Do you have knee pain? Maybe it's from a sports injury and you've damaged some of the structures of the knee. It could be that you've had a knee replacement and the recovery has had some complications. Or maybe you haven't had a formal diagnosis such as a torn ACL or meniscus. But certain movements and activities cause pain and discomfort. So much so that you've given up skiing and pick-up basketball. And it's not that you don't enjoy these sports anymore but that the pain, discomfort and swelling just isn't worth it. As someone who has had bilateral ACL reconstructions I can related to those suffering from knee pain. And I can appreciate the demands on this joint when skiing, playing football or even going for a long walk on the beach with my daughters. Recently we had the opportunity to work with Gerry F. to help him after his knee replacement. I've known Gerry for a number of years through our church and school. And I'd see him at the hockey games on a weekly basis. Each week I'd notice an improvement in his gait and less reliance on the cane. He seemed to be on or even ahead of pace for his recovery. But then the recovery got stuck. And the pain didn't continue to subside. And the range of motion didn't continue to improve. Maybe this was all Gerry could expect from his recovery? We should know that surgery doesn't bring us back to 100% of our pre-injured state. How close to 100% is possibe we can never know and this varies from person to person. So Gerry came to see us and find out what we would recommend in terms of a coaching and programming protocol to help him push past the current state of his knee. When...

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week Okanagan Peak Performance Inc presented the Knee Solution Seminar. Below is a recap of the main points from this presentation. Why We Have Knee ProblemsIn order to have the healthiest knees we need to make sure the joint sits in the proper place. And to do this properly we started at the ground looking at the foot. If the foot sits in a pronated position, with a collapsed arch, this will cause the knee to fall inward. And if we have a supinated foot, or high arch, the foot will roll out to the outside. [caption id="attachment_5344" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Image showing a pronated, neutral and supinated foot position. We ran through a couple of drills showing the attendees how to self-assess the positioning of the foot. One drill involves placing the thumb and index finger on the same foot just below the malleolus. If your thumb and index finger are on the bumps on the sides of the ankle you're too high. Slide the fingers lower until them feel soft tissue. From this position roll the ankle inward. On which finger do you feel more pressure? What happens to the arch? What happens to the knee? Now repeat this drill and roll the ankle outward. Which finger feels more pressure? What happens to the arch? And where does the knee go? The goal for this drill is find the position where there is 50-50 pressure on the thumb and index finger. Once the foot is set in this position the knee will line up optimally as well. The other way we look at foot position was by considering the plantar surface (bottom of the foot). On the bottom of the foot imagine a triangle. And the three lines of this triangle are from the pad under...

Hey! How’s it going? Its Chris here and I’ve got an amazing success story to share with you. This post is about Barry Chretien’s fitness journey so far. You know Barry, right? Barry works out at OPP in the mornings 4 or 5 times a week and swims laps 3 times a week at the Parkinson Rec Center. He also runs a marketing agency and does volunteer work feeding the homeless as well, so this makes his results even more impressive. Now before I get to telling everything Barry has achieved in the last 9 months I should back up and give you a little background. You see Barry was someone who had a hard time working out consistently, which was not only a physical challenge but a mental one too.  [caption id="attachment_5045" align="aligncenter" width="169"] Barry before starting with Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. [caption id="attachment_5046" align="aligncenter" width="169"] Barry at the start of his journey with OPP.  Maybe you can relate to Barry in sharing these same challenges such as feeling intimidated when he first started at OPP, having chronic pain in both knees due to severe osteoarthritis or something else standing in the way of optimal health. But even though Barry had these challenges before him, he set the goal of getting into the best shape of his life and decided to start working out at OPP in April of 2016. So far he has: Dropped 90 lbs Gained muscle mass Addressed movement compensation so he is moving better than he has in years Reduced and eliminated pain to the point where most days are pain-free Started mountain biking and hiking again Set a goal to complete Mudd Sweat & Tears and to snowboard next season[caption id="attachment_5047" align="aligncenter" width="220"] Barry after 9 months of training at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc and...