THIS WEEK'S WILD, WEIRD, AND WONDERFUL....
1. Thirteen year old breaks world weightlifting records and she loves bacon... which can be a healthy part of a Paleo diet.
2. Physical Therapists: I Like to Move It or Cruel to be Kind?
Bill Ervolino writes a wonderfully humorous piece on his experience in physical therapy while rehabbing his shoulder. He starts his article:
You know the old doctor joke: Man goes to a doctor's office, lifts his arm and says, "It hurts when I do this." Doc nods and says, "Then don't do that."
Which brings us to the wonderful world of physical therapy.
ME: "It hurts when I do this."
THERAPIST: "Good! Keep doing it!"
The healthcare field is full of professionals that live to make you feel better. Physical therapists do that, too. But, sometimes they gotta make you feel bad to help you feel good. It's painful to get injured joints and muscles moving again. But a physical therapist - overflowing with vim, vigor, enthusiasm and encouragment - will help you "enjoy the pain" and get you back to better than you used to be.
In short, they're some of the nicest, most pleasant and cheerful masochists you'll ever want to meet!
So, I began to wonder, If there were a theme song for physical therapists, what would it be?
Well, you decide. Vote by adding your comments below.
And thanks, physical therapists - it Hurts So Good!
vs.
3. Athletic Trainers Against The World
Was a tad surprised to see where an athletic trainer was instrumental in getting a high school football coach investigated, and more than a tad surprised to see what he said about the offending coach:
"The most deplorable, disrespectful and disgraceful behavior from a head coach in any sport I have ever seen."
Um, tell us how you really feel....
Coaches and athletic trainers don't always see eye to eye. The trainer can be under significant pressure to release an athlete to play before they are fully ready. But, sometimes it's hard to appreciate just how much pressure an athletic trainer faces until you consider all the influences that combine against them.
Athletic Greed is Good
Sports is big business. We see it in the pros and we see it in college. Now, we're seeing it in high school athletics, as well. A high school in north Texas is building a $60 million football stadium. You better believe there's gonna be some serious pressure on that coach (from administrators and the community) to fill that stadium by putting a winning team on the field. That pressure will be passed right long when an athletic trainer has to make a ready-to-play decision on a star athlete.
Meet the Parents
Most top athletes have aspirations to play at the next level. Quite often those aspirations are backed up by a firm resolve, a do-whatever-it-takes-to-achieve-my-goals mentality. And, quite often those aspiring athletes will have equally aspiring parents. By the time little Johnny has reached high school graduation, those same parents have shelled out a small fortune in year-round sports play, summer camps, training specialists, recruiting videos, etc.
An injury threatens all of that. There's a lot at stake - both financially and aspirationally - and an injury is an obstacle that must be overcome. You can bet the athletic trainer, who provides some much-needed perspective, will be under pressure to help the family get around that obstacle.
Unnecessary Toughness
Finally, the athletic trainer has years of tradition working against them. The essence of sports is blood, sweat, and tears. So, if an athlete gets their "bell rung", it's simply one more way to prove their mettle. Coaches expect an athlete's full commitment. Teammates may not expect quite as much, but they most definitely want their friend beside them in the game - whether they're hurting or not. In short, you've got an athlete who, despite the pain, wants to be in the game - and the rest of society expects them to be out there, as well.
Sometimes an athletic trainer has to stand in the way of all that.
4. Wes Welker's Mini Romance
Even with the frenzy leading up to this Sunday's Super Bowl, New England Patriot's Wes Welker still found the time to get engaged to model Anna Burns.
(And, yes, that little gray thing you see in the bottom right hand corner of the picture is a crutch. But, don't worry Pats fans, this particular photo was taken two years ago when Welker was rehabbing his knee - and launching a new relationship with the lovely Miss Burns.)
The media reports that when Welker suffered his MCL/ACL tear back in 2009:
"Anna was by her beau's side for his surgery and rehab, and the two have been living together ever since."
Which leads us to our little story....
We have it - on innuendo and inference - that Welker used one of our machines to rehab his knee. We can't prove it, but we think the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming.
