RecoverRx Performance and Recovery BlogThis blog is dedicated to all things from recovery to performance. Our industry expert Physical Therapists provide evidence based information and opinions educating our readers on how to optimize their health in order to be able to overcome injuries and live the life they were meant to live!
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What is Inflammation? Inflammation has a bit of a bad reputation, but it is actually a necessary and healthy part of your immune system. Your inflammatory response kicks into gear when your body comes into contact with something it perceives as harmful, such as a pathogen, irritant, or chemical. While inflammation can occur from a physical injury, like when your toe swells up after you stub it, it can also result from your body helping you get better when you catch a cold. Both of these are examples of acute, or short-term inflammation, which, again, is a necessary and important part of life. On the other hand, chronic, or long-term, inflammation can cause problems for your health. If your body is regularly exposed to inflammatory components through food, environmental toxins or other sources, your inflammatory system has a hard time turning off.
Your Diet’s Impact on Inflammation Chronic inflammation is linked to a number of conditions including asthma, allergies, autoimmune diseases, depression, cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, cognitive decline, osteoporosis, arthritis, and obesity. Some painful joint conditions, including osteoarthritis and gout, are potentially triggered or exacerbated by inflammation in the body. This may also be true for localized pain from injury and even chronic, generalized pain that is not improving with other treatments. "A lot of chronic pain is the result of chronic inflammation, and the evidence is quite strong that your diet can contribute to increased systemic inflammation," explains Dr. Fred Tabung of Harvard’s School of Public Health. "But your diet is also one of the best ways to reduce it." Inflammatory Foods It probably won’t come as a surprise that many of the foods you deem “unhealthy” are also the ones that cause inflammation. Inflammatory foods include: refined carbohydrates (such as white bread, pasta, pastries), candy, fried foods, sugar-sweetened beverages like soda, alcohol, and processed meats like hot dogs and sausage. Foods that fall into the “inflammatory” category can promote the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), TNF-alpha, and interleukin 6, which are all indicators that the immune system has been ignited. Consuming these foods can also disrupt the balance between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines that are produced by the immune system. It’s important to note that inflammatory foods can be a part of a healthy diet, and enjoying them along with foods high in fiber and antioxidants is a great strategy for keeping inflammation at bay. Mainly choosing foods that fight inflammation and keeping inflammatory treats in moderation is key to keeping your health vibrant and preventing disease, so let’s explore which foods help do just that.  Foods that Fight Inflammation According to Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, "Many experimental studies have shown that components of foods or beverages may have anti-inflammatory effects.” This research is important because it shows that prevention is vital to health, and being proactive in preventing disease can start in the kitchen. Other studies have supported the idea that dietary polyphenols in a variety of foods can help lower inflammation in your body and improve the function of cells that line your blood vessels. While most fruits contain a variety of vitamins and minerals that support your body, a few fruit families are especially known for their antioxidants and polyphenols, which are protective compounds found in plants. These include berries, which have been linked to lower risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes; and stone fruits, such as cherries, plums, apricots, and peaches, which contain fiber, vitamin c, potassium, and a variety of phytochemicals. In addition to many fruits, brightly-colored vegetables like kale and spinach can improve the function of cells that line the blood vessels, helping your body combat damaging inflammation. Nuts and seeds, along with olive oil, fatty fish like salmon and sardines, and spices like turmeric, ginger, garlic, and rosemary, are other options that have been associated with reduced markers of inflammation and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes among people who consume them regularly. Some beverages are also known to be rich in antioxidants and are thought to have anti-inflammatory benefits, including coffee, green tea, and drinks containing cocoa. Even supplements containing curcumin (found in turmeric) may reduce inflammation that causes pain like arthritis. So if you have pain or inflammation that seems to come and go and is not always related to your activity level, consider adjusting your diet to include more anti-inflammatory foods and less of the other. Also, give us a call and we can help you find other long-term solutions to your pain and discomfort!
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 The benefits of getting enough sleep may seem obvious. You will feel more alert, energized, and even less impatient or agitated when you are giving your body an adequate amount of rest in the form of sleep. But did you also know that sleep can help improve your fitness? It’s not necessarily as easy as sleep more to get more fit (we wish!), but incorporating this tool into your wellness practice can pay dividends in helping you achieve your fitness goals. Sleep allows the body and brain to recover from daily activities, and it also helps you see more benefits from your workouts, maintain a healthy weight, and even make better, healthier decisions. Your hormone levels play a key role in various processes in your body, and adequate sleep and healthy hormone levels go hand in hand. One hormone in particular that is responsible for promoting healing, recovery, and growth in muscle tissue is the human growth hormone, or HGH. Research has discovered that a surge of HGH occurs every two hours of prolonged sleep, aiding your body in reaping the benefits of your workout earlier that day or week. In addition to HGH, sleep also promotes protein synthesis to help your muscles repair from the microtrauma of overload strength training.  Another important hormone affected by sleep is cortisol, a stress hormone that can become elevated when you are low on sleep. Cortisol is linked to both weight gain and increased blood pressure, so keeping it in check is an essential part of health and wellness. Two other chemical messengers, ghrelin and leptin, communicate with our brain about when to consume calories. These neurotransmitters can trigger hunger cues when we are sleep deprived and not necessarily in need of calories, which is why inadequate sleep can cause weight gain. In addition to hormone health, sleep also provides you with an essential foundation for healthy decision-making, especially when it comes to nutrition. Studies have shown that when both men and women were deprived of sleep, they were significantly more likely to make poor food choices. These poor nutrition choices hinder optimal fitness recovery, which means you may not get all the benefits from your workout that you could with enhanced nutrition. Research suggests that these decisions were due to a decrease in executive functioning, reinforcing the fact that fatigue and “mental fog” from a lack of sleep doesn’t just make us tired - it also makes it harder for us to think. Sleep also provides your body with enough energy to tackle your next workout with integrity and focus. Sleep deprivation can lead to fatigue, which makes even lacing up your sneakers to exercise feel like a challenge, and it can also put you at a greater risk for injury while exercising due to a lowered ability to concentrate. So, how much sleep should you be getting to maximize your time spent in the gym and feel your best? You may be familiar with the age-old recommendation of 7-9 hours a night, but everyone has individual needs. Still, acquiring fewer than 7 hours on most nights will not set you up for success when it comes to your health and fitness. To get the most out of your time in bed, developing a sleep hygiene routine is essential. Try to avoid caffeine in the afternoon, power down all screens at least 30 minutes before bed, and create a relaxing wind-down routine. You could try a cup of caffeine-free tea, a warm bath or shower, or simply just reading a book in the time leading up to when the lights go out. This may take some practice or forward-thinking at first, but the quality sleep that will likely follow an intentional bedtime routine just may be the part of your fitness routine you’re missing.  By Dr. Luke Greenwell, PT, DPT, CSMT, CSCS Can dry needling help my shoulder injury? Dry Needling can be a very effective treatment strategy for men and women with musculoskeletal pain including rotator cuff injuries with or without tears. What is Dry Needling?? Dry needling treatment involves insertion of solid (non-hypodermic) needles into the muscle or fascia below the skin. “Dry” refers to the fact that there is no medication in the needle. There has been plenty of research to support dry needling (also known as trigger point dry needling, intramuscular dry needling, and needling) as an effective way for Licensed Practitioners (Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Physicians, and Acupuncturists) to:
There has been a historical misconception that dry needling is used only for patients with myofascial trigger points as a way to “release the trigger point.” However, recent evidence is out there to support other neurophysiological mechanisms for pain relief and muscle tension reduction.  In fact, we use Dry Needling in many of our patients as a way to increase muscle activation and biomechanical feedback when attempting to retrain normal movement patterns and increase strength in the injured extremity. What is the Rotator Cuff and How can it get Injured? Rotator cuff injuries including tears are some of the most common causes of disability across the globe. The rotator cuff is a group of 4 muscles (infraspinatus, teres minor, supraspinatus, and subscapularis) that in isolation can perform different movements of the shoulder but in conjunction have the main function of stabilizing the head of the humerus (ball) in the glenoid (socket) to avoid asymmetrical loading on different tissues that help stabilize the shoulder.
Rotator cuff injuries can either be traumatic (falls, weightlifting, or throwing) or chronic degeneration (small tears that add up over time). Once the rotator cuff is compromised, the normal biomechanical movement properties of the shoulder are affected and can lead to pain, weakness, and compensatory movement strategies. In many cases, strains and small to medium tears can heal with the right treatment strategies but in some cases, with large tears surgery is warranted. I won’t be covering surgical recovery cases in this article, but will mostly focus on how we utilize Dry Needling in our Rehab for our patients with rotator cuff strains or small to medium tears. How Do We Utilize Dry Needling to Treat Rotator Cuff Injuries? Let’s talk about how we address these injuries in the clinic while utilizing Dry Needling as a therapy. The most important start to our process is to develop an accurate working diagnosis of rotator cuff injury via a comprehensive shoulder evaluation. From there we are able to identify
Typically after 1 session of dry needling (this can involve multiple needle insertions to multiple muscles) we do see a very immediate change. With that being said, we typically need multiple sessions over the course of a couple weeks. We like to educate that there will be some soreness in the areas where we see a significant response (known as a muscle twitch response). What do I need after I receive Needling treatment? After the dry needling is performed to the identified areas, we can use the rest of the session to focus on:
This Strategy Works! It’s a tried and true strategy that has worked for thousands of patients we have seen for shoulder pain and although every patient is different, we find this system to be very effective in helping patients recover from rotator cuff injuries. Our 3 step process of Recover (from painful limitations), Rebuild (functional movement patterns) and Redefine (future strength and performance) could never be more true for our patients with rotator cuff injuries. Check out this videos of a Dry Needling Technique: www.youtube.com/shorts/cfXC0UI6xGY. To see even more, subscribe to our YouTube Channel and Follow us on social media @recoverrxpt. If you would like more information on our approach to treating shoulder pain in addition to rotator cuff injuries, please feel free to reach out to us via email at info@recoverrxpt.com. Thanks again for checking in and be on the lookout for our next Badass Blog! Use Every Setback As A Comeback! -Dr. Luke Sources:
Breathwork certainly has received a lot of attention in the fitness and health scene in the past few years, and for good reason. Diaphragmatic breathing, which involves allowing your diaphragm and abdominal muscles to move with your inhales and exhales, has been shown to have positive mental and physical health outcomes. When it comes to strengthening the muscles in your core in order to move well and prevent injury, your breath is an essential piece of the puzzle. Creating and maintaining proper intra-abdominal pressure helps protect your spine, and this pressure has a lot to do with your breath.  When you breathe in, your goal is to use your primary inspiration muscles. These include your diaphragm and the muscles that connect your ribs. Instead, many people use more of their secondary muscles - the muscles in and around your neck and chest - to breathe in, which can cause tightness in the shoulders, tension in the neck, and even hand numbness. By focusing on utilizing your primary inspiration muscles when you breathe in, along with gently bracing your abdominals and engaging your pelvic floor when you exhale, you are setting yourself up with a breathing pattern that supports you both at rest and while exercising, keeping your body both efficient and safe. Have you ever held your breath during a tough exercise or while lifting something heavy? It can be a natural response in the body. By mindfully incorporating a diaphragmatic breath (inhaling to prepare, exhaling on the exertion), you not only protect yourself from back injuries, but you also help keep your intra-abdominal pressure regulated to avoid injuries like hernias, pelvic organ prolapse, and diastasis recti. If that doesn’t motivate you enough, your deep breath helps you engage and utilize your abdominals more than if you hold your breath or only breathe with your secondary inspiration muscles, which helps your core be even stronger. Correcting a shallow breathing pattern can take time, so be patient and practice daily to establish a new pattern. To practice, find a comfortable place to sit with your spine tall or lie on your back. Place your hands on the sides of your rib cage, thumbs behind you and four fingers wrapping around front. Take an inhale, intentionally expanding into your hands, allowing your inhale to travel down and gently expand your belly and relax your pelvic floor. Your diaphragm will move down along with it. As you exhale, think about gently guiding your hands in, bracing your belly, and gently lifting and contracting your pelvic floor. Repeat 10 times.
Your breath is truly the foundation of everything you do, and when you establish a proper breathing pattern, it can help with many other processes and movements of the body as well, allowing your core muscles to fire for stabilization and support.
If you feel like you need more help with coordinating your breath, core, and pelvic floor, reach out to us today to schedule a FREE discovery visit! What's going on everyone!!
If you've found my blog for the first time, Welcome! If you've read my material before, welcome back and I hope you enjoy. Today, I'm bloggin about optimizing recovery!! We all know that recovery following high-level intensity exercise or athletic performance is one of the most important things to do to grow as an Competitive Athlete, Olympic lifter, CrossFitter or everyday person looking to excel in the gym or on the field. There's a ton of literature and research out there on how to recover properly, but a lot of it varies, and there's not really any set step by step system to tell you how to recover right. However, there are some very very common and well-supported things that you should be doing, and I'm going to tell you about them right now. These are three things you should be focusing on to optimizing your recovery following a high intensity workout that you can implement today!!! 1. Hydration Recovery. Hydrate and restore your electrolyte balance for the next 48-72 hours. During a long duration >30 minute workout you need carbohydrate and electrolyte replenishment. Following a high intensity workout where you sweat a great deal, you need to be consuming at least half your body weight in ounces for the day. This should be planned out before your workouts for the week. Don't try to play CATCH UP, it doesn't work. Once you start implementing a plan for that hydration recovery it will become a common part of your programming. On a very basic framework, that's hydration and fueling. We all know this, but we don't do it all the time, and I am just as guilty as the next person and continue to work to improve my hydration and nutrition. |
AuthorsDr. Luke Greenwell, Dr. David Bokermann, Dr. Sarah Greenwell, & Dr. Ariel Sernek are Performance Based Physical Therapists with extensive backgrounds in treating the injured athlete. At RecoverRx, they are passionate about returning people to the sports & activities they love. Check out more about them by visiting our About Us page. Categories
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