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Phase IV RunLab Analysis Clinic
Monday, January 27th
* Run Gait Check and Shoe Check * Flexibility & Posture Screening * Training Plan Review * Nutrition Optimization Class 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at Phase IV Fee is $59 & includes Stretch Strap, Ice Bag & Accelerade Products **Space is limited so call now to RSVP
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Phase IV in the News
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Muscleandbodymag.com spoke with Robert Forster, PT, about recovery methods such as the Rumble Roller and low-intensity active recovery. Read the full article here.
Phase IV athlete Joe Warren and his team faced off against the Renzo Gracie Academy in Madison Square Garden on December 1, 2013, as a host of MMA fighters returned to their wrestling roots.
Robert Forster, PT, and Dr. Ivan Huergo discuss periodization training to maximize performance and minimize the risk of injury. Listen here. Phase IV MMA fighter Joe Warren returns to his wrestling roots in Grapple in the Garden 2013. Watch highlights here.
Robert Forster, PT, discusses prevention and treatment of youth concussion syndrome on NBC4 Southern California News with Dr. Bruce Hensel, Chief Health, Medical and Science Correspondent. An article with Robert Forster, PT, featured in TIME Magazine's Healthland
What you don't know may hurt you.
Learn the calf raise variation to train the neglected muscles in the lower leg.
Sick of Squats? 15 Workout Upgrades That'll Get Better Results - an article from www.ivillage.com featuring Robert Forster, PT.
Watch Robert Forster as he is interviewed on NBC by Dr. Bruce Hensel on training Olympic athletes.
Click Here
KCRW's Warren Olney interviews Robert Forster from the London Olympics on "Which Way LA"
Click Here to listen
Listen to Robert's interview on the radio show, Dr. Fitness & Fat Guy, on the Sirius Radio Network. Robert discusses training elite athletes and his Olympic experiences.
Click Here to listen
"Countdown to better habits, What physical therapists want you to know - and do" featuring Robert Forster, PT - February 29, 2012|By Danielle Braff, Special to Tribune Newspapers.
Click Here to view archived newsletters
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Forster Physical Therapy
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427 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Forster Physical Therapy has been chosen as "The Best Physical Therapy clinic in Los Angeles!" for good reason:
- We have a 30 year history of helping people overcome physical problems and achieve their goal to live an active lifestyle.
- Featuring a compassionate Professional Staff with over 115 years of collective experience.
Services Include:
- Rehabilitation programs for all Spinal Conditions
- Sports PT
- Post Surgical Care
- Joint Replacement Rehab
- Shoulder, Knee & Running Injuries
- Water Exercise Therapy
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Phase IV Women's Weight Training Class
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**NEW START TIME**
5:30PM TUES & THURS
BE A BETTER "BUTTER BURNER!"
If you are looking to increase your metabolism and strength while getting lean and toned, and who isn't, you need to weight train! Lean muscle burns more calories so if you want to decrease body fat, perform better, train for an event or just look & feel great, this class is for you!!!
About the Class:
- A Weight Training class for Women of all ages and abilities
- Each class will consist of a total body workout designed to increase muscular strength and speed up your metabolism
- The class will follow our Phase IV fitness progression developed by Phase IV Founder and CEO, Robert Forster PT, who has over 30 years experience working with female athletes of all abilities.
- It's a fun, energetic, group workout with fantastic music alongside other like-minded women (NO MEN) that will alleviate stress and leave you feeling great
- Class is designed to train your body properly through scientific principles, so you don't have to do any thinking....Just SHOW UP and HAVE FUN!
Why Weight Training:
- To increase your resting metabolism, decrease blood pressure & body fat
- Reduce bone deterioration and build bone mass to prevent osteoporosis
- Weight training done properly and with planning will NOT give you large muscles, but increase your metabolism which burns more calories and transforms your body into an efficient machine with the tone that we all strive to attain!
Join Lorna Richardson, Trainer
every Tuesday & Thursday -
5:30pm to 6:45pm here at Phase IV
Give us a call at 310.582.8212 or email us at info@phase-iv.net
Ask about special 10-pack rates!
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Phase IV Student
Fitness Academy
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Laying the foundation for athletic achievement in student athletes for over three decades.
**NEW START TIME**
Every Tuesday & Thursday
afternoon from 4:00 - 5:15pm
Phase IV Student Fitness Academy was created to bring 30 years of experience in training elite Olympic and Professional athletes to the student athletes of our community.
"With the right exercise program, puberty offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to make the most dramatic and long lasting bodily changes" Robert Forster, Physical Therapist, Founder and CEO Phase IV Scientific Health and Performance Center. Read More
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Runners and other athletes no longer need to see a physician before receiving care at Forster Physical Therapy. Also new for 2014, the professional staff at FPT have been designated as the Exclusive Physical Therapy Providers for the Los Angeles Marathon. Together, these two developments means all runners have easy access to expert rehabilitation. Statistics show 50-80% of all runners will suffer a running related injury every year.
Accordingly, injury prevention and injury management must become a fixed component of their training.
There is a sports medicine idiom that states for every day an athlete trains with pain, it takes two days of rehabilitation to get better. Now it is easier than ever for athletes to stay on top of their injuries. Early evaluation of new or nagging aches and pains can now prevent minor problems from becoming a long drawn out injury that interrupts training and causes your hard earned fitness to evaporate.
In addition, all runners registered for the 2014 Los Angeles Marathon are eligible for a free injury assessment at Forster Physical Therapy so there is no reason to delay. If you or someone you know is suffering pain during or after workouts relief is only a phone call away.
>> Read each week's CEO Message here
At Phase IV we are continuously working to update our services and information to better inform our communities. Check out our newsletter and let us know your feedback. - info@phase-iv.net - 310.582.8212
Sincerely, Robert Forster - PT, CEO & Owner
Phase IV Scientific Health and Performance Center
and Forster Physical Therapy
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Featured Article
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Hamstring Injuries: Identification and Treatment
 | | The hamstring muscle group is key in the running motion, and is also a key vulnerability for runners. Stretching and strengthening are the best protection. Photo courtesy Runner's World. |
Anatomy and Function of the Hamstring
In spite of the reputation as being one of the most common and difficult injuries to fix in all of sports medicine, hamstring strains are not all that difficult to rehabilitate. In our work with Olympic sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers, preventing and treating hamstring strains is the most important and valued skill because of the prevalence of these injuries in their events.
The three muscles of the hamstring group (from medial to lateral: the semimembranosus, semitendonosis, and biceps femoris) all originate via a common tendon at the ischial tuberosity, the bony prominence at the base of the pelvic bone that is the contact point when we sit. They insert on the back side of the lower leg bone (tibia) just below the knee joint. Because this muscle group crosses both the hip and knee joints and they are known as two-joint muscles.
During running the lower hamstring works in a lengthening (eccentric) contraction at the knee joint to slow down the rate that the lower leg swings through the air before it hits the ground. At the hip the upper hamstring works at first eccentrically at first to limit the degree that the hip joint flexes at foot strike and this helps to slow the speed that your center of gravity drops in mid stance. Later in stance phase they switch function and are active in a shortening (concentric) contraction to extend the hip joint and catapult your body weight over the stationary stance leg. The hamstrings, along with the glutes, are the prime movers, (i.e.your motor) in steady state running on flat surfaces as they are responsible for keeping your center of gravity moving forward. In uphill running and sprinting they are even more active.
Presentation of Pain
The pain from hamstring injuries can present in different areas in the back of the body extending from the gluts to behind the knee. This makes self diagnosis difficult. Many runners experience pain in the upper end of the hamstrings very close to the origin at the ischial tubersosity and some imagine they have torn the upper attachment off the bone. As strong as this muscle group is, it rare that it's tendon is pulled off of the bone. Instead, with careful examination the muscle strain is found to be an 2-4 inches below the origin. The difficulty in localizing the exact the site of hamstring strains is further illustrated by how often a runner will come in for Physical Therapy evaluation complaining of a hard to locate pain behind the knee. After ruling out knee pathology, the pain is invariably found anywhere in a region from the mid belly of the hamstring to 4-6 inches above the knee even though the pain is experienced lower in the back of the knee.
Read More . . .
Additionally, look for Forster's soon to be released book, Healthy Running, Step by Step, due out this Fall.
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Phase IV Events
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* Run Gait Check and Shoe Check
* Flexibility & Posture Screening
* Training Plan Review &
* Nutrition Optimization Class
Monday, January 27th at 6:30 -- 8:30pm at Phase IV
Fee is $59 & includes Stretch Strap, Ice Bag & Accelerade Products **Space is limited so call now to RSVP
Brought to you by Phase IV & Accelerade
Read More
Give us a call at 310.582.8212 or email us at info@phase-iv.net to find out more about our affordable services or to book a Free Consultation with one of our expert Exercise Physiologists.
We're looking forward to working with YOU!
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Dangers in the Gym!
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Robert Forster PT
CEO and Founder of Phase IV Scientific Health and Performance Center
Every day we see research that shows exercise is the best medicine to keep your body working well and for the prevention and treatment of many of the lifestyle diseases that plague our population. Exercise is powerful medicine and, like with all medicine, proper use is critical to get the best results and avoid injury.
For over 30 years I have traveled the world and witnessed all types of exercise programs. I evaluate every exercise move in a risk-benefit analysis. If the potential of injury is greater than the benefit, or if a better result can be attained with a safer move, the exercise is not prescribed.
The Dangers of Yoga
We like yoga because it gets people stretching, and everyone needs to stretch (click here to read more about stretching). Yoga is more than stretching however; it's a 3000-year-old practice of breathing, static stretching, and specific poses and when instructed by qualified practitioners holds time-tested relevance for health and well-being. We have worked with some of the best yoga masters in the country and medically-oriented yoga masters from India as well, and have found their techniques to deliver real health benefits.
Hot House Yoga
Unfortunately, yoga in most gyms is not practiced in accordance with the strict discipline required to be safe and effective, and has led many clients to seek our assistance after suffering injuries in class. When done properly, yoga is a blend of stretching and strength poses designed to create joint stability. Joint stability is where strength and flexibility blend to align the bones properly at the joints and allow for bio-mechanically sound movement in our daily activities and in sport.
The problem seems to be that instructors and students alike think it's all about increasing flexibility alone and, even worse, they make it competitive. Yoga is not a competitive sport and the depth of the stretch in the person next to you is no indication of how far you should go in each position. "Hot House" yoga, during which the room is artificially heated to 105 degrees, in particular leads to over stretching as the natural feedback mechanisms that tell us when we are overstretching are altered by the heat. Worse yet, some instructors will apply over pressure to "assist" the stretch and create dangerously high forces that can -- and have -- damaged muscles, tendons, ligaments, and the inter-vertebral discs.
An Incomplete Workout
Even in the best of classes, yoga is not a complete body-maintenance program, nor does one or two classes a week substitute for your own daily stretching regime. Stretching has long- and short-term benefits that make it as crucial for daily health as brushing your teeth. While stubbornly tight areas of the body will improve over time with yoga practice, your own daily static stretching program is vital to fight the natural tendency of our connective tissues to tighten every day. Normal daily activities like sitting and even sleeping allows muscles and fascia in the front of our bodies to tighten, which alters posture and negatively impacts the way your joints operate. This leads to premature joint degeneration and other injuries.
Your fitness workouts tighten muscles even more and require that you practice static stretching afterward to return them to their normal resting length and aide recovery.
While yoga poses will improve strength and balance, they are an incomplete strategy for keeping the body strong where we need it most. The human body has inherent weaknesses that are exacerbated by our mostly sedentary lifestyle. Most of the common physical maladies we suffer can be traced to tightness in the front of our bodies and weakness in the back. Yoga poses work to strengthen the front of the body more than the back, and while they are certainly better than doing nothing at all, they do not give us strength where we need it most: the muscles in the back of our bodies.
Learn Your Strengths and Weaknesses First
It is best to be evaluated by a qualified yoga practitioner with years of one-on-one experience -- or an experienced physical therapist -- to be analyzed first for tight and weak areas of your body, and then to create your personalized yoga routine. This can then guide you in your class or home practice. We can design a simple home-based strength and flexibility program to augment your yoga routine and create balanced strength in the front and back of your body to help you maintain healthy joints for life. Call or click today to schedule your structural exam with one of our qualified physical therapists.
Always stretch BEFORE and AFTER each workout to stay injury-free.
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Press Room
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Pre-Ski Fitness Can Protect Against Post-Ski Injuries >>
by Dorene Internicola
 | | Next to technique, fatigue is a major source of skiing injuries. Robert Forster, PT, advises building a base of aerobic fitness and flexibility to stay healthy on the slopes. Photo by Sean Perry |
Phase IV founder and CEO Robert Forster, PT, is a leading expert in physical therapy, physiology, and metabolic training, with over thirty years' experience with professional athletes -- experience he translates to athletes and everyday individuals of all levels as well.
The Huffington Post's Dorene Internicola consulted Forster on the prevalence and causes of skiing injuries -- injuries that, while rarer than running injuries, tend to carry far more severe and long-lasting consequences.
"To minimize fatigue and risk of injury, Forster, physical therapist to 42 Olympic medalists, suggests getting in ski-shape before hitting the slopes.
'All fitness begins with an aerobic base,' he said. 'So six weeks before, start training with an elliptical trainer or stationary bike, or running or walking. Build up to 20 to 30 minutes three times a week.'"
>> Read the original article here
Phase IV and Forster Physical Therapy, the Official Physical Therapy provider for the LA Marathon, are now the Exclusive Providers of EC3D gear in Los Angeles!
Find us and join some of our social networks for scientific health & training tips and advice as well as chances to win Phase IV services and products:
Forster Physical Therapy
Office: 310-656-8600 www.forsterpt.com
Phase IV Scientific Health and Performance Center
Office: 310-582-8212 www.phase-iv.net
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