As we previously stated here, our Beliefs (the “B”) influence the Consequence (the “C”) that manifests in our lives. Our reactions, our emotions, are not directly influenced by the Adversity (the “A”). Rather, our Beliefs are what’s responsible for our Consequences.

This pertains to how we interpret (how we THINK) about our physical issues as well.

Check out the video to learn more about how two different people can THINK differently about the SAME diagnosis, and how that thinking can manifest different trajectories in their dealing with that diagnosis.

It’s really difficult to cultivate the awareness of some of our deep seated thoughts, but this is necessary if we’re going to see our physical realities differently, and make steps toward a healthier version of our reality.

We challenge you to take 5-10 minutes and consider how some of your thoughts may be influencing your physical pain or immobility, and what you may be able to do to overcome those limiting BELIEFS!

For more resources on the ABC’s, click here.

We call it myofascial decompression. Both techniques refer to the process that results in those circular bruises you’ve seen on Michael Phelps and James Harrison, amongst many other athletes.

However, myofascial decompression isn’t just for athletes. The technique can be really effective for the treatment of myofascial issues in the general population as well.

Additionally, THERE IS ONE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CUPPING AND MYOFASCIAL DECOMPRESSION. When we perform myofascial decompression, we’re often incorporating active movements of the tissue, which can add a significant improvement in the function and length of the tissues.

The cups actually change the relationship of the muscles AND the fascia. So, what is fascia anyway? Fascia is a thin casing of connective tissue that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fiber and muscle in place. The tissue does more than provide internal structure; fascia has nerves that make it almost as sensitive as skin. When stressed, it tightens up. Although fascia looks like one sheet of tissue, it’s actually made up of multiple layers with liquid in between called hyaluronan. It’s designed to stretch as you move. But there are certain things that cause fascia to thicken and become sticky. When it dries up and tightens around muscles, it can limit mobility and cause painful knots to develop.

So, why myofascial decompression instead of massage, for example? Well, the big difference between both techniques, and the reason why the cupping can be more effective, is that we’re PULLING the tissues apart instead of compressing them. This, in theory, can help improve blood flow, tissue mobility, and reverse the bonding of the collagen fibers of the fascia, resulting in greater movement and faster recovery.

We use a multitude of therapies to address nerve, muscle and fascia mobility, and myofascial decompression is one of those techniques. If you’re curious about cupping, and want to give it a try to improve your mobility and decrease pain, let us know!

Who can relate? Imagine the circumstance where you run into Giant Eagle for some groceries, and after returning to the parking lot, you discover police and a tow truck surrounding your car. You come to find out that someone wasn’t paying attention, ran a stop sign, and hit your rear bumper. How would you feel? What emotions would you have?

We’re going to give you two different examples of a couple typical reactions after this type of circumstance.

Kelsey’s first reaction was “Thank goodness I wasn’t in the car, I coulda got hurt!” Then she’s a bit annoyed because realized she may be late for work. She calls her work just to let them know she may be late. She’s also curious as to whether she will have to pay her deductible to have the bumper fixed, and wonders if there’s any other damage to the vehicle so those damages can be addresses as well. Ultimately, she is grateful she wasn’t in the car when this person hit the vehicle, and though she doesn’t find it fun to have her car in the garage, it’s fixed in a couple days and life goes on as usual.

Charlie reacted a bit differently than Kelsey. He’s very upset. his first reaction is “why me? This type of thins happens to me all of the time when am I ever gonna catch a break?”

What’s different about these two scenarios? The same event occurred, but the emotions and reactions of these two folks were dramatically different. The accident didn’t cause Charlie to feel victimized, then quite angry – his beliefs and thoughts about the accident did. Here’s the key concept. Adversity comes to all of us. Sometimes in disproportionate amounts to some folds more than others. BUT, our Beliefs and Thoughts are what determines the Consequences, not the Adversity.

In this case, Charlie THOUGHT “why does this type of thing always happen to me?” He believed he was the victim. This let him to be very upset at the other person that made a mistake.

Now, this model can also apply to how we feel physically. Many times the THOUGHTS that we have can hinder us physically as well, especially during the recovery process.

Having a poor posture shares such a common link with neck pain, especially if you sit at a desk for a majority of the day! That rounded posture will alter the pull of the muscles that attach to the neck, and inevitably lead to increased tension and pain.

The most common cause of neck pain of this sort is soreness in the upper traps.

These 3 exercises will provide you with a great foundation to help your body attain the proper position throughout the day, cueing you to increase your positional awareness.

Additionally, they will help decrease the tension in your traps and other neck muscles, decreasing the chance you’ll experience pain while you bang away at the keyboard!

Give them a try – hopefully they’ll build within you the ability to become a posture Jedi like our very own Lenny Murgi!

In this video, we show you just a couple of manual therapy interventions that we can utilize to improve your neck mobility and decrease pain.

However, the MOST CRITICAL component to having a successful outcome is to first properly identify what the actual cause of the pain is. How unhelpful it would be if your car mechanic didn’t run the proper diagnostics and instead told every one of his customers that the transmission needs replaced?

Here at WPT, we aren’t going to apply a cookie-cutter approach to your neck pain or any other issue you may be dealing with. Once we have properly identified the problem, we can then apply the correct treatment to help you get better, faster!

Stop struggling with neck pain and give us a call so we can identify what’s wrong, and assign the correct treatment to get you back to living free of pain!

If you have trouble getting into a deep squat, it’ll present itself in a number of ways – all problematic.

Ever have any trouble getting up from a really low chair if it doesn’t have arm rests? Ever have trouble getting up from the ground, if you don’t have something to use your arms to pull yourself up?

I would argue that squatting is the most foundational human movement. It’s absolutely ESSENTIAL to normal functioning, and if you can’t do it your body will start to compensate, which can lead to all sorts of problems down the road.

If you can get into a squat with help from the strap, as demonstrated in the video, that means you have the mobility in your hips, knees and ankles to get there. You just need to retrain your body and brain to move the correct ways, with the correct balance.

If you can’t squat with the help of a strap, or it hurts, don’t just assume “I’m getting old, squatting isn’t for me anymore”. This will haunt you as you get older, and rob you of being independent as long as you possibly can. As people age, most often the first thing that limits their independence is directly related to their inability to squat down.

Get the help you need so you can stay strong, be independent, and age like a champion!

What does a snake do before it attacks?? That’s right – Recoil. They need to spring. Golf is a rotational sport, and it requires recoil in order to unleash good club head speed and have good impact.

Think about how much less power and ball contact a MLB batter like Mark McGuire would have if he tried to move his hips and arms at the same time as the ball was coming. Yes, the steroids helped him hit it long, but so did his sequence and his hip and trunk mobility.

We’re not just talking about power here, though. Every single good ball striker has the same sequence as they swing the club. At the top of the backswing, they first start to rotate their hips, then their trunk, then their hands, then the club follows. If this sequence is off, bad things are gonna happen!

This correct sequence requires you to be able to move your hips independently from your trunk. If they’re moving together, you’re going to need the club face to be manipulated by your hands in order to have good contact. And that’s not a reliable outcome, trust me.

Try these 3 exercises in order to help your trunk rotate separately from your hips. One of them can actually be done out on the course – who cares what your buddies think! They’ll be doing them too, once you stripe one down the fairway!

Early Extension – It’s a golf swing characteristic that 70% of amateur golfers deal with, and 99% of PGA Tour Pros don’t.

Early Extension is defined as your hips moving closer to the golf ball during the backswing or downswing, before impact. Basically, it’s a loss of golf posture too early in the swing, and it’ll kill your consistency.

There are several reasons why this can be happening. Poor hip mobility, poor core strength, poor thoracic rotation, clubs too long, standing too far away from the ball, etc. Whatever the reason, it’s good to be aware that you’re doing it, and seek out help in finding the reasons as to why.

Here at WPT, Cliff is a TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) Certified Physical Therapist, and he can assess your hips, core, trunk and balance to determine what your potential issues are as to why you’re early extending.

There are SO many things that can cause neck pain and limited mobility. Sometimes you may not have pain, but your neck isn’t moving as it should. Ever notice how it’s harder than it used to be turning your head while driving?

In this video, Kelsey describes ONE of the issues you may be facing if your neck is hurting or not moving as it should.

Your neck has joints that move in several directions. If these joints aren’t freely able to move, you’ll have a hard time turning your head in a variety of directions.

In this circumstance, Lenny had a facet joint problem on the left side of his neck.

Your issue may be muscular.

The approaches to treating them are different, but it’s easy for us to determine what the problem is and perform the right treatments that are going to get you back to OWL STATUS!

Perform a self-assessment – if you’re not able to bring your chin all the way to your chest, turn your head over each shoulder easily, equally, and without pain, or look upward fully, you shouldn’t wait to deal with it.

Addressing these limitations will pay dividends. The longer some imbalance persists, the harder it will be to overcome.

STAY MOBILE, STAY STRONG!

Does this look like a spine to you? Does it look like a spaghetti noodle? Or do you see a curve representing exponential growth? That’s what we see here at WPT.

When we were creating the logo that would represent what we’re about, we chose this curve to indicate the way we want to come alongside someone to help them on their journey. We want them to experience exponential growth in their health!

What we’ve found is at best most people have flatlined in terms of their health, and most have begun a slow descent downwards to worsening health, and more pain and dysfunction.

Most other physical therapy companies are designed to make small changes in people’s health. Maybe they reverse their slow decline and help someone get back in the black, slowly climbing and hopefully reducing pain.

Well, WPT wants to help as many people as possible experience exponential changes to their health. We want to help you have a TRANSFORMATION!

We know that if you’re going to experience this, we need to spend a lot of time directly with you. We need to help you figure out where your big roadblocks are, and help you navigate them.

Are your emotions or your thinking hindering you from overcoming your issue?Is your sleep off, preventing you from getting full recovery and restoration of your body?

Problems need to be attacked from several angles in order to have maximum effectiveness. That’s what we strive to do with every one of our clients. Equip them to address their issues with as much knowledge and know-how in order to get to the other side of what’s holding you back.

If you or someone you know has been dealing with an issue in your body that’s preventing you from living the life you want, let us help you get to the other side. Call us today to get started on the journey to a better YOU!