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3 Reasons Strong Glutes are Important
What do your glutes do? There are different glutes; three to be exact: gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Together, these muscles are responsible for hip extension, internal rotation, and abduction of the hip. The glute medius and minimus work together to promote hip abduction and prevent hip adduction. These muscle come in most handy when…
Read MoreWhat is Contract-Relax Stretching?
What is Contract-Relax Stretching? Contract-relax stretching is a form of PNF stretching. PNF stands for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. What does that mean? It means that it uses natural reflexes to further the stretching response. In contract-relax stretching, you must first isometrically contract the opposite muscle. Then after contracting, try to further stretch the intended target. For…
Read MoreFront Squat Vs. Back Squat: How do they differ?
So many people at the gym are performing both front squats and back squats, without ever really understanding the difference. How are they different? What muscles do they elicit? While all squats generally elicit the same muscles, the different lies in which are fired more during which movement. The muscles of squat we will investigate…
Read MoreWhy Should I Train in Quadruped?
WHAT IS QUADRUPED? Quadruped is the position where both hands and knees are on the ground. It is the starting position of crawling that all children do. When young babies are learning to walk, quadruped helps them develop curves in their spine and core strength. For adults, there are so many more reasons to add…
Read MoreThe Difference between Exercise Variation and Movement Variation
This piece explains what exercise variation and movement variation are, and how they can help or hurt your training if not implemented appropriately. WHAT IS EXERCISE VARIATION? Exercise variation is exactly what it sounds like. It means you do a bunch of different kinds of exercises. Exercise variation can be in reference to one workout, or…
Read MoreCan Exercise cause Happiness?
What do I need to know about the brain? Before we tell you: does exercise cause happiness, Let’s learn a little about the brain. The brain has a bunch of nerves that “talk to each other”. Basically, these nerves communicate by passing notes. Notes, in the brain, are chemicals called neurotransmitters. So, these notes (or neurotransmitters)…
Read MoreWhat is so important about the spine?
What makes up the spine? There are 3 major elements that make up the spine: 1. vertebrae: The vertebrae are the bones that make up the spine. These bone’s primary purpose is to provide a hard protective layer around the spinal cord. They also provide an attachment point for the arms, and legs to the center…
Read MoreShoulder stability, why do we need it?
Shoulder stability is important for developing and maintaining healthy shoulders. Before we get into why it is important, let’s look at some shoulder basics. When people think of the shoulder they think of a ball-and-socket joint made up of the arm bone (humerus) and shoulder blade (scapula). However, the shoulder is so much more complex.…
Read MoreEccentrics for tendinopathy?
What is tendinopathy? “Tendinopathy” is an umbrella term for any painful condition going on within a tendon. And remember, tendons are what connect muscles to their origins and insertions on bones. These types of conditions come about from things like overuse injuries – like “runner’s knee”, which stems from overuse of the patellar tendon from…
Read MoreWhat’s the deal with foam rolling?
Perhaps one of the biggest buzzwords in the fitness and physical therapy communities is foam rolling. Isn’t that what everyone recommends doing these days? Walk into any gym and you’ll see foam rollers of all shapes and sizes. Chances are, you probably even have one tucked away in your closet or the corner of your…
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