Dynamic Physical Therapy & Wellness, LLC

01/27/2026

If you're like many Americans, you've started a new exercise routine around the new year, and that's amazing! We've made dozens of posts about how exercise improves your quality of life, but right now, we want to focus on five tips to make sticking to your exercise plan easier!

1. Start Low and Slow: You're going to be sticking to this plan all year, no need to get ahead of your skis! Burning out from doing too much too soon is a real possibility with new exercise plans.

2. Stay Flexible (Literally): It's pretty hard to stick to an exercise plan with a pulled hamstring. Make sure warming up, cooling down, and dynamic and static stretches are part of your routine.

3. Stay Flexible (Figuratively): Many people fall into the trap of setting an exercise plan that is too rigid in the activities it allows for, forgetting that the important thing is staying active. So, every now and again, don't be afraid to swap that run for a swim, or weightlifting for yoga.

4. Measure your Progress: Staying motivated can be another big issue with workout routines. Keeping track of your efforts can be a great way to mitigate burnout. Watching your ability increase--whether reflected in your flexibility, run times, weight lifted, minutes active, or competence in a new sport--will reward you for sticking to your plan.

5. Find some Friends: Doing group activities is an amazing way of staying active. One of the reasons sports like pickleball is so popular is the group aspect of the sport, as having other people to exercise with makes the process much more enjoyable. Getting other people involved in your exercise plan can mean attending spin classes, having a weightlifting group, running with a friend, or going swimming with your kids. Having someone to help cheer you on while you cheer them on is a great way of sticking to your plans.

01/22/2026

We all know a few good reasons for lifting weights; it's good exercise, builds strength, and helps muscles grow. That last reason has more to it than you might initially think. Adding muscle mass to our bodies also increases our bone density, and this, in turn, leads to numerous long-term health benefits.

Increased bone density can help prevent and slow the progression of osteoporosis, decrease the likelihood of bone fractures, and enhance mobility. So, next time you grab some dumbbells, remember that you're building more than just muscles!

01/09/2026

If you've ever had a joint injury, you know that the scariest part of recovery is trusting the joint with weight. Whether you've hurt your knee, ankle, shoulder, or elbow, attempting to exercise the joint again can seem intimidating.

One of the best ways around this problem is water exercise. In a pool, the stress on your joints becomes much less intense, allowing injured joints to move with much less stress. For instance, if you have a knee injury, walking in a pool can help activate the muscles around the knee, increase range of motion, and decrease inflammation and pain in the area.

Now, water exercise isn't the only way to exercise injured joints, but it is a good one. If it is unavailable to you, though, or if you want ideas or assistance in developing your own recovery plan, give us a call! We'd love to help you recover from any joint pain you may be suffering.

12/28/2025

Worried about putting on a few pounds after the holidays? It's an understandable worry, especially after all sorts of excellent holiday foods, but maybe you shouldn't be as worried as you think.

To gain a pound in one day, you'd need to consume 3,500 more calories than your daily caloric maintenance and exercise, which for most people is somewhere around 1,600 to 2,400. For reference, 3,500 calories is 14 Snickers bars, 30 sugar cookies, 291 ounces of Coca-Cola, 121 ounces of turkey breast, 153 Hershey kisses, or 70 candy canes.

Now, most of us aren't eating 70 candy canes a day on top of our regular food intake. Sometimes, weight gain we see around the holidays is due to increased food intake and temporary bloating, water accumulation, or changes in schedule and sleeping habits. So, don't worry too much about having a few candies!

12/24/2025

There's a common phrase, "use it or lose it." For physical therapy--and our bodies in general--this phrase is particularly pertinent. Using every joint and muscle in our bodies keeps them limber, strong, and healthy. Practicing mobility through exercise, stretching, and an active lifestyle can help prevent inflammation and stiffness.

When we don't use a part of our body, we may "lose it," or find reduced motion, strength, and flexibility. The muscles around our joints tighten, resulting in a reduced range of motion and pain, especially when trying to regain this mobility.

All of this is why "use it or lose it" is important, even if it sounds callous. In order to keep our mobility, we have to keep our bodies active, however we prefer to do so. Yoga, sports, and weightlifting can all be good methods to stay active, but use your muscles and joints in the way that you prefer! Your body will thank you!

12/14/2025

For many students across the United States, this time of year is especially stressful; between finals, the holidays, cold weather and short days, there's plenty of things to stress about.

This stress can lead to negative impacts on health, with effects ranging from muscle tension and migraines to changes in appetite and an impaired immune system. Acute stress, or stress taking place over a short period of time, usually comes up as a response to something--like those examples listed earlier.

With acute stress, any problems or negative health impacts it may generate should go away after the stressful event is over. Sometimes, though, things pile onto each other, and our acute stress can become chronic stress. Chronic stress, if not addressed, can cause a variety of negative health concerns, like joint pain, respiratory issues, and chronic fatigue.

However, there are methods to reduce stress regardless on what is happening in our lives; consistent exercise, adequate sleep, and a diet filled with protein, vitamins, and minerals can all help our bodies deal with the side effects of stress.

Additionally, keeping a journal, limiting alcohol intake, and meeting with a mental health professional can help us mitigate stress.

12/10/2025

We have a lot of important muscles in our body, but some of our most used muscles are right behind us--our back muscles. We've shared some things about the lower back on this page, but what we haven't gotten into is the anatomy of these muscles.

Our back muscles technically begin just below our skulls and stretch all the way down to our hips, going across the shoulders as they do so. Back muscles are skeletal muscles, meaning that they are attached to our bones; in this case, they attach to our ribs, vertebrae, and shoulder blades.

Typically, the back muscles are divided into one of three groups: superficial, intermediate, and intrinsic. Superficial back muscles are just below the skin, and include major muscles like latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and trapezius. Intermediate back muscles surround our ribcages. Intrinsic muscles are the deepest layer of back muscles, the ones closest to the spine.

Ultimately, these muscles work harder than almost any other muscle to keep our bodies functional. Taking care of these muscles through proper stretching, exercise, and rest will help us stay active and avoid pain. If you need help with your back muscles, reach out to us, and we'd love to come up with a personalized plan to address your pain.

If you want to read more about our back muscles, here is a great link: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/21632-back-muscles

Healthcare providers organize your back muscles into three main groups that run from your neck, down your spine to just above your hips. Learn everything you need to know.

11/27/2025

Our rotator cuffs are groups of muscles and tendons in our shoulders that keep our arm bone in its socket. Rotator cuff injuries are, unfortunately, a common occurrence. They happen to about 22.1% of the population, and an individual's probability increases as they age. So, here are a few steps you can take to try and avoid this kind of injury!

-Don't try pushing through shoulder pain, especially sharp pain!

-When doing shoulder exercise, always use a spotter when using heavy weight.

-Stretch frequently, using static and dynamic stretches.

=Warm up and cool down before exercise

Although these prevention methods can help avoid shoulder injuries, if you have an injury, it's important to rest the injured area, and consult a medical professional.

11/21/2025

Most of us probably don't think about our hip flexors often; in fact, the overwhelming majority of us likely don't think about our hip flexors at all! However, physical therapists think about hip flexors all the time, and maybe we could all pay a little more attention to such an important part of our body!

The hip flexor isn't actually just one thing, but a group of muscles located at the top of your hip. These muscles help us lift our legs up, like when we walk, run, stand up, or really move our lower body at all. Because of how much they work, these muscles can become injured, overworked, or inflexible if we do not take proper care of them.

Taking time to stretch our hip flexors frequently can help our hip flexors avoid injury, reduce lower back pain, and make everyday actions like bending and walking much easier.

If you're dealing with hip flexor pain, give our office a call! Our number is in our bio! We can help you get a personalized plan that'll be tailored to your exact situation.

11/18/2025

One of our treatments that we offer at Dynamic Physical Therapy and Wellness is therapeutic ultrasound! This treatment utilizes a small ultrasound wand that produces focused ultrasound waves that can target issue areas in our bodies. The waves can heat up tissues in deeper areas in our bodies, increasing blood flow, breaking up scar tissue, and potentially reducing pain.

Common reasons to receive ultrasound therapy are arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, muscle strains/tears, scar tissue buildup, pain reduction, tendonitis, and other problems. If you are struggling with any of these issues, send us a message or call to book an appointment, and we will help!

10/22/2025

It's the time of year when the weather begins to turn cooler, even down here in sunny Southern Utah. What we need to talk about, then, is warming up!

Warming up our muscles is an important, if often ignored, step in a good workout. Warming up helps us perform our best, widening our blood vessels to ensure our muscles have enough oxygen. It also, literally, warms up our muscle fibers, helping release tension and make our muscles more flexible.

To do an effective warmup, incorporate a light version of the activity you'll be doing for your main exercise. If you are running, walk! If you are lifting weights, use light weights and target the muscles you'll be working on. Finally, get your whole body involved; spending 5-10 minutes on a treadmill and doing pushups or yoga is an excellent warmup for most activities.

10/14/2025

Many of you who are more scientifically minded may already know this, but the Nobel Prizes were recently awarded, including the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine! Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discoveries related to T-cells and the immune system.

Their work is incredibly exciting. They uncovered a special kind of T-cell called the regulatory T-cell, which acts as the immune system’s “brake” and prevents it from attacking the body’s own tissues. This discovery reshaped how we understand immune balance and autoimmune diseases.

Now, researchers around the world are building on their findings, exploring how these powerful cells could be used to treat autoimmune disorders, improve organ transplants, and even fight cancer. It’s a fascinating example of how basic science can unlock major medical breakthroughs.

If you would like to read more about this discovery, you can do so on the official website of the Nobel Prize linked below!

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 was awarded jointly to Mary E. Brunkow, Frederick J. Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi "for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance"