The struggle is real. The struggle against gravity, that is. Every day, we’re fighting the forces of gravity and their impact on our anatomy and physiology throughout the health continuum. Young and old, in sickness and in health, we are all attempting to adapt (or not) to the imposed demands of daily function - and working against gravity is of primary concern to live on planet earth successfully.
As the story goes in Aesop’s Fables, there was a goose that laid a golden egg every day. The owners of the goose, believing that the golden eggs were due to some internal lump of gold, killed the goose. Their short-sighted desire for gold removed the capacity to produce the golden eggs in the first place. In Austin, we have our own musical golden goose, and we’re slowly but steadily killing it.
With all due respect to the Tragically Hip, I’ve got a vast catalog of unplucked gems - musings, rants, and semi-completed posts - sitting in an archive waiting to see the light of day. I have finally returned to a place that offers enough mental space to consider the art of publication once again. However, several questions present themselves. Do I pick up where I left off? Do I dive deep into exploring the vast terrain of unpublished ideas, or do I start anew with renewed vigor? Where do I go now that I can actually, you know, go?
This week marks the 18 year anniversary of my clinical practice, Smart Sport International. It is amazing how a milestone like this will prompt you to take a look in the rear view mirror to reflect on where you’ve been, pause to reflect on where you are, and look out the front window to see where you are going. A good car analogy never hurt anybody!
2021. Just the sheer mention of the year makes me squirm at this point. In the words of the Grateful Dead, “what a long strange trip it’s been”. Just when you thought that 2020 taught us how to deal with a pandemic, 2021 made an appearance and challenged that assertion. However, as I am often reminded, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or, in my case, when life gives you a pandemic, write a PhD dissertation.
There has been a lot of silence gracing the pages of this blog in recent months. My labor of love has been sadly sent to the sidelines of life, and for that I apologize. It hasn’t been for a lack of thoughts to share, but rather a lack of time to do so. For those of you who have stood by my literary endeavors, I thank you for being patient and forgiving. Today, I set a course to rejuvenate the flow of words herein with greater regularity. There is no better time than now to do so. If not now, then when?
There are really only two choices in life. You can run towards something, or you can run away from something. I guess you could just stand still and let the world revolve around you (or leave you in its dust), but I like to think we’re always moving.
In the running world, athletes are always focused on their training efforts. Are they getting all the workouts they need to optimize their performance and be successful? As a coach and physiotherapist, I get asked these questions routinely. They’re not so difficult to answer based on what the sport sciences have provided us over the past 30 or 40 years.
Up to 60% of runners will sustain an injury within any given year. Poor running mechanics, in conjunction with poor, ineffective and outdated training methods, can pose a significant injury risk. "RunSmart" was written to address these issues in the running community.
"Running Injuries: Etiology And Recovery- Based Treatment" (co-author Bridget Clark, PT) appears in the third edition and fourth editions of "Clinical Orthopaedic Rehabilitation: A Team Approach" by Charles Giangarra, MD and Robert C. Manske, PT.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.
Top 5 finalist in three categories: "Best Overall Blog", "Best PT Blog" and "Best Advocacy Blog".
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