Athletico Health Resources

For the month of July, we will focus on “IT Band” Stretches. I use quotations because the IT band is not really a muscle, it’s a connective tissue. The muscle that really gets the benefit of these stretches is mostly the vastus lateralis. In most cases if you have an outer knee issue or “tight IT Band” it’s coming from this lateral(outer) quadricep muscle. Sometimes it’s the biceps femoris, that’s the lateral(outer) hamstring on the back of the thigh, as well. So if your having generalized IT band issues those are the muscles to focus on. And these stretches should help! (more…)

Today’s blog post is written by guest blogger Joe Estes, PT, DPT, CGFI.  Joe is a physical therapist and Certified Golf Fitness Instructor at Athletico’s Golf Performance Center.

The summer is underway, and so are most people’s golf games. Like the weather so far this spring and summer, the condition of your swing may not be the best you have seen. From a golf fitness and biomechanical perspective, I talk to my patients and clients a lot about maintaining posture throughout the golf swing. This mostly refers to maintaining the spine angle from your set-up position through just after impact.  Maintaining posture helps with both consistency of ball striking, as well as power production. (more…)

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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Stretch of the week: Forward Fold IT Band Stretch. This stretch is simple but very effective. You won’t need anything for this stretch.

The only contradiction for this stretch would be if you have low back pain. Be conscious of how your body feels and please don’t overly push yourself in the stretch.

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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…)

Week 3 of June brings us to a traction technique and self massage for the neck. Please use caution as always. If you have severe neck problems I would not recommend you do this one.  (more…)

Week 2 of June is here already! This year is flying by right!? This weeks stretch is an assisted neck twist. If you have neck issues you may still want to give this one a try because it’s gentle and may even help your range of motion. Especially if you have trouble looking over your shoulder.  (more…)