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Stretch Into Spring

Written by Jeremy Jordan, PT, DPT, ATC, CSCS

Stretching is an essential part of an overall fitness that is often overlooked. Daily stretching
helps to keep muscles flexible and strong. This helps reduce risk of injury, maintain balance and
reduce joint pain. Adding just 5-10 minutes of stretching into your normal fitness routine can
make a big impact on your overall health.

There are two main types of stretching: static and dynamic.

Static stretching is when you stretch and hold a position for 20-30 seconds. Doing this repeatedly and often helps to lengthen the muscle and reduce joint strain. Static stretching is best performed at the end of a workout to loosen up tight muscles that are already warmed up.

Static stretches for overall flexibility include:
● Doorway pectoral stretch

● Cross body shoulder stretch

● Seated hamstring stretch

● Seated piriformis stretch

● Standing quad stretch

● Standing gastrocnemius stretch

** Best Results: 20-30 seconds static stretching for 2-4 repetitions**

Dynamic stretching is a series of quick movements. This helps to warm up the muscles and
allow them to perform better during a workout. Research has shown that this type of stretching before performing an exercise such as running, biking, or team sports helps reduce risk of injuries.

Common dynamic stretching exercises include:

● Heel walk/toe walk

● High knees

● Butt kick

● Leg swings

 Add some spring into your step by incorporating 3-5 minutes of dynamic stretching before your workout and 5-10 minutes of static stretching throughout your day. 

Elevate Your Heart Rate With Physical Therapy

(Used with permission from the Private Practice Section of the American Physical Therapy Association)

Heart disease is a leading cause of death and disability.

This shouldn’t be a surprise – it’s been at the top of the list for years. You know that taking care of your heart is important. That means doing things like eating right, avoiding smoking, and exercising regularly. While all of those things can be difficult, today we’re going to focus on exercise.

How Physical Therapy Can Help With Your Heart Health

Cardiovascular exercise is anything that makes you breathe harder and your heart pump faster. That could be walking, running, dancing, biking, swimming or hiking. It strengthens your heart and blood vessels. It can help control weight, lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and prevent heart disease.

If you’re regularly going for a run or swimming laps, you don’t need help from your PT. But 3 out of 4 adults aren’t exercising regularly. If you’d like to get started, your PT may be just the person to help you. It’s not uncommon to get injured, then never get back to your old routine. Your PT can help you deal with the old injury and design a plan to get you safely back to regular activity.

It’s also not uncommon to try to be more active on your own, only to stir up pain somewhere like your back, hip, knee or shoulder. Your PT can help with that too. They’ll figure out why you’re having pain, help you correct it, and get you a plan to reach your goals.

Physical therapists can also help you safely increase your activity levels after major medical issues like a heart attack, stroke, or even cancer. Recent research has shown improvements in cardiovascular fitness, fatigue levels and even pain in cancer patients who participate in a personalized physical fitness plan from a PT.

Whatever your barriers to physical activity are, your PT can likely help you overcome them. As movement experts, physical therapists are trained to deal with a variety of conditions. They’ll help you work around whatever issues you have so you can safely elevate your heart rate and keep cardiovascular disease away.

How Exercise Can Benefit Your Mental Health

Written by Amanda Edwards, PT, DPT, CSCS

We often read about the physical benefits of exercise, but we overlook the importance of what exercise can do for our brain as well. In this post, we will dive in on how exercise can improve your mood, quality of life and how to implement it into your daily routine.

Improves anxiety, stress, and depression

A numerous amount of evidence has demonstrated that exercise may improve our mood, alertness, concentration and even our sleep patterns. In 2019, an analysis out of King’s College in London examined over 40 studies that followed more than 267,000 people who participated in regular physical activity. They found that regular physical activity decreased the chances that someone would experience depression by anywhere from 17% to 41%. This was found in all ages, genders, and various modes of exercise.

 

Quality of Life

Participating with a partner or a group allows you to connect with others with the same interests. Research has shown that isolation can contribute to depression and anxiety. Exercising with a group of people promotes connection and belonging. You are also more likely to stick with in exercise routine if someone else is holding you accountable to join them.

How much is enough?

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), we see improvements in depression and anxiety if we exercise at least 150 minutes/week or just 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week.

The Great Outdoors

Studies have indicated the exposure to nature may increase your attention, lower stress and improve your mood. It has also been linked to decreasing risk of psychiatric disorders. Feeling connected to nature can produce similar benefits of well-being, regardless of how much time is spent outdoors. In a research study in Japan, scientists took hundreds of people on walking tours in a forest and measured a variety of bioindicators in the participants related to stress. It was found that being out in the forest (compared to urban walks) can significantly reduce stress levels and decreased both blood pressure and heart rate. Our area has so many great areas to get out in nature, check out a complete list HERE.

How To Start

  1. Find an activity you enjoy! Whether it’s going a on a hike with a friend or participating in a workout class with a large group of people, make sure
    you ENJOY the activity. This will allow you to be more compliant with exercising.
  2. Start SMALL. If you are new to exercise, start with something that is a short time commitment and slowly build from there. If you are new to exercise, starting a program that requires a major time commitment can be overwhelming, unenjoyable and you are more likely not to stick with it.
  3. Find a group of people, a fitness center, or a personal trainer to find what program would be best for you. Not ready to start with a group? There are many apps/training devices out there. One that it user friendly and free is the Nike Training app, which is great for beginners along with advanced athletes looking to get a cardio or strength workout in.

Exercise is one tool to help improve your mental health. It is not a substitute if you need professional help. It is always a good idea to seek advice from your primary care provider or mental health professional prior to starting a new exercise program.