physical therapy | ZacCupples.com

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

July 25, 2019 Zac Cupples

Wrist Pain, Dry Needling & Taping, and Should I Become a PT? – Movement Debrief Episode 90

Movement Debrief Episode 90 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: Why does wrist discomfort occur with weight bearing? What limitations could contribute to wrist discomfort? What modifications can I make to improve wrist discomfort? What regressions are useful for wrist discomfort? Do I use dry needling or taping? If and when do I find these modalities useful? Is it worthwhile becoming a physical therapist? What is it really like being a PT?

February 18, 2019 Zac Cupples

Optimizing Human Performance, the Importance of Communication Skills, and an Awesome Ronald Reagan Impression

Maximizing the health and performance goals of your clients requires several qualities. While having a model surrounding movement and other health factors are incredibly important, how often do we consider the health of ourselves in the equation? If you do not have a healthy social life, difficulty interacting with other people, and continue to improve our knowledge base, how can we achieve buy-in? The best plan will not work. That and so much more happened in a recent podcast I did with my good friend Robbie Bourke. In this discussion, we touch on several topics: My background What are the good and not so good things that I currently see with the physical therapy and human performance professions, and what solutions I offer for the not so good things he is seeing How can we teach and encourage critical thinking skills? My model to optimize human performance The importance of having a social network My growth so far as a human being How I have used adversities in his life to facilitate my communication when working with clients? When do we stop making allowances for people’s behavior? My in person assessment process with a patient What have been the biggest lessons I’ve learned so far in my life How do I learn? What are my top resource? My amazing Ronald Reagan impression If I had only 1 year left on planet Earth – how would I spend that year and why? If I could invite 5 people to dinner, dead

April 30, 2018 Zac Cupples

Refer In: When Trainers Can Work with People in Pain

It is a common recommendation to immediately refer clients in pain to a medical practitioner. However, immediate referral is oftentimes not warranted, and in certain cases is discouraged. But as a trainer, how do you know when a client’s pain is a medical problem, and when is it not? With today’s podcast, I hope to answer that question for you, as well as give you tips on working with people in pain, and collaborating in a manner that is in your client’s best interest. Enjoy, and check out the modified transcript below Modified Transcript If you are a trainer, and your client has pain, what should you do? Well I’m glad you asked. Many people on the interwebz will make the claim that if your client has pain, you should refer. The reason why this claim is made is 1) because you do not want to make your client problem worse; 2) you also want to cover your ass. If you do something and your client’s problem gets worse, you could potentially get sued. That’s why people say “when in pain, refer out.” I think that this claim is bullshit, and here’s why. Reasons why immediate referral can be problematic There are three negative consequences when you pull the referral trigger too early. Pain does not equal tissue damage This claim assumes that pain and tissue damage are synonymous. If you listen to my talk, Practical Pain Education, you would find that

February 19, 2018 Zac Cupples

Social Media Resources

I was asked recently about how I utilize social media. Namely, who I follow, why I follow them, so on and so forth. Up front, I do the best I can to limit my time on these platforms exposure. As we all know, it is very easy to get sucked into a rabbit hole of walls, posts, cats of Instagram hashtags, etc. Before you know it, it’s been four hours and you missed the most recent episode of “Days of Our Lives.” Secondary to the inevitable timewarp that you can be pulled into on social media, I utilize each platform with various goals in mind. This helps me stratify my consumption, and provide me the most relevant information.