​We are back to spring! And with it, gardening is a fantastic way to stay active, relieve stress, and connect with nature. But as a physiotherapist, I often see clients with gardening-related aches and injuries. The good news? With a few mindful habits, you can protect your body and enjoy your time in the garden pain-free. 

Warm Up Before You Dig In:

Gardening is physical work - treat it like exercise! Before starting, spend 5-10 minutes warming up: 

• Shoulder rolls
• Gentle trunk twists
• Marching in place
• Wrist and ankle circles

This boosts blood flow and prepares your muscles for movement. ​

​As we approach the holiday season and the new year, many of us are reflecting on our health and well-being, often setting resolutions for the coming year. If you're looking to make 2025 the year of better health, including physiotherapy as part of your health goals can have a lasting, positive impact. Here are 6 reasons why physiotherapy should be on your radar for 2025 and how you can incorporate it into your resolutions.

Strategy 3. Visual reminders

​Put a sticky note on your bathroom wall to remind you to exercise before you start your day. Putting your workout clothes by your door before you go to bed can help remind you to go to the gym.  It makes it easier by having 1 less thing to do to get started. Tracking your behaviors in a place you can see will help.  Using things like paper clips in a jar, marking days on a calendar or on a habit tracking sheet can be a reminder of how many times you have been active with your habit. It is nice to reinforce that you are putting in the work toward a better path.

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At the end of the day, keeping active is important and beneficial for our body in multiple ways. It improves respiratory health, cardiovascular health, strengthens our muscles, and provides many other overall benefits to our health. There is no single right way to stay active, especially when trying to get through the coldest winter months. If you find one of these tips works best for you, use it to help you get through those days where it is too cold to leave the house so that you can stay active while staying warm!

If you need any help getting started or finding ways to stay active, please feel free to contact the clinic and we would love to assist you.​

Strategy 4. Pair it to something you are already doing
If you are already walking but want to add some strength, do some push ups, squats or body weight exercises every time you walk by a bench or park. While watching television, exercise between episodes or during commercials. While waiting for your coffee to brew, sneak in a 2 minute plank routine.

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Strategy 5. Social Environment
Join a group where you feel you belong and being active is the norm. Instead of being alone in your pursuits you will have a group to lift you up along the way. Numerous clients that join our exercise groups have said they are more consistent when part of a program.

 Hope these strategies will get you “moving” towards a great 2022!

~ Jordan Koroll, Kinesiologist ​

As the weather outside warms up and the summer months carry on, running shoes are being picked up for the first time in a while (or ever!).

The 5K is a great distance to start with, but how should you go about starting?

In this blog post we will go over 5 tips to help get you going!

​1. Ease into it
Whether you are new to running or it has been a while since you last laced up your runners, easing yourself into running is one of the most important elements in injury prevention. There are many apps or exercise programs out there to help you with this, but the main idea is to avoid injury by giving your body time to adjust to your new hobby.

How to Ease into it?

• Find a distance that feels comfortable for you (a mile is a good place to start!)
• Alternate running 1 minute with walking 1 minute until you’ve reached 1 mile.
• As you start to feel more comfortable reaching that mile, try increasing your periods of running, and slowly adding on distance week by week. 

Easing your body into running can also help ease your mind into running! Running 1 mile is a lot less daunting when you are alternating walking with running. Soon enough you will feel able to increase your time and distance as you start feeling comfortable. The first step is always the hardest!

2. Don’t forget to stretch

I often tell clients that as long as we are exercising and asking our muscles to work for us, we will need to stretch afterwards.

Without stretching,

• muscles can become tense,
• flexibility can decrease, and
• risk of injury can increase.  

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Stretching (along with slow increases in distance and time like we discussed above) helps to avoid overuse injuries like the dreaded shin splints! 
Running uses a lot of the muscles in our lower extremity like our quadriceps, hip flexors and hamstrings, but also engages muscles in our low back and core. So whole body stretching routines can be beneficial for runners.

KEY! Stretches should only be held at a point of a mild discomfort or tightness, and they should never be painful. Here are some of my favorite stretches for after a run!

Quadriceps stretch:

• Stand on one leg and use your hand to lift the heel of your other leg towards your buttock. You should feel this stretch in the front of your thigh.​

Warmer weather has arrived and for many that means spending more time outdoors!

With everything going on in the world right now, the outdoors and outdoor activities are becoming more and more popular; be it boating, camping, hiking, biking or just reading a book in the park.

We all know staying healthy during these times is important – for both physical health and mental health.

The Benefits of Outdoor Activity

So what are the benefits of spending time outdoors??? Here are some points that I found quite relevant during these times. Hopefully they provide extra motivation and encouragement to step out the door and immerse ourselves in nature!

1. Boosts self-esteem & reduces anxiety.

• As little as five minutes of outdoor activity has been shown to help improve your self-esteem; and the effects appear to be greater if you’re near water or green space.
• One study showed moderate levels of physical activity such as walking, biking or gardening were the best outdoor activities for improving mental health.
• ​Spending time outdoors has also been shown to help to reduce feelings of anxiety.
  
  

2. Helps to stabilize mood.

• Sunlight helps keep your serotonin levels up.
• ​Serotonin is a hormone that stabilizes our mood, feelings of well-being and happiness. It also helps with sleeping, eating and digestion!

​3. Gives a daily dose of Vitamin D.

• Sun exposure is an easy way for most to get Vitamin D.
• ​Vitamin D is important for bones, blood cells and immune system function.
  
  

4. Helps boost immune function.

• ​See above point PLUS sunlight also seems to strengthen special cells in your immune system called T cells that help fight infection and boost immune function

5. Helps keep a healthy weight.

• ​Spending more time outdoors typically means more physical activity and improved sleep. Both physical activity and adequate sleep help to burn calories.
  
  

6. Enhances creativity and restores focus.

• Studies have shown time in nature can boost creative problem solving abilities. 
• ​Outdoor activities were found to be better for restoring attention compared to indoor activities.
  
  

7. Improves sleep

• Melatonin is a hormone produced via sun exposure and helps with inducing sleep.
• Cells in your eyes also need enough light to get your body’s internal clock working right. Early morning sunlight in particular has been shown to help people fall asleep at night.

 8. Helps create connection

• Being outdoors typically allows you to connect with more people and places in your community.
• Human contact and a sense of community are important to your mental health.
  
  

9. It feels easier to exercise outside

• ​Just head out the door... walk around the block... work in the garden... play with the kids at the park... to get in your daily dose of exercise or physical activity.
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 10. AND finally.... A BONUS....it just feels good to be outside!

• Green spaces were associated with better self perceived general health and better mental health (ie: people FEEL GOOD when they spend time outdoors).
• ​Outdoor exercise plays a role BUT nature based outdoor activities yield benefits additional to those of exercise alone!!!
  
  

This list is definitely not all-encompassing and just scratches the tip of the information that is available out there. But I hope this spring and summer we can all challenge ourselves to get outside a little more and be aware of the added benefits we are giving to our overall health and well being.

Side note: do you have a favourite outdoor location that you love to go to... in Saskatoon, outside of Saskatoon? Let us know! We would love to hear about some of the local outdoor sites around our communities! Click the icon below to SHARE with us!

Research outcomes to date, have generally been mixed regarding the benefits of stretching.  Particularly regarding its’ role in injury prevention and more specifically as it relates to athletic performance.  But as studies continue, and we realize that most of our population does not consist of elite athletes, we can begin to discover the true value of stretching beyond the role of lengthening our muscles.
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Whether you are an elite Olympic athlete, a full-time gardener, a teenage skate-boarder, a grandparent keeping up with the grandkids, or you sit behind a desk all day at work, a common question that should be answered before embarking on a regular stretch routine is…why?

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What is the purpose of stretching?  
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• Injury Recovery - To restore range of motion and function and to help manage pain post-injury.

“We know that even minor injuries can cause adhesions in the fascia, which mean the layers of this tissue may become “stuck” and lose their ability to glide as they do in healthy connective tissue. These issues can accumulate, with pain leading to reduced mobility and activity, and reduced mobility and activity contributing to worsening pain, resulting in a persistent cycle of deterioration or exacerbation.” (1) 

Also, “Research in animal models has shown that stretching has anti-inflammatory effects in several types of inflammation, and we need to understand better if this holds true in humans.” (1) 

• Injury Prevention - micro-break stretches incorporated throughout the day, can help balance tissue exposure to repetitive and sustained tasks of daily living, and within occupations considered high riskfor repetitive strain injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
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• General tissue health maintenance – Regular stretching to maintain full mobility of structures that cross the joints, can ensure optimal joint health, and can effectively assist with the management of conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA).
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• Cardiovascular health – to assist with the management of blood pressure. 

“A new University of Saskatchewan (USask) study has found that stretching is superior to brisk walking for reducing blood pressure in people with high blood pressure or who are at risk of developing elevated levels,” (2) thus sparking the interest for more research to uncover more specifics as to exact mechanisms behind these results.
And just as the purpose for stretching can be highly variable, so can the tissues it affects.

Exactly what are we stretching?

Structures affected by stretching include:

• Muscle tissue
• Connective tissue, including ligaments and fascia, which serve as the links among the muscles, bone, blood vessels, and organs in your body.
• Nerve tissue including that of the Central Nervous System, dura and peripheral systems.

And just as the type of tissues being stretched can vary, so can each tissue’s response to being stretched.  Therefore, it is also important to focus on: 

How are you stretching?

General Stretching guidelines include:

• Warm up for a few minutes first so your muscles stretch more easily (walk briskly, march in place, or do another physical activity).
• Balance your stretches by doing them at least two to three times on each side, taking turns.
• Keep good form and posture, being purposeful about targeting the area you are focusing on.
• Breathe throughout each stretch — never hold your breath.
• You should feel slight discomfort and a pulling sensation, but not pain, with each stretch.
• Never bounce while stretching — hold steady till you feel the stretch and try to relax while holding.
• In the case of stretching to recover lost range of motion, always balance it with strengthening in the new available range to minimize risk of re-injury.
  
  

As studies continue, we will likely continue to see that it is important for a well-balanced therapeutic wellness program to not only consist of cardio and strengthening training, but also a component of stretching. Ideally, with purposeful breath awareness, as well as mindfulness of movement and alignment to be considered most effective.
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“While research points to the various mind and body approaches for managing stress, stretching is an appealing option for those coping with social distancing measures because it’s something you can do daily, at home, and it can positively impact your health. (1)

Curious to know more about Stretching - let us know how we can help!

~ Elizabeth Stefanyshyn-Alonso, Physiotherapist

A beautiful round of golf starts out a little bit stiff, but feels fantastic by the 3rd hole.

• By the 10th, that hip starts to act up again, the one that is always a little touchy.
• Or the shoulder that doesn’t appreciate it when the ball is sliced.
• This hypothetical person hasn’t done anything wrong, but may be wondering how many more games they’re going to get in this year.

Even if we’ve done something hundreds of times over our lives, we still need to consider what we’ve been doing recently. And if that time leading up to Golf season hasn’t included some level of more vigorous activity it’s no surprise that the muscles and joints may complain at first. 
 
Strategies that can help prepare us all for what’s ahead:

1. Pace Yourself
While we clearly remember spending hours outdoors or running that 5km while keeping our breath steady, the body may no longer be adapted to those activities after the last several months of winter. A lot of people who start out running for the first time, or after an extended break, will find difficulty getting the right pace for their heart rate and their breathing capacity. This can be assisted by having a way to measure these things such as:

• a heart rate watch or
• the “talk test” for jogging
  
  When it comes to less obvious exercise/activity like gardening, having a timer set at 20-30 minute intervals to check in with your body can be very helpful.
  
  While we would all like to get everything done as quick as possible, steady progress is still progress! 
  
  Pacing isn’t just for the activity or the day either, take a minute and think about your week.
• Is there enough time for rest and recovery planned?
• Have you been getting enough rest between all your activities and projects? 

2. Variety Is Your Friend
While it is tempting to get that home renovation or gardening project done on the one day of the week where the weather is nice, or the one weekend of the month that everyone is available, see what you can do to avoid doing the same activity repetitively without anything to mix it up.  

This is particularly relevant for things like walking, cycling, and running.

If you’re finding that the hips, knees, shins, or ankles aren’t loving the volume of activity that you’re doing, consider a different pace to stay active while allowing for adequate recovery.

Even if you’re an avid runner, consider a day of cycling, or a day in the gym to provide a different stress to your body and tissues.  


3. Don’t Stop. Instead, Modify and Adapt
If you are surprised by an ache or pain following the first round of gardening, landscaping, or golf, don’t necessarily put yourself on the bench. Try your activity again, considering your pacing, and a variety of movements that you can still perform comfortably. Even the aggravating activity can be useful if we do it a little slower and with some breaks sprinkled throughout.  

This happens to a lot of people who first start out in the gym. They’re very ambitious for the first couple of weeks, but quickly burn themselves out without a plan.

Fearing that they’ve injured themselves, they take 1-3 weeks off from activity and then start the whole process over again when they try it for the second time.

Remember, the body adapts to a lack of activity just as easily as it adapts to regular activity. So instead, consider smaller bouts of activity and mixing it up so that you can stay active while your body goes through the adaptation process. Once you get through the first few steps things can fall into a more comfortable routine. 
 
I hope that this provides some food for thought when it comes to planning out your spring and summer activities. Finding ways to be more active is incredibly important this year and with a little bit of planning it can be an enjoyable way to take advantage of the upcoming opportunities.
 
As always, if you have any questions or comments. Please feel free to leave them below or contact the office for more discussion. 
 
-Trent, PT