Category: Assessments

Solve 90% of Movement Problems in 30 Days

Improve Your Posture and Mobility with Simple Self-Tests and Exercises If you’re trying to fix your posture and mobility, the internet can be confusing. There are so many opinions and solutions. It’s hard to know where to start.  The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. You need to address your individual needs.  In this blog, you’ll learn a self-testing framework to pinpoint your specific mobility restrictions. These are the same tests and exercises I use with my clients to improve their mobility. Understanding Posture and Mobility A wise man, Obi-Wan Kenobi, once said, “Your eyes can deceive you, don’t trust them.” This applies to posture too. To know the best posture improving strategy for you, you must know what you’re dealing with. You need to test to see where your restrictions lie. Self-Testing Framework Here are five tests to help you identify your mobility restrictions: Categorizing your restrictions We will NOT look at these tests in isolation. We want to look at them as a cluster to determine what areas we must create more motion. While there are several possibilities, we can break limitations down broadly into the following categories: Now let’s look at what exercises will tackle each problem: Exercises to Improve Mobility What you want to do is figure out which category you fit, try the moves for 2-4 weeks, and recheck your measures to see if you need to progress to the next level or work on harder variations within the same category. Here’s what to do

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Assessing Basketball Players

Learn the key tests to help basketball players move better! When you work with super tall athletes like basketball players, their movement demands and compensatory strategies are going to appear a bit differently than those of us closer to earth. But what tests matter the most? What will give us the information needed to make sound training decisions for these athletes? In order to determine what tests will give us the most information about basketball players, we have to look at what movement challenges they possess, the injuries they are most likely to sustain, and the movement qualities needed to mitigate injury risk. Be prepared to dive into these areas and take your basketball movement testing to a different level with Movement Debrief Episode 158.

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What is the Best Posture?

Ever argue with someone about good posture?  Are you ready to tell them it’s all bullshit? We are meant to move, so the best posture is one that is constantly changing.  In fact, research shows movement variability, the changes we unconsciously make within movements, is a marker of health and reduced injury. How beefed up would your posture knowledge be if you knew… What “good” posture actually is? Can you really be “stuck in extension?” What “stacking” is and why it’s essential to movement? What are the best cues to change someone’s posture? Well those are just a few of the many things you’ll learn in today’s video interview I did on Phillipe Gervais’ Youtube channel. It’s time to finally silence those posture junkies. Time to have that difficult conversation with your mom (cue childhood trauma of mom telling me to sit up straight). Time to take your movement knowledge to the next level! Watch the video below and prepare to deep dive! Photo credit: Steve Leggat

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Troubleshooting Table Tests

Learn what range of motion testing really tells you Movement Debrief Episode 123 is in the books. Below is a copy of the video for your viewing pleasure, and audio if you can’t stand looking at me. Here is the setlist: Are standing postural assessments useful? What are the best assessments to use online? Does it differ if you are a trainer or clinician? How do I make decisions based off of table tests? What does it mean when someone has clear table tests but is limited in standing measures? What’s the difference between a Thomas test and an ober’s test? How does one determine if someone has ligamentous laxity or not?

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Interpreting Lower Body Assessments

How to go through common lower body assessments Movement Debrief Episode 114 is in the books. Below is a copy of the video for your viewing pleasure, and audio if you can’t stand looking at me.  Here is the setlist: What is hip flexion measuring? How can a wide and narrow infrasternal angle (ISA) be limited in hip flexion? What is the straight leg raise actually measuring? What mechanics go into a straight leg raise? Is there a way to self-measure the infrapubic angle (IPA)? What are the pro’s and con’s of active vs passive testing? How about comparing the obers test to the Gillet/reverse gillet?

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The Learning Process, The Axial Skeleton, and Squats – Rebel Performance Podcast

Are you struggling at structuring your learning? Or perhaps this whole inhalation and exhalation mechanics in regards to movement is confusing AF. Or maybe you are caught up in social media squat debates and don’t know what to believe anymore, or what is safe. If this sounds like you, then you’ll definitely want to check out this podcast I did on Rebel Performance. In it, we deep dive into all of these topics, and why it’s important for both your programming and that of your clients. I also make a surprise announcement on it 🙂

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Pregnancy, Pectus, and Bruxism – Movement Debrief Episode 106

Movement Debrief Episode 106 is in the books. Below is a copy of the video for your viewing pleasure, and audio if you can’t stand looking at me. Here is the setlist: How can pregnancy affect one’s ability to move? Can pregnancy change one’s infrasternal angle? What type of adjustments and considerations should we make for those who are pregnant? What is pectus excavatum? How can this structural change impact movement options? What type of exercises can we use to improve movement when someone has a pectus? What is bruxism? What is bruxism’s relationship to upper airway? What are other potential related factors to bruxism? What are some treatment considerations for someone who has bruxism?

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Top 10 Debriefs of 2019

At the end of each year, I like to see what you beautiful…sexy…outstanding people liked. What the fam….recognized (fam). I decided to add a few extra little diddy’s this year. First, we will start off with debriefs. The little podcast/vlog that could. As I try to keep the debrief filled with variety, there didn’t seem to be any common themes; just good topics.  Check out your favorite debriefs below, and thank you again for an amazing 2019! 

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