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...
PHOTO CREDIT: Alan Torres @ATV Photography 1. Can you tell us a little bit about what got you into triathlon? I grew up as a swimmer and then switched to cross country running in high school and college. At the time, I had friends who were doing triathlons and always thought that if I could...
Our prior posts have documented some of the research supporting the use of caffeine in both strength training and endurance events. Caffeine has many effects including increased alertness and decreased perception of pain and fatigue. These effects on the central nervous system allow an athlete to train harder and longer at a given intensity when...
The benefits of proper hydration for human performance and recovery has long been established. Replacing fluid loss from metabolism, evaporation, and sweating can have a dramatic impact on performance in both team and endurance sports. As our workouts progress in duration and intensity our requirements for nutrition beyond water alone increase. Unfortunately, trying to train...
Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world due to its’ caffeine content. Moderate caffeine consumption is currently being studied due to its’ potential impact on cognition, the aging process, and some cancers. In our field of Physical Therapy, caffeine has long been known as a performance enhancer based on its’ ability...
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 after training because of the eccentric or lowering portion of any lift. Athletes who skip or speed through this...
Our prior posts on swimming have focused on the benefits of strength training and race pacing during a swim event. Conversely, fatigue is one of the factors shown to reduce swim performance and stroke mechanics. This change in mechanics places a swimmer at a greater risk of shoulder overuse injuries including impingement and tendonitis. A...
Running is one of the most popular sports in Boulder, Colorado with many individuals taking advantage of our many trail options. In general, run workouts can focus on short duration, higher intensity sprints performed as intervals or longer duration, sustained low to moderate intensity distance runs. Each training option promotes beneficial changes in the body...
Triathlon athletes have varying distances to compete in from shorter sprint races to longer Ironman distance events. As the events progress from sprint to Olympic to Ironman distance the percentage of time spent in each discipline (swim, bike, run) adjusts with the distance. Research has shown when comparing the Olympic and Ironman distances athletes will...
The golf swing involves movement from our feet through our hands as we accelerate the club head through the ball. In our Boulder Physical Therapy practice we often see golfers with low back pain aggravated by their golf swing. Often these athletes have a loss of either hip rotation or hip strength which places unnecessary...
