PROSPER Performance & Physical Therapy

  Have you noticed a harder time with your front splits on one side? Or maybe it’s always been a struggle for you to get your turn-out on one side? No matter how much you stretch and strengthen, you will not achieve symmetry without compensation (which leads to injury).   Here’s why … Our bodies are NOT symmetrical! Take a look at these images of different systems in our bodies.   Notice how NONE of them are exactly the same on the left as the right. Illustration from Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Website.                     Photo credit – Khan Viqar blogspot.com http://cnx.org/content/col11496/1.6/ , Jun 19, 2013.   The diaphragm inserts, on average, 1 full spinal segment lower on the Right (L3) than on the left (L2).   The Diaphragm - Actions - Innervation - TeachMeAnatomy The difference in the diaphragm dome height and attachment sites make every human better at inhaling into our left lungs...

WHY ARE YOU CARRYING THAT EVERYWHERE, MOM?  If you've bumped into me lately, you've likely seen this new "friend" poking out of my bag or sitting on my desk. I've had a "bones only" pelvis for a while now, but this one is a new addition. I've been under the wing of the great @hayleykavapt this month tackling a deeper understanding of the pelvic floor. I've understood how to INFLUENCE those deep muscles via the bony positioning and activation of the larger muscles surrounding the pelvis, but I didn't fully understand how to ACTIVATE and RELAX those muscles and when. I was pretty intimidated by those deep pelvis muscles, to be honest. I can say that adding this awareness and cueing to the exercises I've been giving out for years has made a huge difference in myself... and I'm excited to share this new appreciation with you! After just a few times practicing, my feet felt much more grounded when running today! Better hamstring and glute ...

  Why "PROSPER"? I was eating breakfast at McDonald's with a former patient & MLB pitcher when I nailed down the name of my future business. He and I were attending an out-of-town wedding together & it was the only place for a quick, warm breakfast that morning.  🤫 I was excited to tell him about my decision to start my own practice - he had worked with me for quite a while after a surgery and we  had gotten to know each other a bit as human beings over that time. I had several business names I had been thinking of & asked his opinion over coffee that morning. I rattled a few off... but when I got to "PROSPER", he stopped me and said, "That's it! That is what you are really giving people... you do so much more than PT." He got me. He got the verse I was pulling from. I strive to help the WHOLE person - physically, spiritually, mentally. He knew, because he went through the same journey many of my future clients would. "PROSPER...

  WHY I 💗 RUNNING There really is nothing quite like it. The feeling of the ground under my feet, that effortless gliding through the air.  The FREEDOM.  I never appreciated the sense of freedom running gives me as much as I did during the pandemic.  My husband was deployed to help with the overwhelmed hospitals. So, here I was, alone with my very energetic (and loud) boys. Nowhere to go. No one to spread the craziness with.   I felt trapped.  I have always needed space - physical, mental, emotional space to function at my best.  My freedom to think and be myself was non-existent.  Anxiety was climbing - not so much fear of what was happening, but from that lack of space.  Leading up to the pandemic, I had started to lose my motivation to run. I had fallen off the routine & it was taking some work to get me back into it.  It was during this time, I craved running more than ever.    Running has always been a way for me...

RUNNING POSTURE I get this question a lot with my running clients. "How am I supposed to land and hold my body when I run?" (PS - totally applies to Walking, too!) This is a complex discussion, but luckily, there are a few simple things that can start you in the right direction! 1 - Look UP! Simple as that. I bet it's not your normal default, though. So, give yourself time & grace to make the change. Looking up (with your eyes... not by over-extending your neck) will help keep your center of mass from being too far forward. 2 - Focus on Your EXHALE. So much attention is on the inhale... Where should it go? ... How do I get more? But, the first step to getting more air in is to get all the air OUT first. Plus, when we hold too much air in, it keeps our front lower ribs flared. This keeps your center of mass too far forward. Try it when you're NOT running. Blow ALL AIR OUT and feel your weight shift back. 3 - PULL the Ground Underneath You. This is a mind-tr...

  FINDING THE TRUE SOURCE This talented athlete was about to give up on sports. She had tried it all & was presented with a pretty nasty surgery as her only “potential” option. I remember how distraught she and her mom were at the idea of seeing her talent, source of joy and passion go out the window at such a young age. The issue was obvious to me. Her calves were working WAY TOO HARD. Stretching, rest, and massage weren’t succeeding because the source of her calf overuse was still there. Her diaphragm was inefficient. Her back extensors, quads and neck muscles were all also overactive. All of this was keeping her center of mass way too far forward. IT WASN’T THE CALVES FAULT. I got her to breathe efficiently, bringing her center of mass back where it belonged and allowed her calves to finally take a breath. Literally - the tension had been cutting off the blood supply to the legs! A little retraining to shift and rotate her body appropriately - from heel to ...

  DON'T BE LIKE MY HAIRDRESSER 💇‍♀️ I was out doing what my mom refers to as her “civic duty” 😆 Sitting in the shampoo chair, getting my hair freshly cut. My stylist and I get to chatting, one of my favorite reasons for going into the salon. She reflected on what a struggle it’s been to get back into an exercise routine. She has dealt with significant knee pain for quite some time but has recently found a new exercise that is giving her hopes of long walks again. She continued to reflect on how much she used to absolutely LOVE running. How good it made her feel. How crummy she felt when she didn’t run. I could relate to what that meant, without even needing details. That all came to a stop for her when she developed knee pain & swelling. She said, “You know, back then, we didn’t know much about running shoes and stuff like that.” Man, that made me sad. I thought, this is exactly why I created this “Running Longevity Course”. We have come so far in Running Heal...