As a CrossFit Athlete, skier, runner, pickle-baller, or anyone in between, warming up is crucial to reduce the risk of injury and improve performance. There is a significant body of scientific research supporting the importance of task specificity and muscle activation during warm-up exercises to reduce injury and increase performance. Below we outline some considerations...
Self soft tissue mobilization using a foam roller or other device (stick, ball, etc) is a popular adjunct to training that we see our strength and endurance athletes utilize in our Boulder physical therapy practice. We often receive questions about how and when foam rolling should be utilized in training and whether it helps with...
Team and individual athletes are always looking for an edge prior to their competition or race. The preceding days variable’s including rest, nutrition, training, and exercise are dialed in to create an optimal environment on game or race day. Most Physical Therapists and sports medicine professionals encourage an active dynamic warm up in the hour...
Golf remains one a popular American pastime with around 25 million participants each year. Many of these golfers strive for greater shot accuracy and driving distance in order to reduce their scores each round. Previous Physical Therapy research has shown greater driving distance in golfers after completing a Physical Therapy program consisting of hip and...
Photo Credit: Rollrecovery.com The warm up is an essential element of any strength and endurance training session. Starting your workouts with a proper warm up prepares your body for the upcoming demands of exercise, improves performance, and reduces your risk of injury. In prior decades, warm ups consisted of brief aerobic activities followed by static...
Our prior posts on dynamic warm ups have highlighted the benefits of these exercises on injury prevention and sports performance. Conversely, static stretching has been associated with decreased performance due to a reduction in the ability of the stretched muscle to contract and perform dynamically during sport movements. Clearly, the best option for both pro...
In a previous post we highlighted the importance of a dynamic warm up to gradually increase cardiovascular work, improve mobility, decrease injury risk, and improve performance. Conversely, traditional static stretching has been shown to reduce run, sprint, and jump performance in athletes. Clearly, these static holds should be held until an athlete’s cool down period after...
When we began playing sports, our pre game routines consisted of a cardiovascular warm up, some agility work, followed by static stretching (sustained holds >15 seconds of the muscles). This type of stretching has fallen out of favor in the last decade because of the negative impact of static stretching on muscle performance. Research has...