Last weekend, Family Physical Therapy sent two of their physical therapist, Kirsten Carmichael and Ila Suplizio, to San Francisco to attend the 2017 San Francisco Giant’s Sports Medicine Conference. This immersive conference, which is hosted by the Giant’s sports medicine team, covers the newest advances in medical research as it pertains to the diagnosis and treatment of sports medicine injuries.

The conference included presentations by the team’s physicians, physical therapist, athletic trainer, dietician, strength and conditioning coach, sport scientist, as well as SF Giants catcher Buster Posey, and team manager Bruce Bochy. The agenda also included baseball demonstrations for the assessment of hitting mechanics, pitching and catching mechanics, as well as manual therapy techniques for the shoulder and ankle.

The physical therapists at Family Physical Therapy enjoy broadening their horizons in the field of sports medicine, and learning new tools to help athletes reach their goals.  Kirsten and Ila came back from the conference with new evaluation and treatment techniques for athletes. The conference focused on the development of sport specific agility and strength training, as well as manual therapy techniques to improve range of motion and reduce pain. 

“My favorite thing I learned at the conference was the new manual therapy techniques to improve shoulder mobility. A stiff shoulder is very common after shoulder surgery, and the mobility is needed to maximize strength and function. I think I will be able to help a lot of people with these new techniques!”- Ila Suplizio, PT, DPT

"I really enjoyed learning the new manual approaches for restoring shoulder and lower extremity function in athletes. I also found the new research presented by Mike Reinold particularly interesting, finding a 3-4% increase in throwing velocity simply by adhering to a shoulder care program. That's huge!"- Kirsten Carmichael, PT, DPT, CSCS

Family Physical Therapy is excited to now offer functional strength training with TRX Rip Training. We love our TRX Suspension Trainer, and are excited to now provide our patients with a new way to strength train through functional planes of motion.
Rip training allows for functional resistance training and cardiovascular conditioning through multiple planes of motion. This tool allows physical therapists to train an athlete's rotational power, in order to improve their performance and function.  The unbalanced load provided by the Rip Trainer challenges core strength, and the rotational power needed for many sports, including golf, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, and boxing.  The Rip Trainer can be modified by your physical therapist to achieve strength training at all levels.

Javi is crushing his upper body strength goals with assisted pull-ups. We are so excited to see him get back to training!