Save the Date
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Check back in next week's Newsletter for our March lectures and events!
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Personal Fitness with PT
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BUILD STRENGTH, FITNESS, AND INJURY RESILIENCE
If you are undergoing Physical Therapy rehabilitation, looking to build athletic or sport-specific strength and fitness to improve performance, or hoping to steer clear of the setbacks of injury, Phase IV's Personal Fitness with Physical Therapy program has you covered!
* Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.
* Mondays from 3 to 5 p.m.
* Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 5 p.m.
* Periodized strength programs developed by and executed in the hands of experienced Physical Therapists
* Scientifically verified progressions to train all modes of strength
* Individualized workouts that maximize health and fitness and minimize risk of injury
* Develop joint stability, strength, power, and endurance for a sport, hobby, or life
* Malleable to your personal objectives
* Builds on Forster Physical Therapy's rehabilitation methods in the hands of the same Physical Therapists
If Forster Physical Therapy is your body's college education, Phase IV's Personal Fitness with PT is its Ph.D. program.
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Phase IV in the News
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How skiers are using physical therapy to rehabilitate and prevent injuries, as well as supplement their ski training. With Robert Forster, PT. Read the article here.
On Bended Knee
The Source spoke with Forster PT's Amy Tran, DPT, on rehabilitating basketball-related ACL injuries; her advice to undertake consistent physical therapy before and after surgery applies to ACL injuries from any sport, as well as daily life activities.
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.
Watch Robert Forster, PT, and Dr. Bruce Hensel on the NBC newscast discussing Hip Impingement Syndrome which effects many people including Alex Rodriguez, Lady Gaga and many young ladies and how it can be corrected and prevented.
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.
UFC fighter and Phase IV Athlete Scott Jorgensen talks about how Phase IV has helped his career with science - Read More 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.
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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 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 3:30 - 5:00pm
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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Phase IV Women's Weight Training Class
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**NEW START TIME**
5:00 PM 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 -
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm 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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Message from the CEO
| Healthy Running, Step by Step, by Phase IV founder and CEO, Robert Forster, PT details the diagnosis and treatment of running injuries, information which can help you stay or get back on track with training. |
Last Minute Marathon Injuries
What do you do when you find yourself with a running injury just weeks before the big race? You have logged hundreds of miles in training; spent many additional hours stretching, preparing special training meals, and recovering from your arduous workouts; and now you are faced with the possibility that an injury will keep you from your goal of completing the marathon. Unfortunately, we meet too many desperate runners in this very predicament. Fortunately for them, we have spent the last 35 years in the results-driven world of elite athletics, developing injury management strategies that work quickly to keep runners on track and achieving their goals.
The first step is to arrive at an accurate diagnosis, which is the easier part of the process. More of a challenge is to identify the cause of the injury. Nearly all running injuries are an overuse-type strain. Either your training load was too robust, or your recovery too shabby. The result is that you outpaced your body's ability to adapt to the stress of your workouts. More commonly, there is a mechanical deviation in your running gait, causing excessive forces to bear down on the weak and vulnerable structures, until they fail. In my experience, after 35 years of helping runners become fit and stay healthy to achieve their goals, it is leg length inequalities at the root of 95% of running injuries.
To begin the healing process at the site of injury, clinical treatment focuses on reducing inflammation and pain with the liberal use of ice, the application of therapeutic ultrasound to drive anti-inflammatory compounds into the tissues, and the administration of electrical stimulation currents to mobilize swelling and reduce pain and spasm. Specific massage techniques are employed to break up scar tissue, and every runner is instructed in the stretching and strengthening exercises to reduce soft tissue dysfunction and normalize joint motion.
However, local treatment at the injury site must be matched with the proper strength and flexibility exercise, along with running gait corrections to address the mechanical cause of the injury. For the injury to be resolved and prevent the all-too-common injury and re-injury cycle, we have to change the aberrant forces acting to disrupt normal tissue physiology.
Even at this late date, we can change your running mechanics to unload overworked tendons and ligaments, and relieve pressure on bursas and inflamed fascial structures. We can make you a more efficient runner at the same time. It is also critical to focus on maintaining your hard-earned fitness while allowing the injured tissues to heal. Cross-training workouts should be planned to mimic the workouts you miss on the road.
Please contact us immediately if you want to build an effective approach to rehab and cross-training in order to maneuver around your injury, and still achieve your goal of finishing the 2015 LA Marathon.
>> 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
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Feature Article
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Tapering for the L.A. Marathon: Recovery and Peak
| Tapering for the marathon not only allows the body to recover from months of training, it also fine-tunes fitness. A proper taper over two, disciplined weeks will allow you to arrive at the start line both fresh and fit. Photo: Los Angeles Times |
With only two weeks left before the 2015 Asics L.A. Marathon, all competitors should now be in final preparations for race day. With the last long run completed, now it's time to taper your workouts and let your fitness evolve. But contrary to popular belief, the taper period is not just for recovery. The goals of the taper period are actually two-fold: to allow for full recovery, and to sharpen your fitness.
The first week of the taper is to allow for full recovery from the last fitness-building block of workouts - specifically, the last long run. The second week of the taper is to take your new-found fitness out for a spin, and test all the high gears. This will push your fitness up even further. The key to these workouts is to perform them in a completely recovered state, and keep them short. After each workout, you need to recover completely before moving on to the next one.
So instead of your key workouts being every 48 hours, as they were in the earlier training periods, you now will provide more time for recovery and allow 72 hours between challenging workouts. Light recovery workouts between the short, hard efforts will help. These can be easy runs or short workouts on a stationary bike or elliptical machine. Swimming and water running are also good for recovery.
The week of the race, with your training loads further reduced, you need to put that extra energy into recovery tactics. Start with at least eight hours of sleep each night, keep your days short, and get off your feet. Stretch every day (even if you don't work out), and focus on the tight and problematic areas with use of the Forster Edition Addaday foam roller, massage sticks, and other recovery tools. Follow these efforts with icing sore and tight areas for 20 minutes every night. Ice baths are very effective for recovery, and will help you rebuild fresh legs.
If you are experiencing pain, you must actively seek a resolution. Rest alone does not fix running injuries. You have plenty of time to address the mechanical deviations that caused your injury. It's best to arrive at the starting line healthy but with a little less fitness, than to arrive injured because you ran through pain. Cross-training will deliver the same fitness value in the last few weeks of training as running, and may spare your injury from worsening.
Please contact us for a complementary injury evaluation. It's not too late to get back on track and finish the race in good form.
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Phase IV Events |
Check back in next week's Newsletter for our March lectures and events!
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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Nutrition Corner
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Proper Hydration Yields Better Performance
Summer is here and the heat is getting turned up in Southern California. For cyclists and runners this means dehydration and more serious conditions like heat stroke and hyponatremia. Hyponatremia is a decreased concentration of sodium in the blood, which can lead to serious physiological conditions. Avoid hyponatremia or water intoxication (a very dangerous condition) by taking in fluids with electrolytes during hyper hydration efforts. It is also important to take extra care to maintain healthy fluid and electrolyte levels to prevent heat stroke and muscle cramping.
Beyond Thirst
Thirst is a good signal that it's time to get a drink. But if you wait till you're thirsty while exercising, you've waited too long. Thirst is the first sign of dehydration.
Why Do I Need Electrolytes?
Electrolytes help maintain proper fluid balance as well as muscle and nerve functioning. The most commonly measured electrolytes are sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate. We lose electrolytes when we sweat. Also, too much plain water will flush these out of your system. Maintaining a healthy balance of electrolytes in the body is critical. Using sports products like electrolyte tablets in your water bottle will ensure proper electrolyte replacement. A pound of sweat contains between 400-700 mg. of sodium. As always, how much sodium you lose is individual to you. As you become acclimated to the heat, your body will become more sweat-efficient and you will lose less sodium. What is the danger? As you become sodium depleted (or hyponatremic), you will not absorb fluids as efficiently in the stomach and the result will be muscle cramps and fatigue.
Read More . . .
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Press Room
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How PT Professionals Help Skiers Rehab, Prevent Injury, and Achieve Top Form >> ADVANCE Magazine
 | ADVANCE Magazine in the current issue features input from Robert Forster, PT, on the training and rehabilitation of skiers. Photo courtesy ADVANCE Magazine. |
When ADVANCE's Brian Ferrie compiled an account of how skiers take advantage of physical therapy treatment, he turned to Phase IV founder and CEO, Robert Forster, PT.
"Phase IV is sports training," [Forster] explained to ADVANCE. "Many of our patients will finish their rehab there, and some will continue on their fitness programs. It's like a personal training gym staffed by physical therapists and exercise physiologists."
"Over the years, we've trained and treated numerous skiers for injuries, as well as developed fitness and preventative health programs for them," Forster added in the interview.
Read the full article here.
 | Purchase Healthy Running Step by Step via Addaday or in person at Forster Physical Therapy or Phase IV. |
Don't let an old injury keep you from enjoying races, morning runs, or attaining fitness goals. In the first part of Healthy Running Step by Step, authors Robert Forster, PT and Roy M. Wallack recommend the best training based on your fitness goals, including strength training, cross training, sprints, yoga, and plenty of rest. Part two goes a step further from other books by addressing the most modern methods of treatment -- including current studies on the amount of rest required, new and controversial surgical operations and injections, the newest and most effective gear, and barefoot/minimalist running as a form of healing. If you are recovering from an injury or want to prevent becoming injured in the first place, Healthy Running Step by Step is a must-have guide.
Available in stores and at Phase IV and Forster Physical Therapy!
Phase IV and Forster Physical Therapy, the Exclusive Physical Therapy provider for the LA Marathon, are now the Exclusive Providers of EC3D gear in Los Angeles!
 | Scan with your iPhone or Android to call Phase IV for more information, sizing, or to order your EC3D Compression Gear. |
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
Click Here to view archived newsletters
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Phase IV Athlete Accomplishments |
Phase IV Scientific Health and Performance Center works with professional athletes, laypersons, and everyone in between. Old or young, experienced or novice, Phase IV's methodical application of scientific training principles covers the gamut of sport-specific or endurance training, gym- or home-based functional strength programs, nutrition, and weight loss. Our science is based on the combined efforts of physical therapists, exercise physiologists, and nutritionists who go to work for you. We have helped thousands of athletes meet or beat their goals without injury and in prime condition. Here are highlights of what just some of our athletes, backed by Phase IV and Forster Physical Therapy, have achieved throughout this year. - Blossom Sato: 2014 Ocean League Player of the Year; 2014 All-CIF, Santa Monica High School Girls Volleyball
- Dawn Harper-Nelson: 2014 National Champion, 100m hurdles with new world-record time, 12.55 seconds; June 28, 2014
- Maddy Tung: 2014 Junior National Champion, 53kg folkstyle wrestling; March 30, 2014
- Rick Betts: 2014 National Champion, Mixed Doubles Racquetball; February 15, 2014
- Micheline Aubuchon & Giulia McDonnell: 2013 CIF Doubles Tennis Champions, Southern Section
- Diane Reynolds: 2013 Road Runners Club of America State Champion, Grandmaster, California
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Phase IV Partners |
ACCELERADE & ENDUROX R4
Pacific Health Labs provides products to aid you through your training like Accelerade, after your training such as Endurox and great new products for energy and supplements!
www.pacifichealthlabs.com
NOW AVAILABLE at PHASE IV!
SUUNTO - Heart Rate Monitors and much more! FROM THE HIGHEST MOUNTAINS TO THE DEEPEST OCEANS Suunto has been at the forefront of design and innovation for sports watches, dive computers and instruments used by adventure seekers all over the globe.
 Private Swim Coaching & Masters Swimming by Phase IV Women's Weight Training & Student Fitness Academy class leader Lorna Richardson 424.235.8431
 Top to Top Competitor Magazine's "Best Running Store & Running Club" of 2009 2621 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica www.toptotop.com 310.829.7030 Cynergy Cycles Road & Mountain Bike Group Demo Rides Call 2300 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica 310.857.1500
1112 Manhattan Ave, Manahattan Beachwww.irunmb.com
310.376.0100
16545 Ventura Blvd., Encino
818.986.8686
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