February 2024 Newsletter: CrossFit Open & Ski Season
The CrossFit Open is here! Just a few hours until 24.1 is released on Thursday 2/29 at 3pm.
Here are a few points to keep in mind about the upcoming open.
Set goals for this open season. Unfortunately, not all of us are making it to the Games. Maybe the goal is to make it to Quarterfinals, maybe the goal is to participate and celebrate with the community, maybe to participate in each workout without injury. Make it personal. If for nothing else, focus on your progress, embrace the challenge, and celebrate success!
Now is not the time to overtrain. It may seem like a good idea to add in a few extra pieces, but unfortunately there is no cramming for fitness. If anything, taper your training 3 days before you perform each of the open workouts so you can give it your all! If you are looking for some strengthening exercises to improve your workout performance, add some targeted accessory work on your limitations before the workout. For example, if it is shoulder activation and strength you’d like to enhance, perform banded external rotation or banded shoulder extension as a pre-workout primer. If you have a history of limited ankle mobility, performing some banded ankle mobilization as a part of your warm-up will free up some range of motion.
The other thing to keep in mind is recovery. There are many factors that can impact performance including sleep, stress, and nutrition. The recommendation is to sleep 7+ hours per night and try to fuel efficiently as well. If you want some recommendations of pre or post workout food options, check out Alexis’ recommendations on our Instagram. Recovery Nutrition Recommendations
When each workout is posted, create your game plan. Nothing is worse than giving it 100% for the first 2 minutes, then need to rest 30 seconds between each movement for the last 5 minutes of the workout. Try to pick places or movements in the workout that you can push and when to strategically take breaks.
Do you have any chronic aches and pains? Post workout woes? Want specific ideas of accessory movements you can add in to improve your performance? Come in for a tune up! $50 for 30 minutes of treatment or $65 for 30 minutes of treatment followed by a 30 minute sauna. Appointments offered in our Saco and Westbrook locations.
The ski and snowboard season is in full swing! While you may not get as out of breath as a jog, it is still a fairly demanding physical activity in the cold. Decrease risk of injury by doing a dynamic warm up. While only stretching might feel good in getting your body prepped, some research has shown that including static or dynamic stretching in warm-ups does not seem to improve performance or reduce risk of injury.* Here’s a dynamic movement warm up that will get you moving and primed for a day on the mountain!
*Blazevich et al (2018) PMID: 29300214
If you are staying nearby in a hotel, try this in your room before you leave for the day:
For 5-8 minutes gently move through:
10 squats,
10 burpees,
10 reverse lunges,
5 side planks with rotation.
You can also perform these when at your car or in the ski lodge before getting your gear on:
Lunge with reach overhead, 6 each side
Calf raises, 15-20 per side
Leg swings, 10 each way
Hip circles, 10 clockwise/10 counterclockwise
Lunge with twist, 6 per side
Arm circles, 10 forward/10 backward
Cossack squats, 6 per side
Make your first run easy then get to it! Want some ideas of how to stay strong and ready between mountain days? Check out Josh’s exercises on IG - Ski Strength Exercises
January 2024 Newsletter: Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from the Dirigo PTP Team!
We hope everyone had a great holiday season!
We want to thank our community for the ongoing support as we enter the new year. Starting this month, we will be implementing a monthly newsletter to our community in order to provide updates on new offerings, highlights from each of our three clinics, and upcoming events.
To kick off the new year, we would like to highlight the big changes that have happened at Dirigo PTP over the last year:
Portland:
In April, the Portland Dirigo clinic moved from 185 High Street to 561 Congress Street! This move allowed us to transition into a larger space to accommodate more physical therapists (we currently have 4 PTs in Portland!) and add more offerings to our clinic — strength training, massage therapy, a recovery lounge, & nutrition services.
Strength Training in Portland — Our new Strength Coach, Louise Mills-Strasser, MS, ACSM-CEP, is spearheading our strength training program which offers individualized training, small group training, and performance training.
The S&C program offers comprehensive sports performance assessments and training for individuals looking to improve their game. Our Bridge Program is perfect for patients who are finishing treatment and want to continue gaining strength or exercising at DPTP.
We also had a lot of fun with small group programs this fall:
Strength Kickstart - 4 week progressive strength training program
Dirigo Strength Club - for middle and high school athletes in-between sports seasons
Ski & Snowboard Pre-Season Conditioning - winter sports specific workouts
Be sure to check our website and Instagram for new strength programs and pop-up classes happening throughout the winter!
Massage Therapy in Portland — Our new massage therapist, Jack Strum, LMT, has joined our Portland team and is providing massage therapy services ranging from 30 to 90 minutes with a focus on deep tissue massage, myofascial release, and cupping.
Recovery Lounge — Our Portland clinic features a recovery lounge which enables athletes and patients access to state of the art recovery tools for faster recovery. Normatec boots, thera-guns, foam rollers, massage balls, we have it all!
Nutrition — Our registered dietitian, Alexis Jones, MS, RD, LD, is located in our Portland clinic, however she provides both in-person and virtual nutrition services. Her nutrition services include individual nutrition services in addition to BodyComp and MedGem testing in order to optimize your health and elevate your rehab/training.
Saco:
In November, the Saco Dirigo clinic moved from 110 Main Street Suite 1104 to Suite 1106 - right down the hall!
Our new space is still next to our friends at CrossFit Rising Tide, however we now have a larger space with new equipment and a massage therapy room for our new massage therapist, Kim Harder, LMT.
Massage Therapy in Saco — Our new massage therapist, Kim Harder, LMT, has joined our Saco team to provide massage therapist services with focus on myofascial release and deep tissue massage ranging from 60-90 minutes.
Westbrook:
In February, the Westbrook Dirigo clinic opened in the Dana Warp Mill, located at 90 Bridge Street Suite 235. Our space hosts a large open gym with state of the art equipment including our Hawkin Dynamics force plates and DynaVision.
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy:
We are now offering pelvic floor physical therapy at all three clinics! Our pelvic PT is 1-on-1 with focus on individual goals including postpartum, urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, diastasis recti, and hernias. We are accepting new pelvic PT patients in all three locations!
We look forward to seeing you in 2024!