The Body Blog
Triathlon Training – Train Smarter, Not Harder
Triathlon competitors like a challenge. Some have run in several marathons and are ready to push their body in different ways, or have competed before and want to beat a personal record. Some are first-timers and have set a bucket list or health goal to compete in a triathlon. Regardless of the level of experience, you want to train smarter, not harder when it comes to getting ready to compete in a triathlon. Common Training Mistakes The biggest training mistake I see with first-time competitors is they go out too hard and too fast. They are excited and want [...]
The 5 Things I Would Tell My Younger Self Now That My Daughter is Going to College
Hindsight. It gives us great perspective once we can step out of the thick of a situation and reexamine. Now that my oldest daughter, Hanna, is heading off to college in the fall, I can reflect on what I would have told my younger self when my daughter was still playing with Barbies and taking naps: You don’t have to do it all right now. When I was in my late 30s and my girls were little, I was stressed and the definition of “wired and tired”. I was doing too much and really burning myself out. I was [...]
Get the Right Amount of Physical Therapy for Your Injury
Step right up, folks! We can get you better in six visits or less! Step right up! If this sounds absurd to you, it should. But it is the constraint many of our patients face from insurance limitations. Insurance companies are not medical professionals, and it is up to you and your physical therapist what your treatment plan should be. Sometimes you may have a minor injury and see significant improvement in four visits, but more often than not, physical therapy is a long game and we cannot always get the full results we want in six visits. By [...]
Diastasis Recti and Pelvic Floor Recovery after Childbirth
Giving birth is traumatic for a woman’s body; even when there are no complications. That’s why, regardless of a natural birth or a c-section, I recommend for all new moms to come in for an evaluation six to eight weeks after giving birth to create a plan for their postpartum healing. The two most common conditions we treat after childbirth are pelvic floor issues and diastasis recti. Pelvic floor issues range from painful intercourse to incontinence. After giving birth women can present with either a “tight” pelvic floor or “weak” pelvic floor. Diastasis recti is when the midline of [...]
From Benched to Collegiate Level Running
How Partnership Between Coaches and Physical Therapists Gets the Best Results for Youth Athletes At Battle Born Health, we specialize in working with youth athletes to help them recover from injury or get to the top of their game. The most ideal scenario is when we, as physical therapists, can partner with the patient’s coach - and that is exactly what happened in this success story. Josh* loves to run. He is passionate about track and was very excited to join the cross-country team as a freshman at his high school. But then he started noticing dramatic pain in [...]
Your Spring Allergies May be a Symptom of a Larger Problem
Spring is here in Northern Nevada and often spring is accompanied by seasonal allergies, or what we think are seasonal allergies. True allergies will usually occur at the same time every year and make you feel slightly run down or give you cold-like symptoms for a few days or up to two weeks. However, as a functional medicine coach, I see many women who blame feeling crappy on “seasonal allergies” that have been going on for months. Sinus infections and respiratory issues are common signals there is something else going on in the body to cause these chronic symptoms [...]
My Health Journey to Finding Functional Medicine
Functional Medicine saved my life. Before I found functional medicine, I spent years feeling tired, boated, cranky, and just plain crappy. As a physical therapist, I have been really healthy and active my whole life, but when I hit my late 30s something changed. I was stressed and the definition of “wired and tired”. I was doing too much and really burning myself out. I over-exercised and ended up gaining weight instead of losing or maintaining; my gut was a bloated mess no matter what I ate; I was anxious; and I was in some sort of pain constantly. At [...]
9 Signs Your Exercise Routine May Be Too Much
When is it too much of a good thing not a good thing? Let’s go back to the basics: if it feels good, it is usually good; if it feels like pain, that is a sign that your body is injured or needs a break. And pain is not always obvious right away - it can sneak up on you over time. Pain is our body’s way of warning and protecting us by stimulating the nervous system to produce chemical reactions (a stress response) to signal the body. Unfortunately it has become a badge of honor in our American [...]
Movement Contributes to Learning and Healthy Growth in Children and Teens
There are numerous studies done on the interaction between movement (motor development) and cognitive function. Children who are more physically active perform better at tasks involving memory than sedentary children. With each new experience, the muscles form a movement pattern, often referred to as muscle memory. These movement patterns create new synapses in the brain enabling us to perform this movement again without having to re-invent the pattern. The more patterns we create and practice the more adept we are at navigating our bodies through the world. We know the brain needs oxygen to survive and thrive. By moving, [...]
Create Your Healthy New Year’s Exercise Routine for 2021
It’s a new year and 2020 is behind us (thank goodness)! And with the calendar turning to 2021, comes new resolutions - many of which will have to do with exercise and goals for strength and weight loss. When starting a new exercise program, or picking one back up after an indulgent-filled holiday season, you must be conscious of overtraining and undereating or calorie restriction, which often go hand-in-hand. This is a recipe for disaster for your health and achieving your goals. Often trainers push the intensity for all aspects of health like promoting the restriction of calories and [...]
