Category: All Things Performance

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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Return to Play after a 5th Metatarsal Fracture – Case Report

I was recently featured on my buddy Scott Gray’s podcast,  a great clinician in the Florida area who I have a lot of respect for. Before we dive into the podcast, let me tell you a bit about why I like this guy so much. It’s not just because he is a part of the IFAST family. I’ve been going back to the basics as of late, reviewing concepts such as tissue pathology, anatomy, surgical procedures, and the like. If there is anyone who has the fundamentals down savagely well, it is Scott Gray. He put out an Ebook called “The Physical Examination Blueprint”, which you can download by subscribing to his newsletter. Here he details all the essentials on screening your patients. To me, the most important aspect of patient care is knowing who you can and cannot treat. Stratifying your patients based on who needs to be referred out, and who you can help is essential to providing the best care. Quite simply, there are few better resources out there that outline how to do this than Scott’s ebook. In it, he delves into what relevant questions to ask, tests to perform, and establishing a relevant diagnosis. Often underlooked, yet exceptionally important components of the clinical examination. Again, I cannot recommend Scott’s ebook and site enough. It’s a great resource for many things PT, including many of his eclectic and unique manual therapy techniques. Definitely check this guy out. Rehabbing a 5th Metatarsal Fracture to High Level Basketball In

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The Art of the Debrief & Work/Life Balance – Movement Debrief Episode 8

Episode 8 of the Movement Debrief, despite technical difficulties, persevered. In case you missed it live, we talked about the following topics: What is a debrief? How I structure my debrief Balancing work, social interaction, health, etc What makes you you If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook or Youtube. They air every Wednesday at 8:30pm CST. Enjoy. The Art of the Debrief Work/Life Balance

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How to Deadlift – A Movement Deep Dive

Deadlift – A Total Body Workout It is hard to find a better fundamental exercise than the deadlift. A time-tested move that ought to be learned by all—whether you’re a professional athlete, bodybuilder, fitness client, or grandma with back pain. What if you don’t know how to deadlift? Or maybe you just want to get better at coaching it? You’ve come to the right place. This “Movement Deep Dive” focuses on the deadlift and all of its variants. You’ll learn why the deadlift is so important, how to do it progressing and regressing the moven, and how to fix common errors. So grab some chalk, branched chain amino acids, pen, and paper. This one’s a mother. If you can’t watch the video right away, I’ve provided a modified transcript below. I would recommend both watching the video and reading the post to get the most out of the material. Learn on!

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He Sleeps He Scores: Playing Better Basketball by Conquering Sleep Deprivation

A 16 game losing streak. Worst record in the league. 8 rookies. We were in dire straights. Could we fix it in 2 hours?!? The NBA travel schedule is one of the hardest in pro sports. 82 games in a season plus playoffs. Several back-to-back games that require time zone changes, late nights, early mornings, and playing nightly at a high level. And a high level of sleep deprivation. Fortunately, many NBA teams, including the one I worked for, take whatever measures possible to ensure our guys get enough sleep. They modulate flight times, stay in the best hotels, and use their unlimited budgets to improve sleep quality. We call that soft where I come from. My domain—the NBA D-league. Home of the worst schedule in professional sports. I can’t even call it a nightmare because you don’t sleep enough to hit your REM cycle. Let’s take a look at this disastrous schedule.

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90/90 Hip Lift – A Movement Deep Dive

The Fundamental Rehab Technique It’s a classic that does so much more than the naked eye can see. This round of “Movement Deep Dive” focuses on the 90/90 hip lift, and some of my favorite variances off that move. I hope you have your pen and paper handy to take notes, because this video is a long one. If videos aren’t your thing, I’ve provided a modified transcript below. I would recommend both watching the video and reading the post to get the most out of the material. Learn on!

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Continuing Education: The Complete Guide to Mastery

75 That’s my number. No, not that number.   75 is the number of continuing education classes, conferences, home studies, etc that I’ve completed since physical therapy school. Though the courses are many, it was probably too much in a short period of time. When quantity is pursued, quality suffers. Sadly, I didn’t figure out how to get the most out of each class until the latter end of my career. Two classes in particular stand out: Mobilisation of the Nervous System by the NOI Group, and ART lower extremity. Yes, the content was great, but these classes stood out for a different reason. You see, instead of just doing a little bit of prep work, I kicked it up a notch. I extensively reviewed supportive material, took impeccable notes, and hit all the other essentials needed to effectively learn. I was prepared, and because I was prepared I got so much more out of these classes than my typical fair.  The lessons learned in those courses stick with me to this day. For the stuff you really want to learn, I’ll encourage you to do the same. Here is the way to get the most out of your continuing education. By the time you are done reading this post, you’ll understand why I now recommend a more focused learning approach and fewer courses. Let’s see how to do it.  

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The Squatting Bar Reach: A Movement Deep Dive

Aka How I Mastered the Sagittal Plane In our first episode of “Movement Deep Dive,” we go over one of my favorite moves, the squatting bar reach. It’s an excellent technique and I hope this video explanation is helpful. If videos aren’t your thing, I’ve provided a modified transcript below. I would recommend reading and watching to get the most out of the material. Learn on!  

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Starting from the Bottom (Now We Here): When General Physical Preparation Matters

Professional Nihilism? After wiping the tears and coming to the stark realization of our (ir)relevance in performance, we must ask where do we fit in? Do we matter? I’ve asked myself this question many times. It is hard to answer when tactical over-utilization begets repetitive stress injuries; a poor night’s sleep, Slurpees, and donuts make someone ill; or a contact play ends a career. What could I have done differently? What was my role? Though these questions have required skill development in special physical preparedness, sports science, and stress management; improving general qualities is pertinent in certain scenarios. It is these times in which rehab and training are of utmost importance, and we regain our relevance. When GPP Matters Our skills shine in the following instances:

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Start at the End: A Case for Special Physical Preparedness

“I need to get my wind back.” Every time I heard this I cringed. I did all the right stuff returning guys back to sport. I’m talking getting guys more neutral than Ron Hruska on a tropical island, FMS scores that Gray Cook would be ‘mirin’, hop tests that Kevin Wilk would foam at the mouth over, and high intensity continuous training sessions that would make Joel Jamieson say “really?” Yet as soon as they got onto the court, they’d be smoked. I’d hear that cursed phrase over and over again. What was I doing wrong? I thought we address all of their performance needs, yet we would continually run into the same problem. It wasn’t until I learned the following axiom that we broke this pattern:

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Course Notes: The Val Nasedkin Seminar

A Long Lost Love  Strength and conditioning is a guilty pleasure of mine. One I love to indulge in from time to time. There is something about the training process that excites me. So when I heard Val Nasedkin was speaking in the US, I jumped on the opportunity. Val is the brilliant mind behind the Omegawave, a device which I have been experimenting with in my own training and hoped to learn more about. I left with a greater appreciation not only for what Val’s system intends to do, but the way he coaches and programs. If you get a chance to hear Val or Roman Fomin speak, take up the opportunity. These guys are both revolutionaries in their respective fields. Here were a few of the big takeaways.   Ze Goal Val created the Omegawave to provide a framework and determine appropriate timing for our current performance methodologies. Most training and rehabilitation processes are chosen based on results. focusing here, however, neglects individual responses to inputs. Great results can come at a great cost to an individual. If biological cost of training can be measured, there is potential to maximize an individual’s health, long term potential, and work capacity, while still achieving desired results.

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