Insight Physical Therapy and Wellness

03/27/2025

Phoebe enjoys her meditation time every morning ♥️

12/23/2024

Preparing our traditional Christmas Eve Italian baccala (salted cod) and guess what?? Even fish has fascia! You can really see the 3 dimensional nature of how fascia holds us all together 🐟🐟🐟

10/26/2024

https://youtu.be/Dg5MBscgCro
This is a fantastic description of fascia. When we have trauma or overuse, the inflammation causes the fascia to dehydrate and restrict. This video shows how a restriction in one part of the body can affect the rest of the body. It’s my job to find those restrictions and gently melt them.
www.insightphysicaltherapyandwellness.com
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Fascia is the fabric of life, the structure and flow between all cells that maintain interconnection, communication, and interaction among all the body's dif...

08/18/2024

Thank you to all who viewed, commented and participitated in my Mobility for Longevity Project. It was fun and enlightening to put together. I hope you learned as much as I did!!

To make the project easier to reference, I’ve moved all of the skills over to my website.

Head on over to www.insightphysicaltherapyandwellness.com
to keep practicing your longevity skills!

Schedule an appointment Helping you find insight into reducing your pain and returning to your active lifestyle Areas of Expertise John F. Barnes PT Myofascial Release TechniquesMuscle Energy TechniquesCraniosacral Therapy

07/13/2024

https://www.pelotonia.org/profile/JW0261

Today’s ride was all about time in the saddle. The ride from Westerville to Mt Vernon and back seems flat but there is a deceptively long climb to reach the “high point”. It’s about 1/2 way on the ride so at least it was a little down hill for the last 15 miles or so.

In some respects this felt more difficult than doing actual hill climbs! It was a beautiful sunny and hot day but this trail is about 80% shaded which was a welcome relief.

Ride weekend is approaching!! Please consider donating to help beat cancer!!

Many thanks to you all

07/11/2024

Skill 8: Find your balance.

We’re getting close to the finish line. This skill really brings things home. I’ve been practicing these skills for some time and can complete them but this one is still a bit inconsistent. We all know by now the importance of improving and maintaining our balance. Everyone, no matter how steady we might be on our feet, needs to practice balance. We need excellent balance for: our safety, the confidence to do what we want to do and need to do without fear, easier movement, fewer aches and pain and better athletic performance. Here are 2 balance tests recommended by Kelly and Juliet Starrett in Built to Move.

The video is of some old man doing the ‘old man test’. He does not win any style points but he was able to complete the test without touching his foot down!

1. Stand on One Leg, Eyes Closed Test
a. Our steadiness depends on 3 main factors: our inner ear; sensory receptors in our muscles, tendons, fascia, and joints; and eyesight

b. Our eyes help us stay steady by telling us where our body is in relation to our surroundings. Without the ability to see, we must depend on our body’s other balance tools.

c. This test measures how well those tools are working

d. Prep
i. It’s a good idea to have someone time you. If you know your balance is iffy, stand by a wall or sink.
ii. Stand barefoot on the floor. (Yes, you have to be barefoot!)

e. The Test
i. Close your eyes, bend one leg and raise your foot off the floor as high as comfortable.
ii. Stay in this position for 20 seconds, counting the number of times you touch your foot down. Switch sides.

f. The results
i. If you didn’t touch at all, CONGRATULATIONS, you have a mastery of balance.
ii. If you touched 1-2 times, pretty good. A little more practice and you’ve got this
iii. If you touched 3 or more times, your balance needs some work so check out the info later in this post.

2. Old Man Balance Test (I’m not a fan of this title, LOL!)

a. Prep
i. You’ll need a wide-open place on the floor, clear of any items. Again, barefoot
ii. Place a pair of lace-up shoes and socks on the floor in front of you.

b. The test
i. Balancing on your right leg, allow the left leg to extend behind you as you reach down to pick up one sock
ii. Return to an upright position
iii. Without holding on to anything (if you can help it), raise your left foot and put on your sock. Don’t put your foot down yet 😉
iv. Then reach down, pick up your shoe and put it on.
v. Tie your shoe then return your left foot to the floor.
vi. Repeat on the other side.
c. The results
i. If you didn’t touch at all, SCORE!!!!
ii. If you touched 1-2 times, pretty good. You’ll get there with practice
iii. If you touched 3 or more times, further balance work is needed.

3. Here are a couple of interesting balance activities presented by Kelly Starrett PT
a. Y-Balance Mobilization
Imagine you are standing in the center of a large Y on the floor
1. You’ll be reaching your foot out in different directions and eyeballing how far your reach extends.
2. You can bend your knee or lean if it helps you to reach
3. The single line of the Y goes out in front of you and the 2 “spears” of the top part of the Y go behind you to your right and left.
4. Balancing on 1 leg, reach the other leg as far forward as possible without losing your balance, toward the bottom of the Y and touch your toes to the floor
5. Hold for 3 breaths.
6. Next reach the same foot out to its same side and behind you to touch the top of the Y. 3 breaths
7. Then, reach the same foot behind your other leg as far as possible to the opposite side to touch the other top of the Y like the famous bowler Earl Anthony (My mother loved to watch professional bowling on TV back in the day 😊)
8. 3 breaths then repeat on the other side

b. Bouncing
i. I can’t say I’ve ever prescribed this in the past but it has many benefits including improving balance along with stimulating bone health!
ii. With your hands resting lightly on a counter, rise up on your toes of both legs and quickly bounce up and down 50 times. You don’t have to lower all the way down, just part way
iii. Next, bend and raise your left leg slightly and bounce 25 times on your right foot. Repeat on the other leg.

4. You don’t necessarily have to do all of these activities formally, but just try to work them in to your daily routine. Even if you’re wearing flip flops, put them on standing on 1 leg!!

05/28/2024

Skill 7: SQUATS!!
Sounds like fun, right? While in Western culture, squatting is considered more of an exercise, in Eastern cultures it is more of a daily routine. If you’ve ever traveled out of the US, you probably know what I mean! Yes, I’m talking about using the bathroom. I will never forget being in a very fancy hotel in Croatia in 1985 and walking into the all marble and stone bathroom to see 2 marble foot imprints over a hole in the floor. You’re getting my drift.
So, since we sit on toilets, and chairs, and car seats etc., we may have lost our ability to squat down fully. However, being able to take our hips, knees and ankles through their full range of motion can be vital for maintaining our balance and safe mobility.
Here is the squat test from “Built to Move” by Kelly and Juliet Starrett
1. Stand straight with your feet hip width, or farther apart.
2. Keeping your feet pointed straight ahead, bend your knees and lower your butt toward the ground. Your weight should be balanced between your heels and balls of your feet.
3. It’s ok to let your spine round and to let your arms out in front if this helps your balance.
4. If you can’t get your butt a few inches above the floor with your hip crease well below the knees with heels flat on the floor, try separating your legs farther apart or allowing your heals to rise off the floor.
5. If this is still too difficult, try lowering your hips at least to a chair level

If you can squat all the way down without letting your heels raise, awesome!! If you need some work on this, here is a drill recommended by Kelly and Juliet

Stand with the back of your legs near the seat of a chair. Holding hour arms straight out at shoulder eight, slowly bend your knees and lower your butt down onto the chair seat, touch for a second, then slowly rise back up.

Take 2-3 seconds to lower down and don’t plop into the chair.
On day 1, do this once. On day 2, do two in a row. Keep adding one squat each day until you reach 20. Then, maybe you guessed it, lower your squat to a surface such as an ottoman or coffee table.

When you reach 20 reps, repeat the sequence, lowering all the way into a full squat.
Once you can fully squat easily, hang out there. Read a book, do the Wordle…

Usually around 3 minutes per day is sufficient to maintain maximum hip mobility.
Happy squatting!!

04/30/2024

Skill number 6: Eat your vegetables!!!

We’ve been working on our mobility and walking, now we need to think about how we obtain the fuel to do all these healthspan improving activities.

If you’re anything like me, your social media ads and posts include an overwhelming amount of information about nutrition. Kelly and Juliet Starrett have made a great attempt to simplify just how much and what kind of foods we need to be eating to maximize our muscle maintenance and growth. As we age, we lose muscle mass which means we need to be even more mindful of our eating in our 60’s and beyond, compared to our 20’s when things seemed much easier!

Here are some key concepts from “Built to Move”
1. Eat 800 grams of fruits and vegetables per day. Huh??? What does that even look like?
a. They can be fresh, cooked, frozen or canned in water
b. 800 grams of raw produce amounts to about 6 cups
i. 1 cup is about the size of a fist for most produce
ii. Keep in mind that leafy greens are different than other vegetables so 5 cups of raw spinach is about 1 cup of broccoli

2. How do I monitor this?
a. It might be easier to weigh all your fruits and vegetables for several days to get a concept of what you are currently eating. You can get an inexpensive food scale (comes in handy for more accurate baking as well!) and go from there.
b. Here is your frame of reference:
i. 1 c blueberries 148 g
ii. 2 carrots 144 g
iii. 1 c chick peas 160g
iv. 1.5 c broccoli 124 g
v. 2 c romaine lettuce 94 g
vi. 1.5 c cantaloupe 160g
c. Once you know your baseline, start gradually increasing the amount and number of vegetables at each meal (yep, fruits and vegetables at every meal)
d. Making your morning fruit and greens smoothie? Add in another handful of greens- you’ll never even notice that one.
e. Making your salad at lunch, just another handful is great
f. Add a second or even third vegetable with dinner. Scandalous!!!!

3. What else? Of course, protein is next on the list. Trying to figure out how much protein we need and how to get it is a popular and controversial subject in the wellness industry these days. From “Built to Move”:
a. If you don’t move much, about 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight is sufficient.
b. If you exercise moderately (hike, use a Peloton for 30 minutes a few times per week) you can be between 0.7 grams and 1 gram per pound of body weight
c. Here’s the kicker: if you’re an athlete, are prepping for or recovering from surgery, OR ARE OVER 60, you want to be shooting for 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day.

4. Here is your frame of reference: type of protein choice per 3 ounce serving
a. Chicken breast 26 g
b. Rib eye steak 25 g
c. Pork loin 23 g
d. Canned tuna 23 g
e. Shrimp 19 g
f. Tofu 15 g
g. Eggs (2 large) 13 g

5. How do I get this? Mindfulness is the key. Now that you have an idea, pay attention to what and how much you are eating and up that protein!
a. Add an extra scoop of protein powder to your morning smoothy
i. Ultimate Muscle Protein is the most tasty
ii. Farmacy Simple grass fed protein is probably one of the healthiest and tasty too!
iii. As I said, this is a triggering topic- I’m just telling you what I like
b. Add protein powder to some Greek yogurt for a healthy treat
c. Add protein powder to homemade pancakes/waffles
d. Add chicken or tuna to your lunchtime salad
e. My latest after dinner treat is a heaping scoop of protein powder with a little water to make a pudding. If I’m feeling decadent, I add a slight sprinkle of granola- shhhhhh

CONGRATULATIONS!! You’ve made it this far through a long and detailed post! I know some people like this kind of detail. For others, it can be kind of overwhelming. The basic idea was to get people to be more mindful of their vegetable and protein intake. We may think we are getting enough but most of us probably are not, so step it up a little bit and see how you feel. Your future self will thank you😉
Ps. The dog in the picture is not Phoebe but sure looks like her! And yes, Phoebe loves her daily blueberries, pumpkin, banana and occasional green been😊

04/15/2024

Skill number 5: Future proof your neck and shoulders

Loss of shoulder mobility is sneaky and something we don’t think much about, until we have pain or we can’t do something we thought we could (like reach up to a high shelf or reach around to wash your back). As with so many of our other mobility issues, sitting and general inactivity can lead to a rounded shoulder and forward head posture. This mechanically limits our shoulder mobility. And what have I been talking about all along? Mobility is vital for Longevity. When I say longevity, I am referring to our healthspan, which is how healthy and mobile we can remain throughout our lifespan.

Try this test to check your shoulder mobility. You will need a broomstick or something similar.
1. Lie on the floor face down with your arms over head, holding your broomstick with thumbs pointing up
2. Keeping our forehead and belly in contact with the floor, arms straight and thumbs up, lift your arms up as high as they’ll go.
3. Hold for 5 inhales and exhales.
4. Avoid holding your breath or bending your elbows.

Can you lift your arms at all? Can you lift slightly but you’re holding your breath? Can you lift 1-2 inches but fatigue before the 5 breaths?
The goal is to be able to lift 2+ inches off the floor and hold for the 5 gentle breaths. Most of us will need a bit of practice before we get to this stage.

Here are 2 drills to help you improve your shoulder mobility.

1. Stand a few feet away from a wall. Bend at the waist and with your back flat, place your palms flat on the wall. Keeping your head in between your arms, roll your shoulder outward so your elbow pits are pointing up at the sky. Hang on the wall starting with taking 10 deep breaths, increase your time up to 90 seconds if tolerated. Stop if there is in sharp pain in the shoulders or spine.



2. I couldn’t catch Phoebe in the act but most animals do this first thing in the morning. Downward facing dog! If you’re a yoga person, change your intention in the position to bringing your chest toward your thighs which opens up the shoulders.

Shoulder limitations can be caused from fascial restrictions anywhere in the body so if you’re feeling stuck here, head on over to my website and set up an appointment. Namaste😊
www.insightphysicaltherapyandwellness.com

04/02/2024

Are you ready for skill number 4?

This one seems easy but it is also easy to underperform.

It's walking!!

We've been hearing about the importance of "getting your steps in" for a long time but are you really walking enough? I walk our dog Phoebe every day but I still struggle at times to get in a sufficient number of steps.

How many steps per day do I need you ask?
This kind of depends on what you read but typically 8000-12000 steps PER DAY is what is needed to help counteract all the sitting we do each day. If you do other types of exercise, around 8000 is good but if walking is your primary movement activity, shoot for 12000. We need this amount to really achieve all the benefits that walking has to offer.

So what are these benefits? Well, to stay within the theme of these posts, it improves your longevity!

As quoted in "Built to Move" by Kelly and Juliet Starrett: "In 2020, a large multinational study found that compared with taking 4000 steps per day, reaching 8000 steps per day was associated with a 51% lower risk of death from all causes. Taking 12,000 steps per day was associated with a 65% lower risk."

How do I get in more steps??????

1. Schedule a time every day to walk in your neighborhood. You don't have to get all the steps in at this point but it's a good start.

2. Walk while you talk. You know when Aunt Sally calls, it's going to be a long conversation so hop on the treadmill, head outside, or just walk around the house.

3. Instead of trying to find the most efficient way to make it through the grocery store, wander every aisle (resisting those impulse buys!) and don't forget to park far away. These steps add up.

4. Cook a fancy (healthy) meal. It seems strange but I've racked up tons of steps messing around in the kitchen making fun meals and treats (to give to the neighbors of course LOL).

5. Be mindful. Using your phone or other tracking device and checking it daily can give you that extra reminder, and nudge, to get closer to your walking goal.

If pain or limited range of motion is interfering with your walking, head to my website and schedule an appointment. I'd be happy to help you!

Schedule an appointment Helping you find insight into reducing your pain and returning to your active lifestyle Areas of Expertise John F. Barnes PT Myofascial Release TechniquesMuscle Energy TechniquesCraniosacral Therapy

03/24/2024

I love to talk up meditation with my clients. So many people say, “I can’t meditate, my mind just keeps racing “. I chuckle at this because minds are wired to race. It’s not a problem. I love this quote I just read from a meditation teacher named Jay Michaelson

“Mindfulness (Meditation) isn’t about feeling a certain way; it’s about noticing what you’re feeling so you don’t necessarily hand that feeling the keys to the car. You can feel fear, concern, anger, and other emotions without being possessed by them. You don’t have to repress or ignore anything.”

03/18/2024

We’ve been sitting and breathing, now it’s time to look at standing and walking. Skill number 3 looks at our hip extension mobility.
Walking is not just putting one foot in front of the other. What about the leg left behind? This is the “stance” leg and what happens with this leg is vital to our balance. As we keep hearing, as we age we need to avoid falls at all costs. Making sure our hips move in all planes will help keep us safe!
Shocker alert, sitting is hard on our bodies. As we sit, the muscles and soft tissues in the front of our bodies tends to shorten. This makes standing up straight, and especially extending our leg behind us, difficult and reduces our safe mobility.

Try this test at the bottom of this post. It is a quick and easy way to check the tightness of our hip flexors and anterior hip fascia. Optimally, the leg on the table should not lift up.

https://youtu.be/9fdHMryWbpI?si=C90jOAAVSLpFAeQ

There are many ways to work on improving hip flexor mobility which allows better extension on your stance leg which translates into being able to catch yourself easier if you’re placed off balance.

A great myofascial release self-treatment, again involves your little therapy ball.
Find your belly button, then the front of your hip bone (sometimes called the hip “pointer”). Watch my quick video below.
Place the ball somewhere on this diagonal line between the two areas and lay on your stomach. Move around until you find a tender spot. Have no fear! You will find a tender spot;)

You guessed it, hang out here for 2-5 minutes. If you’re really sensitive, start on a bed but if you can relax and sink into the ball, laying on the floor is best.

Here again is my favorite biomechanics expert, Conor Harris with a very detailed video on how to open up the front of your hips. It’s a longer video but if you find your hips to be really tight, this can be a game changer!

https://youtu.be/av1qqPyuoLg?si=RGOA9KpiF46fzl3b