Rich Knight Performance

Don't neglect your feet!
Here is a simple foot release for you to try.
• Get yourself a ball such as a tennis ball and place it on the floor. Take your foot and flex (curl) your toes placing your foot on top of the ball.... • Press down onto the ball, essentially pinning the tissue in place. • Extend the toes and feel the stretch • Repeat... This can also be done from a seated position.
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Here is another simple way to help the tibialis anterior muscle, at the front of the shin which contributes to shin splints!
TECHNIQUE • This muscle sits right next to your shin bone. Bend your knee and place the muscle on top of a foam roller as pictured.
... • Place your hands on the floor directly under your shoulders and flag your opposite leg behind you and slightly out to the side for stabilisation.
• Roll up and down slowly finding areas of tension and holding in place as you do so- make sure you are keeping the pressure on your tibialis rather than the shin bone.
• You can add movement to this technique by moving your foot from planter flexion to dorsiflexion (up and down) as you roll.
• To add more pressure, use your bodyweight to lean into the roller more.
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Following on from yesterdays shin splint post. This is a great release for the tibialis posterior and those suffering from shin splints on the inside of the shin bone!
TECHNIQUE
• This muscle sits on the inside of your shin bone. While sitting on a chair bend the leg you wish to treat over your other one.
... • Keep your foot plantar flexed or toes pointing downwards and with a tennis ball place it on the tibialis posterior.
• Apply pressure onto the ball in order to pin it to the muscle and then move your ankle into dorsiflexion and extend the big toe. Which means bringing your foot towards the shin bone.
• This is not in the video but other then taking the foot up and down, you can also do circles with your ankle while the ball is pinning the muscle down.
• Work through the entire portion of the inside of the shin bone, and if you require more pressure simply press the ball in a little harder!
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Another strong lockdown contender for most annoying niggle is ***SHIN SPLINTS!!!***
Shin splints are term we use to describe pain along either the inside or outside of the shin. There are two types that people suffer from..
Anterior shin splints are located through the front (or yes the anterior as name states) part of the shin. They tend to involved several muscles including the more commonly known tibias anterior and extensor digitorum longus. Both muscles play a role in do...rsiflexing the ankle. If you are suffering from pain while flexing the ankle while keeping your heel on the ground then anterior shin splints could be a possibility.
Posterior shin splints are the most common type I tend to treat. This is where it affects the medial/posterior part of the lower leg, or the inside of the shin bone. Again I find several muscles contribute to this issues including the tibialis posterior, flexor digitorum longus and flexor hallicus longus. The tibialis posterior for example has a role to play in planter flexion of the ankle which basically means pointing your toes downwards. Other than these muscles being overused, when they are weak they can lead to issues such as your arch collapsing which in turn will cause stress upon the shin bone.
***Causes of shins splints?***
There are many aspects to the cause of this, but the biggest issue I see is purely overuse which I why so many people tend to suffer from this during their pre season whether it be for football, or start of their marathon training. People simply do too much too soo! So here is a list of some common reasons why… You may be able to help yourself just by identifying these yourself!
• Doing too much too soon • Insufficient rest between training sessions • Poor footwear • Running or training on hard surfaces - again fulls into a lot of pre seasons where most people return to action towards the end of summer when the ground is solid! • Weight gain • Certain medications • Tight calfs and hamstrings • A while host of biomechanics issues - which are best assessed by a professional.
***Symptoms***
• Pain along either side of the shin bone when touched. • A dull aching pain in the front of the lower leg, particularly when moving. • Depending on the severity of the problem you can go from having pain which disappears during activity, pain which comes back after activity, pain that actually gets worse during activity and then when its really bad you’re in pain all the time!!
I posted a few videos last week which could help and will post a few extra ones soon :)
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Lets go into the weekend with a decent calf stretch!
• Get on all fours. Knees are under hips and hands under shoulders giving you a nice stable position. • Extend one leg back and lower it placing your toes on the floor. • Shift your hips back flexing the foot which will stretch the calf muscle.
... This is a great way to stretch the calf without having to use a wall or an object to help you. Nice if your having a stretch in the garden in the nice weather! :)
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Following on from yesterdays calf video..
Most of us have an idea of how to foam roll the gastroc muscle, or calf muscle to most. How about the deeper muscle of the calf? Here is how to perform a soleus release!
• Lay on your back.... • Place your leg on top of a chair or a workout bench which will get you as close as possible to a 90 degree angle with the knee. This helps relax the gastrocnemius. • Put the ball under the calf. • For extra pressure place the other leg over the one you are working on. • To apply a pin and stretch you can pull foot towards you.
If you enjoy these videos please drop me a like and a share!
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So our first video is a simple calf (gastroc) release with a foam roller or massage ball. I will post another one later on for the soleus muscle!
• Sit on the ground with one leg straight (knee locked) and calf atop of the roller, the other leg should be bent with your foot level with your opposite knee. Ideally using your arms, press yourself up so that your glutes are raised off of the floor, use them to lever yourself when rolling. • Roll your calf back and forth along, ke...eping the knee locked if possible. • Focus the pressure on the medial (middle) and lateral (outer) portions of the gastrocnemius. • To further increase pressure and make this more effective, you can actively pull your toes upwards toward towards your shin which will place the gastrocnemius on stretch. Then move the foot up and down (dorsiflexion and plantaflexion). • You can place your other leg over the leg you are working on to increase the pressure.
If you are finding these videos useful, please like and share.
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I have been quiet the last few weeks, spending lots of time with the family, enjoying my garden and taking the positives out of a bad situation!
Lots of people are exercising now. Many of whom would not have done so before. This leads to those lockdown niggles! the two biggest issues people are asking for advice are calf injuries and shin splints! So I will be posting some helpful videos to aid you!
Please like and share these posts if you find them helpful, and if you want a...
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I posted this a while back, but in the current climate it might be beneficial for those of you who are stuck, or working from home. The last thing you want to do is be sitting around the house doing nothing!
Im more then happy to put together an upper body one should people want it! Remember I have plenty of videos on this page for people to take a look at :)
The exercises I show here are...
... - Foot release - Foam rolling Calfs - Foam rolling Quads and Adductos - Foam rolling glutes - Goalie/Frog stretch - Cossack Squats - Hip flexor stretch - Pigeon Stretch - Calf Stretch - Hamstrings
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Here is a little groin stretch for you
- Get into a half kneeling position and place one knee on a block or a cushion. - Create a slight posterior pelvic tilt, and don’t arch lower back - Swing your other leg out to the side.... - Move the knee over the toes to stretch the groin - Repeat as required
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This exercise is used to eccentrically load the tricep muscles and will minimise the concentric part of the movement which is great for dealing with tendon injuries. 💪🏼
If you’re suffering from elbow pain or something such as ‘tennis elbow’ you want to work below your pain threshold.
Eccentric training are great for strengthening muscles and the connective tissue which can help lower future risk of injury. It can be used as a treatment for enhancing and stimulating tendon hea...ling. It can also help improve flexibility due to the stretch it gives the muscle!
This exercise is a great way to target the long head of the triceps along with the medial and short head.
I like to use 3-6 second eccentrics (lowering of the weight) and its not one to go too heavy with especially if you are not use to them! Be prepared for DOMs (muscle soreness) the following day 😅
If your doing this at home you can also do this while laying on the floor
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REST DAYS - With it being March, I hope your training this year has been going well. Whether you're training for a marathon, an OCR event, or just looking to trim up for your summer holiday REST DAYS are very important!!!
1. Your muscles need REST! So you have been training hard in the gym since the start of the year. Essentially with your weight lifting you have been tearing those muscle fibres up. If you're that person who has not taken a day off, then ultimately you have n...ot given your muscles time to repair and grow! Its not about no pain, no gain so if your muscles are permanently sore then you know it's time to take a day or two out.
2. Prevent injury! Yes rest can be beneficial at preventing injury. One of the most common problems I come across in clinic is 'over use' injuries. This is down to repeating the same movements over and over again. There is only so much of this your body can take.. A good example of this is when people start a new running program and developed shin splints. This is especially common at this time of the year when people go from doing little or no exercise to running every day as part of their new years resolutions. Your intentions are good but listen to your body :)
3. Help your immune system! During this new period of activity your immune system plays a role in your recovery. Exercise will improve your immune system but too much can actually have the opposite effect. If your feeling run down and have a cold that’s been hanging around longer than normal, then some rest might be needed.
4. Sleep! Are you suffering from lack of sleep or waking up feeling un-refreshed? Under recovery from exercise could play role in this.
5. Improved performance! Yes, funny as it might sound taking a day or two off could boost your performance! It generally takes a few weeks of non activity for most people to really notice it effecting your gains!
6. Lack of motivation Some beginners in particular after a period of time will develop a lack of motivation and will begin to resent exercising! If you're hitting it hard every day i'm not surprised. Its just like an all you can eat buffet... always seems like a great idea, but by the end you wish you hadn't eaten those extra 3 plates of food… 👀 This article is not an attempt to put you off training, it's far from it. Its abut longevity. Training should be fun and not end up becoming a chore!
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Lets go over the 90/90 exercise for improved hip mobility.
There are many variations, add ons and ways to increase the difficulty of this exercise. Just hanging out within a 90/90 position has benefits in itself. This is a quick video for the version I most commonly use myself.
It’s a fantastic tool for hip mobility and can help improve both internal and external hip rotation, and in turn improving your hips mobility can help relieve that ongoing back back you have been suffe...ring with!
- To get into the 90/90 position, sit on the floor with your lead leg directly in front of you, at a 90 degree angle. Your trailing leg should be to the side also be bent to 90 degrees. Hence the name 90/90 - When you're in the position, if you’re on the less mobile side you can lean back slightly onto your hands for support. This will make moving from one side to the other easier. The more practice you put in the easier it will become and the aim eventually will be using no hands! - If you can, lean forward keeping your chest up high, you should get a deep stretch in your lead leg through your glute muscles. - As described in the video the aim of the game is to go from one side to the other so that your lead leg will go from external to internal rotation and your trailing leg the opposite!
If you feel any pinching or sharp pain while doing this don’t force the movement.
If you want to start off with something even more easy then you can check out my ‘seated hip wiper’ video for example.
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Lets go over the 90/90 exercise for improved hip mobility.
There are many variations, add ons and ways to increase the difficulty of this exercise. Just hanging out within a 90/90 position has benefits in itself. This is a quick video for the version I most commonly use myself.
It’s a fantastic tool for hip mobility and can help improve both internal and external hip rotation, and in turn improving your hips mobility can help relieve that ongoing back back you have been suffe...ring with!
- To get into the 90/90 position, sit on the floor with your lead leg directly in front of you, at a 90 degree angle. Your trailing leg should be to the side also be bent to 90 degrees. Hence the name 90/90 - When you're in the position, if you’re on the less mobile side you can lean back slightly onto your hands for support. This will make moving from one side to the other easier. The more practice you put in the easier it will become and the aim eventually will be using no hands! - If you can, lean forward keeping your chest up high, you should get a deep stretch in your lead leg through your glute muscles. - As described in the video the aim of the game is to go from one side to the other so that your lead leg will go from external to internal rotation and your trailing leg the opposite!
If you feel any pinching or sharp pain while doing this don’t force the movement.
If you want to start off with something even more easy then you can check out my ‘seated hip wiper’ video for example.
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The lats are a big old muscle and due to their size they can have an impact on your shoulder health and mobility!
The lats do several actions including extending, adducting and medially (internal) rotating the shoulder joint.
In this video I show two different ways to stretch your lat out with a band and also with two different grips if you watch closely.
... * Hold onto a large resistance band * While standing or half kneeling flex forward and learn back * Let the arm be pulled overhead * You can side bend towards the lat your stretching to increase the stretch You can hang out in the stretched position and play with different angles. I like to carry out this stretch at least twice on each side
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SEATED HIP WIPERS
Seated hip wipers are a simple exercise to help mobilise the hips. Great for at home, or before training at the gym. They are a good precursor to the 90/90 position and all the fun that, that position can bring! A solid choice for those who are particularly tight in the area and it allows you to go through a range of motion that suits you safely. Great for people who suffer from stiff backs to!
- Sit on your bum, knees bent in front of you and feet on the fl...oor. Place your hands behind you on the floor for support. - From here we do the wiper motion and go one side to the other. One leg goes into external rotation, and the other into international rotation while keeping our feet in contact with the floor. - The great thing about this exercise is you can get as much of a stretch as you deem necessary. If you can take your knees all the way down to the floor both sides happy days! If not we know we have something to work on. If you have any pain or pinching don’t force your way through it.
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Sports Injury & Massage Clinic based at Sweat Gym, Soham. If you have any questions or wish to book in for a treatment then please send me a message 💪🏼