At Dimensions PT we know that being active is one of the highest values of our clients. When you are not able to be active to the degree that you want to be your routine, mental health and lifestyle can all be thrown off. That is why we take a different approach to Physical Therapy. Rather than treating individual injuries and then sending you on your way, we make sure those injuries are not going to come back by approaching your PT as a part of your lifestyle. We do this by reducing the pain and giving you tools to manage that pain, Focusing in on your goals and giving you specific strengthening programs to crush those goals. Your sport is part of your lifestyle, your healthcare regimen should be as well!
Reducing your pain
This of course is why you initially come to us but thIs is also where most PT clinics will stop. This is the extent to what cortisone shots and pain meds can do for you. None of those are necessarily bad but they don’t ask the further questions of What caused this and Why is this happening for this specific individual? Additionally, how can you learn to manage the pain on your own so that you don’t have to carry us in your pocket. THese are essential first steps!
Focusing in on YOUR goals
Some of you might want to place top 10 in your upcoming race while others just want to stay with their normal workout routine. We get that and understand that despite having different goals, they are all equally important to each of you and are taken very seriously by our therapists. No goal is too small to achieve or too big to reach for. We wouldn’t want to be out of our workout routines or unable to strive for a race goal so you shouldn’t have to either! Your PT will sit down with you and specifically talk through your individual goals and then keep those as the forefront of your plan of care.
Specific Strengthening programs
There is a missing component to many people’s journeys towards their goals. What sets apart the injured athletes and those who feel good and complete their goals injury free is their focus on a specific strengthening routine to avoid progression of nagging injuries or development of new ones. Athletes that adopt the mindset that physical therapy is part of their sport routine and not a setback from an injury actually end up with LESS injuries and know their bodies way better! They know that it does not require them to stop their sport but just to change course temporarily.
How can you start to adopt physical therapy as a lifestyle?
- Find a credentialed PT that is going to commit to spending an entire hour with you every time you come to visit and is not going to pass you off to another PT or an aide, assistant or other. This will help the therapist understand your specific movement patterns better and in turn they will be more suited to help you achieve your goals!
- Find warmups and cool-downs that work for you and stick to them. We are all guilty of jumping straight into a workout or hoping into our car immediately after a long run. The benefit of taking those 5 minutes before or after a workout are essential. Additionally, refer back to point #1 and ask your PT for a specific warmup that is going to work well for you. They will give you much better points
- Once something starts to hurt, get an expert’s opinion on it right away. Sometimes it is a really simple fix that will blow your mind and if it is not a simple fix then you will have a professional keeping an eye on it as you continue in your sport. This PT should also be able to tell you what to do and not to do. If they tell you to just stop altogether… run! That is rarely good advice, if ever
- Get into a strengthening program, if you are a runner core work and single leg stability exercises are a necessity if you want to stay stronger. Even if you are not sure what to do, the generic exercises will be better than nothing. Add in 5-10 minutes of this 2-3x/week!
If you want to know more about how you can get a consultation from a PT who will help develop a specific program for you, reach out to us! When it comes to staying strong in your sport and crushing your goals, finding a Performance Sports PT is the best option out there! Let us come along the ride for your goals!
