Ergotec Health Studios

03/10/2025

16/03/2023

HIP MOBILITY AND ROUTINE

With ski season upon us, it’s more important than ever to improve our hip health. The hip/pelvic complex is at the centre of healthy movements and can be a source of issues all over the body when neglected.

The hips affect our low back directly, considering the pelvis and spine sit directly on top of it. The structures also share multiple muscles, therefore increasing their interactions. Imagine a building with a weak and unstable foundation, would you live in it? Probably not. Unfortunately this is all too often the way we let our hip and pelvis complex evolved.

The hip is a ball and socket joint, which makes it quite an unstable joint on its own, luckily the muscles and ligaments around the joint compensate for that, making it one of the most stable joints in the body.

The difficulty lies in finding balance in mobility, strength and movement control which are optimal hip health. These factors can all be improved by regular exercise and a self-care routine.

Initially, the stiffness and tightness comes from the musculature around the hips such has hip flexors, rotators and extensors. The hip then loses it’s ability to use its proper biomechanics and the stabilisers get overloaded. The hip musculature can also tighten quite quickly in a seated position which we unfortunately are in all too often.

For a personalized program, make an appointment with one of our physiotherapists.

27/02/2023

Our Central Nervous System receives feedback from 3 systems.
The 3 systems are our proprioceptive, vestibular and visual system

Here are Ergotec Health we can support you and provide our expertise to strengthen these systems safely while improving physical capacity, coordination and confidence.

22/02/2023

Q: How do I train my pelvic floor?

A: Pelvic floor training can be split into two parts, relaxing and strengthening.

Relaxing
Start in a quiet environment, sitting comfortably and practice diaphragmatic breathing. Gently allow your belly and ribs to flare out to the side. As you breathe in, allow your pelvic floor to open and relax, as you breath out let your belly, diaphragm and pelvic floor fall. Repeat this practice with 5 long and gently diaphragmatic breaths.
Inhale for 3 to 5 seconds, hold for 1 second
Exhale for 3-5 seconds, hold for 1 seconds
And repeat gently and slowly.

Strengthening
There are two basic strength practices you can try at home. The first is to hold a contraction while completing diaphragmatic breathing. The second is to practice short quick contractions, this is to help prevent sudden leakage.

When starting, make sure you’re in a comfortable position either seated or lying down. Visualize where the muscles are, this can be done by imagining that you’re trying to stop yourself from passing urine or wind at the same time. Avoid squeezing your thighs, buttocks or tummy as these are a different set of muscles.

The first exercise is a 10 second hold, scooping up the muscles you will start to feel a contraction from the very front of your pelvic floor all the way to the back. Breath out to contract and hold the contraction as you continue to gently breathe in and out. Be kind to yourself, at first you may only be able to hold the contraction for 2-3 seconds, but over time you can increase endurance and aim to hold for 10 seconds. Make sure you completely relax between contractions and rest before repeating the practice.

The second exercise is a set of 10 quick contractions, holding each contraction for approximately 1 second. Continue with gentle breathing and avoid contracting your thighs, buttocks or tummy muscles. Ensure you fully relax the pelvic floor and rest before completing another set of 10. When you start it may be challenging to reach 10 contractions, if that’s the case start with 3 and slowly build up from there.

There are many a**logies to help visualize the pelvic floor contracting, here is one that might help;

‘Imagine you’re on I’m a Celebrity Get Get Me Out of Here’, they have put you on a time trial, in a box full of ants. Now scoop up your pelvic floor and hold to prevent the ants in your pants from going anywhere you don’t want them to go’,

Finding an a**logy that works for you is an ideal start to training your pelvic floor. If you are experiencing problems with your bladder or bowel control, it is important to be properly assessed, as weak pelvic floor is only one of the many causes of incontinence. These types of exercises should become a part of your daily routine as it is recommended they’re practiced two to three times per day. The joy of Pelvic floor exercises is that they are invisible to everyone around you, which means you can complete them anywhere at any time and no one will know. It is good to start sitting or lying down but as you improve you can complete them while standing or walking.

17/02/2023

Q: Who needs to know about their Pelvic Floor?

A: Everyone!
A man's pelvic floor supports their bladder and bowel
A woman’s pelvic floor supports their bladder, bowel and uterus.

Pelvic floor muscles can be too weak or they can be too tight, this can cause various types of symptoms. People can experience pain in their hips, lower back, tailbone, va**na or perineum (the area between the va**na or p***s and the re**um). Training the pelvic floor has many benefits, it can improve bladder or bowel control, increasing social confidence and quality of life. A strong Pelvic floor can reduce the risk of prolapse and improve recovery after childbirth or prostate surgery. It has also been known to improve sexual function for both men and women.

Q: What is your Pelvic Floor?

A: Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles that make up the base of your ‘core’. Looking at the diagram above you can see the pelvic floor muscles extend from your p***c bone to your coccyx or ‘tailbone’. Like a hammock they sweep through your pelvis surrounding the va**na or p***s and re**um.
Tightening your pelvic floor lifts up the internal organs of the pelvis and relaxing the pelvic floor gives you the control to release urine and f***s. Pelvic floor muscles are especially important if your a**l or urethral sphincters are not working like normal, this can be the case after childbirth or prostate surgery.

To find out best exercises for your pelvic floor check our next post!

21/09/2021

Ergotec Health is recruiting!
If you are a passionate physiotherapist and looking for and a thriving and inspiring place to develop your skills send your CV to ergotechealth@gmail.com or call us on 020 3112 0119

04/02/2021

Does the picture above look familiar?

Forward head posture increases the workload for many of the muscles attached to the cervical spine creating muscle imbalances. This often leads to neck & shoulder pain, headaches and upper back pain. This untreated condition can cause serious problem such as chronic neck pain or kyphosis.

What causes head forward posture?
 Bad posture at the desk
 Too much time at the computer
 Too much time driving
 Carrying a heavy backpack
 Keeping with your head too elevated during sleep

If you are suffering with headaches or neck pain feel free to contact us and one of our physiotherapists will be able to treat you and provide you with useful advise to self-manage this condition going forward.
020 3112 0119
https://www.ergotechealth.co.uk/headache-treatment-hampstead/

02/02/2021

Immune system mounts a lasting defense after recovery from COVID-19, researchers find

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210121131909.htm

29/01/2021

While the world has moved to virtual ways, our life became more static. During pandemic many of us are experiencing lower back pain due to prolonged sitting which increases stress on the back, shoulders, neck and can add large amounts of pressure onto the back muscles.
More frequent breaks away from the desk and some stretching can be extremely helpful.

If you are struggling with back pain feel free to contact us. Ergotec PHYSIO team is here to help!
0203 112 0119
https://www.ergotechealth.co.uk/neck-pain/

28/01/2021

https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/dont-take-back-pain-sitting-down

Pain when sitting can be caused by a number of common problems, including problems with the discs that cushion the vertebrae in the back. Lying down can help the pain temporarily, but the goal should be to get up and move as soon as possible. People ...

25/09/2020

What do you need to know about Sciatica

Sciatica is a term used to describe nerve pain in the leg that is caused by irritation and/or compression of the sciatic nerve. Sciatic nerve originates in the lower back and runs down the leg.

There can be many causes of Sciatica including Stenosis, herniation of the disk, sacroiliac join disfunction, disk degeneration.
There is however many other reasons why you might be experiencing Sciatica -like symptoms including incorrect posture or piriformis syndrome.

If you are experiencing numbness, weakness, pain traveling down your leg don't wait, get it diagnosed and treated.
At Ergotec Health treatment programs are natural and provide the results!

Visit our website www.ergotechealth.co.uk
for more information.

For face to face appointments in North London area or VIDEO consultations anywhere you are in the world contact us on
020 31120113 or by email to ergotechealth@gmail.com