Appropriate Training for a Rotational Athlete

We Get It Olympic lifts are cool. They are a combination of strength and power that are useful for many sports and just general well-being. Olympic lifts force you to initiate the movement in your legs if you want to increase the weight and reps you complete. Olympic lifts are commonly used in Crossfit or bootcamp workouts because they increase the amount of calories we burn, thanks to the full body workout they create. The speed in which we complete these lifts adds a different variable to training, which can…

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You are not your MRI results

Pain can, quite understandably, cause a lot of concern, worry, anxiety and distress. Particularly when it creeps into all aspects of our life and begins to limit our sleep, our social life, and the activities that bring us happiness. Oftentimes, that pain brings us to our health care provider and soon enough we’re having an X-ray or an MRI to see what is causing our pain. And that makes sense, right? We want to know what’s causing our pain because how can we “fix” it if we don’t know what’s…

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How to Take Care of Your Knee Pain

Knee pain is a common injury that most athletes deal with at one time or another. I’ve heard countless people walk through the door saying “I have a bad knee” or “my bum knee makes it tough to play sports”. However, there is much more to knee pain than simply having a “bad knee.” If anything, barring a direct trauma to the knee, knee pain can be associated with an ankle or hip that is not doing its fair share.    Mobile and Stable Joints The body is divided into…

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Nutrition, Fuel, & Recovery: General rules from a DPT

The definition of nutrition is the process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth. “What you eat, is what you are” has a lot of truth to it. And since health and growth have different meanings for each individual, nutrition is not exactly a cookie cutter approach. There are some general suggestions that can be made to help you get the most out of your training. Refuel, Recover, Repeat Post-workout nutrition exists to Refuel our body Reduce soreness Preserve muscle mass and growth Boost the immune…

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The Importance of Offseason Training

As physical therapists, we see athletes all too often that are injured early in the season. So, why would that be? If you ask the athlete they may say that they couldn’t see it coming or a freak accident. However, when we peel back the curtain, their injury is just the tip of the iceberg.  Am I Prepared for the Season? As an athlete, you must ask yourself, “Am I prepared for this season?” The answer may surprise you when you think about the demanding physical nature of sports. Running,…

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Is Your Tightness Really Tightness?

As physical therapists (strength and conditioning coaches I assume see this as well) we often hear “and no matter how much I stretch, I’m still tight!” If that statement resonates with you it may be a sign to change up your routine a bit, because sometimes that feeling of tightness isn’t an accurate representation of what’s going on in the body!   A Game of Telephone There’s a reflex loop (if you think like a telephone wire running from one phone to another phone) in each muscle that senses stretch. The…

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Rehabbing Your Injury Yourself?

Everything is on YouTube now. You can learn how to build a deck, fix your sink, or cook the best dinner of your life. With a world of information, just a click away, it's easy to think we can rehab our injuries without help. However, it is important to realize that while the internet is a great resource, it can't always replace the knowledge of experts within the field.  As DPTs, here are the biggest problems that patients face when self rehabbing:   The "One Size Fits All" Problem I’ve…

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Could your sleeping position be causing you pain?

  Do you ever wake up feeling stiff or in pain? Have your hands ever “fallen asleep” throughout the night? Is it difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position? Your sleeping posture could be the cause! When talking to patients dealing with stiffness and pain, we often hear “I think I slept wrong”. So what can we do to prevent that?  Keeping the spine neutral (avoiding excessive bending forward or backwards) is key to a good nights rest. Depending on your sleeping position, there are a few ways to support…

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The Best New Recovery Tools

More and more studies are pointing out the importance of recovery in performance. We used to think the best way to recover from hard work was through pure rest days- inactive days spent lounging around the house. But we now know active recovery is much more of our ally in preventing Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Active recovery can include cycling, brisk walking, icing, contrast baths, as well as use of recovery tools. We utilize all of these forms of active recovery at FX Physical Therapy, especially recovery tools. Now,…

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Avoiding Injury on the Slopes

As the temperature begins to drop and the days get shorter, many people cringe at the thought of the upcoming winter season. Not us skiers. Those of us who love the thrill and adventure of racing down a powdery mountain feel like kids again every time that first snowfall begins. Many skiers are counting down the days to their next trip out west. But with the adventure of skiing, which many classify as an extreme sport, comes a fair amount of risk. In fact, skiing is one of the riskiest…

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