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tech neck help

October 10, 2023 · In: Body Region Support, Neck/Jaw, Science-Backed Education

What You Should Know About Tech Neck: Relieve the Pain

With the use of smartphones and electronics on the rise, a normal day’s work and simple mindless scrolling can sometimes end in pain. Tech neck is on the rise as…

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knee pain hiking downhill

October 3, 2023 · In: Body Region Support, Knee, Science-Backed Education

Knee Pain Hiking Downhill: Prevention and Treatment

Are you one of the many individuals who has experienced knee pain hiking downhill? You start off on a great day of hiking, especially in the warmer weather of SoCal,…

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single leg stability

September 26, 2023 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

Why Single Leg Stability is Important for Daily Function

Do you have the ability to stand on one leg? Seems simple, right? However, this basic act forms the cornerstone of functional fitness. Single leg stability is an important aspect…

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shoulder rehab exercises

September 12, 2023 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

5 Important Shoulder Rehab Exercises for Optimal Function

While there is no one exercise that is best for the shoulder, there are a combination of shoulder rehab exercises that can work really well together. These 5 exercises target…

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glute activation

September 5, 2023 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

The Science Behind Why Glute Activation is Important

Glute activation has been a buzz word in the fitness community for a while now. What is being referred to as glute activation? Why is it important? And is it…

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deep breathing

August 29, 2023 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

Why Deep Breathing is Important for the Pelvic Floor

We’ve heard it before: deep breathing can help reduce stress, promote relaxation, and boost mood. But did you know its is also deeply intertwined with the pelvic floor? Deep breathing…

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balance exercises

August 22, 2023 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

5 Reasons Why Balance Exercises are Important for Runners

Balance exercises should be incorporated into every runner’s training regimen. Why? Because if you were to take a snapshot of yourself running, you would notice that it essentially is a…

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groin stiffness and pain

August 15, 2023 · In: Body Region Support, Hip, Science-Backed Education

7 Possible Causes of Groin Stiffness and Pain

Groin stiffness sounds pretty straightforward…tightness in the inner thigh. Sometimes it can be painful. What happens if it feels like its pinching too? Ever think, “Well I didn’t exactly do…

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sciatica symptoms

August 8, 2023 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

Sciatica Symptoms? Try This and Feel Better

If you are experiencing sciatica symptoms, this may involve changes in sensation including pins and needles, numbness, and tingling. To learn more about different causes of sciatica, head to this…

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low back pain when squatting

July 25, 2023 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

Consistent Low Back Pain: How It’s Treated to Give You Peace of Mind

When you’re dealing with consistent low back pain, lasting for three moths or more, it can be challenging without knowing a single, identifiable cause. The most common causes of chronic…

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Meet Tera

Meet Tera
hi friends!

I'm a practicing physical therapist based out of sunny SoCal who loves to educate others and share information and knowledge. You can typically find me hard at work trying to manage normal life or cuddled up under a blanket enjoying coffee or desserts I can never seem to get away from!

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how to start exercising again after a chronic pain flare

How to Start Exercising Again After a Pain Flare or Long Layoff (Without Setting Yourself Back)

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Pain That Moves Around Your Body: What Your Nervous System Is Trying to Tell You

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What Real Rest Actually Looks Like for Chronic Pain (And Why Sleeping More Isn’t the Whole Answer)

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Saying “I’m fine” hasn’t been a lie in a long time Saying “I’m fine” hasn’t been a lie in a long time. Right now it’s probably just the fastest thing you know how to say.

When you’ve been dealing with this for as long as you have, saying “I’m in pain” over and over stops feeling worth it.

Chronic pain means every day carries some of it, so every day would mean saying it again. At some point, you stop wanting to be the person who’s always the one bringing it up. So “I’m in pain” turns into “I’m fine,” not because it stopped being true, but because you got tired of being the one who has to keep announcing it.

I know this one myself. Saying it enough times starts to cost more than staying quiet does. Next time, try something closer to the truth, something like “I’m managing, but it’s a lot today.” That’s honest enough to let someone actually see you, without turning into the running commentary you’re tired of giving.

Are you trying to convince everyone else you’re fine or are you trying to convince yourself?

Send this to someone who needs to stop convincing herself she’s fine.
I hear this one on repeat. It started in your shou I hear this one on repeat. It started in your shoulder, now it’s crept into your shoulder blade, and maybe down toward your mid back. And the first thought is always the same: something new is wrong now or something else is breaking down.

But that’s not usually what’s happening. Pain that spreads to the region right next door isn’t a new injury announcing itself (unless you legitimately injured yourself again).

When pain spreads without a new injury behind it, it’s been part of the picture for a while, and showed up out of nowhere, it’s usually the same alarm system that’s been running in the background. It’s now been ringing long enough that the areas nearby started picking up the signal too.

Think of it less like a break and more like a smoke detector that won’t stop going off until the whole hallway of detectors starts sounding along with it. Nothing new caught fire. The system’s just been on for a long time.

If you’ve already had this checked and nothing new turned up to explain it, pay attention to that. It’s usually your best clue that this is your nervous system spreading the pain to a new area, not a new injury needing its own workup.

Comment “MINE DID THIS” if pain has crept into the area right next to where it started. I’ll send you my blog post I wrote on this exact topic that goes more in depth on what’s actually going on.
But here’s what’s actually true. You’ve probably But here’s what’s actually true.

You’ve probably been told for years that any movement counts as building strength, and in the very beginning, it kind of does. If you’re coming from little to no activity, walking, Pilates, biking, or yoga will strengthen you…at first. Your body is adapting to a demand it hasn’t had to meet before.

But that adaptation has a ceiling. Once your body reaches its load tolerance for that amount of activity, doing more of the same thing doesn’t build you past it. You’re not getting stronger anymore. You’re just maintaining the level you already reached.

This is where cardiovascular and endurance work split from strength work. Walking and biking stay focused on the cardiovascular system. They’re not increasing the load on your muscles. You’re training your heart and lungs instead.

Pilates and yoga work your muscles through holds, which builds muscular endurance and helps your muscles sustain a position under fatigue. That’s a real adaptation. It’s just not the same one as strength.

Real strength requires loading a specific muscle heavy enough, and consistently enough, that it has a reason to adapt again.

If you keep exposing your body to the exact same stimulus, no further change happens. The muscle already met that demand. It has nothing left to respond to.

Comment “MAXED OUT” if you just realized you’ve been maintaining instead of building for a while now.
Everyone sees you making it through the day just f Everyone sees you making it through the day just fine. They don’t see what it’s costing you to get there or what happens once you finally stop.

You show up. You answer the emails, sit through the meetings, keep your voice even when it needs to be, and nobody watching would ever guess anything is off.

They don’t see how tirelessly you work the second you walk back in the door, taking care of everyone else before you’ve had a single second to take care of yourself. They don’t see whatever you’re quietly carrying right now…the thing nobody’s asked about because you never said it out loud.

But your nervous system has been working the entire time to keep you looking like that. Holding the line through every part of the day you couldn’t afford to fall apart in.

And by evening, when nothing else is asking anything of you, it finally stops pretending. Not a dramatic collapse, just a flatness. It’s in the plans you cancel, the conversation you can’t hold, the two hours you lose staring at nothingwhen there’s nothing left keeping the performance up.

Nobody sees the discipline it takes to hold that together all day. They only see the version of you that’s left once it’s finally safe to stop.

If this is you, let the plans stay cancelled tonight. That’s not falling behind. You’ve already asked enough of yourself today.

Send this to someone who’s fine all day and disappears the second it’s finally safe to stop.
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