This exercise program is intended for those that have more generalized pain, rather than a specific injury (like a torn meniscus or torn rotator cuff). I recommend you see a physical therapist to treat your injuries first, then integrate exercises from the Strong & Bendy course. That being said, most of the exercises in this course are pelvic and spinal neutral, and are adaptable to current injuries that you may have. Reach out and ask if you have specific concerns!

This course was formulated exclusively by myself, a Doctor of Physical Therapy with specializations in pelvic health and corrective exercises. This course is a combination of multiple tools and skills I use in the clinic and with private clients to improve overall stability and decrease pain, and have proven to work with most people with joint hypermobility and chronic pain. But, unlike physical therapy, this course is not limited by what insurance companies say are "allowed," and allows you as much time as you need to let your body adapt and improve. I want this course to be a progressive strengthening, then maintenance phase, to prevent injury and pain.

Don't stress! I send out a trouble-shooting email once you start the program that helps you problem solve what kind of pain it is and what might be causing it. If that doesn't help, I am readily accessible for 1:1 phone or video consultations so that we can see what changes we can make to the exercises to make them better for you.

1-2 Light Resistance Bands and YOU! This program was meant to be done at home with very little equipment. I also use a towel roll for some positioning and for comfort, but pillows work well here, too. I use a foam roller for a few videos, but it is not required to complete the majority of exercises.

Leaking and pelvic organ prolapse are common in people with joint hypermobility. The short answer is... it might! Because I coordinate the pelvic floor with the abdominals and breathing, there is a very good chance this improves your leaking. But, if you are having a lot of other pelvic symptoms (pain with intercourse, significant bladder urgency, weird abdominal cramping not associated with digestion), this may not be specific enough for you. If you are wondering if you should do it, please reach out and ask! I do not want to make a problem worse with this course, if it would be better to have some pelvic floor therapy first. I promise to always be honest with you about that.

Absolutely! All of these exercises are in what I call "spinal neutral," meaning you don't have to do any bending or twisting, which would be limited by a spinal fusion. When we work in spinal neutral, we encourage the deepest core stabilizing muscles to activate and provide support to our spine in that position, which is ideal for most of us most of the time! If you have a particularly large spinal fusion and exercises are feeling weird to you, reach out and we can find a way to make them more comfortable for you.

Congratulations! And, probably! The majority of these exercises help you to improve core strength after delivering a child, and are exercises I use with my newly postpartum population. The only holdup would be if you had a large diastasis rectus abdominus/DRA, or separation of abdominals. If that is the case, we can virtually meet, and discuss a few extra exercises you can add in to maximize the benefits of the rest of the program.

Yes, absolutely! For the most part, exercises have very few position changes in between them, so you can maintain blood pressure and heart rate and decrease symptoms. Further along in the series, I have a few videos with some position changes, but these are minimal. You can obviously pick and choose which exercises are going to benefit you the most that day.