Tom Brady on Proactive Physical Therapy and Ski Season Prep!

Tom Brady on Proactive Physical Therapy

“How do I develop a body proactively, how do I think about my health and wellness proactively, so I don’t find myself in the surgeon’s office at the end of the year? So I don’t find myself as a 50-year-old former athlete who needs a knee replacement? So, those were really important steps on my journey.” -Tom Brady

I was listening to Tom Brady being interviewed on a podcast recently and this quote caught my attention. Many of you may know that Tom Brady was able to play in the National Football League (NFL) until the age of 45, a very rare feat for most players. In fact, he is the oldest quarterback to ever start a game in NFL history.

During his career, Brady made it clear that he intended to play into his 40’s. However, he realized that in order for that to become a reality, he needed to be very intentional about his health and wellness. As Brady describes above, he had to undergo a major mindset shift if he wanted to continue playing in the NFL until his mid-40’s.

The transition that he went through was switching from a reactive to a proactive mindset. Brady knew that in order to have longevity playing professional football and to minimize his injury risk, he had to be proactive. This meant taking control of his body and optimizing, among other things, his mobility, flexibility, strength, and conditioning.

Even though most of us aren’t professional athletes, we can still learn a lot from Tom Brady’s example. By adopting a proactive mindset towards his health and wellness, what Brady did was address the potential for pain and injuries before they happened. He set out to minimize risk factors that would keep him off the field or put him in the doctor’s office at the end of the season.

Outside of professional sports, Brady’s mindset isn’t as common. Take, for example, our medical system. It is very much a reactive system; you have pain, or you suffer an injury, and then you seek help. In other words, you go to the doctor only after you’ve experienced pain or an injury.

What if we focused more on prevention? What if we were more proactive in taking care of our bodies?

There’s a saying in sports that “the best ability is availability.” What that means is that the best quality a player can have is actually being on the field or on the court and not missing any games due to injury. A quarterback can have the strongest arm and a basketball player can have the best jump shot, but what good is it if they’re sitting on the sidelines?

The best way to be consistently “available” is to be proactive about your health. This becomes more important as you approach, and as you enter, middle age. Many of you in that stage of life may notice a few more aches and pains, and that physically, you may not be able to do things like you used to.

Our mission at PT PROGRESSION is to keep you in the game. For some of you, that may mean playing with your grandkids, and for others, it may mean playing in a pickleball league with your friends.

Whatever it means for you, we’re here to be the quarterback of your health and wellness.

Ski Season Prep: Part One

The temperatures are dropping, and many parts of northern New England have already experienced the first snowfall of the year. Over the warmer months, a couple of my clients who endured ACL injuries last winter have been hard at work, rigorously preparing for the season ahead. It never gets old watching people turn a major injury into an opportunity to get back to their sport or activity stronger than ever.

There's no denying that skiing is a physically demanding activity requiring a high level of fitness and athleticism, accompanied by a real risk of injury. Incidence of ski/snowboard injuries is as high as 3.5 injuries/1000 athlete days. While knee/lower extremity injuries are the most common, head injuries are the leading cause of serious disability and mortality. Considering it’s 2023, it should go without saying, but I’m going to plug it anyway: please wear a helmet! And make sure your helmet isn’t too old; helmet technology has made big leaps over the past couple of years. A good rule of thumb is to replace your helmet every 5 years.

Skiing injuries are typically caused by a combination of snow/environmental conditions, equipment, skill level, and physical condition of the skier. As Physical Therapists, we emphasize the importance of controlling the controllable: physically preparing for the season to build resilience and minimize risk. This is something I’ve been bringing up to my current clients as the mercury falls.

When developing programs for clients aiming to return to skiing or enhance their injury resistance, we prioritize the following:

• Power - Muscles need to respond quickly to maintain control while carving turns and coming to a stop.
• Cardio - A strong heart and fit lungs are crucial to meet the aerobic demands of skiing.
• Balance - A robust core and balance system help keep the body upright and prevent falls.
• Endurance - The legs and core must sustain significant work over the course of a day to keep the turns flowing.

We recommend a thoughtful, personalized training program to mitigate these risks and enhance overall performance. Our goal is to help you feel stronger and more confident when you buckle your boots and step into your bindings this season.

Stay tuned for Part Two where I'll discuss some of our favorite exercises to build those ski legs in the coming weeks.

Think snow!