This is a great question. Pickleball is gaining popularity and many people are getting into the sport. It attracts people of all ages and fitness levels as it is the type of sport that can be played at different competitive levels. Pickleball is attracting people that are sedentary to get up and start playing. Of course, this is positive in that pickleball is getting people motivated to exercise but it also leads to more injury in people that are not physically equipped to start playing. In addition, pickleball involves going from standing relatively still to quick reactionary motions to get to the ball fast. This has led to a lot of achilles tendon ruptures, ankle sprains, and ankle fractures. If you want to get involved in pickleball, to avoid injury you want to make sure you warm up and stretch after play. In addition to that, you want to work on your overall strength and cardio fitness off the court to help prevent injury on the court.
Year: 2025
Why Core Strength Matters
Have you ever been told to “engage your core”? There is a good reason why. Your core muscles are what provides you spinal stability with exercise and your daily activities. Your core muscles are not just your abdominals. The core includes the transversus abdominis, obliques, pelvic floor, diaphragm, and erector spinae. Strengthening your core muscles helps improve your posture, balance, spinal stability, and decreases your risk of lower back pain. To learn more about your core strength, a physical therapist can provide an assessment and create a tailored exercise program focusing on the areas you need to strengthen.
Benefits of Prehab
Prehab is receiving physical therapy prior to a surgery or before a future physical challenge or sport. The goal is injury prevention and or to prepare your body before a surgery. The physical therapist assesses targeted vulnerable areas and works to improve the deficits found during the evaluation with specific exercises.
Here are some benefits of receiving prehab:
- Injury prevention- Improving strength and stability of weak muscles and joints can prevent common injuries during daily activities and sport.
- Faster recovery- if you have an injury or surgery, the body will be in better condition to handle healing.
- Improved strength, flexibility, and mobility- Improves your overall strength and flexibility, making your body stronger and more mobile with your daily activities.
Long-term Effects of Wearing Heels
Everyone loves to wear heels but did you ever think about what it does to your calves? Wearing high heels can cause calf tightness because your ankle is constantly in a plantar flexed position (toes pointing downward). This position increases the contraction of the calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus). Over time, wearing high heels can shorten these muscles which would lead to tightness of the calf muscles and potentially pain/muscle strain.
No need to worry! Physical therapy can help! Physical Therapy helps by providing relief through stretching, strengthening exercises, manual therapy, modalities, footwear education, and postural assessment.
Do I Need Equipment to Exercise?
When it comes to exercise, many people think they need fancy equipment to achieve their workout goals. However, this is not true. In fact, there are plenty of exercises you can perform without any equipment by just using your body weight. Body weight exercises use your own weight to create resistance. Some examples of body weight exercises are:
Squats
Push-ups
Planks
Lunges
Burpees
You can progress these exercises by increasing the reps, time, and performing different variations. Also, cardio exercises do not require much equipment either. You can run, walk, do a HIIT workout, pilates, yoga, or dance workout in your home. It is always best to vary your workouts to keep you motivated and to build strength, cardio fitness, and muscle endurance.