Our Muscles Are Like Obedient Dogs

Meet Sassy. She is our 4 year old LabraSquatch (labradoodle by genetics, Sasquatch by attitude - in case you were wondering). Not to brag too much, but she can do some pretty cool tricks. She pees and poops only in the corner of the yard (most of the time) to keep the boys from stepping in it and tracking it in the house. She paws a bell when she wants to come in to keep her from jumping on the door and scratching it up. She’ll even let you shoot her with your pretend gun and play dead until you say, “Alive!” 

But this isn’t about Sassy. This is about a patient who we’ll call Toe Toucher and about you too. A little background on Toe Toucher - he has a 20 year history of powerlifting and was recently converted to big mountain summiting. He sought out PT after setting his sights on another big mountain that he plans to climb this summer without having both of his IT Bands feel like they are on fire. Over the course of a few visits we’ve worked a lot on flexibility. Don’t take “worked a lot” lightly. Toe Toucher is one of the most motivated and compliant patients I’ve ever worked with. In addition to our PT visits, he also works with Will (a personal trainer at The Wellness Center) multiple times each week. And in addition to that, he spends at least 30 minutes every evening, working on different exercises that we’ve been working on in PT.

Earlier this week at the end of our visit, Toe Toucher reached down and touched the floor. With a big smile on his face, he said, “That’s the 1st time I’ve done that in 42 years!”

You’re probably wondering what Sassy and Toe Toucher and you have in common. Our muscles and our bodies are like obedient dogs. The more time you spend training your dog, the more it will do what you want it to do. And the more time you spend training your body (stretching, strengthening, moving the correct way), the more it will do what you want it to do. And the opposite is true as well. Nobody likes being around that dog that’s never been trained. And nobody has fun with a shoulder that’s been tight and painful for the last few years when it’s time to throw a baseball, or cast a fly rod, or walk a dog.

If you would like help making your body obey you and get back to doing what you enjoy, get in touch with us today!