Training Room_How Your Posture Affects Everything

Training Room_How Your Posture Affects Everything

The Training Room Bulletin The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body HOW YOUR

POSTURE AFFECTS

EVERYTHING Change Your Posture, Improve Your Life

CHEERS TO 15 YEARS! See Inside for a Special Note From Mandy Huggard

The Training Room Bulletin The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body

How Your Posture Affects EVERYTHING

How do you maintain your posture throughout the day? Do you catch yourself slouching frequently? Do those last couple hours of the school or work day leave you hunched over and ready to leave? If you are experiencing aches and pains, especially in your neck or back, poor posture is probably to blame. The proper curves of your spine: Your spine has 3 curves, which provide support and flexibility, in addition to protecting the nerves running up and down your spine. Your neck and lower back should be gently curved in, while your upper back should be slightly curved out. When you slouch, the spine in your neck and lower back actually becomes straighter, while the upper back becomes excessively curved. This produces a forward-head posture and humped upper back. If your abdominal muscles are weak, you may also experience an excessive arch in your lower back. Why is posture so important? Your body is designed to align perfectly, in order to allow for proper movement of the muscles, breathing, and blood

circulation. If poor posture continues, it can eventually lead to chronic conditions as you age. Poor posture leads to excessive strain on your joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. It also weakens many of the core muscles that are needed in order to keep you upright and healthy. Posture changes occur over time and most people don’t pay attention to them until they begin to notice aches and pains. Posture can be improved! Our physical therapists are experts in evaluating posture and movement. By pinpointing the source of your aches and pains, we can develop a plan for you that will return you to an ideal posture and quickly relieve your pain.

Call us today to learn more about how we can improve your posture and lead a pain-free, active life!

1. Standing. Stand facing a mirror. Look at your shoulders - does one seem higher than the other? Look at your neck - does it tilt to one side or stick forward? Pretend that an imaginary string is pulling gently through the top of your head. Notice how your posture improves automatically when you try to be taller? Keep your abdominals slightly contracted to maintain this posture. When walking, make sure that your arms are moving comfortably back and forth, feeling the rotation through your torso. 2. Sitting. Sit all the way back in your chair so you feel your lower back against the back rest. Avoid prolonged sitting on soft couches when watching TV, as this causes excessive slouching. Try to keep your feet flat on the floor and angle your chair so that your knees are slightly lower than your hips. Try using a small rolled-up towel for your lower back if you need more support while sitting. If you work at a computer, make sure 3 Ways To Improve Your POSTURE

that your keyboard and mouse are slightly lower than the level of your elbow. You may need to adjust your seat higher to make this happen. 3. Bending. Most back injuries occur when bending and twisting at the same time. When you need to bend down to get something from a low surface, make sure you squat, and keep your abdominals tight as you do so. In addition, if you are lifting something, get your body as close as possible to what you are lifting. Try having one leg forward to use your legs more to lift, rather than your back. Contact us for assistance: As part of your physical therapy treatment, we can teach you proper posture, bending, and lifting techniques to protect your body from future injuries and make sure you stay healthy for the long-haul.

Call The Training Room Today, So We Can Help You Stand Tall Without Pain!

www.thetrainingroompt.com

TIPS FOR SPRING GARDENING

Common gardening activities, such as digging, planting, weeding, mulching, and raking can cause stress and strain on muscles and joints. Different body areas such as the shoulders, neck, back, and knees can be vulnerable to injury during gardening. These tips can help prevent injuries: • Warmup before you garden. A 10minute brisk walk and stretches for the spine and limbs are good ways to warm up. • Change positions frequently to avoid stiffness or cramping.

• Makeuseofagardencartorwheelbarrow to move heavy planting materials or tools. Be sure to keep your back straight while using a wheelbarrow. • If kneeling on both knees causes discomfort in your back, try kneeling on one and keep the other foot on the ground. Use knee pads or a gardening pad when kneeling. • If kneeling or leaning down to the ground causes significant pain in your back or knees, consider using elevated planters to do your gardening. • Avoid bending your wrist upwards when

pulling things or using gardening tools. Instead, keep your wrist straight and use your shoulder muscles to pull and lift. • End your gardening session with some gentle backward bending of your low back, a short walk and light stretching, similar to stretches done before starting.

2019 MARKS 15 YEARS FOR THE TRAINING ROOM! It seems like only yesterday my husband Cary and I were planning to launch our dream. IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!

The Past Cary and I started The Training Room in December of 2003. We were inspired by our experiences in Birmingham, Alabama at a large multiservice sports medicine facility. What we saw was a level of health care that typically was only available to elite athletes brought to the localcommunity.Thiswas the inspiration to open a facility in Cherry Hill. Cary and I both have backgrounds insports-medicineandwanted tocombine the two. Together we wanted to provide athletes and active individuals the opportunity to obtain the same high levelof trainingand rehabilitation thatprofessional athleteshaveaccess to.Over thepastdecade,wehave evolved our business away from the training franchise model and grown to a patient/athlete centric model that allows us to individualize the experience of each customer. As we grew, we transitioned both divisions to The Training Room with our fitness and sports performancedivisioncalledTTRFitness&Performance. Regardlessofourname, throughout theyearswehave maintained our mission to provide the opportunity for realchange inpeoplewhowant to improve theirhealth, their performance and their lives. Our entire team is committed to helping people get back to doing what they love. Whether that’s recovering from an injury, achievingfitnessgoalsormaximizingathleticpotential, we want to help! The Present Not in our wildest dreams… Cary and I never expected thatwewouldgrow intomultipleclinics,employsomany wonderful and inspiring team members, and impact such a large number of people from our surrounding communities. In reality what we have received is so much more than what we have provided over the past 15 years. We have made lasting friendships from our patients, customers and supporters. We’ve been motivated by patients who took care of their pain and got their lives back when they didn’t think there was hope. We have witnessed student athletes earn full scholarships to their dream schools and even make it to the professional level. We have been awe struck by many athletes overcoming devastating injuries and

persevere in trying times.Wehaveshared thesuccessof severalofourpatients inbecomingphysical therapists inspiredby theirownsports injuries.Wearegrateful to have had these experiences. The Training Room by The Numbers 4Partners –Over theyears,Caryand Ihaveaddedother members to our partnership. Kiersten Langel and Jon Herting joineduson thephysical therapyside toexpand ourability to impactmorepeople inmorecommunities. 4 locations – Cherry Hill, our flagship location is now fully integrated with our Fitness and Performance division with a recent facelift to our facility. Our Washington Township clinic recently relocated to Hurffville-Crosskeys Road and is growing rapidly. In Haddonfield, we continue to be involved in and serve our local community. And crossing the state lines, our Garnet Valley clinic is located inside Maplezone Sports Institute and deeply embedded in the crossfit and fitness communities. 14 PT’s – In 2018 we added4 new Doctors of Physical Therapy toour team,bringingus to14 full timephysical therapistsonstaff. Wehave residency trainedclinicians, certifiedstrengthandconditioningspecialists,aBoard CertifiedSpecialist inOrthopaedicsandaBoardCertified Specialist in Sports, Certified Athletic Trainers with combined 50+yearsofexperience. We’reapassionate groupwithanunrelenting focusongrowthandhelping others achieve their goals! 250,000+ treatments provided – In the past 15 years we have provided over 250,000 treatments to patients withorthopedicandsportsconditions.Wecontinue to strive to provide the most effective treatment without medications, injections and surgery. With manual techniques such as Graston, dry needling, spinal manipulation, and our latest addition of Deep Tissue LaserTherapy,wearehelpingpatientsgetoutpainand recover from injury. 10,000+ patients – We have had the opportunity to serve over 10,000 amazing patients. It is this that is

the most rewarding. We know that we would not be whereweare todaywithouteachandeveryoneof those 10,000+. The trust that our patients have given us to be part of their medical team is what keeps us striving to get better in what we do. We love the impact that we are able to make in people’s lives and the reward we get from serving them. 40 flags – The 40 flags that hang in our Cherry Hill facility represent justasmallportionof theathletes that havecome throughourprogramsand trainedunderour guidance. From Rutgers to the University of Florida to San Diego State University to the Texas Rangers, our athletesplay inmanyorganizationsacross thecountry and the world. Some have earned scholarships, some have gone pro, but many more learned life skills such as teamwork,discipline,sacrificeandgoalsetting. Our team is honored to be a part of that learning process and help athletes strive to reach their goals. The Future The future is bright forTheTraining Room. We have a lot of exciting plans for 2019 and beyond. We are adding services such as Telemedicine – online physical therapy care, online training programs, and Community Education Workshops to name a few. If we’ve learnedanythingover the last15years, it’s that we can do more. That is what drives us. We want to continually improve and find ways to better serve ourpatients,ourathletes,andourcommunities.Our team isapassionategroupwithanunrelenting focus on progress, united under one mission...to get YOU back to doing what you love. I am truly grateful for those we have encountered alongour journey.And from thebottomofmyheart, I thankyou forbeingapartofourgrowingcommunity and allowing us to be part of your life.

Eternally Grateful– Mandy Huggard, Owner of The Training Room