Dynamic Thoughts

By: Dr. Peter Dionisopoulos

Summer is here, and we can again enjoy the sports that we love so much during their peak season. We can also now, again, benefit from some quick tips for rotational athletes, whether it be golf, baseball/softball, volleyball, or tennis.

Welcome fall! I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to cooler weather, sweaters, apple picking, and pumpkin everything! It’s also the best time to savor the time spent outdoors before colder weather comes. If you haven’t already it’s a great time to focus your fitness routine a couple of times a week getting out of the house. England is well known for beautiful fall scenery, so why not get out and discover something new.

Many of these sports involve a bias to one side (righty vs. lefty). This leaves you repetitively moving one way far more times than the opposite. We can become conditioned to moving in one direction, creating movement habits and behaviors that continually push us this way, even when we are not engaging in the activities we love, leading to imbalance and compensations.

Exercise doesn’t have to monotonous, there are plenty of great places to hike locally. There’s a book called Weekend Hikes in Rhode Island by Ken Weber that I was introduced to awhile back. an excellent job of breaking down each destination with detailed directions, approximate walking the distance. A couple that are great for fall are Napatree Point and Browning Mill Pond- Roaring These are just a couple of the many that are close by. Always be safe when hiking new areas and research prior to heading out. As always never hike close to dark. If hiking new areas isn’t your a walk or run in your neighborhood or local park.

At first thought, you may say, “I’ll just keep stretching out more to loosen the muscles.” But, let’s be honest, when does anyone stretch longer after their activities? If you’re like me, you want to get out of there, shower, and eat. So, what’s a more practical solution to reduce potential compensations and repeat injuries?

Get your family involved in fitness! If you don’t have children take the dogs along with you. Children to get outside and explore nature. There’s plenty to explore to stimulate the mind and get some activity in. When you’re having fun exercise doesn’t feel like a task. Most dogs are always up for you can train them to run while you’re training g yourself. Alternate between jogging and walking second intervals to start off and work your way up from there. Bring water for you and your pet everyone hydrated.

Working with a personal trainer is supposed to ensure that you are not only getting a great workout but they’re also teaching you the proper way to preform each exercise. Not everyone works with a trainer, many of us attend group classes or workout on our own. In a group setting you have access to an instructor, unfortunately teaching so many people at once the person leading the class can’t always watch and correct every single person. If you are unsure, maybe you feel a sharp pain while your working out or something just doesn’t feel right, stop and ask the instructor for help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, if you’re not sure about something someone else is probably feeling the same way. In a situation where you are working out on your own you can always google the right way to do each of your exercises and workout in front of a mirror. Trust me, most people can’t tell when they’re form is off unless they can see it themselves. When you are using weights they should be heavy enough to challenge you, and you should be able to complete all reps with good form. Let’s take shoulder presses as an example. To start your elbows should be in line with your shoulders, wrist in line with the elbow, palms facing forward, tummy tucked tight, and back nice and straight. Oftentimes when people start to get tired they’re back starts arching, this is dangerous and could cause potential back or shoulder injuries. If you’re doing a squat and your knees are coming over your toes not only are you setting yourself up for injury but you’re not really working the glutes and the quads as best as you could, thus minimizing the effects. Sometimes we just can’t do certain exercises and that’s ok! Modifications are just as good and eventually you’ll get there I promise. Again quality over quantity, keep this in mind and you’ll be on the road to success for whatever your goals are. Keep moving and stay motivated.

Enjoy the beginning of this beautiful season and stay motivated. Just because it’s getting cooler out mean that it’s not a good time to start working out. Anytime is a great time to start!

Stacie Venagro Fitness is located at 161 Macklin Street in Cranston.

If you move in one direction more than another, take a few moments to reverse it in the other direction. Using a right-handed golfer, as an example; they swing the club to the right on a backswing and follow through to a left-sided turn. It sounds like they go equally in different directions, but the way they turn to the right is not the same as how they turn to the left. Different muscles and motor patterns are needed to move into the right in this case, meaning the left side is doing something different than the right side. To offset this, taking swings as a lefty (even if they are not great) can be a viable strategy to offset the bias. Please note that these should be gentle, easy swings to get a feel for how to move in this position. Don’t actually play lefthanded.

The balancing out of moves can be a 5:1 ratio. So, for every five swings the golfer makes, they can take a slow, easy one in the opposite direction. These tips can apply to any athlete and will reduce a one-sided movement bias with daily activity and impede potential compensations.

If you struggle with balancing your body out, contact us today!

12 Industrial Land Johnston, RI 02919 401-702-0293 staff@dynamicprri.com

Satellite Site:

3399 S County Trail, East Greenwich, RI 02818 (Inside Jtab Training)

**TUESDAYS 3-6pm**

Stacie Venagro Fitness

161 Macklin Street, Cranston, RI