How Staying Active and Mobile Can Prevent Injuries Down the Line

The last year has really been life changing: from increased time with
close family, to frequent frozen pizzas and Netflix binges. We’ve all witnessed
the world around us changing at an alarming pace and, if we’re brutally honest,
most of us have been doing so from the comfort of our sofas. No blame, just fact.

As the world has seen unprecedented changes, we’ve also seen changes to our
bodies. Yeah, you guessed it – all that sitting has led to some pretty stiff
muscles and achingly sparse fitness routines. So, I think you’ve probably
guessed by now that this post is all about how staying active and healthy can not
only help you achieve optimum health, right now, but can also prevent injuries
down the line. Think of our upcoming advice as a friendly reminder to turn that
TV off, get those trainers on, and to go outside and smell the daisies!

So, let’s start with the very real consequences of leading a largely sedentary life.

First off, extended periods of immobility cause muscles to start deteriorating.
EEK!  And, in many ways, this is as bad as it sounds. Deteriorated muscles not
only fail to bolster metabolism, thereby causing unwanted and unexpected
weight gain, they also invite injuries your way in the future. Why? Well, weak
muscles are incapable of offering real, meaningful support, thereby leaving your
body exposed to injury in a very real way. And no – lifting that pizza box and can
of cola doesn’t really support muscle growth – give quarantine a make-over.

Let’s chat about how you can get out of extended time at home induced funk and back into a healthy, mobile lifestyle. Eventually, the extended periods of staying at
home will catch up with you, so it’s important to tackle sedentary behaviors head
on before it’s too late.

I know you’re thinking you may have to do a 60-minute fat burner workout in day
one, but the truth is, you just may not be ready! In fact, you may have been
Dwayne Johnson before lockdown, but that doesn’t mean you’re now able to do
the same activities as before. Long periods of being sedentary would have
affected your body in such a way so as to weaken muscles and throw your
strength off. It is, therefore, very important to start at a point where you feel
comfortable. Don’t push yourself beyond your current limits – don’t think you’re
able to jump straight back in where you left off before the shut down – because the
truth is, you could seriously injure yourself. Take it easy, give yourself a break,
and get back on the horse using the stirrups.

Why are we continuously telling you do be active, though? Isn’t walking the dog
and making a few trips up the stairs enough? Well – no. It may be alright for a
weekend, but long-term it can wreak absolute havoc on your body. Fitness and
mobility should never be underestimated, as you are only as young as you keep
your body. Stretching, exercising, and eating the proper nutrition is absolutely
essential when it comes to dodging injuries and illness. The longer you remain
sedentary, the more likely you are to experience injury and potential chronic,
debilitating pain. Keeping your body mobile, limber, and active, means you have
a much better chance of reaching an older age without physical problems.

Why not start small – take a walk, do a 15 minute home workout session, try
Pilates or yoga, or how about going for a swim? Make small changes to ensure
big rewards. You can push yourself harder as you progress, but make sure to
train your muscles from the beginning in order to prevent injury.

Granted, it’s not always easy to know how where start, though. It may be that
your inactivity has caused you to be more immobile than you imagined, thereby
ruling out exercises you may previously have done. It may even be that
quarantine has given you the time to think about your life and you now want to
jumpstart your health by getting into a fitness routine, yet you have no idea
where to start. Alternately, you may even have been injured during this time and
you just long to be able to move without pain as you once could – you just don’t
know where to begin. All of these motivations are valid, and the trepidation you
may be feeling is normal. Knowing where to start can be incredibly daunting, but
luckily that’s where we come in!

Now, I know what you’re thinking: how can physical therapy possibly help me
become active? Well, that’s a good question… and the answer may surprise you.
Physical therapy is about a lot more than the eradication of pain. In fact, physical
therapy aims to increase mobility and physical health via the specialized
treatment of pain and the administering of tailor made exercises and stretches.
You see, whether you are in pain now or not, if you aren’t moving, then it’s
almost guaranteed that you’ll experience pain later in your life. I'm here to
show you how to move, and not only that, but how to do it correctly in order to
safeguard your body from injury.

Whether you’re looking to ditch bad work from home habits, or whether you’re just
ready for a change, we’re here to help. And, if you’re in pain and are looking for
a way out of your situation, I can give you the answers and treatment you need.
Don’t let the pain get you down, and don’t let extended periods of lockdown in
your home prevent you from moving your body in a healthy, safe way. It’s time to
make a change. I want to help you, right now, and that’s why I invite you to
contact me directly, today. Get the answers, advice, and treatment you need, and let’s get moving together!

Sports Performance and Physical Therapy: Two Peas in a Pod

 

 

How many times have you run that mile? How many times have you looked at your stopwatch and sighed at the missed minutes or seconds on the clock? Sports performance is an incredibly powerful driving force for athletes, and when minutes and seconds become indicators of success, making the most of every movement, every muscle, and every intentional stride, means the difference between winning and falling short. Fitness, strength, flexibility, mobility, and precision… these are but a few of the things involved in sport performance. In this post, we’re looking at the ways in which physical therapy can exponentially boost your sports performance. That’s right! It’s not all about back discs and joint pain… physical therapy can be the different between a good run, length, ski, or jump, and a great one. Let’s see how!

Maybe you’ve never considered physical therapy as a way to increase your sports performance. And why would you? In general, we see physical therapists treating the injured on the field… not the healthy, right? Well, no, not really. Behind every great athlete is an equally great physical therapist. You see, physical therapy is primarily invested in the fluidity and precision of movement – the eradication of pain is a by-product of a correction within these sectors. So, when it comes to sport performance, physical therapy offers a wealth of invaluable advice, information, and tools to streamline movement and behavior. The result? A superior gait, precise breaststroke, and enviable run down a Black Diamond slope. The bottom line? Your performance is likely to be stagnant without proper form and technique. And how do you get that? Physical therapy!

 

But before we get into that in more detail, sports performance is about a little bit more than that, actually. As important as it is to be precise and correct in your movement and posture, it’s also incredibly important to recover correctly. Yes, that’s right! A good warm-up and warm-down routine can make all the difference in the way you play or train – in fact, quite apart from improving your performance, if you do warm up and down well, you are much more likely to avoid injuries that could set you back for weeks or months… maybe even longer. It is so incredibly important that you remember this: you need to have proper warm up and warm down routines.

Luckily, physical therapy can help on both counts and more! Not only is it the safest and most effective way of increasing your sports performance, it is also the best way to stave off potential injuries that could set you back and lump you with unwanted downtime. Here’s how:

 

Exercise in a Controlled Environment

 

Interestingly, a big benefit of visiting a physical therapist is that you’ll be able to train and improve in a controlled environment. What this means is that your performance will increase in a precise way, that is, by ruling out differing factors in weather, environment, or time. Each session will give you the opportunity to precisely monitor your improvement, since there will be no external factors influencing it.

 

Ongoing Improved Awareness of Form and Correct Movement

 

Physical therapy looks at the movement of your body in such a way as to correct imbalances and posture abnormalities. As you work on one improvement with your physical therapist, he/she is already aware of the next step, next improvement, and next milestone. Each session sets the bar higher, and so each movement and each activity performed will become more streamlined and seamless.

 

Increased Awareness of Higher Level Functioning

 

The great thing about learning precise movement in physical therapy is that the skills translate into other areas of your life. Motor skills will improve and your cognitive ability will increase – your awareness of your body will become part-and-parcel of your competence in other tasks and hobbies. The results are truly amazing.

 

Tools to Constantly Improve Performance

 

Physical therapy offers you a lot in terms of giving you the tools to continue performing at your best at all times. Not only do you learn the correct techniques during your sessions, but you are given all of the support, advice, and routines so that you can implement them on your own out on the track, the court, or in the pool. This is incredibly important, as your own implementation allows your awareness to grow and, as a consequence, your performance to increase exponentially.

 

Body mechanics lie at the heart of what physical therapy can offer you in terms of sports performance. Yet, that isn’t all. If you are currently dealing with an injury that’s setting you back in your training, then physical therapy can help you, too. By treating the root cause of the problem, correcting the pattern so as to maintain pain-free training, and by giving you the tools to ensure the pain doesn’t return, physical therapy actually sets you up for long term success.

 

And the best part? All of the benefits of physical therapy means that you are actually in a much better position to avoid getting injured in the first place. Proper form, precise movements, and body-awareness all give rise to training that sets you apart from the rest. Unlike practically any other routine, physical therapy offers you the effectiveness of science mixed with the wisdom of repetition. In fact, for an athlete, physical therapy is the single best way of increasing one’s performance and success. Period.

 

If you’re interested in learning how to increase your sports performance, if you’re tired of waiting for your periods of ‘down time’ to end, or if you’re currently in pain and feel that your routine is suffering, we invite you to contact me, today. My mission is to help you be the best you can be and for you to maintain a pain free life, excellent routine, and excitement with regards to your sport for a very long time to come. Be the best you can be and reach out to find out how hands-on one on one physical therapy can you reach the next level. I look forward to hearing from you!