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Health & Wellness
Injury Prevention
Posted on September 12, 2025 by Brandon Jones, PTA, BS, MBPR
Have you ever seen someone walking backwards at a park or gym and wondered why? While it might look unusual, backward walking has been practiced for decades in countries like China and Japan—and for good reason. It turns out, this simple activity can offer a wide range of health benefits.
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Posted on September 10, 2025 by Tony Matoska, PT, DPT, CMPT
Living with chronic pain can feel overwhelming. Whether it’s lingering back pain, joint stiffness, or widespread discomfort, it often interferes with the things you love like work, hobbies, and time with family. While physical therapy is an important part of treatment, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Making key lifestyle changes can significantly reduce your pain and improve your quality of life.
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Posted on September 5, 2025 by Zachary Vandenberg, DPT
We’ve all felt stiffness after sitting for too long or bending over. Limited range of motion (ROM) can affect how you move, how you feel, and even how you perform during physical activity. Whether you’re an athlete, a weekend warrior, or just someone looking to stay active and pain-free, restoring flexibility is key to staying mobile and avoiding injury.
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Posted on September 3, 2025 by Tanner Neuberger, PT, DPT, TDN Level 1
Summer sports are in full swing! Baseball and softball seasons are thriving, and off-season prep for fall sports like football, cross country, and volleyball is ramping up. With how busy youth athletics have become, many young athletes juggle multiple teams and training programs throughout the summer. While this high activity level can be exciting and rewarding, it also increases the risk for overuse injuries. Taking proactive steps toward injury prevention is more important than ever.
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Posted on August 27, 2025 by Tara Hackney, PT, DPT, OCS, KTTP
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport where athletes combine dance, tumbling, and the use of an apparatus to perform high-level athletic routines. Rhythmic gymnasts require extreme flexibility. They also need strength to perform their leaps, turns, holds, and acrobatic skills. Weightlifting is a common way that many athletes build strength. However, in the rhythmic gymnastics world, weightlifting has mixed thoughts. Historically, gymnasts have a desire for a certain body type. They may avoid weightlifting to avoid “bulking” up. Rhythmic gymnasts indeed need to maintain flexibility to perform their skills. However, strengthening should be an important component of their overall training program.
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Posted on August 22, 2025 by Tanner Neuberger, PT, DPT, TDN Level 1
Cardiovascular health is vitally important in any training program. Less than 50% of adults in the US are meeting the AHA requirements of 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes/week of vigorous activity. It’s my guess that people know about the guidelines and that they should be more active, but they have trouble knowing exactly what to do, and how to structure a plan. Below is a plan that progresses your cardiovascular ability over the next 12 weeks. It is cardio-specific and does not include any weight training, and it is a 4-5 day/week program; however, if you cannot commit to that frequency, it will become a 20-week program to perform all the sessions.
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Posted on August 18, 2025 by Brandon Jones, PTA, BS, MBPR
The psoas is an important hip flexor muscle that allow your leg to move forward. We often think of the psoas as a weak and/or tight muscle, so we stretch and strengthen it with hip flexion-based exercises. However, what if we thought differently about the psoas? What if we saw the psoas as an overused muscle that just needs to relax and get some support? Below, we will go over some exercises to do just that!
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Posted on August 15, 2025 by Tony Matoska, PT, DPT, CMPT
Becoming a physical therapist is long and challenging, and it doesn’t stop once you earn your degree. After graduation, you’ll face major decisions: Choosing the right setting, passing your board exams, and finding a job that fits your goals, all while hoping you’re making the best moves for your future. I’ve been working as a physical therapist for 10 years, and I’ve learned some tough lessons along the way. But through it all, I’ve built a fulfilling, successful career that I’m proud of. In this blog, I’m sharing four key tips that helped me find my footing and thrive as a physical therapist at Athletico.
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