basketball – ZacCupples.com

March 24, 2020 Zac Cupples

Building a Multisystem Health and Business Model

Maximizing performance, health, and wellness involves a multisystem approach. You can’t just exercise. You also have to sleep, de-stress, eat well, and so much more. So-to with your finances. If you can build multiple income streams, you are more likely to stay afloat if one of those streams falls. Yet how do you integrate all of these things without being spread too thin and getting overly complicated? These were parts of the conversation I had with Brian Schwabe of The Student Physical Therapist. Topics discussed include: Periodizing life Integrating multiple jobs into one Remote consulting What is movement? Why simple exercises are a better choice than complicated ones The struggles, successes, and failures of working in the NBA How I developed a multimodal and multisystem approach Why application maximizes your ability to learn Image by www_slon_pics from Pixabay

July 27, 2019 Zac Cupples

Movement Analysis and Breathing Strategies for Pain Relief and Improved Performance

Chris, a high level mountain biker, at first didn’t believe someone could help him move better over the internet. He had back issues for a hot minute, what the heck was an online consult going to do? A couple consults later with me, and Chris is pain-free, back to doing all the wild and crazy things he was doing before without issues. Chris was so juiced up about his results that he wanted to learn more about my thought process and what I do that he had me on his podcast. Chris Kelly is the owner of Nourish Balance Thrive, a really cool site that brings several great practitioners together to help clients remotely with whatever their goals are. Despite Chris technically not being in the field, he’s one of the best interviewers I’ve had the pleasure of podcasting with. He asked some great, unique questions, and we got into a wide variety of topics. Here are some of topics we discussed on the podcast: Ben House and Flō Retreat Center in Costa Rica How I got into physical therapy. The influence of Bill Hartman. Working with NBA basketball players. The influence of Dr. Bryan Walsh. Sleep and performance How to treat pain Assessing movement Movement variability The online assessment process Pain vs. tissue damage How we improved the host’s chronic lower back pain The importance of the pelvic floor What is considered normal breathing How to promote behavior change in our clients Applying the principle of minimal effective dose

January 16, 2019 Zac Cupples

Basketball Ankle Mobility, Cosmetic Dentistry, and Does Breathing Transfer? – Movement Debrief Episode 73

Movement Debrief Episode 73 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 set list: Can we improve the ankle mobility of basketball players? What factors go into ankle restriction? What moves do I like to improve ankle mobility in basketball players What’s the difference in pursuing dental work for cosmetic vs health purposes? How much do breathing activities carry over to activities outside of breathwork?

December 24, 2018 Zac Cupples

Why is There an Injury Epidemic in the NBA

Even though I am no longer in the league, I still follow what’s going on in the NBA to a degree. And this weekend was a weekend loaded with season-ending injuries. First, you have Demarcus Cousins go down with an achilles rupture, then you have Andre Roberson go down with a patellar tendon tear, and then my boi Mike Conley is out for the season with heel surgery. The NBA is a tough league. Since the Cousins injury occurred first, I wanted to give you my initial thoughts as to when it happened. Having witnessed an achilles tear occur this with a player I worked with, it’s something you never wish upon anyone. For those who don’t know, Demarcus is the stud center for the New Orleans Pelicans. He has a very cool style of play where he can battle in the post, drive with mad handles, hit the three ball, pass, and is a rebounding monster. He has also been having one of his best years yet. What he’s not known for is being this ripped physical specimen, a level headed player, or one who is in the best shape. When he came into the league, he was hovering at about 16.3% bodyfat, which for some odd reason is a stat many teams obsess over1. Let’s now take a look at his injury mechanism.

August 28, 2017 Zac Cupples

Practical Basketball Conditioning

Hey party people. Just when you thought I was done guest posting, I got another spot on my guy Mike Robertson’s website. This post was a follow-up to the basketball conditioning mistakes post I did last week. If conditioning mistakes are the disease, this post is the cure. In this post, I discussed the following topics: What the energy system demands are in basketball The three conditioning qualities a basketball player must possess to be successful The high/low method and more You can check out the blog here, or at the big ol’ link below. If you want some of MR’s best energy systems posts, I’d check these bad boys out: You NEED Long Duration, Low Intensity Cardio 6 Tips for Writing Better Conditioning Programs 5 More Thoughts on Energy Systems Development Real Talk About Aerobic Training for Athletes Enjoy. Practical Basketball Conditioning

August 21, 2017 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

July 17, 2017 Zac Cupples

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

May 24, 2017 Zac Cupples

The Ultimate Guide to Treating Ankle Sprains

A Humdinger No Doubt Ankle sprains. Such a bugger to deal with. Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries seen in basketball. The cutting, jumping, contact, fatigue, and poor footwear certainly don’t help matters. Damn near almost every game someone tweaks an ankle. Treating ankle sprains in-game provides quite a different perspective. Rarely in the clinic do we work with someone immediately post-injury. Instead, we deal with the cumulative effects of delayed treatment: acquired impairments, altered movement strategies, and reduced fitness. The pressure is lower and the pace is slower. You shed that mindset with the game on the line. You must do all in your power to get that player back on the court tonight, expediting the return process to the nth degree. I had a problem. Figuring out the most efficient way to treat an ankle sprain was needed to help our team succeed. I searched the literature, therapeutic outskirts, and tinkered in order to devise an effective protocol. The result? We had 12 ankle sprains this past season. After performing the protocol, eight were able to return and finish out the game. Out of the remaining four, three returned to full play in two days. The last guy? He was released two days after his last game. It’s a tough business. The best part was we had no re-sprains. An impressive feat considering the 80% recurrence rate¹. Caveats aside, treating acute injuries with an aggressive mindset can be immensely effective. Here’s how.

April 19, 2017 Zac Cupples

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:

Tag: basketball