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Sunday, April 14, 2019

Mobility Monday: Weird Hamstring Pain and Neurodynamics


Our hamstrings take the brunt of a lot of stress we put on them daily. Not only from training and working out but also we spend a lot of time sitting on these muscle and the attachment sites. We also have to take into account the nerves that are running through the muscle coming from our lower back. All this makes for a complex combination of dealing with pain. This video does a great job breaking it all down.


What It Helps:
>Hamstring pain/tightness
>Low back pain
>Relieving nerve pain


Tuesday, April 9, 2019

100% Survivability

Dr. Douglas Casa came to UWL a couple weeks ago and shared with us how to prevent sudden death in athletes with a focus on heat illness. The main problem we discussed is heat stroke. Before we get into the recommendations I want to make sure that I reference that all this information is from Dr. Casa and the Korey Stringer Institute. It was just too important not to share.


Through Dr. Casa's research and his own interventions when covering events they have found a 100% survivability in a heat stroke event. The goal for anyone dealing with a heat event is get the person under 104degF in the first 30 minutes. So far that has produced 100% survivability. 


There are four elements of surviving heat stroke:

  1. Recognize
  2. Rectal Temperature
  3. Rapid Cooling (Cold water immersion is best)
  4. Cool First, Transport Second
When all four of these steps are followed and we can get core body temperature down we can help everyone who suffered from heat stroke survive. With summer coming right around the corner and more road races and other events occurring these steps need to be implemented. Check out more resources below.


Monday, April 8, 2019

Mobility Monday: Hinge Don't Bend


Hinging is a skill that we often overlook when it comes to basic movements that we use in the weight room but also in everyday life. This video gives a great breakdown of why you should hinge and really focus on doing things correctly. It may seem simple but getting it correct is going to make a huge difference in your quality of movement.


Things It Helps:
+Preventing Low Back Pain
+Engaging Posterior Chain
+Helping to lift heavier things


Friday, April 5, 2019

Friday Food: Authentic Greek Salad

So many good things and you can adjust as you need to (like drop the feta if you're dairy free, I don't personally recommend it). It changes up salads and can make it so you get some more greens in your life along with other solid vegetables. If you're growing cucumbers this summer it can be really hard to keep up with their production, use this salad as an option.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tomatoes, cut into wedges
  • 1 medium red onion, sliced into rings
  • 1 cucumber, pilled and sliced into thick half moons
  • 1 green pepper, sliced
  • 16 black olives (get the Greek ones)
  • 7 oz of feta (block or crumble)
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • sea salt

Game Plan:

  1. As said before, the secret to make a delicious Greek salad is in the ingredients: juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumber, creamy feta cheese, good quality extra virgin olive oil and some tangy black olives will really make a difference.
  2. To make this Greek salad recipe, start by preparing your vegetables. Wash thoroughly and strain the vegetables. Cut the tomatoes into wedges, slice the onion into thin rings, cut the cucumber in thick slices and place everything in a large bowl. Don't forget to add the olives as well.
  3. Season with salt and pour over the extra virgin olive oil and vinegar. Toss everything together so that the flavors mix. Be careful not to add too much salt, as the feta cheese and the olives are salty enough.
  4. Greek salad is always served with feta cheese on top, a drizzle of olive oil and dried oregano.

Source: My Greek Dish

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Study Spotlight: KT Taping vs. TpDN in Treatment of Myofacial Pain in Upper Trap

By: Joel Luedke

Trigger points can be extremely painful and the world we live in and how we position ourselves on a daily basis predisposes us to getting them in our upper traps. If you've had them there before you know can attest how much they can hurt and cause a lot of other problems. This Study Spotlight takes a look at a couple treatment options in the treatment of these trigger points and how they might help.


What They Did: 
Researchers in this study looked at a comparison of utilizing Kinesio taping techniques (space correction) vs. trigger point dry needling and their effectiveness on treating myofascial pain in the upper trap. Groups were assigned at random and evaluated for trigger points and myofascial pain and then assigned to a treatment group.

What They Found: 
After comparing results the results showed that both treatments had comparable positive effects on pain perception and the pain pressure threshold. There was questionable effects on the cervical range of motion.

What It All Means:
There are always multiple ways to treat an injury or pain that a patient is experiencing. Trigger point dry needling can be extremely effective as a treatment but is highly invasive due to inserting single or multiple needles through the skin and into the tight tissue. For some people they tolerate it extremely well but for others, especially with needle phobia it can be near impossible to go through a treatment.

The use of Kinesio taping is much less invasive and you only have to worry about potential skin irritation. It is also one that can last for up to 3-5 days depending on the application. This can allow for much less stress when it comes to treatment and removing any issues with needles.

This means there is a good option for the use of multiple treatments to get the same positive effects on myofascial pain in the upper trap. It also brings up the possibility of combining treatments in order to try create a more positive outcome.


Source: Dogan, Nesibe. Kinesio taping versus dry needling in the treatment of myofascial pain of the upper trapezius muscle: A randomized, single blind (evaluator), prospective study. Journal of back and musculoskeletal rehabilitation.