A sports hernia involves weakening or tearing in the muscles, tendons, or ligaments of the lower abdominal and groin area that leads to chronic pain, often caused by repetitive and forceful twisting of your pelvis. Sports hernias are most seen in soccer players due to the dynamic nature of the sport, rapid changes in direction, intense sprinting, and repetitive twisting and turning when kicking. Physical therapy can help athletes manage and recover from a sports hernia, addressing underlying muscular imbalances that contributed to injury through targeted exercise, core strengthening, and manual therapy.

Check out our January 2024 Newsletter, highlighting managing shoulder labral tears with physical therapy, benefits of core strengthening for athletic performance, setting SMART fitness goals, and winter donation drive thank you.

Core strengthening has numerous benefits for an athlete’s fitness level and sports performance. The core muscles are the foundation of movement for the entire body, comprised of the abdominals, back muscles, diaphragm, hip muscles, and pelvic floor muscles. A physical therapist can assess an athlete’s core strength and design a core strengthening exercise program to enhance the strength, control, and endurance of their core muscles. Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapy assistant Patti demonstrates several advanced core strengthening exercises on the blog.

Swimming is a dynamic sport that requires full body movement and coordination and a significant amount of power and endurance, placing significant stress on the shoulder joint. The intensity of competitive swimming training can increase the risk of common overuse injuries like swimmer’s shoulder, knee injury, or low back pain. Physical therapy can help swimmers prevent and address injuries through sport-specific training and a comprehensive rehabilitation program to improve strength, endurance, mobility, and shoulder stability. Check out our 5 tips to prevent injury in competitive swimming!

Basketball is a high-intensity sport, requiring running multi-directionally, shuffling the body laterally, jumping, and quick starts and stops. The intense physical demands of basketball heighten the risk of injury. Physical therapists work with basketball players to not only prepare them for a successful basketball season through a customized strength and conditioning program, but also address any in-season injuries and help athletes regain strength, mobility, balance, and function for a safe return to sport.

Improving an athlete’s sports performance with physical therapy can reduce the incidence of sports-related injuries by improving sports technique and body mechanics as well as enhancing the athlete’s strength, mobility, and power. Physical therapists can create a personalized sports conditioning and performance program to help athletes perform at an elite level. Check out 10 ways physical therapy can improve your sports performance!