5 Reasons To Incorporate Physical Therapy Into Your Running Program

Running might not be considered a high-impact sport, nor do many people think of running as a high injury-risk sport. However, it presents its own set of obstacles that can cause overuse injuries such as muscle strains. Whether you’re a past-time or serious runner, incorporating a running-specific physical therapy program can not only keep you injury-free but also improve your overall fitness.

1.  Physical therapy is an individualized plan built with the runner in mind.

By combining the newest advances in sports medicine with the most current knowledge, a physical therapy program that is tailor-made for a runner will help improve everything from technique to training. Physical therapy isn’t just for recovering from an injury. An individualized plan will help you strengthen your weakest areas, which will help you stay injury free and improve performance.

2. Assessment of muscle imbalances will help you reach the next level.

One of the most-asked questions for an athlete is what their biggest weakness is and how can they overcome it. Knowing your weakness is an essential part in improvement and bringing your competitive edge to the next level. This is where a running-specific physical therapy program will help as it will assess your muscle imbalances and then provide exercises to minimize those imbalances and strengthen any injury-prone muscles.

3.  A focus on running technique will improve overall performance.

Physical therapy doesn’t just focus on strengthening and recovering from injuries. It also focuses on body form and technique. A certified athletic trainer working with a physical therapist will assess your running form and technique, pinpointing areas of improvement so that you can surpass all your running goals.

4. Buying the right running gear makes all the difference in the world.

It might just be shoes, but wearing the right running gear means the difference between a personal record and your worse record, or between staying injury-free and having to sit out the season. A physical therapist and athletic trainer will ensure that your shoes fit your body and technique and help with your body’s overall biomechanics so that you can stay injury free and improve your running time.

5. Keep up your running with low-impact training.

Although not considered high-impact, the constant pounding of running takes a toll on the lower body. Finding a way to continue running with lessening the impact on the lower body is difficult. Such low-impact sports as swimming and biking help with cross training, but you still have to hit the road day after day to see real results. Special equipment available through physical therapy, such as the anti-gravity treadmill, allows you to continue to run but with lower impact on the lower body. This machine is most important for injury rehabilitation for runners.

OSR has the necessary programs to help you achieve your PR.

OSR offers a running-specific program that’s based in sports medicine literature, individual video gait analysis, assessment of injury and muscle imbalances, shoe type, and running technique. Whether you’re an avid long-distance runner or a weekend warrior, we can help you achieve a personal record on your next run. Contact us today if you’d like to take your running to the next level with an individualized physical therapy program.

OSR Physical Therapy will run ACL injury prevention program this summer

Sportsmetrics™ ACL Prevention Program 

Sportsmetrics™ is the first training program scientifically proven to improve neuromuscular problems in athletes by increasing hamstring strength and teaching athletes how to land from a jump and cut/pivot in safe positions, with proper body positioning. The program is considered to be the gold standard in ACL prevention programs. Backed in science it is a six-week jump training program that meets two times per week on alternating days. Each session is 45 minutes in length and includes the following components: dynamic warm-up, plyometrics/jump training, speed and agility training, flexibility training, pre and post video analysis

Participants: 7th-12th grade females
Dates/Times: Mondays/Wednesdays June 9th – July 23rd 12:00-12:45 (no class June 30th and July 2nd)
Location: Mound Westonka High School Gym
Registration: Via this link.
This class is being run through the Westonka Community Education

Participants: 7th-12th grade females
Dates/Times: Tue/Thu, Jun 17 - Jul 31, 7:00pm - 7:45 PM, No Class July 1 & July 3
Location: Chaska High - Chaska High School: Gym: Back-2 Courts (050)
Registration: Via this link. 
This Class is being run through Eastern Carver County Community Education

Students from any district may participate. Please contact OSR Physical Therapy's Director of Athletic Training, Nate Tellers, with any questions.

Pre season exercise recommendations for baseball and other throwing athletes

Given the subzero temperatures and 2+ feet of snow on the ground, many of us are dreaming of 80 degree sunny days at the ballpark in July.  For those of you with a history of shoulder or elbow pain with throwing activities, or anyone who wants to prevent missing out on a perfect game day in 3-4 months, the time is now to get your arm ready for the season.

With the relatively short baseball/softball season that our Minnesota weather allows, it is important that we do our preseason preparation to have our arms ready for the season during times when being outside playing catch is the furthest thing from our minds.  Thankfully the basic preventative shoulder exercises require very little space, and minimal equipment.

Overuse and under-preparation for throwing activities is the #1 factor that brings baseball/softball players into PT clinics in the spring and summer.  Typically these injuries are 100% preventable by only a 10-15 minute exercise routine 3-4 times per week and some common sense about how much throwing we do early in the season.  It is important to note though, those preventative exercises must start 6-8 weeks prior to the onset of throwing activities.  With the typical season starting in mid-late April, that start date is now.

The two important sites for throwers to strengthen in the preseason are the rotator cuff and the small muscles around the elbow.  A simple program of 4 rotator cuff exercises and 3 elbow exercises are a great starting block for throwing athletes.

The 4 rotator cuff exercises are sidelying ER, scaption, shoulder extension and shoulder horizontal abduction.   The elbow exercises are pronation/supination, wrist curls, and radial deviation.  The pictures below show the 7 exercises, with both starting and ending positions.  It is important to do the exercises with correct form as shown, with low weights (1-2 lbs max) and high repetitions (we often recommend 3 sets of 30).

sidelying ER

scaption

shoulder extension

shoulder horizontal abduction

radial deviation

wrist curls

pronation/supination

 If you have pain with these exercises, or note pain with throwing there may be a more serious injury and we recommend consulting with a health professional.  At OSR, we offer free injury screenings and can guide you in what is the correct next step for your thrower’s shoulder or elbow pain.

This article was written by Ryan Koepp, DPT. He is the clinic director and treats patients at our Eden Prairie location. 

Curling

Have you ever been interested in learning more about the sport of curling or how to even curl?

Robyn Farm at our Chanhassen location is part of the Dakota Curling Club and they are putting on a Learn To Curl event at the Burnsville Ice Arena.

It is Saturday Feb 22.  The cost is $25 per person and each participant must be 13 years old.

For more information about the event please check out:
http://dakotacurlingclub.org/l2c/

Sport Specific Warm up

Recently there has been increased research into having a sport specific warm-up attempting to reduce the amount of injuries that happen through a sport season.  Another article just came out looking at a D1 collegiate soccer team stating a sport specific warm up that helped reduce injuries suffered throughout the year.  There have been many studies similar to this one, begging the question why doesn’t every team perform one of these warm-ups?  They often take the same amount of time that a traditional warm-up does, do not require much or any extra equipment and can be run by the teams’ athletic trainer or coach.  

These warm-ups are not only for collegiate athletes, but for everyone of all ages. Dr. Heather Bergeson spoke to OSR's staff on adolescent overuse injuries today. One key point as part of injury prevention was to include dynamic warm ups. 

Here is a link to the article with an example soccer specific warm-up. 

The goals of these warm-ups are to reduce common injuries in a sport by performing prehab, or preventative rehabilitation.  For soccer this could be ankle sprains or ACL injuries.  From here the Athletic Trainer can create a sport specific warm-up with rehab exercises.  By training the muscle properly from the beginning they will be able to work properly and help reduce the amount of injuries over multiple seasons.  

The key to the warm-up is that it needs to be easy to perform and continually progressive.  If the athletes are not continually pushed they will not make gains and will plateau.  The progressions will also help reduce any boredom that can occur when exercises become repetitive.  

The first half of this video can be used as a baseline to start your dynamic warm up for any sport:

If you are interested in having a sport specific warm-up for your team please contact OSR and we can help you out!

This article was written by Andrew Ernst, ATR at our Eden Prairie location. 

Common Hockey Injuries

The cold winter has arrived and the hockey season is in full force.  Around this time of year many players are playing with minor bumps and bruises, but what are some common injuries that are more than just bumps and bruises?  We will start with the head and work our way down the body talking about the more common injuries that occur in hockey.

Head

Concussions are at the top of the list, especially with contact activities.  Common symptoms are, but not limited to: dizziness, confusion, headache, memory impairment and/or “feeling off.”  Loss of consciousness is not required for a concussion to be sustained.  Players, coaches and parents should be aware of all the signs and symptoms of a concussion.  If a player is suspected of having sustained a concussion they should be evaluated by a medical professional before returning to play.

 

Shoulder

The most common shoulder injuries are a fractured clavicle (collarbone) and a separated shoulder.  Both injuries tend to occur when the shoulder itself is the main focus of contact on a hard surface such as the ice, boards or even sometimes another player.  Treatment for these injuries may involve a sling, rest, and physical therapy.  In some cases surgery may be required.

Elbow

These days elbow injuries have become less common due to the technology of the protective equipment.  However, if the point of the elbow hits a hard surface with enough force it can cause a bursitis.  This usually presents as a “puffy” pad like area around the elbow itself.  To prevent this injury make sure elbow pads provide enough protection (replace them if they are getting old and worn out) and fit properly.

 

Wrist

Fractures of the wrist may result if a player falls forcefully against the boards or ice on an outstretched arm.  The player should attempt to fall on their forearm rather than their out stretched wrist if possible.  Most times this injury is going to be treated with casting and sometimes surgery.

Back

The bent over posture of a hockey player while skating makes them susceptible to back injuries.  Adding contact can increase stresses as well.  Due to these factors muscle strains are the most common back injury.  Core strengthening can help in prevention of these injuries.

 

Hip

Due to the nature of the hockey stride, groin and hip flexor strains are the most common.  These can be prevented by a strong offseason conditioning program as well as stretching before and after participation in hockey.  If these injuries do occur, they are treated very successfully with rest and physical therapy.

Knee

Good news for hockey players!  ACL and meniscus tears tend to be less common in hockey than other sports.  While the hockey stride makes these two injuries less common, it does contribute to more MCL injuries.  These usually occur when another player falls onto the outside of a player’s leg, mid-stride.  Again these injuries are usually treated successfully with rest and physical therapy.

Ankle/Foot

A common mechanism for injury to the foot is blocking a puck.  What usually results is a bone contusion (bruise), which can be rather painful.  In some cases blocking a shot can also cause a fracture, which would have to be diagnosed by X-ray.   Ankle sprains are less likely to occur in hockey than other sports due to the skate being rather rigid and providing support.

This article was written by Cole Abernathy, ATC. He practices at our Chanhassen clinic.