Single Leg Squat Test

A lot of athletes use single leg squat as an exercise and strength training. However, oftentimes, we see them do it wrong... knowing what the right form is is one thing and being able to do it right is another. We use single leg squat as a test to identify what the athlete is doing, being able to do or unable to do, what the athlete may need to work on, whether the athlete may be at a risk of injury, etc. We take a video of an athlete doing a single leg squat from the front and the side and put in on slow motion motion analysis app to assess it. 

This is how this figure skater stood on single leg. Other than her toes/foot pointing out slightly she was comfortably standing with a good balance. Then, I asked her slowly squat down and come back up... then this is what happened (shown in the picture below). 

She was having hard time balancing on her leg. Her knee collapsed. Her knee was going over her toes. It was really challenging for her.   

Figure skaters spend a lot of time on ice on single leg. If this is what happens when they jump and land etc, not only will this keep them from performing well but also will lead to increased risk of injury. And if they have trouble performing single leg squat on the ground slowly, they would have much harder time doing this on ice. But the question is.... why is this happening?! It could be from a lot of different reasons and from combination of multiple contributing factors. Some of the most common contributing factors are hip muscle weakness, arch is collapsing, poor muscle strength and balance, etc. A rehabilitation specialist should be able to identify why this is happening in each athlete and fix it. Each case is different and there are additional tests we can do to find out why this faulty maneuver is happening. Or maybe this is what she or he is used to doing.

From performance and injury risk standpoint, this is a huge disadvantage because 1) figure skaters have to be able to jump without using their ankle while skating on ice 2) they have to absorb an impact that is 6-7 times of their body weight without using their ankle on one leg. And in most cases, this is something that needs to be fixed during off ice training.

Kinesio Tape

Kinesio tape  has been around for a while now and is getting more popular these days as  it is getting more exposure on TV and social media etc. I have ignored it for a while because there is no scientific explanation to why and how it works. However, there have been a lot of research studies that support that it works and getting more difficult to ignore. According to the past studies, it may reduce pain, increase range of motion, increase strength, reduce swelling and ecchymosis (bruise), etc. What we do not know yet is its physiological effects on the body (if there is any...). Could it just be psychological?! Possibly.. But let's say you get injured or aggravated your old injury in the middle of tournament or competition and need to get through it.... if using kinesio tape helps with pain etc, why not use it. But at the same time, you do not want to keep masking the symptom using kinesio tape or NSAIDs instead of taking care of what caused the pain or injury. Kinesio taping could be useful in certain cases. Here is an example of kineio tape applied for wrist flexor tendonitis at medial elbow. 

Movement Impairment (1)

Have you had any pain and saw the doctor but were told that there was anything wrong?! Have you had pain that gets better with rest but comes back as soon as you start using the body part?! There is probably nothing more frustrating as an athlete than having pain that keeps you from training and competing but no one can figure out what is really going on. It is a lot easier to understand why you are having pain when you see what is damaged on a film such whether it is broken bone or torn ligament. However, there may be a lot more to "pain" than pain caused by injuries diagnosed by the doctor. Let's say there is a female figure skater with chronic lower pack pain. Her back is fine as long as she keeps her training  short, however, her pain increases as her training intensity and length increase. Her doctor took an x-ray and MRI of her back but did not see anything wrong with her back structurally. So she was told that she was fine and keep training as pain permits. So in her case, is she really fine?! Or is there something wrong that did not show up on the films?! The fact that she has pain that keeps her from training is not "fine". There must be something wrong. But what is wrong with her that even her doctor could not find?! First of all, lower back is where she is having pain and may not necessarily be where a cause of pain is. Then, where is her pain coming from?! This is something we, rehabilitation specialists, can or should be able to find and fix so she will be pain free. We examine things such as flexibility, muscle strength, range of motion, core stability, feet, posture, etc etc etc to name a few. One of the things we look at is how  her body is moving or the way  she moves her body. And what movement(s) she is having trouble with, having pain with, is not doing right, etc. And what movements she has no pain with. Having strong muscles and strength and good range of motion is one thing. But how she is using  those in a system during movements is another story. Every body movement happens in a system, which means that each part of the body/segments have to work in sync to optimize the movement and to prevent stress from being placed on the body. The human body is very well balanced withing asymmetries that we have. Our body is not completely symmetrical but well balanced. So, if a part of the balance system fails, this can be a problem. Doing a certain movement wrong a few times are not likely to cause pain right away, but if that happens over a long period of time, this can be a problem. There are a lot of things that may have caused her lower back pain. But just because the pain is not diagnosed or there is no structural damage, this does not mean there is nothing wrong. Bottom line is... pain is a sign that there is something wrong and it is very important to figure out what is really causing the pain and fix the contributing factors. Otherwise, it will keep coming back.