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

Read More

How to Maximize Movement and Performance for Young Athletes

Strength and conditioning for young football players is a bit, oh how do I put it…. Outdated When you take young kids who are just starting to figure out their bodies and start benching, squatting, deadlifting, and cleaning with reckless abandon, problems often ensue. Let’s face it, when’s the last time you saw a pretty back squat come from a freshmen in high school? Perhaps this area needs a shift in focus. There is an incredible amount of research showing that beginners can get fitness improvements with just about anything, so why not teach kids to master movement fundamentals? Why go for the bazooka when a handgun will work just fine. This topic is one of many that we discussed on the QB Docs Podcast. Below is the list of topics we covered: We know that starting strength and conditioning at an early age is a myth. What should kids start out doing at an early age? Where does breathing fit into performance? Is breathing a learned skill?How do I know if I’m limited in my breathing ability? How does breathing affect mobility? In what ways? Why is this important for athletes? What does hyperinflation mean for performance of the athlete? What are the specific implications for a rotational athlete such as a QB? For the high school athlete out there that is struggling with some basic movement skills,what would your advice be for him/her? Do we really have to perfect the bodyweight squat before we load the movement? The

Read More

Costa Rica Beginner’s Mind 2019 Retreat Review

Where can you combine learning, disengaging from life, connection, beach, sun, hiking, and so much more? That’s what Ben House has created with his Beginner’s Mind Retreat at Flō Retreat Center. A place where one can achieve all of the above and more. This trip marked the second time I’ve been here, and for good reason. It gives me the opportunity to personally recalibrate from the hectic work lifestyle I’ve grown accustomed too, while taking time out to better myself in more ways than one. This year’s retreat brought together several bright minds in the health and fitness realms, discussing topics ranging from training, mitochondria, stress, and more. The retreat is set up into two different weeks. The first week was functional medicine-oriented. After a three day break of chillin’ like Bob Dylan, the strength and conditioning week finished things off. The best part of this retreat is that learning is only one component. The lectures took up the morning, then the rest of the day was yours. You get time to train, go to the beach, hike, jump off of cliffs, eat good food, or just chill and play board games. The best part of this retreat is the people you encounter. It can be hard in our industry to find like-minded folks who live the lifestyle that fam like us live. But at Flo, healthy living is the norm. The people I’ve met at Ben’s place are people who I consider to be friends for a lifetime. That’s

Read More

July 2019 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 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!”]

Read More

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

Read More

Treating Scoliosis with Breathing Basics – A Case Study

Have any clients with scoliosis?  Scoliosis can be quite a bugger and have some interesting consequences on an individual’s movement. I bet you feel unsure how to best help them maximize movement. Even though people can have wild and crazy curves,  utilizing a systematic approach that looks at the entire movement system can have profound effects.  I recently had the opportunity to run through a client with Scoliosis during Human Matrix: The Code for Maximal Health and Performance, where I was able to employ some of the skills taught in the class to lead to some nice movement changes. In this case study, you’ll see just how far coaching the basics savagely well can improve someone’s movement. We focused in this case on finding the best position for her to maintain the breathing strategies advocated in the seminar. And the results…well, you’ll just have to tune in and find out.

Read More

Physical Therapy Faux Pas: 5 Fixable Blunders Clinicians and Coaches Make

Faux Pas: (Noun) An embarrassing or tactless act or remark.¹   I’m not the greatest physical therapist. I make mistakes, some people don’t get better, some people get worse. Yet despite my flaws, I’ve done all that I can to minimize as many avoidable errors as possible. Errors that can put maladaptive beliefs into a client’s mind. Errors that can hinder progress. Sadly, I see many people make these avoidable errors. And I’m not talking therapists only. I’m talking coaches, doctors, chiropractors, everyone. While we can all agree that clinical errors are expected and unavoidable, many problems can be fixed simply by changing the way we think and communicate with clients. Better communication will lead to greater success for the client one, and better collaboration to those seeking to help said client. Here are some faux pas to avoid, and solutions to these problems.

Read More

Learn Normal Respiratory Mechanics from the Human Matrix Manual

Do you… Have patients who hurt multiple areas and are unsure where to start? Have training clients who can’t perform the exercises you want to despite extensive coaching? Want to maximize your client’s movement capabilities better than ever before? Want to know why incorporating breathing into your skillset is exceedingly important? Then welcome to Human Matrix: The Code for Maximizing Health and Performance. A course where you will develop a thorough understanding of how to systemically view and affect movement. By entering the Matrix and affecting movement systemically, building up your client’s movement repertoire from the ground up better than ever before. What you’ll learn when you Enter the Human Matrix How to build a sound movement foundation to increase the exercise variations your clients and patients will be able to do. How to assess your client’s movement capabilities to make precise decisions for improving pain and movement quality. How to normalize range of motion of the entire body to both reduce pain and improve how your clients move with fewer exercises than you have ever needed before. How to effectively coach squatting, deadlifting, pushing, pulling, and more to build the fitness and resiliency of your clients. Course Outline Here is the schedule of this two day seminar: Day 1 9:30-10:30am: Model and Theory 10:45am-12:30pm: Axial Skeleton, Respiration, and Thorax Variability 12:30pm-1:30pm: Lunch 1:30pm-3:00pm:  Thorax Variability 3:15pm-4:45pm: Pelvic Variability 5-6:30pm: Systemic Variability Day 2 8:30am-10am: Systemic variability 10:15am-12:30pm: Power Establishment – Mastering fundamental movement patterns 12:30pm-1:30pm: Lunch 1:30pm-3:30pm: Power Establishment

Read More

Rib Flares, Posterior Thorax, and FMS – Movement Debrief Episode 52

Movement Debrief Episode 52 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: What is a rib flare? How can rib flares be improved? What is the posterior mediastinum? What is moving when we seek posterior thorax expansion? What tests and interventions can be used in regards to posterior thorax expansion? How far have we come from the FMS/SFMA? What have we learned from the FMS/SFMA? What should we be addressing now instead of the FMS/SFMA? If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook or Instagram.They air every Wednesday at 7pm CST. Enjoy! and the audio version…                  Here were the links I mentioned: Sign-up for the Human Matrix in Seattle, WA on September 15-16th here Sign up for the Human Matrix in Kansas City, KS on October 27-28th here   Sign-up for the Human Matrix in Portland, OR on November 10-11 here Here is a move for a narrow infrasternal angle a wide infrasternal angle An asymmetrical infrasternal angle Mechanics of the respiratory muscles Here is the posterior thorax expansion activity I like courtesy of Lucy Hendricks. 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”]

Read More