When it comes to Crossfit and Weightlifting, opinions are divided amongst Physical Therapists and other clinicians. Why is it that these sports cause such strong differences among rehab professionals? In this half-day, remote continuing education course, instructor Sarah Haran PT, DPT, OCS, CF-L2 looks at the realities and myths related to Crossfit and high-level weight-lifting with the goal of answering “how can we meet these athletes where they are in order to keep them healthy, happy and performing in the sport they love?" This course will review the history and style of Crossfit exercise and Weightlifting, as well as examine the role that therapists must play for these athletes. Common orthopedic issues presented to the clinic will be examined. However, while things like urinary function, pregnancy and postpartum, hip impingement, LBP/pelvic pain, prolapse, and diastasis will be touched on, this will not be a course in addressing pelvic health concerns in these athletes. These topics will be more fully addressed in the course: Pregnancy and Postpartum Considerations for High Intensity Athletics with Emily McElrath.

Labs will introduce and practice the movements of Crossfit and Weightlifting  , discussing the points of performance for each movement. The practitioner will not only learn how to speak the language of the athlete but will experience what the movement feels like so that they may help their client to break it down into its components for a sport-specific rehab progression. The goal of this course is to provide a realistic breakdown of what these athletes are doing on a daily basis and to help remove the stigma that this type of exercise is bad for our patients. It will be important to examine the holes in training for these athletes as well as where we are lacking as therapists in our ability to help these individuals. We will also discuss mindset and culture issues such as the use of exercise gear (i.e. straps or a weightlifting belt), body image and the concept of "lifestyle fitness". Finally, we will discuss marketing our practices to these patients.

Audience: This course is targeted for physical therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapy assistants, occupational therapy assistants, physical therapy, and occupational therapy students.

Prerequisites: All pre-recorded lectures in Teachable for this course must be watched before the Live Component of the course. See the Schedule tab for the current list of pre-recorded videos