Author: Dr. Michael Reuter, DPT, OCS
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Muscle Imbalances: Does One Side Really Need to Match the Other?
Your right leg is stronger than your left. Your left hip is tighter. One shoulder sits slightly higher than the other. Does that mean something is wrong? Not necessarily. Human bodies aren’t perfectly symmetrical. Differences in strength, flexibility, muscle size, and movement are common—even in healthy, active people. The important question isn’t simply, “Is one…
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Leg Length Differences: When Does It Actually Matter?
Have you ever been told that one of your legs is shorter than the other? Maybe someone measured your legs and found a difference of a few millimeters. Maybe you were told it could be causing your back, hip, knee, or foot pain. It sounds concerning. But here’s the important part: Having a leg-length difference…
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Minimalist vs. Maximalist Shoes: Where Does the Force Actually Go?
Walk into any running store and you’ll find two philosophies sitting on opposite ends of the shelf. On one side: minimalist shoes — thin, flexible, low to the ground, designed to mimic barefoot movement. On the other: maximalist shoes — thick, heavily cushioned midsoles, sometimes stacked more than 30mm high, built to soak up impact…
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Stress and Pain: Why a Bad Week Can Make Your Body Feel Worse
Have you ever noticed that your body seems to hurt more when life gets stressful? Maybe your back starts bothering you during a hectic week at work. Your old knee pain flares up when you’re not sleeping well. Or an injury that had been feeling pretty good suddenly seems more noticeable when you’re overwhelmed. You’re…
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Aging Well: How Food Can Help You Feel Younger, Longer
You can’t stop the clock—but what you put on your plate can influence how you experience getting older. As we age, maintaining muscle, managing chronic disease, and supporting our heart and brain health become increasingly important. The good news is that you don’t need a perfect diet to make a difference. Small, consistent choices can…
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Which Stage of Change Are You In? A Quick Self-Check for Getting More Active
You know exercise is good for you. You’ve probably known that for years. So why is it still so hard to actually do it consistently? There’s a psychological framework that can help explain why changing your activity habits can be difficult. It’s called the Stages of Change model, also known as the Transtheoretical Model, developed…
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Use It to Keep It: How Lifelong Mental Engagement May Help Protect You From Frailty
For many veterans, the challenges of aging come layered on top of the physical toll of service. Old injuries, chronic pain, and the wear and tear of a demanding career can make the path toward frailty feel like a one-way street. But a new study offers some genuinely hopeful news: staying mentally active throughout life…
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Call the POLICE: Why Acute Injury Advice Has Moved Beyond RICE
If you’ve ever rolled an ankle, tweaked a knee, or strained a muscle, you’ve probably heard the advice: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. RICE has been the go-to first-aid framework for acute soft tissue injuries for decades, so ingrained that most people can recite it without thinking. But sports medicine has moved on, and the “R”…
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1RM Living: When Everyday Tasks Become Your Max Effort
In strength training, your 1RM — one-rep max — is the single heaviest weight you can lift for one complete repetition of an exercise. It’s the ceiling. The absolute limit of what your body can produce in that moment, with nothing left in reserve. Most people think of a 1RM as something that happens in…
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The Weight of Being Alone: Loneliness, Isolation, and Veteran Health
Some health risks are easy to see. Smoking leaves a warning label. High blood pressure shows up on a chart at every checkup. But one of the most powerful predictors of early death doesn’t come with a number on a screen at all — it comes from something as ordinary as how connected a person…
