SoPo Physical Therapy

SoPo Physical Therapy Personalized, direct-access physical therapy clinic dedicated to keeping you doing what you love thro

04/13/2023

If you are in pain and afraid that PT will make it worse, think again! We are here to help reduce your pain and prevent you from having unnecessary surgeries.

The no pain no gain mindset is a copout, an excuse to just live with pain and suffer through it.

A good rehab specialist should be able to help reduce your pain and keep you doing the things you love.

You may be sore after PT. You may have to work through the pain you already have to get better, but getting help for your pain will be better than what you are dealing with and where you are headed if you don’t deal with it!

04/10/2023

Physical therapy has made a lot of progress and positive changes over the past years!

In the past, PT was all about hot packs, e-stim, ultrasound, fairly basic exercises, and focusing on just where your pain is.

Now it’s much more active, functional, hands-on, holistic, and, in our opinion, fun! 🏃🏼‍♀️ 🏋️‍♀️🚲⛷🤸‍♂️💃

04/04/2023

📣 One exercise done consistently and correctly is better than six done inconsistently and with poor form.

Consistency is key to helping you achieve your goals!

03/31/2023

It is important to listen to your body. Minor strains and pains can be frustrating, but if ignored, can lead to much bigger injuries.

I’ve been guilty of just pushing through when I feel a minor strain or a new pain. It’s annoying, frustrating, and you don’t want to deal with it. That attitude has resulted in several months of curtailing my workouts to work around some pretty major issues.

Instead of ignoring the issue, stop and take a breath. Where are you in your training? Are you competing for something? Is the competition soon? Are you training just to stay in shape?

Whatever your reasons, take a step back and try to decide if pushing through this strain is worth the risk of months of modified workouts and rehab vs. a few weeks of backing down on training.

If you have suffered from an injury and are having trouble getting back to doing the things you love, we’d be happy to customize a program to get you back on track 💪

03/22/2023

Amy Winehouse had it all wrong! 🚫

Are you suffering from pain and not able to do the things you love? Maine is a direct access state, meaning you can come straight to a physical therapist without having to see your doctor/get a referral first. We are experts in the musculoskeletal system and have doctoral degrees to help diagnose and treat your injury. Most often going to physical therapy first helps

✔️Avoid unnecessary costs of extra doctor visits
✔️Avoid unnecessary imaging
✔️Avoid unnecessary surgery

Saying “yes” to PT is a great first step in getting back to doing what you love!!

03/15/2023

If you don’t take rest days and easy days, you can suffer from overtraining. Overtraining has
🔹Mental/emotional effects (such as increased irritability, poor concentration, persistent fatigue)
🔹Exercise related effects (such as a decrease or plateau in performance)
🔹Systemic effects (such as increase in resting heart rate and/or resting blood pressure).

It may seem counterintuitive but constantly training hard is counterproductive!

03/10/2023

Many of us have experienced pain at some point in our lives. In a lot of cases it can seem pretty straight forward.

Experiencing knee pain? Well we must have done something to our knee.

Experiencing shoulder pain? Must have hurt our shoulder.

This seems logical, but often this logic is incorrect. For example, lack of mobility in a hip can cause knee pain. Poor ankle mobility can cause knee pain. Even the spine can refer pain to the knee. The neck can refer pain to the shoulder. And so on and so on.

Point being, the source of pain and location of pain can be two different things.

To understand the cause of pain you have to identify all the pieces of the “puzzle” that contribute to the issue.

This can be very challenging to figure out on your own. If you have an issue that isn’t resolving, find someone who can help you determine the cause or causes of pain rather than just treating the location of pain.

03/08/2023

Happy International Women's Day! Let's celebrate all the strong, independent, talented, and extraordinary women out there!

03/02/2023

Squats are not one size fits all. Everyone’s anatomy is built differently from the length of your femur, tibial length, torso length, right down to the way your hip sockets have developed. Everyone has a unique sweet spot when it comes to their squat form. It is based on your individual leverages. Don’t just copy your friend’s set up or try to emulate the top lifters. Find out what works best for you. Trying to perfect form is important to improving your squat and preventing injury. Check out ._hurt and if you want to have an awesome squat.

02/28/2023

The importance of SLEEP

Sleep is a crucial part of recovery and injury prevention. One study showed athletes who sleep < 8 hours per night were at 1.7x greater risk of suffering a sports injury (Milewski et al. 2014).

Here’s a couple reason why sleep is so important:

1). Human Growth Hormone: When the body enters its deep sleep stage known as non-REM sleep, human growth hormone (HGH) is released. HGH helps to repair tissues damaged during exercise; the longer a period of sleep, the more time for muscle tissues to regenerate and grow.

2). Prolactin: The hormone prolactin is released which helps regulate inflammation.

3). Cognitive performance: Lack of sleep can result in reduced reflex times or poor judgement, each of which could cause a training injury. One important benefit of sleep is that it allows time for the removal of unnecessary metabolic waste from brain cells. During sleep there is also increased blood flow to cells that deliver important oxygen and glycogen necessary for optimal cognitive performance.

4) Immune system: Adequate sleep promotes optimal function of the immune system. Avoiding getting sick allows you to optimize your performance and be more productive.

5). Nutrition and stress: In one study, sleep-deprived men were shown to have impaired glucose metabolism, decreased testosterone, and increased cortisol (Reynolds et al., 2012).

02/21/2023

Can foam rolling break up muscle tightness and fascia? 🤔

Foam rolling does not break up scar tissue and adhesions, or make your muscles longer/more flexible! It takes thousands of pounds per square inch or surgery 🔪 to permanently change the state of tissue.

So why does foam rolling make you feel better/less tight?

The changes occur within your brain and nervous system. Foam rolling temporarily increases blood flood 🩸 , causes parasympathetic relaxation of the muscles 🧘‍♀️ , and provides pain and soreness relief 👍🏻.

Lasting gains can be made with strength training with full range of motion, intentional mobility work, and changes in daily habits.

02/16/2023

Sometimes working out “easy” is hard! However, it is important to take easy days as they help to:

✔️Prevent burn out
✔️Reduce risk of injury
✔️Prevent plateau in performance
✔️Improve your aerobic capacity
✔️Increase your mitochondrial and capillary density
✔️Allow you to perform at high intensity during your “hard” workouts

02/14/2023

Take breaks!

Static postures for long periods of time, whether sitting or standing, can wreak havoc on our bodies.

For those of us that are stuck at a desk all day for work, here are some tips to help get you out if your chair.

⏰ Set an alarm so that you get up out of your chair every hour

🥪 Take your lunch break. Go for a walk🚶‍♀️, do some stretches 🙆‍♂️, give your eyes and brain a rest 👀 🧠

Drink lots of water so you have to get up and go to the bathroom 💦

If you have a sit/stand desk and aren’t used to standing, start small, stand for 10 minutes every hour and gradually increase your standing time.

02/09/2023

Split squats are a great single leg exercise. With a few form changes, they can either be more quad focused or more glute and hamstring focused.

Quad focus: narrow stance with an upright torso

Glute/hamstring focus: wider stance with a forward trunk lean

02/07/2023

Want quads of steel? 💥🚲🚀 Try these cyclist squats!

Cyclist squats allow you to squat with a more upright spine and forward knees which forces your vastus medialis and the rest of your quadriceps muscles to work harder than normal.

02/02/2023

Part two of our at home workout series has more of a dumbbell focus.

Just like in part one:

Perform each exercise to fatigue 10-15 reps or even 20 reps. Rest after you get through all 10 exercises. Then repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 rounds. You can always start with one round and build up to 3 rounds over time!

Note: for the split squats, you can use a couch or a chair.

01/31/2023

Workouts don’t have to be complicated. You can get a good workout with some resistance bands, a set of dumbbells, and just plain body weight. If you are pressed for time and can’t make it to the gym or you’d rather workout at home, we have put together a few sample workouts to help you out!

Workout one highlights 10 exercises primarily with resistance bands, with a few dumbbell exercises thrown in.

Perform each exercise to fatigue 10-15 reps or even 20 reps. Rest after you get through all 10 exercises. Then repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 rounds. You can always start with one round and build up to 3 rounds over time.

Stay tuned for workout #2!

Address

South Portland, ME

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4pm
Tuesday 7am - 6pm
Wednesday 7am - 6pm
Thursday 7am - 6pm
Friday 7am - 5pm

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