Health, Fitness & Nutrition Articles from EVOLVE Flagstaff
Evidence-based articles on strength training, physical therapy, nutrition, injury recovery, and long-term health — written to help you stay active, resilient, and moving well for life.
Superficial peroneal nerve injury in a professional runner: A case study on the importance of diagnosis
Diagnosis in physical therapy is often unclear, and that ambiguity can lead to a frustrating lack of progress. In this case study, we walk through how we approached diagnosis and management of ankle pain in a professional runner — what looked at first like a straightforward ankle sprain turned out to be more nuanced. Getting the diagnosis right was essential to getting her to the starting line, and the podium, of a 100km race.
Tissue Healing Times, and What It Means For You
After an injury, tissue takes time to heal. Pain is not always a great indicator of healing, as symptoms often decrease when we remove aggravating factors. So, understanding how long various tissues take to heal can be an important part of the rehab journey.
In this piece, we break down average healing times for common injuries, why eliminating pain isn’t the same as full tissue repair, and what physical therapy can (and can’t) do to speed up the process. Understanding this distinction changes how you approach recovery — and how you know when you’re really out of the woods.
How to warm up the shoulders
If you’re not warming up, you’re leaving performance on the table, and increasing your injury risk. Last week’s article explored why a warm up is an essential aspect of every workout, and outlined a warm up for running.
Similar to runners, athletes performing overhead or other shoulder movements should have a dialed warm up routine as well. This can help cranky shoulders feel and perform better, and reduce the risk of overuse injuries related to poor shoulder mechanics, or deficits in rotator cuff or scapular muscle activation.
How (and why) to warm up for running
We recently shared two programs to help new or injured runners progress their volume to help reduce injury risk. In that article, we shared a general running warm up that we recommend for most people. We think warming up for running is so crucial that it deserves its own post. We see too many people skip a warm up altogether. Or, they use valuable warm up time ineffectively.
Why do we need to warm up at all? What should a good warm up accomplish? What’s the best way to structure a warm up? How should you warm up for running? Let’s dig in.
Habit 3: Hydration and Sleep
Hope your New Year is off to a great start! We’re going to keep building with two new habits: Hydration and sleep
Habit 2: EVOLVE Hunger Scale + Hip Activation
Last month, we encouraged you to work on your balance and eat slowly. We’re going to progress things now with two new habits to finish out 2017. These four keystone habits will set us up to really progress things in 2018.