Exercise/Muscle Imbalance

Exercise is a vital part of being healthy and an important technique used in physiotherapy.
After a detailed examination, a treatment plan is formulated and discussed with you, part of this plan will include a tailor-made exercise programme.

Exercise forms an important part of rehabilitation including rehab after a sports injury. It helps ensure a good recovery and also prevents injury and re-occurrence in the future. It may take the form of muscle stretching and strengthening, balance and proprioception work, some exercises are used to address muscle imbalance.

We believe that all exercise programmes should be matched precisely to each patient depending on their injury, lifestyle and aims for the future.

During a thorough physiotherapy assessment we are able to identify muscle groups that are tighter or weaker than they should be or too tense or bulky from being overused. This can be termed muscle imbalance. It may arise as the result of an injury or be a long term problem that has contributed to your current injury or pain.

There are certain muscles in the body more prone to tightness and some that are more prone to becoming lengthened and weak. These muscles are often found in opposing groups and in muscles that are compensating for problems in nearby muscle groups. A common pattern is seen is in the hamstrings, they are often tight and overused in compensation for weakness in the gluteals (hip/bottom muscles). This can lead to pain in the hip and knee if not addressed properly. Similarly the back muscles can become tight and overused while the abdominal muscles are lengthened and weak.

There are many muscle imbalance problems that can occur in the body. They can only be identified by careful examination and addressed by specific exercises. These are often slow, controlled exercises and stretches as seen in Pilates and yoga but can be adapted to suit any patient in any environment.