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mobility

inner thigh tightness

March 5, 2024 · In: Mobility and Restoration, Movement

Unlock Your Inner Thigh Tightness and Move More Freely

When we go about our daily activities or dive into our athletic pursuits, the last thing most of us consider is the flexibility of our inner thighs. Yet, it’s this…

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pinched nerve exercises

January 30, 2024 · In: Mobility and Restoration, Movement

5 Best Exercises for a Pinched Nerve in the Back

Commonly referred to as a “pinched nerve,” radiculopathy can certainly make its presence. It can get in the way of performing daily tasks and even cause debilitating pain, numbness, or…

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shoulder range of motion

January 23, 2024 · In: Mobility and Restoration, Movement

How to Improve Shoulder Range of Motion

Shoulder range of motion is important for daily activities. Reaching into the cupboard, washing your hair and face, and putting on clothing are all activities you need good shoulder mobility…

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full body stretches for outdoor athletes

January 2, 2024 · In: Mobility and Restoration, Movement

Top 5 Full Body Stretches for Outdoor Athletes

Full body stretches for the athlete should prepare the body for an upcoming activity. A soccer player should prepare for lots of running and kicking whereas a surfer should prepare…

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foam roller for upper back pain

December 19, 2023 · In: Mobility and Restoration, Movement

How to Use a Foam Roller for Upper Back Pain

A foam roller is a tool that can be used for soft tissue mobilization and myofascial release. It can also be used with exercises to help improve mobility. Did you…

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tight hip flexors

December 12, 2023 · In: Body Region Support, Hip, Science-Backed Education

Tight Hip Flexors and How to Treat Them

The hip flexors are a group of muscles that are important for movement and mobility, as well as for powerful leg movements like kicking. Tight hip flexors can lead to…

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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)

woman experiencing pain that moves around the body, chronic pain explained

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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Licensed DPT • Regulate first, rebuild second, then layer
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I stood in front of my fridge for an hour. Couldn’ I stood in front of my fridge for an hour. Couldn’t decide, not even sure I was hungry. Just stuck. And one decision felt like the hardest thing I’d been asked to do all day, even though I’d made decisions all day long without a second thought.

I kept wondering what was wrong with me. Turns out, nothing was.

Fight, flight, and freeze are all protective responses your nervous system reaches for under threat. Fight and flight speed you up. They give you the energy to push back or get away. Freeze does the opposite. It shuts things down because there’s nothing left to fight with or run from.

That fridge moment wasn’t a discipline problem. It was my nervous system running out before dinner could be decided and made.

Freeze doesn’t get talked about as much as fight or flight, but it’s just as real and it shows up in the most ordinary places…a kitchen, a closed laptop, a decision that shouldn’t be hard and somehow is.

If you’ve had a night like this, you already know exactly what I’m talking about.

If this sounds familiar, tell me in the comments, or text someone who’d know exactly what I mean.
I reached for the weights I used to lift before my I reached for the weights I used to lift before my brain caught up.

It took half a second in my garage. The half second was the moment I realized I couldn’t even lift the dumbbell. I registered the gap between the body I used to train and the body I have now.

I dialed back down. Instead of the 30s, I picked up the 10s, and I did the work that fits what my system can absorb right now.

Nobody warns you that the rebuilding work has these moments built into it. The half-seconds when your old identity reaches for a load your current capacity can’t carry, and you mistake the disappointment for evidence that you are failing.

Your current body is not a smaller version of the one you used to have. It is a different body, doing real work, on a different scale.

You can train this one.

Tag the woman who’s still reaching for the weight she used to lift. Remind her she’s not alone.
I currently do not squat, lunge, or deadlift. I g I currently do not squat, lunge, or deadlift.

I get why everyone defaults to these movements. They’re efficient, they build strength, and if your body can tolerate them, there’s nothing wrong with having them in a program.

For a long time, I assumed that if I pushed through it, my body would eventually catch up. That’s not how it works when you’re dealing with chronic pain. Pushing through leads to a setback fast.

Your back is tied directly into what your hips and legs are doing. Careful form can only take it so far out of the equation, especially when weakness is involved.

A few months ago, I was doing bodyweight versions of these same exercises at home. Every time, it aggravated my back. So I stepped back to isolated machines instead.

Here’s what made it click. I couldn’t even tolerate a leg extension machine at 30lbs. I weigh about 120. There was no version of me safely squatting my own bodyweight and that’s still true right now.

Isolated machines do exactly what they’re built for. They isolate one muscle group and take my back out of the equation so I can still train and progressively add weight at a pace that’s safe for my body.

If a compound lift keeps interfering with your back, this is where I’d start looking instead.

If this is the kind of order-of-operations thinking that’s useful to you, hit follow. That’s exactly what I break down here.
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