I've been practicing for 26 years and I've, literally, seen thousands of clients over the years and so many of them have back pain or hip/butt pain. Age doesn't matter! Do you know what else, surprisingly, is not related to age all of the time? Leaking urine...I've had 10 year olds in my clinic for leaking, I've had 16 year old twirlers, gymnasts, runners in my clinic for leaking. Of course, I've had the new moms and the pregnant moms in the clinic for leaking along with the 70 year olds. We are taught to believe that once you have babies, you just have to accept that you're going to pee yourself if you sneeze, laugh, run, jump on a trampoline, but obviously. all of the young kids I've had in my clinic with leaking don't fall into that category. And do you know what I did for SOOOO many years? I ignored the muscles of the pelvic floor. I just thought a PT who specializes in women's health would take care of "that" issue. I'm sorry I did a disservice to so many clients by not understanding the connection of the pelvis with the back, our breathing, and EVERY SINGLE THING WE DO IN OUR DAY!! Do you know you can't even think about lifting your arm or leg without the pelvic muscles engaging and preparing to support you before you even start to do anything, Isn't that amazing!

      The muscles of the pelvic floor are just like any other muscle of the body. They are just like the quads, the biceps, the hamstrings. They have to be trained to work hard and they have to be trained to relax. Doing "kegals at the red lights" IS NOT going to fix the problem you may have with your pelvic floor! BUT, I can help you with these problems...maybe it's not leaking, but you have constipation, painful sex, diastasis recti from your pregnancy. Are you just not feeling stable and supported in your pelvis and back area? You don't have to feel like that! I get it, as a wife and mother, you put yourself behind everyone else and everything else that needs to be done and that list of things that need to be done are so unending and so overwhelming. You just think if you can get through the baby phase then you can focus on your health... or the toddler phase...then it's when they start school...once they start driving...once they graduate high school and they're off to college...

      There is ALWAYS going to be something that is going to feel more important than taking care of issues you've had for years, but YOU WILL FEEL SO MUCH BETTER, STRONGER, CONFIDENT, AND HEALTHIER IF YOU CHOOSE NOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!

      Check out my website (www.ptliveit.com) to learn more and download a FREE Guide to help you get started. Go to the top of the page and click on Physical Therapy then click on Leaking with Running/Crossfit.

TIP OF THE WEEK: "Blow before you Go"
      Before you lift a heavy weight, before you squat, before you roll over in the bed, before you get up from sitting, before you do anything that normally causes you pain or to leak, do it on the EXHALE! Don't hold your breath out of protection. The core muscles, pelvic floor muscles, and the deep back muscles turn on to help support and stabilize on the exhale! Crazy, isn't it. TRY IT and let me know what you think!
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​I spent the day at my son's Region track meet watching these high school athletes do some crazy things with their bodies and do you know what the most beautiful thing was? Those kids never thought twice about what their bodies could do, or more importantly, couldn't do! They launched their bodies upside down 12 ft in the air by a pole, they jumped up and over a bar laid out backwards for a high jump. They jumped ridiculous distances in a technical triple jump, they ran a mile in 4 minutes and some change and they did an all out sprint for 2 laps! They put the work and training in and then let their bodies do what it knew to do.

Do you remember what it feels like to trust your body and just go out and play, run, lift weights, and work in the yard? To not have to worry if your back is going to give out or if your knee is going to be so sore for the next 3 weeks that you won't be able to do anything?

My mom was watching me jump in the back of my truck to tie down a push mower and she said to me, "you know what, Tess? One day Abbey (my daughter) is going to do all the things you used to do so easily and can't anymore and it's going to make you cry." I know one day my time will come, but I will buck it all the way. I want to not just be able to live, but live with joy and thrive. I want to trust my body and what it can do. I want to go out and run a 55k trail run in Utah or enjoy the splendor and awe of walking Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon while watching the sun light up the canyon. I want to go play pickle ball with my brother and KanJam after that. I want to workout at Creed with the people I've met there and know they're going to be at the 8am class when I show up or push my muscles during a yoga class at TransFit.

And do you know what else? I want the same thing for you! I want you to plan your next trip, go for a run in this beautiful weather, meet me for a workout, and do all of those things in trust of your body! I'll help you put the work in now and relish in your stories later...

Call me if you remember what it used to feel like to play with abandonment and you want to get just a little bit of that feeling back! 

There's a singer/songwriter I like to listen to. His name is Drake White and he sings a song called, "Stompin Ground." Here's a couple lines of the lyrics:
"Is it big city concrete or a one horse town,
Does it free your soul or does it hold you down"

When I hear the song, it always makes me think about my stompin grounds which is right here. I graduated from Oglethorpe County High School and I had a blast. I loved high school, I had great friends, great teachers who wanted the best for us, and great classmates. There are a lot of us still here and rarely does a day go by when I don't see someone I knew growing up.

Even though I loved it here, loved my family, and the house and farm I grew up on, I had always said the day I graduated from high school, I was leaving. I was headed to the mountains and truly thought it would be out west to the wide open spaces. I was ready for something bigger and different.

So when I hear the line of the song, "Does it free your soul or does it hold you down?' I can happily and honestly say YES. My home town does both. I have fond memories of growing up here and it has been really special to be able to work with people I grew up with, their parents, their kids, and now even their grandkids! For a parent to trust their child or family member to my care is something I never take for granted.

Maybe I used to feel like my Stompin Grounds held me down, and honestly, I can still feel like that sometimes, but then I think, instead of my home town holding me down, maybe it's that it grounds me. It's a safe place to launch from and dream from. I can fly, I can travel, I can try big things, and I can fail because I have a Stompin Ground that holds me down. It's like an anchor that isn't made to hold a boat back, but to keep it in a safe place for a little while for you to rest. That's how I think about my Stomplin Grounds.

What about you? Are your Stompin Grounds "big city concrete or a one horse town and does it free your soul or does it hold you down?"

There are few things that can make a Mama Physical Therapist cringe more than to see her 6'1 ft son walk around all hunched over with rounded shoulders!  Be proud of that height, Eli!  The only thing I said to him to correct his posture from picture 1 to picture 2 is, "Pretend you have a string on the top of your head and it's being pulled to the ceiling."  Then all of a sudden, he's stacked from head to shoulders to hips to feet.