Weekly Recap 8/10 - 8/17

This week we kick things off with a youtube video from Calgary Barbell about how to “Get Over Your Fear of Lifting Heavy Weights” and how Bryce has used certain techniques for his lifters in helping them manage their fear. The article of the week is The Barbell Medicine Guide to Osteoarthritis which dives into myths and misinformation about osteoarthritis. These ideas often lead to poor management of this condition, resulting in decreases in quality of life compared to what can be achieved with more effective approaches. 

Our first social media post of the week is Dr. Michelle Boland’s post about how words matter and how both coaches and athletes need to be aware of the narrative. To conclude, we have a post from Nick Hannah about how Instagram Rehab is just a glimpse of the real rehab world and how, like most things on Instagram, the process is not only what we see through the social media lens.

Video of the Week

“Get Over Your Fear of Lifting Heavy Weights”

Article of the Week

The Barbell Medicine Guide to Osteoarthritis

Have you ever been told you have “arthritis” in one of your joints? Do you know anyone who said they have “bad knees” or who underwent surgery to replace a joint? Given how common osteoarthritis (OA) is across the world, the odds are that the answer to at least one of these questions is “yes”.

If you have experience with this condition, you may be wondering what can be done about it. Unfortunately, myths and misinformation about osteoarthritis are pervasive and persistent. These ideas often lead to poor management of this condition, resulting in decreases in quality of life compared to what can be achieved with more effective approaches. In this article we hope to provide education about the topic, dispel common myths about osteoarthritis, and provide some of these more effective strategies to gain control over its impact on your life.

Read More

Instagram Posts of the Week

Experiences from a client & personal friend: "I suffered from chronic back pain (often debilitating). While I sought out medical experts for help, I often received the following messages: "Lower spine too straight, core weak, pelvis tipped" "Don't lift heavy things" "Move carefully" "Quads too tight" "Not enough flexibility in lower back and hamstrings" Then I added knee pain to the mix and heard messages, such as "Pilates damaged your knees" "No more running. Stick to low impact. Learn to love your bike." "Protect your knees" Scoping surgeries made things worse with secondary infections and lack of outcomes during therapy led to significant muscle atrophy, as well as changed gait. Then the migraines: "Too tense, nervous system too hyped up" "Relax more, take medicines" Then the frozen shoulder: "There is no reason for women to lift overhead. Too much strain on shoulders." Lastly, as many of these things overlapped, a profound fear of movement and exploration developed. I believed for a very long time that I was unlikely to be fixed - just needed to learn how to live with a mission to prevent injury and pain. Life becomes quite limited under these circumstances. I finally sought out a training facility with the hope of strengthening my leg. I had so much fear towards movement and I made it clear that I did not want to, nor did I think I was capable of squatting or deadlifting. I KNEW I shouldn't press anything overhead or do any pullups. I shouldn't do triceps dips either. Step-ups and jumps were completely off the table! However, the narrative changed at this facility and trainers towards a vision of my capabilities and not my limitations. Now I deadlift like a boss. I can do split squats, step-ups, tricep dips, and overhead press with confidence. Look at me now 😁!" Change the narrative to BUILD RESILIENCE THROUGH LANGUAGE. Learn strategies to improve our standards of communication ‪Wednesday August 19th 9:30-10:30pm EST‬ for a FREE Webinar. Sign-up using the link in my profile.

[INSTAGRAM REHAB IS NOT REAL REHAB] . . . Decided this is going to be a once/year re-post. It needs to be said and repeated. If you are a consumer of health information through social media this is especially important for you. . Social media is a tricky space: there is at least as much bad health misinformation as there is evidence-based good information. At face value it can be very difficult to discern the difference. . But that isn't what I'm talking about. Even the most well intentioned rehab posts on social media AT BEST only show you snippets (usually all the positive ones) and generalities of a REAL rehab process, and seriously lack individual context. And I'll be the first to admit: I DO THIS TOO. . You see, when you scroll through social media and see stuff like: 'Low Back Pain Rehab Exercises,' 'Communication Tips' 'Exercises for _____ pain' '4 Reasons you're in pain' etc. these might have some relevance clinically to SOMEBODY, but may NOT have relevance to YOU or your individual situation. . Rehab needs to have an individual assessment, an individual plan, and individually catered information: based on your lifestyle, your history and your own knowledge and goals etc. More importantly, there needs to be FOLLOW-UP and CHANGES made if things aren't going well. . Looking up general exercises online and 'trying them' for your ______ problem is NOT rehab, and it never will be. . Here are some other very real aspects of rehabilitation that rarely if ever get shown online: . Mistakes and failures. (We're all perfect online didn't you know). Clients who show up for one appointment but never come back. Mountains and mountains of paperwork and charting. Education and communication that doesn't go well. Frustrated clients in a flare up. . This list goes on. . I sometimes wonder if we are inadvertently creating a new generation of client who will try every exercise they see online for months on end before going to get individual help. Perhaps delaying what could have otherwise been a simple solution, but has now evolved to be more complex. . Who knows. . Make moves. . Nick Hannah, PT Registered Physiotherapist