Uploading to YouTube

Welcome back, I know it's been awhile since I last posted anything.  Things have been crazy this time of year, but we are iced in a little, so I now have some free time!

I decided to take this opportunity to challenge all of the Shuttle Balance owners to upload videos of them using the shuttle balance.  What exercises do you use? Protocols?

So, my video today is about uploading to YouTube.  This is very simple actually.  I use the Flip Camera, it's sooo easy to use.  I then use a couple different software programs to edit the video.  After that, it's straight to YouTube.  Check it out....



So show me what you guys got.  I know I'm not the only one experimenting with the Shuttle Balance!

Till next time, Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!

Posterior Pelvic Tilt

Welcome back to another edition of my blog on the Shuttle Balance.  Today I'm showing how you can use the Shuttle Balance not just for exercise, but as feedback as well. 

As we all know, lower abdomen strengthening is very important when treating a patient for low back pain.  Pelvic tilts are a great low ab exercise.  A variation on the pelvic tilt is using a Swiss Ball.  The only problem is that our patients do not always perform the exercise correctly. A lot of times, the use just their legs to rock front and back.

What's one way we can fix this?  We can use the Shuttle Balance for feedback.  Do to the platform being suspended, if we place our feet on it and just use our legs, the exercise is useless.  Please view the video below.

As you can see, with the feedback provided by the Shuttle Balance, we can assure that our patients are performing their exercises correctly. 

Thanks for tuning in and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at sportrehab@live.com.

Dampener Cord

Thanks for tuning in to my latest blog.  I was challenged the other day to show an exercise in which I had removed the red Dampener Cord.  I started thinking, do I want to do an exercise that I have already done before or show a whole new exercise.  I finally decided to so the "4-way LE" exercise.  For one thing, it's an exercise I hadn't shown yet, but also, it's a great exercise that demonstrates the difference between using and not using the Dampener Cords.  

This is a relatively easy exercise.  Attach an elastic band to the non-weight bearing leg of the patient.  Either hold the band for the patient or have it attached to a stationary object.  While balancing unilaterally, perform 20-30 reps of hip flexion, extension, abduction and adduction.  For a more challenging exercise, remove the red Dampener Cord as I did in the video. 

All I can say is WOW! Take those Dampener Cords off and the difficulty level shoots through the roof.  You just feel all of your muscles in your leg firing to maintain balance.  I would love to get an EMG attached sometime.  This way we could see how much more muscle firing is needed when we remove the Dampener Cord.

Till next time.......

Lunges

First I really want to thank Todd and Shuttle Systems for the upgrade of our Shuttle Balance to the Pro edition.  It looks great out there and I know a lot of our patients appreciate the upgrade as well. Thanks guys!!

Today I wanted to demonstrate another basic exercise.  I decided to perform lunges on the Shuttle Balance.  I showed a forward, lateral and back lunge.  Not only do you get the benefits from lunging onto the Shuttle Balance, you also have some added difficulty and getting your lead foot off of the Balance. 

Always be sure to have the patient/athlete perform with proper body alignment.  Make sure their knees never go over their toes and that they try and keep their back leg straight.  This will help prevent any injuries while performing this exercise.

Hope you enjoyed the demonstration.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at sportrehab@live.com.  Thanks for tuning in!

PS - Great game last week by my Tigers! Let's hope we can carry it onto Lincoln and take down the big red!

Core

Hello and welcome back to out video blog on the Shuttle Balance.  Today I decided to show some core exercises I like to put my athletes and patients through.  Both utilize the plank position.  I love plank just because you can do so many different exercises with it.  Today I did my plank/reverse crunch and side plank with a push-up. 

First the plank/reverse crunch.  You will need a swiss ball or something similar for under the patients legs.  Make sure you are there to supervise and support the patient as they first get on the balance and ball.  Once the patient is in position, just have them start bringing their knees toward their chest.  Make sure the patient is maintaining good core alignment, keeping their abs and glutes taunt.  20-30 reps is a good, but challenging number.

The side plank with a push-up is a little more challenging.  Have the patient start in the plank position.  Then, have them twist 90 degrees to either the right or left so that they are only being supported by one hand.  Then the twist back to plank and then to the other side.  I like to add a push-up in between, that's the P90X in me, but you don't have to add a push-up. Again, 20-30 reps will be a good challenge.

Want to make these even harder???? Remove the red elastic bands and watch them wobble!!  Thanks for watching and reading!  Please feel free to contact me at sportrehab@live.com.

And GO M-I-Z-Z-O-U!!! Beat them Sooners!

Basic Balancing

Thanks for coming back!  Here's our second video highlighting the Shuttle Balance.  My first video was a pretty advanced exercise, so I wanted to take a step back and do a more basic move.  This is our basic balance exercise.  It shows off how versatile the Shuttle Balance is.  The video shows our normal progression.  We will normally start with the patient in a bilateral stance.  We then progress to tandem and then to unilateral.  We usually add in throw/catch once they have mastered the unilateral balance.  For an extra bonus, you can add some sport specific exercises.  I showed volleying the soccer ball in the video.

One thing we love about the Shuttle Balance is that we can use it with all populations.  We've had children as young as 4 and adults up to 80+ on the Shuttle Balance. 

If you have any questions, please contact me at sportrehab@live.com.  Also check us out at www.sportrehabinc.com.  Follow me on twitter @KC_Robertson. 

Stay tuned for our next one.........

Four Corners

Here's our first video (so please don't be harsh)!  By popular demand I am demonstrating the "4 Corners" exercise. 

Four corners is an advanced balance exercise and should be performed under proper supervision.  The patient will begin by balancing on a single leg.  Then, with good body mechanics, they will attempt to touch the floor in front of them with their non-weight bearing foot.  They will proceed to stand up and then squat again to tap the floor to their right, if standing on their left leg.  They then tap the floor behind them and finally to the left.  The patient must remember and be reminded to look staight ahead and not at the floor.  The dificulty level can be increased or decreased with the bands attached to the Shuttle Balance.  You can also change difficulty levels by allowing them to use their hands or by having them shut their eyes. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.  As we put more videos up, I promise the quality will increse as well!!  Stay tuned for more....

Our new blog

I had such a great time discussing the Shuttle Balance in Philadelphia this year!  After talking with Todd @ ShuttleSystems, I have decided to start posting videos of exercises that can be performed on the Shuttle Balance.  I plan to post 2 videos a week, probably one standard and one advanced.  I of course will start with my Four Corner exercise.  We just got a Flip camera and I'm very excited to try it out.  I welcome ideas and feedback.  I am very excited and want to thank Todd and ShuttleSystems for this opportunity.  Stay tuned......My first demonstration of Four Corners at NATA Convention