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The act of locating the best Denver physical therapist can be a challenge, as there are seemingly endless numbers of clinics to sift through in order to find the one that fits your needs. Oftentimes, you will be looking for a clinic after a serious accident and perhaps insurance will play a key role. Or perhaps you will have to pay out of pocket and you will be looking for a clinic that not only fills your specific injury needs but will also provide you with affordable services. Unfortunately, physical therapy can often be an expensive service to utilize, as clinics must meet their own financial needs during the course of business. If you’re looking for ways to remain healthy during stressful and uncertain times, you should seriously consider having a Denver physical therapist at your side to guide you back to full health.

It Can Improve Improve Your Mobility

Many people associate going to physical therapy with either being elderly or experiencing a serious injury. As a result, many people overlook the potential positives of going to a Denver physical therapist, some of which can be a big part of proactively addressing your health. Seeing a physical therapist in Denver can provide you with increased mobility, as they can work with you on specific exercises that can boost your mobility. Having an increase in mobility can improve your overall health, as you will be much more prepared to deal with any injuries or physical stress that may arise in the future.

Improve Your Balance

If you engage in a physical sport or regular activity, you will want to have the right amount of balance if you are going to stay healthy and avoid injury. Seeing a physical therapist in Denver can help to provide you with the necessary skills to maintain your balance and reduce the possibility of falls which can lead to serious injury. Physical therapists can provide you with a series of exercises that can improve coordination and equilibrium, something which can lead to an increase in balance and improve your ability to stay on your feet when exercising. 

If you are in need of physical therapy or have questions about what physical therapy consists of, contact Peak Physical Therapy and Wellness today and we will be happy to assist you with your first steps towards recovery. We have an extensive team of qualified physical therapists and specialists who care deeply about their clients and go above and beyond the call of duty to provide the highest quality treatment in the industry. We work directly with our patients to formulate the best way forward and to make sure your recovery is our number one priority. If you are looking for a therapist who will carefully assess your individual needs and formulate a treatment plan that is specifically tailored to your needs, Peak Physical Therapy and Wellness is your preferred choice for the physical recovery process.

Running is one of the most effective cardio workouts out there. But it comes with a few potential safety issues that can make the sport more challenging at best and lead to potential injury at worst. The most common problem runners face isn’t sprained ankles or overdeveloped muscles. It’s runner’s knee. The condition leads to serious pain in and around your knee and that pain can leave you wondering if seeking physical therapy in Aurora, CO, is in your best interest. Luckily, runner’s knee is something you can easily prevent. Here are a few tips to help you keep your knees in good shape so you can run pain-free for years to come.

Stretch Before and After Your Run

The best way to prevent muscle strain and knee pain is to stretch both before and after your run. This will help loosen your muscles up and make it easier for your legs to maintain their full range of motion while you’re exercising and after you recover.

Push each stretch until you feel some discomfort but stop if you start to feel pain. Stretching shouldn’t hurt at any time. If it does, you’ll want to schedule an appointment with your physical therapy team as soon as possible. Pushing yourself too far, too fast, can end up making the muscle strain worse and aggravate your runner’s knee pain in the long run.

Start Weight Training A.S.A.P.

One of the biggest contributors to knee pain is under-developed muscles. When you lack the strength in your legs, glutes, and core, all the strain caused by running gets absorbed by the most vulnerable muscle groups. This increases your risk of knee pain over time and, if you’re not careful, can lead to more serious injuries that can end your running career before it gets started in earnest.

Make strength training a priority. Work with a personal trainer and tell them about your goals and concerns. They’ll be able to design a strength training program that will strengthen your knees and the supporting muscle groups to help you prevent injuries and overuse in the future.

Ice Your Knees as Needed

The sooner you can catch runner’s knee, the better off you’ll be. And the sooner you can ice the soreness away, the less inflammation you’ll experience around your knees and the faster they’ll heal. As soon as you start to feel soreness or discomfort after you cool down, ice your knees.

Use a gel ice pack that you can shape around your knee or place ice cubes in a large zipper bag and wrap it with a towel. Ice your knees for 10 to 15 minutes and see how they feel. You may need to ice them several times a day for a few days to get rid of the pain and inflammation.

Switch up Your Cardio on the Regular

Runners all have one thing in common: an intense love and passion for the sport. But that love of running can actually make your knees worse. Instead of trying to run every day or getting your cardio workouts by running alone, change things up. 

Hop on a bike and get your heart pumping that way. Speed walk around your neighborhood, go swimming, or use an elliptical trainer at your gym. These exercises use different muscle groups and take some of the strain away from your knees without forcing you to forego your normal cardio workout. 

You might even find that you enjoy a different type of exercise just as much as running!

Drink Plenty of Water 

Believe it or not, hydration is one of the most important things you can do for your entire body. It helps your muscles stave off soreness and can prevent injuries as long as you make it a priority. Get in the habit of drinking plenty of water during and after each run you take. 

The better hydrated you are, the easier it will be for your body to recover and the less likely you’ll be to develop runner’s knee. 

Use the Right Shoes

Running shoes exist for a reason. They put your body in the right position with each stride and help you maintain proper alignment even on uneven terrain. But all running shoes aren’t identical. You need to choose a pair that provides you with the type of support you need to thrive. 

Head to your local running supply store or shoe store and ask for advice. Many local stores offer running analysis to help you find the right type of shoe for your feet. They’ll be able to assess your gait and identify any issues that could contribute to an increased risk of injury so you’re aware of those issues and can correct them as you train.

Make Rest Days a Priority 

Pushing yourself too hard, too fast is a simple way to end up hurting yourself. You need to take days off from your running routine even when you don’t feel like you need to. Prioritize rest days each week and give muscles a break. 

Now, you don’t have to spend rest days sitting on the couch binging your current TV obsession. You can find ways to recover while staying active. Go for a hike. Run through a yoga routine. Take a walk around the block. Whatever it is, it counts as a rest day as long as you’re not using the same muscles that you use on your runs. 

Avoiding Runner’s Knee Is Possible

Even a minor case of runner’s knee can leave you limping for weeks. Keep these tips in mind and you’ll be able to prevent that troublesome knee pain with ease throughout your running career. If anything happens down the road or you’re already dealing with a case of runner’s knee, don’t try to fix it on your own. Schedule a consultation at your closest physical therapy location and get treatment as soon as possible. The sooner you start working with a physical therapist, the sooner you’ll start making improvements and can get back outside, pounding the pavement with confidence.

As an athlete, you know that keeping your body in peak condition isn’t always easy. Injuries can derail your progress and keep you from performing at all. And while your Denver physical therapy team is here to help you recover from your injuries and rebuild strength quickly, it’s up to you to find ways to speed that recovery even further. One of the best things you can do for both your physical and mental health is to meditate. The practice is thousands of years old and has been proven to offer the following benefits to those that do it often.

Improves Focus

Meditation can actually help you concentrate and improve your focus every day. It does this by giving your mind a chance to relax and unwind by guiding your thoughts away from the worries, fears, and stressors you’re constantly dealing with. 

Contrary to popular belief, meditation doesn’t involve focusing on absolutely nothing. Well, unless you want it to. That practice is known as Zen meditation and it’s one of the hardest types of meditation for new practitioners to master. Most people choose to focus on the feeling of their breath or listen to a guided meditation that has them focus on different visuals, sounds, or sensations. You won’t have to clear your mind. Instead, you’ll guide your thoughts away from the things you’re worried about.

When you’re done with your meditation session, your mind will have had a chance to relax and you’ll be able to approach challenges with more clarity and focus. 

Boosts Your Immune System

Stress doesn’t just impact your ability to focus. It can also weaken your immune system and make you more vulnerable to viruses, germs, and diseases. When you’re trying to recover from an injury quickly, getting sick can make that recovery take longer than it should. Just imagine hurting your back, catching a cold, and making the injury worse just by sneezing!

Meditating can help boost your immune system by helping alleviate feelings of stress and overwhelm. It’s not a one-session-cure-all solution. It’s something you have to take time to do each day. But even giving yourself a few minutes to focus on something other than your mind racing and worrying about situations and circumstances you can’t control or change.

When you do this anytime you start to feel stressed or overwhelmed, you’ll keep yourself from falling into that stress-thought spiral which will give your immune system the opportunity to stay as strong as it possibly can. 

Makes Dealing With Pain Easier

Meditation can be an effective tool to help you cope with pain and discomfort without succumbing to feelings of anger and helplessness. It gives you a way to change your thought process and, as an added bonus, can help your muscles relax. 

When your muscles are less tense, your injury will likely start to hurt less and, even better, may heal faster. It’s not a substitute for physical therapy, but it can help you recover faster and makes your physical therapy more effective. 

If you feel flareups of pain while you’re recovering, the same meditation techniques you use to relax during sessions can help take the edge off. All you have to do is turn your thoughts to your breath or your chosen focus point. This allows you to relax and breathe around the pain, taking your attention away from the sensation of discomfort and redirecting it to something beneficial.

Helps You Overcome Fear

Performance anxiety is something that impacts even the most experienced professional athletes. And while it’s normal to get a bit nervous before a competition, your fear shouldn’t be overpowering your sense of confidence and self-esteem. Worse, once those feelings kick in, it’s easy to let that fear build up until it’s enough to keep you from performing successfully.

By meditating, you’ll refocus your thoughts on something you choose and away from those emotions. You can choose a meditation technique that has you focusing on a mantra to build your confidence or meditate on a successful race, focusing on the emotions you feel once you cross the finish line.

You don’t even have to carve out a set time to run through that meditation. Just turn your attention inward and away from your anxious thoughts as soon as they pop up. 

Stabilizes Sleep Patterns

Meditation is all about helping you feel more relaxed and comfortable. When you’re recovering from an injury, it’s normal for that injury and the stress you’re dealing with to keep you up at night. Nothing is worse than racing thoughts that interrupt your sleep patterns! 

Lack of sleep doesn’t just leave you feeling sluggish in the morning. It also makes you more vulnerable to getting sick and makes it harder for your body to recover. 

By meditating on a regular basis, you’ll quiet those racing thoughts and relax the tension in your muscles that contribute to sensations of pain. Over time, you’ll start to sleep better and wake more rested. 

Keep in mind that seeing results from meditating to help you sleep can take time. Be patient with yourself and keep working at it. Eventually, you’ll see an improvement in your sleep quality. 

Makes Analyzing Your Performance Easier

As an athlete, you need to constantly find ways to improve your performance. But when you’re in the middle of a competition or so set in your routine, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to the things you’re doing. Meditating can help you turn your focus on yourself and identify the ways in which you can improve.

You can replay your training sessions in your mind and analyze the things you did without being in the moment. This helps you better identify your weaknesses and your strengths so you can make the necessary changes to improve your game.

Meditation With Physical Therapy Is Always Ideal

If you’re recovering from an injury, combining meditation with your routine physical therapy sessions can help you recover faster and more effectively. But you need to work with the right physical therapist. Contact our team to schedule a consultation today. 

 

The act of locating the best Denver physical therapist can be a challenge, as there are seemingly endless numbers of clinics to sift through in order to find the one that fits your needs. Oftentimes, you will be looking for a clinic after a serious accident and perhaps insurance will play a key role. Or perhaps you will have to pay out of pocket and you will be looking for a clinic that not only fills your specific injury needs but will also provide you with affordable services. Unfortunately, physical therapy can often be an expensive service to utilize, as clinics must meet their own financial needs during the course of business. If you’re looking for ways to remain healthy during stressful and uncertain times, you should seriously consider having a Denver physical therapist at your side to guide you back to full health.

Stay Active, Get Outside

One of the best and most common strategies for staying healthy is to maintain a regular schedule of exercise. If you’re attempting to exercise regularly, another great way to double your benefit from this activity is to do this outside. Working out outdoors provides you with both fresh air and plenty of sunshine, which will also provide you with plenty of vitamin D. A major factor in improving your health in many facets is related to improving your vitamin D levels which will significantly boost your overall physical health.

Practice Good Self-Care

If you want to stay healthy, one of the most important factors that people often overlook is to practice good self-care. Stress is a killer in many ways and individuals who do not prioritize their mental health will be setting themselves up for many health issues down the road. Make sure you are engaging in activities that bring you joy, as long as they are not unhealthy or unproductive. Whether that means getting outside and going on a hike, practicing a musical instrument, or spending time with friends and family, taking time for yourself during these times can be a great way to make sure you are prioritizing your health.

If you are in need of physical therapy or have questions about what physical therapy consists of, contact Peak Physical Therapy and Wellness today and we will be happy to assist you with your first steps towards recovery. We have an extensive team of qualified physical therapists and specialists who care deeply about their clients and go above and beyond the call of duty to provide the highest quality treatment in the industry. We work directly with our patients to formulate the best way forward and to make sure your recovery is our number one priority. If you are looking for a therapist who will carefully assess your individual needs and formulate a treatment plan that is specifically tailored to your needs, Peak Physical Therapy and Wellness is your preferred choice for the physical recovery process.

Summer will be here before you know it and that means it’s finally time to start thinking of ways to stay active when the weather is nice. Visiting a gym isn’t always an option and, if you’re like most Denver residents, spending the money on a gym membership just isn’t worth the strain on your budget. Luckily, there are many ways to get active and in shape without having feeling like you’re actively working out. Even better, those same activities can help you avoid needing help from your Aurora physical therapy team. Here are a few budget-friendly gym alternatives to consider participating in this summer.

Start Biking

Denver is lucky enough to have miles upon miles of bike trails that you can take advantage of throughout the year. Many of them are even cleared in the winter, so you can start using them regardless of the weather! 

So, grab your bike and start riding. It doesn’t matter what kind of bike you have. As long as it has two wheels and the tires hold air, you’re good to go.

 Start small, going just a few miles at a time until you build up stamina. Once you get used to biking on a regular basis and develop stronger leg muscles and endurance, you can even try commuting to work by bike.

This type of exercise is a great low-impact alternative to running and can still get your heart rate up in no time. If you develop a true passion for the sport, you can always invest in a nicer bike that will help you stay more comfortable for more hours in the saddle.

Go for Hikes Each Weekend

Downtown Denver may be flat, but the mountains are just a short drive away. Use this to your advantage and start hiking each weekend. Pick trails close to home for easier routes and, as you get stronger and in better shape, look for more challenging routes a bit further away from home.

Places like Estes Park and the I-70 corridor have hundreds of great hiking trails that will let you get deep into nature and away from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

Just make sure to check the weather forecast before you leave home and always pack several layers. The higher you go in elevation, the cooler the days will be and you never know when a surprise rainstorm will leave you shivering by the time you get back to your car.

Try Some TRX

If you’re already in decent shape and really want to build strength without adding tons of bulk to your frame, try running through some TRX routines. Our staff is on-hand to help you get started with this unique bodyweight workout method. 

As a general rule, try to schedule an appointment with an experienced TRX instructor until you get the hang of the workouts and movements. Since you’re not using stationary weight machines, you’ll want someone to point out potential problems with your form until you get used to the way exercises are supposed to feel.

Once you have a good understanding and body awareness in place, you’ll be able to get a good workout in at home. 

Run Through Yoga Routines in the Backyard

Yoga is a great way to build strength while improving your flexibility and range of motion. If you’re new to yoga, going to classes surrounded by other people can often feel a bit overwhelming. But contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to go to classes to get a good yoga session in.

All you need is an open space and an internet connection. Pull up a yoga routine on YouTube and run through the poses with the instructor on the screen. We recommend working out in your backyard since there’s less risk of hitting your arms and legs on furniture as you run through poses. 

If you don’t have room to stretch out, feel free to modify the poses as needed. You can still get a good workout even if you have to keep your movements closer to your body.

Hit the Stairs

If you’re looking for a real challenge or just want to be able to claim that you’ve finally done something on your Colorado bucket list, hit the stairs. The Manitou Incline outside of Colorado Springs has you gaining a whopping 2,000 feet of elevation as you climb, making it one of the most challenging workouts in the area.

Just make sure to bring plenty of water. The last thing you want to do is get dehydrated while you’re climbing.

Go Paddleboarding
The Denver area has tons of lakes that you can take advantage of and few activities are more fun and more challenging on the water than paddleboarding. Rent a stand-up paddleboard from your favorite outdoor equipment store and head to the lake of your choice.

As you paddle, you’ll be able to work on your arm strength, balance, and core strength at the same time. Even better, the activity feels like so much fun that you won’t even think you’re exercising.

If, as you work out, you get overheated, all you have to do is sit on the board and drop your legs into the water. If that’s not enough, you can always hop off the board altogether and enjoy the cool Colorado water on a hot summer day. 

You can even rent paddleboards for the whole family and enjoy an afternoon on the lake together.

Keep These Activities in Mind

If you’re looking for a great way to get active, these exercises are an ideal place to start. Pick one once the weather warms up and get your heart rate up. As you start to get in better shape, you can push yourself to try new activities or stay out for longer periods of time.

If at any point you feel like you’re not able to work out to your fullest potential due to an old injury, don’t wait. Schedule an assessment with our physical therapy team and let us help you get on the road to recovery.