Pull-ups!! - January Daily Fitness Challenge

Pull-ups. Pull-ups can be an arch nemesis for some, yet pull-ups are essential to advancing rock climbing potential. 

This January I've been continuing my daily fitness challenge, that I began in October of 2017. The first month I ran, the next month I did abdominal exercises everyday, and December I did and 7 minute body weight exercise routine, and in January, right now, everyday I'm doing pull-ups.

I've been able to do pull ups for a long time. Meaning I have had the strength to do pull ups for a long time. But strength is different than endurance. If I want to climb long or hard I need to have the endurance to sustain myself. So my pull-up challenge this month is important for my performance while climbing. 

But first and foremost I'm using it as a transition from not climbing for almost a year back into climbing. The progressive loading through my finger flexor tendons my joints, my finger pulleys, my lats, my shoulders, and my rotator cuff will be essential to the health of those tissues as I transition back into climbing. (Let's be honest: gripping to the edge of a cliff for dear life is not the most normal thing for the human body, but it sure is fun!) The body does the best with slow sequential loading, with time for recovery, and time for the body to rebuild and remodel. While I have the strength and ability to climb brief bursts of climbing at the level I did when I stopped a year ago, my tissues haven't been repeatedly loaded over that time and are vulnerable. This is a common mistake that people make that leads to injury. People often want to start off where they left off, regardless of the time that has transpired since their last participation in the activity. What I encourage my patients and clients to think of when they're deciding their activity level is not - what did they do the last time they did it - but rather - how much of those movements and activity and similar loading of the joints and muscles and tendons have you done in the past few days, weeks, and months. This should be your guide. Increase slow from what you've  done recently. In this way you're building your body to be healthy for a lifetime.

So'm getting back to climbing, but not before I begin with some progressive loading off the wall. Because of my baseline strength, pull-ups are sufficiently safe, but for others starting with partial weight gripping and pulling would be much more appropriate. I started with 10 pull-ups per day and added 10 pull-ups per week until the end of the month. Always mixed in with in my workouts is common sense and listening to my body. I'm always having a conversation with my body to determine whether I should do something or not and I modify as needed to stay healthy. No fitness challenge should lead you to unhealth. 

P.S. Going now to stretch these lats that are getting overloaded through pull-ups, and soon, climbing!

Let's Get to the Source - and TOGETHER - Let's Get Moving

Liz

Why Does My Foot Hurt in the Morning?

"Why does my arch hurt?" 

"I get a sharp pain in my heel every morning I get out of bed.

"When I've been on my feet too long, the bottom of my foot hurts so bad."

Do you say these things? You may have plantar fasciitis.

The plantar fascia is a ligament that helps support the arch of your foot and gets stretched when you put weight on it and every step you take.

"Itis" is Latin for inflammation, so plantar fasciitis is a diagnosis of inflammation of the plantar fascia. Inflammation takes place when you have an injury and the body is trying to heal. Research is showing that most cases of plantar fasciitis is not an "itis" but is instead an "-osis" which reflects degeneration. This is why rolling on a frozen bottle might not make your symptoms go away.

At Artisan Physical Therapy, your PT will try to figure out a few distinct things in your evaluation - what tissue is injured or irritated and then the why it is injured/irritated/painful. Often both need to be treated the sore tissue needs to be calmed down and then that factors that led to the injury need to be changed and/or alleviated otherwise it will be perpetually irritated.

Common factors that lead to plantar fasciitis or fasciosis include:

• Insufficient arch support - going barefoot, wearing flip flops, or shoes without arch support or very flexible soles
• Tight ankles and calve muscles
• Weak hip (gluteal muscles)
• Excessive body weight
• Increasing activity too quickly (deciding to train for a marathon or get in shape drastically from prior level of activity)
• Weak foot muscles or inappropriate muscle use/activation

Just because you have arch or heel pain, it doesn't mean you have plantar fasciitis. It could be a tendinitis or tendinopathy of a foot or ankle muscle or an issue in the joints of your foot. A quality physical therapy exam will clarify this for you.  As mentioned above knowing which tissue is irritated allows for specific, targeted treatment to get rid of your pain and get you back to pain free walking, running and whatever else you love and need to do.

Think you might have plantar fasciitis? Take the first step towards health and get a PT evaluation to get quality manual therapy to temporarily decrease the pain in your foot and learn exercises to keep it away by learning how to reduce the stress to the plantar fascia and learn what activities to avoid a do instead to allow it to begin healing today.

Let's Get to the Source - and TOGETHER - Let's Get Moving!

Preventing Rock Climbing Hand & Tendon Injuries: Part 2 - Techniques For Open Grip Strengthening

People are often injured by trying to progress too quickly and this is very prevalent in rock climbing. People fall hard for the sport and enjoy the challenge of pushing their limits, but lack the knowledge needed to stay healthy, prevent injury, and thus climb for a lifetime and not have to take months and month off due to tendon or pulley injuries in their hands or forearms.

In this video you'll learn the how-to principles of hand strengthening to cross train to improve open grip strength and reduce hand pulley and tendon injuries for rock climbers. Climb better, climb harder, climb longer. Climb for a lifetime.

For a personalized assessment, contact us at our Portland office.

If you have injured this area, make sure to give sufficient rest and see your local PT who specializes in manual therapy & treating climbers to learn how to get back to your prior level and incorporate this open hand strengthening to improve your grip and reduce compensatory strategies that overload your pulleys. Also find out how shoulder weakness, for example, can influence which grip you choose. 

This is Part 2 of a 2 Part series, with the possibility of a Part 3 adapted to interest, questions, and feedback from the first 2 Parts. Watch Part 1 to learn why hand strengthening matters to prevent injury and the important of incorporating into your climbing routine. Questions? Should we do a Part 3?

Let's Get to the Source, and TOGETHER, Let's Get Moving!

A Physical Therapist's Back Pain Confessional

Dang it, even therapist's have injuries, so let's talk about it. In our latest video, Dr. Liz Bottrell shares her personal experience with an acute occurrence of low back pain (aka - lumbar spine pain). Learn what happened and what she's doing about it and what you can do when you experience unexpected pain that lingers.

Back pain can come on suddenly and unexpectedly as it did for our physical therapist, limiting the ability to sit and lift and do normal daily activities. Learn how to recover as quickly and as optimally as possible. Note - you may have to change your behavior!

A Simple & Effective Exercise to Minimize Headaches

A new video from Liz went live earlier this week! Do you have headaches or know someone with headaches who would like to reduce their frequency or intensity and even eliminate them entirely?

In this video Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Bottrell, PT, DPT, FAAOMPT, manual physical therapist and movement specialist, demonstrates a simple but effective exercise to reduce the frequency and intensity of headaches.

Many people have cervicogenic headaches - headaches arising from tight muscles and joints in the neck or poor posture - but think they are migraines or other types of headaches. This basic, easy exercise will stretch your neck muscles and reduce referred pain to your head. It is also effective for neck pain after a car accident or whiplash.

Try this exercise, 3 sets of 10, without pain or just to the point of pain.

If you have more questions about what other exercises to do for your condition or would like hands-on, manual therapy to improve joint range of motion, reduce pain, improve circulation, enhance muscle flexibility, and increase ease of movement and maintaining good posture, contact Artisan Physical Therapy to schedule an appointment for your physical therapy evaluation and treatment session.

Let's get to the source, and TOGETHER, let's get moving!

5 Best Neck Posture Exercises

Have you noticed a prominence or lump developing in your upper back and wondered what it was, and if you can do anything about it?

A friend of mine last week asked a question. What is this lump on the back of my neck? When I heard the word "lump," I was not hopeful that this was something a physical therapist could help with. A quick examination revealed that his spine was changing shape over time and he was developing a bony prominence where his neck and upper back meet. Why? This often takes place from repeated stress on the area over time. The forward slouched sitting posture so many of us find ourselves throughout the day while we are doing activities such as studying, working on the computer, driving, and reading.

Think about the elderly person with the stooped posture and rounded upper back. This didn't happen over night but was from poor sustained postures that resulted in progressive stiffness and weakness that eventually prevented them from sitting and standing with a straight back and neck. I like to say the body adapts to what we do to it and the spine is like wet cement that is hardening - what position do you want it to stiffen into?

(Disclaimer: Some people with stooped postures (aka excessive kyphosis) have pathological conditions in their spines that lead to these deformities, not simply due to impaired posture).

What can be done about it? My friend wanted answers! He might not be able to change his "lump" that is already there due to bony changes that have already occurred but maybe we can help it from increasing by working on some posture exercises to improve the flexibility of the thoracic and cervical spine and improve the strength of the muscles that hold these positions. Fortunately for him, His condition isn't painful yet. Doing some simple posture exercises can prevent painful conditions from forming in his neck and shoulders and even reduce headaches.

Subscribe to the blog and get access to the to 5 Best Neck Posture Exercises delivered to your inbox! Who doesn't love free professional advice?

Comment below for any questions you have for a physical therapist and Liz may answer your question in a future blog post!

Exercise recommendations for Minimizing IT (iliotibial) Band Tightness

Did you watch the first video in my 2-part series about IT (iliotibial) band tightness and have been waiting ever since for video 2? Well, wait no longer, for that moment has finally arrived! In part 1, I explained the anatomy of the IT Band and how it can become tight and problematic. It is often muscle imbalances that lead to this or sometimes just shear volume of activity and training.

In this video, I detail some of the practical, basic stretching and strengthening exercises that I recommend for people's whose IT Band and tensor fasciae latae (TFL) are tight, particularly due to the TFL/ITB serving as an "overachiever" muscle in the hip.

Enjoy the video.  Contact me with any questions and/or suggestions for future video topics.

Let's get to the source, and together, get moving!

Liz

Race Goal for the Year

My first blog post of the year highlighted some of the goals I had for the year. How are your goals coming along? Typing this question, alone, is making me want to stop and go back to recheck on all my goals and see what progress I'm making & if I'm forgetting anything!

The goal on the forefront of my mind currently is my goal to train and participate in a race this year. I'm so pleased to report I reached a milestone! I signed up! "What race?" you ask. Well, I am opting for a triathlon - the Nautica Malibu International Distance Triathlon - to be precise. Now I'm excited and nervous. I got a lot to learn about ocean swimming and I've got some training to do to hopefully "race" it.

What do I mean by "race" it? It has to do with your fitness level. I am fit right now in terms of overall health and wellness in disease reduction activity lifestyles and with respect to my body weight and composition. I could participate in the triathlon event and complete it, possibly even this week, but it wouldn't feel good. I want not to simply finish it - although I think it is a great feat. I want to prepare, train, and give it my all - to go fast - that is, to "race" it. Let's be clear when I say race or fast, I mean my fast (not going to be winning any races here)!!

I'd love to hear about what your training for in life, how you're learning to persevere and be disciplined, and elevate what you think you're capable of. For me this all fits into the bigger picture of learning to live more WHOLE-HEARTED (my theme for the year) and even helping people living healthier, more satisfying lives with my work at Artisan Physical Therapy. Also let me know what training questions you have!

Together - Let's Get Moving!

Liz

Iliotibial (IT) Band Tightness/Syndrome - Anatomy, the Why, & the What

Iliotibial band or IT band tightness effects a large segment of the population and can manifest itself in many negative ways. It can get tight in the sedentary (aka non-active) population but is a common problem with runners, bikers, and cross fit participants or those regularly lifting weights.

Liz created a 2-part video series to help you understand the issue and what to do about IT band tightness and IT band syndrome. In this first segment, Liz talks about what the IT band is and why it becomes problematic. Then discusses some general ways to manage or prevent it. The follow-up to this video will go through specific stretching and strengthening exercises that are beneficial for minimizing IT band tightness.

Subscribe to the blog and the Artisan Physical Therapy YouTube channel to benefit from free advice and education from a movement specialist including part 2 of the IT band tightness series to get the exercise recommendations and demonstration.

Together, Let's Get Moving!

Liz