Athletico Health Resources

Cheerleading is a potentially high risk sport and it involves extensive and consistent training. Participation in cheerleading ranges from young kids through collegiate athletes. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) estimates approximately 400,000 students participate in U.S. high school cheerleading annually, including competitive squads.¹ Cheerleaders can be found at the elementary, junior high, high school, and collegiate levels as well as at park districts or private competitive gyms. Cheerleading squads can be all-girl or co-ed. (more…)

As a runner, I have been told by friends or family that running will “wear out your joints,” that “it causes osteoarthritis,” and that it “is bad for your knees.” Although most of these comments were few and far between, they stuck with me. Since becoming a physical therapist, I started to hear comments like this more frequently. However, this does not line up exactly with my understanding of the human body and how it responds to various stimuli. So I explored the question: Does running cause arthritis and should I be worried? (more…)

We’ve heard it time and time again, “you need to exercise,” but we may not know where to start. We know that exercise is supposed to be good for us, but what can we do and how can we start? The simple solution to exercise is to just...walk. It’s that simple! Walking offers significant benefits to your overall health if you stay consistent with it and it’s an activity most everyone can do! Read on as we discuss six specific benefits of walking backed by research! (more…)

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected most of us in some way. For those diagnosed with COVID-19, symptom presentation is variable. The range of potential symptoms continues to be updated by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and can impact people differently, resulting in different outcomes. The aftermath of COVID-19 can lead to physical and mental impairments as well as fear and uncertainty about long-term recovery. For many, once they have recovered from the acute stage of the virus, symptoms may remain, including weakness, fatigue and mental fog. (more…)

“When things look worst, we run the most.” This is a quote from Christopher McDougall in the famous book Born to Run and how, in times of great stress, we run. McDougall mentions three times in this country’s history that there have been substantial running booms: the Great Depression, Vietnam, and September 11th¹. “Maybe it was a coincidence. Or maybe there’s a trigger in the human psyche, a coded response that activates our first and greatest survival skill when we sense the raptors approaching.” - Born to Run. It is reasonable to think that we are currently in the midst of this country’s fourth running boom due to the uncertainty surrounding the Coronavirus. So, now is the perfect opportunity to speak on one of the more common symptoms with running: the dreaded side stitch. (more…)

Do you have a surgery planned soon? Is your sport physically demanding and places you at increased risk of injury? Are you worried about weakness in your joints as you age? Preventative rehabilitation may be the key for you! Preventative rehabilitation or “pre-hab” helps condition and strengthen the body to improve recovery after surgery, speed up the recovery process and may prevent injury from occurring. Oftentimes, we group pre-hab into two main categories: Prior to surgery and injury prevention. In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of both of these pre-hab programs. (more…)

Several past articles in our current quarantine series have focused a lot on how to stay fit and active at home. All of these articles have had a plethora of great exercises and sample routines to follow and they’re a wonderful place for you to get started. Whether you are continuing your work out at home or are able to get back to the gym, here are a couple of techniques that you can use to enhance your training and spark new muscle growth and strength gains. These techniques have been used quite readily in powerlifting and bodybuilding circles for some time and they have helped many increase their strength and muscle size, no matter their level of fitness. (more…)

It is a runner’s worst nightmare! You have spent weeks and months training for the big race that has been circled on the calendar, then disaster strikes and the race is canceled. A few years ago, this would mean hanging up the running shoes or finding a different race down the road. Luckily, in this day and age due to the coronavirus pandemic, runners have a wonderful new option in the form of virtual races. (more…)