Reach Mobility

06/01/2020

So proud of my colleagues (and friends) at Achieve PT. Such a professional and informative video. If you have unadressed pain or an injury. Watch this video, increase your comfort with seeing a PT during a pandemic and reach out to them. The PTs at all 3 clinics are awesome. If you want a personal rec DM me.

05/12/2020

Got pain?

Good morning! I wanted you all to know that you can use me as a resource for any new or old injuries you may be feeling as we WOD in our basements and try new moves to keep in shape.

I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about whether you should go to the doctor, see a PT in the office or maybe do a video treatment (aka telehealth) and get headed in the right direction at home.

Full disclosure is that I work at Achieve PT. We are open to see pt’s in the office or by video treatments. We are following all the CDC guidelines for masks, temp checks, cleaning and staggering patient appointments to limit how many people are in the office.

DM me or email me if you want advice or have questions.

Karen Anderson, MSPT
Kanderson@achieveptonline.com

02/27/2019

It's closing time...

The time has come for me to move on from my clinic at Reach. It has been a fun and educational 3 years. You have all taught me an amazing amount about CrossFit specific injuries and preventative training. I appreciate the trust you put in me from the very beginning.

I am closing my business for personal reasons, but am still practicing in the area (and still working out at Reach!). I can be found at Achieve PT in Bedford, MA and I am working with Stephen Bosjlie, a PT at the Acton location to get him up to speed on the unique injuries, abilities and personalities :) of the CrossFit athlete. Stephen in a great PT, knows Olympic lifting and enjoys working with higher level athletes.

Contact info:
Karen Anderson, Achieve PT Bedford 781-275-4111
Stephen Bosjlie, Achieve PT Acton 978-263-0007

If you still have a session from a package you bought from me, I am available most Wednesdays and Saturdays until the end of March at Reach. karen.andersonpt@gmail.com

Karen

11/03/2018

This is a repost, but I've had a few patient's ask me this week about why they keep getting injured and if CrossFit is to blame...

Stop Blaming CrossFit for Your Injuries and What Your Pain Can Teach You

All of us have listened as family, friends and even our doctors tell us to be careful, “you will get injured doing CrossFit”. Or maybe you have an injury and were told that you need to take a break from CrossFit and rest.

Let’s set a few things straight.

Most people show up at CrossFit the first day with their own personal movement patterns. Often these movement patterns involve muscle imbalances; poor mobility combined with small specific weaknesses.

You are then told the WOD today involves S2OH (shoulder to overhead), 10 reps for 8 rounds. Your brain takes over and your body is really good at producing the end result. Despite imperfect form you were able to get the weight overhead the requisite number of times and didn’t feel any discomfort during the workout. Later that day you feel a sharp pain in the front of your shoulder when you are taking off your sweatshirt. The pain continues over the next few weeks, especially with overhead movements and reaching across your body. Unfortunately, you now have a rotator cuff impingement injury.

Did CrossFit cause this injury?

I think not. You were predisposed to a shoulder injury because of poor posture, weak scapular stabilizers, tight pecs and the inability for your shoulder joint to pass through a normal balanced motion on its way overhead. This injury probably started a while ago while sitting hunched over at your computer, driving the hockey carpool or holding your baby in one arm while making dinner with your free hand. All of these motions tend to put your shoulders in a poor position, tightening the top and front of your shoulders (upper traps and pecs) and lengthening and weakening the muscles between the shoulder blades (scapular stabilizers).

Another way to think about this is that both your left and right shoulders went through the same motion during the S2OH workout, so why is only one of your shoulders painful? The answer is that one shoulder moves better then the other or has less muscle imbalances, probably due to your daily movement patterns.

Why me?

Most athletes are pretty upset when their body causes them pain, but it can be a valuable learning tool. You usually seek medical attention, are told to rest, ice and take Advil. You may see a massage therapist, physical therapist or chiropractor to help alleviate the pain.

The key is not only alleviating your pain in the short term, but asking the harder question of why did this happen? This was not a fluke traumatic one-time injury. It was caused by a movement pattern ingrained in your brain. Take the time to learn why it occurred. Seek out a healthcare professional who is interested in not only getting you out of your immediate pain, but who understands your movement patterns and muscle imbalances and can teach you why you ended up with shoulder pain in the first place and how you can prevent it from happening again.

Of course, it is then up to you to do the work of correcting the imbalances and relearning the movement patterns. Remaining injury free so you can get on with tackling your next PR should be enough motivation!

Karen Anderson, MSPT
Karen.andersonpt@gmail.com

09/26/2018

Doing a little reading between patients today and I came across this little gem. THIS is how you squat! The big take away from this is, look at those knees driving out, he almost looks bow legged. His feet create an arch, his knees drive out as he enters the movement. This creates torque at the hips and is a very stable base from which to move a lot of weight. I can help you look this good!
Email me at Karen.andersonpt@gmail.com

05/13/2018

04/25/2018

Think you don’t have time for PT? This Saturday 4/28, I have a 9:30am appointment open just for you! We can work on mobility and injury prevention or start repairing an injury you have been ignoring. Let me know if you want me to save it for you. Karen.andersonpt@gmail.com

04/23/2018

After today’s WOD you will ask yourself, “Why are single handed overhead dumb bell squats so @&$?& hard?” The answer is, your core strength and scapular stabilizers need some work! Turkish getups are a good starting point or maybe just more OH squats with a dumbbell. Thanks to Jim Reach for the photo and Dan Dumont for the programming.
Questions? Karen.andersonpt@gmail.com

04/12/2018

Grab a chair and work on better squat form!

While standing with feet shoulder width apart and in front of a chair that is facing you, bend your knees and lower your body towards the floor. The chair seat is a guide so that your knees do not pass over your toes. You should be maintaining a vertical shin.

Knees should drive out, in line with the 2nd toe and not pass beyond the toes. Your body weight should be directed through the heels of your feet.

Hold 5 seconds. Return to a standing position. Repeat 10 times.

Questions? karen.andersonpt@gmail.com

02/09/2018

Gifts from the Mobility Gods! Thanks Robby Blanchard! If you want a quick tutorial on how to use these great tools, I’ll be around after the 8:30 WOD Saturday 2/10 and before the 7:00pm WOD on Monday 2/12. Karen.andersonpt@gmail.com

01/28/2018

AFRAP

This is my new favorite CrossFit term. Any guesses what it stands for?

It’s a modification on the AMRAP and it is an amazing training tool. It will highlight flaws in your movement patterns like nothing else you do in the gym.

Think about this, most of the time we are trying to do As Many Reps As Possible (AMRAP) in a set amount of time. What if we switched it up and did As Few Reps As Possible (AFRAP) in the same time?

Let’s use a front squat as an example. Say you put 65 # on a bar and did a front squat AMRAP for 2 minutes. You’d probably log quite a few reps, but 90 seconds in, when you begin to fatique, your core will disengage, your legs will weaken and your form will dissolve into an unorganized mess.

Now, try doing ONE front Squat with 65 # for the whole 2 minutes. It’s hard! You’ll have to maintain perfect form the entire squat.

My guess is that most of you won’t be able to control one minute of lowering and one minute of coming back up. It will be a long 2 minutes, plenty of time to think about reengaging your core, pushing your elbows up, pushing your knees out and keeping your weight in your heels.

The modification would be reducing the time to one minute, 30 seconds down and 30 seconds up or reducing the weight.

Try it! See if I’m right. Then try it with an OH Squat, a Thruster, and a HSPU, lots to work on!

Questions? Karen.andersonpt@gmail.com

01/22/2018

Sitting all day tightens your hip flexors and weakens your abs and glutes. Stand up and use your chair to do this stretch a few times a day and you'll be amazed at how good you feel walking out of work and into the gym.

Questions? karen.andersonpt@gmail.com