Tis the Season to Walk and Run
 Walk or run - both are great ways to enjoy the New England spring. And most weekends there are fundraising walks, 5K's and marathons -something for everyone!
This weekend is the Cox Road Race. Last year Brian Hay, MSPT, DPT, OCS ran his first marathon and he returns this Sunday to try for a personal best and raise funds for Shoulder to Shoulder. The forecast is perfect so register and come participate. Be seen wearing a Performance T-shirt on the day and you could be the winner of a well deserved, 1 hour massage!
And remember most family members can walk a 5k, even if they need a little help. Get kids active from a young age to ensure a lifelong participation in exercise for their health.
 Michelle
Michelle Collie, PT, DPT, MS, OCS
The care at its best E-Newsletter is designed to provide ongoing fitness, injury and disease prevention tips to help you stay healthy. In addition, program, community and staffing updates will be available. Please feel free to email me directly with comments and suggestions. |
Childrens Museum Event
A great time was had at the Childrens' Museum "Life is a Carnival" event on April 9th. Over $60,000 was raised to benefit the Play Works Campaign. Pictured; Kristen Haffenreffer Moran, events manager and Michelle Collie view construction of the outdoor play zone. |
21st Annual MS Walk a Success!
 Courtney Provencal and Brian Hay screened flexibility, balance and strength at the Providence, MS walk on Sunday April 18th. Kelsi Nickerson of the Massasoit Ave clinic participated in the Bristol MS Walk and thanks to the generosity of patients and staff raised over $250.00 towards finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis!
  For additional information on Multiple Sclerosis please click here. |
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Teaching our Young Athletes to have Speed
By Brian Hay MSPT, DPT, OCS
Speed is an essential ingredient in athletics. The good news is speed can be taught! Follow these tips to reach your maximum speed: So, how do we do it? To teach speed we need to take a global approach to training. If you run more and run faster you will increase your speed, but you may never reach your maximum potential. Just like every other aspect of athletics we need to learn the technical aspect of being fast. To learn to be fast you must work on accelerating, decelerating, agility, endurance, strength, and power.  Stretch: Increasing flexibility creates a larger range of motion for a joint to create more force. Sport Specific Warm-up: When body temperature is increased, the speed of a muscle contraction significantly increases. Warm-ups should include activities that simulate the activity you are about to participate in and last about 10 minutes.
Agility training: Activities that require a quick change in direction help the nervous system recruit muscles at a faster rate.
Reaction training: Exercises that force your brain to react to an unexpected movement encourage the brain to send a reactionary message to the muscles faster.
Strength Training: A comprehensive strengthening program that works multiple muscle groups trains to produce more powerful muscle contractions and faster movements.
Cool Down: Promotes increased flexibility and proper muscle healing.
Developing an exercise regiment focusing on speed and strength is the most effective way to directly improve your performance on the athletic field.
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Weighing the Evidence on Exercise
 The newest science suggests that exercise alone will not make you thin, but it may determine whether you stay thin. See the featured article from the New York Times magazine.
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The Children's Museum is sponsoring a screening of a documentary: "Where Do The Children Play?". It explores the growing number of concerns expressed by professionals in the medical and mental health fields in regards to children growing up with fewer opportunities for unstructured play. For more details including screening time and location please 
Week 12, the final week of the competition and the final push towards our health goals. At this point, the School St. clinic continues to lead the pedometer steps portion with our Seekonk St. clinic coming in second. In the weight loss portion, our Barrington clinic holds an impressive lead over School St. and Seekonk St. is edging School St. in the exercise portion. Did you miss out on this most recent Shape Up RI competition? Join the summer Shape Up RI, an eight week competition with new nutritional tracking, tips on stress reduction, stretching and sleep. Registration begins June 1st!
