Posture and Technique
Improve Your Running Form: Align Your Core
While I was on my recent book tour, I stopped at Fusion Multisport in Los Alamos, NM. There, I gave a talk on Core Running Posture. This blog re-caps some of the information that I shared. Running requires a transfer of power between your upper and lower body....
Embracing Technology to Heal
Ever since I started posture therapy, I have not had a local therapist. Yet, I have recovered. Although I would have preferred working with someone in the same room, that is not always an option when you live in a small town. Because of the limited resources, more...
Train Movements, Not Individual Muscles
Please enjoy an excerpt from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. Sports performance is the result of coordinated movements. Casting a fly rod, spiking a volleyball, paddling a boat, skiing moguls, and hiking up a mountain all require multiple...
Considerations for Leg Length Discrepancies
Please enjoy an excerpt from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. Clients often tell me their legs are different lengths. When they lay down on an examiner’s table, one leg appears longer, and the practitioner informs them that their legs are...
Alignment is the Foundation of Strength and Athletics
Please enjoy an excerpt from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. Gray Cook, MSPT, OCS, CSCS, researcher, national lecturer, and author, developed the “Optimum Performance Pyramid” as a model to understand movement. It is a three-tier pyramid;...
How Did Your Body Get Askew?
Please enjoy an excerpt from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. If you're like most active people, your self-assessment revealed unbalanced posture. Your joints were not all perfectly lined up, and the weight in your feet was not even. It's...
Defining the Core
Please enjoy an excerpt from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. What is your core? And how does it relate to your posture? Although we hear a lot about “the core” and have been told we need a strong one from various sources—doctors, fitness...
Beware of Stretching Your Hamstrings
Please enjoy an excerpt from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. Muscles need to be balanced between the front and back as well as the left and right sides of the body to maintain aligned posture. Aside from the rounding of the upper body,...
How to Fix Winged Shoulder Blades
So, what are winged shoulder blades? If you look at the image above, you'll see a young boy with winged shoulder blades (scapulae). While looking at the image, notice the pen marks on the inner edge of the scapulae where these bones are sticking out from his back....
Don’t Fear Foot Pronation
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines pronation as “rotation of the medial bones in the midtarsal region of the foot inward and downward so that in walking the foot tends to come down on its inner margin.” If you look at the image below, you can see an image of...
Osteoarthritis is a Symptom of Postural Misalignments
At 38, my doctor diagnose me with severe (grade 4) bone-on-bone left hip osteoarthritis. Since I was too young for a joint replacement, he advised me to reduce my activity level and avoid any movements that hurt. When the pain was excruciating enough, and my activity...
Posture, Presence, and Personal Power
“Our bodies change our minds . . . and our minds change our behavior . . . and our behavior changes our outcomes.” This was written on one of the slides in Amy Cuddy’s popular TED Talk, Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are. Her point is this: how we express ourselves...
3 Exercises for Better Upper Body Posture
Are you afraid of having a rounded upper body that makes you look and feel old? This seems to be the number one postural concern of my clients and class participants. But let’s not forget that your mid-spine is supposed to curve forward. In the image to the right,...
Belly Breathing Isn’t What You Think
At one time or another, you’ve probably come across the phrase “belly breathing.” You might have heard a well-meaning yoga teacher, fitness instructor, personal trainer or even me in my posture classes talk about it! People use this phrase to encourage us to initiate...
5 Alignment Exercises for Snow Sports
It’s that time of year: the hills are white, and the trails are groomed! Time to get out on the snow! I love winter and the sports it brings! Going from dryland training to skiing or boarding day after day, however, can be a hard transition for your body. Like...
Meet Jessica!
I believe we are designed to move and play throughout our entire lives. I don’t buy into the idea that we should slow down with age, or that pain, injury and physical restrictions are unavoidable aspects of growing older. So, here’s my philosophy. Our mental mindset, combined with the physical position and condition of the body that we bring into any activity (from walking to skiing to everything in between), determines our chance of hurting when we move. If we have a positive mindset, and if we have proper positioning and move with correct body biomechanics, all activities should be possible.
This is the goal I have for everyone: to overcome pain and limitations so you can Stay in the Game for Life!
Visit The Pain Free Athlete website for additional resources and opportunities.
