This weekend, I came across an article that caught my eye: “A WNBA Veteran Becomes the Latest Player to Suffer an ACL Tear.” The athlete mentioned was Katie Lou Samuelson of the Seattle Storm—shockingly, the third player on her team to suffer an ACL tear before the WNBA season even begins.
I’m now at that age where I have to start being more mindful of the nagging calf and Achilles injuries that seem to pop up for so many of us in our 30s, 40s, and beyond. Whether it’s rec league basketball, tennis, pickleball, or just hitting the gym hard, many active adults still love to move with intensity—but we may not have the same resiliency we had in our 20s.
If you’ve been through physical therapy with us at Cohen Health and Performance — especially after an injury like a tendinopathy or surgery — there’s a good chance you’ve experienced the power of isometric exercises firsthand.
In physical therapy, we see a lot of people who have been told to constantly brace their shoulder blades down and back to “fix” their posture. While that advice might sound helpful, it often causes more problems than it solves.
Sciatica is one of the most common issues we treat in physical therapy, especially among active adults. It’s not just a “back problem”—sciatic nerve pain can affect your entire lower body. Why? Because the sciatic nerve is the largest and longest nerve in the human body, stretching from your lower back through the hips, glutes, hamstrings, and all the way into your lower leg and foot. When something irritates or compresses this nerve, it can lead to pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness—anywhere along its path.
For anyone dealing with a history of shoulder pain, getting a solid upper body workout can feel like a minefield. Bench presses, overhead presses, pull-ups—many of the staple movements in strength training can feel off-limits when your shoulder isn’t moving or functioning the way it should.
