When And Why It May Be Time For An Intervention
You may have seen people in class who look like they are doing what you’re doing, but then you realize they are doing movements that are ... different. No need to worry, you are NOT confused about the workout movements! What is actually happening is that athlete is performing a WOD, created by Dr. Pam, that has been specifically tailored to heal a current injury or weakness.
If you have been struggling with some issues like a nagging shoulder pain, an achy knee, or a cranky back, choosing to have a Corrective Exercise Program (CEP) made for you is the right choice. If you have been modifying movements for over 1 month or have had a coach consistently tell you to scale a movement because of pain choosing to have a CEP made for you is the right choice. Let’s face it, as athletes, the best thing we know how to do is ignore pain because we have a fear of missing out. In most circumstances, moving from regularly scheduled programming to a CEP will help you heal your injury at a faster rate than removing yourself from the gym all together would. Plus, you won’t miss a beat when you return back to the WODs. You will come back even stronger and more knowledgeable.
Corrective Exercise Programming is not meant to be a long term program. We typically see most athletes return to WODs after approximately 5 weeks. Within the CEP, you will find specific exercises that will target the limitations in strength or mobility you may currently have.
For example, if you currently have pain in your shoulder when you overhead press or have the feeling if you make one wrong lift it could be detrimental to your shoulder, then the CEP could look a little like this. We would replace of an overhead barbell lift with one of many options: single arm dumbbell high pulls, plank shoulder taps, kneeling dumbbell presses, scapular pushups on the floor or the rings, single arm overhead carries and farmers carries just to name a few. The use of one of these movements is determined by the result of an assessment and treatment by Dr. Pam. The assessment would show which muscles need strengthening or lengthening and that would determine which intervention exercise would be best employed.
These movements will target posterior shoulder and core strengthening so we can retrain and strengthen proper movement patterns so you can slowly incorporate overhead lifting back into your programming. It is easy for your brain to tell your muscles and joints to get you from point A to point B, but what often happens in between when you are experiencing pain is you find many compensatory patterns. These compensatory patterns can be retrained into proper movement patterns for stabilization of the shoulder joint under load, with the right programming.
Our goal is to keep you moving in a safe, effective environment. You will feel confident coming into each class with a plan, knowing that you are healing yourself, not hurting yourself. You will receive each new week of CEP programming on Sundays and it is available on a special platform called FitBot. This allows for direct communication with Dr. Pam throughout your week of training.
How do you get started? The first step is to have Dr. Pam perform a 30 minute evaluation so she can collect objective data needed to devise a perfect plan of recovery that aligns with your goals.
Be proactive, take action, and heal your body.
Prehab is the New Rehab
Stop Injuries Before they Stop You
Are you dealing with a nagging pain that you have “just had forever”? Well, if the answer is yes, you are one of the many who think that the nagging pain will just go away over time. The funny thing is, that it’s not as easy as you think to get rid of, just like that nagging significant other.
Your body sends pain signals to your brain to tell it to stop or alter a negative movement. If we ignore that pain, those microtraumas can eventually turn into a macrotrauma. Those are the instances that will put you out of the gym or your favorite activity for significantly longer periods of time. Does this mean you need to stop working out all together? In most cases, no, if you can catch the symptoms early enough.
Prehab is defined as any form of strength training aimed to prevent injuries before the actual occurrence. This type of program is offered by physical therapists and consists of a few key items. First, a thorough assessment is performed to determine any significant muscular imbalances, joint stiffness, abnormal postural habits or limitations with movement patterns. Next, modalities can be performed to address any unique areas that are limited. Finally, specified programming can be tailored to heal or create balance in weak musculature that could be limiting proper mobility.
Typically, prehab was first initiated for the pre-operative patient attempting to maximize strength prior to surgery. The goal was to improve the rate of healing and regain muscle faster than those who went without prehabilitation. Why wait until you are at a pre-operative state? For as hard as you may work out in the gym, I am sure there are some joints and muscles that have been calling your name. Take control of your symptoms early so you can get back to normal activities faster!