♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists ♪
♪ On the internet ♪
- Hi folks, I'm Bob Schrupp, physical therapist.
- Brad Heineck, physical therapist.
- And we are the most famous physical therapists
on the internet.
- In our opinion of course, Bob.
- Today we're gonna show you how to improve walking
with less arthritic pain
with seven at home exercises and therapist tips.
- Right.
- Walk on!
- There you go, Bob.
Well, you don't have to do all seven of 'em,
but get through 'em.
You're gonna find probably at least one or two
that are really gonna get to the point, as we say.
- By the way, if you're new to our channel,
please take a second to subscribe to us.
We provide videos,
how to stay healthy, fit, pain-free
and we upload every day.
Also go to bobandbrad.com
'cause we're always doing a giveaway.
Go to the giveaways section
and you'll see this week, we are giving away a FitGlide.
- [Brad] There you go, Bob.
- We'll show this later.
- Yeah, it actually is one of our little tricks.
- Yep.
You can also find the contest
pinned to the top of the page at Facebook.
Go to Twitter or Instagram or TikTok
if you want a 60 second version of our program.
You always get to throw it.
I'll get to throw it this time.
- Yeah, so, it's very fun, isn't it?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Okay, so,
Bob, you know, we had some pretty good responses
on a recent walking video
and I wanted to do a little more research
and see if I could find some science into it.
And so I did.
I spent quite a bit of time
on looking at different research articles
and I found out they all had very similar results
and advice on what to do
to improve your walking with less pain
and so you can walk farther.
And what they did is, you know,
with research they're always using something to get numbers.
- Some type of tests.
- That's the science,
and we need to do that so we have some good, clear evidence.
One of them was the WOMAC, W-O-M-A-C.
I don't want to bore you to death here
but just so you know, there was some good research.
This is called the Western Ontario
and McMaster University Arthritic Index.
So this is a test for people who have arthritis
in their knees, hips, ankles, et cetera.
And it relates to that.
And also the six minute walk test,
which we are very familiar with.
We use it in the clinic on a regular basis.
- So basically they applied these tests.
- Mm hm.
- Then had you do the exercises.
- Exactly.
- And then, what, month later,
six months later--
- Typically four to six weeks.
- Four to six weeks later, they check it again
and you've improved.
- Exactly.
So they found notable, significant,
as we say in research, improvement
on all of these studies.
So here are some of the common exercises that they use.
- Let's go. - So, here we go.
I'm gonna sit this way.
Bob's gonna sit that way.
- I'm gonna face this way.
- This is the old standard.
Lotta these are, there's no magic to 'em.
It's the long arc quad or knee extension.
So you just kick straight out,
try to get as straight as you can,
and back down with a bend in the knee.
Bob's foot's not touching.
That actually works better.
- Yeah, I can swing her back and forth there.
- If you have, if you're touching the floor
make sure you don't do this.
Do 10 of these on each leg.
Not too fast.
Nice, slow.
Out and hold it for just a little bit
and then come back.
Okay, 10 on each leg.
Now the next one happens to be a nice exercise
for those, if you have really knee pain,
good arthritic knee pain,
not good but bad, I should say.
And that's where the FitGlide,
the giveaway that, actually Bob and I did invent this.
Works very well
and this is one of the reasons we did.
As you put it on the floor
right before the, below the chair.
- [Bob] Yeah,
and it's meant to be used in a seated position.
It does have a slight sound to it.
The swish, swish, it's not silent,
but the big advantage is this thing is so lightweight.
You can carry this anywhere.
And if you're elderly, you can, it's only five pounds.
So if you can carry five pounds, you can carry this.
And it's got a little,
well, you wanna show a little flip up, Brad?
- Yeah, it's got little stilts,
so you can put it at incline.
And it emphasizes quadriceps strength this way,
while getting the knee motion,
which is gonna help that arthritic pain.
And then do it this way,
and that actually gets the hamstrings.
And this is, it looks like a very simple exercise,
but you do this for two or three minutes.
- [Bob] Yeah, you'll start to feel it.
- Even myself, I'm quite fit.
I can feel those muscles starting to warm up
and you'll get 'em fatigued.
So it's a good exercise.
- Now, it's all we're trying to do
is get some movement in all the joints.
And so as an alternative,
you could use a stationary bike too.
- Absolutely.
And the big advantage of that
is you also get the hip, the knee,
and some ankle joint movement.
So you're getting all of these joints moving.
You're gettin' the muscles working.
The only thing about that, you know,
there's a cost involved with that.
- Right.
And they take up space.
- And they're not easy to move.
- A lot of people think they end up,
that's where you end up putting your laundry on.
- Yeah, you gotta dry that sweater,
put it up on the stationary bike,
but not everyone.
A lot of people do use them on a regular basis.
And number four is seated knee extension.
- Now this is actually a stretch.
- It is.
It is, Bob.
But I'm still gonna include it
because when you walk,
if your knee does not straighten out
when your heel comes down,
that's a normal mechanical action of the knee.
And if it stays flexed,
that can start to cause problems in the knee.
- Well, one thing you could do is
you can compare both knees.
- Yep.
- You can sit down.
You'd probably be better show it, Brad.
- Yeah.
So let's say this knee goes straight
and the other knee...
- [Bob] Doesn't go all the way down.
- Look at the height difference.
So we're gonna work on this one
to see if we can get that straighter,
so this is the exercise.
I'm gonna show it on this leg.
If it doesn't go straight,
you're just gonna get it
and put some gentle pressure above the knee cap.
Don't push on the knee cap.
That can irritate it.
And gentle pressure on and off
and on and off.
- [Bob] What they've found is that, yeah,
any gain in motion tends to decrease the arthritis.
I mean, I've seen this happen many times.
Don't get too crazy the first time.
- There you go.
You had that one story with a patient
that he got pretty crazy at home.
- Yeah.
Well, no, he got crazy at-- - Right.
- At therapy. - At therapy.
- And he--
- Well, not crazy, you got aggressive on your exercise.
- Yeah, and he was upset the next time.
In fact, he said, "I almost didn't come back in."
- Because he went too hard on it.
It got sore - It got sore.
- Afterwards.
- But then, in the end, it really helped him.
So I was back in his favor.
- Yep, so, - It took a little bit.
- Be gentle on it the first day.
Even if it doesn't hurt, just kinda test it out.
After a couple of days of doing it,
you'll know how your body responds.
- Now, the one thing about this stretch,
you can do it a lot.
You can do it throughout the day.
You can do it six to eight times, I mean,
not the first day.
- Not the first day or maybe even the second day.
But as you get into it.
- Yeah, as you progress.
- There you go.
We want to keep people smiling, Bob.
Now the next one was one,
it was wanna work on bending the knee.
- Right.
- And the nice thing about--
- You can do it seated.
- You can do it seated or lying down.
I said it right, Bob, lying down.
- You said it right.
- Not laying, because a chicken lays eggs.
We lie down. - We lie down.
- Something like that, for the English majors.
So this also works the hip.
So in a seated position or lay, lying down.
- And again, kinda like the pressure on pressure off.
- Now if your knee hurts
when you grab over the top on the shin, because--
- You can grab underneath.
- Yeah, grab underneath and work it that way.
That's a great little trick.
And then you're getting the hip.
Boy, I've got a patient now.
He's 59 years old and his hips are so tight, Bob.
We've got him,
I'm gonna do a video for him, actually, 'cause--
- Yeah, 59.
- Yeah, it's a...
- That's, what, two years for you?
One year for you?
- Well, I can't remember, Bob. (laughs)
- All right, I'm gonna do the clamshell.
- Yep.
- Supine or sideline?
- Well, you can do it sideline or supine.
I was thinking supine on your back, but--
- Sure.
- That way it kinda works both of 'em together
and this one--
- Well, it depends.
If you want strengthening, you got to get it from this way.
- Right.
Yeah, there you're doing the top one.
- Yeah, then you're strengthening the upper one.
The other one, it's just really range of motion
and stretch a little bit.
- Right.
- So you gotta determine what your goal is with that.
And obviously I would lie on my other side too.
- Yep.
So you can do it right side and left side
or on your back,
or seated as I'm doing here.
You're still gonna get some hip motion.
- And how many are these are we doing, Brad?
- 10. - 10, okay.
- 10 out of all of these.
Relax while you're doing 'em.
Do not go, if any of 'em create sharp pain,
back off of it.
Just avoid that exercise.
You can come back to it
and it should improve as you do the other ones,
other ones that help.
Now, last but not least.
- I would think this is almost
one of the most important stretches you can do to the hip.
- Right, exactly.
And that's hip extension,
in other words, bringing it backwards behind you.
- 'Cause what happens is, as we sit a lot,
which we all do,
those muscles shorten up--
- In the front.
- And they start limiting the motion of your hip
and they start giving you problems.
Now, you can do it off the edge of a bed,
but you gotta be very careful
that you just move your hips to the edge of the bed
and to keep your body well onto it.
- Right.
- And I'ma lower this one down like this.
- Yep.
- And then I'm gonna bring this one up.
- Yep.
- And you can see, watch this.
My hip actually raises up.
'Cause there's a little bit of tightness there.
- Yeah.
So that's stretching the hip flexors, okay?
They're deep.
They're actually kinda inside the abdomen a little bit
and right where that pocket is,
so they're deep muscles.
And you can see Bob's leg.
It's a subtle movement,
but as a therapist, it's very clear to us.
So we're training you to become therapists.
Now that's a nice way to do it.
The other way to do it
is if you take a pillow
or if you've got a nice carpeted floor
I'm gonna work on my right hip.
It's nice to have a little cushion
on your knee, particularly.
'Cause, especially if you've got a little arthritis.
And I'm gonna go like this.
Hand right here, try to keep good posture
and just simply lean forward,
and right in there, you'll feel those muscles stretch.
- He's giving a little push with his hand there.
And you don't necessarily have to do it the first time,
but, you know, as time goes on,
you want to give a little extra push.
- 'Cause this one is, I mean, I can feel it.
I do not do this one on a regular basis.
I've got some other ones that I work at,
but my hips I feel pretty, pretty good about.
- Yeah, you got pretty good mobility.
- Now your hips, you do this on a regular basis,
don't you, Bob? - Yeah,
I do it on a regular basis.
- So, you know, five to 10 reps on each one.
How many reps do you do, Bob?
- I do...
I don't know if I count even, you know--
- After you do 'em for awhile, you get a rhythm.
- Yeah, in the morning
you're just kind of in a meditative state,
and I don't even--
- Face it, you're still sleeping, aren't ya! (laughs)
- Well, sometimes I gotta even think did I do it yet?
And I go, "Did I do that?"
- Well, you get in your routine
and your body goes on autopilot.
- That's right.
- So, very good.
Loosen up those knees and hips and ankles.
Keep yourself walking.
There's one tip that I do want to mention, Bob.
Once you start being able to walk better
with less knee and hip pain,
if you have back pain, the more you walk,
if you walk on the flat,
your back pain is more than likely gonna come down as well.
- Yep.
Walking is a huge part of treating back pain.
- Absolutely.
- Not well known by some, many people.
- Everything fits together
from the waist on down when you're walking, so.
Actually, above the waist,
so back on down, I'm sorry.
- Neck up.
- Don't talk to me about the neck up, Bob.
I don't go there, you know.
I've got enough problems. - All right.
- (laughs) So, anyways, very good.
Thanks for coming in. - Peace.
- Pea?
Richard Nixon.
- There we go.
(laughing)
- I am not a crook.
- We better get off the line here.
(cheerful tune)