Tag: PT

Activity Modification When You Are Hurt – 3 Most Effective Ways

How doing less can actually help you move more Have you ever tried to rehab someone in pain, but their progress continues to stall because they keep doing activities that cause problems? You know, the person who continues to get in their own way? Although maintaining a physically active lifestyle is important for one’s health and wellbeing, some activities can be counterproductive during the rehab process. The cure can become the poison. What are we to do? Stop moving and breathe on the ground FOREVER? No. God…no. Instead, we want to couple a stellar rehab program with activity modification, choosing activities that complement or enhance the rehab goal as opposed to getting in the way. In today’s post, I’m going to show you the following: Why activity modification is ESSENTIAL for a successful rehab,  How NOT modifying activities can create a failure in patient outcomes the 3 ways I modify activities to SPEEDILY help some achieve pain-freedom How to help patients and clients buy-in to temporarily stopping the tasks they may love, but get in the way. Sound useful? Check out the video and post below to learn more.

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Bridging the Gap Between Table Testing and Training

Many of the moves we use to improve range of motion are a little weird. What if I have a client who wants to lift them heavy-ass weights? They want to feel like they did something. How can we bridge this gap? Watch this video to learn how. Applying the movement model to fitness Don’t underestimate the power of some of these simple breathing moves. When coached well, your clients will shake and get absolutely cooked. It’s a beautiful sight. Often, the key differentiator between feeling nothing and feeling a whole lot with some of the simple breathing moves is the stack. Make sure you have the stack. But remember folks, these moves are not something we just throw into the program willy nilly. These moves are merely regressions of the common moves that we perform in the gym. The Lewitt position is a regression of your midrange depth of the squat. If we understand the different positions we need to utilize to improve various ranges of motion, we can pick common gym moves to get range of motion changes. For example, if someone has a loss of external rotation, we might choose a 2 kettlebell front squat: If I need internal rotation in the arms and legs, pushups could be MONEY: Need to rotate like a boss? Well fam, a 1 arm press could change da game!

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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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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?

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The Guide to Physical Therapy School

So peeps, I’m going on vacation this week. So instead of a debrief, I present to you the first legit episode of the Zac Cupples show. I’ll be putting these bad boys out occasionally when I have a topic that I feel would be better to riff on as opposed to discussing in a debrief or writing about. Here’s an outline of the topics I discussed Reasons to go into physical therapy What to look for in a PT school The goals of physical therapy school What you should take away from school What classes I recommend a student to take Enjoy!                  Here were the links I mentioned tonight All Gain, No Pain South College Physical Therapy Program Bill Hartman Continuing Education: The Complete Guide to Mastery Explain Pain Course Notes Therapeutic Neuroscience Education Course Notes Lorimer Moseley Explain Pain Course Notes Kettlebell Mashup FMS Level 2 Ultimate MMA Conditioning Dermoneuromodulation Course Notes ART Dry Needling Course Notes Spinal Manipulation Institute A Randomized Trial Comparing Acupuncture, Simulated Acupuncture, and Usual Care for Chronic Low Back Pain Here’s a signup for my newsletter to get a free acute:chronic workload calculator, basketball conditioning program, podcasts, and weekend learning goodies: [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Get learning goodies and more”] Also, check out the mentoring, movement, and training services I offer: Mentoring, Movement, and Training

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All Gain, No Pain Book Review

For those of you who don’t know, my colleague, mentor, friend, and Daddy-O Pops Bill Hartman is about to release his upcoming book All Gain, No Pain. Though the book is targeted to those over 40 who are getting back into fitness either post-rehab or in pain, it includes an incredible amount of valuable content for just about anyone. If you want a lesson in physiology, breathing, variability, and stress, this book has it. If you want an excellent plan to get jacked, a plan that got me (not over 40 and not in pain) under 10% body fat for the first time in my life, this book has it. If you want tips, strategies, and rituals that’ll help you live a better life, this book has it. In spades in fact. Though I’m biased (I wrote the foreword and edited the book), it is one of the most comprehensive self-betterment books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I want to extend that pleasure to you. The book releases this Monday, 9/25/17, on Amazon.com. But what if I told you if you act now you could snag a free copy? Yes, I said free!!! F….R….E…E #free It might be the best free thing you ever get. If you want a free copy of this absolutely outstanding book, click the link below to be directed to Bill’s website. Sign up, and you’ll get your free copy when this great read releases.   ALL GAIN, NO PAIN   If my stamp

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Kinesiotape, Managing Performance Teams, and More – Movement Debrief Episode 14

Movement Debrief Episode 14 happened yesterday, and it was a good ol’ fashioned reader Q&A. Here’s what we talked about: Evidence (or lack thereof) for taping in general How I incorporate taping into my practice What the keys are to having a successful performance team The keys to being a successful leader If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or sometimes Twitter. They air every Wednesday at 8:30pm CST. Enjoy. Here were some of the links I mentioned in this Debrief. The 3 Biggest Basketball Conditioning Mistakes Effects of Patellar Taping on Brain Activity During Knee Joint Proprioception Tests Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Systematic Review of the Effect of Taping Techniques on Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome Effect of kinesiology taping on pain in individuals with musculoskeletal injuries: systematic review and meta-analysis. Dynamic Tape Leukotape Kinesiotape Managing Performance Teams

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How to Design a Comprehensive Rehab Program

Just when I thought I was out, the clinic pulls me back in. Though I’m glad to be back. There’s just a different vibe, different pace, and ever-constant variety of challenges that being in the clinic simply provides. This has been especially true working in a rural area. You see a much wider variety, which challenges you to broaden your skillset. I’m amazed at how much working in the NBA has changed the way I approach the clinic. Previously, I was all about getting people in and out of the door as quickly as possible; and with very few visits. I would cut them down to once a week or every other week damn-near immediately, and try to hit that three to five visit sweet spot. This strategy no doubt worked, and people got better, but I had noticed I’d get repeat customers. Maybe it wasn’t the area that was initially hurting them, but they still were having trouble creep up. Or maybe it was the same pain, just taking much more activity to elicit the sensation. It became clear that I was skipping steps to try and get my visit number low, when in reality I was doing a disservice to my patients. This was the equivalent of fast food PT—give them the protein, carbohydrates, and fats, forget about the vitamins and minerals. Was getting someone out the door in 3 visits for me or for them? The younger, big ass ego me, wanted to known as the guy

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Teaching Movement, Expanding PT, Embracing Failure: Movement Debrief Episodes 2 & 3

Here are this week’s Movement Debriefs. I’m hoping to get on a regular schedule once I get settled into my new gig as a PT Mercenary, but hope you enjoy. Anchoring Old Movements to New, Prioritizing PT’s Professional Needs In Episode 2,  we discuss the following concepts:  Visit 2 & 3 of our patient with the lumbar fusion Using familiar concepts from old exercises in new exercises Strategies to enhance learning. Prioritizing Problems in the Profession. Embracing Failure and The Dunning-Kruger Effect In Episode 3,  we discuss the following concepts: My Failure The Dunning Kruger Effect – and how to hack it Embracing Failure Learning from Failure Anchoring Old Movements to New Movements Expanding PT Embracing Failure

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The End of Pain

I’m Done Treating Pain. Yes. You read that correctly. I’m over it. Several different thoughts have crept into to my mind sparked by what I have read and conversations I have had. I would like to share these insights with you. I remember when I was visiting Bill Hartman Dad a few months ago and we were talking about a specific treatment that is quite controversial in therapy today. He said something that really resonated with me: “Maybe they measured the wrong thing.” This sentiment was echoed in “Topical Issues in Pain 1” by Louis Gifford. Check out this fantastic excerpt: “Thus, pain can be viewed as a single perceptual component of the stress response whose prime adaptive purpose is to powerfully motivate the organism to alter behavior in order to aid recovery and survive.” Notice what I bolded there. Pain is a single component of the stress response. Not the stress response. Not a necessary component of the stress response. Just one possibility. Why do we place so much importance on pain? Many proponents of modern pain science (myself included) often use this statement against individuals who are over-biomedically inclined: “Nociception is neither necessary nor sufficient for a pain experience.” Agreed, pain is not always the occurring output when nociception is present. That said, pain is only one of several outputs that may occur when a tissue is injured. Just because pain is absent does not mean other outputs are also absent. Many different outputs can occur when an individual is

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Lessons from a Student: The Interaction

The Inspiration Over the past few weeks I have felt called to write about an often uncovered yet extremely important component of the therapeutic process: Patient interaction. We had an instance in which I came back into the clinic from my lunch break and my intern was supposed to have a patient evaluation. Instead, she opted to have me take this particular patient. This patient was a lovely 17 year old lady who was being seen for bilateral foot pain. This was her second bout of therapy, and her and her mother was very dissatisfied with their last physical therapy experience just a few months (and 17 visits) prior. She was not a happy camper and wanted a second opinion. After hearing stories from my coworkers, I expected the worst. We progress through the evaluation, and my student observes nothing but smiles throughout from the patient and her mom. Jokes were cracked, movement was looked at, and edumacation happened. At this point, after a little explain pain and kinetic chain discussion, these women were sold. We leave the treatment room and I said “that wasn’t so bad yes?” My student replies “that’s because they are in love with you.” But really, that essentially is what you have to do with the patient interaction. You can have the greatest hands, the greatest exercise plan, and evidence up the wazoo; but if your patient hates your guts you will fail. I heard this from Patrick Ward that 80% of your success with

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