At Mend we provide many treatments to our Boulder Physical Therapy patients, but strength training is the common treatment between all patients and conditions. Often we prescribe an effective resistance training exercise leading to quick gains in strength. This rapid increase in strength over the first 6-8 weeks of an exercise program is due to...
Strength training remains one of the most important components of your exercise program. Research supports its’ utilization for improving pain, function, flexibility, strength, injury rates, and overall health. While a single session of strength training can lead to significant gains in strength and muscle hypertrophy research supports training large muscle groups 2-3 days per week....
It seems there is not much eccentric exercises cannot do between healing injured tissue, improving mobility and strength, and now possibly contributing to muscle size. We have long known muscles gain the majority of their strength gains after training because of the eccentric or lowering portion of any lift. Participants who skip or speed through...
Time is one of the finite resources in life and is reported as the main barrier by individuals who do not reach the national guidelines for exercise minutes each week. Each portion of a weekly exercise program should be evaluated for both health and fitness, as well as, injury prevention benefits. Static stretching consistently...
Researchers estimate 1 in 5 adults will drop out of an exercise program. Time remains the most common reason for drop outs, but many participants state lack of improvement. This frustration is understandable given the individual’s commitment of time, energy, and money toward their health and fitness goals. The reasons for lack of improvement are...
I can remember meeting with a physician in the past about the tremendous health effects of exercise for his patients. He responded that the effects of exercise don’t last if the patient stops their program. Despite the irony found in his treatment approach using medications with short term effects to manage chronic diseases, I responded...
One of the top reasons participants start an exercise program is weight loss. This goal is achievable with exercise but is much harder to accomplish compared to improved mobility, strength, or balance. The difficulty of losing weight with exercise is also one of the leading reasons people quit their exercise programs after an initial 4-6...
Cardiovascular disease remains the number 1 cause of mortality in both men and women. Current disease markers of blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and lifestyle are helpful, but less effective at predicting future disease risk compared to our aerobic fitness. The gold standard for measuring an individual’s aerobic fitness is the VO2 max test. In research...
In personal training we often joke the heaviest weight in the gym for participants is the front door. Researchers have shown 1 in 3 adults world wide do not meet international standards for physical activity. In the United States, 3 out of 4 adults do not meet our national guidelines for physical activity. The reasons...
VO2 max is an individual’s maximum utilization of oxygen during exercise. It remains the gold standard for measuring an individual’s cardiovascular fitness, but this measurement is also strongly correlated to our health and lifespan. Authors have shown VO2 max is a better predictor of future health than commonly utilized tests such as blood work and...
