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If you’ve ever worked with me at Precision, I’ve probably talked to you about “stress is stress” and the imaginary “stress bucket” which holds all of our stress. This concept and how both biomechanical load and social and emotional load affect our body and injuries has come up a lot in the clinic recently, so I figured it was time to bring it to the blog. The stress bucket is not an idea that I came up with, and I want to give credit to the PTs whose ideas I have expanded o

Trail curious? In today’s blog, I outline recommendations on how to select and prepare for your first trail race! If you have trails nearby that are part of your typical routes or if you ran cross country in high school, you are probably a bit less intimidated about running your first off-road race. But if you live in sidewalk land (like me), it takes more effort to get to trails and many never do, so registering for your first trail race can feel daunting. My first key point

Photo Credit: James Holk Photography One of my biggest passions that I bring to Precision Performance and Physical Therapy is trail running! For anyone who is trail curious, I will be focusing on trail running topics for my next four blog posts, so stay tuned! In today’s blog, I am shifting the focus from educational to personal. I have been running ultra marathons for nine years, but I recently attempted my first 100-miler at Hood Hundred in Oregon. Read on to learn more ab

Abdominal bracing is the basis of all core strengthening exercises. It is also something that many people struggle with! Core strength provides a stable base of support for all of our movements – from reaching up over our heads, walking and running, to sitting up and getting off of the floor. Therefore, having good core strength is imperative, and when the core is weak, it can affect not only your back, but shoulders, hips, knees and more. When performing core exercises,

If you are new to strength training, Dr. Elizabeth wrote a great blog on her key Tenets of Strength Training for Beginners. But for those who have had resistance training in their routine for a while, this blog takes a deeper dive on how to structure your strength program, how heavy you should lift, and when to modify your program based on training cycles for racing. Basic Strength Program Outline Disclaimer: There are MANY ways to structure a strength program! This framework

I know, I know, another article about AI. I’m sure I’m not the only one a little tired of hearing about AI, but the reality is that it’s here and people are using it. I also don’t blame patients for listing their symptoms in an AI tool before coming to physical therapy to help determine what may be going on with their bodies and develop their expectations for treatment. I have done this for various healthcare concerns of my own and AI tools can be quite helpful. The important

I frequently remind myself, and my patients that no one is watching you or judging you at the gym. Unless, of course, I am at the gym. Then I might be watching and mentally critiquing your form. But that’s because my job is to analyze movement and educate people on how to optimize form to reduce harm and improve outcomes! The exercise that I see performed incorrectly most often is the Romanian Deadlift. The Romanian Deadlift (RDL) is a great posterior chain strengthening exer

Trail runner contemplates whether or not he trained enough for his impending downhill run... Years ago, my brother signed up for a Half Marathon class as his health elective in college. Since he hadn’t considered himself “a runner” and mostly only ran for soccer, he decided to sign up for the “easiest” Half Marathon he could find – a net downhill point-to-point road race from Fort Mountain State Park to downtown Chatsworth, GA. This race drops over 2,000 feet with almost all

Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is a treatment modality that has been making waves over the past several years in the sports and orthopedic injury world. Maybe you've heard of a friend or teammate having this treatment, or perhaps you're wondering if it is something that will help your injury. If you've been wondering what shockwave is, how it works, the pros and cons, and if it may be right for you, this blog will answer your questions. History of Shockwave Although

Here in Atlanta, temps have been rising since the end of March, and you may have noticed that some of your runs have felt more challenging despite no change in terrain or pace. You're not imagining things! Temperatures over 77 degrees Fahrenheit negatively impacts performance for running distances over 800m. Heat acclimation is the process where, by exercising in the heat repeatedly, your body makes adaptations to improve tolerance to activity in hotter temps which can impro

Allow me to start by saying that something is always better than nothing. Certainly, doing banded exercises is better than doing nothing at all. If that is where you are in life and what you have the time/resources for, by all means, do it! But a common mistake I see runners make is centering their strength routines around band exercises like monster walks, clamshells, fire hydrants, ankle inversion/eversion, etc., and omitting weightbearing (standing) exercises with weights

There are never any “cookie-cutter” appointments here at Precision Performance and Physical Therapy, but many people wonder what they might expect their evaluation to look like if they’re coming in for pelvic floor physical therapy. In my last blog post , I explained how the pelvic floor plays a role in your deep core, how it could be a component in your running injury, and when you should consider getting your pelvic floor assessed. Today I’ll dive into what that assessment

When leg pain appears, many runners focus on muscle strains or joint issues, but neural tension can often be a hidden cause or contributor to discomfort. Recognizing neural tension and addressing it properly can make a significant difference in recovery and performance. What Is Neural Tension? Neural tension refers to the abnormal tightness or irritation of nerves as they move through the body. Nerves are not just passive wires, they glide and stretch with movement. When nerv

As the newest member of the team here at Precision Performance and Physical Therapy, I am excited to integrate my passion for pelvic health physical therapy into our runner’s clinic! Many people think that pelvic health PT is only needed by those who are pregnant or postpartum, and yes, I see a lot of those folks. But pelvic floor dysfunction can be a sneaky player involved in running injuries as well. Many providers don’t know the direct and indirect connections that the pel

For runners who are aware of cadence, many have heard of this allegedly "magical" cadence of 180 steps per minute. If your cadence isn't 180, should you try to change it? Let's break it down by explaining what cadence is, where this mythical 180 number came from, if and when you should change your cadence, and how to do it. What is cadence? In running, cadence is the number steps that you take each minute. If you wear a running watch, it likely has this data logged somewhere,

After years of saying that I would never run a marathon ("I'm only half crazy!"), I finally caught the marathon bug and trained for and ran my first marathon, New York, in 2025. I loved the process of training for the marathon, enjoyed the routine and long runs more than I ever thought I would, made friends along the way, and learned A LOT. I'm here to tell you some of what I learned over the many months and miles that lead up to race day, to help you start your training prog

If you’re a runner in Atlanta or the Southeast looking for physical therapy, you’ve probably realized something pretty quickly: not every clinic truly understands running. Runners have unique demands, complex training loads, and a strong desire to keep moving—even when injured. Personalized physical therapy for runners should do more than reduce pain. It should help you return to running stronger, smarter, and more confident. At Precision Performance & Physical Therapy in Atl

If you want to skip to the punchline of this article, the answer is, "Yes." Physical Therapy can be helpful for almost anyone, whether as a stand alone intervention, or as part of a team approach with other medical providers.

When temperatures drop and the days get shorter, it can be a struggle to stay motivated. Cold weather affects not just your body, but your mindset,making the couch or bed look far more inviting than the trail/road or gym. Staying active through the winter is one of the best things you can do for your joints, cardiovascular health, and mental well-being. As physical therapists, we see first hand how maintaining activity through the colder months improves injury resilience and

When I share that I am a runner, I am sometimes met with worried looks and “aren’t you worried about your knees?” Similarly, I have heard clients say things along the lines of “I know at my age I probably need to stop running to protect my knees,” or “I used to run a lot in my 20s but I wore my knees out,” or “I’d like to get back to running but I don’t want to destroy my knees.” Many people hold the belief that our knees have a set lifespan, and that running shortens the war