Meet Lucy Masto…an east coast native, living in California, who moved back to the northeast to pursue her degree at Brown University. Lucy is an incredible student who also has a knack for athletics. Unfortunately, during Lucy’s Fall lacrosse season, she came face to face with many athlete’s worst nightmare…a torn ACL.

When working with running clients, it is important to understand that there are many elements to improving mechanics and decreasing pain. Certainly, it begins with an injury evaluation to eliminate pain. It then moves to foundational strengthening & mobility training. Lastly, a running evaluation is necessary to dive into the root cause of the injury and begin correcting mechanical issues that can thus prevent future breakdown. One of my favorite exercises to incorporate following the running analysis is cadence training! Cadence is the speed of which your feet are hitting the ground while running, or beats per minute (BPM). By INCREASING your cadence, you will improve running mechanics by developing dynamic stability in the core/hips, decrease ground-reaction forces and begin transitioning to forefoot running.

If you have ever been to physical therapy for lower back pain, I’m sure they might have told you that you need to “work on your glutes and improve core stabilization” in order to feel better. Unfortunately, that is typically where education stops and rarely does the client stop and ask, why? Today we will take a deeper dive into this information and truly break down why it is important to focus on these areas to relieve lower back pain.

Over the last 10 years, Blood Flow Restriction Therapy has become one of the largest topics of conversation in the world of Physical Therapy, recovery and strength training. However, when discussing the treatment method with clients, many people are still left in the dark about what it is, how it works and who can benefit from it. Today’s blog is designed to help inform you of just that! Read on to get a better understanding of the latest modality and how it can help you!

Winter is here! That means snow is right around the corner and it won’t be long until snow sports become a weekly activity here in the northeast. Whether you enjoy skiing, snowboarding, snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing or just hiking a winter trail, knowing the in’s & out’s of common injuries can be a huge advantage in maintaining a healthy body throughout the winter. Today, we discuss the three most common injuries we see during the snow sports season and how to prevent them with certain exercises!

We always think of core strength as 6-pack abs, made by doing loads of crunches. However, as physical therapy and strength & conditioning become more popular for everyday health and wellness, we now know that the secret to core stability is having a variety of exercises to target multiple muscle groups. Here are a few great exercises that will help build rotational power in order to create lumbar stability and eliminate low back pain.

Hiking is a great way to get an excellent workout, see the beautiful nature in the area (with possibly some cool views) and best of all, it’s FREE! Although it doesn’t require any money from your pocket, there is certainly a demand on your body. Most commonly, we are challenged at the ankles due to the uneven terrain, change in elevation and random objects in your way that may cause you to be unstable. In order to prevent ankle injuries, here are a few great exercises you can do proactively to stay strong and enjoy your hikes!