For eons (literally since the age of the Ancient Greeks and Romans), it has been believed that stretching prior to a workout or race was an important step in preventing injuries and improving performance. However, recent research has shown that stretching before a workout may not be as beneficial as once thought. In this blog post, we’ll discuss why you …
The Spring National Championship and NCAA Championships have put a wrap on the annual short course swim season. Whether swimming at the age group club level, in high school or with a college program, the short course season is intense and requires a lot of energy and effort. Swimmers spend hours in the water and weight room, in addition to …
Heel pain is a common problem that can affect anyone, but it’s especially common in runners. If you’re a runner who’s experiencing heel pain, it’s important to know that there are many possible causes beyond just plantar fasciitis for this pain. In this post, we’ll explore some of the most common causes of heel pain and how they can be …
A paper published by the Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine in May of 2018 looked into the prevalence of hip pain in athletes. They found that hip and groin injuries are a common complaint among all athletes across a wide range of ability levels, accounting for 5-6% of all sports injuries. There are many tissues that can be implicated in …
In my physical therapy career, I’ve had the great privilege to work with athletes across the spectrum from healthy and able-bodied to kids who have suffered severe traumatic injuries that have forever changed their life paths to US National, Olympic and Paralympic athletes (*I’m on the far right in the photo). In my current practice, I generally treat those that …
I have the very great pleasure to live and work in a literal swimming epicenter. Madison, WI is home to the All City League that includes 13 neighborhood swim teams that all come together annually for the All City Swimming and Diving Championship at the end of summer. This happens to be one of the (if not the single) largest …
Maybe you’ve heard of it and maybe you haven’t, but out-of-network or fee-for-service healthcare is here and worth a closer look. ‘But, wait!’ You say. ‘I have good insurance! Why would I even consider going to an out-of-network provider for physical therapy?’ Here are 5 reasons why. Due to the decreasing rates of reimbursement from insurance companies (despite the cost …
Last month we dove into hyper-mobility in swimmers. On the other end of spectrum, are those swimmers that are very stiff. There is, of course, a wide spectrum between hyper-mobility and stiffness, and as mentioned previously, one end is not necessarily preferable to the other end of the spectrum. Stiffness varies from tightness in that tightness is a limitation of …
The latest volume of ‘Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Practice’ featured an article titled, ‘Management of Hypermobility in Aesthetic Performing Artists: A review.’ The article breaks down joint hypermobility in performing artists and offers gems on how to manage hypermobile clients from a PT’s point of view. Needless to say, it got me thinking. In my nearly 20 years of coaching swimming …
The thoracic spine is made up of the 12 vertebrae that your ribs connect to. The way these vertebral bodies are shaped lend themselves specifically to rotation, but maintaining good range of motion with flexing and extending your spine is essential for a variety of other areas of the body. We’re all familiar with the rounded back, forward head posture …