With the start of 2018, I have been talking to many people who want to kick off the year right, by beginning to meet their fitness goals. Whether it is running the Rock and Roll Marathon this March or Cherry Blossom 10 miler this April, without fear of hurting their hip/ knee/foot again, or getting their back fixed so that they can FINALLY begin to lift weights like they did last Spring before their injury or achieving that optimal work out program that they just can’t seem to build-up to because of work stress/ holiday stress/ procrastination/ being plagued with minor injuries or LOSING WEIGHT by working out without hurting themselves– you name it.

As a physical therapist, my advice often is set three simple sub-goals to achieve your main goal and set a time frame within which to achieve them. Then for each goal, make a to-do-list. It may be – join a diet program, or sign up with a personal trainer, or contact a physical therapist and fix that injury to move forward with your fitness goals.

One of the hardest things that I find people have difficulty maintaining is “consistency” and the second is “patience”. If you are working towards your fitness goals consistently then rest assured, you WILL be patient with yourself and you WILL GET THERE.

If you are suffering from an injury or have minor knee or back or neck/shoulder pain and are unsure if you can move forward with your goals, then I strongly recommend you consult with a physical therapist to perform an injury/movement screen. The movement screen is used with recreational athletes or someone who is trying to add/ build up a new fitness routine to address mobility, stability, strength and overall endurance. It enables the physical therapist to identify areas of weakness and dysfunction (e.g. your hip muscles or core stability or lack of agility and ability to produce optimum power and speed for YOU). The movement screen also enables the physical therapist and you to devise a plan to get and stay fit and prevent recurring injuries that stall you from building and maintaining an OPTIMALLY FIT AND ACTIVE LIFETSYLE THROUGH OUT THE YEAR.

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and set those goals! Hit the ground running! Before you know it, Spring will be here and you will be so happy to have gotten as far as you anticipated, because you were patient enough to maintain CONSISTENCY!

Trupti (Call – 202 670 8874 or Email: trupti@mmsspt.com)