Mobility? What is it? Do I need more? How do I get more? The ability to move freely is the ability to access as much tissue as possible to adapt. As functional human beings, we require active range of motion as a prerequisite for movement, and for athletes, that requirement is usually greater. There are … Continue reading How’s Your Mobility? →

Walking into a gym filled with barbells, free weights, and machines can be intimidating, especially for inexperienced weightlifters. However, the risk of injury from resistance training is relatively low when compared to team sports, running, and other forms of exercise. About 4 injuries occur for every 1,000 hours of weight training (Triplett, 2016). The low … Continue reading Risk Management of Resistance Training Injuries →

It is a new year, and many of us have decided that improving our overall level of fitness is one of our resolutions. Unfortunately, something might be getting in the way of us achieving our goals. According to Examine.com’s Fitness Guide 2019, 78% of Americans don’t meet the national exercise guidelines. Physical Activity Guidelines for … Continue reading What is Stopping You From Improving Your Fitness? →

Back to Function has added Reformer Pilates! We have a brand new Balanced Body Allegro Reformer and private 1-on-1 workouts will be taught by Whitney Salcer Sulentor starting immediately. Whitney is native to southern California and attended Mira Costa High School before getting a scholarship to play NCAA  Division 1 volleyball at Southern Methodist University … Continue reading Reformer Pilates Now Available at Back to Function →

What is Fitness? Biologically speaking, an organism would be considered as having fitness if it is able to survive to reproduce. Typically, humans survive well beyond their reproductive years. For us, fitness has taken on a new definition that is related to the stage of life we are in and our overall level of health. … Continue reading What is Fitness and How Can We Measure it? →

Leaving the dog days of summer and entering the start of the NFL season, MLB playoffs, and the NHL in October, we are witnessing the best athletes in their individual sports competing. Professional athletic performance is a result of years of sports-specific training and sometimes more importantly off-season therapy and workouts. When it comes to … Continue reading Do You Train Like an Athlete? →

Training for any sport, professional or recreational, athletes recognize the benefit of a strength and conditioning program…but what happened to stretching?  There are many reasons for stretching’s lack of popularity.  Aesthetically, stretching doesn’t produce the same outward appearance as does strength training. The muscle development gained during an 8-week training program, is much more apparent … Continue reading Do You Even Stretch Bro? →

Are you looking for a way to measure your overall fitness level? Do you want to hit the gym, but aren’t really sure what you should spend time working on? Cardio? Strength? Flexibility? The BTF Fitness Challenge is a unique series of 10 body weight-based tests. Each of the 10 tests is designed to measure … Continue reading BTF Fitness Challenge →

Why do the doctors at Back to Function have me blow up balloons for some of my rehabilitation exercises? Blowing up balloons facilitates the abdominal muscles. The abdominal muscles are flexors of the spine and trunk. By facilitating (turning on) the spinal flexors with balloon blowing you are helping to inhibit (turn off) the spine … Continue reading Why Should We Blow Up Balloons For Exercise? →

If you think doing sit-ups are training your core, you better keep reading so that you can rethink your “core” workouts. First of all, let’s define what the core is. What is the core? The torso and pelvis between the shoulders and hips (front and back of the body) is the core. Because of its size and capacity … Continue reading Why Sit-Ups Are Not Training Your Core →