Focus Physical Therapy - April/May 2022

Focus Physical Therapy - April/May 2022

Focus Physical Therapy Bi-Monthly

APRIL/MAY 2022

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Read This if You Hate Foam Rolling

I Love It — You Can Too!

There are two camps when it comes to foam rolling: the lovers and the haters. I’m definitely in the first camp. Out of all the pieces of exercise equipment I use in the clinic, the foam roll is the only one I keep in my bedroom at home! Almost every night before bed, you can find me on the foam roll, rolling out my thighs and calves. The activities I like best are the ones that improve my posture. As a physical therapist, I spend a lot of time leaning over patients in the clinic. That puts me in an unhealthy hunched position. Using the foam roll at night helps offset what I do during the day. With a few simple exercises, I can maintain the extension in my thoracic spine and keep up proper rib cage and shoulder mobility. When I found out that May 11 was National Foam Rolling Day, I knew I had to tell you about my nightly routine and try to bust the myth that foam rolling is a terrible, painful thing to do. I hear this myth all the time. Not long ago, I was walking a new patient through his first appointment. We went through the evaluation and assessment process

and identified that he had tightness and restriction in his thigh muscles.

Rolling directly on the iliotibial (IT) band on the side of your thigh will always be painful because there isn’t a lot of tissue there to cushion the pressure. Instead, try rolling on the front or back of your thigh, where there’s more muscle! This will let

“One of the best exercises for addressing that issue is the foam roll.” I asked him, “Have you used one before?” For a second, I thought he would run right out of the clinic, “Oh, no — I don’t think I can do that!” he said. “I’ve tried foam rolling before and it really hurts.” Don’t get me wrong — I understand the hate foam rolling gets. It can hurt a lot depending on the exercise and type of foam roller you’re using. (Open this newsletter to read more about the types!) But if you dread foam rolling because it always hurts, you’re probably not using your foam roll the best way. That’s exactly what was going on with my patient. I asked him to show me how he was using his foam roll at home, and he demonstrated a common exercise for runners that involves laying on your side with your thigh on the foam roll, putting all of your weight on it, and rolling up and down. Of course he was in pain!

you roll out the edges of the IT band, and it’s both more tolerable and more effective. Follow the QR code on this page to watch an example.

I showed my patient these alternate exercises, and they blew his mind. He left the clinic a foam roll lover instead of a foam roll hater. Personally, I think everyone can benefit from foam rolling. When you do this right, it reduces muscle pain and tension, improves your flexibility, and fixes your posture. I’d even recommend getting a foam roller for your bedroom like I have. Open up this newsletter to find out where to start!

–Julian Manrique

Focus Physical Therapy • Call 949.709.8770 • 1

THE YEAR OF VIRTUAL WORKOUTS Is a Personal Trainer App Worth It?

According to Sensor Tower, health and fitness apps experienced a 45% download increase year-over-year in 2021. If you’re joining the virtual fitness craze, but want to learn from an expert, a personal coaching app might be your best fit — but there are almost too many options! How do you tell whether or not a personal training app is for you? Here’s our brief buying guide. Low Budget, Low Weight Loss Motivation: Team RH App If your goal is to lose weight, and you have no idea where to start, this app just might be your perfect fit. For $82 a year, you can get personal training with an expert fitness coach — that’s right, there’s no charge per session, like most apps. With Team RH, you’re in complete control of how much you want to

move as well as diet limitations. Your coach allows full personalization of your weight-loss journey. The app will calculate your calories, macros, and daily steps for fat loss; your coach will guide you from there. Make It Personal: FlexIt If you want a more personal connection with your workout coach, FlexIt is an excellent virtual, one-on-one training app that lets you exercise live with personal trainers. You can choose from HIIT, boxing, Pilates, barre, and many more. Join challenges, mix and match trainers, and even receive physical therapy, nutrition coaching, meditation and mindfulness, and pre- and post-natal support. Although sessions vary in length (30–60 minutes) and packages, you’ll often spend around $40 per session.

For All Walks of Life: 99 Walks Want to join a group while still taking things at your own pace? All 99 Walks classes are group walking-focused classes where coaches engage individually with members via email, social media, and on the app. For $16 a month, you’ll get access to a constant source of fitness advice, support, and wisdom within their responsive social channels and in-app coaching teams! Although many gyms and workout programs are returning to in-person classes, sometimes, you might want to exercise in the comfort and privacy of your own home. If you’re in that mood, give these a try!

The biggest compliment you can give us is referring friends and family. Thank you for all of your referrals, and keep them coming! We love our clients!

SUCCESS STORY

“They truly know the body, how to assist in the healing process, and how to listen. I recently needed pre-op PT. I went to another local practice because I thought all PT was equal. Within two sessions I realized I was wrong. And with the advice of my nurse, I fired them. Thankfully, I found Focus Physical Therapy. They are a five-star operation. They offer private treatment rooms, highly skilled PTs & PTAs, and above all, they listen. The first place wanted to build the muscles. They did not listen and could not properly access that it wasn’t strength I needed. I needed to relax the muscles after an accident. Focus immediately saw the need to give me relief from the tightness, and they addressed the issue quickly. I could immediately feel the improvement.” –Gina V.

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$10

Foam Rolling for Better Posture Watch Our Demo on YouTube!

As Julian explained on the cover, foam rolling has a lot of benefits: It can relieve muscle tightness, make you less sore, and give you more flexibility. It can also improve your posture — which is more important than you might think. According to Harvard Medical School, standing, walking, and sitting with good posture improves your balance and sports performance. That means more gains and fewer injuries, both on and off the field! It’s pretty cool that you can accomplish all of that with the help of one piece of foam. One of Julian’s favorite exercises for better posture is the upper extremity matrix exercise using the foam roll. It’s pretty simple.

HEALTHIER, LIGHTER DEVILED EGGS your hands parallel to your body, with one hand above your head (palm up) and the other pointing toward your feet (palm down). Then, bring your hands back together overhead. Swap hands and do the exercise again. 5. For the third part of the exercise, lower your hands so that they are at your 2. Then, extend your arms toward the ceiling with your palms together. 3. Next, keep your arms straight and lower them to the ground on either side of you. Your upper body should make a T shape. Continue lowering your hands until your knuckles touch the floor. Then, bring your hands back together overhead. 4. For the next part of the exercise, lower your knees bent so that the roll is running the length of your spine. It should cushion and support your torso, neck, and head.

sides, palms up. Then, slowly move them parallel to the floor until they meet over your head, like you’re doing a snow angel. 6. Repeat all three movements for as long as you’re comfortable. Can’t quite picture it? Follow the QR code to watch our demonstration video! The more often you practice this exercise, the better your posture and overall health will be. P.S. The foam roll shown in our video isn’t the only type available! Check out the insert in this newsletter to match with your perfect roll.

1. First, position your foam roll on the ground and then lay on top of it with

HAVE A LAUGH

Inspired by LiveEatLearn.com

Ingredients

• • • •

6 large eggs

• •

Optional: Hot sauce, to taste Optional: Paprika and chives, chopped, for garnish

3 tbsp Greek yogurt 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp lemon juice

Directions

1. In a large pot, add eggs and cover with water. Put on high heat, and then boil eggs for 10 minutes. 2. Once boiled, peel eggs by gently tapping and removing the shell. (Adding the eggs to an ice bath after boiling can make this task easier.) 3. Cut eggs lengthwise and place yolks into a medium mixing bowl. Set egg white halves open side up on a plate. 4. In a bowl, combine yolks, yogurt, mustard, lemon juice, and hot sauce (if desired) until smooth. 5. Transfer the yolk mixture into the egg white halves. Garnish with paprika and chives if desired.

Focus Physical Therapy • Call 949.709.8770 • 3

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949.709.8770

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SPECIALIZING IN: LOWER BACK PAIN • SCIATICA • NECK PAIN AND HEADACHES HIP PROBLEMS • SHOULDER PAIN, BURSITIS, AND TENDINITIS SPORTS PHYSICAL THERAPY • GOLF PERFORMANCE KNEE PAIN • PLANTAR FASCIITIS • DIZZINESS AND VERTIGO AQUATIC PHYSICAL THERAPY • AND OTHER CONDITIONS

Do You Hate Foam Rolling? 1 2 2 3 3 4 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Quick Personal Training App Buyer’s Guide Success Story Roll Your Way to Better Posture Healthier, Lighter Deviled Eggs The Tech That Turns People Into Music

Turn Your Friends Into Music With the Strange Magic of Playtronica

If you’ve scrolled through Instagram recently, you might have seen an advertisement for a company called Playtronica. It offers a unique and almost unrealistic-sounding product — a controller called TouchMe that claims to “turn human skin, water, or flowers into a musical instrument.”

The TouchMe device works in coordination with an online synth at Synth.Playtronica.com, so you need a PC, smartphone, or computer tablet to make it work. It has two “handles” on each side, allowing two people to hold the device and produce music together after picking a synth online. You can also hold the device with one hand and touch something else that conducts electricity to produce a melody. Pretty cool, right? “I think Playtronica teaches you how to think,” Vincent, one of the founders, says in Playtronica’s YouTube documentary. “It’s easy to do what you know — [play] guitar or bike. But to build something that doesn’t exist, that’s interesting. It opens up new horizons for a person. Limitations give birth to new meanings in musical experience.” Playtronica also has another device, the Orbita, in the works. As we write this, the musical gadgets are on sale starting at $69. You can learn more about them and watch video demonstrations at Playtronica.com.

Can this possibly be real? Apparently, it is.

TouchMe was the brainchild of Sasha Pas, a Russian performance artist who fell in love with helping kids make music at the Sonar Music Festival in Barcelona, Spain. He dreamed up the idea of making music from objects and using that technology to educate kids, and he put together a team of artists, musicians, and engineers to help make those workshops happen. Sasha founded the Playtronica collective in 2013 along with a musician/DJ, drum teacher, and tech expert. They put together workshops, installations, and performances, and eventually debuted devices like Playtron and TouchMe to the public. The Playtron device includes a controller, a USB cable, and a bundle of 18 alligator clips. You can hook those clips up to anything — a strawberry, a leaf, or a friend’s finger — then touch the object to produce music.

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