Have you seen a loved one go through a terrible injury? Or witness a lengthy rehab process and all you can think is: I don’t want to go through that? Then start today! Create meaningful habits before you get hurt. As an Athletic Therapist, I love to help prevent injuries. I love the diversity of my job in that I can treat those who have ailments and those that don’t. Unfortunately there are certain injuries are not preventable: car accidents, traumatic events etc. However it’s those nagging (and preventable/treatable) chronic injuries that we often ignore that give us the most grief.
This is where Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST) comes into play. If you find you have chronically tight muscles and you don’t implement a habitual stretching routine, this could lead to injury. Tight glutes that you ignore? Low back pain can result. Tight quads? Knee pain can result. These are highly preventative injuries and I suggest tuning into what your body is telling you!
FST is a 1-hour full body or 30 minute half body stretch that you can easily implement to your weekly, biweekly or monthly routine. It helps to alleviate chronic tightness and limited or reduced range of motion throughout the entire body. FST is a great compliment to your own flexibility routine, and we can even get certain ranges of motion you may not achieve on your own. After each stretch I prescribe a home program of stretches and/or exercises to perform outside of our treatments. The habitual work you do daily and weekly is the key to your success!
If time is a constraint for you, pick 1 stretch to do per day. Put the timer on your phone for 30 seconds and go! Repeat this 3 times. That’s only 90 seconds of your day! The next day pick a new stretch and repeat this throughout the week. Another trick to get more stretching into your day is to do it mindlessly (the opposite of how you should eat). Keep your yoga mat near the TV and get stretching! I find I get in a great 30-minute recovery routine in front of my favourite show.
What are you waiting for? Don’t wait until you get hurt to seek help. Tune into your body and start improving your flexibility, range of motion and in turn you will ultimately prevent injury!
