PHYSICAL THERAPY
HEALTH PERFORMANCE

Category: Fitness

Let’s Get In Shape!

By Rich Baudry, PT, DPT, OCS

‘Tis the season! What do we all tend to do during the holidays? Eat, drink and be merry, of course! Unfortunately, our scales do not agree with all of our eating, drinking and merry making causing us to start thinking about our health and fitness goals early in the holiday season; gearing up for a new year. Many people like to discuss the benefits of staying healthy by saying “Oh, you’ll feel great!” but very few discuss what will happen to our bodies if we do not take care of ourselves. Motivation is important…so, what motivates you?

If you are having trouble staying motivated to stay or get fit think of the alternatives. Things that generally accompany a deconditioned body:

  1. Weight gain
  2. Muscle loss, body fat increase
  3. Increased blood sugar
  4. High cholesterol
  5. High blood pressure
  6. Increased risk of heart disease, diabetes along with many other diseases.

Need I go on? One of the keys to longevity and living a healthy, active lifestyle is keeping our muscles strong and our joints moving. Aside from medical issues that are usually created by being deconditioned, there are many positives points to consider in regard to getting in shape:

  1. Feeling better
  2. Being able to enjoy the things you love
  3. Playing with your kids / grandkids
  4. Being more productive and have more energy

Baudry Therapy Center’s tagline is “strength, balance, motion…for fitness, for life.” Our tagline is constantly at the top of our staff’s minds everyday–not only for ourselves but for our clients as well. We strive to get you back to doing activities you love, be it walking, running a marathon, or playing with your kids. The positives far outweigh the negatives, so…what are you waiting for? Let’s get going!

Self Assessment: Muscle and Tendon Strains

By Rich Baudry, PT, DPT, OCS

We recently received an inquiry asking how to tell if you have pulled a muscle or torn a tendon without having to undergo an MRI.

First of all, let me begin with a basic description of the relationship between muscles, tendons and joints. Tendons attach muscles to the bones. A muscle/tendon unit crosses a joint to enable movement around the joint. Contraction of a muscle pulls on the bone through it’s tendon in order to create movement of a joint. As such, when someone suffers a muscle or tendon tear they will have difficulty generating pull or force to move the joint.

When an injury occurs to a muscle or tendon, pain will be felt when it is stretched and/or when resistance is applied to that structure. When stretching and resisted testing elicits pain in the tested muscle/tendon unit, you most likely have suffered an injury to the involved muscle or tendon. The severity of the injury will be known by how much pain and weakness are noted with testing. If you have no ability to resist or contract a certain muscle action you may have a complete rupture of a tendon.

If you have pain in or around a joint that hurts when you are in certain positions but does not necessarily hurt with resistance to the muscle, you may have a joint, ligament, or other structural problem.

This understanding of muscle and tendon testing can be applied to muscles throughout the body. However, please note that this is an over simplified example of muscle/tendon testing. If you think you have had a muscle/tendon injury–or any other injury–you should  have it checked by a medical professional early on. Your medical professional will be able to clearly identify the source of the injury and establish an action plan to promote a speedy recovery. When taken care of promptly, most muscle/tendon injuries respond well, getting you back in the game quickly.

Conversely, while waiting it out sometimes works, it often delays healing and leads to unnecessary residual limitations that can come back to haunt you later on. These limitations become harder to treat and take care of the longer it goes unattended. So be sure to treat your injuries as soon as possible in order to avoid long-term consequences.

Thanks so much for your questions. We value your feedback and please keep them coming!

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