A significant portion of musculoskeletal pain can be attributed to our muscles themselves. Many authors have described persistent muscular pain (myalgia), but Janet Travell and David Simon’s work on trigger points is most frequently referenced. These irritable, sensitive bands (knots) within a muscle are frequent targets of lacrosse balls, soft tissue workers, and Physical Therapy...
Low back pain remains one of the top reasons patients seek treatment from physicians and Physical Therapists. Acute low back pain defined as lasting < 12 weeks is effectively treated by Physical Therapists with spinal manipulation, directional exercise, and strength training. Patient outcomes are significantly improved when patients are provided with treatments consistent with their...
Hip strength is a key component for sports performance and rehabilitation following injury. These muscles are key targets of exercise programs in our Boulder Physical Therapy office for conditions including low back pain, hip pain, knee pain, and ankle pain. Previous research has shown the hip thrust is superior to the bridge for gluteus maximus...
Team and individual athletes are always looking for an edge prior to their competition or race. The preceding days variable’s including rest, nutrition, training, and exercise are dialed in to create an optimal environment on game or race day. Most Physical Therapists and sports medicine professionals encourage an active dynamic warm up in the hour...
Rotator cuff tears are commonly found in both painful and pain free individuals and often are found in equal prevalence between the involved and uninvolved sides of the same patient. Tears found on MRI can be secondary to trauma, including falls, or secondary to the aging process. Importantly, researchers have not found a significant correlation...
Low back pain is a common condition best treated by Physical Therapists due to their unique ability to effectively provide all evidence based treatments (including spinal manipulation, directional exercise, and strength training) for this patient population. Large systematic reviews of the existing medical literature have repeatedly shown the benefits of strength training to reduce the...
The negative effects of aging on the body’s muscular system are well established and contributes to increased disease risk, sedentary activities, and most importantly, a loss of independence. The effect of sarcopenia begins after age 30 in most adults and results in a 5-10% loss of fat free muscle mass for each decade of life...
Low back pain remains one of the constants in life, but thankfully is easily treated with Physical Therapy interventions including spinal manipulation, strength training, and directional exercise. Authors report 85-90% of low back pain symptoms cannot be attributed to any one tissue or pathology and remain non specific in nature. These findings, in part, have...
In our previous blog we discussed the best body weight exercises for the gluteus maximus. In this blog we will detail the evidence on the best strength training exercises utilizing weights for this muscle group. Neto and colleagues in Journal of Sports Science and Medicine reviewed the available evidence on weighted exercises commonly prescribed in...
The gluteus maximus muscle, found directly under the back pocket of your jeans, is key muscle group for both vertical (ex. getting out of chair) and horizontal (walking or running) force production. Despite its’ importance this muscle is commonly weak on examination in our Physical Therapy patients. Multiple lower quarter diagnoses including low back pain,...