Get It Girl (new program announcement)!

Today we have a special guest post and announcement from Dr. Catherine Biddle!

Dr. Biddle here. As a former collegiate gymnast, I know firsthand how essential weightlifting and targeted strength training are to athletic success—both individually and as a team. Unfortunately, when I was a high school athlete, those benefits were not emphasized. At the time, the common misconception that females shouldn’t—or didn’t need to—be in the weight room was still very present. Looking back, I believe that missing out on proper strength training contributed to the major injuries that sidelined me and kept me away from the sport I loved (at least this gave me more experience on the patient side of physical therapy!).

That’s exactly why I created Get It Girl—a small-group strength training program designed specifically for girls ages 11–14 who want to build confidence, train safely, and unlock their full athletic potential.

In this program, your daughter will get:

8 Weeks of In-Person Coaching — Focused on strength, technique, and safe movement.
4-Week At-Home Plan — To keep making progress between sessions.
Exercise Video Library — Step-by-step demos with form cues she can use anytime.

Spots are extremely limited—only 5 spots remain—so don’t wait. Click here now to learn more, reserve your daughter’s place and give her the foundation she needs to stay safe, grow stronger, and thrive in her sport.

If you have any further questions, feel free to reply to this email as well.

Don’t let this opportunity pass by—help your daughter build the strength and confidence she deserves!

-Dr. Catherine Biddle

Is there one physical therapy intervention for running related foot injuries?

Ice baths, massage, compression socks, orthotics, rolling your feet out on tennis balls…

Have you tried one or more of these without much help?

This is Dr. Kelly, and as a passionate runner, sports physical therapist in McLean, and someone who doesn’t want to be interrupted by injury, I’ve learned foot pain is complex- there’s usually not “just one thing” contributing to it.

Here are a few things I’ve found to be most important in physical therapy when diagnosing foot injuries:

Foot Type, Biomechanics, and Shoe Type: Each runner has a unique foot structure and biomechanics. High arches, flat feet, overpronation, and supination can affect how your foot strikes the ground. It’s crucial to understand your foot type to choose appropriate footwear and support. Here is a link that better explains foot type. Ensure that your shoes provide adequate cushioning, arch support, and fit your foot shape properly. Regularly replacing of worn-out shoes is essential for injury prevention (recommended replacement after 400 miles of running).
Running Surface: The type of surface you run on can impact foot pain. Hard surfaces like concrete can be harsh on your feet, while softer surfaces like grass or trails offer more cushioning. Varying your running terrain can help reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries.
Running Form and Mechanics: Variations in running form can strain muscles and joints differently. Understanding your form and what muscles are dominating during your run is important to building strength and endurance as well as overall mechanical balance. A Marching, Skipping, and Single leg hopping are great drills that help enforce foot strike directly under your center of mass and tendon elasticity while running.
Training Intensity and Volume: Overtraining or increasing your running intensity too quickly can stress your feet. Gradual progression and adequate rest are essential for preventing overuse injuries. In general, the best guideline to follow is to increase your volume by 10% per week.

Remember that everyone’s body is unique, and what works for one person may not work for another.

If you would like to finally solve the lower body injuries that are interrupting your ability to run successfully, don’t miss this FREE workshop..
“CHP’s Running Performance Lab”
Saturday, October 21st at 9am
Cohen Health and Performance
1401 Chain Bridge Rd, Suite 203
McLean, VA 22101

In this workshop, you will discover the root cause of your injuries and learn exercises to solve them.

We only have 5 slots left, so don’t miss your chance to sign up here.

Nagging injury? Don’t miss this interview!

In this very special edition of the CHP Spotlight Interview Series, I chatted with my physical therapy colleague, Dr. Kelly Henry.

Her recent article about dry needling created a lot of interest and several questions (check that out here). What better way to answer them than to ask the expert herself?

As many of you know, Dr. Kelly is the Clinic Director of our McLean location and an amazing sports physical therapist and strength coach.

In this interview, we tackled many of your questions such as:
-Does dry needling actually work? If so, how?
-Can dry needling help me with my injury?
-Does it hurt?!

If you have a frustrating injury that just won’t go away and/or are considering physical therapy, don’t miss this interview!

To learn more about Dr. Kelly, click here.

Runners rejoice: how dry needling can help you

It must be your lucky day because we have another guest post from the Clinic Director of our McLean location, Dr. Kelly Henry!

Do you have tight muscles or knots that won’t go away? Maybe you have even gone to physical therapy elsewhere but made minimal progress!

If you are anything like me, you have tried massage, foam rolling, stretching, and whatever else you can think of, but they keep returning.

Dry needling could be the solution you are looking for. Running is a very linear and repetitive sport, which increases the risk of developing muscle tightness and symptoms related to overuse. Many runners have experienced relief of chronic quad, calf, hamstring or hip flexor tightness from dry needling.

I recently helped a runner during a physical therapy session at our McLean facility that was experiencing consistent calf pain. It was most intense in the middle of his runs and forced him to reduce his overall mileage. He did everything that he could to fix it. He spent a lot of time warming up before runs, cooling down after runs, and he stretched constantly. But nothing helped.

His first physical therapy session included dry needling for his calf muscles, range of motion drills, and a few adjustments to his running technique, and the chronic calf pain went away!

Dry needling works by targeting a muscle limiting range of motion or causing pain. Your physical therapist will identify which muscle is causing the problem, identify “trigger points” in the muscle, and create a “twitch response” with the needle. A twitch response is a quick contraction that helps the muscle relax. People often feel better just a few moments after treatment! Here are some of the things that my runners have noticed after dry needling:

Less tightness during and after runs
Improvement in muscle soreness
Faster recovery from nagging injuries
Improved range of motion and muscle activation during cross training

Dry needling is best used with other forms of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including exercise and neuromuscular conditioning.

If you are a runner that is struggling with chronic injuries or tightness or is looking to optimize your recovery, contact us for a dry needling session in our McLean facility today.

Speaking of serious runners…we have 2 slots still available for a FREE Resilient Runner Injury screen at our McLean facility. If you want to run injury-free for years to come, don’t miss this!

This screen involves the use of our exciting, new Forcedeck technology. Learn more about that here!

This is how I ran with an achilles injury

We have a special guest post today! Dr. Kelly Henry, the clinic director of our McLean location, is not only an outstanding sports physical therapist and strength coach but also a former collegiate swimmer at Virginia Tech. In her free time, she dominates triathlons, recently placing 2nd in her latest race. Enjoy her insights!

The Persistent Heel Pain Runners Know All Too Well

Most runners can relate to that dull, nagging pain at the back of your heel—a discomfort that’s more irritating than debilitating. It’s rarely severe enough to stop you from running or send you to physical therapy, but it lingers for a few miles each run, leaving you hoping it’ll fade away, or stretching beforehand in the hope that it won’t bother you.

I experienced this for months while training for my first triathlon. I breezed through the initial weeks, steadily increasing my mileage without any issues—until one day, I felt a twinge at the back of my heel at the start of a long run. The pain disappeared during the run, so I didn’t think much of it. But the next morning, it was back, and the morning after that, it persisted, gradually interfering with my training routine. Determined to stick to my program, I refused to cut back on my running volume or intensity, hoping the problem would resolve on its own. When it didn’t, I sought advice from a physical therapist colleague. Transitioning from a provider to a patient was humbling, but here’s what worked for me:

1) Adjusting My Running Volume

I had to admit that I needed some rest. Once I did, many of my symptoms began to decrease. Along with the strategies below, I slowly reintroduced running, increasing my mileage by no more than 10% per week.

2) Strengthening My Calves and Lower Legs

Tendon injuries often occur when a muscle isn’t prepared for the physical demands placed on it. Strengthening the calves and lower legs is crucial for enhancing load tolerance and reducing the strain on the Achilles tendon. I incorporated exercises like bent knee heel raises and various split squat variations with my heel elevated into my daily routine.

3) Addressing the Underlying Causes of My Injury

In addition to focusing on strength and running volume, I identified specific mechanical adjustments needed to optimize my running form and prevent future injuries. I improved my ankle range of motion and learned to better absorb ground impact. Drills like single leg box jumping and weighted single leg hopping were key in this process.

Are You a Serious Runner Looking to Overcome an Injury?

If you’re committed to running injury-free for years to come, our Resilient Runners Movement Screen is a must!

This screening utilizes our cutting-edge Forcedeck technology. Learn more about it here!

CHP Spotlight Interview with Dr. Jamie Grossman

What can you do to prevent common upper and lower body injuries? When is it time for you to see an orthopedic surgeon? Are there surgical procedures that can preserve the lifespan of a joint?

I sat down with Dr. Jamie Grossman to tackle these questions and more in the latest CHP Spotlight Interview series edition. Dr. Grossman is an orthopedic surgeon with OrthoVirginia specializing in the field of joint preservation. Her areas of interest include sports medicine, joint reconstruction, and hip preservation.

The mission of the CHP Spotlight Interview Series is to share information with you from local experts in the fields of sports medicine, physical therapy, personal training, and sports performance. Now, more than ever, a seemingly infinite amount of information is available, and finding credible information is challenging. But we have good news. We are here to help you find the best information about physical therapy, personal training, and sports medicine from experts in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, DC, McLean, and Northern Virginia.

If you or someone you love has had a shoulder, hip, or knee injury, don’t miss this interview!

To learn more about Dr. Grossman, click here and check out our interview below!