As an athlete one of the most important benefits that you get from consulting with a physical therapist is training advice. While your coach may be the best person to ask when it comes to training specific to your sport, it is your physical therapist you should ask when it comes to training specific to your body.
Everyone’s body is different, and sometimes you may find that you need to compensate or work a little harder in one area than you do in another. An effective physical therapist will help you use your training to balance your body and your muscles which can help protect joints, ligaments and tendons.
For example, weight lifters who squat with a lot of weight may sometimes experience low back pain. This can be alleviated by strengthening the hip area. If you are having this issue, this is an exercise that you can try to help strengthen your hips to help support your lower back while you are lifting.
Hovering Donkey Kick
The name might sound funny, but the exercise is super effective!
- Place a resistance band around your knees.
- Position your body on your hands and knees, and make sure that you are stable. Raise yourself up onto your toes so that your knees are hovering above the ground.
- Raise your foot off of the ground in a kicking motion, which will help to work the glute muscles.
Hover Fire Hydrant
You start in the same position as you do with the Hovering Donkey kick, on your hands and knees with the resistance band around your knees. You lift your leg to the side. This motion closely resembles a dog using a fire hydrant outside, which of course, led to the tongue in cheek name.
These are just a couple of the exercises that a physical therapist can help you learn to strengthen your hips and alleviate pain in just one area of the body. No matter what sport you play or what kind of strength and conditioning or injury recovery help you may need, RX Rehab Physical Therapy is the place to go for all of your training and rehab needs.