Ankle sprains are one of the most common sports and orthopedic injuries encountered in Physical Therapy. In previous blog posts we described the effectiveness of Physical Therapy treatments over other treatments including rest, ice, compression, and elevation (R.I.C.E.). In addition, we have good evidence supporting the use of Physical Therapy clinical testing to determine which...
Ankle sprains are one of the most common orthopedic injuries we see in our Boulder Physical Therapy practice. These injuries create local pain, swelling, loss of motion, weakness, and balance difficulties. In past years these injuries were treated with R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, and elevation), but more recent research has demonstrated improved outcomes and faster...
As we move into Spring we begin to see our youth athletes return to the baseball diamond often with a sudden increase in practice volume. The sudden increase in throwing volume, either in the field or on the mound, places the athlete’s shoulder and elbow at greater risk of baseball injuries. The greatest risk factors for...
Marathon running is a challenging event requiring substantial amounts of endurance and strength training for optimal performance and injury prevention. The race distance of 26.2 miles requires high mileage training, often >75-100 miles per week at the elite level, placing the athlete at risk of a running related injury (Saragiotto et al. 2014). In addition...
As the snows melts many of us will return to the amazing Boulder trail system for our training runs. This popular form of exercise comes with tremendous health benefits, but can also place some runners at risk for running injuries such as knee pain. Patellofemoral Pain (pain on the front of the knee) is the...
The internet is excellent at providing information on a multitude of subjects, but the application of this information is limited because of the existence of individual situations and people. An example of this would be the failure of a one size fits all approach to Physical Therapy. In this example, every patient with a certain...
Triathletes have no shortage of aerobic exercise each week as they train for all 3 components of their sport, but often what they leave out is strength training. Strength training has been shown to reduce injury risk and improve performance in swimming, cycling, and running. The impact of this training is most noticeable in the...
A common question we receive in clinic is how many repetitions should I perform of this strengthening exercise? Clearly, enough repetitions are needed under a given load to promote beneficial changes within the tissues for improvements in both healing and performance. Ranges of repetitions range from < 5, 8-12 reps, and >15 reps depending on...
With a changing in the seasons we also see a changing of the sports in our Boulder County student athletes. Athletes previously focused on winter sports including swimming and basketball are now able to focus on spring sports including baseball and track. Prior research shows athletes who change sports during the sports year have half...
In the last couple of weeks we have posted on the impact of strength training on endurance performance. Studies have shown resistance training improves both running and cycling economy leading to faster times. These studies add to our existing knowledge on the importance of endurance athletes balancing their endurance training with strength exercises. The pool...