Athletico Health Resources

Working on your balance probably isn’t an integral part of your everyday life, but I’m prepared to make the case that it should be. The benefits for improved balance range from a reduced risk of injury to improving intelligence and even potentially increasing one’s life span. With that in mind, here are my five reasons to work on improving your balance, as well as some ideas on how to get started. (more…)

Summer is finally here and that means it is time to let our feet breathe and breakout the summer sandals from our closet. Although your favorite pair of high heels or summer flats may look very cute and summery, they may not be the best for your body. (more…)

When most people picture running, they think “Chariots of Fire.” They see long, forward strides (and maybe a pretty cool soundtrack). In reality, a long distance runner’s main thrust happens behind his or her body. (more…)

Running season has arrived and a lot of you wanted to hit the ground running, but instead, you hit the ground hurting…hurting on the outside of your knee. If that’s the case, you could have iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) or IT band syndrome for short. IT band syndrome is an overuse injury that is common in endurance athletes like runners and bikers. It affects a tissue that runs from the side of your hip all of the way down past your knee. Most of the time, the inflammation manifests itself as pain on the outside of the knee. It can be incredibly painful and is typically a frustratingly stubborn injury to deal with.
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The term “shin splints” gets tossed around a lot among athletes. What exactly are shin splints, what causes them and how can you alleviate them if you already are affected by them?

Shin splints are not caused by one thing because they are actually a symptom of deeper issues and are not a medical condition. The term shin splint generally refers to achiness and/or acute pain in the front side of your tibia (shin bone) while your foot is dorsiflexed (your foot is flexed). Depending on the person, the pain may be during exercise, immediately following exercise or even all the time. This pain and/or discomfort can be caused by a variety of things. This post will cover the most common causes of shin splints and how you can resolve them. (more…)

*Editor’s note: Today’s post was written by Melissa Boger, ATC, CSCS, NASM-PES/CES.

When I am working with golfers, the number one complaint that I hear is low back pain (LBP) while golfing. Many golfers think that LBP is something that they just have to live with or play through. The good news is that LBP during golf can be prevented or significantly reduced by taking some simple steps to help your body move in a healthier more efficient way. LBP can be caused by a number of different reasons ranging from muscle weakness to muscle inflexibility to poor golf posture, but no matter what the reason is, most LBP during golf can be treated by improving on 3 major components:  Mobility, Stability and Strength. (more…)

*Editor’s note: Today’s post was written by Brad Kleine. Brad is a Certified Athletic Trainer, Performance Enhancement Specialist and Certified Kinesio Tape Practitioner.

Those of us with the fishing bug are starting to think about getting out on the water. The thought of the blue gill and crappie spawn and the idea of the bass moving into shallow, sun-warmed water along the edge of our favorite lake or pond starts getting us excited and anxious for spring to fully arrive. We start to re-spool our reels, spend hours in the fishing aisles at the sporting goods stores looking at lures and new rods and wonder when it will be time to take the cover off of that boat to get it ready to get out on the water. (more…)

With warmer weather upon us, many of us are aching to replace our shovels and winter boots with gardening tools and watering cans. Very simple recreational activities such as gardening can lead to some muscle aches and joint pain if proper body mechanics and general safety are not followed. The following are some general guidelines to keep in mind while gardening to minimize the aches and pains. (more…)