Impact Institute: Physical Therapy & Performance

Technology has always played a big role of the physical therapy profession.  It is amazing the significant change an assistive device or adaptive equipment can make in a patient's life, but there are many other devices that can build upon this lifestyle change.  Dr. Tamara Hefferon and doctoral PT student Jenny Teslevich discuss technology they have used to help motivate patient's to achieving their goals.

The neuro discussion continues this week with the focus on CVA's.  In past podcasts we discussed the importance of using the neuroplasticity principles, but it's just as important to educate the patient and family on their plan of care and prognosis.  So listen in as Dr. Tamara Hefferon discusses her experience and what she learned from a recent stroke patient.

Dr. Tamara Hefferon and PT doctoral student Jenny Teslevich keep rolling again this week on the neuro discussion.  This week's focus is spinal cord injury and unique factors that go into treating these patients.  What are their goals? What are other resources outside physical therapy that can help them achieve their goals?  

What is neuroplasticity? This week Dr. Tamara Hefferon is joined by PT doctoral student Jenny Teslevich and they dive into the importance of neuroplasticity in all facets of physical therapy.  The brain, even when damaged, is extremely adaptable.  The term “use it or lose it” truly exists with neurological disorders, but we should also consider “use it to improve it” when molding the human brain.  Whether you are an “ortho” or “neuro” PT, the brain plays a role in all stages of healing.  Therefore, physical therapy sessions should be specific, repetitive, intense, and rewarding to the patient in order to induce plasticity.

Whether you are an established clinician or new grad we've all encountered roadblocks with patients.  The clinician and patient may be doing everything right, yet the patient's symptoms continue to stay the same.  In this week's podcast Dr. Tamara Hefferon and doctoral student Diana Frank discuss common roadblocks they encounter and the clinical pearls they've gained from those experiences.

How much exercise is enough? This is a challenging question when handling patients with varying levels of fitness. If you remember back to your time as a student the answer was often... "It depends".  Dr. Tamara Hefferon and Dr. Eric Hefferon provide some insight on what "it depends" means.  The best fundamental resource is the ACSM guidelines.  ACSM guidelines provide a great starting point, but as we know each patient is different and exercise prescription should be tweaked to the individual. So please join us in this week's discussion and feel free to share your thoughts on exercise prescription!

NEUROMOTOR? What is it? In orthopedic PT and strength/conditioning it's easy to get stuck in the mindset of only treating/training the musculoskeletal system.  The nervous system is often underutilized when prescribing exercises, especially early in rehab programming.  Dr. Tami Hefferon discusses neuromotor training early in ACL rehab along with tools for progressing/regressing neuromotor exercises.  The brain is an amazingly powerful tool that can be tapped into throughout any of the stages of healing to help improve musculoskeletal movement patterns.

The Impact Institute podcast is back from the holiday break! Please join us in our first 2017 discussion of getting out of the constant "3 sets of 10" mindset.  Dr. Tamara Hefferon and doctoral PT student Diana Frank discuss the importance of challenging clients/patients and addressing their impairments or needs by taking the time to clinically reason through exercise prescription.  Taking into account the overload principle, neuro re-education, or power/strength activities can make a positive change in your client/patient outcomes.  So next time you are prescribing sets and reps think about the overall goal of the exercise before saying "3 sets of 10".

Today, we have a special treat for our listeners...Chris Peach is an fitness enthusiast and local firefighter but also a successful financial coach and blogger for Money Peach. His passion is sharing ideas and creating products for people who are looking for a better way to handle their money.  In this episode, Dr. Eric Hefferon and "Peach" discuss: how finance student loans, how to avoid living pay-check to pay-check, tangible strategies to save money, and how to create a budget. He shares Impact Institute's values of health including financial health and well-being. If you are worried about finances, in debt, or need help budgeting, press that play button and visit impactptaz.com for more helpful advice. 

Diastasis recti is a condition that involves a separation, usually two fingers, between the rectus abdominus musculature. We bust one myth right off the start: Pregnant women only experience this. BUSTED. Men including professional athletes and those who lift improperly are often susceptible and misdiagnosed. The podcast outlines how to examine this population, what symptoms can be expected, and most importantly how to treat these individuals in a progressed exercise program. The exercises to AVOID are key in helping these individuals rehabilitate. Regardless of background, you are likely going to know someone who will experience this! 

37 million people have student loan debt and the average and 25% of graduate students borrow over 100,000! Needless to say, this is a major topic and one we wanted to address to help all students especially those have plan to, are in, or have attended graduate school.   We discuss HOW much money to take out for loans, where to get it (don't just knock on Grandma's door), and how to budget when trying to navigate through graduate school. Stories and strategies are shared on mistakes and successes through undergraduate and graduate school to SAVE MONEY and not drown in debt! 

Dr. Don Shaw joins us today again as an expert regarding cardiac medications and implications for exercise professionals. The podcast discusses the TOP 5 must know cardiac medications, their effects, and implication for exercise including blood pressure and pulse response. Scientific and metaphoric examples are explored regarding how these drugs effect our cardiovascular system and more! 

Prone six exercises and other protocols are often appropriate and useful for overhead athletes, post-surgical shoulder patients, and individuals with shoulder instability. However, often these exercises are over or even MIS-prescribed in certain cases and there is less emphasis on the clinical judgement. We discuss why these exercises may not be appropriate in specific patient cases and the importance of expanding or tailoring a protocol. Finally, how can you add varying stimuli, stances, and equipment to provide a SPECIFIC, individualized program for the patient or client in front of you! 

Vitals and cardiopulmonary issues are often confusing and misunderstood among movement and health professionals. Dr. Donald Shaw PT, PhD, D.Min, FAACVPR joins us as a fellow and former national board member of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.  He has lectured globally and has has publications in the journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, Respiratory Care, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise...just to name a few! This is a must listen to for ALL health professionals to identify KEY signs to monitor, SIGNS to identify when to stop exercise, and when the CAUTION light is up. Let's learn how to keep our patients safe, properly monitor vitals, and what the exact parameters are for exercise.

Join two doctoral physical therapy students in their discussion of common mistakes they made early on, key study strategies for a successful graduate career in a rigorous curriculum, and also tangible keys for success. We talk about what study strategies are effective and how you can make the most of your own student experience, a friend's, or even your child's. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts with us at info@impactptaz.com

Charlie Boeyink PT,CWS,OCS at Cadence PT in AZ provides his knowledge and expertise regarding managing running performance and injuries. He clues the audience in regarding: how he speaks with his client, the top 5 items to examine with a runner, what physical therapists may not be addressing with runners, and much more! He stresses how to examine training schedules, review training programs, and tangible concepts to immediately apply to practice! 

Early sport specialization has had profound affects on our youth both physically and psychologically. Our panel discusses why early specialization often may lead to injury and drop out and how multi-sport athletes often have an edge. We discuss questions like when is too early to specialize and how can we put "fun" back into sports and training. Learn the truth behind staggering statistics regarding youth drop out rates. 

Gender differences have researched implications regarding coaching styles, types of injuries, and performance. Today, we discuss strategies for how to coach girls versus boys to best meet their psychosocial and physiological needs. How can you motivate your client or athlete when considering their gender and is how BIG of a difference does gender truly make? Finally, we discuss strategies for improving performance based on gender in a variety of sports. 

This week we "dive" into the deep waters of common swimming injuries including impingement syndrome. What is a common swimmer's posture and how does that have implications to impairments, pain, and ultimately treatment? We explore strategies to implement as a coach regarding warm ups in the pool and dry land training? How can upgrade simple banded exercises and planks to improve performance and injury prevention? Join our discussion and join us on Facebook at Impact Institute to see the swimming research article and exercise videos to follow! 

Do you ever wonder what a coaches perspective is regarding training or injury?  How should you market/network to local coaches and teams as a fitness professional? Would you like to know how to elevate your coaching training and athlete screening? Listen to today's podcast where Coach Craig Weeks provides a unique perspective on what he believes leads to a successful athlete and season. We explore specific sports such as swimming and the implications regarding dry land training, stability under water, etc. Finally, commentary on how to be involved in your local community and serve through your skill and movement expertise.