Author: Zac Cupples

The 3 Biggest Basketball Conditioning Mistakes

Hey party people. In case you missed it, I did a guest spot on my guy Mike Robertson’s website. Mike has been a cat I’ve known for many years now, and has (and still does) profoundly influenced the way I coach. His posts on deadlifting, bench pressing, and on long duration low intensity cardio are simply some of the best things you’ll find on the internet. Please support this cat. In this post, I discussed the following topics: Why general preparation is no substitute for specific preparation Why basketball ought to be practiced according to energy system demands What those energy system demands are How to use acute:chronic workload to safely progress conditioning You can check out the blog here, or at the big ol’ link below. Enjoy. The 3 Biggest Basketball Conditioning Mistakes

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Kinesiotape, Managing Performance Teams, and More – Movement Debrief Episode 14

Movement Debrief Episode 14 happened yesterday, and it was a good ol’ fashioned reader Q&A. Here’s what we talked about: Evidence (or lack thereof) for taping in general How I incorporate taping into my practice What the keys are to having a successful performance team The keys to being a successful leader If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or sometimes Twitter. They air every Wednesday at 8:30pm CST. Enjoy. Here were some of the links I mentioned in this Debrief. The 3 Biggest Basketball Conditioning Mistakes Effects of Patellar Taping on Brain Activity During Knee Joint Proprioception Tests Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Systematic Review of the Effect of Taping Techniques on Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome Effect of kinesiology taping on pain in individuals with musculoskeletal injuries: systematic review and meta-analysis. Dynamic Tape Leukotape Kinesiotape Managing Performance Teams

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How to Fix Neck Pain After Lifting – A Live Treatment

While in the Hamptons, my main man Cody Benz started developing some neck trouble. We thought it might be helpful for y’all to see what I would do to help a cat like him. Here you will see me go through an entire treatment session with Cody, while I do my best to explain every decision I make. A major kudos to Daddy-o Pops Bill Hartman for asking some great questions throughout the treatment. Instead of the typical transcript I provide for these longer videos, I decided to write this up similarly to my neck pain with sitting case study format. I reflected on this case while editing the video, so you’ll see some added thoughts I had while you read through. I would recommend watching the video and reading the case study to get the most out of the material. Enjoy watching the session.

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Death of Vertical Tibia, Usain Bolt, Complex Patients, and More – Movement Debrief Episode 13

Movement Debrief Episode 13 yesterday involved quite a few rants. Must’ve been the ketones talking. Here’s what we talked about: Restoring sensation with my patient with low back pain Why it’s okay to have an angled tibia during squatting Would any intervention help/hurt Usain Bolt? The complexity of Usain Bolt Struggling with a complex patient Dealing with uncertainty Embracing the struggle If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. (occasionally) They air every Wednesday at 8:30pm CST. Enjoy. Here were some of the links I mentioned in this Debrief. How to Deadlift – A Movement Deep Dive Squatting Bar Reach – A Movement Deep Dive The Sensitive Nervous System – Read my book notes here Clinical Neurodynamics- Read my book notes here A Study of Neurodynamics: The Body’s Living Alarm Mobilisation of the Neuroimmune System – Read the course notes here Explain Pain– Read the course notes here Extreme Ownership The Obstacle is the Way Ego is the Enemy The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Restoring Sensation Death of Vertical Tibia Usain Bolt Complex Patients

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July 2017 in 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 from this past July. 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 Maximize proximal before spending time distal. I’ve just seen too many patients where we applied some type of axial intervention, which led to profound changes distally. Position governs all. Thank you for making me realize this daddy-o. Quote of the Month Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. ~Robert Kennedy Rehabilitation Blog: What is the Best Test to Discern an ACL Tear? My boy Scott Gray put together a rock solid post on diagnosing an ACL tear. I’ve been very big as of late on filling the differential diagnosis hole in my game, and this one was beyond helpful. I wish I had heard of the lever test last year when I had a guy pop his ACL in-game. Blog: The Quadruped Rockback Test: RIP My buddy Doug Kechijian ever so succinctly puts this dated test to rest. There is so much more that goes into deciding squat depth than can be accurately accounted for with this test. Performance Research: The effects of two

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Stress Response, Proximal First, Sensation Loss, and Your Health – Movement Debrief Episode 12

Let me guess, you are devastated you missed last night’s Movement Debrief. You should be. It was by far the most interactive debrief we had yet. Loved how active everyone was, and definitely some people help me get better. Kudos to Steve, Jo, Yonnie-Pooh, and the many others who commented on today’s Debrief. Here’s what we talked about: How the stress response impacts many areas Treatment hierarchies How to restore sensation loss post-surgery Functional Medicine Why taking care of your health helps others If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. (occasionally) They air every Wednesday at 8:30pm CST. Enjoy. Stress Response Proximal First Sensation Loss Your Health

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A Conversation on Learning with Lance Goyke and Jason Byrne

I recorded a really good conversation with two good buddies of mine, Lance Goyke and Jason Byrne. Lance is a strength coach, photographer, student, and writer. He runs the show at IFAST University, coaches at IFAST, and runs his own excellent blog and Youtube channel. He is also a dear friend of mine, one of the first people I met when I interned with Bill Hartman at IFAST. Jason is an Athletic Trainer at Brandeis University and with the Boston Cannons. He is an avid learner, tinkerer, and phenomenal human being. I truly admire his ability to connect with others, his humility, and comfort with learning from failures. Check him out on Twitter or email him at jbyrneatc@gmail.com We went off the top of the dome on this one, as there was no agenda. I was just hoping to help better all of our learning processes. We got that…and then some! Here were some of the topics we covered: Designing a learning process Test-Retest Failure Being comfortable being uncomfortable Connecting with others How to learn Study habits and more If video isn’t your thing, I have a transcript of our conversation below. You can also download the audio version of this talk if you’d like by subscribing to my newsletter. [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Get the audio version”] Without further adieu, here is the conversation

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Trial and Error, Triplanar Movement, Networking, and Mentors – Movement Debrief Episode 11

Did you miss yesterday’s Movement Debrief? We had a lot of fun. The first time I went on facebook, twitter, and Instagram simultaneously. This debrief was a bit different, as it didn’t involve as much reflection on my patient care, but more on the wonderful continuing education weekend I had. I got to spend time with all my friends learning about a lot of different things. And it led to some great reflections. Here’s what I talked about: Why trial and error is important Being outcome-focused How triplanar movement impacts single plane movements Why having a good network is important Keys the networking The importance of mentors If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. They air every Wednesday at 8:30pm CST. Enjoy.   Trial and Error Triplanar Movement Networking Mentors

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How to Design a Comprehensive Rehab Program

Just when I thought I was out, the clinic pulls me back in. Though I’m glad to be back. There’s just a different vibe, different pace, and ever-constant variety of challenges that being in the clinic simply provides. This has been especially true working in a rural area. You see a much wider variety, which challenges you to broaden your skillset. I’m amazed at how much working in the NBA has changed the way I approach the clinic. Previously, I was all about getting people in and out of the door as quickly as possible; and with very few visits. I would cut them down to once a week or every other week damn-near immediately, and try to hit that three to five visit sweet spot. This strategy no doubt worked, and people got better, but I had noticed I’d get repeat customers. Maybe it wasn’t the area that was initially hurting them, but they still were having trouble creep up. Or maybe it was the same pain, just taking much more activity to elicit the sensation. It became clear that I was skipping steps to try and get my visit number low, when in reality I was doing a disservice to my patients. This was the equivalent of fast food PT—give them the protein, carbohydrates, and fats, forget about the vitamins and minerals. Was getting someone out the door in 3 visits for me or for them? The younger, big ass ego me, wanted to known as the guy

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Lat Stretch Arm Position, Exercise Programming, and Staying Neutral? – Movement Debrief Episode 10

Episode 10 of the Movement Debrief, we went straight up q&a from readers. It was a lot of fun and I got a lot of great question from people. Here was what we discussed: Should the arm be in internal or external rotation when stretching the lats? If general exercise works, why should we incorporate specific exercises? Why coaching exercises well is of utmost importance Is staying neutral in a good joint position important? If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook or Instagram. They air every Wednesday at 8:30pm CST. Enjoy. Lat Stretch Arm Position Exercise Programming Staying Neutral?

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How Sleep Saved the D-League – Resilient Podcast

Sleep is a big deal. Not only has a lack of sleep been linked to many big bad diseases, it also contributes to poor performance. Behavior change through education and persuasion is hard enough as is. We are all resistant to change, namely because our current habits and routines require Herculean willpower efforts to break. This problem  is especially true in non-conducive environments. It’s hard to eat healthy when your family cooks fried foods and orders pizza for dinner every night. It is these situations where we just have to make the most with what we have, and that’s exactly what I spoke about on one of my best friend’s podcasts, Doug Kechijian. Before we go into the content, let me tell you a bit about Douglas, my younger-older brother. Doug and I first met way back in 2013 at a PRI course in Phoenix.  I was the first person who arrived in town, and it was up to me to take care of the rental car. We had five bros to get to the class, so I needed to find something cozy that could fit everyone and their luggage to and from the class and Phoenix airport. So I’m looking at some midsize SUVs, a couple sedans, trying to find the right car that I could fit everyone in. Then I saw this: Doug and I had never met before, and he was the first person I had to pick up. He asked “what will you be driving?” I

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Workers’ Compensation, Dealing with Late Patients, Fall Prevention, & More – Movement Debrief Episode 9

Episode 9 was a long one, and I’m so sad if you missed it live. Here were some of the topics: The necessary organizational fix to worker’s compensation Ways physical therapists can have patients simulate work Targeting educational-specific impairments The need to expand scope or collaborate to help clients thrive How to deal with patients who are always late and don’t do their exercises Working on getting up off the ground after a fall If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook or Instagram. They air every Wednesday at 8:30pm CST. Enjoy. Workers’ Compensation Explaining Pain Simply Expanding Your Scope Dealing with Late Patients Fall Prevention  

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