the higher up toward the animal's back you look, the later. The growth plate at the top of the coffin bone (the most distal bone of the limb) is fused at birth. What this means is that the coffin bones get no TALLER after birth (they get much larger around, though, by another mechanism). That's the first one. In order after that:

2. Short pastern - top & bottom between birth and 6 mos.
3. Long pastern - top & bottom between 6 mos. And 1 yr.
4. Cannon bone - top & bottom between 8 mos. And 1.5 yrs.
5. Small bones of knee - top & bottom on each, between 1.5 and 2.5 yrs.
6. Bottom of radius-ulna - between 2 and 2.5 yrs.
7. Weight-bearing portion of glenoid notch at top of radius - between 2.5 and 3 yrs.
8. Humerus - top & bottom, between 3 and 3.5 yrs.
9. Scapula - glenoid or bottom (weight-bearing) portion - between 3.5 and 4 yrs.
10. Hindlimb - lower portions same as forelimb
11. Hock - this joint is "late" for as low down as it is; growth plates on the tibial & fibular tarsals don't fuse until the animal is four (so
the hocks are a known "weak point" - even the 18th-century literature warns against driving young horses in plow or other deep or sticky footing, or jumping them up into a heavy load, for danger of spraining their hocks)
12. Tibia - top & bottom, between 2.5 and 3 yrs.
13. Femur - bottom, between 3 and 3.5 yrs.; neck, between 3.5 and 4 yrs.; major and 3rd trochanters, between 3 and 3.5 yrs.
14. Pelvis - growth plates on the points of hip, peak of croup (tubera sacrale), and points of buttock (tuber ischii), between 3 and 4 yrs.

and what do you think is last? The vertebral column, of course. A
normal horse has 32 vertebrae between the back of the skull and the root of the dock, and there are several growth plates on each one, the most important of which is the one capping the centrum.

These do not fuse until the horse is at least 5 1/2 years old (and this figure applies to a small-sized, scrubby, range-raised mare. The taller your horse and the longer its neck, the later full fusion will occur. And for a male - is this a surprise? -- You add six months. So, for example, a 17-hand TB or Saddlebred or WB gelding may not be fully mature until his 8th year - something that
owners of such individuals have often told me that they "suspected" ).

The lateness of vertebral "closure" is most significant for two
reasons.
One: in no limb are there 32 growth plates!
Two: The growth plates in the limbs are (more or less) oriented perpendicular to the stress of the load passing through them, while those of the vertebral chain are oriented parallel to weight placed upon the horse's back.

Bottom line: you can sprain a horse's back (i.e., displace the
vertebral growth plates) a lot more easily than you can sprain those located in the limbs.

And here's another little fact: within the chain of vertebrae, the
last to fully "close" are those at the base of the animal's neck
(that's why the long-necked individual may go past 6 yrs. to achieve
full maturity). So you also have to be careful - very careful - not to
yank the neck around on your young horse, or get him in any situation where he strains his neck."

Dr. Deb Bennett

ABOUT DR. DEB: Deb Bennett, Ph.D., is a 1984 graduate of the University of Kansas, and until 1992 was with the Smithsonian Institution. She is known as an authority on the classification, evolution, anatomy, and biomechanics of fossil and living horses. Her research interests include the history of domestication and world bloodlines and breeds. She teaches unique anatomy short-courses and horsemanship clinics designed to be enjoyable to riders of all breeds and disciplines, and all levels of skill.

Internationally known for her scientific approach to conformation analysis, "Dr. Deb" has made a career out of conveying a kind of "X-ray vision" for bone structure to breeders and buyers. Her background in biomechanics helps her clearly explain how conformation relates to performance ability. Dr. Deb's clinics often feature real bones and interesting biomechanical models.

Very interesting, especially given the heat lately!

A strongly worded article, but very interesting!

Jim Wofford: Noseband Tightness Scientific studies show there is no place in horse sports for tight nosebands and unstable galloping positions.

If you come see me at Eclipse Physiotherapy for acupuncture, I promise I won't use bees!

Woman dies from bee-sting therapy that Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow promote Doctors say repeated stings boost risks; it’s “both unsafe and unadvisable.”

Exciting news! All of my in clinic services are now being offered through Eclipse Physiotherapy in Langley! This is an exciting change to a newer facility with all private rooms and a larger gym area. Conveniently located close to the Costco in Langley, this location is more accessible for clients in the Langley/Aldergrove/Abbotsford area. There have been no changes to the services available. Check out Eclipse Physiotherapy’s website, or give us a call at (604) 510-9111!

Welcome to Eclipse Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic Our goal is to provide​ the highest level of physiotherapy services to all members of the community. We utilize treatments supported by current evidence based research. We believe in approaching treatment with strong emphasis on manual and manipulative therapy combined with exercise and education....

Today at the Ingrid Kimke Masterclass it was exciting that someone asked about Ingrid's fitness routine, and even more exciting that it includes weekly physiotherapy! Thanks for a great event,

EquiPhysio - Alison Barr, MPT updated their address.