A stiff neck is sometimes caused by tightness in the levator scapulae muscle. As the name suggests its role is to elevate the scapula. When other muscles that perform a similar task such as rhomboid minor, are unable to contract effectively, it is the levator that sometimes takes up the slack. You can see how […]
Rehabilitation
Does foam rolling cause muscle damage?
A recent study into the effects of foam rolling has concluded that while rolling seemed to reduce their subject’s perception of muscle soreness, it may actually cause damage to the muscle. The Canadian researchers found that muscles which had been rolled produced less force when directly stimulated than muscles that had not. This indicates that […]
ACSM warn against motion control running shoes.
The American College of Sports Medicine has published guidelines on choosing running shoes and recommends runners avoid buying motion control shoes. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that such a large organisation has entered the debate on motion control shoes and taken such a strong stand. We have previously discussed our findings that […]
Strength training as effective as stretching for improving flexibility.
This is the conclusion of a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Twenty five untrained adults were randomised into either a resistance training group, a static stretching group, or a control group. Exercises were then performed to either stretch or strengthen muscles involved in knee extension / flexion, hip extension / […]
Muscle pain and the rowing boat analogy.
Imagine an 8 man rowing crew as you would find in a boat race pictured below. Now imagine that half way through the race 4 of the crew decide to stop rowing and sit admiring the view. What happens to the boat? First of all it becomes unstable and more than likely begins to drift […]