Having a goal of a great trip down the road, should help make your training easier to do consistently, and should make the trip much more enjoyable. But we can’t forget to stretch.

Strength and flexibility focusing on the legs and trunk are vital in injury prevention specific for skiing. And balance training has been shown to be the single most important exercise for preventing ACL tears in women. Flexibility or stretching exercises should be done daily. 2 sets of each exercise holding for 60 seconds each is a good guideline. Below are some major muscle groups that need to be focused on:

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Have you made your ski lodge reservations yet?…..Well now it is time to prepare your heart and body for a full day of skiing with decreased risk of pain and injury. We can increase our safety and performance this winter by starting now with a pre-conditioning program that includes four components: endurance, strength, flexibility, and balance.

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Even though it is still warm and sunny here in San Diego, we all are starting to think about when we are going skiing this year. The next question we should ask ourselves is… am I ready to go skiing this year? Skiing requires muscles and muscle groups that are used very little the rest of the year. If we don’t prepare, our risk for injury increases. As we all have heard before, most injuries occur toward the end of the day as people become fatigued and as daylight and conditions have deteriorated. But, we here at ProActive have seen our fair share of patients who were injured on the first run of the day as well.

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A typical sign of aging is the loss of bone mass. The terms “osteopenia” and “osteoporosis” are often used to describe this process. However, they are different conditions. Osteopenia is the thinning of bone mass and describes low bone density. It is not considered a disease but is a very serious risk factor and precursor to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is the “fragile bone disease” and is characterized by a loss of bone mass usually due to a deficiency in calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, and other vitamins/minerals. Both conditions can increase risk of fractures. Osteoporosis can result in loss of height, stooped posture, humpback, and severe pain symptoms.

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Adult Stretching In Park

As we age, our muscles become shorter and lose their elasticity. We begin to have decreased range of motion in our joints and difficulty moving. The less a person moves, the weaker they can become. For older adults, the fear of falling and injury prevents them from wanting to move at all. So the cycle continues with decreased mobility and increased weakness. Fortunately, a regular stretching program can help older adults

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As the start of a new football season begins, the subject of concussions will again be a topic of discussion among coaches, players, and parents. However, concussions are something that can occur anytime and anywhere – not just on the football field or with sports activities.

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Do you notice your child doing any of these when using his or her backpack?

As your children prepare for their return to school, you may be concerned about what kind of backpack to buy for your child. In this case, “one size” does NOT fit all. So how should you choose?

I wrote an important article about backbacks last year that will help you pick the correct backpack.

Is your golf swing hurting you?

One common phenomenon that can lead to these compensations is called Lower Crossed Syndrome. It was first established by a Czech physician named Vladimir Janda. He noticed that over time, people developed the same muscle imbalances that caused poor posture and movement mechanics.

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Swinging a golf club requires an immense amount of flexibility and strength. Our muscles must have the proper length and firing pattern to allow it to move in the correct planes at the precise time. Our spinal, hip, knee, ankle, shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints have to allow the proper amount of mobility and to obtain those ranges of motion in the golf swing. When one joint or muscle is tight or weak, the body naturally compensates, which puts extra stress on these overused joints or muscles. Overtime, this can result in degenerative or arthritic changes in the joints and/or muscle strains or tears. You can prevent these compensations from happening by simply getting a golf evaluation. Call us at ProActive if you have any questions about what an evaluation encompasses.

The game of golf has grown from a niche sport to one that all ages, shapes, and sizes of people play all over the world. Here in Southern California, we have hundreds of golf courses for thousands of golfers and a lot of these golfers are playing in pain. I am a Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Certified Professional and one of my goals is to get those golfers swinging pain-free and enjoying their time more out on the course. If you have an injury or pain when playing golf, don’t continue playing through the pain.

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