These days, when it comes to pursuing mobility, many individuals are working on the ability to push their knees past their toes when performing various exercises and feats (often known as knees-over-toes mobility). Many factors go into improving and achieving this ability, with one of them being the overall health and suppleness of your soft tissues. If you work on …
Jumping Rope Without Torturing Your Feet and Ankles: Here’s How
Jumping rope can be a great exercise activity for numerous reasons: improving cardiovascular fitness, improving coordination, burning plenty of calories, and it can be done nearly anywhere. Unfortunately, it can also be notorious for wreaking havoc on one’s feet and ankles while doing it. Thankfully, there are some great tips to help ensure you minimize or eliminate this issue if …
Best Ab Wheel Exercises for Avoiding Back Pain | Beginners, Listen Up!
The ab wheel is an awesome and feisty piece of equipment that can seriously challenge your abdominal muscles and general midsection. Unfortunately, it has a reputation for causing low back pain or discomfort in many individuals who otherwise wish to use it. Whether this back pain is from inadequate technique or inadequate core strength, it can be frustrating to forego …
Six Benefits of Using an Acupressure Mat for Your Aches and Pains
As a strength and conditioning specialist who has pushed his body quite extensively over the years AND as someone who has made heavy financial investments into his education and career for being a physical therapist, I’m a big fan of therapeutic devices that can help ease some of my aches and pains while doing so on the cheap. The benefits …
How to K-tape Your Achilles Tendon All By Yourself: A Step by Step Guide
With winter now mostly behind us, I’ve been getting back to my regular morning jogging routine through the neighborhood. And while getting outdoors again and experiencing the warmer weather has made my spirits quite happy, the same can’t be said for my left Achilles tendon. The poor guy has been getting a little sore as I get back into my …
The Best NPTE Prep Book to Get: The Honest Answer for All Students
If you’re studying for the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE), you need to have an NPTE prep book. Without one, you are making the study process excessively hard and are playing with fire when it comes to passing this thing on exam day. Plenty of students every year want to know what the best exam prep book is, and in …
Rumble Roller Vs Foam Roller: How to Choose Which One to Use
I’m a firm believer that every tool has a time and a place. This is no different in the world of injury prevention and rehab. Many believe that foam rolling is a waste of time, while others swear by it. Many say “it depends” since one must take into account the context of its use, who is using it along …
Using an Acupressure Mat: Five Pro Tips for Greater Pain Relief
Back in my younger days, I used to think that anything in the acupressure world was something worthy of scoffing at – mainly because I was uninformed and perhaps a bit arrogant. Maybe I thought it wasn’t “hardcore” enough for me, or maybe I just had a misinformed understanding of them. Either way, I’ve long since changed my beliefs – …
The Plan: How to Get Back into Running After Gaining Weight
Life throws us all sorts of curveballs, and the only thing that seems to be consistent about it is that curveballs are thrown to everyone, no matter who you are. For many of us, these curves can disrupt our pursuits of exercise and any other healthy practices, which can lead to cessation of activity and weight gain. If this happens …
Proven by Science: Best Blood Flow Restriction Exercises for Seniors
As a physical therapist and certified strength & conditioning specialist, blood flow restriction is an intervention that I believe holds great benefit and promise for seniors wishing to stay strong, active, and avoid the troubling effects of sarcopenia (decreased muscle health). When used properly and on the appropriate individuals, it can be a real game-changer for those who use it. …