Arts & Entertainment
Doctor’s Note: Spring conditioning for a successful summer sports season
Published
6 years agoon
Posted By
Outlaw PartnersBy Mark Brown Physical Therapist, Bozeman Health Rehabilitation Services, Belgrade
Whether you spent the winter sprinting along ski trails, ascending ice-slick rock, shredding slopes on your snowboard or sitting on the couch, it’s time to change course and get ready for warm weather sports and the pursuit of healthy outdoor activities.
Spring conditioning is the way to improve your success and enjoyment of summer efforts, whether you like to swing a club or racquet, swim laps, cycle trails or hike mountain terrain. No matter what outdoor activity you choose, conditioning will make you better at it.
In my experience as a physical therapist, I have found the best strategy is to condition all muscle groups, no matter what sport you are pursuing. This can prevent muscles you might ignore from becoming weak, which can lead to injury.
By getting in shape for the upcoming season, you can enhance your core strength, agility, accuracy, balance, endurance, explosiveness and overall athletic performance, as well as your mental fortitude.
Irrelevant of the sport or fitness level, we encourage clients to use these general principles to guide their conditioning program:
Progression – increase intensity (reps/weights) gradually to increase physical capacity
Consistency – regular exercise is more effective than sporadic efforts
Overload – work harder than normal to help your body adapt and improve while allowing for adequate rest
Intensity – work harder for short periods of time
Safety – focus on safe techniques and use proper equipment
Proper conditioning includes sport-specific techniques—ways of swinging a bat to best connect with a pitch or improving a rock climbing hold, for example—and building strength to improve performance.
There are three keys to increasing your power: resistance training such as working out with weights to build basic muscle strength, and stretching to increase flexibility and improve range of motion. Regularly practicing both develops the third key—improved endurance.
Aerobic endurance is the result of cardiovascular exercise, which allows your body to process oxygen and produce energy at a higher level, and helps you practice your sport at greater length with less effort and fatigue. Anaerobic endurance is muscle endurance, or your muscles’ ability to perform exercises repeatedly in quick bursts.
Good conditioning programs begin with a focus on these three key areas. We recommend that this part of the program be started in early spring and performed three to five times a week.
A month or two before your season kicks off, workouts can shift to sport-specific conditioning, agility drills and movement skills. Stability, action and reaction speeds, and accuracy and agility are movement skills that improve with practice. Together, these conditioning steps will help you perform well from the start of the season.
Remember, you don’t have to be an elite athlete to benefit from good conditioning. Better strength and flexibility make any activity more enjoyable, no matter your level of participation.
For more information, inspiration and healthy outdoor lifestyle suggestions, check out Bozeman Health’s #outdoorhealthylife on social media.
Mark C. Brown, PT, has 21 years of experience in his field. He has certification through the Duffy-Rath System of assessment, treatment and prevention of musculoskeletal disorders and disability. Brown is IASTM certified and Level 2 certified for Functional Dry Needling. He provides orthopedic/manual therapy emphasis including spinal manipulation and BPPV/vestibular rehabilitation.
The Outlaw Partners is a creative marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky, Montana.
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
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Please join the Arts Council of Big Sky for free music from Jacob Rountree at the Wilson Hotel Lobby Bar from 5-7 p.m. on April 24.
Jacob Rountree is an alternative/indie songwriter living in the stunning alpine of Montana. Contemplative yet playful, his lyric forward style is reflective of his love for philosophy, poetry and quantum physics.
Time
(Wednesday) 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location
The Wilson Hotel
145 Town Center Ave
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Trivia from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Waypoint in Town Center. Participation is free, food and beverages available.
Event Details
Trivia from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Waypoint in Town Center. Participation is free, food and beverages available.
Time
(Wednesday) 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location
The Waypoint
50 Ousel Falls Rd