The Musician-Athlete: Why Musicians Should Think Like Athletes By: Mary Pezzella, PT, DPT Whether you play violin, drums, piano, guitar, trumpet, or sing, you are asking your body to perform a highly skilled physical task, often for hours at a time, under pressure, and with little room for error. The repetitive movements, sustained positions, and...
Most patients presenting to our Boulder and Lafayette Physical Therapy practices are facing a pain or symptoms which are limiting their ability to participate in the activities they enjoy. Their current abilities, or lack thereof, prevent them from being available for work, life, and recreational activities. Availability is often the greatest predictor of long-term health...
Blood flow restriction (BFR) training has become increasingly popular in both rehabilitation and performance settings because of its ability to stimulate muscle growth and strength adaptations with lighter loads. But what happens when BFR is added to traditional heavy strength training? A recent systematic review and meta-analysis (Mckee et al. J Strength Conditioning Res. 2026)...
Exercise remains our best intervention for extending an individual’s health span and lifespan. Both our quality and quantity of life are positively impacted by consistent aerobic exercise and strength training performance each week. In particular, strength training is our best tool to reduce the loss of muscle mass associated with aging (sarcopenia). In addition, new...
By: Erica Tran, PT, DPT, OCS Let’s talk about something most women quietly deal with but rarely bring up: leaking when you jump rope. If you’ve ever felt that unexpected drip mid workout, or quietly avoided jump rope altogether, you’re not alone, and it is not just “part of being a woman.” As your physical...
Mobility exercises designed to improve range of motion within an affected joint or tissue are a valuable part of any rehabilitation program. Previously clinicians prescribed various bouts (3 x 30 seconds) of static stretching in an attempt to lengthen short muscles. Current research has shown these prescriptions are ineffective at changing muscle length and instead...
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...
We are often asked when is the best time to eat following a workout. Meal timing is an important strategy to take advantage of the “anabolic window” for enhancing muscular adaptations. A common strategy involves consuming protein less than an hour after exercise to increase hypertrophic muscular gains. Past literature has suggested Muscular Protein Synthesis...
If you only had time for one strength training exercise it would be hard to beat the squat due to its’ high recruitment of lower quarter muscles including the legs and core. Numerous variations of the squat including sit to stand, goblet squat, front squat, back squat, split squat, and zercher squats exist allowing individuals...
Clear vision relies on seamless communication between the vestibular organ (in your inner ear) and your eyes. This allows your eyes to almost instantaneously adapt to changes to your head and body position. This is called your vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and problems with this reflex are a common cause of dizziness and motion sickness. In...
