Tag: NBA

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

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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

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Top 10 Posts of 2018

At the end of each year, I like to see what you beautiful…sexy…outstanding people liked. What the fam….recognized (fam). This year, it seems like errbody was loving all of the movement-based work that was discussed. You want practical application as a coach or clinician, you got it! I also loved how all the guest posts I had this year made the top 10. There were some rock solid contributions from my fellow colleagues. Guess I’m going to need more album features if you know what I’m sizzlin’. I want to thank you, the fam, for making 2018 an outstanding year. It has been all the comments, questions, stories, and praise that keeps me outputting content for you. I think we will keep doing this another year. Why not? 😉 But enough rambling. Let’s check out the top 10. First off… 10. The Reckoning: Part Deux Course Review This was an excellent seminar that was run by two of my favorite doctors in the game: Pat Davidson and Ben House. The topics covered were a great variety of areas I needed more exposure in. If you want to learn how our movement limitations are evolutionary, the ins and outs of hypertrophy or fat loss, blood sugar regulation, you’ll just scratch the surface of what this course covered. If you ever get a chance to hear Pat or Ben in person, do so. In fact, you can hear Pat, myself, and Seth Oberst in February.  9. Why You Need Sun Exposure My man Iordan

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Variability, The Problem of Transfer, and Gymnastics – Charlie Reid

 I recently had a great conversation with my dear friend, Charlie Reid. Charlie is a very successful trainer in the San Francisco Bay area, and a wealth of knowledge when it comes to a variety of fitness domains. He reached out to me to help audit his thought process, and it turned out we had an incredible conversation. Here were a few topics we discussed: Where does variability training fit when chasing fitness? What do certain variability tests theoretically look at, and what are the relevant mechanics? How well does variability training transfer to higher level activities? and many more  Click below to check out the video, and read along with the modified transcripts. I’ve linked some helpful pictures and links throughout. Enjoy. or if you’d rather, here is the audio version: Modified Transcript Charlie: I’m always looking for people to to audit my own thought process on things and help with shifting my paradigm. I’ve had these conversations with Joe Cicinelli regularly about interjecting PRI-based things with with fitness. It’s not even PRI, it’s just looking at like the body with this neuro-pulmonary/neuro-mechanical lens that I want to move towards and understand more of, but I’m also a pragmatist. I want to be as practical as I possibly can within the context that I’m working. That’s always a challenge. How do we take this information and make it as practical as possible? I’ll start with a confession first. I don’t I actually have a strong prejudice against PRI clinical exercises.

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My Feature on Mike Robertson’s Physical Preparation Podcast

I was recently featured on my boi Mike Robertson’s Physical Preparation Podcast. It was quite surreal to be interviewed by a guy who I have tremendous respect for, and who has been a huge influence on me. MR was one of the people who I was initially exposed to when I got into this field. After reading all the cool things he wrote on t-nation, I bought most of his products, became a huge reader of his blog, and applied many of his teachings to my own training. Zac = fanboy. Can you imagine what it was like the first time I met him and Bill at IFAST? Like meeting rockstars, fam. Then he we are, having a conversation as peers. Point being with this story, if there was no Mike Robertson, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. The Life of A Mercenary PT Here were some of the things we discussed in this podcast: How I got started in the world of physical prep. What life is really like in the NBA/D-League, and what it’s like to transition from therapy to performance at the highest level. What skills I was comfortable with, and how he grew and evolved to take his coaching skills to the next level. My biggest struggles in pro sports. Movement Variability: What it is, and why you probably need more of it. What it’s like to transition from the biggest stages in sport, to working in a smaller setting with a more general

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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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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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