Triathlons take more time to train for with needing to work on three different disciplines in the sport. It may seem overwhelming and like you don’t have enough time. It can be mind boggling thinking about how to actually fit it all in your weekly schedule. Planning ahead and setting goals are key, but also incorporating a few training techniques into your weekly workouts will help enhance your workout and help you feel ready for race day.

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Is it August already!? My goodness I can’t believe it! How has you’re summer been so far? Have you been keeping up with stretching your body while you do all these fun activities outdoors!? I hope so 🙂 Lets add some more stretches to what you’ve already been doing.

This month we are stretching out the wrists and forearms! So many of us overuse our hands and arms doing repetitive motions everyday, which can lead to tennis elbow or golfers elbow. Maybe you’ve heard of tendinitis? Maybe you actually have had one of these diagnosis’s yourself. It’s not a pleasant thing to experience and it can last several months or even years if you don’t address it. The stretches provided throughout this month are simple and effective and should be easy to make time for. It will help treat these ailments mentioned above, and also keep those muscles from developing the dreaded it is if you don’t have it!

This first weeks stretch is an extension movement. You will not need any props for this one.

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I’ve written before about injury prevention for ankle sprains and knee injuries and I want to show just how effective a basic injury prevention program can be. This past year, Oak Park River Forest (OPRF) High School’s soccer program implemented an ACL injury reduction program known as the FIFA 11+. The FIFA 11+ is a warm-up program that focuses on correcting the most common faulty movement patterns seen in adolescent female athletes. Those faulty movement patterns – knees collapsing inwards, relying too much on your quads, ankle instability, etc – can lead to all of your common soccer injuries like ankle sprains, shin splints, stress fractures, and knee injuries.

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I can’t believe it’s the final week of July already! This weeks stretch is a yoga posture called Revolved Triangle. It is a great upper body twist as well as a stretch for the Lateral side of the leg.

You will need some wall space as well as a yoga block (or something similar) for this stretch. Contraindications for this stretch are if you’re experiencing any of the following; Low blood pressure, Migraine, Diarrhea, Headache, and Insomnia please don’t do the stretch.

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Regardless of the time of year each season brings certain risk factors for injuring your back.  In the Spring and Summer many people get outside and become more active drastically increasing work or exercise intensity and frequency.  In a past post I discussed how physical therapists can help your back pain but today I thought we could focus more on prevention.  Below you will learn some common sense strategies, postures, and or body mechanics to help you minimize risk of back injury in the first place.

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It seems like people who call to get a massage fall into 2 camps: those who want a deep tissue massage, and those that are afraid of it. I have heard a lot of interesting stories of people getting a massage on vacation and barely being able to move the next day. Or people who think they should be sore for a week after a massage “if it’s a good one”. Well I think it is time we went over what Deep Tissue Massage (DTM) is, and when it is indicated. (more…)

The final week of June brings us to a yoga posture called Rabbit pose. Please proceed with caution if you have neck issues. (more…)

Is it week 4 of June already!? That means summer has officially started, yay!  Ok let’s get back to stretching 🙂 The fourth stretch of the week brings us to a combination stretch, with some ROM (range of motion). If you have some neck issues I would encourage you to give this one a try.  (more…)