Physical function is our ability to carry out daily activities at home, work, and in the community. This is dictated by our physical, social as well as our psychological functioning. What are the physical aspects of function and how does it affect our function?

Muscle Performance

How well your muscles are equipped to handle the demands placed upon them. Proper form during exercise lends to this in a huge way. To exercise with the intention to activate specific muscles, we must set our body up so that it can be successful. Muscles can be tricky in that if you challenge them too much, they will recruit their buddies to come aboard to help out. This leads to substitution patterns (translation: one muscle is doing the majority of the work for the others) and can lead to poor postural adaptations.

Do your muscles have enough length to work properly? Stretching out shortened muscles can help you achieve muscular balance. READ: taller posture, stronger muscles, less injury.

Balance & Coordination

Balance and coordination are achieved when signals to the brain and back to the muscles are matched for body alignment, timing and sequencing of muscle firing. These signals can become crossed when poor movement patterns take over as in injury. One common example is with repetitive ankle sprains. Your brain loses connection with the receptors in your ankle when repetitive trauma occurs, this lends to poor balance strategies at the ankle, putting you at greater risk for more sprains. It is

a vicious cycle.

Cardiovasular fitness

Endurance plays a big role in how long you can sustain any given activity or a chain of activities throughout the day.

Neuromuscular control

Interaction of your muscle systems with your brain and spinal cord in order to produce desired movement patterns.

Why is this important to you??

All aspects of physical function work together to produce functional movement patterns to accomplish daily tasks. It is essential to provide yourself an environment by which these aspects can interact with optimal success in order to achieve a functional benefit from exercise.  These are the keys which help you to attain successful muscle growth corresponding to healthy movement. Proper form during exercise can help you move better, be taller and live injury free!!

     You find yourself running down your road, the same road you have ran on for ages, the same road that helped you train for the half marathon last year. The half marathon which gained you your fastest time yet. You crossed the finish line and waved bye-bye to many a mental hurdle that had you disconcerted. Except this time around, upon training for the full, you start to feel a slight niggling in your knee. Nothing to worry about, you think out loud as you journey on past your favorite dogwood tree which indicates (hallelujah!) your turn around point is minutes ahead. As you continue, the niggle comes back, except this time its in the form of a sharp gnawing feeling eating away at the outside of your knee. Dispirited, you slow down to a walk and continue on your path towards home.

Does this story ring a bell? Maybe you are sitting there on the couch right now after being defeated by a run by this same stabbing feeling to the outside of your knee, wondering what you possibly could have done to make it hurt so bad.

ITBand Friction Syndrome Checklist:

     –Are you allowing your body to properly warm up prior to a long run?</li>

     –Are you running on uneven surfaces?</li>

     –Have you increased your speed recently or begun to train on uneven surfaces (i.e. hills or      slanted footpaths)?

     –Do you have collapsed arches?

The above factors all contribute to a syndrome known as Iliotibial Band (ITB) Syndrome. Common to runners, ITB Syndrome can also affect cyclists or other athletes who experience impact through the knee during bending moments.

Why does it hurt so bad?

Your IT band is a large piece of tissue which is connected to the Tensor Fascia Latae muscle. This muscle acts to take your leg away from the midline of your body.

In synchrony with the gluteus medius (& minimus) muscles, it also has the job of preventing the turning in (or ‘bowing’) of your knees whilst walking, running, cycling, etc.

If your running mechanics are altered (as in on an uneven surface) or if your muscles become imbalanced (from strengthening in the gym), your IT band is likely to track out of its normal groove, thus causing friction between your bones and tissues. This produces an inflammatory response, signaling to your brain that something is wrong. The result: a fiery, stabbing pain on the outside of the knee.

Some quick tips:

1. Get yourself on a foam roller– roll the ITBand on a foam roller before and after your runs. You want to ensure that your body is able to USE the new length in your ITBand right after you gain it, otherwise it will return to its tight state.

2. Stretch:

ITB Stretch:

     –Lie on your back with your Right leg bent and your left leg straight out.

     –Slide your left leg so it is across the midline of your body.

     –Pull your Right leg up towards your left shoulder.

     –Hold this stretch for 15-20 seconds. Repeat with Left Leg.

     –Perform 2-3 repetitions each side, twice daily.

Figure 4 Stretch:

     –Lie on your back with your knees bent.

     –Place your Right ankle over your Left knee, forming a ’4′ with your legs.

     –Wrapping your hands around the outside and insides of your left knee, pull your left knee       towards your chest.

     –Hold this stretch for 15-20 seconds. Repeat with Right leg.

     –Perform 2-3 repetitions each side, twice daily.

3. Seek outside help

If all else fails, you may need to see a professional to help you realign your legs. Often times this condition is a result of bigger issues which are in the hips, knees and feet. Take care of it sooner so its not a problem later!!

**disclaimer: information found on this blog should not treated as medical advice nor substituted for medical treatment.**

Physical Therapy principles such as alignment of bones, recruitment of muscles and harmony of tissues are all applied to pilates based exercises in Pilates rehabilitation. This unique combination allows the patient to learn how to integrate whole body movement patterns to help create pain free, efficient movement patterns. Through the balance created through this method, individuals are able to improve sports performance and athletic ability. Furthermore, Pilates based PT reduces the chances for future occurrance of injury.

What are your qualifications?


As the primary Physical Therapist at Bodywise PT & Pilates Rehab, Rupal Goradia holds a Doctorate in Physical Therapy as well as a Pilates instructor certification from the Pilates Method Alliance.


Is pilates a lot of stretching?


Pilates is designed to facilitate lengthening of muscles which in turn allows the fibers of the muscles to grow longer as the movement demands. This reduces pressure at joint surfaces and allows improved flexibility.


I have tried many other methods to reduce my pain but none have worked. Why is Pilates PT different?


We incorporate the whole body in our evaluation and treatment of your pain. Our evaluation includes understanding where your movement patterns are starting and ending, which muscles are being used in which order and how the spine is affecting your movement. Further, we dissect how you walk, sit, reach and work, all the things which you do that can be making your pain worse. From there, we formulate a plan of treatment and discuss with you how to improve your movement patterns to reduce the pain. Our goal is to teach you during every step of the process so that not only are you educated in the cause, but also the solution.

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