Can I Run During an Injury and if not, When can I Return to Running After Injury or Surgery?
These are million-dollar questions! My answer is, "It depends."
A patient with patellar tendonitis, whom I instructed not to run, came into his appointment and said, "I feel great, and I ran seven miles two times last week." I lifted my head from my laptop, peered at him through my glasses, and gave him a grin and head nod of understanding while at the same time resisting the urge to roll my eyes back in my head.
As a runner who has experienced many injuries and surgeries, I empathized personally, but as a physical therapist, it is cringeworthy when a patient goes rogue.
Why rest from running or manage your return to running after an injury or surgery?
The musculoskeletal system, which includes bone, takes time to heal and strengthen progressively. When running, the structures must tolerate repetitively loading at least three times your body weight.
Several factors determine whether you can run during an injury or when you can return to running after an injury or surgery.
When and whether or not you should run depends on an injury's nature, severity, and chronicity. Does the injury involve bone or soft tissue like a tendon? Is the injury mild or severe? How long has it been present? Six months, three years, or two weeks?
Nature of the injury or Surgery.
If the injury involves tendons and ligaments, it can sometimes take longer than a fracture to heal. The rule of thumb for tissue repair is at least six weeks if you do all the right things! Some surgeries require six weeks of rest from running and high-impact sports, and others require six months or more. Runners undergoing surgery should always have post-operative physical therapy if they want to return to sport.
Severity of an Injury.
The more severe the injury, the longer it will take to return to running. For example, a grade III calf injury may need months of rest, while a grade I calf injury may only require a week of rest from running. Check out my article on Calf Strain and Pain.
Chronicity of an injury.
The longer an injury has festered, the longer it will take to return to running. This is a rule of thumb, and I find it is usually accurate. And why all runners should seek professional help if an injury does not subside within a week of rest and modification.
Signs, symptoms, and issues that indicate you need to rest from running or wait to return to running after an injury or surgery.
Poor biomechanics due to lack of stability, strength, or range of motion
Swelling/inflammation
Pain greater than a 3/10 during or after running
Poor Biomechanics
Many runners can feel when their run gait is “off” or when weakness or lack of mobility is present. Weakness and/or loss of range of motion is your body’s way of telling you that something is off - they are protective mechanisms. Pushing through a run in these circumstances will delay healing, worsen the injury, or even cause another injury!
Swelling and Inflammation
Swelling is a sign that the body is not okay. It is a red flag, a warning to stop running. Intermittent, mild swelling may be permitted with a return to run, but it means that you’ve done too much. Ensure you are working with a physical therapist to help you manage your back to run the program. Check out my article on Aiding and Controlling Inflammation.
Pain
Once again, it is a warning sign that something is not right. If unmedicated, your pain is greater than a 3/10 on a pain scale where 0 is no pain, and 10 is emergency room pain, then you should not run. Do not take pain medication to run. Pain is a fascinating and multi-faceted topic, and your physical therapist can help you navigate when it is okay to have some pain. Check out my article: Pain and Injury Doesn’t Mean You Have to Quit.
Resting from running impacts our mental health. Acknowledging and addressing our mental headspace is just as important.
Following my patient’s admission to running, an explanation ensued, "I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I don't do drugs. I run." Running releases serotonin, which makes us feel good, and it is a mental escape, a muse. Taking it away from us for too long can mess with us physically, emotionally, and mentally. Fear of losing fitness comes at a close second to the effect on our headspace.
Acknowledge this aspect and work with your physical therapist to manage it with modifications and alternatives for running.
Modifications in running during injury and returning to running programs after injury are not one size fits all! It is personal and individual.
With mild injuries, sometimes running can continue, albeit modified in volume, intensity, and perhaps surface, while you heal. When it comes to a back-to-run program or continuing to run while managing an injury, finding the right recipe can be complicated: it takes practice, finesse, and patience. It's an art as much as a science, and an experienced physical therapist specializing in running can help.
Your physical therapist will continually test you to ensure you meet benchmarks for return to run and, when you meet them, will set you up with a back-to-run protocol. That protocol will consider how much time you’ve rested from running, your specific injury or surgery, your running experience, and your tolerance.
Invest in your running future.
My patellar tendonitis patient was lucky. Most runners that do this rouge testing don't fare as well and end up setting back their healing and their return to run. Pay attention to the signs and symptoms that should stop your run, and seek professional help for managing your rest, modification from, and return to run; it is an investment in your running future!
Stop injuries before they occur!
Learn the top five training errors that lead to injuries in runners in this blog post.
Massage Guns: Do or Don't?
"Should I use a percussion device or massage gun?"
That is an excellent question; unfortunately, many patients and athletes assume devices they see at race expos, post-race recovery tents, or in magazine articles are safe and don't question it.
My answer is no; you should not use a percussive device or massage gun. Before you discard yours or ignore my answer and go ahead and use it anyway - yes, I know who you are - please hear me out.
The reason I do not recommend the use of percussive devices or massage guns is that the risks outweigh the benefits. Unlike vibrating massage heads or foam rollers, these devices create a downward force into the body's tissue like a jackhammer, and the smaller the head(s), the more concentrated the power. This hammering force can cause damage, sometimes severe.
Unfortunately, athletes, in particular, associate "pain" with stretching or massage as beneficial. "It hurts, so it must be working." That is rarely the case. It is difficult for injured or sore athletes to discern when it is acceptable to feel discomfort with a self-treatment method like a massage gun.
Risks of using a massage gun
Safely using a percussive or massage gun requires a thorough command of human anatomy. Besides a general knowledge of where the claves, glutes, and hamstrings reside, most athletes and patients are unaware of the location of nerves, blood vessels, lymph nodes, bursae, organs, tendons, or ligaments. Improper device placement over these structures can cause severe damage.
Massage guns on injured and inflamed connective tissue can further damage the structure and increase inflammation. For example, use on a torn ligament, like an ankle sprain, could injure it further.
There are many examples of patients in my clinic who improperly used a massage gun to treat their soreness, pain, or injury. Below are four cases.
Case #1
A patient attempted to treat his groin pain, in this case, psoas tendonitis, and placed the gun in the area where the femoral nerve, artery, and vein reside. Not only is it contraindicated to use the device on the injured, inflamed psoas tendon, but the risk for vessel and nerve damage was high in this area.
Case #2
A patient tried to treat his pectoral muscle strain and aimed the device in his armpit on a large bundle of nerves called the brachial plexus. Damage to these nerves could cause temporary or permanent disability to the entire arm/hand.
Case #3
A patient attempted to treat her knee pain and aimed the device at the painful spot but didn't realize that what "hurt so good" was the peroneal nerve. Damage to this nerve could cause foot drop - or lack of the ability to lift the foot.
Case #4
A patient tried to treat her sore "glute" with the massage gun but didn't realize she aimed it at a bursa (a fluid-like sack) in the same area. Because this was my initial visit with her, it is hard to know if she was suffering from bursitis before using the gun or afterward, but in either case, her injury and pain were worse.
Dangers and contraindications for massage gun use
While rare, a percussive massage tool can sometimes cause severe or life-threatening injuries, including fractures or joint damage, deep vein thrombosis, and rhabdomyolysis.
Using a percussive massage gun can cause a fracture in persons with osteopenia or osteoporosis. Never use a massage gun at the site of a fracture - even a stress fracture. If you suspect a fracture go to the emergency room or an orthopedic urgent care center.
Deep vein thrombosis is a rare but life-threatening condition, especially for post-surgical patients. It tends to show up as calf pain and soreness. A massage gun on that sore calf could dislodge the blood clot and cause a pulmonary embolism and death. If you are experiencing symptoms consistent with a blood clot, go to the emergency room.
Rhabdomyolysis is a severe and potentially life-threatening condition. Endurance sports athletes are particularly at risk of acute exercise-induced rhabdomyolysis (AER), which can occur after profound overexertion, such as after a long run, ride, or race. Endurance athletes using percussion massage to treat delayed onset muscle soreness after an endurance event or training session may be at a higher risk.
There is a case in the literature of a patient who suffered a case of severe rhabdomyolysis after percussion massage: Chen, J., Zhang, F., Chen, H., & Pan, H. (2021). Rhabdomyolysis After the Use of Percussion Massage Gun: A Case Report. Physical Therapy, 101(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzaa199
Not ready to throw your massage gun in the trash?
Limited research supports that a percussion device can help with increased mobility when used on healthy tissue and when operated by a healthcare professional. The risks outweigh the benefits, but if patients and athletes insist on using them, I recommend scheduling an appointment with a physical therapist to learn how to use them safely.
While your health is serious business, we can also take a minute to laugh about the massage gun. Check out comedian Tom Papa’s bit about these “weapons-grade jackhammer massage guns.” Tom Papa: What A Day!
Alternatives to achieve mobility
Physical therapists, patients, and athletes have many safer alternatives to achieve mobility. Subscribe to Coach Amy Says to receive upcoming posts on how to achieve mobility and why Coach Amy does not recommend stretching as well as other tips on injury prevention, wellness, and performance.
Coach Amy discusses massage guns and all things endurance sport with Coach Liz in their podcast, The Coach Amy and Coach Liz Show. Coming soon to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
Setting Goals for Wellness: First Steps to a Great New Year
A new year and new beginnings lift our spirits as we dream of possibilities for the year ahead. This past year reminded us how much is out of our control. The key to goal-setting is to focus on what we can control. Consider these tips as you set goals for 2021:
Split a large goal into several small, achievable steps rather than one main goal.
Focus on variety.
Be flexible.
Find ways to hold yourself accountable.
Split Large Goals into Smaller Steps
Goals can be very powerful if the path to achieving them keeps us feeling motivated rather than defeated. Lofty goals drive us at first, but sometimes when that first setback occurs, we give up rather than continuing along the path.
Coach Amy recommends breaking down a larger end goal into smaller steps. The success we feel in accomplishing each smaller step provides the drive to continue along the path toward that end goal and makes us less likely to give up when there are setbacks.
Let’s consider Sarah, who wants to improve her posture. Instead of expecting herself to have perfect posture all day every day, she can break this goal into small chunks. For example, she can:
Strive to hold good posture for 10-15 minutes every 2 hours for 3 days each week during her work day. This serves as a great reminder to focus on posture.
Maintain good posture while driving and running errands.
Address weaknesses that prevent good posture or have evolved because of poor posture.
Start a strength program for 15 minutes twice a week.
Start a flexibility program for 15 minutes twice a week.
As Sarah achieves these smaller goals, her posture will gradually improve, and she can set higher goals every couple of weeks.
Focus on Variety with Wellness Goals
Set goals that come in all shapes and sizes for the mind and spirit as well as the body. Here are some great examples of variety you can incorporate into your goals (and steps!) for 2021:
Improve posture. If you’re working from home, this is a great goal for you.
Work on flexibility.
Get 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
Improve strength or incorporate cross-training into your routine.
Seek PT treatment for that nagging “niggle” that cropped up this past year.
Work on daily gratitude.
Give extra attention to self-care and techniques that improve mental health.
Go outside for fresh air on the warmer winter days.
Be Flexible
Our health and well-being are two of the dominant factors that drive our quality of life. Meeting the goals you set this winter will give you the boost you need to commit to improving your overall health and wellness for the rest of the year. If you have a bad day, don’t meet your goal one week, or things crop up that you didn’t plan for, be flexible and don’t give up. Give yourself a fresh start or slightly revise your goal or timeline, and give yourself credit for how far you’ve come.
Find Ways to Hold Yourself Accountable
It’s easier to achieve your goals when you hold yourself accountable, especially when you include a supportive community. Here are some helpful ways to keep true to your goals:
Write down your goals in a log or personal journal.
Vocalize your goals to others. Many have found posting on social media like Facebook and Instagram is helpful. You can find CoachAmyPT on Facebook.
Share your wellness goals with Coach Amy at your physical therapy appointment.
If you are a runner and interested in community support and camaraderie while achieving something new this winter, consider signing up for the Roadrunners of Kansas City (RRKC) month-long “Miles for Charity” challenge and check out our blog post on How to Set your 2021 Running Goals in the Face of the Unknown.
Being a part of a community brings us joy and helps us achieve our goals. We are proud to include you in our community.
As we leave 2020 behind, we take with us a reminder to accept what we cannot control and lean into what we can, like goal setting for 2021. Whether they are few or many, inspirational or routine, we look forward to hearing about your goals for 2021 and would love to be a part of helping you to achieve them, one step at a time.
Hello Summer and New Health and Fitness Goals!
It’s hard to believe when the Stay-at-Home-Order first went into effect that we were still in the season of Winter. Many of you so courageously embraced the drudgery of winter weather and declared it as a season of growth and development towards personal goals. Some of those goals such as practicing daily gratitude and working on consistency may have blossomed despite the circumstances. However, with gym closures, race cancellations, and social distancing requirements, many personal fitness goals were yanked out from underneath us.
One of the keys to surviving and thriving in the face of adversity is to innovatively adapt. I am so impressed by the motivation and discipline of CoachAmyPT patients and RRKC athletes who continued core strength work “at home” vs. at the gym, pushed through long distance runs and bike rides solo without the comradery from fitness buddies or friends, or incorporated daily walks or activity into their previously semi-sedentary schedules. With so many factors of daily life that we can’t control, it feels good to take ownership of some health and wellness goals that we can control.
Before Coronavirus, I was planning on training for and running the Portland Marathon in Maine with my RRKC friends in October, but after much consideration, I’ve changed my plans. It is doubtful that Fall races will be held due to the forecasted spike of Coronavirus in the Fall. I venture to guess that until there is herd immunity or a vaccine, that race organizers will not find it safe to hold races.
Even if Fall races are held, according to the CDC travel still increases your risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, so I’m opting to stay local for now. I’ve also changed my race distance goal to a half marathon instead of my planned marathon distance to decrease the strain on my immune system.
But choices and goals, as always, are not one size fits all. These are my personal choices that take into consideration that I treat patients and live with family members that are at high risk for complications from COVID-19. Each person needs to consider their own situation and with the current state of things, we may have to get creative with our goals, but we don’t have to surrender them all together.
What are your Summer goals going to be?
Here are mine:
Return to strength training 2x/week
Return to healthy eating habits
Run regularly at least 4x per week
Set a base to get half marathon race ready (just in case)
If you’re stumped with trying to come up with Summer goals, perhaps it’s because the purpose behind your goals needs to change. If you’re motivation to train for that destination half marathon was to take a fun trip with friends, you’ll have to find a new purpose for running those miles this summer. We may just have to dig deep within ourselves to find the purpose.
Perhaps your purpose is improved health, increased stamina, raising money for a charity, or staying healthy despite this pandemic. Vocalizing and writing down goals increases the likelihood that we’ll achieve them. Identify those goals and sign the CoachAmyPT clinic “wall of fame” or share with us on Facebook. We’re here to support you all the way.
Stay Strong and Stay Healthy While You Stay at Home
The past couple of weeks have led to changes in every single facet of our lives, and if we are going to come out healthy on the other side we must adapt. Due to public ordinances, many people are working from home. Since most of us don’t have an ideal home office setting, there is the potential for injury if we aren’t intentional about how and where we set up our home offices.
“I predict a rise in injuries over the next several months as people work in less than ideal ergonomic positions and move less. ”
It is tempting to slouch on the couch with a laptop and sit idle in the same position for extended periods of time. With no meetings to attend, parking lots to walk from or stairs to climb throughout the day we are at high risk for becoming petrified at our desks. This can lead to a slew of symptoms such as back pain, pain in the butt, headaches and forearm pain.
Here are some tips to help eliminate unwanted pain and injury while working from home:
Set an alarm to change your location every 30-60 min to vary body position. If your workstation is movable, consider relocating from sitting at the dining room table to a standing position at the kitchen island.
Set up your workstation far from the kitchen and fill your cup up halfway, forcing you to get up and walk more often back to the kitchen for refills.
Use the restroom furthest from your workstation so that you are forced to walk a longer distance or up and down the stairs.
Walk up and down the stairs 10 times for heart health and glute strength each time you take a break from your workstation.
Use a Swiss ball in lieu of a chair at one of your work stations to work your core while sitting upright.
Incorporate dynamic stretches into your lunch break and again at the end of the workday. Stay tuned for a video with our favorite mobility routines.
Set up your screen and keyboard correctly. For both standing and seated positions, your elbow should be in an “L” position at the keyboard and your eyes should line up with the top 2-3 inches of your monitor.
Who knew that working from home would be so much work?! Establishing new habits can sometimes feel like work, so incorporate these suggestions into your at-home routine from the beginning and you’ll establish a “new normal” with greater ease.
CoachAmyPT remains open to treat patients recovering from surgery, major injuries and debilitating pain. If you develop debilitating pain during this time, please email Coach Amy so she can assess whether you need to make an in-person appointment or a telehealth PT consultation.
As always, prevention is the best medicine. A little intentional daily effort can help you stay strong and healthy while you stay at home.
Sheltering-At-Home Impact on Your Physical Therapy at CoachAmyPT
PT is considered essential as we mitigate pain and restore full function and movement, which is critical to staying well, especially now.
PT is considered essential as we mitigate pain and restore full function and movement, which is critical to staying well, especially now. Let’s put this another way:
Your health and well-being are essential.
The decision to remain open has not been an easy one. We re-evaluate on a daily basis. It continues to come down to this: our number one priority is the safety and well-being of our patients and their families. As long as we determine that you and your family are best served by Coach Amy seeing patients, we will continue.
Who should come in?
Patients recovering from surgery.
Patients experiencing chronic pain.
Patients recovering from an injury.
Patients being treated for other essential needs.
Who should NOT come in?
Patients or patients with household members who have been ill in the last 2 weeks.
Patients or patients with household members who may have come into contact with someone who has been experiencing symptoms similar to COVID-19 symptoms within the past two weeks.
Patients or patients with household members who have traveled out of state within the past two weeks.
Patients with nonessential needs.
Are my PT needs essential?
We do not expect you to determine whether or not your needs are essential on your own. Please rely on us to help you make that decision. We do not want you to go without therapy if you need it. Please email Coach Amy at amy@coachamypt.com to describe your situation if you’re unsure.
What do I do if I have to cancel my appointment?
If you were traveling or came into contact with someone with COVID-19/CODIV-19 symptoms, go ahead and schedule for two weeks from your return/your last contact with an ill person. Just be sure to review the parameters again before coming in for your rescheduled appointment.
If you are ill, please wait until you are healthy to schedule. Schedule two weeks from when you are symptom-free.
If you have nonessential needs, schedule for the end of Johnson County’s 30-day stay-at-home order: April 23rd.
Email Coach Amy for further instructions. We are looking into ways to help you remotely, including telehealth options. We will keep you informed.
What is being done to protect against contamination?
We closed our waiting area. Our patients wait for their appointments in the comfort of their vehicles.
All providers and patients are wearing masks.
Patients are being asked to reschedule if they meet the above-stated specifications regarding illness and travel or have nonessential needs.
Cleaning and sanitizing processes follow the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, including using alcohol-based products on all surfaces following each patient visit, including devices used for payment and recording patient notes.
Coach Amy follows CDC and WHO recommended processes for handwashing for anyone entering the clinic.
Coach Amy takes her temperature twice a day and takes the temperature of anyone entering the clinic.
We are closely monitoring recommendations from CDC and WHO.
Email reminders are sent to patients the night before their appointments reminding them of clinic guidelines.
A Message from Coach Amy
This is a difficult time. It’s hard to make decisions with little information. It’s hard to know what’s best. I will do whatever I can to help you navigate whether or not you should come in for treatment. Email me. I will answer you as soon as I can.
We are all affected by COVID-19, whether we are on the front lines saving lives or being responsible by sheltering in place. My heart goes out to each and every one of you.
We will continue to keep you up to date as additional information is provided to the physical therapy community regarding how we can ensure your health and safety, alternative opportunities to treat our patients, and any other information impacting how we can best help you during this difficult time.
Thank you for your trust, confidence, and cooperation.
Pain or Injury Doesn’t Mean You Have to Quit
Nothing is more frustrating than becoming injured during training. Even with a sound training plan, injury can occur in all shapes and sizes. With early intervention, physical therapy can keep athletes going with minimal to no disruption in training. In chronic cases, modification or a break from training may be necessary, but physical therapy can help return runners back to sport earlier and healthier.
When injury occurs, it doesn’t always mean you have to give up the sport or hobby you love. Weekly testimonials from my patients prove that by listening to our bodies, seeking treatment, and putting in the work, we can go on to accomplish our goals.
“Recently, I twisted my ankle on some ice and snow, and I had a race that weekend I didn’t want to miss. Dry needling, ART and physical therapy had me running my 10k two days later without any discomfort. ”
“I’ve been doing the stretches you showed me, squatting properly and taking my pace slow.... excited to report that I ran my first pain-free three miles [in months].”
“I was experiencing severe lower back pain while training for a half marathon, any time I ran longer than 6 miles or so. It didn’t hurt while I was running, but the day after I’d run it would hurt so much I’d be in tears. I had shooting pain down my hips and legs too. I started seeing Amy for physical therapy sessions, including Active Release Therapy (ART) and a lot of strength training. After a couple of sessions I was mostly pain free, and I was able to continue to run and train for my half marathon.”
Physical therapy combined with ART and/or Neurological Dry Needling can significantly speed up healing time and reduce the effects of injury. Combined, these treatments produce powerful results. ART is covered under insurance, and dry needling is a cost effective “add on” treatment to a standard PT session.
Treatment is important, but prevention is also important for an active lifestyle. CoachAmyPT patients graduate from PT armed with a better understanding of the causes of their pain and a personalized plan that may include home exercises to help prevent injury in the future.
Is Your Sports Bra Giving You a Headache?
“I’m a long distance runner and often get headaches when I wear a sports bra. Is this a thing?”
Tension headaches are caused by a variety of issues including poor posture, stress, jaw disorders and weak neck muscles but one of the culprits may be lurking in your dresser: the dreaded sports bra.
Sports bras are a necessary evil for women participating in athletic activities especially high impact sports that involve running and jumping. Sports bras provide support against gravity and are important for breast health. However, ill fitting or poorly designed bras may compress muscles and nerves around the upper shoulder and neck. When these structures are compressed for a lengthy period of time, blood flow is diminished causing injury and pain.
Symptoms often present as a headache that extends up the back of the skull over the ear around the temple to just behind the eye. It can even cause pain that radiates down into the shoulder blade upper back. In severe cases, it can cause numbness and tingling in the arm and hands which is a sign of nerve damage.
Finding the right sports bra is tricky. It must provide support and prevent compression of vessels, muscles and nerves. The best sports bra is one that is stronger, not tighter, and provides support through a larger surface area. This will minimize the forces that occur at the straps. Think coverage. It should feel like a bandeau hugging around you as opposed to digging.
Below are some tips on choosing a sports bra that provides support without compression that can lead to headaches.
Wear it in the store for about 20 min. while shopping and see how it feels. Is it causing a headache? Is it digging into your upper traps and leaving a mark?
Jump up and down in it!
Choose a bra with wider straps to dissipate forces on the shoulder muscle.
Avoid straps that sit at the edge of the neck (see photo).
Choose a bra that covers the area above the breasts (e.g. no cleavage) and extends all the way to mid torso (between bottom of breast line and belly button) as opposed to just below the breast line.
These straps are slim and sit too close to the edge of the neck. They could contribute to a tension headache.
No two women are built alike so do your research, get some professional help, and test it. If you suffer from chronic tension headaches try moist heat to help alleviate it and avoid stretching when it is aggravated.
If your headache conditions continue, Coach Amy can help alleviate symptoms and pain with dry needling and ART.
Keep your great questions coming. We love to answer them! email us.
Inflammation Part Three: How Autoimmune and Chronic Disease Conditions Play a Role in the Inflammatory Process
Our two-part series on inflammation prompted a really good question from one of our subscribers:
“How do autoimmune and other inflammatory conditions play into the inflammatory cycle?”
People with autoimmune disorders and chronic diseases like diabetes, arthritis, lupus, and celiac are in a varying but constant state of inflammation. Medication and lifestyle changes such as exercise, adequate sleep, good nutrition, and stress reduction can help regulate inflammation. Unfortunately, there is no cure for these diseases and no way to eliminate the inflammation associated with them.
Injury, illness or stress, such as training for a marathon, can exponentially affect a person with chronic disease. It is like adding gasoline to a fire. Just as a bigger fire takes longer to control, chronically-inflamed patients typically require longer recovery and treatment times.
Physical therapy measures such as NDN, ART, and AFS can help calm inflammation associated with disease brought on by added stressors. Unfortunately, while PT can help, it cannot extinguish inflammation or cure disease.
While we can’t eradicate the disease or completely break the inflammatory cycle, we can decrease the pain and dysfunction it creates. We can take a raging fire down to controlled burning embers.
Many of my patients and coaching clients with autoimmune disorders do amazing things like run businesses, raise families, and train for marathons. If you are struggling with autoimmune disease, let's get that inflammation under control.
To read more about inflammation, check out our two-part series:
We love to hear from our community, and aspire to provide information on topics that are most important and interesting to you. If you have a question or topic that you'd like us to address in our blog, please email us!
Join Coach Amy and Declare YOUR 2020 Winter Goals
For most of us the idea of more winter is overwhelming after the stress and pace of the holidays. It is tempting to cuddle up and go into hibernation mode (often curbing our healthy habits). Embracing these winter months and setting “winter goals” is key to achieving big annual successes. This initial 25% of the year can have a huge impact on reaching a new goal.
To achieve a new resolution, keep the focus narrow. Instead of setting multiple goals choose one or two that are the most important, and tend to those goals with a high priority. This may mean a couple of other daily tasks get less attention for a little while like dishes and laundry. Once you get some momentum going, then you can achieve a nice balance where you are working on your goals and completing other tasks. You may find that a healthier, stronger you is capable of getting more done in less time!
At CoachAmyPT we give you permission this year to make your health and fitness goals a priority. We’re here to hold you accountable in 2020.
Stop by our clinic this month and sign our wall of fame with your winter goals. Put it in writing, share your goals with our community, and we’ll help you reach them. We also want to cheer you on through social media. Keep us updated through Facebook and Instagram by including the hashtag #winter2020capt within your winter goal updates on our page.
Need some inspirations to set some goals?
Make a conscience effort to improve posture
Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night
Improve mobility and/or strength
Sign up and start training for your first 5k/ marathon/ triathlon
Get some fresh air and increase your heart rate outdoors for 30 minutes aiming to reach 4 days/week by the end of February
Our health is among the many things we take most for granted. It’s also one of the dominant factors that drive our quality of life. Achieving a winter goal will give you the boost you need to commit to improving health and wellness the rest of the year.
First, identify a winter goal and share it with friends and family (ie. sign our wall of fame, share with us on Facebook). Second, develop a plan and a road map to help you get there. Step by step, one day at a time, we know you can do it!