Author: Zac Cupples

SI Joint Pain, Slideboards, and Bulging Discs – Movement Debrief Episode 31

Movement Debrief Episode 31 is in the books. Here is a copy of the video and audio for your listening pleasure. Here is the set list: How does pelvic position influence SI joint pain? Is there a difference between right and left SI joint pain? Where do slideboard variations fit into the program? When are bulging discs relevant? When is flexion vs extension warranted in treating bulging discs? When ought to neurodynamics be performed with disc bulges Who are my top R&b artists   If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube. They air every Wednesday at 7:30pm CST. Enjoy!                    Here were the links I mentioned: Michael Shacklock Clinical Neurodynamics Book Notes Clinical Neurodynamics BJ the Chicago Kid blackbear Anderson .Paak Musiq KCi & Jojo Ginuwine Case Joe R. Kelly Enhancing Life Method Strength Andy Mccloy  Trevor LaSarre Here’s a signup for my newsletter to get nearly 3 hours and 50 pages of content, a free acute:chronic workload calculator, basketball conditioning program, podcasts, and weekend learning goodies: [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Get learning goodies and more”]   SI Joint Pain Slideboards Bulging Discs

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December Links and Review

Every week, my newsletter subscribers get links to some of the goodies that I’ve come across on the internets. Here were the goodies that my peeps got their learn on in December If you want to get a copy of my weekend learning goodies every Friday, fill out the form below.  That way you can brag to all your friends about the cool things you’ve learned over the weekend. [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Hell yes I want weekend learning goodies every Friday!”] Biggest Lesson of the Month I’ve been thinking a lot about generalism and specialism. Becoming a generalist involves implementing things with an individual that intend to have systemic effects, whereas the specialist implements things that intend to have a specific effect. Think about encouraging your clients to sleep effectively, eat more vegetables, and move effectively. Implementing these three strategies will lead to system-wide effects first and foremost, and may impact a specific goal that you have. These are the tools of a generalist On the flipside, consider a surgical procedure, medication, etc. These modalities have a higher likelihood of meeting a specific goal first and foremost, but the system-wide effect is less certain. Though upon careful reflection on this thought, really anything we implement as a generalist or specialist is riddled with uncertainty. Both types of practitioners are necessary to maximize health, longevity, and/or performance. Quote of the Month “Ego is about who’s right. Truth is about what’s right.” ~Mike Maples Jr Ego is something I’ve been working on getting

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Manual Muscle Testing, Treating Powerlifters, Adductors Gotsta Chill – Movement Debrief Episode 30

Movement Debrief Episode 30 is in the books. Here is a copy of the video and audio for your listening pleasure. Here is the set list: If/when is manual muscle testing relevant and valuable What considerations should be made when manual muscle testing? Creative ways to improve variability in powerlifters What methods are useful for reducing adductor overactivity If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube. They air every Wednesday at 7:30pm CST. Enjoy!                    Here were the links I mentioned: Bill Hartman Pat Davidson Pre-existent vertebral rotation in the human spine is influenced by body position Right thoracic curvature in the normal spine Analysis of preexistent vertebral rotation in the normal spine Behavioral evidence for left-hemisphere specialization of motor planning Ipsilateral Hip Abductor Weakness After Inversion Ankle Sprain Here is the glute max fiber orientation (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) Here is a video of the D1 Extension pattern Enhancing Life Method Strength Andy Mccloy  Trevor LaSarre Here’s a signup for my newsletter to get nearly 3 hours and 50 pages of content, a free acute:chronic workload calculator, basketball conditioning program, podcasts, and weekend learning goodies: [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Get learning goodies and more”] Manual Muscle Testing Treating Powerlifters Adductors Gotsta Chill  

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Top 10 Posts of 2017

At the end of each year, I like to see what you beautiful…sexy…outstanding people liked the most from the jazz I be putting out. I want to understand you. Let me in!!!! While most of the top 10 were in the exercise-specific realm, I didn’t really see a common trend. It seems as though my fam have eclectic tastes. It’s probably why we get along so well! I want to thank you, the fam, for making 2017 an outstanding year. It has been all the comments, questions, stories, and praise that keeps me outputting content for you. I got some big things planned for 2018, and we may mix up the format a bit, but I think you will like the changes. But enough rambling. Let’s check out the top 10. First off… 10. Resilient Movement Foundations Course Review One of my favorite classes of the year,  put on by my fam from Resilient. Here we learned all the fundamental keys to effective movement, how to perform the big lifts savagely well, and how to use specific movements to improve joint position in these lifts. Follow these guys, they are some of the biggest stewards of the profession. 9. Practical Pain Education My thoughts on pain education have morphed a substantial degree over the past year. While I think my understanding of pain’s complexities have enhanced, I’ve worked on simplifying my education paradigms. I’ve often found that going down the neurophysiological rabbit hole is completely unnecessary, and providing simple examples

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Hip Flexor Tightness, Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome, & Real World PT – Movement Debrief Episode 29

Movement Debrief Episode 29 is in the books. Here is a copy of the video and audio for your listening pleasure. Here is the set list: How to determine hip flexor tightness How to use hip flexor differentiation to drive decision-making What tests can be performed to rule out a stress fracture What components ought to be looked at while treating medial tibial stress syndrome Thoughts on acute:chronic workload in medial tibial stress syndrome What advice I’d give my younger self on real world PT What the major key is to helping people How to lessen lower back pain after spin class If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube. They air every Wednesday at 7:30pm CST. Enjoy!                    Here were the links I mentioned: Pat Davidson Enhancing Life Method Strength Train Adapt Evolve – Aaron Davis’ spot A whole post on the Levitt position to reduce hip flexor tone All Gain, No Pain Practical Pain Education Iordan Krouchev Andy Mccloy  Trevor LaSarre Here’s a signup for my newsletter to get nearly 3 hours and 50 pages of content, a free acute:chronic workload calculator, basketball conditioning program, podcasts, and weekend learning goodies: [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Get learning goodies and more”] Hip Flexor Tightness Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome Real World PT  

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Recommended Resources

I oftentimes get asked what resources I recommend. The resources listed below have been essential at putting me down the path that I am currently going, and have shaped how I practice today. The cool thing about this list? None of these are set in stone. If I find a better resource, or one of the blogs I recommend starts to resonate with me less, it leaves the list (no pressure). I want to give you guys the most up-to-date resources as humanly possible, so please check back here frequently. If you’d like articles and such that are tripping my trigger as of late, you may want to sign up for my newsletter. You’ll also get some access to almost 3 hours and 40+ pages worth of exclusive content on pain and breathing. [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Oh wow, free stuff? Absolutely!”] Here are my resources: Foundational Sciences Video series Makemegenius – A youtube page dedicated to explaining scientific concepts that a kid could understand. Crashcourse – Another series of short videos explaining complex scientific topics and more in 15 minutes or less. I wish I had this in undergrad. Books Gilroy Atlas of Anatomy – Easily the best paper anatomy atlas you can find in the land. The angles drawn, the clarity of pictures, this atlas has it all. Wait until you see the subocciptals from the side. #mindblown Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology – Easily the best and most comprehensive physiology textbook in the land, the depth at

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How to Organize Journals, Blogs, and Articles

You wake up, make your bed, do your ahem, bathroom business, then slowly sulk your way to the kitchen to get some coffee brewing. While the good stuff brews, you open up your computer and decide to check what’s going on in the good old internet today. Then it happens. You see 20 new blogs on your blogroll, Facebook has shared 13 different posts that sound unbelievable, but oh wait, check out that tweet showing Tim Ferriss finally interviewed Zac Cupples (#dreaming), and then oh snap, Eminem just dropped another new song on Spotify! And then you accomplish nothing. I see this problem time and time again with many of the mentees that I work with, and I occasionally fall into the trap myself. We see so many interesting articles coming out on a regular basis, and the pull from FOMO is real. With so much to consume and so little time, what are we to do? The short answer: consume at the right time. Yes, the learning process has to involve impeccable timing with consumption. I’ve spoken about just in time learning ad nauseam (here and here), and it is key to both solving problems and retentaining new information. Consuming a cornucopia of random posts, articles, podcasts, and Youtube videos without direction is a recipe for time wasting.  You fleet from one cool article to the next and…oh wait, what was that last article about? We’ve all been there, and the struggle is real. So how do we overcome this nerd FOMO

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Respiration Revisited Preview

Respiration, and how it impacts movement, is a topic of dear interest to me. I scoured a bunch of resources to better understand how this process works, and I figured I’d record a talk on how I am applying these concepts. Basically, I do the work, you reap the results #tistheseason Here were some of the topics I discussed in this talk: The anatomy of respiration The physiology of respiration Alterations in physiology and anatomy as respiratory demands increase How to simply assess how movement is affected by respiration Easy to implement treatments to favorably impact movement If you want immediate access to the remainder of the nearly 90 minute talk, and a FREE 27 page PDF file of my talk notes, fill out the form below. [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Yes, a free talk and notes sounds like a sweet deal”] Without further adieu, here is the first 30 minutes of the talk.

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Hypermobility, Pushups Over Quad Sets, and Lat Dominance – Movement Debrief Episode 28

Movement Debrief Episode 28 is in the books. Here is a copy of the video and audio for your listening pleasure. Here is the set list: How do testing considerations differ for people with joint hypermobility syndromes? What does treatment look like for the hypermobile client? Why I like pushups and other upper body exercises can be effective selections for lower body problems What “pain science” courses do I recommend What’s the deal with overbracing and cueing abdominal coordination? How can you reduce lat overactivity The clinical reasoning model that I am thinking of If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube. They air every Wednesday at 7:30pm CST. Enjoy. (sorry about the audio delay, still making some tweaks on my new computer)                  Here were the links I mentioned: Here is the first way I assess coordinative variability   The next test assess coordination, power, and fatigability of joint variability: Noi Group Explain Pain Course Notes Graded Motor Imagery Course Notes Mobilisation of the Nervous System  Course Notes Therapeutic Neuroscience Education Course Notes International Spine and Pain Institute “All Gain No Pain” by Bill Hartman Enhancing Life Method Strength Andy Mccloy  Trevor LaSarre Here’s a signup for my newsletter to get a free acute:chronic workload calculator, basketball conditioning program, podcasts, and weekend learning goodies: [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Get learning goodies and more”] Hypermobility Pushups Over Quad Sets Overbracing Lat Dominance    

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Practical Pain Education

I gave a talk on how I approach pain education in the land of China, and yes I finally got around to re-recording it. Here were some of the topics I discussed in this talk: The history of pain education The difference between the three pain mechanisms What the current research suggests regarding pain and threat The 14 most common maladaptive pain beliefs, and how to squash those thoughts via education If you want immediate access to the remainder of the 1 hour and 49 minute talk, and a FREE 21 page PDF file of my talk notes, fill out the form below. [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Yes, a free 90+ minute talk and notes sounds like a sweet deal”] Without further adieu, here is the first 20+ minutes of the talk.

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