There are disagreements on how to best manage acute low back pain, see our prior blog post on physical therapy low back pain management (http://bit.ly/1JQDVfh), but one thing we all agree on is the harmful effects of bed rest on acute low back pain. Research has documented patients who rest have a higher degree of...
By: Erica Tran, PT, DPT, OCS Hamstring strains are among the most common injuries for runners and CrossFit athletes, impacting performance and sidelining athletes for weeks. Returning to sprinting, shuttle runs or box jumps after such an injury requires a structured, progressive approach to minimize the risk of re-injury. Based on the work of Hickey...
By Dr. Erica Tran, PT, DPT, OCS Grip strength seems like a small thing: how hard can you squeeze a dynamometer? It’s actually one of the most predictive measures of overall health we have as physical therapists. It’s tied to bone density, cardiovascular health, fall risk, and mortality risk, and most people have no idea...
By: Rani Helvey-Byers, PT, DPT, OCS The Truth About Midlife Strength: It’s About Health, Not Vanity As we enter our 40s and 50s, our bodies begin to change — sometimes dramatically. Muscle mass decreases, metabolism slows, bone density decreases, and aches and pains become more noticeable. Hormonal shifts during perimenopause and menopause only accelerate these...
Every athlete has heard it over and over from their coaches throughout the years: you need to stretch after practice/training, stretching prevents injuries, etc. Over the past decade we have seen foam rolling and other self driven myofascial release techniques gain popularity as well with claims that it enhances your recovery or it improves your...
Physical Therapy is an incredible profession allowing our Boulder Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy clinicians to help patients achieve their goals of decreased symptoms, improved function, and a better quality of life without the use of drugs or surgery. After 20 years in the field I have seen many patients achieve goals they didn’t...
Money and time are two finite resources affecting us each day. We struggle to meet the demands of family, work, community, and our endurance training. Busy endurance athletes often forgo the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep required for optimal recovery to squeeze in another commitment compared to their team sport peers. The choice to cut...
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...
Many athletes enjoy a cold beer or drink after a long workout or on the weekend after a long work/training week. The acute, short term effects of these alcoholic drinks are well established, but new research is looking into the impact of alcohol on hydration levels, future athletic performance, and recovery. Alcohol effects all of...
When I first started seeing athletes in the early 2000s we often placed athletes in cold baths in an attempt to both reduce post workout soreness and facilitate recovery. Since this time we have moved toward more active recovery strategies including aerobic exercise, corrective exercise, static stretching, and foam rolling. A new study examined the...
