CrossFit Rehab: Prevent Injury and Train Smart

Patient of the Month - Sept 2014

Meet Gina, our pint size powerhouse! In addition to treating her at Iron, we often do CrossFit side-by-side at Brazen Athletics. I wish I could bottle her zest for life, drive for excellence and enthusiasm for maintaining an active lifestyle. She makes me seem quiet and dull - ha!

Gina really understands how to use physical therapy as a tool for maintenance and injury prevention. We work together to proactively identify weaknesses so she can optimize movement and train smart. She is always ready to attack each session with full focus and of course her trademark sense of humor. It has been a true pleasure to work with her every step of the way!!

CrossFit Rehab - In her own words…

Three words to describe me...Competitive, Out-going, Perfectionistic

What Brought you to PT? As a Crossfitter, there are only a few parts of my body that don’t get sore from the workouts. In particular, my shoulders were a weak spot, and I started experiencing pain that was limiting me from full participation.

How have you benefitted from PT? Let's start with the mental part of my experience. I am not exactly 25, but in my mind I want to do everything I did as a high school athlete. This is where Dr. Mayes introduced me to the phrase, STAY IN YOUR LANE. Not exactly the words you want to hear as a competitive person, but these were the words needed to put things in the right mental perspective; Listen to my body and I get to Crossfit more! Been “staying in my lane” ever since…well, at least 99.9% of the time :)

In terms of the physical game, Dr. Mayes has given me back a lot of strength I thought I had lost. There are few exercises in Crossfit that don’t require the use of your shoulders. Even back squatting requires a unique shoulder position to hold the weight, so gaining both mobility and strength were important parts of my recovery. Dr. Mayes helped me work on both of these areas, along with an occasional plank hold for the abs!

What would you recommend to someone with the same injury? I would definitely recommend a trip to Iron Physical Therapy! It’s so important to strengthen the muscles and begin an active recovery for a shoulder injury.

What are you most excited about getting back to? I am most excited to get back to the Olympic lifts we do as Crossfitters; Snatch and Clean-and-Jerk. I really enjoy the lifting component of Crossfit and want to participate with the class, except now I have learned to participate from my own lane! Thanks for everything Dr. Mayes!