Author: mifjesaccess

7 exercises to prepare you for the winter!

It’s my favourite time of year. Booking flights, buying new gear, checking the weather and scanning the trail maps! Skiing is a drug of the best kind – fresh air, exercise, bright colours, good friends, hearty food and freedom of movement……..but is it freedom of movement?

Despite being a physiotherapy clinic in Dubai, we love treating winter sports ‘athletes’ for their injuries, performance or prevention. For all we think of a ski holiday as a ‘HOLIDAY’, what it actually is, is a SPORTS HOLIDAY, just like trekking, cycling and surfing holidays. But for some reason, very few of us do any preparation for a ski holiday, leaving us at risk of injuries, thereby needing our little sports physiotherapy clinic when you get back to Dubai.

It is possible to reduce your risks, and improve your skiing BEFORE YOU GO!

Skiing requires a combination of strength, balance, reflexes, endurance and TECHNIQUE. All of these requirements can be enhanced before you go with a few simple exercises, and perhaps a trip or two to Ski Dubai or Infinity Ski.

I’ve put together 7 exercises to help get you ready for the downhill season, now you just need to book your flights!

1. Air squats – a solid 4 sets of 10. Slow them down to make it all a little harder!

2. Forward lunges – watch the knee doesn’t slide inwards and try to push hard off the front leg to bring you back to standing. Alternate legs – 4 sets of 10 each leg!

3. Balance – leg behind, leg out to side. 2 sets of slow 8 should see you progress here. 

4. Leg control 1 – Moving one knee out and in at a time. Skiing requires the knees to move from the hips to get angulation on the skis to turn. It also helps burn the quads!!! 3 sets of 20. 

5. Leg control 2 – And then both knees need to move together!!! 3 sets of 20.

6. Separation drill 1 – Finally this one actually looks like you’re skiing! Only the lower body should move. 5 sets of 10 please.

7. Separation drill 2 – this time only the pelvis twists – not the knees, not the feet and not the shoulders. You should feel it pulling in the waist. Again 5 sets of 10. 

Getting the correct knowledge out to the community is part of our job, whether it’s one by one to patients, or getting the opportunity to broadcast to the world over the radio.

This month, Miffy was invited onto Sharjah Radio’s sports show, The Half Time Show, with Omar Al Duri to talk about the basics of injuries to the Anterior Cruciate Ligament or ACL. This ligament causes huge financial losses to professional sporting clubs, and huge time outs to professional and recreational athletes.

We talked about the ligament, the risks to the ligament, management of the injury and most importantly, ways to prevent damage to the ACL. In the interview, Miffy mentioned five programs to implement to help reduce the risk of ACL injury, and here we’ve listed those programs for you and links!

FIFA 11+ – Aimed at football/soccer. Also aimed at reducing knee injuries in general, not ACL specific. https://www.yrsa.ca/

Football Australia Perform + – a revised version of the FIFA 11+ out of Australia. Again not ACL specific. https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/

The Knee Program by Netball Australia – An ACL biased prevention program, focused around the sport of netball. https://knee.netball.com.au

AFL Prep to Play-Based around women’s Australian Rules Football, specially designed for Women and their needs in sport, to reduce ACL injuries. https://resources.afl.com.au/

PEP Program – Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance – designed by the Santa Monica Sports Medicine Research Foundation in the USA. Similar to FIFA 11+ and Perform +, it’s a soccer based program to reduce knee injuries. https://www.aclstudygroup.com/

Covid-19 has changed many things in recent times, especially when it comes to our jobs and the way we work. Our employers have realised that we can work effectively from home and this has sparked a new trend in countries all over the world.

As our homes become dual-purpose and our coffee houses more than just a place to catch up with our friends, working remotely gives us incredible flexibility and work-life balance. However, we must remember to stay healthy and to keep our bodies and minds in the best possible condition.

Making your work environment safe takes only a few minutes and can make all the difference. Here are our top tips.

1. Make sure your workstation is set up correctly. Your monitor is set at eye level, your chair is supporting your back and your legs are at a right angle. If you follow these simple rules it will help with posture and reduce the risk of neck and shoulder pain.

2. Keep mobile. Take regular exercise, walk up and down the stairs, around the garden or apartment. It’s important to the muscles and joints moving so that they don’t get stiff. The stiffer your muscles, the more likely you are to become injured.

3. Stay sane. Don’t just take breaks to move your body but also to keep your mind healthy. Have conversations, chat through ideas with a family member or colleague, make a hot drink. Sitting at your workstation all day without moving can cause mental blocks, depression and anxiety.

4. Work-life balance. Just because you are working from home it doesn’t mean you have to spend more time working. It can be easy to find yourself pulling out the laptop to quickly do something. Make sure your workdays are structured properly and that you are not spending more hours than you should behind a screen. If you would like more advice on how to set up a healthy workstation, please contact us today on the number below.

PRP or Platelet-rich Plasma Injections are a hot topic right now. If you’ve been to your Orthopaedic Surgeon for an old knee injury, or an old tennis elbow, there’s a good chance in Dubai you’ve been recommended them as a treatment option.

PRP is the injection of your own blood products back into an injured area, with the aim being to create a localised healing response and reduce pain and increase function. They do this by taking a patient’s blood, spinning it at high speed to separate the blood into different substances, like milk separating, then taking the plasma from the blood, and re-injecting that into the injured area.

PRP has come in and out of fashion over the years and always struggled to get a proper foothold because the evidence behind it has not been conclusive. Cochrane, an ethical group of people who review and collate an enormous amount of research in an effort to tell us overall, less biased results, recently concluded that PRP is NOT EFFECTIVE in treating lateral elbow pain.

Lateral Elbow Pain often assumed to be ‘Tennis Elbow’, is one of the injuries where PRP is most commonly recommended and used as treatment. There’s mountains of research on the treatment of this condition, and the only common positive results come from a combination of treatment targeting the strength around the elbow, shoulder and neck – so hard work people!

But, as we all know, if we’re offered an easier way, we take it.

Well, as mentioned above, the evidence is in. The easier way doesn’t work. And given that it doesn’t work in the lateral elbow, we need to keep asking the question, ‘Does it work anywhere?’ We don’t know yet, but given the high cost, we believe you should really be thinking twice before signing up. And whilst you’re thinking twice, give REHAB a really good go, make sure that you’ve got the right PHYSIO on board, and that you are doing strengthening exercises, not just getting a rub and some electrotherapy!

Skiing holds a very special place in my heart and has been for a long time. The views are spectacular, the air a welcome change from the sandy Dubai atmosphere, and being active in the outdoors is just my thing.

In the current climate, with COVID, ever-present and high levels of sedentariness and obesity, being active in the outdoors is the perfect antithesis to day to day life.

But health and safety are becoming more important with increased numbers on the slopes and skiing seen simply as simply holiday – no preparation required, as opposed to a sporting holiday – preparation required. Helmets have taken away the beauty of skiing with the wind in your hair but sensibly protect your head. And there are some attempts at body and knee protection, but currently, it’s not so effective so the rest of your body is still at risk when sliding down a mountain at speed, on two plastic planks.

This week skiing in Austria, my friend was taken out by a young skier who was not in control of his skiing, ploughed into her, throwing her into the air. Her tibia is fractured, arms are bruised, holiday over and the inconvenience of visiting hospital and police stations have put a downer on the week.

Skiing in control is assumed by skiers, snowboarders, ski resorts and their authorities. We all understand there are times that things get a little hairy, and we are forced to stop by conscience, fear or the ground. There are ways to help yourself stay in control whilst skiing, allowing you, and those around you to enjoy their sporting holiday!

How to help yourself stay in control –

1. Learn to ski/snowboard. Get some tips or a lesson to learn the technique of stopping and slowing.

2. Prepare yourself before you arrive.

3. Get strong. Build your quads with wall squats, wall sits, squats lunges to promote strength.

4. Practice stairs to build endurance and leg strength for a full day of skiing.

5. Get on the floor for some bridges to build your bottom.

6. Take yourself on some long walks to build stamina in the legs and some cardiovascular fitness

7. Ski within your abilities. Stick with slopes you are comfortable with, and if you’re going to push it, make sure the run is clear so you are less likely to cause an accident.

8. Hydrate – it’s exercise at the end of the day.

9. Sleep. Après ski is very tempting and part of the holiday, but try to recover enough before heading back out for a ski.

Once you’ve done all of this, get out there and enjoy!

January 1st (or the first working day of the year); a day when everyone seems to be on a new diet, has joined the gym, become a runner and has a newfound motivation! We dust off our gym kit, or don our new running gear we got for Christmas and crack on with our new year’s resolutions. The start of a new year seems to signify a time when people often want to better their health. As someone who exercises regularly, the first week of January always seems horrendous to me. I know the uphill battle I face after eating way too much cheese and eating out at any given opportunity over the festive period. So I respect anyone who starts their new health kick in January.

After a month of overindulging, going out to meet friends, exercising less than we should have, starting a new routine now seems incredibly tough to me but if not now, then when? However, with these changes, we need to be realistic in what we can achieve. Far too often people set unrealistic goals that are unachievable or not able to be met in the time frame given.

A FEW THINGS TO CONSIDER

Diet – the big one in January and where I think this blog should start. With a few extra pounds seen on the scales compared to the summer we often see people ‘crash’ dieting. Now, this can be great for weight loss; drop 2000+ calories a day down to 1000. You’ll likely see results quickly! But you’ll probably also be hungry, grumpy, tired, lethargic and maybe ill (sounds great when you want to start a new fitness routine too). This is not sustainable! Yes, you need a calorie deficit (more out than in) to lose weight but it has to be a realistic amount. We also need to consider our nutritional intake if we are starting a new exercise routine. When it comes to nutrition and dieting, I prefer to think of it as lifestyle changes, not a diet as this implies there is an end. Set a realistic weight or body shape you want to achieve; within a suitable time frame. And as said before, make this sustainable. Note, I say body shape, not just weight. If you hit the gym and do weight lifting, you’re like going to increase the weight with the increased muscle mass. So actually, going by body shape rather than weight alone can be a good way for people to assess their progress and to improve their confidence.

Whilst we are looking at our calories, it’s worth doing some homework on what nutrients we need too. This will vary from person to person and depends on various other factors e.g. how sedentary your lifestyle is or what you are training for. This is where you hear people talking about tracking their macros – carbohydrates, proteins and fats. A great way to monitor your nutrition is through apps. The ability to scan a barcode of prepackaged food, have readily available information on the nutrition of meals from a chain restaurants, and simply having to type in the weight of your pasta/chicken/broccoli can be a fantastic way to keep on top of your diet.

Goal setting & Planning – This wouldn’t be a physio blog without some goal setting. Whether your new training regime is for weight loss or you want to run a half marathon, you need to set yourself goals. Realistic goals. Achievable goals. If you can’t reach your goal because it’s unrealistic, your motivation will quickly drop off. You need to set short term and long term goals. Don’t expect to run a half marathon in 4 weeks. But a long term goal of 6 months, with short term goals of progressive distance or pace, is certainly achievable. When designing your new exercise plan, make sure it fits your lifestyle as well. If you know Monday is a busy day at work, why not set this as your rest day. a good exercise plan is something you are able to stick to. It should feel like you are battling to find the time to complete it. 

Progression – probably the most important tip from a physio perspective in this blog. Overloading and progressing too quickly is often what leads people to see a physio. We see new runners pick up running five times a week, with no other training modalities, and a few weeks into training, they are injured. We see weight lifters, trying to increase their bench press by 10kgs a week and wondering where their shoulder pain has come from. Progression takes time. And it is not all about how many miles you run a week or how much weight you can shift in one rep. Realistically 3-6 months is needed to start to see an obvious change in our strength, pace, muscle size and over perceived levels of exertion. There are countless training plans available online for all sports, abilities and fitness levels, therefore it’s well worth following one. But remember, these are guides, they don’t have to be followed religiously. This is particularly prudent during an injury. Don’t be tempted to continue following your plan if you are injured, you’ll likely end up worse off! We see this time and time again in running programmes, especial people who are new to running and have now started three times a week. There is a general guide/rule of a 10% increase a week in running distance to see progress but avoid injury. However, please remember this is a guide only, listen to your body.

Flexibility – it’s okay to set a semi-rigid plan. How boring would life be if we followed the same routine every day of the week? Take a day off the gym if you’re fatigued or worn out from work. Have a cheeky midweek takeaway once in a while. Go for a swim instead of the run stated on your training programme. Don’t burn yourself out and don’t get bored. It’s a downhill slope from there! When making your new exercise/diet plan, allow rest days and more relaxed days for eating. Cater for unexpected events, both work-related and social. It’s okay to miss a session but don’t try and play catch up the next session. If you’ve made your own programme, make sure there’s some variety in it. Different exercises, different reps/sets, different paces etc. The same routine becomes boring very quickly! Unless you are a pro athlete who requires a strict routine, variation in our routine is great for the rest of us. Exercise should be fun and make us feel good. It shouldn’t be seen as a chore.

A note on Coronavirus and obesity – Another year, another virus mutation! However, I think it’s worth mentioning covid in the blog. There have been numerous studies published since the pandemic linking obesity with a higher mortality rate in covid patients. The risks of obesity are well documented and have been documented for years, yet the obesity epidemic continues to rise and we are seeing more and more children with obesity. Therefore, maybe this January really is the time to start that new health kick!

A question I’ve been asked for many years and a question that has increased more and more since coronavirus! A lot of jobs require you to sit at your desk all day, even more so since working from home has been promoted. And let’s not forget students who are also required to sit for long periods of time. We are well aware that prolonged sitting and being sedentary can have an adverse effect on our health.

However, it isn’t always possible to stay active whilst at work therefore we must optimize the way we work to avoid ergonomic related pains. You could certainly argue that there is no ‘best posture’ to sit in for 12 hours a day as we weren’t designed to do that, rather better postures or position to be in.

As a physio, it’s easy for me to say be more active at work, as I spend most of my day moving around, assessing patients and demonstrating exercises. However, I appreciate in reality, most people are unable to remain active at work therefore some top tips to optimise your health whilst at work.

Support from your chair – a correctly adjusted chair should provide support for your lower back. You should be able to rest your lower back into the chair and not feel that you need to hold yourself up or lean forward.

Adjustable chair – a chair that can be adjusted in various ways can be helpful. A key adjustment is ensuring the height of the chair is appropriate. Aim to have your forearms level with the keyboard to avoid excessive wrist flexion or extension – this can reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries. With the lower limbs, aim for your knees to be inline or slightly lower than your hips.

Foot position – place your feet flat on the floor or use a footrest if needed. Avoid letting the legs hang from the chair. Try to avoid crossing your legs or ‘sitting’ on your legs.

Screen location – ensure your screen is directly in front of you and approximately arm’s length away from you. The top of the screen should be roughly eye level. We want to avoid sustained looking up or down.

Keyboard and mouse – your keyboard should be directly in front of you with a gap of about 6 inches from the edge of the desk. This will allow you some space to rest your forearms. Your mouse should also be close by to avoid excessive reaching. Using a wrist rest for both the keyboard and mouse is a great way to offload some of the upper limb muscles and can also help avoid repetitive strain type injuries from sustained wrist extension.

Laptops – Small, convenient and easy to transport but not great for prolonged use. Ideally, a desktop computer is much better for prolonged us however this comes at a price and takes up space. To optimize your laptop set up, use a laptop stand to bring the screen to eyes level (as mentioned above). Try to avoid using it on your lap! If able, use an external mouse and keyboard, this will allow for better screen set up and a more relaxed posture in your upper body.

Screen glare – avoid reflections and glare as much as possible. Not only will this help your eyes, but it will also stop you from leaning forward to see the screen better.

Phone – have your phone close by to avoid having to twist or lean too much when on a call. Avoid the dreaded phone to shoulder hold! If you use the phone a lot, it could be worth investing in a headset.

Take regular breaks – set timers or reminders to get up and move. Go to the printer, go get some water, do some stretching, anything but sitting…oh and don’t get up and stare down at your mobile phone either! Micro-breaks are a great way to give our body both some physical and mental rest. Take a break before you ache – similar to the above tip but written again to encourage movement. Don’t wait until your neck starts to ache before you move, we want to be proactive in managing our conditions and aches/pains. Regular movement and mobility is helpful regardless of whether you have pain or not.

Exercise, exercise, exercise – The WHO recommended we do 150 minutes of exercise a week, and now more than ever I think we need to promote this given the time we spend in front of a computer and in the car travelling. Now I am fully aware that some of this advice comes at a cost, and I know a good computer chair doesn’t come cheap. However, my personal opinion is that you are investing in your health! You buy healthy foods, you sign up to the gym for a year, and you invest in a good pillow, why because you are trying to optimize your health and wellbeing. Therefore why wouldn’t you invest in something that you use >40 hours a week!

Every year since2017, the city of Dubai celebrates fitness and wellness with the Dubai Fitness Challenge, asking its residents to move for 30 minutes, for 30 days straight.

And every year since 2017, The Physio Centre has held its own little challenge within the clinic, where staff and patients compete to move as many minutes every day for 30 days, to promote health and movement, two things we know wholeheartedly contribute to improved lifestyle and reduce pain!

This year, we have had ‘unprecedented numbers’ join our little challenge seeing 5 staff, compete with 17 patients! There has been some healthy competition (with some tactics thrown in) at the top, and now on Day 27, our clear leaders are Ana and Rob.

The aim of our event is not to promote competition, but to get our local population moving more daily, and more regularly.

The highest level of research shows that without a doubt, moving more improves our health. Be it heart health, brain health, gut, joint, muscular and nervous system health, we benefit from exercise.

Every year, the general responses from our local competition are:

1. ’30 minutes is nothing’.

2. ‘I feel much lighter’.

3. ‘I have more energy’.

4. ‘I’m going to keep this up.’

And this makes us very happy! With only three days left, it will be very interesting to see who ups the ante and takes home the kudos of being The Physio Centre’s 5th DFC Challenge Winner!

Dubai is a city that thrives on innovation. And the world of physiotherapy is evolving rapidly. Technology is redefining how patients heal, move, and stay active. From AI-powered assessments to wearable sensors that track recovery in real time, the future of physiotherapy in the UAE is not just about manual treatment, it’s about smart, connected care.

1. The Rise of Tele-Rehabilitation

During and after the pandemic, tele-rehab emerged as a viable option for convenient recovery. 

Virtual physiotherapy sessions allow patients to receive guidance and follow-up from the comfort of their own homes. In Dubai, where schedules are demanding and traffic can be unpredictable, tele-rehab offers a flexible alternative.

Benefits include:

• Real-time feedback via video and app-based platforms
• Greater consistency for patients with busy lifestyles
• Safe, effective follow-ups after in-clinic sessions

The Physio Centre now combine in-person and online physiotherapy, providing a hybrid care model that blends hands-on expertise with digital convenience.

2. Wearables and Motion Tracking: Your Body Quantified

Wearable technology has moved far beyond step counters. Modern rehabilitation devices can measure muscle activity, joint angles, gait symmetry, and even predict potential re-injury risks.

Popular examples include:

• Smart bands and motion sensors that track limb movement after surgery
• Posture-correcting wearables for desk workers
• Real-time data apps that send feedback directly to your physio

In Dubai’s fitness-forward culture, this data empowers both patient and therapist, transforming recovery into a measurable, motivating process.

3. Artificial Intelligence in Physiotherapy

AI is quietly revolutionising clinical decision-making. Machine learning systems can now analyse patient data and recommend diagnoses, suggest differential diagnoses, and provided customised exercise programs based on recovery patterns. Some advanced systems use computer vision a form of AI that tracks movement via smartphone cameras to assess form, accuracy, and progress without additional hardware.

How will The Physio Centre be using AI:

• AI-driven gait analysis for post-injury runners
• Intelligent exercise-tracking apps that adjust difficulty based on performance
• Predictive analytics for chronic pain and posture assessment AI doesn’t replace physiotherapists. It enhances their precision, allowing for more personalised and data-driven treatment.

4. Virtual Reality (VR) and Gamified Recovery

Rehabilitation can be repetitive, but VR and gamification are making it fun. Interactive platforms place patients in virtual environments where movement becomes part of a “game”, from reaching virtual targets to walking on digital landscapes.

Benefits:

• Increased patient engagement
• Improved neuroplasticity for stroke or neurological rehab
• Enhanced motivation, especially for children and older adults

We haven’t implemented VR software or hardware into The Physio Centre as yet, but we are using early stage VR for balance rehab, to trick the visual system and challenge the body to recover.

5. The Dubai Advantage: Innovation Meets Care

Dubai’s healthcare ecosystem is uniquely positioned to adopt these technologies. Government initiatives like Dubai Health Strategy 2030 emphasise digital health and innovation, encouraging clinics to invest in smarter, data-driven rehabilitation systems.

As patient awareness grows, demand for tech-enhanced physiotherapy will continue to rise and blending the city’s love for innovation with world-class healthcare standards will be essential.

6. The Future Is Hybrid

The next chapter of physiotherapy in Dubai won’t be purely digital or manual thank goodness!!! It’ll be a seamless blend of both. Skilled physiotherapists, supported by intelligent technology, offering precision-based care while keeping the human touch at the centre of recovery.

Whether you’re recovering from injury, improving mobility, or optimising performance, Dubai’s physiotherapy landscape is entering an exciting new era, and even if we started old school 17 years ago, The Physio Centre won’t be left behind. With tele-rehab, wearables, AI, and VR leading the charge, the future of movement health is smarter, faster, and more personalised than ever before, and we’re going to be part of it.

Trying to get people who run into the gym can be particularly tricky, but using their competitive edge and using objective measures is a good way about it. They allow clinicians to understand deficits, track progress, and set return-to-run targets. As a physiotherapist, I often rely on two functional tests that are simple, repeatable and directly relevant to running biomechanics: the single-leg calf raise endurance test (to a 60 bpm metronome) and the single-leg sit-to-stand (STS) test. 

1. Single-Leg Calf Raise (60 bpm)

Procedure:

• The person stands on one foot, on a 10° incline board (or step) with light fingertip contact on a wall or rail purely for balance.
• A metronome is set at 60 beats per minute (i.e., one raise per beat).
• The athlete performs heel raises in rhythm with the metronome, lifting as high as possible each time, keeping the knee straight, and lowering under control.
• The test continues until failure: defined as inability to maintain the metronome cadence, reduction in raise height, loss of form, or compensated movement.
• Count the total number of repetitions; then repeat on the opposite leg.

Why this test matters for runners:

• Measures endurance of the calves (gastrocnemius and soleus), which is critical during repeated push-offs in running.
• Asymmetries or poor endurance may reflect injury risk or decreased load tolerance.

Normative Values (by age, 20–60):

Based on Hébert-Losier et al.’s 2017 work on healthy adults aged 20–81, using their regression-based normative equations.

Rough approximate rep-count averages (single-leg) for ages 20–59, by decade:

These norms help us benchmark runners’ calf endurance against healthy populations, accounting for sex and age. 

2. Single-Leg Sit-to-Stand (STS) Test

Procedure:

• Use a chair height that matches roughly the individuals knee height to standardize demand.
• The athlete places one foot firmly on the floor, lifts the non-test leg so it is off the ground (does not contribute), and places hands on hips (or across chest, depending on protocol).
• On command, they rise from sitting to standing, then sit back, for either a fixed number of repetitions or for time, depending on chosen protocol. One common variant is 5 repetitions; in research, the one-leg STS with 5 stands is used.
• Measure the time taken to complete the repetitions.

Why this test matters for runners:

• Assesses unilateral lower-limb strength (especially knee extensors, hip extensors and ankle muscles) under functional, weight-bearing conditions.
• Reveals side-to-side strength asymmetries, which are important in runners for power, stability, and injury prevention.
• It has excellent test reliability (ICC ~ 0.96 in healthy young adults) and good correlation with isokinetic muscle strength.

Normative (Reference) Values:

Unlike the calf-rise test, well-established decade-by-decade normative data for one-leg STS time across 20–60 years is scarce in the literature. The validated studies (e.g., Thongchoomsin et al.) largely involve young adults (mean age ~28).

• In Thongchoomsin’s study, the mean time for 5 one-legged sit-to-stands was approximately 11.8 ± 1.4 seconds in young adults.
• Given limited normative data across decades, clinicians may use this young adult benchmark as a reference in runners, then look for significant deviations or asymmetries (> 1 s change or side-gap) as clinically meaningful.

Clinical Integration & Interpretation As a physiotherapist working with runners, here’s how I integrate these tests:

• I conduct both tests at baseline (e.g., Initial assessment or return-to-run after injury) and periodically (e.g., every 8–12 weeks) to monitor progress.
• I compare performance to normative values, but more importantly, track individual changes and limb symmetry.
• If a runner demonstrates fewer than age/sex normative calf raises or a significantly slower one-leg STS time (or a large asymmetry), I consider targeted strength or endurance interventions.
• Improvement in these tests correlates with functional resilience: better calf endurance reduces risk of calf or Achilles injury, improved STS performance suggests stronger unilateral push-off and control, which can translate to more efficient and safer running.

Conclusion

Objective strength assessments like the single-leg calf raise at 60 bpm and the one-leg STS test are powerful tools in a physio’s toolkit. They provide quantifiable, functional data, are directly relevant to running demands, and help guide training, rehab, and return-to-run decisions. By benchmarking against normative values and closely monitoring change over time, I can help runners build stronger, more balanced, and injury-resilient lower limbs.