Many people blame their ongoing hip pain on osteoarthritis. They may have been told they have bone-on-bone deterioration in their hip. These findings (normally discovered on an Xray or MRI) may be contributing to their pain, but often the main source of pain may be due to the following issues: 1. Inadequate hip strength (weakness) 2. Inadequate hip range of motion (tightness) 3. Inadequate hip activity (sitting too much, standing too much) 4. Improper positioning of your hip throughout the day. Many individuals are terribly inactive which leads to decreased range of motion of their hip joint. The muscles surrounding their hips may also become weakened and eventually painful. Sitting wrong, standing wrong, walking wrong, and sleeping wrong can also increase the stress on their hips and lead to pain. Most people are surprised to learn their hip pain can be lessened and even eliminated through proper exercise, stretching, activity, and positioning programs. We cover the correct strengthening, stretching, and movement exercises for your painful hip in the following videos on YouTube. Alternatively, go to bobandbrad.com and click on Programs. Click on the link for the Hip Program. The same titles will be listed there. 1. Bob & Brad Hip Pain Stretching Program 2. How the Hip Movement Program Can Help Take Your Hip Pain Away 3. How Strong Butt Muscles (Gluts) Can Help Your Hip Pain. How to Test if Weak 4. How to Strengthen a Painful Hip 5. How to Sleep with Hip Pain 6. How to Walk with Hip Pain using a Cane, Walker, Walking Stick, etc. (Page 61 of McKenzie's Treat Your Own Hip book) 7. How to Walk with Hip Pain Without Using a Walking Aid (Cane, Walking Stick, Walker) 8. How to Stand & Sit with Hip Pain (page 76 of McKenzie's "Treat Your Own Hip" book) A fifth reason your hip pain will not go away can be excess weight. Most people are aware being overweight can negatively affect hip arthritis and pain, but they struggle with weight loss. We will be adding videos (from experts) in the future to help with your nutrition and weight loss needs. Bob and Brad are always cheering for your success!! Check out the full Hip Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/hip-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in May of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/f1ce28na6Z8 Brad: All right, are you feeling like maybe you should start an exercise program, but maybe you're not going to because the last time you started an exercise program, the next day you woke up sore, you were painful and you said, "Forget it." Mike: We're going to guide you through five steps to help prevent this pain and make your workouts more enjoyable. Brad: That's right. I wanted to do this video as a result of a good friend of mine. He is 57 years old and he decided to start a program to get active, physical, and fit. While he went to a program that was in the morning before work, they worked him hard, he was happy about it. He said, "Boy, I really worked up a good sweat." And by the end of the week, he had plantar fascitis so bad, he stopped. He says, "This is not for me. I just cannot be active." This is the kind of thing that can happen. It happens very often, but it does not have to. We can help you out. Mike: So, if this story resonates with you and maybe you are sore, or you don't want to be sore from starting a new workout program, we have five solutions for you. Some of them are to look at before you start working out and some of them are to help if you're already sore. Brad: As Mike mentioned, we have five of them. They're all excellent options that you can do. We've worked with them with patients over the years, as well as ourselves. So, carry on and watch all of them. You'll see exactly what we mean. All right. By far, the number one problem is people overdo it. In other words, the old saying, "Too much, too soon." I cannot say it enough. Too much, too soon. People always do too much, because they want to burn those calories and get better, and then they get muscle soreness. So, Mike, how are we going to approach this? Mike: You need to not do as much right away and slowly build up over time. Maybe you've experienced it yourself, you went out for a walk and you're feeling great. You did a whole mile. Maybe you weren't a walker before this. The next day you woke up, you couldn't even walk to the bathroom because your feet were so tired. You need to back off, initially. It may feel good in the moment, but the next day you have to kind of foresight the consequences. So, maybe if you've never walked before, do a quarter mile, then see how you feel the next day. If it went well, maybe the next day you do half a mile, or wait a day in between. You have to start slow and this pertains to anything, whether it's resistance training, lifting weights, walking, stretching programs, or any of this. Start with less than you want to because you will thank yourself later by not being sore. Brad: So, if you've just started and you feel like the exercise you're doing is doing nothing, it's very, very easy, you're doing exactly the right thing. Do that for the first week. The second week. Then you can progress and by the time you're in a month, you're doing probably what you thought you should have been doing on the first day, but you have avoided the muscle soreness. Life is going well, so be patient. Okay, the next thing is a warmup. You need to get things moving a little bit, particularly if you're doing it in the morning. Do not get out of bed and get to your exercises. Walk around a bit. This is very true once you get over 50 years old, as you know. So, what we're going to do is show a simple warmup. It only takes a minute or so. Just follow along. You can spend more time on this if you want. We'll start. Mike is going to do it in a seated position if your exercises are done in a chair. If you're up moving, you'll want to stand up and do them as I'm doing. The first thing we do is ankle pumps, or just rock up and go down on your toes and heels. Mike: So with me, I'm not having any resistance. I'm just lifting my legs. You could do these in a chair. I'm just sitting here for convenience reasons. It's just a nice way to warm up those ankles and joint muscles down there before you start exercising. Brad: The next one is marching. Bring those knees up. Get those hips moving and those knee joints moving. Again, you spend 10 to 30 seconds doing these. It'll probably be adequate, particularly if you're doing something like walking. Mike: If your hips are painful, just go to the range of motion that doesn't hurt for you. You don't want to make any pain worse. Brad: You can add circles in there too. Mike: The next one is trunk rotation. So, you're just going to turn side to side. Again, choose which range of motion works for you. If you can go all the way, go all the way. If it's painful, stop where it's painful. Brad: That's right. Again, gentle rotation. Gentle exercises. None of these should create pain. And then arm circles. Mike: You can do mini ones. You can do big ones. If you can't lift your arms high, it's okay to do them down low. You can also do swings. Just get those shoulder joints moving. We're kind of working from the feet up to the head if you've noticed. Brad: And then we're going to do neck rotation. Right to left. And we should have mentioned this earlier, Mike, but make sure you're breathing. Take some deep breaths with all of these, so that you get those lungs expanded, and ready for work. Brad: All right, and last, but not least. When you finish your exercise program, whatever it is, walking, biking, weightlifting, finish up with a cool down. You can do the same exercise program we just did. If you happen to be a runner or a jogger, then you should just walk for a while to cool down afterward. Which by the way, if you want to start running at this age, in your middle age or older and you never run before, or even if you did, make sure you start a run-walk program. Just don't go into running. You can beat up your body and joints if you get after that too aggressively. All right, the very next thing for number three is never exercise every day. When you first start, your body needs to recover after you exercise. Even though it's easy, we're not going too aggressive. A Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule is a good way to start. If it's really easy after the first week and there are zero sore muscles even the next week, you could bump it up, but you're not going to go five days a week for several weeks for sure. Increase the intensity and still go Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to start with. Mike, you have some input. Mike: I would say that having that day off in between when you start, allows your muscles to recover and that's actually when your muscles repair and rebuild themselves, so that is optimal for taking days off in between. Now, if you want to start doing more days per week exercising like Brad recommended, you would possibly say you did resistance training on Monday, maybe on Tuesday go for a walk. You don't want to do the same exercise every day. You can alternate it. Brad: And if you're not familiar with resistance training, that means either the bands or weights, anything like that. Even just squats are resistance training, to a degree. So, just so we're clear on that, Mike: Yes, and you should slowly progress up, like Brad mentioned. Start with maybe every other day for the first two weeks and then progressively slowly add more days, being consistent. You don't want to do too much too soon. Be sore. That can lead to burning out and not wanting to work out. Brad: Right. So, if it sounds like we're kicking the dead horse, we kind of are because it's an important point. Mike: Tip number four, is for if you already worked out and you are sore because you did too much. So, this is more of a recovery tip here and that is massaging the sore muscle group. So, say your foot, your calf, your hamstrings are sore. What you can do is just kind of massage slowly, doing different strategies, circle techniques, different movement patterns, whatever feels good. There's no right or wrong. Just kind of massage the painful area. Get some blood flow there to help you recover and feel better quicker. Brad: And then what you'll find when you're doing this like Mike said, we want to get the blood flow because fresh blood into these muscles is going to help recover and let the muscles heal and rebuild. But you may find a knot or a real tender spot in one spot. Let's say on my calf. So, when you find that you're going to massage that and it's going to be one of those things, don't get too aggressive. If it hurts, but it feels like it hurts so good, that's good. If you're in one spot for about 30 seconds and it starts to feel like it's going away or feels numb, that's a really good sign. That means you're getting that knot out of there. If it just starts to hurt more and more, it's not ready for it yet, don't continue to massage it. Now, there is another option with massage, because you will find that your fingers get sore and tired. If you happen to have a massage gun, we're going to show that in just a second. Okay, if you have a massage gun, the size of the gun and how aggressive it is, is something you want to take into consideration. I'm using the Q2 massage gun, it is a smaller gun. It reciprocates forward and back. I believe we have 10 millimeters of travel, which is a good amount for most people. We have the round head on here. There's an airhead where it's squishing soft on good guns. All of our guns have an airhead attachment. You'll want that, particularly at our age. You're going to get into that muscle and if you go straight into that muscle, it's very aggressive. With a round head on it, you turn the gun 90 degrees and it's not nearly as aggressive, but it's going to do a nice job. So, use your judgment, depending on how far you want to get in. Your massage gun will not wear out. It may run out of batteries after a while, but if you've got a full charge, you'll get several days with it. Mike, do you have any input? Mike: So the massage guns aren't necessary, but they're a good option, especially if your hands are getting tired. You can do what we did before, just with your hands. It's going to work just as well, but this is a good option if you already have one, or you're interested in getting one, they do the work for you. Brad: So, if you look, Mike is using the C2 massage gun, his is a bigger one. You're probably never going to need one bigger than that, for sure, unless you're really a strong muscular person. Again, the Q2 is the smaller ones, we've got a lot of good feedback with these. You can do these on the hamstrings, or quads, pretty much anywhere in your body except for your neck. You stay away from the neck and of course your head and face. It's to be understood. Mike: Now, the third option is using a foam roller. You can use these on many different muscle groups. Obviously, if you're not very mobile and can't get down to the floor, this wouldn't be the option for you. But if you're able to, this is a good strategy and they're a lot cheaper than a massage gun to use. Brad: Right. And Mike's showing his calf, working that calf muscle. Very common muscle that gets sore, and tight with exercise. Mike: And with these foam rollers, you just go to the problem area, put some pressure on it. As you can see, I'm taking a lot of weight through my arms right now, to take the tension off of the muscle group being massaged. The more I put weight through the foam roller, the deeper it's going to dig. Brad: You're doing good, Mike. You're doing good. Mike: You can put overpressure, but this might be a little too excessive for some people. Brad: One thing I want to mention about the foam rollers is the density of them. You'll see there'll be a soft, medium, or a hard one. You'll probably want a medium one. That's what I prefer. But if you want to get more aggressive, the black ones are harder. It's just the way they build them. There's more carbon in them to get them more hard. So, I really enjoy these. You can get up in that hip. That's one area that really, I think these stand out in, personally. You can get in to work that hip, that piriformis muscle, that gluteus maximus, all those muscles that surround the backside of the hip, in particular. So, you typically will spend three to five minutes. It should feel good. This is a nice thing. It's a feel-good thing. All these massage techniques, between the massage gun, and the hand massage, should feel good. It's good. Mike: Just pick which one feels best for you and stick with that. You don't have to do all three types of massage. Brad: That's right. That's a good point, although you may want to. I'm just kidding. All right, number five and the final tip is, again, maybe you have some soreness. You did overdo it even though against our advice. It's okay. There are some options. The number one is NSAIDs. That means ibuprofen, Tylenol, Advil, those types of things. Most people have an awareness of how to use those so they don't overdo them. Make sure you read the bottle, but go with that route. I stay away from that unless I'm really sore. The next thing I like to use is a cold pack. Make sure you have a cold pack that is soft when it comes out of the freezer. You can make your own cold pack. We have a video on how to make it with water and rubbing alcohol and two Ziploc bags. It's very easy and a very good option. The cold packs that you purchase if you want one, the nice thing about them is, that you can use them for cold or if you like heat. You can put these in the microwave and it says right on it, how long. I believe it's 30 seconds and it'll heat up and then you can use that for a hot pack. If you don't know whether to use a cold pack or a hot pack, it's simple. You try one and then you try the other and see how you respond best to it, while it's on there, as well as afterwards. Keep in mind, that everyone is going to feel good with a hot pack on a sore muscle. Not true with cold packs, initially. But after that first little chilliness, then it feels good. If that's the case, then it's going to be for you. I like cold packs, by far. Some people do like the hot packs. Mike: You can use them for 15 to 20 minutes. After that, they don't have much effect, so it's best to take them off. Another option would be some type of topical cream, which is a pain relieving cream, that you can rub on the sore area. Now make sure just to put it on the sore area. Don't get it all over your body because it'll give you a menthol-tingling sensation. We have the Holy Cowabunga cream. Other brands are fine as well, but it's just something to help you give temporary relief to the sore muscles. Brad: Right. When I use this type of thing, I put it on, typically before I go to bed, so I can get sleep easier because I have sore muscles keeping me awake. It allows me to sleep better and through the night and things are better in the morning. So, things are looking good for relief with these options. Mike, anything else? Did you get any other tricks up your sleeve? Mike: I do not, but do you want to talk about your bonus tip? Brad: Oh yeah, the big bonus tip. This works for me, for sure. If you're starting a routine, get another friend or a buddy who is also starting an exercise routine, and then maybe meet with them once a week and trade stories on how things are going. If they've watched the same video, you can trade information back and forth. If you overdid it and you have sore muscles and say, "Oh my goodness. Yeah, I know what you mean. I did that too." And it makes life a lot more fun. Always more fun with more than one person. Mike: I would say if you can't find a friend that's dedicated, follow along. Fitness videos are very helpful as well. I've done those in the past and still do them periodically. Brad: So in conclusion, get your exercise program going. You're going to have great benefits from it. I know I do and I'm sure can work for everyone. Remember, motion is lotion. In other words, that motion is going to help reduce pain, not create it, if you do it right. Mike: Also, let us know down below in the comment section, which tips worked for you or what we maybe forgot because believe it or not, we do not know everything. Brad: So, take care and be here. Thank you. Mike: Thank you for watching. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin, Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat, Clapper, Threads Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit: https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager Weighted Heating Pad Hand Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stress Balls Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July of 2023. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRVZIj5RDU0&t=384s Brad: Okay, we're going to talk about a real story. This patient's name is Fred, a 70-year-old, who had low back pain for several months. He went to a doctor and this doctor sent him to a surgeon. The surgeon assessed the situation and recommended surgery to implant an E-stim unit. In other words, a stimulation unit designed to block the pain. So what happened? The surgery did continue and the implant was put in. The results were negative, it did not work. The E-stim wires broke, and now there's a second surgery planned. Mike: So the question is, could Fred have avoided back surgery if he had tried physical therapy first? Brad: My point exactly. Now, after a discussion with Fred, my question was did you have any physical therapy before the surgery to see if it could be avoided? The answer was no to my dismay, of course. Mike: So if Fred had decided to go into physical therapy first, here's what a physical therapist would've checked for. Brad: Let's take a look at the spine. We're looking at probably two common causes of back pain in this age group. Now, it could be something else, but again, this is typically what can happen. The first thing is possibly a disc problem, and the second thing could be a stenosis. Now, when you get to this age, stenosis does become more prevalent. But first, let's rule out the disc problem. This is also good education for the patient, so they understand what's going on in their body. When you understand it, you feel more comfortable. And chances of success, avoiding surgery, go way up. Okay, now the big thing that comes up in people's minds is I've got a herniated disc or a bulging disc. We've got to get it done, and taken care of surgically. Let's look at this. Here we have this red disc, representing a herniated or bulging disc. Brad: Now that would be the situation. Now let's talk about bulging discs in this age group. Okay, let's look at the disc and what happens with a disc as we age, particularly 60 and above. Here we have L4-L5. They are vertebrae. This is just a model, a representation. Now this red ball represents a disc. When you are young, the disc is pliable and flexible. It allows you to bend, twist, and absorb shock through the body. Now, when a disc starts to rupture or herniate, what happens is this. Now remember, the spinal cord goes through the back of the vertebra, so this is a really dramatic representation. Brad: When a disc bulges boom, it hurts. That can pinch a nerve, causing pain in the back and all the way down to the toes. Now, there's one big thing that is common with elderly people, the disc, the inner fluid that you see, allowing this to happen becomes thicker. They describe it as crab meat. So if you are at that age, particularly older, the chances of having a herniated disc drop significantly. Sometimes the MRIs show a bulging, a herniated disc, and it may have been there for a long time, and it's not the source of the problem. The whole point is to ask the doctor, ask the surgeon to look at this closely, and sometimes it's nice to get a second opinion. All right, the second scenario is stenosis. We've got lumbar stenosis in the lower back where the nerves get pinched because the hole, they call it the foramen, actually shrinks. There are several reasons that can happen. Now, if the person presents with pain where they are standing, or they walk and the pain gets worse, and then when they sit down very quickly, the pain subsides, it's a very strong case that it could be stenosis. Now, there are some more things that other therapists will do to determine that, and we're going to show you some exercises that can also help, which we've had good success with eliminating. So let's go forward and look at those options. All right, now if Fred would've come in and he presented with one-sided back pain and he cleared all the red flags, in other words, I thought therapy may be a good option, this is one exercise that we would try. I call it the doorframe stretch. So Mike, go ahead. And the idea is if the pain is on the right side, he's going to reach up with his right hand and stretch. Go ahead, Mike, can you explain it? Mike: So you're going to reach up, touch the top of the doorframe, and then I'm going to lean to my right. Notice how my feet are staying in place, and I'm getting a good stretch in here, opening up, and spreading that spine apart, getting relief off of those nerves. Brad: Right? So let's make it clear, you don't have to use a doorframe. And if you have a doorframe that is not solid, don't use it, it won't be safe. You can use something if you have a pull-up bar or something of that nature, where you can safely suspend your weight. With these exercises like Mike just demonstrated, and what we're going to continue to show is it needs to feel good while you're doing the exercise, making that pain better, as well as afterward, not just right away, but over the next 24 hours. Then continue as long as you get positive results. Mike: So a big red flag is if you're having weakness in your leg, that is also coming from your back pain. You're going to want to go see the doctor and get this checked out further. And if they determine physical therapy is appropriate, then give these a try. Brad: All right, let's go on to the next exercise. This is another version, if you do not have that doorframe to hold onto, simply take a stick, it needs to be something pretty stout so that it's not too flexible or won't break. Mike is showing it here with the Booyah Stik. He's stretching the right side out. Go ahead, Mike. Mike: So grab up as high as you can on this pole. I'm going to have my hand and palm facing away from me. I'm going to have a pulling force going down like I would in the doorframe, and then I'm going to start leaning the stick away from me. Getting that nice traction feeling. If this feels good while you're doing it and after, then this is a stretch you want to continue doing. Brad: Just one warning, if your stick does not stick well to the surface, a chair or table, because it doesn't have a rubber grippy thing like the Booyah stik, simply put a shoe down, put it in there, and it really does the job. Okay, another complete option for an exercise is extension in lying or prone press-ups. You're going to lie down on your stomach, preferably on a firm surface, like a carpeted floor. Mike's going to demonstrate here. You imagine that your buttock or your belt line is glued to the floor or the bed, and you simply do a press-up. Notice how it arches the back. You will only do this one if it feels good. Now, the first couple of repetitions, if it hurts, but it clearly gets better, by the third one, then you can continue. Now, if it gets worse after the third one, and continues to feel like it's not helping you stop, it's not for you. Brad: This one typically works with a disc problem. All right, and in regards to repetitions, you're not going to do more than 10 at a time. Again, it should feel good, or make it feel better while you're doing it, as well as afterward. For example, when you get up and walk around, we do have another video that goes into this in more detail. If things are going well with it, you can look at that. I encourage you to. Okay, now if these exercises so far have not been helping, this is a good option. This works particularly well with most people with stenosis. We're flexing the spine, and Mike's going to demonstrate some very simple exercises that will give quick relief if they're the right ones. Mike: So, to perform this exercise, you're going to need to lie on the bed or the floor. You're going to bring one knee up towards your chest like this, keeping the other leg down, and get a nice good stretch. Now, after you hold this for 15 to 30 seconds, perform it on the other leg. See if one side is tighter, or if this is helping your back pain. Mike: If this is feeling okay, you can progress to bringing both knees up to your chest and just sitting here for a nice 30 seconds and relaxing. The spinal flexion can help relieve that pinching sensation on those nerves that you are experiencing. Brad: Good job, Mike. This would be repeated two to three times per day, as long as relief is experienced. Now looking at this from Fred's point of view in regards to therapy, this is what a therapist typically would do. They'd assess all these different options, and both Bob and I have experienced good success with having this back pain relieved. It's just worth it to seek physical therapy, versus surgery at least one or two visits. Mike: So if you want to try physical therapy and your doctor didn't prescribe it, simply call them and ask. Most of the time, they'll give you the option. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin, Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat, Clapper, Threads Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit: https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager Weighted Heating Pad Hand Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stress Balls Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

We often suggest use of a walking aid when any of the following conditions are true: 1. You are at a high risk of falling due to painful or weak hips or knees. 2. You experience significant pain when weight bearing on the painful hip. 3. You are walking with a significant limp or you tend to waddle. We want you to keep in mind our suggestion for using an aid to walk does not have to be a permanent thing. During the time you are using the support aid, we are hoping three things will occur: 1. Your hip pain will begin to calm down. Any hip inflammation or swelling you have may subside. If your hip pain is due to arthritis, we often find that arthritic pain can be cyclical (flare up and calm down). 2. We hope you will participate in our hip stretching program which often leads to decreased pain. See our video Bob & Brad Hip Stretching Video (Based on the McKenzie Approach) 3. We hope you will participate in our hip strengthening program which also can lead to decreased pain. See our video How to Strengthen a Painful Hip. How to use a Cane: The cane is often most effective when used in the hand on the opposite side of the hip pain. So, if your hip pain is in your right hip, you would use the cane in your left hand. We typically advise our patients to just begin walking and using the cane without instruction. Most patients take to using a cane naturally and any instructions on our part tend to screw them up. The recommended cane height should be set as follows: A. Stand up straight. B. Let the support arm hang by your side. C. Adjust the support cane so the cane handle hits the support arm at the level of the wrist (approximately). D. When grasping the cane there should be a slight bend at the elbow. How to use a walker: When we recommend the use of a walker, we often recommend either a front-wheeled walker (with tennis balls on the back) or a 4 wheeled walker. If you use a walker without wheels you will need to lift the walker to advance it while walking. While lifting the walker you will be placing increased weight on a painful or weak hip. Thus, you have more difficulty in trying to get any hip pain to calm down. You are also more likely to lose your balance and fall when lifting the walker. With a wheeled walker, you can advance it by rolling it forward. And a front-wheeled walker is still stable, and unlikely to roll away from you. The recommended walker height should be set as follows: E. Stand up straight. F. Let the support arms hang by your side. G. Adjust the walker height so the hand grips of the walker so the cane handle hit the support arms at the level of the wrists (approximately). H. When grasping the walker there should be a slight bend at each elbow. Check out the full Hip Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/hip-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in of  . For the original video go to https://youtu.be/VElAIIvcSls Brad: All right. Flexibility in your legs is so important for your walking and pain reduction. However, if you're a senior, lifting your leg way high to stretch is not going to be something you want to do. Mike: But, we have five stretches that you can easily do at home and it should only take about five minutes. Brad: And they're all done in the standing position. Okay, so I did mention these are done in standing. However, to make sure you're safe and there's no chance of a fall, you're going to do one thing. If you have a stairway at home and you have two handrails, those are going to give you stability and you're going to use the steps to stretch. If you don't have that, you can simply have two good chairs that you can hold onto or one chair and hand on the cupboard at home or near the sink and we'll show you the techniques. For all these stretches, it's going to be held for about 5 to 15 seconds depending on what you want, or 5 repetitions. We'll go through that. Now, I did mention if you do not have a stairway, you're going to use chairs except on this first stretch. All you need is a wall or a staircase. So if you have a wall, you simply put your hand on the wall and stagger your stance. We're stretching the calf muscle of the back leg. The one in front is not being stretched. Put your heel towards the ground or on the ground, lock your back leg out straight, and then lean forward using that wall for balance. We're not trying to tear the muscle. Just a gentle stretch, again, up to 15 seconds, or rock 5 times, simply switch legs and do the other leg. Brad: It's the same technique if you're on the stairs. Again, hold onto those rails for balance and it's the same thing. Make sure the toe does point forward. A common mistake is that the toe points out and then you're not getting a complete stretch. Mike: So you're going to want to go straightforward. And if, you're not feeling much and you can, you can put your other foot on the stair as well and lean forward more and get more of a calf stretch, but only if it feels good. Brad: That's right. Okay, let's go to number two. Mike: Okay. The next stretch we're going to do is to stretch the hamstrings, which run from your buttock down to the knee, and you've got three of them on each leg. So you're going to bring your leg straight up on a step, whatever you can lift your height to. Higher up is going to be a little more of a stretch. Hold on to both sides. And if you feel it in the back of your leg, that's fine. If you don't feel much of a stretch, just bend forward, but keep a straight back. Don't try to round forward. Brad: Good. And if you do not have the stairs, what you're going to do is like I mentioned, use two chairs or a chair and your cupboard, then you need a stool that does not have wheels and is steady. My stool has two steps. I may start on the bottom step or I may go up on the second, which is a little more aggressive. Start low, keep that back straight, and lean forward. Now for me personally, I lean into it on the first step and I can start to feel that stretch already. This is not a stretch to make a lot of pain, just a gentle stretch is all we're looking for. And you may go up to the second level right away or it might take a week or two, or maybe you'll always stay at the first level and that's fine. We're not trying to go to the Olympics, we're just stretching those muscles and getting them relaxed and the circulation improved. Mike: You should probably show too that you want to make sure your leg is straight out in front of you. Don't try to angle out. You're not going to get a hamstringing stretch this way. Brad: Good point. So we're looking straight ahead. Not turning to the side. Okay, again, balance and safety. If you do not feel steady with this, do not do it. Mike: So the next stretch, we're going to stretch the hip flexors, which are in the front of the hip. They're big, strong muscles. We're going to stretch the right one. So the left foot is going to go on the step and the right one is going to stay back. You're going to try to keep an upright posture, lean forward if you feel safe, keep the toe pointed straight ahead like we did earlier, and you should feel a stretch right in the front of your hip. The more you lean, the more stretch you'll get. Brad: And I do want to mention, that you do not have to go up to the taller step like Mike did. It might be that step depending on your flexibility. Now the hip flexor muscles tighten up if you sit a lot throughout the day, which some people will. You may go between the two chairs or the cupboard without the steps and simply stretch with that staggered stance and leaning forward and get an adequate stretch. It's important, where you put your hand in your pocket is where you want to feel that stretch. This one, I like to go on and off, but you can hold it. While you do these, relax and breathe. Make sure you do both legs. There you go. What do you say, Mike? Mike: I want to emphasize, that you want to make sure your posture is upright when you're doing it. You're not going to feel the stretch if you're leaning forward because the muscle is right here in the pocket like Brad said. Brad: All right, let's go to the next one. Mike: So the last exercise is more of a movement and it's called a pendulum. A lot of people may have experience with this with their shoulders if they've had shoulder rehab, but you're just going to kind of swing your legs back and forth. You're not going to do a forceful kick. Your leg is supposed to be kind of relaxed and you just let it go forward and back. And you can also try to do it side to side. Brad: I want to emphasize as you're letting the leg swing, it's very gentle. Again, Mike said, you're not trying to kick out but think about going back a little bit to help stretch that hip. Also, if I'm holding on to the chair, this is a nice way to get that side-to-side motion, and very relaxed, breathing. Mike: It's important to mention you also don't want to swing your body down to get more backward momentum. So keep an upright posture as you're doing this. Brad: Shoulders, head, stay still. They're not moving around. Just let the leg swing. This is a great one for that hip joint if you have hip arthritis to let that synovial fluid get in that joint and make your walking a little bit better. So I think this is a great set to do before a walk. Take a few minutes, do these, then go for your walk. Your walking's going to feel better and you'll probably go a little bit farther and enjoy the day more. So keep those hips and legs flexible, pain-free, and ... Mike: Happy. Brad: Whatever you want, Mike. Keep them happy. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin, Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat, Clapper, Threads Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit: https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager Weighted Heating Pad Hand Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stress Balls Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in April of 2023. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6UFa2uC5Ao&t=56s Mike: If you're experiencing hip pain specifically in the outer part of your hip, you may be suffering from hip bursitis. Brad: Fortunately, there are exercises that we can do to relieve this pain, and we're going to show you them. Mike: Yes, three of the top ones to help fix your bursitis. Brad: Say no more, Mike. Let's go to work. Mike: Okay. So, a bursa is a fluid-filled sac. This is represented in our model here. It is much, much smaller than this. We don't have a small little ball. But basically what it's going to be located for this area is on the greater trochanter or lateral side of the hip here. And if it gets irritated, it can get inflamed and cause a lot of pain. Brad: Yeah. And I think I can add that we have bursae throughout our bodies, near the joints, and their job is to lubricate. Either a ligament or a tendon goes over the top of it, and it keeps the tendon or the ligament from getting worn out if you will. And again, they're filled with a lot of nerve endings, and they can be very sensitive when inflamed. Mike: So, a common muscle or tendon area that can cause friction on this bursa is called the IT band, and it typically runs from the lateral knee, and connects into the tensor fascia lata, which goes up around the lateral hip. When that gets tight on people, it can cause a lot of friction in this area and cause pain. Brad: Right. So, if you look at the stripes on my pants, that's exactly where the IT band goes. Starts at the knee, just below the joint, and goes up. And again, the tensor fascia lata muscle. Bob always likes that muscle. It does connect up here. So, yeah, that is all part of the anatomy. Mike: Another common cause of hip bursitis can be femoral anterior glide syndrome, which means your femoral head here is forward in the socket, not sitting where it's meant to be. This puts a lot of excess pressure on the front muscles here and could put more stress on this bursa as well. Brad: That's right. So, when that starts to become unstable, then really, we get more irritation to that bursa. So, that's another component of how we're going to remedy this. Mike: And we're going to show you a couple of exercises or stretches to fix both of these problems. Brad: Say no more. Let's go to work. Mike: So, the first stretch we're going to show is going to work the IT band, but it's also a hip flexor stretch, and we've shown it in many other videos. So, what you're going to do is you're going to lay down on your back, bring both knees to your chest to start, and you're going to drop one leg off the edge of the mat and try to bend it to 90 degrees. So, this is stretching my hip flexor now, but Brad, do you want to talk about how it integrates the IT band? Brad: Right. Yeah. And you can do this off the edge of your bed. If your bed is firmer, it works a little bit better. But one thing that Mike was talking about, is if your knee tends to pull out to the side, that's an indication that your IT band is tight and we want to make sure that it's stretched out, and this will get that hip flexor. Try to keep the knee in, and then we'll show you an exercise to stretch that IT bend as well. Mike: A couple of other points to notice is, keep your leg in a nice straight line with your arm here. Try to bend your knee as far as you can. That'll stretch your hip flexor more. The further down you are to the bed, the more hip flexor stretch you're going to get. If that's too aggressive, you can back up. Make sure to do both sides and always reset before switching. Brad: Nice work. Nice work. Mike: Now, if you want to work on femoral anterior glide syndrome, we're going to do a stretch. It's kind of a mobilization. You're going to need a heavy-duty resistance band for this or a belt. Either will work. You're going to tie it to something sturdy in your house that won't move. Don't do a table. It's probably going to pull away. Brad: Before we get going, Mike, I want to mention, that if you had a total hip replacement, you do not want to do this. This is for a healthy hip, or when it's painful. No surgeries before this. Mike: Yes. So, I have the band around my leg up by the hip and I'm going to walk forward and get some tension on this. First, we're going to go forward. I'm going to leave the leg we are stretching back and try to keep my back nice and neutral and straight, and I'm going to slowly lean forward. It's going to have a pulling force posteriorly, trying to get that femoral head back into the socket where it is meant to be. If this feels good, you are doing the exercise that is meant for you and is correct. If you don't feel much, you can try turning sideways and getting more of a lateral pull as well. This can sometimes help some people. If this isn't working, then this exercise isn't for you. Brad: Right. It should not create pain. If it does, it is not for you, and just discontinue it or omit it from your plan. Mike: And we've got one more strategy that we'll get to in a second here. Brad: Looks like you're enjoying that, Mike. Mike: Yes, it's like a bungee jump. So, the last suggestion we have is to keep soft knees when standing and also walking. Brad: Soft knees? Mike: Bent. A slight bend in the knee. You do not want to lock your knee. When your knees are locked, you're going to have more stress on your joints. When your knees are bent, the muscles are going to work like they're supposed to, taking the stress off of your joints. This includes the ankles, knees, hips, and lower back. So, to get some pressure off of the hip, if it's inflamed, you want to stand with bent knees. You don't have to stand overly bent, just a slight bend, as long as you're not locked out. Mike: And walking, what you want to do is land on your forefoot when you walk, not a heel strike. Most people heel strike because of raised heels in modern-day type shoes. You can buy a different type of shoes, which are zero or flat or minimalist. You don't want to necessarily start with these right away. Progress slowly. This is not about that. It's just about forefoot walking to fix your hip pain. So, when you walk, try to land on your forefoot. You could pretend like you have some pins and needles in your heel, or popcorn kernels, as Brad likes to talk about in other videos. So, as you can see, I'm taking shorter strides. I'm not elongating landing on my heel like this. It's going to be a lot less pressure on that hip joint and make it feel better. Brad: Great. I know personally, that if you walk around your house on a hard floor without shoes on, you can clearly feel when you do a heel strike. You can feel that bone right against the hard floor versus landing on your forefoot. So, it's not tippy-toe walking, it's just emphasis on the forefoot, taking the stress off of that heel. Makes a difference. Not so easy to do it right away. Mike: No, it takes time and practice, and it'll feel a little weird at first, but you'll get used to it after a while. Brad: All right. So, hip bursitis. We gave you three nice options. Chances are that you'll find one or two of them to be the best. Make sure you use those, and continue them daily. It'll get better with time. Mike: And let us know what worked for you, what we missed. If you have bursitis, what are some common things that we maybe forgot to include? So, comment down below. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin, Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat, Clapper, Threads Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit: https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager Weighted Heating Pad Hand Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stress Balls Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

The ideal walking pattern without using a walking aid is one in which you engage (use) the gluteal muscles. If you are limping or experiencing significant pain in the hip with each step you may want to consider using a cane. If your balance is significantly worse due to hip pain or weakness you should use a cane or a walker. The use of a cane or walker does not have to be a permanent addition. Often hip pain will calm down with short-term use of a gait aid. In addition, strengthening the hip muscles can improve overall standing and walking balance. See our video How to Strengthen a Painful Hip for exercise suggestions. How to tell if your gluteal muscles are firing when walking. Place both hands on your butt cheeks and walk forward. When your right foot hits the ground, you should feel a tightening of the gluteal muscle on that side. The same holds true for when the left foot hits the ground (tightening of the left gluteal muscle). If the glutes are not firing adequately, it can often throw off the alignment of your hip which can lead to pain. Hints to make certain the gluteal muscles are firing: 1. Shorten your stride. With a longer stride, you will tend to hit your heel first. 2. Hips should be directly over the foot at heel strike (not behind). 3. Your knee should be unlocked at heel strike (It should have a slight bend) (unlocked) 4. Initial weight-bear through the heel AND arch. Not heel only. 5. It should feel like you are pushing off on the back foot. This type of walking pattern can initially be difficult to do, but it will decrease the stress on your hip. Along with the change in walking, you may want to perform gluteal pumps for strengthening the glutes. Check out the full Hip Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/hip-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March of 2023. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/LOGf-RY_fq4 Brad: Do you have low back pain? While it's widely accepted that walking is one of the best ways to treat low back pain, you need to do it properly. Mike: Both Rick Olderman and Dr. Stewart McGill recommend this style of walking and we're going to show you some easy tricks on how to do it correctly. Brad: Excellent job. Excellent. Mike: According to Dr. Stewart McGill, walking correctly and at the appropriate distance is known as nature's balm for your back. Brad: That's right. Now, as far as walking correctly, a couple of the big precursors are you're going to walk on flat surfaces, not on uneven or up and down hills. That's very critical, as well as the distance you walk. You're not going to go out and walk 10 miles and hope that that cures your back pain. It's short distances as tolerated, and we're going to show you the key parts of how to walk properly, not just a distance. Mike: The first step is to avoid doing a hard heel strike when you're bringing your foot forward. Brad: That's right, Mike. Most people walk like this without thinking about the heel coming down. There's a large amount of impact force that goes through the joints, particularly when the knee's fully extended, and that is experienced in the knee joint, the hip, as well as the lower back. It's one thing we want to avoid and we're going to show you how to. Mike: So what you want to do instead is land on your forefoot, or middle foot when you land. Brad: And you can see Mike has the heel. There's no force on the heel here. He has shortened his stride up slightly, and that helps. His knee is slightly flexed. We call this the soft knee, so the impact is minimized because of the forefoot, and the soft knee and the back are much more comfortable with this. Now, I'm going to show you another trick I like to do this without thinking about it because this is kind of hard, isn't it, Mike? Mike: Yeah. It takes time to learn. Brad: That's right. Mike: So an important thing to look at when walking too is your shoes. So this shoe has a higher heel compared to the other shoe. This is a flat or minimalist shoe. So with the minimalist shoe, you're not going to want to land on your heel because it's going to be more problematic and almost painful. You're going to want to naturally land more on your forefoot, which will lead to the proper walking mechanics. Brad: That's right. They also call them zero-drop shoes because they're even, the distance in the sole is the same in the toes as it is in the heel. So yeah, just another point. Mike: These are minimalists, so there's not much cushioning. You can get a zero drop that still has cushioning as well. Brad: That's what I have. Okay. I'm going to show you a neat little trick that will help you perform this forefoot walking so you don't have to think about it. I really like it, I've been using it myself. Take two-inch wide masking tape, maybe you have some at home already. It can go narrow if you want. Take some popcorn, unpopped, and put about four or five of them on the tape. Brad: This is going to be a little different for each individual. Then you're going to go ahead and tape that on your heel. So what you're going to find out is when you pull the sock over and you're going to put that in your shoe, and when you walk and you feel those little popcorn kernels dig into your heel, it's going to be a little uncomfortable and you're going to automatically forefoot walk. Now, it's going to depend on whether you have a shoe that has a thick cushioned insert, it'll be more comfortable. If you have a thin sole like Mike has, you're going to feel it more. So that's going to vary individually depending on your shoes, et cetera. Mike: So I've never done this before. So putting these in my shoe kind of feels like when you get a little pebble in your shoe and you're out walking and it's really a nuisance. It feels like that, but if I don't put weight down on my heel, I don't feel it. So it feels more natural. So this is going to make you automatically want to strike in your forefoot and continue through without putting your heel down on the ground. That feels like you're stepping on some Legos. Brad: Yeah, that's popcorn. Now, I've done this throughout the day, and what happens is my calf muscles get a little tired. So you're not going to do this all day long. If you want to try this, you'll have that on for an hour or two, depending on how much walking you do. Take it off, and you'll feel the transformation come over time. It'll be like a muscle memory thing. Mike: It feels awkward initially. It feels like you're learning to walk again, I did this a few months ago because Rick recommended it for me to engage my buttock muscles more. Brad: But not the popcorn part. Mike: Not the popcorn part, no, but walking on my forefoot versus my heel striking and it felt awkward for a week, and now it's becoming more normalized. I can't walk as fast yet, but it is coming along gradually. Brad: Right. So that may sound like a lot of work, but if you want to have less back pain, and better walking mechanics that's going to save your knees, your hips, as well as your back, it's worth doing. So, very good. One thing we'd like to end this video is with... Mike: Be healthy. Brad: Be happy. Mike: And be helpful. Brad: Yeah, the three Bs. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin, Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat, Clapper, Threads Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit: https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager Weighted Heating Pad Hand Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stress Balls Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March of 2023. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/xB0CcPZUqX4 Brad: Bob and I have been sleeping on SleepOvation mattresses for over five years now. And we're going to tell you our final results on what it's like. Mike: And we have narrowed it down to seven key points to make this mattress or any mattress desirable. Brad: That's right. So hold your horses. We're going to get to it. Number one, and this is probably the biggest point, is that a good quality mattress is going to conform to your whole body, the curves, no matter how you're shaped, and allow support that all your joints, the lower back, knees, et cetera, so you're at maximum comfort, not just when you lay in there, but throughout the night. And it makes you want to stay in your bed in the morning. Mike: So this mattress actually has 700 tiny mattresses all in here. Brad: And that's actually what brought Bob and I's attention to this. We saw this and it looked just like, or similar to the concept of the most comfortable wheelchair cushion that we've seen for decades. Is that right Bob? Bob: Right! Brad: Bob concurs. Mike: What makes this mattress different is each individual mattress has its own unique coil spring. Brad: So this allows individual support and we're going to show you how this can support particularly in the low back. I have spondylolisthesis, which is a problem in my lower back, I noticed this literally the first time I lay on this mattress. All right, we're going to show you the secret of why this style of mattress or this whole concept works. Looking at the spine, you have a natural arch or lordosis in your lower back and the sacrum is a little higher and the upper back goes out. Brad: Now when we lie down, we want to have it conform to the spine itself. However, we're going to actually use a tracer here just because it's easier to see. And here's the arch, this is the sacrum, and you can see how it follows the natural curve of the spine. Brad: Okay, so here's the spine. You can see the arch here, and the sacrum here. Now when you lie down and put pressure on it, you can see how it pushes down. Each individual tiny mattress has its job for each vertebra if you will. Brad: Oftentimes a lot of other mattresses have memory foam, which actually works very well. It does conform to the arches and contour of the body. Brad: However, one important concept of a good mattress is airflow throughout the mattress so you don't overheat. So if you look at memory foam, it's very solid. Now I know there's one memory foam mattress that has air gaps in it, but not air channels, and that's the advantage of this mattress. There are air channels that run across the whole mattress. All right, the next point we want to bring up is the rebound or the recoil of the mattress. Now with a memory foam mattress, it does conform very well, but when you roll over, look what happens to the area that's pushed into the mattress. It takes time for it to rebound and get up. Brad: Now with that, that allows you, when you roll over, there's a hole there and you may want to roll back into it. It can be a problem while you sleep. So here we have the rebound of our SleepOvation mattress. Just observe the exact same pressure point. It comes up almost zero time, immediately not quite, but very close, much faster than the SleepOvation. Bad: I do want to mention the coils underneath. There's airflow throughout the whole bottom of the mattress. It's not like a solid piece of memory foam. Big difference with heat retention. Brad: That leads us right to the point of intimacy. This mattress is a five-star. All right? I have to admit, I've been hogging the film from Mike. He is very aware of what's going on in the last point or two. So he's going to take the show. I might interrupt. Mike: Yes, so this mattress has a removable cover as well, which is very important because your mattresses are much dirtier than you think. You could even listen to Richard Codos talk about it in an interview I did with him recently. So you could typically take this off when it's dirty and throw it in the washing machine. Brad: Now I really want to add, that we just did this on ours. You unzip the whole thing and the top half comes off. You don't have to lift up the mattress at all. You leave the bottom half there, clean the top, put it back on, and zip it up. Even I could do it. Mike: So the cost of this mattress is more expensive than your typical run-of-the-mill mattress store sales, but it is very much worth it, considering you spend a 30-year life sleeping on it. Brad: And I do want to add, that I've done some homework to get the same quality mattress with this type of technology, this is cheaper than the other two mattresses that I did some research on and looked at. They have similar technology, but their cost is much higher. And this does have a 100-day warranty. It comes to your house in a box, you bring it into your bedroom, put it down, and it opens up right in front of your eyes. It's amazing technology. It's great for shipping. And after 100 days, if you decide you do not like it, because there may be a small percentage of people who won't fit well on it, they'll take it back. Mike: No questions asked, free of charge. And this is this week's giveaway. So if maybe you can't afford one right now, you can enter at bobandbrad.com/giveaways. And it's also pinned to the top of Facebook. Brad: That's right. They'll ship it right to your house and you're going to be sleeping like a baby. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin, Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat, Clapper, Threads Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit: https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager Weighted Heating Pad Hand Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stress Balls Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

Weak hips can result in having a strange and even painful walking pattern. Weak hips can also result in poor balance and falls. 1. Trouble getting out of a chair without multiple tries. 2. Have a positive Trendelenburg Sign. Face the wall and place your hands on it for stability. Raise your right leg and the left pelvis/hip should rise a small amount. If the right hip/pelvis falls it is due to weakness in the LEFT hip abductors. If the left hip/pelvis drops while supporting on the right leg it is due to weakness in the left hip abductors. 3. Leaning on the weak hip when walking. Although this may not make sense, when you have a weak hip the tendency is to excessively lean on that leg when walking. The hip muscles of that leg do not have to work as hard when you lean upon it. 4. Your knees are knock-kneed due to weakness at the hip. Weakness of the hip groups can cause your upper thighs to internally rotate and thus your knees tend toward knock-kneed. 5. You have poor balance. Weak hip muscle is one cause of poor walking and standing balance. 6. Have trouble going upstairs. 7. Trouble getting out of a car seat. If you have determined that your hips are weak, watch our video How to Strengthen a Painful Hip for exercise suggestions. Check out the full Hip Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/hip-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2023. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi9dacfgz0c Brad: Squats are one of the best bodyweight exercises you can do. However, stop doing them like this. Brad: We'll show you a better way. The three biggest problems with these squats are, number one, oftentimes this promotes a rounded back. And also, the second thing that goes along with that is poor balance. One more thing, functionally, how often do we squat like this, with our arms out? I mean, the only thing that functionally relates to this, is if you're doing some cliff diving and diving off into a 40-foot drop of the ocean. Mike: Now, here are three better options. The first one is to put your hands on your hips. It helps promote better posture as you're squatting down. Brad: Also, that's the same position your hands go when you get out of a chair if you need any assistance with that push-off. All right, the next option is, for good body posture while you do this and good mechanics, you can do two things with your hands. You can put them in the praying position, or you can put them in the arms crossed, or the Elvis position, I heard it called once. You may not think that's funny. Anyways, so it's good posture. Do the squat down and up. The idea is we're doing head up, shoulders back versus rounding forward. Brad: All right. This is a little advanced, but this is the way I do them. It forces your body into an excellent posture. You need a stick about four or five feet long, a broomstick, we're using a Booyah Stik, across the shoulders like Mike and I have it. Now that brings the hands back, the shoulders back. Bring your head back, not forward, wide foot stance, and simply squat. Go ahead, Mike. Tell them some more. Mike: And we're squatting down. Do not round your back like this. This is a good morning, and it's a different exercise. So squat. Try to look up. Try to engage your lats by pulling down on the stick to keep your spine neutral. Brad: Oh, very good point, Mike. I usually don't think of that. I'm going to start working on that. Okay, we've got one more tricky, even a little more advanced. Mike: A fourth option you can try if you have bad ankles or bad mobility in them is to elevate your heels. I do not have good mobility in my right ankle. So you can see, once I get to a certain depth, my back tends to kind of round forward. I can't keep it up. I fall over. So if I put something behind my heels, and rotate my toes out slightly, I can squat down with a lot better mechanics. Brad: And better balance too, right? Mike: Yeah. Push me over. Brad: Look at you go. That's a common technique with people who are more advanced and work heavier weights. Is that accurate? Mike: Yeah. You can get lifting shoes that have a thicker heel. You can just use a book, a foam pad, or even a slant board. Brad: Right? I'm going to stick to my regular shoes and just do them the regular way. But everyone's going to progress at their own rate and do their own thing. So I'm thinking, if you need some help, what are we going to do, Mike? Mike: I don't know. What are we going to do? Brad: We're going to help our neighbors and friends out. How's that go, Bob? Bob: Be helpful. Brad: Be helpful. We're getting it. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin, Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat, Clapper, Threads Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit: https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager Weighted Heating Pad Hand Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stress Balls Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in April of 2023. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/ppzDDzy0pRY Mike: Are you tired of knee pain holding you back from your daily activities? Brad: We're going to show you four strengthening exercises for your knee that are going to help you out while you're in bed. It's a good deal, I'm thinking. Mike: It is. Brad: You could take a nap afterward. Mike: Sure. These exercises are going to help decrease your knee pain by strengthening the muscles around the knee joint, helping provide better support and stability. Brad: That's right. They're going to specifically go towards the quadriceps, the glutes the external rotators of the hip, and this is going to help the hip alignment with the knee. It all works together, leading to less pain and discomfort. Mike: So the first exercise is called terminal knee extension. You're going to be sitting in a long sitting position. Put a pillow under your knee, and you're going to push your knee down into the mat. You're going to hold it for six seconds. Then you're going to relax. Brad: Right. Do 10 reps of that, and you'll feel those quadriceps working very nicely. Mike: The second exercise is going to be a bridge, but first we want to do a butt squeeze. So you can put your hands on your butt to make sure it's activating. Then you're going to lift up into a bridge, and you're going to go down. You can hold this for a few seconds up top before coming back down. Make sure, with each set, you're squeezing your butt first and then lifting up. Brad: Right. So that glute maximus muscle, that external rotator that we mentioned earlier, which helps align the hips and takes stress off the knees, it's a wonderful way to compliment the knee strength. Mike: If this is easy, you could certainly do one leg. So squeeze the butt and then lift up with one leg. Brad: Not everyone's going to be able to do this. This is for the advanced person. Mike: Do what works for you. Brad: That's right. Mike: The next exercise is going to strengthen your hip external rotators, and it is called clamshells. So you're going to have both knees together. You're going to rotate out, keep your feet touching, and go back down. Brad: This is one of those exercises that looks like it's a real easy-peasy exercise, but you will feel those external rotators working after about 5 or 10 repetitions. Do them slow like Mike is doing them, and it's a critical exercise. Mike: Make sure you keep your trunk in line. You don't want to be too far forward or back or be rolling onto your back. That's not the exercise. Brad: Good point, Mike. Are you getting tired? Mike: Yes. Brad: I'm not. Mike: The last exercise is hip abduction. So you're going to kick your leg straight up towards the ceiling, bring it as high as you can tolerate. And then back down. I have the other knee bent. I'm keeping my trunk in a straight line. Pretend like you're positioned up against the wall and you can't go back any further. Brad, do you want to talk about my feet here? Brad: Right. This is important, that your toes point like Mike has them. The tendency is that your toes will want to go up this way, and that compensates and uses the wrong muscles. Keep your toes pointed straight ahead, and you'll feel it's harder to do. It stabilizes the hip, therefore helping the knee. How are you doing, Mike? Mike: I'm doing okay. You want to make sure your leg is in a straight line with your trunk. A lot of people tend to go forward on this. Brad: Exactly. Mike: Their hips might be a little tight. Try to get a nice straight line. Brad: There you go. How many reps, Mike? Mike: We should do 30 reps total on each side. You could do three sets of 10, however long it takes you to get there. Make sure to flip over and do the other side. Brad: Does anybody ever call you Michael? Mike: Yeah, my mother. Brad: That's what I was wondering about. Just a side note, let's go on. All right. How's your knee feeling, Mike? Mike: Perfect. Brad: It's getting better. There are four exercises. Work on each of them. Do the one that feels the best. You may not have to do all of them. What we'd like you to do is comment below on the exercise that seems to fit your needs the best, or maybe two of them. What say you, Mike? Mike: Or if there's something else we forgot, you can mention it because we do go through them. Brad: Right. I've never forgotten anything in my life. All right, be careful. Mike: And be helpful. Brad: Take care. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin, Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat, Clapper, Threads Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit: https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager Weighted Heating Pad Hand Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stress Balls Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.