Fall brings cooler weather, seasonal flavors, and calendars that seem to fill up overnight. Between holiday gatherings, family commitments, and changes to your routine, taking care of your nutrition can start to feel like one more thing on your list.

November is a good time to simplify.

You don’t need a restrictive plan or a promise to “start fresh” in January. Instead, focus on a few repeatable habits that support your strength, recovery, and everyday energy while leaving room for the foods and traditions you enjoy.

The goal this season is consistency, with enough flexibility to enjoy your life.

Build Meals Around Protein

When life gets busy, it’s easy to grab whatever is convenient without thinking about what will make a satisfying meal. Starting with a protein source gives you a practical foundation.

That might look like eggs or Greek yogurt at breakfast, chicken or tofu at lunch, and fish, turkey, beans, or lentils at dinner.

From there, round out your meal with vegetables or fruit, a carbohydrate source, and some fat. Think roasted chicken with potatoes and broccoli, or a lentil bowl with roasted squash, greens, and a flavorful dressing.

You don’t need to make every meal complicated. Choose a protein, add some produce, and build from there.

Make Room for Fiber-Rich Fall Foods

Fall offers plenty of ways to bring variety to your meals. Seasonal fruits and vegetables can fit into familiar recipes without requiring a complete change to how you eat.

Some options to include this season are:

• Pumpkin
• Butternut squash
• Apples
• Pears
• Cranberries
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Pomegranates

Try adding pumpkin to oatmeal, roasting squash alongside dinner, or pairing an apple or pear with your lunch. Broccoli and cauliflower work well in sheet-pan meals, while pomegranate seeds can add color and crunch to a salad or yogurt bowl.

You don’t have to use every seasonal ingredient. Start with a few you enjoy and find easy ways to include them regularly.

Put Breakfast and Lunch on Repeat

There’s nothing wrong with eating the same breakfast or lunch several times a week, especially when it makes your day easier.

Having a few dependable meals means fewer decisions, simpler grocery shopping, and less preparation when your schedule gets crowded.

Your rotation might include:

• Greek yogurt with oats, fruit, and nuts
• Eggs with whole-grain toast and fruit
• Overnight oats with yogurt and pumpkin
• A chicken, tofu, or bean bowl with rice and roasted vegetables
• Leftover soup or chili with a side salad

Choose meals you like, can prepare without much effort, and can adjust based on what you have available.

A meal doesn’t have to be new or exciting every day to be useful.

Give Yourself Flexibility Around Holiday Gatherings

Holiday meals are part of the season. They’re also opportunities to connect with people, celebrate traditions, and enjoy foods you may only have a few times a year.

Rather than expecting your routine to look exactly the same every day, make room for those occasions within it.

On a busy day, you might rely on your usual breakfast and a simple lunch before enjoying dinner with friends. Another day, your meal may come together from leftovers or something convenient on the way home.

You can stay connected to your goals while allowing your choices to reflect the day you’re actually having.

Focus on Your Next Choice

One meal doesn’t need to determine what happens for the rest of the week.

If your routine gets interrupted, return to a familiar habit at your next opportunity. Make your usual breakfast. Add produce to lunch. Put together an easy dinner.

There’s no need to wait for Monday or the new year to take care of yourself.

It can help to choose just one or two habits to focus on this month:

• Include a protein source in your meals.
• Keep ingredients for a few easy breakfasts and lunches available.
• Add a seasonal fruit or vegetable to your grocery list.
• Plan a simple meal for your busiest evening.

Small, repeatable choices give you something steady to return to as the season gets busier.

Keep Nutrition Simple This Fall

Your nutrition routine should support your life, including the celebrations and commitments that matter to you.

This November, build around balanced meals, make use of seasonal produce, and give yourself permission to repeat what works.

You don’t need a perfect holiday season. You need habits you can keep coming back to.

Written by Dr. Jessica Hockensmith, PT, DPT, Cert. DN, LMT, WAG | Physio Room

The post Fall Nutrition: Simple Habits to Feel Strong Through the Holidays appeared first on Physio Room.

The fastest way to lose your love for running might be to turn every workout into a test of your worth.

How do you push yourself to improve without turning something you love into another source of stress? And what happens when injuries or setbacks make you question what you’re capable of?

In this episode of The Code, Dr. Andrew Fix sits down with running coach Jen Hickman, founder of Perseverance Endurance, to discuss the psychology of behavior change and the role of coaching in building confidence and resilience. With more than two decades of experience in the zoo industry, Jen brings an unexpected perspective on behavior change.

Jen shares how running went from being a source of stress relief to another source of pressure, and how this experience shaped her approach to coaching. She and Dr. Fix explore the mental challenges of pursuing performance goals, handling setbacks, and adapting training to life’s demands. They also discuss how trust, communication, and small changes in behavior help runners build confidence and make lasting progress.

Their conversation offers a fresh perspective on handling disappointment, rebuilding trust in your body after injury, and recognizing when adjusting your goals is a sign of good judgment rather than failure. Whether you’re training for a marathon or working toward a personal goal, the ability to adapt and keep showing up may be your greatest measure of progress.

Quotes

• “I just need to do the next small thing that gets me a win and helps me build some confidence. And then that snowballs until I finally get some training momentum.” (06:19 | Jen Hickman)
• “Running should be fun. It should not be a chore.” (16:56 | Jen Hickman)
• “You don’t train in a vacuum. You train with all of these other outside influences.” (25:25 | Jen Hickman)
• “You didn’t lose all of that work that you’ve put in before. Like that work is valuable. That work does something.” (50:56 | Jen Hickman)
• “We have to experience things that are scary and uncomfortable first before we can build up that resilience and be able to take on the bigger, scarier things.” (57:42 | Jen Hickman)

Connect with Jen Hickman:

Perseverance Endurance

Follow Jen on Instagram

I started running back in middle school in the Colorado mountains—mostly because my friends were doing it. Over time, running became more than just a social activity. As an adult, it turned into my way to de-stress and connect with nature. I mostly stuck to 5Ks and 10Ks, enjoying the rhythm and routine.

But in 2018, something changed. Running started to feel harder than it used to. I wasn’t seeing progress, and my motivation was slipping. I knew how good running could make me feel, so I decided to get help.

That’s when I hired a personal trainer who specialized in running. With the right strength training, improved nutrition, and a personalized training plan, everything shifted. My performance improved dramatically. Since then, I’ve finished the Boston Marathon twice and achieved stronger results in races across the board.

Seeing firsthand the power of coaching, I felt inspired to help others experience the same transformation. I went on to earn run coaching certifications through 80/20 Endurance and the United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy (UESCA).

I began my career in the animal profession in the mid-1990s. As a zookeeper, one of the most rewarding parts of my job was helping animals thrive by shaping behavior in a way that supported their well-being. To do that effectively, I had to build trust, understand what motivated each animal, create an environment for success, and adapt continually to their needs.These same principles guide my approach to coaching. The first step is building a strong, trusting relationship with you. I want to understand what motivates you—Why do you run? What brings you joy? What challenges are you facing?

As we work together, I’ll break down your training into small, achievable steps that build confidence and momentum. My goal is to set you up for long-term success, not just quick wins. And just like in the animal world, I’ll continually assess, adjust, and refine your training based on your progress and feedback—because your needs aren’t static, and your plan shouldn’t be either.

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The post 247. Small Steps, Big Changes: The Science of Behavior Change in Running & Life with Jen Hickman appeared first on Physio Room.

Getting injured during a workout or while playing your favorite sport is frustrating. Having the same injury happen again and again can leave you wondering whether you’ll ever be able to trust your ankle.

Maybe it happens when you land from a jump, change direction on the court, or step onto an uneven trail. You rest, the pain settles down, and you return to activity, only to roll your ankle again.

Repeated ankle sprains deserve more attention than simply waiting for the pain to go away. Understanding what contributes to the problem can help you build a plan to move with greater confidence.

Here are three factors that may be contributing to recurring ankle sprains, along with ways to address them.

1. You May Have More Joint Mobility Than You Can Control

Some people naturally have more movement in their joints, a characteristic known as hypermobility.

Having extra mobility doesn’t automatically mean you’ll have ankle problems. However, if the ligaments around your ankle provide less restraint, your muscles and movement control may need to do more work to help keep the joint stable.

At Physio Room, a physical therapist can assess your joint mobility through a series of movements and look at whether that mobility is contributing to your symptoms.

The goal is to understand how well you control the movement you have and what support you need during exercise and sports.

What can help: An individualized plan that builds strength, balance, and control around the ankle.

2. Your Foot and Lower-Leg Muscles May Need More Strength

Your ankle relies on more than its ligaments for support.

The small muscles within your foot, along with muscles in your lower leg that connect into the foot, help support and control movement. If those muscles aren’t strong enough for the demands of your activity, your ankle may struggle when you run, jump, land, or change direction.

Strengthening the muscles that support the foot and lower leg is an important part of ankle rehabilitation.

What can help: Progressive strengthening that addresses your foot, calf, and ankle muscles and prepares them for the activities you want to return to.

The key word is progressive. Your exercises should become more challenging as your capacity improves, rather than staying at the same level indefinitely.

3. Your Balance and Movement Control May Need Work

Strength matters, but so does your ability to respond when your position changes unexpectedly.

That’s where proprioception comes in. Proprioception is your body’s ability to sense where its joints are and how they’re moving without needing to look at them.

Think about landing from a jump or stepping onto an uneven surface. Your body needs to recognize that change and respond quickly.

An ankle sprain can affect this system. Even after pain improves, balance and control may still need rehabilitation. choosept.com

It’s also worth looking beyond the ankle. Your hip, knee, and ankle work together during running, cutting, and landing. Assessing strength and control throughout the leg can help identify areas that need attention.

What can help: Balance training and movement practice that gradually progresses toward the demands of your sport or workout.

How to Start Addressing Repeated Ankle Sprains

Get an Assessment That Looks at the Whole Picture

If your ankle keeps rolling or giving way, an assessment can help you understand why.

At Physio Room, we look at how your ankle moves, how strong you are, how you balance, and how you perform the movements that matter to you. We also consider your injury history and the demands of your activity.

That information helps us build a plan around your needs rather than giving you the same exercises as everyone else.

Build Strength and Control Together

A rehabilitation plan should address both your ability to produce force and your ability to control movement.

Depending on your assessment, that may include foot and calf strengthening, exercises for the muscles around your ankle, hip strengthening, and progressively challenging balance work.

As you improve, rehabilitation can move toward running, jumping, landing, and changing direction. Physical therapy can help restore strength, motion, and balance while preparing you to return to activity. choosept.com

Use Ankle Support When Appropriate

An ankle brace or supportive taping can be helpful, particularly during sports or activities where you’ve previously been injured. Research supports bracing as one way to reduce ankle sprain risk. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Support and rehabilitation can work together. Wearing a brace doesn’t mean you’ve failed to recover, and it shouldn’t replace the strength and balance work your ankle needs.

A physical therapist can help you decide what support is appropriate and when to use it based on your symptoms, injury history, and activity.

Build an Ankle You Can Trust

You don’t have to keep repeating the cycle of rolling your ankle, resting, and hoping it won’t happen again.

Identifying the contributing factors gives you a clearer path toward building strength, improving control, and returning to the activities you love.

Keep rolling your ankle? Schedule an assessment at Physio Room so we can help you understand what’s happening and build a plan to move forward with confidence.

Written by Dr. Dr. Chris Hildenbrand, PT, DPT, Cert. DN | Physio Room

The post Why You Keep Rolling Your Ankle: 3 Reasons & How to Fix It appeared first on Physio Room.

Dr. Andrew Fix planned to work out in the afternoon. By 7:40 p.m., he was still in his garage, squeezing in whatever exercise he had time for. His point is, a short workout beats skipping one because the day didn’t go as planned.

Perfectionism can make simple goals harder than they need to be. When the plan changes or the timing falls apart, it becomes easy to do nothing. Dr. Andrew Fix shares why done is better than perfect and how a more flexible mindset can help you stay consistent.

If you’re wondering how to stop procrastinating, start by lowering the bar enough to take action. A short workout still counts. A small step still moves you forward.

Andrew also shares one easy health habit: walking after meals. It can support blood sugar regulation and digestion while giving you a chance to step away from screens and connect with the people around you.

Your workout doesn’t need to happen at the perfect time or last as long as you planned. Do what you have time for, and move on with your day.

Quotes

• “But this is what we’ve got. It’s better for me to get this in than to get nothing in.” (07:41 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “If I let just needing and wanting the perfect scenario to happen today, then I’m gonna wind up with nothing because that’s just not gonna be what happens today.” (07:47 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “I’m gonna pick these things up and just get something in and get it done and get it accomplished and not stress out over the fact that it’s not perfect.” (07:58 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “Just start doing something. You don’t have to have all the details figured out. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect.” (08:20 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “Get it done. Don’t worry about it being perfect.” (09:22 | Dr. Andrew Fix)

Links

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The post 246. Perfect is the Enemy of Done appeared first on Physio Room.

The workout that changes your life is the one you’ll actually come back to.

So what makes someone stick with fitness while someone else keeps starting over? For coach and personal trainer Jeremy Crawford, the answer often comes down to connection, environment, and whether the approach actually fits your life.

Jeremy joins Dr. Andrew Fix to explore why the right coach, gym, or community can make such a difference. They talk about the energy and community that come from group training, the individualized support of personal training, and why it helps to understand what you want from exercise before deciding how you want to train. Are you looking for structure? More connection? Expert guidance? A place where you can turn your brain off and simply follow the workout?

They also look at the relationship between coaches and clients. Trust and genuine care matter, but so do healthy boundaries and honest conversations when a relationship no longer feels productive.

Ultimately, fitness becomes a long-term investment in how you want to live. You do not need an upcoming race or competition to have something worth training for. As Andrew puts it, we are all training for life.

Quotes

• “What separates success and failure with coaching and training or even in the therapy world is it comes down to the relationship at the end of the day.” (07:41 | Jeremy Crawford)
• “You already know that you’re not where you want to be. What are you waiting a few weeks or waiting for this quote unquote right time? What is that going to do for you? There is no right time. The time is when you want to do it.” (21:44 | Jeremy Crawford)
• “Don’t just do something because it’s the fitness craze. Do it because it’s actually something that you see yourself realistically doing.” (22:27 | Jeremy Crawford)
• “Knowing how to have that healthy boundary, I think is super, super important because that will allow you, I think, to have those hard conversations easier.” (34:18 | Jeremy Crawford)
• “Your worst workout is sometimes more beneficial than the one that you crushed because you mentally beat the battle.” (45:33 | Jeremy Crawford)

Connect with Jeremy Crawford:

The EPOC Experience 

Carbon Strength & Conditioning

Jeremy Crawford started training in 2008. He got his break in 2009 as a coach for a high school baseball player for the pros. Jeremy started group fitness in 2010. In 2015 he ran multiple gyms, coached and trained individuals and group fitness building communities in the Denver area.

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The post 245. Why Group Training Works | Jeremy Crawford appeared first on Physio Room.

Postpartum and perimenopause might seem like completely different seasons of life.

One comes with a baby, sleepless nights, feeding, and a body recovering from pregnancy and birth. The other comes years later, often bringing changes in your menstrual cycle, sleep, mood, body composition, and energy.

But there is actually more overlap between these two seasons than you might think.

Both postpartum and perimenopause are periods of significant hormonal change. And both are times when your body may need a different approach to movement, recovery, strength, and pelvic health.

Your body is changing. That doesn’t mean something is wrong.

During pregnancy and postpartum, changing hormones affect everything from connective tissue and muscle function to your pelvic floor and abdominal wall.

During perimenopause, fluctuating and eventually declining estrogen can also affect muscle, bone, connective tissue, sleep, energy, and the genitourinary system.

The symptoms can look different, but the experience can feel surprisingly similar:

• Changes in sleep and energy
  • Changes in body composition
  • Feeling like your body doesn’t respond to exercise the way it used to
  • Achiness or new areas of discomfort
  • Changes in pelvic floor function
  • Urinary leakage or urgency
  • Changes in sexual function
  • A feeling that your strength or confidence has changed
  • Needing more recovery than you used to

And in both seasons, it can be tempting to think, “I guess this is just what my body does now.”

It doesn’t have to be.

This is not the time to stop strength training

If there is one thing we want women to know during both postpartum and perimenopause, it’s this:

Your body still needs strength.

In fact, these can be especially important seasons to maintain and build it.

For postpartum women, returning to resistance training can help rebuild strength and confidence after pregnancy and birth. Current guidelines support a gradual, individualized return to physical activity, including resistance training, as the body heals.

For women in perimenopause and beyond, strength training becomes an important tool for maintaining muscle mass and strength while also supporting bone health. The International Menopause Society specifically recommends regular physical activity, including resistance exercise, as part of midlife and menopause care.

That doesn’t mean you need to go from zero to heavy barbell squats.

It means you don’t need to be afraid of getting stronger.

Strength training should be progressed to meet your body where it is right now.

That might mean rebuilding your core and pelvic floor connection postpartum. It might mean modifying impact because of symptoms. It might mean learning how to lift without leaking. Or it might mean finally progressing beyond the light weights you’ve been using because someone told you they were “safer.”

The goal isn’t simply to exercise.

The goal is to build a body that can support the life you want to live.

And don’t forget your pelvic floor

Your pelvic floor is part of your strength system.

It works with your diaphragm, abdominal wall, back, and hips to help manage pressure and provide support during everything from walking and running to lifting your kids or a heavy weight.

Pregnancy and childbirth can challenge this system. So can the hormonal and tissue changes that occur during the menopausal transition.

Pelvic floor physical therapy isn’t just for women who are leaking urine.

It can be helpful for women experiencing:

• Urinary leakage or urgency
  • Pelvic pressure or heaviness
  • Prolapse symptoms
  • Pelvic or abdominal pain
  • Pain with intercourse
  • Difficulty returning to running, lifting, or higher-impact exercise
  • Core or abdominal wall concerns
  • Changes after pregnancy or childbirth
  • New pelvic symptoms during perimenopause or menopause

And perhaps most importantly, pelvic floor therapy doesn’t have to mean taking a break from the activities you love.

A good pelvic floor physical therapist can help you understand what is happening in your body and figure out how to move forward.

You shouldn’t have to choose between pelvic floor health and getting stronger

This is one of the reasons we believe so strongly in combining pelvic health with exercise and strength training.

At Physio Room, our pelvic floor providers don’t just look at your pelvic floor in isolation. We look at the whole person and how your pelvic floor functions within the activities you actually care about.

That might be lifting weights.

Running.

Playing with your kids.

Returning to sports.

Hiking.

Having sex without pain.

Getting through a workout without leaking.

Or simply feeling strong and confident in your body again.

Postpartum and perimenopause are not seasons where you need to shrink your life to accommodate your body. They’re seasons where your body may need a little more individualized attention.

You don’t have to accept pain, leaking, pelvic pressure, weakness, or feeling disconnected from your body as “just part of being a woman.”

And you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Ready to understand your body and get stronger?

Schedule an appointment with one of our pelvic floor physical therapists at Physio Room. Our pelvic floor providers are also experts in exercise and resistance training, so we can help you connect pelvic health with the strength, movement, and activities that matter most to you.

Your body is changing. Let’s help you make it stronger, not smaller.

Written by Dr. Katie Sasser PT, DPT, M.Ed., Cert. DN | Physio Room

The post Postpartum and Perimenopause: What These Two Seasons Have in Common appeared first on Physio Room.

The person you want to become isn’t waiting somewhere in the future. Your choices today decide who shows up.

Dr. Andrew Fix shares a simple mindset shift that can change how you approach your health, work, relationships, and everyday habits: stop treating personal growth like a constant effort to fix yourself. Instead, consider the person you want to be and start making choices from that identity today.

Who are you telling yourself you are? And are those beliefs making your goals harder to reach? Being someone who takes care of their health, follows through on commitments, or shows genuine interest in the people they love starts with acting in ways that support those qualities now.

Andrew also looks at the role your environment plays in reinforcing that identity. The people around you can make consistent choices easier or much harder. This is a reminder to pay attention to both the story you tell yourself and the company you keep.

You don’t have to wait until you’ve changed to act like the person you want to become. Start with the next choice.

Andrew also shares details about the upcoming Health and Performance Summit in Lone Tree, Colorado, where experts and local health and wellness businesses will come together for a day centered on better health and performance.

Quotes

• “Stop trying to change who you are and start being who you want to be.” (01:31 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “Who are you and who do you believe that you are?” (02:43 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “If you believe that you’re a person that takes good care of yourself, then it’s easier to wake up when that alarm goes off.” (02:56 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “We need to put ourselves around other people that are supporting that same mentality, that are supporting that same type of lifestyle that you’re thriving for. It is so hard to be the one that’s trying to live a certain way, that’s trying to do a certain thing. If you’re surrounded by a bunch of people that are doing the exact opposite of that.” (03:25 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “Just start doing what you’re hoping happens. Just start being who you want to be.” (05:41 | Dr. Andrew Fix)

Links

Health and Performance Summit

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The post 244. Stop Trying to Change You and Start Being Them appeared first on Physio Room.

Running can be wonderfully simple: lace up your shoes, step outside, and go.

Becoming a stronger, faster, and more resilient runner, however, is anything but simple.

Whether you’re training for your first 5K, chasing a PR, or preparing for your next ultra, a performance-focused physical therapist can play an important role in helping you stay healthy, train consistently, and perform at your best.

But physical therapy for runners doesn’t have to start when something hurts. A running assessment can give you a better understanding of how your body moves, how it responds as training demands increase, and where there may be opportunities to improve.

How Can a Running Assessment Help?

A running assessment goes beyond simply watching you run. It combines an outside perspective with objective data and an understanding of your training history, goals, strength, mobility, and previous injuries.

Here’s what that can look like.

1. Get an Outside Perspective on Your Running

Runners spend countless hours thinking about their training, but surprisingly few spend time objectively evaluating how they actually run.

And that’s understandable. It’s incredibly difficult to accurately assess your own stride while you’re moving at speed.

You may think you’re overstriding when you’re not. You might believe you’re a heel or forefoot striker when the reality is the opposite—you’d be surprised how often this happens. Or you may not realize how significantly your mechanics change as you fatigue.

That’s where an outside perspective becomes valuable.

A physical therapist can observe your running mechanics and identify movement patterns that may be difficult to recognize on your own. More importantly, those observations can be considered alongside your training history, goals, strength, mobility, and injury history to create a more complete picture.

2. Use Objective Data to Understand Your Stride

A running assessment doesn’t have to rely solely on what the eye can see.

Using specialized technology, a physical therapist can collect objective data on factors such as:

• Hip, knee, and ankle joint angles
• Cadence
• Dynamic stability
• Impact magnitude
• Symmetry

These measurements can provide a more detailed look at what’s happening during your stride.

Assessments can also incorporate a progressive speed test. By gradually increasing your pace, we can see how your mechanics and running metrics change from an easy-run pace all the way through threshold effort.

And importantly, the goal isn’t to find a “perfect” running form.

The goal is to understand your running mechanics and determine whether there are opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce unnecessary stress, or build greater capacity for the demands you’re placing on your body.

3. Think Proactively—Not Just Reactively

One of the biggest misconceptions about running injuries is that they happen in a single moment.

Sometimes they do.

But many running injuries develop gradually as stress accumulates over time. Factors can include:

• Weeks or months of increasing mileage
• A sudden change in intensity
• Insufficient recovery
• Changes in fueling
• Strength deficits
• Repetitive movement patterns
• Simply asking your body to do more than it currently has the capacity to handle

The day you finally feel pain may be the day you notice the problem—not necessarily the day the problem started.

This is where physical therapy can shift from being purely reactive to being proactive.

Instead of waiting until something hurts enough to stop you from running, a physical therapist can help identify areas that may need attention and develop a plan to address them.

That could mean improving strength, modifying training load, addressing mobility limitations, refining mechanics, improving recovery strategies, or simply helping you better understand how your body is responding to training.

The Importance of Having a Physical Therapist in Your Corner

Running is inherently uncomfortable.

When you’re in the final 400 meters of a 5K, your quads are going to be screaming. When you’re 60 miles into an ultra, your legs are probably going to feel like bricks.

But there’s a difference between the discomfort of hard effort and the pain of an injury.

Knowing where that line is can be difficult.

You can try to figure it out on your own, or you can work with a performance-based physical therapist who understands runners and running-related injuries and can help you make more informed decisions about when to push, when to modify, and when something deserves a closer look.

That confidence matters because the goal isn’t simply to get through today’s workout.

The goal is to string together weeks and months of consistent training.

Train Consistently. Push Hard. Recover Smarter.

Running longevity isn’t about avoiding every uncomfortable feeling or eliminating every imperfection in your stride.

It’s about building a body that can handle the demands of running—and understanding how to respond when those demands change.

A physical therapist can be an important part of that process.

Through running assessments, objective data, strength and movement evaluations, injury prevention strategies, and individualized guidance, a PT can help you better understand your body and make smarter decisions throughout your training.

The result?

More confidence in your training. More consistency. Smarter recovery. And a better ability to push your limits when it matters most.

Because ultimately, running performance isn’t just about how fast you can run today.

It’s about how long you can keep running—and how much you can accomplish along the way.

Written by Dr. Drew Short PT, DPT, CMFA, Cert. DN | Physio Room

The post The Role of a Physical Therapist in Running Longevity and Performance appeared first on Physio Room.

Communications coach David “Kiwi” Kiwimagi joins Dr. Andrew Fix to explain why unspoken expectations quietly wreck marriages and workplaces alike, and how a few simple frameworks can turn resentment into agreement before it ever takes root.

Kiwi built his coaching career on a hard truth learned from his own marriage: most conflict has nothing to do with bad intentions and everything to do with expectations nobody bothered to state out loud. Trouble starts when two people both assume the other one owns a task, or when a conversation begins with no sense of where it’s headed. Kiwi walks through his “frame it” method for opening any conversation with a clear time, topic, and outcome, a technique that works as well in a sales call as it does at the end of a long day at home.

The most useful idea here might be the three mental loads behind every task: execution, logistics, and the emotional weight of getting something done right. Kiwi uses laundry and dinner as his examples, but the real payoff is a new lens for spotting effort that usually goes unnoticed. He also shares “couch time,” a three-question daily ritual he still uses with his wife after a decade of marriage, and a lasagna story that took ten years to resolve for the simple reason that nobody said what they actually wanted.

Good communication keeps conflict from festering into resentment. Whether the relationship in question is a marriage, a team, or a client engagement: clarity offered earlier and more often beats effort spent cleaning up after the fact.

Quotes

• “I firmly believe that when you improve your communication, you improve every relationship in your life.” (08:54 | David “Kiwi” Kiwimagi)
• “Uncertainty creates anxiety.” (11:18 | David “Kiwi” Kiwimagi)
• “Unmet expectations lead to resentment. And resentment can grow like a weed in the garden of your relationship. And so in situations like this, turning unmet expectations into agreements is vital.” (27:28 | David “Kiwi” Kiwimagi)
• “Sometimes something is unrealistic because of the time you wanna do it in.” (28:33 | David “Kiwi” Kiwimagi)
• “With simple communication techniques, you can avoid 10 years of resentment.You can turn unmet expectations into agreements. You can avoid 10 years of frustration. And when you learn how to frame conversations, you can eliminate wasting time, energy, and effort.” (1:08:03 | David “Kiwi” Kiwimagi)

Links

Connect with David “Kiwi” Kiwimagi:
Kiwi Coaching 

David “Kiwi” Kiwimagi is a Navy veteran and 15-year speaker who helps business owners fix the one thing standing between a great presentation and a booked client: the presentation itself. Through Maximize My Message, he’s helped over 150 people stop getting compliments and start getting calls. 

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The post 243. How to Communicate with Anyone | David “Kiwi” Kiwimagi appeared first on Physio Room.

Every gymnast knows the feeling: a wrist that starts aching after bars, a pull in the low back after beam, or a shoulder that just doesn’t feel right after a big tumbling day.

And every coach knows the harder question that follows:

Is this something we can safely work around—or something we need to take seriously?

From the gym floor, the answer isn’t always obvious.

That’s where performance-based physical therapy for gymnasts can help. Rather than replacing a coach’s expertise, physical therapy can give athletes and coaches more information about pain, movement, strength, mobility, and training tolerance so they can make better decisions about what comes next.

Common Questions Gymnasts Have About Pain and Injuries

When something starts hurting, gymnasts often have the same questions:

• Is my wrist pain normal, or could it be gymnast’s wrist?
• Could my back pain be related to a stress injury?
• Should I tell my coach that something hurts?
• How can I return to gymnastics after an injury without losing my skills?
• Why am I nervous to perform a skill again after getting hurt?

These questions matter because gymnastics places unique demands on the body. Athletes repeatedly load their wrists, shoulders, spine, knees, and ankles through ranges and forces that aren’t common in everyday activities.

Knowing when discomfort is something to monitor—and when it deserves an evaluation—can make a significant difference.

What Gymnastics Coaches Want to Know

Coaches often look at the issue from a different perspective. Instead of managing one painful joint, they’re thinking about the health and performance of an entire team.

Common questions include:

• How can I create a culture where athletes feel comfortable reporting pain early?
• What accessory or strength work may help athletes tolerate the demands of gymnastics?
• How can I recognize signs that an athlete may not be recovering adequately?
• When should training be modified versus stopped?
• What does a gradual return-to-skill progression look like after an injury?

Performance-based physical therapy can help bridge the gap between rehabilitation and gymnastics performance.

4 Common Areas of Injury in Gymnasts

Gymnastics can challenge nearly every part of the body, but several areas tend to experience particularly high demands.

1. Wrist Pain and “Gymnast’s Wrist”

Gymnasts load their wrists almost like other athletes load their feet.

Handstands, tumbling, vault, and other skills repeatedly place body weight through the hands while the wrist is extended.

For growing athletes, repetitive loading can sometimes irritate the growth plate near the wrist, a condition commonly referred to as gymnast’s wrist.

Symptoms may develop gradually rather than from one obvious injury. A gymnast might initially notice mild discomfort during weight-bearing skills that becomes more noticeable as training volume increases.

Persistent or worsening wrist pain—especially in a growing gymnast—is worth having evaluated rather than repeatedly training through it.

2. Low Back Pain and Spondylolysis

Gymnastics frequently requires repeated spinal extension, or arching, during skills such as walkovers, tumbling, and beam work.

Because of these repeated demands, low back pain in young gymnasts deserves attention. In adolescent athletes, repetitive loading of the spine can sometimes contribute to bone stress injuries such as spondylolysis.

That doesn’t mean every gymnast with back pain has a stress fracture.

However, persistent pain—particularly pain associated with repeated extension or gymnastics skills—shouldn’t automatically be dismissed as normal soreness.

3. Shoulder Pain and Instability

Bars, rings, handstands, and other gymnastics skills require an unusual combination of mobility, strength, and stabilityfrom the shoulder.

Athletes need enough mobility to achieve demanding overhead positions while also having enough muscular control to manage significant forces.

When strength, control, mobility, or training demands aren’t well matched, shoulder pain or feelings of instability can develop.

Performance-based PT can evaluate how the shoulder blade, rotator cuff, trunk, and surrounding musculature are working together during gymnastics-specific movements.

4. Ankle and Knee Injuries From Landing

Vault, floor routines, beam dismounts, and tumbling all require athletes to repeatedly absorb substantial landing forces.

How well an athlete controls those forces depends on more than the knees alone.

Hip strength, ankle mobility, balance, coordination, and landing mechanics all contribute to how force is absorbed.

Evaluating the entire movement pattern can help identify areas that may need additional strength, mobility, or control.

When Is Gymnastics Pain More Than Normal Soreness?

Soreness can be a normal part of training, particularly after a difficult practice, increased training volume, or learning new skills.

But pain deserves more attention when it:

• Continues to worsen with training
• Consistently returns during the same skill
• Changes the way the gymnast moves or lands
• Causes the athlete to avoid certain movements
• Persists despite rest or modifications
• Interferes with performance
• Makes an athlete hesitant or fearful during previously comfortable skills

The goal isn’t to make athletes afraid of every ache.

It’s to recognize when the body may be telling us that the current training demand is exceeding what it can tolerate.

What Is Performance-Based Physical Therapy?

Many people think of physical therapy as something that happens only after an injury.

Traditional rehabilitation is an important part of PT, but performance-based physical therapy goes further.

Instead of asking only:

“How do we get this athlete out of pain?”

We also ask:

“What does this athlete need to return to gymnastics—and perform at their previous level or better?”

That means evaluating the actual demands of the sport.

For a gymnast, performance-based PT might include:

• Assessing wrist and shoulder capacity for handstands, bars, and other upper-extremity loading
• Evaluating hip and ankle mobility for landing and tumbling
• Building trunk strength and control for gymnastics-specific positions
• Improving landing mechanics and force absorption
• Identifying meaningful strength or mobility differences
• Gradually rebuilding tolerance to gymnastics-specific skills
• Developing accessory strength work that complements practice

The goal is to build a body that can better tolerate the demands gymnastics places on it.

Physical Therapy Should Work With Gymnastics Coaching—Not Against It

One of the biggest advantages of performance-based physical therapy is the opportunity for collaboration.

Coaches understand the sport. They see the athlete train, know the skills they’re working toward, and understand the technical demands of gymnastics.

Physical therapists understand rehabilitation and movement. They can evaluate strength, mobility, tissue tolerance, pain, and physical capacity.

When those perspectives work together, athletes can receive a more complete plan.

Instead of simply being told to “rest until it feels better,” the athlete may be able to modify certain skills, continue appropriate training, work on specific deficits, and progressively rebuild toward full gymnastics participation.

Returning to Gymnastics After an Injury

Being pain-free is important, but it isn’t always the final step before returning to full gymnastics.

An athlete may feel fine during everyday activities and still not be ready for repeated tumbling, hard landings, handstands, or high-volume bar work.

A return-to-gymnastics plan should consider the specific demands the athlete needs to tolerate.

Depending on the injury and athlete, progression may involve:

Basic strength and mobility → controlled gymnastics movements → partial skills → increased repetitions → full skills → normal training volume

The exact progression should be individualized rather than based solely on the amount of time that has passed.

The Mental Side of Returning to Gymnastics Matters, Too

Physical readiness is only part of returning from an injury.

An athlete may regain their strength and mobility but still feel hesitant about a skill associated with their injury.

That hesitation shouldn’t automatically be viewed as weakness or something the gymnast needs to “push through.”

Gradual exposure, appropriate progressions, communication between the athlete and coach, and successful repetitions can all help rebuild confidence.

The goal is to restore both physical capacity and confidence in movement.

Why Early Communication Matters

Gymnasts are tough. That’s part of what makes them successful.

But toughness shouldn’t mean hiding pain until an athlete can no longer train.

Creating an environment where gymnasts can mention symptoms early gives coaches, parents, and healthcare providers more opportunities to modify training and address potential problems before they become more limiting.

An athlete saying “this hurts” doesn’t automatically mean they need to stop gymnastics.

Sometimes it simply means it’s time to gather more information.

Performance-Based Physical Therapy for Gymnasts

Whether you’re a gymnast wondering if that nagging ache deserves attention or a coach trying to help your athletes train hard while staying healthy, performance-based physical therapy can help bridge the gap between rehabilitation and performance.

At Physio Room, we look beyond the painful area to evaluate the strength, mobility, movement patterns, and sport-specific demands that may be contributing to the problem.

Because the goal isn’t simply to get a gymnast back into the gym.

It’s to help them return strong, confident, and prepared for the demands of their sport.

If pain is affecting training or performance, our physical therapy team can assess the problem and create an individualized plan built around the athlete’s gymnastics goals.

Written by Dr. Ally Nelson PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, CIDN | Physio Room

The post Performance Physical Therapy for Gymnasts: What You Need to Know appeared first on Physio Room.

You can’t expect to get better at anything you’ve never actually practiced, and Dr. Andrew Fix explains why performance and practice are two completely different skills.

Picture missing shot after shot on a basketball hoop you haven’t touched in years. Then getting annoyed at yourself for being rusty. Andrew unpacks the real gap. You have the ability. You skipped the practice. When was the last time you actually practiced the thing you expect yourself to be good at?

He explains why golfers who play a few rounds a year never improve, why runners who race every training session tend to get hurt instead of getting faster, and why top athletes spend far more time drilling and reviewing film than competing. The performance is only a small piece of the process. The rest happens in drills and film review.

Then he applies the idea to conversations. What changes if you prepare for a hard talk with your kid, your partner, or a client the same way an athlete preps for a big game, instead of hoping the right words show up on the spot? Communication breaks down for the same reason a jump shot does. Nobody rehearses it.

Pick the thing you keep getting frustrated about. Have you ever practiced it outside the moment it counts? If not, that’s where to start.

Quotes

• “Practice is really where the gains can be made to acquire the skills that you’re trying to acquire, no matter what we’re talking about.” (01:24 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “If we do anything like that, like we only do something occasionally, it’s always a performance, it’s always a game or a round of golf when we’re playing with no intentional practice, how can we expect to get better at it?” (03:57 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “We can get better at any multitude of things, but we have to practice them. And we have to practice different than when we’re performing.” (05:26 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “Try not to get frustrated with yourself when something doesn’t go according to plan, when you didn’t put any real effort into getting better at that thing before the performance came up, before the opportunity presented itself for you to play.” (10:29 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “Where you put that time and intention into, that area of your life is going to grow no matter what it is.” (11:15 | Dr. Andrew Fix)

Links

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Connect with Physio Room:

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The post 242. Preparedness Beats Frustration Every Time appeared first on Physio Room.

Pelvic floor discomfort, pressure, or urinary leakage during squatting is surprisingly common among strength athletes. When symptoms show up—especially as the barbell gets heavier—it’s easy to assume:

“I need to brace better.”
“My core isn’t strong enough.”
“I’m going too heavy.”

Sometimes those things matter. But sometimes, they aren’t the whole story.

For some athletes, the better questions are:

• Is your squat position allowing you to manage pressure effectively?
• Are your breathing and bracing strategies supporting the demands of the lift?
• Do you have the strength and power needed to move efficiently through the hardest part of the squat?

As a physical therapist who works with strength athletes, I often help athletes experiment with their squat position, bracing strategy, and training variables to find an approach that allows them to continue lifting while reducing pelvic floor symptoms.

Your Squat Position Can Influence How You Manage Pressure

There isn’t one “perfect” squat position for everyone.

Small changes in bar position, torso angle, and stance width can affect your mechanics and how you manage the load. What works well for one lifter may not work for another.

Your anatomy, mobility, strength, training history, and individual movement strategy all matter.

Bar Position Matters

A higher bar position places the bar closer to the neck and typically requires a more upright torso than a lower-bar squat.

For some lifters, maintaining that upright position may also be accompanied by greater lumbar extension during the descent.

But this isn’t universally true.

Every athlete has different proportions, mobility, strength, and movement strategies. If your current setup seems to contribute to pelvic floor symptoms, experimenting with a slightly lower or hybrid bar position may be worth considering.

A more posterior bar position can change the torso angle required to keep the bar balanced over the midfoot, potentially allowing you to find a position that feels stronger and more sustainable.

The goal isn’t to make everyone squat low bar.

It’s to find the bar position that works best for your body.

A Little Torso Angle Isn’t Necessarily a Bad Thing

One common misconception is that you need to stay as upright as possible during a squat.

You don’t.

Some forward torso inclination is a normal part of squatting, and the amount you need depends on your anatomy, bar position, stance, and goals.

Rather than forcing an artificially upright position, the goal is to find a torso angle that allows you to stay balanced, maintain control, and effectively manage the demands of the lift.

In other words, don’t chase the “perfect-looking” squat.

Find the squat position that allows your body to manage the load well.

Stance Width Can Matter, Too

Stance width is another variable worth exploring.

For some athletes, a slightly wider stance gives the hips more room to move and makes the bottom of the squat feel more comfortable and controlled.

Changing stance width also changes hip mechanics, which may influence how an athlete experiences and manages pressure during the lift.

Again, there’s no universal stance width that prevents pelvic floor symptoms.

The right stance is the one that works with your anatomy, mobility, strength, and symptoms.

Bracing for Heavy Squats: Think Pressure, Not “Push Down”

When pelvic floor symptoms occur during lifting, one of the first things athletes often hear is:

“Brace harder.”

But a stronger brace isn’t necessarily a better brace—especially if “bracing harder” feels like actively bearing down or pushing pressure toward the pelvic floor.

Instead, think about creating 360-degree pressure and tension throughout the trunk.

During heavy lifting, athletes often use a Valsalva maneuver to increase intra-abdominal pressure and create trunk stiffness. That pressure helps stabilize the body so it can efficiently transfer force during the lift.

The goal isn’t to intentionally force all that pressure downward.

It’s to create and maintain pressure throughout the trunk while coordinating your breathing, abdominal muscles, and pelvic floor with the demands of the movement.

For someone experiencing pelvic floor pain, heaviness, pressure, or leakage, learning how to coordinate breathing, bracing, and pelvic floor function under load can be an important part of physical therapy.

What If It’s a Strength and Power Problem—Not Just Pressure?

Sometimes pelvic floor symptoms aren’t simply a bracing problem.

Strength and power may be part of the picture, too.

Some athletes struggle to produce enough force to efficiently get out of the bottom of a heavy squat. As the load increases, that sticking point becomes even more obvious.

If you struggle to accelerate out of the bottom, you may spend more time grinding under a heavy load. For an athlete already experiencing pelvic floor symptoms, that may be another training variable worth evaluating.

This is one situation where accommodating resistance, such as bands or chains, can be useful.

How Banded Squats Can Help Build Strength and Power

With a banded squat, resistance changes throughout the movement.

At the bottom: Less external resistance from the bands
As you stand: Resistance progressively increases

This allows an athlete to work on producing force and maintaining good technique through the bottom of the squat while progressively increasing the challenge as they move into stronger portions of the range.

As you stand, the increasing resistance demands continued force production from the quads, glutes, and other supporting musculature.

Instead of simply grinding through your sticking point, you can practice accelerating out of the hole and continuing to produce force throughout the lift.

Banded squats aren’t a universal solution for pelvic floor symptoms. But for the right athlete, they may be a useful training modification while building the strength, power, and confidence needed for heavier squatting.

Pelvic Floor Symptoms Don’t Automatically Mean You Need to Stop Squatting

Experiencing leakage, pressure, heaviness, or pain during squatting doesn’t automatically mean you need to give up the barbell.

And the solution isn’t always as simple as “brace harder.”

Depending on the athlete, treatment and training modifications might include:

• Changing bar position
• Adjusting stance width
• Finding a more appropriate torso angle
• Improving breathing and pressure management
• Building strength through the bottom of the squat
• Developing power and rate of force production
• Using bands or chains to modify resistance
• Retraining trunk and pelvic floor coordination under load
• Temporarily adjusting training intensity or volume while symptoms improve

The right strategy depends on why you’re experiencing symptoms in the first place.

That’s why an individualized assessment matters.

Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy for Strength Athletes

The goal of physical therapy isn’t simply to make your symptoms disappear.

For strength athletes, it’s also about understanding why those symptoms are happening and developing strategies that allow you to continue training while building the capacity your body needs.

You shouldn’t automatically have to choose between your pelvic floor and your barbell.

If you’re experiencing pelvic floor pain, urinary leakage, heaviness, pressure, or discomfort during squatting or strength training, a pelvic floor physical therapist can assess your individual mechanics, breathing and pressure-management strategies, strength, and training demands.

At Physio Room, we work with strength athletes to address pelvic floor symptoms while keeping their goals—including squatting, strength training, powerlifting, and weightlifting—at the center of their physical therapy plan.

Ready to lift with more confidence? Schedule a pelvic floor physical therapy assessment and let’s find a strategy that works for your body and your training goals.

Written by Dr. Jessie Czarnecki PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, Cert. DN | Physio Room

The post Pelvic Floor Pain When Squatting: How to Lift Without Pain, Pressure, or Leakage appeared first on Physio Room.