Sue Falsone Director of Performance Physical Therapy

Through working as a physical therapist for MLB players and Director of Performance Physical Therapy, Sue Falsone has seen a variety of issues that athletes face. In the recent Athletes Performance Newsletter she gives some tips that can help with both recovery and performance:

1. Post-workout soreness often prevents or decreases motivation for continuing exercises the next day or so after a workout. However, gentle movement exercises like Movement Prep activities will help to warm up the muscles, get blood flowing, and significantly improve stiffness and soreness.

2. Arch health in your feet is very important to maintaining proper running and walking mechanics, however constant wearing of athletic shoes can increase your feets' dependency on external support. Make sure you get some "bare-foot" time during the day, like when you are home after work.

3. During the course of training, take a week off every couple of months to go back to a more basic, foundational workout focusing on core, movement prep, and pre-hab to "re-boot" your system. This also works well when you are in need of a "day off" during your training.

4. When training, regardless of the goal of the workout program or the stimulus used, to ensure you are targeting the muscles you intend to work, incorporate movement preparation into the routine.  Often times when performing compound movements, our bodies compensate to move heavy resistance by using stronger muscles rather than the ones we intend to target. Movement preparation will help us to identify the areas we want to target and will activate or "awaken" those muscles. 

You can get more tips from Sue by following her on Twitter @suefalsone.