Usually when I am doing the supine groin progressive stretch, I don't feel much until I get to the 2 lowest leg positions. In these 2 positions I can feel the tightness my hip flexors. It is painful at times, but I try to relax and breathe through the pain. Yesterday, when I reached the middle height, I could actually feel the tower trying to rotate my femur back to a forward position. There was no pain or pressure in my knee; I could just sense the slight rotational pressure in my femur. I have never felt anything like that before.
As I understand it, tight hip flexors tend to rotate the femur out to the side, so the knee and foot are no longer pointed straight ahead. I can see this when I walk; my right foot points about 30 degrees out to my right side. The ball portion of my femur is not bearing on the proper surface of the joint. One of the effects of the supine groin progressive stretch is to realign the femur and the hip so the leg is pointing straight ahead.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
I got my tower
I finally broke down and ordered a tower from Railyard Fitness. It arrived last Friday and I have used it 4 out the past 5 days. The tower is very well made and comes with two foot pedals. My last menu included the supine groin progressive stretch. I had been stacking a bunch of cushions on top of each other to elevate my leg, taking away one cushion at a time every 5 minutes. At the higher leg elevations, I didn't feel as much of a stretch as I did at the lowest elevation i.e. leg on the floor.
Using the tower is a totally different feeling to it. The tower holds my foot in place as my leg and hip flexor muscles stretch out. It feels like someone is gently pulling my entire leg out, away from me for 30 minutes. I can tell it is maintaining the normal space in my hip socket, in addition to working on my tight hip flexors. My chiropractor had told me that one of the problems with an arthritic hip, is that the ball joint tends to get pushed too far into the socket. The supine groin progressive stretch in the tower, definitely alleviates this.
Deb had recommended that I purchase a tower to do this exercise. I wish I had listened to her earlier. Lesson learned: Do what your Egoscue Postural Alignment Specialist tells you to do!
There is a great description of how the tower and supine groin progressive stretch works on Pain Free Portland. It also explains how this stretch effects the entire body.
The Austin Egoscue Clinic provides an excellent explanation why the tower works better than using blocks to elevate the leg. In a nutshell, the tower prevents the body from cheating.
I'll report back in a few weeks about how my hip feels from using the tower.
Using the tower is a totally different feeling to it. The tower holds my foot in place as my leg and hip flexor muscles stretch out. It feels like someone is gently pulling my entire leg out, away from me for 30 minutes. I can tell it is maintaining the normal space in my hip socket, in addition to working on my tight hip flexors. My chiropractor had told me that one of the problems with an arthritic hip, is that the ball joint tends to get pushed too far into the socket. The supine groin progressive stretch in the tower, definitely alleviates this.
Deb had recommended that I purchase a tower to do this exercise. I wish I had listened to her earlier. Lesson learned: Do what your Egoscue Postural Alignment Specialist tells you to do!
There is a great description of how the tower and supine groin progressive stretch works on Pain Free Portland. It also explains how this stretch effects the entire body.
The Austin Egoscue Clinic provides an excellent explanation why the tower works better than using blocks to elevate the leg. In a nutshell, the tower prevents the body from cheating.
I'll report back in a few weeks about how my hip feels from using the tower.
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