Rehabilitation Exercise with Offloaded Squat Routines
Video Transcript
Dr. Alibhai here from Stuart Chiropractic. A great rehab exercise, and one to get you stronger, we know already, is to do a squat. But if you’ve mastered that, or you need to progress further, I want you to try an off-loaded squat. Many of us throw our lower back out by bending to one side, which then starts hurting, or we experience leg pain.
We need to do an off-loaded squat to retrain that pattern, to get us out of pain, and make us stronger. So when we go and do that, things hold as they should. We know a basic squat: keep your feet shoulder-width apart. You can point your toes out to shoulder width as well, and you’re getting into this position here by sitting your butt back.
You can keep your arms out in front if you want, standing nice and tall, and then you’re coming back up, okay. You’re not overemphasizing the extension. I’m going to grab a kettlebell. You can grab a small weight; this one here is 18 pounds. Maybe you want to start with 5 pounds. I’m going to keep this by my side, and I’m going to do the same thing: sit back into my squat, and it’s pulling me down this way.
My core is turning on, and I’m forced to keep my form, then push up through my feet, making sure I’m driving my knees outwards. I’m not doing one of these. Drive your knees outward and come straight up. Another variation is to actually keep the weight close to your chest. You might find this more comfortable, and then you’re going to sit back in the squat.
It might be a little more challenging, and then you’re getting in this position because it involves the shoulder more, and you’re sitting back like that. You can aim to do 10 of these reps, and then you’re going to switch sides. As you progress, you can go up in weight. Again, these off-loaded squats will allow you to train the muscles on the side that stabilize your spine, to ensure you’re not throwing your back out and you’re getting strong, progressing through the squats.
Let me know how it goes. Bye now.
