Services
Rehab Process
Following our comprehensive movement assessment, we'll identify what is causing you pain or restricting your range of motion.
For a therapist, the goal is often two-fold: relief, and prevention. We will use targeted treatments for pain or tension initially. Over time, strengthening imbalanced muscles and teasing out mobility from the joints can offer more permanent relief and prevent further injury.
All assessments are based on CSEP’s standardized guidelines for functional fitness testing. Assessment scores will be compared to CSEP’s average data of healthy individuals your age and biological sex.
This data will provide an objective baseline for us to maintain and build your functional health
Pain Management Therapies
All techniques offered are in use in certified clinical practice, and are backed by peer-reviewed research.
We can often improve range of motion by assisting the movement of the joint and applying a force that is opposite to the direction the muscle and joint are used to moving, this inhibits the muscle’s natural protective mechanism to resist a stretch.
Pain is often from biomechanical errors that our bodies gradually develop. While release of the overworked muscles is important, activation of the weak areas are equally as important to improve movement patterns and reduce further pain and stiffness.
Essentially, we are applying a localized pressure to the area that has increased tension. This will break up the adhesions in the muscle and fascia tissue by increasing circulation in the area.
This will break up the adhesions in the muscle and fascia tissue by increasing circulation in the area when applying a steady pressure along the direction of the muscle fibres or transversely across them.
Using trigger point therapy while getting the muscle to move in its natural plane of movement, this inhibits the mechanism that makes the muscle tense up.
This will break up the adhesions in the muscle and fascia tissue by increasing circulation in the area.
Training for Functional Performance
Fitness training is an important facet of recovering from any injury. We will design a training program to rebuild injured muscular or connective structures by working against gradually increasing loads or pushing the zone of proximal development in your range of motion for affected joints.
Maintaining joint function is critical to avoid any further injury or chronic pain that can occur from repetitive use and motions that sports often demand. Common examples include: runner’s knee, jumper’s knee, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, rotator cuff tendinitis, Achilles tendinitis and back pain.
Successfully training for robust recovery and performance gains requires practicing movements combining specificity and variability. Over time, the successful trainee will follow a graduated progression of difficulty.
Specificity
Once joint function is assessed, we can test other attributes like range of motion, endurance, strength, flexibility, and aerobic capacity. From these assessments we can design a well-rounded, progressive training program to meet your performance goals. Programs with high specificity of locomotion to whatever sport you are training for. Examples of locomotion specific training are: jumping, sprinting, jogging and hopping. We will combine your locomotion specificity with addressing the terrain you perform on such as water, ground, air and ice.
Variability
Continuous performance gains also require variability in training. We design programs with progressive variability to avoid a plateau in your performance. Plateaus can happen from insufficient recovery and adaptation to overly-specific training. Cross training with other activities will help improve components of fitness that would otherwise plateau in your specific training program in addition to helping you recover. Sports also require multiple intervals of low to high intensity training for your cardiovascular fitness, and depending on the interval, you are using a different energy system for your muscles to work. We will integrate interval training to challenge all energy systems, including aerobic, anaerobic and phosphocreatine systems. Training each system will include a variety of longer periods of low intensity movements to short quick bursts of powerful agile movements.
Graduated Progression
Training in specific components of fitness also requires following the principle of overload for optimal performance. This means the training stimulus must be greater than the body is accustomed to. Keeping injury prevention in mind, it is important to progressively build the training stimulus to avoid overuse injury. Progression components include: frequency, intensity, duration and the number of repetitions and sets in a program. Your specific performance goals will dictate how we progress, for example: endurance improvement, strength improvement, speed improvement or muscle mass building. We will focus on improving your anaerobic lactate threshold which is important for any sport that requires a maximal effort at the go. This involves maximal intensity training.