Ready, Set, Achoo! Tips for Athletes during Allergy Season
If you are an athlete, you probably know all too well when your allergies kick up. But there is hope! By being prepared and taking the necessary precautions, you should not have to restrict your activity very much. (more…)
Summer Beach Body, Weightlifting, and Shoulder Pain
Spring is finally here and all you can think about is that long awaited warm summer sunshine and spending time by the beach with your loved ones or friends. However, before you hit up the beach, you head to the gym. You want the best beach body you can achieve. You bust out your favorite exercises: military press, wide grip bench, and use all of the deltoid machines. Your arms are looking great…but wait…now you have shoulder pain? It’s not fair! You are being healthy and going to the gym. Why do you have shoulder pain now?! (more…)
It’s All in the Hips: Part 3
So here we are, three entries deep into the “It’s All in the Hips” saga. We’ve covered gluteus medius and its role in stability. We’ve also talked about the gluteus maximus and its importance in power production. Today, we’ll take a journey to the front of the hips to talk about the hip flexors. (more…)
It’s All in the Hips: Part 1
“It’s all in the hips. It’s all in the hips.” – Chubbs, Happy Gilmore
Chubbs knows what he’s talking about. In my time working in athletic training, I’ve worked with a wide range of athletes – from pros to weekend warriors. No matter what skill level I’m working with, one consistent problem I find is weak hip muscles. Weak hip muscles put excess strain on several other structures on your body, which can lead to injury or impaired performance. Two of the hip muscles that are consistently under-utilized are the gluteus medius and gluteus maximus. Today, we’ll go over the gluteus medius and hold off on its bigger brother, the gluteus maximus, for the next post. (more…)
Congratulations! You finished your big, milestone race! Um, now what?
Welcome to post-race letdown. It is completely normal and even inevitable to feel a big letdown after a milestone race. Being the type-A person most athletes are, you’ve trained and sacrificed for months preparing yourself and now just like that, it’s done. Hopefully race day went well and you achieved your goal, but even if you didn’t, the feelings are the same. You have been focusing on that event for months and now it’s over. It’s easy to let that bring you down, but you don’t have to let that happen. This post will give hints on how you can avoid post-race letdown. (more…)
Benefits of Exercising while Pregnant
While exercise may feel like the last thing you want to do while pregnant, there are many benefits that may make it worth your while. Exercise can benefit the mother to be in the following ways: (more…)
5 Ways Mobile Apps Can Improve Your Health
The phone that you’re carrying around in your pocket has more computing power than was available to NASA when the first men were sent to the moon. It can help you keep up with work, take amazing photos at a moment’s notice, and even allow you to talk to someone face-to-face on the opposite side of the planet. While a lot of us are familiar with how phones and new apps can help increase productivity (or hinder it *cough* Angry Birds *cough*), a lot of people don’t realize that there are ways to use your phone to improve your health in 5 key areas. (more…)
Ice Baths: A Cool Way to Speed Recovery
Elite athletes jumping into tubs filled with ice water after a tough workout is a fairly cliché scene in sports movies, but for good reason. Ice baths have become a post-workout habit that countless professional athletes take very seriously. Kobe Bryant is so dedicated to taking ice baths that his personal tub of cold water has gotten its own police escort! Hearing things like that makes people wonder how something as simple as ice water can be beneficial to the world’s most successful athletes. When asked, those athletes will often cite reduced muscle soreness, faster recovery, and injury prevention as their main reasons for taking the plunge. (more…)