Liz T Brown, DPT

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Liz T Brown, DPT I’m a board-certified sports and orthopedic physical therapist in the Richmond, VA area. I created

“Ok, mommy’s going to do some yoga”*5 minutes later*
30/01/2023

“Ok, mommy’s going to do some yoga”
*5 minutes later*

Privileged to have spent the past few days learning from some truly excellent sports PTs around the country, and present...
24/09/2022

Privileged to have spent the past few days learning from some truly excellent sports PTs around the country, and presenting alongside a particularly awesome group of them! Thanks AASPT for another great conference!

06/09/2022

Gluts, core, shoulder stability and entertainment…covering a lot of territory here.

23/02/2022

Looking to change up your stability exercise routine? Try adding a squirmy, dramatic toddler! 🙄🙃

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Proud of you !! 💪🏼 VCU will miss you! 🏐❤️ Good luck!
11/12/2021

Proud of you !! 💪🏼 VCU will miss you! 🏐❤️ Good luck!

Is this considered partner yoga?
29/12/2020

Is this considered partner yoga?

Merry Christmas to all ✝️🎄
25/12/2020

Merry Christmas to all ✝️🎄

Will work for views ⛰💪🏼.
12/11/2020

Will work for views ⛰💪🏼.

Happy Halloween! 🎃
01/11/2020

Happy Halloween! 🎃

This doesn’t happen often enough but at this moment you can find me here, y’all.
23/10/2020

This doesn’t happen often enough but at this moment you can find me here, y’all.

07/09/2020

Is your shoulder pain related to scapular muscle weakness? Test 2: scapular assist test

07/09/2020

Is your shoulder pain related to scapular muscle weakness? Test 1: scapular retraction test

Walking into the weekend like 💁🏻‍♀️. PS. Get your steps in, y’all! @ Richmond, Virginia
31/07/2020

Walking into the weekend like 💁🏻‍♀️. PS. Get your steps in, y’all! @ Richmond, Virginia

Knee pain with running 🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️ Part 4!-The truth is, if you’re plenty strong and flexible but don’t have control of y...
19/07/2020

Knee pain with running 🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️ Part 4!
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The truth is, if you’re plenty strong and flexible but don’t have control of your body while on one leg, your strength isn’t translating into running.
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Bad mechanics don’t always cause pain, but if you’re working to keep everything strong, you might as well make sure you’re running efficiently!
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PTs, if you’re cranking on a MMT for someone’s hip strength without breaking but cringing at his or her step-down or SL squat test, it’s time to improve neuromuscular control. 👇🏼
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1. Forward bound and hold: one of my favorite retraining exercises for runners. Hop forward from one leg to the other. If this gets easy on a hard floor surface, transition to landing on a rug, or even a pillow to give yourself more of a challenge. You can also increase the distance of your hop. It’s best if you can do it in front of a mirror, so you can watch what your body is doing. This one should be high reps, until you really get the movement pattern.
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Here are a couple of things to look for:
*From the front...does your pelvis stay level ✅ or does one side drop down❌?
*Does your kneecap stay facing forward✅ or does it turn in❌?
*Are you staying up tall✅ or leaning to the side❌?
*And from the side view, you should have a little forward lean of your torso and hinge at your hip✅ rather than absorbing all of the force by bending your knee❌...especially if knee pain is your issue!
*Does one leg do this better than the other?
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2. Hip hike marches: on the standing leg, your outer hip muscles should kick on as you exaggerate hiking your hip up on the marching side, using your obliques to help march. These muscles should stay firing as you slowly lower your leg until you lift the other side. Hold each for just long enough to feel your muscles working.
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3. Isometric hip ER holds: this is a great one to help adjust for the “knee rotating in” (dynamic hip IR) issue that you may have noted above. Press your knee out, into the wall, and you should feel your standing hip working. Make sure not to roll to the outside of your foot - keep your big toe on the ground. Hold for 5-10 seconds at a time.
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4. Arch lifts (single-leg stance): the goal here is to lift the arch while keeping the ball of your foot on the ground and without curling your toes. I usually start in sitting with these, progress to standing and then standing on one leg. Ideally this translates into more functional movements. Try holding for 5 seconds at a time and then relaxing back down.
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NOTE: with any of these suggestions, if your pain isn’t getting better or is getting worse, it may be time to see a physical therapist 🙃.
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Knee pain with running 🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️ Part 3!-Another potential cause of running-related knee pain is a lack of mobility.-Ti...
10/07/2020

Knee pain with running 🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️ Part 3!
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Another potential cause of running-related knee pain is a lack of mobility.
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Tightness/restrictions in hips and ankles in particular can cause compensations at the knee. I’ve shared some of my favorite stretches before, but here are a few to test out if you think this might be an issue for you... 👇🏼
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1. Bretzel stretch: my favorite for stretching quads and hip flexors together, with a nice spine twist! Don’t let your bottom knee creep forward. Excessive quad tightness can cause compression underneath your kneecap.
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2. Pigeon pose: a really good hip opener for after a run.
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3. Hip flexor/TFL stretch: here I’m actually anchoring my foot on the down leg a bit outside of my body compared to my knee. Tucking tailbone under to a hip flexor stretch in this position changes the line of pull a bit to target more TFL - a muscle that feeds into the IT band, which is a common source of knee pain.
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4. Ankle dorsiflexion (closed-chain): this is really important for most functional movements and running gait is no exception. You can start with your toes about 4-5 inches from a wall and see if you can touch your knee to the wall without lifting up your heel.
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5. Ankle dorsiflexion (calf stretch): muscle tightness can also limit this motion and isn’t really addressed by the drill in #4, so make sure you aren’t getting too much tension here!
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NOTE: with any of these suggestions, if your pain isn’t getting better or is getting worse, it may be time to see a physical therapist 🙃.
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Happy 4th from my little firecracker 🇺🇸 Hope everyone is enjoying this holiday weekend!
05/07/2020

Happy 4th from my little firecracker 🇺🇸 Hope everyone is enjoying this holiday weekend!

Knee pain with running 🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️ Part 2! As usual, see my instagram .dpt for videos! -The next issue I want to talk abo...
02/07/2020

Knee pain with running 🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️ Part 2! As usual, see my instagram .dpt for videos!
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The next issue I want to talk about related to running injuries is lack or strength, aka: weakness.
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Many avid runners tell me that running is the only exercise they do. I get it...it’s quick, cheap(er than a gym), and gets the “feel good” hormones going (for some of us 🙃)
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However, if you’re lacking strength in your hips, legs, feet, and core (in particular), you’re at risk for various injuries...knee pain being one of them! Cross-training is super important. Even if you’re not moving heavy weight at the gym, you can at least get stronger with some body weight exercises at home! Resistance bands can be a great addition too. Here are just a couple ideas to get started... 👇🏼
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1. Side plank hip abduction: demonstrating with my knee down, but you can do a full side plank if your form is good. Your body should stay in a straight line from head to heel and your shoulders and hips should be stacked on top of each other. Lift and lower your leg.
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2. Single-leg squats (or sit-to stand): demonstrating to a couch/chair, but air squats also work. I like to teach it to a chair early on because usually that helps cue to sink your hips back more, and not bring your knee as far forward. Particularly if you’re having knee pain, think about getting more motion out of hinging at your hip and less from bending at the knee.
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3. Reverse lunge to knee drive: (two pictures) as you drive your knee up, think about pressing through your heel and standing all the way up through your hip (but not arching your low back). Front leg kneecap should stay pointing forward.
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4. Standing fire hydrants: I’ve posted these before. The keys are that your standing knee is slightly bent and pointing straight forward, and your moving leg is rotating out and slightly back.
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5. Single-leg heel raises: there are many variations of these - off a step, upright, leaning against the wall, etc. One thing I’ve been cueing recently is to try to lower the outside of your heel first on the way down, so that your ankle doesn’t turn out (evert)
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NOTE: with any of these suggestions, if your pain isn’t getting better or is getting worse, it may be time to see a physical therapist 🙃.
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New mini-series! Addressing knee pain with running 🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️-I’ve been a little unsure of how to approach this request ...
30/06/2020

New mini-series! Addressing knee pain with running 🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️
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I’ve been a little unsure of how to approach this request because it’s really a complicated issue and can be caused by a variety of factors...So, I decided to break down some simplified components here in a 4-part series!
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The first thing I want to mention are some potential modifications to make if you’re still trying to run (or workout) through knee pain. Because, well...if you know, you know. (The running world doesn’t do rest)
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1. Try increasing your cadence by around 5% or so. How? At your normal pace, count how many steps you take per minute, then add 5% (ex: normal is 160spm, new is somewhere around 168-170spm, a small change). You can use a metronome initially to help you, or you can search for songs with the beat you need...
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🤓 increasing cadence (while keeping about the same pace) decreases your stride length (how long your steps are) which helps to decrease force at the knee!
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2. Avoid hills for now. Running downhill requires a lot of quad control, which can mean big knee forces.
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3. Wear supportive shoes. If you get new shoes, make sure that you aren’t making a drastic change. If you’re concerned about support, ask about some kind of arch support/insert. Your foot position has a big impact on your knee! More on this later...
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4. When you’re trying to build up your training, you should aim to increase your distance by 10% per week. (Ex: if you run 10 miles total in a week, aim for 11 total the next. This doesn’t necessarily apply to race training.) Try not to pick up the intensity and volume (distance or # of runs) at the same time!
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NOTE: with any of these suggestions, if your pain isn’t getting better or is getting worse, it may be time to see a physical therapist 🙃 ps. shoutout to my leg model
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@ Richmond, Virginia

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+15405291219

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