Stretch of the Week: Seated Piriformis Stretch
Happy summer! It’s the third week of June and we are continuing our theme of chair stretches.
I hope you have been allowing yourself some time each day to take a break from sitting and stretch!
This week we will learn a seated piriformis stretch. This will target not only the piriformis, but also the gluteal and outer hip muscles, which can become tight when we sit for long periods of time. You will need a chair for this stretch, preferably one without wheels. If your chair has wheels, make sure they are locked in place.
ACL 3P: Prevention
Athletes in every sport take measures to reduce their risk of getting an injury. Soccer players wear shin guards to protect their shins, weight lifters activate targeted muscles with light weights before moving onto heavier loads, and sprinters warm up their muscles by progressively increasing their speed. You didn’t need to read this blog to know any of that, but it sets up an important idea. Proper preparation can reduce the chance of an unwanted injury.
Distracted Walking: Are You Guilty?
We all know the dangers of texting while driving, but have you stopped to consider the dangers of texting while walking?
Today’s society is more distracted than ever. Whether it is listening to music, talking, texting or playing a game, we are constantly engaged in something and not as aware of what is going on around us.
Is Running Bad for My Knees?
There is little evidence that running alone will send you to the operating room for knee surgery due to arthritis. That’s not to say that runners’ knees do not bother them. It is the most common body region runners complain of have aches and pains.
Keeping our Nurses Healthy: Preventing Back Sprains and Strains
Nursing is a tough, physically demanding job and the data proves it. There were over 33,000 soft tissue injuries sustained by nursing professionals in 2013. The average number of days lost was 8. For those counting, that’s a total of 264,000 days of lost time, valuable time, spent inactive and unable to perform.
Stop Dancing Around The Truth About “Turn Out”
What is “turn out”?
“Turn out” is the amount of outward rotation that can be achieved from the legs.
For a ballet dancer, the ideal amount of turn out is 90° from each leg.1 If that motion is not possible from the hip joints, the motion must come from other parts of the body.2 While the ideal amount of hip external rotation of each leg is 90°, no need to toss your pointe shoes in the trash if you don’t have that much hip mobility. Even elite professional ballerinas rely on compensations to produce the desired level of turn out.3
Runner’s Cramps: Why You Get Them and How You Can Prevent Them
Most runners have experienced it: your run is going smoothly and you’re feeling great, then all of a sudden you succumb to the dreaded side stitch, calf cramp or that feeling of “having to go.” Muscle and stomach issues can stop a runner dead in their tracks. With varying spring temperatures, muscle cramps are more common, as there is little opportunity to adjust to the change in weather.
Throw the Perfect Fastball and Prevent Tommy John Surgery in Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) has had home run eras, base stealing eras, and dead ball eras. Now, we have the “velocity” era where starting and relieving pitchers are throwing harder than ever.
- 2007 | Pitchers 25 years or younger threw a fastball with an average velocity of 90.8 mph.
- 2008 | 13 different relievers threw a fastball at an average of 95 mph or greater.
- 2013 | The number of relievers that threw 95 mph or greater grew from 13 to 46.
- 2013 | The same age group of pitchers (25 years or younger) averaged 92.5 mph fastballs.
