Sarah

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve probably heard it a thousand times from anyone who knows anything about fitness.  “Stretching is important.”  The benefits of stretching activities are numerous.  They increase the ability of your joints to move, lengthens muscle, decreases tightness, and in the right environment, can help with relaxation and stress management.  It’s fairly well-established throughout the world that stretching should be a priority for most people; especially those who wish to be physically active. Pre-workout Considerations In general, a dynamic warm-up is best, similar to the one seen here.  Dynamic warm-ups are essentially a series of movements designed to prepare the body for athletic activities.  Good examples are short-duration activities such as jogs, high knees, butt-kicks, lunges, and others. The benefits of doing a dynamic warm-up are that you provide slight increases in flexibility, increase the heart rate, provide increased blood flow to the muscles, all...

It’s happened to plenty of people you know, and now it’s happened to you. You went to lift something heavy, or you took a bad fall on your arm, and now your shoulder is in severe pain and you are having a lot of trouble moving it. The pain wakes you up at night, and stops you in your track when you reach for your morning. You let it go for a few days, thinking it will get better…maybe even a few weeks. But there’s little improvement. You finally decide to make an appointment with your doctor, and after a brief exam, the verdict is in: You’ve torn your rotator cuff. “Rotator Cuff…What is That Anyway?” The rotator cuff is a series of four muscles: the Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres minor, and Subscapularis (Remember the acronym “SITS”). These four muscles are the primary stabilizers of the shoulder. In other words,...

If you’re at all familiar with organized soccer in the Marquette area, you’re probably familiar with the Superior Land Soccer Association (SSA).  The SSA provides the opportunity for youth and adults to compete in an organized league through the beautiful summer months in Marquette.  They also provide the opportunity for elite-level travel teams to continue competition throughout the other seasons of the year! Active has been a sponsor of Superior Land Soccer for three years in the youth levels.   Leslie Hartman, business manager at Active says that it’s been a privilege over the past few years to support the SSA.  “They’re such a well-run organization. We really enjoy supporting a local community organization that encourages children to be more active.” If you’re interested in being a youth soccer athlete in the Marquette area, please visit their website:  www.superiorlandsoccer.com.  Remember that when it comes to your athletic injuries, you...