Top 5 Fridays! 5 of My Favorite Non MDT Based Home Exercises

Even superheroes find the Get Up Challenging

Thanks to blog reader Brian Lau (the least technically savvy Asian I have met) for this suggestion! You all know how much of an MDT fan I am. However, I actually do prescribe other home exercises frequently. Here are 5 of my favorites.

1) Rolling Patterns

most of the SFMA breakouts end in rolling patterns to check for motor control/stability issues
if the patient cannot do them properly, AND you have ruled out a true mobility problem, they should also do the rolling patterns for their HEP
if they cannot do one pattern, say supine to prone, left leg leading from supine, have them start in the position that is challenging, but not too difficult that they experience that "sticking" point
i.e. have them start in sidelying, or on a few pillows so they start 45 degrees to the ground
PNF agonist reversals contacting at the pelvis for lower body rolling or the scapula for upper body rolling really helps educate the rolling pattern through the sticking point

2) Kettlebell Carries or Rotations

you want to improve shoulder stability? Kettlebell Carries and rotations as a regression work great
Physio Answers Contributor Dr. Aaron Swanson goes over a functional kettlebell test that also doubles as a treatment
I went over carries here after taking my pal's Dr. Charlie Weingroff's excellent T=R course here

3) The Turkish Getup

This movement works great as an assessment, especially the first 2-3 positions (Baby Getup)
watch Gray Cook and TGU Master Dr. Mark Cheng go over TGU variations in their Speed Bump video here
if you think about the organization of the homunculus, this movement hits all the major large sports, hands, foot
you need stability and mobility to do this well
it can be broken down into mobility drills as demonstrated by my colleague Brandon Heltzer of The Movement Restoration Project

4) Open Book

this is a variation on shoulder circles, which work great as a functional release
helps with thoracic/rib mobility, often restricted
here is my video on my tube channel

5) Pallof Press

This is a great anti-rotation stabilization exercise that you can do in many different functional positions
you can to this in hooklying, 90-90, half-kneel, tall kneel, single leg stance (leg up in the direction of the resistance is a great progression), narrow base or wide based
the patient really gets feedback as to one side feeling different than the other in terms of easy of stability
hence, like the TGU, it is both an assessment and a corrective
Here is Nick Tuminello from Performance U describing Pallof Press 2.0 (1.0 is just fine for my purposes, but this has a good variation on the traditional press)

So there you have it, more in my repetoire other than MDT based exercises. It would be very Eclectic if that's all I used, right?

Keeping it Eclectic...