[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmkt-yv3JZ0[/embed]

Nothing beats properly performed squats, deadlifts, lunges, and RDLs for glutes that not only look great but work even better. Proper glute function is critical to hip extension that is prevalent in every day life (walking, sit to stand, hip hinge, lifting) as well as sport (running, sprinting, throwing, jumping, skating) Problem is most people don’t perform the big exercises well and therefore resort to ways to “activate” or better “isolate” glute function. This is why hip thrusts exist. They have their place when used with a plan and purpose. The single leg hip thrust is an advanced progression that is often performed incorrectly. The biggest mistake being the unleveling of the hips that can occur during the movement. By using the external cue of a tennis ball, we can promote better technique that results in improved muscular coordination of the glutes and core. This translates into more efficient movement mechanics, not only in this exercise, but in life and sport as well. Hopefully the video explains the set-up and execution well enough for you to give it a try.

 
For more related reading:

https://gallagherperformance.com/resetting-bodys-function-post-injury/

https://gallagherperformance.com/dns-solves-pain-improves-performance/

https://gallagherperformance.com/the-essentials-of-hamstring-rehab/

https://gallagherperformance.com/the-best-exercise/

Dr. Sean Gallagher is a former high level hockey player that has turned into a hockey training and treatment guru.  His experience of playing at the highest levels along with a full academic career in chiropractic school have brought him a unique perspective on how to approach training hockey players.

This episode we get further into hockey training and what all goes into it. The planning for the year of training is difficult when it the playing season never ends.  We also dive into the specific demands that the sport places on the body and the unique ways that you have to approach exercises without forgetting to focus on injury prevention and resilience.  If you play hockey at any level you want to listen to this episode.

This episode we get further into hockey training and what all goes into it. The planning for the year of training is difficult when it the playing season never ends.  We also dive into the specific demands that the sport places on the body and the unique ways that you have to approach exercises without forgetting to focus on injury prevention and resilience.  If you play hockey at any level you want to listen to this episode.

Sign up for our ‘Episode Email’ and get all CP Episodes Delivered right to you.  Sign up at www.clinicallypressed.com

Podcast Notes:

One of the biggest challenges plaguing sports performance is the prevalence of general fitness programs masked as "sports performance" programs.

Sadly the concept of sports performance has become so polluted that most parents and young athletes buy into programs that ultimately are just heavily fitness-focused with very little or poor instruction in regards to true development as it relates to sport.

True sports performance addresses much more than how fit you are or how hard you are willing to work. It's much more than cleans, sled drags, sprints, and conditioning circuits. You can use all these methods and more to sell someone on the "look" of sports performance. But if you truly analyzed most "sports performance" programs they boil down to general fitness and that's it.

Some will say, "Well fitness is important in sports. You got to work hard. You got to be in shape. You got to learn how to push through." Fact is anyone can workout tired. Anyone can workout sore. If they want it bad enough. The problem is none of that matter when it comes to performance. The reality is once an athlete has to go up against another human being, only one thing matters - is their ability greater than their opponent?

It doesn't matter how fit you are and how hard you train if you show up on competition day and fail to be at your best. Sport performance is multi-faceted and should never be treated in the context of fitness-focused training. There are general fitness attributes that are important in sport, but true sport performance must move beyond fitness in order to allow athletes to truly realize athletic potential by focusing on specific adaptions relevant to their sport.

It's important to do your homework and look beyond what may seem like sports performance. Despite what you may see on Instagram or hear from a friend, what you sign up for may not be exactly what you were looking for.

Roughly 1/3 of our life should be spent sleeping yet there is an epidemic of sleep loss and deprivation. If we fully appreciated the benefits of sleep when it comes to health, mental performance, and physical ability, it would reshape the way we view the importance of sleep.

1 out of 2 Americans get less than 8 hours of sleep per night and 1 out of 3 Americans get less than 6 hours of sleep per night. Sleeping less than 7 hours a night results in objective declines in health markers as well as mental and physical performance.

 
There's no single blueprint coaches follow when building an athlete. There are no shortcuts. Those cool looking, cookie-cutter programs found online, they often result in failure. In the training world, athletes aren’t built by copying the same program and applying it across the board. At GP, we are in the business of individualized architecture – intelligently designing personalized programs for each athlete. Whether in the weight room or on the field, it should be individual-specific.

We dial in to specificity instead of just saying let’s just go train hard and get bigger, stronger, or faster in the generic sense. Coaches and athletes can be obsessed with bigger, stronger, faster. Yes these are important elements of training but not at the expense of movement skill.

Sometimes athletes need more specific work when it comes to the quality of their movement in regards to stabilization, sequencing, rhythm, relaxation, timing, etc. Developing movement skill is often ignored or disregarded. The problem is there can be a huge disconnect between what an athlete thinks they are doing during a specific movement and what they are actually doing. We must improve their perception and awareness of movement. When combined with proper strength and conditioning, Improving an athlete's body awareness and movement skill will yield far greater results than just focusing solely on strength and speed numbers.

Movement skill acquisition should increase with as strength and speed development increases. This will only enable the athlete to move more efficiently and with less risk of injury.

There are different methodologies, philosophies, systems and styles used in the strength and conditioning industry. Reality is there is no gold standard by which everyone should follow. It’s about finding the right fit for both athlete and coach. Every athlete is slightly different and there won’t be one method that will work for every athlete. That's exactly why individualized decisions should be made for the athlete.

 
For more related reading:

https://gallagherperformance.com/thinking-of-taking-your-child-to-a-trainer-read-this-first/

 
https://gallagherperformance.com/understanding-the-benefits-and-concerns-of-youth-strength-training-programs/

https://gallagherperformance.com/the-essentials-of-speed-training/

https://gallagherperformance.com/how-do-you-build-an-athlete/

https://gallagherperformance.com/guidelines-for-selecting-a-strength-coach-or-personal-trainer/

 
 

Movement screens or testing can offer valuable insight into why you have pain or limited function.

However what tends to be more valuable is when someone help you understand your movement habits.

By observing how someone moves and the postures they assume during daily activities - walking, bending, twisting, reaching, pushing, or pulling - we can tell you more about the chronic stresses that may be the major contributors to your current problem.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wippKKJceLA[/embed]

In a Clinically Pressed podcast episode, I was presented the question of an influential purchase for under $100. I said the jump rope and Mark Bell's hip circle. If we take it a step further and go with a purchase under $10, I'd say the hula hoop.

Why the hula hoop?

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YybcsllEkhk[/embed]

Two common sites for pain and movement problems are the low back and sacroiliac (SI) joints. The SI joints are a common site for sensitivity due to biomechanical overload.

Once we have screened for sensitivities, pain generators and movement dysfunction, the presence of SI joint dysfunction is often found along with poor abdominal sling function. Chiropractic adjustments are great for addressing joint dysfunction, but we must train movement through specific exercise.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwIba7PpgXA[/embed]

Keeping with the concept of core stability and hip mobility, the shin box has become a popular drill for improving hip rotation, eccentric loading of the hips, as well as reinforcing ideal intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and core stability.

Ideally the shin box is performed in a progression of static to dynamic variations. Progressions are dependent upon the ability to achieve ideal external rotation in the lead leg and internal rotation in the trail leg while maintain an upright, braced torso with sufficient IAP.

You've thought about seeing a chiropractor before, but have hesitated because you:

• Heard it was "BS" or "quackery"
• Thought that once you start going, you'll have to go for life
• Were afraid of being adjusted
• Thought they just won't be able to help

1. Solve joint and muscle pain without unnecessary medication or surgery

2. Manage complicated disorders

3. Prevent future episodes of pain by changing function

• Make sense of what a patients says
• Know exactly what a patient needs
• Confidently provide gold standard advice and treatment interventions

4. Enjoy a healthier lifestyle

5. Enhanced performance

Wrapping Up

This training client sought out our services for three primary reasons:

1) Rehabilitate a chronic recurrent low back condition that has prevented him from training with any type of intensity or frequency for over two years AND get back to training while staying healthy in the process

2) Get stronger while packing on some quality size, and

3) Regain the feeling of athleticism from when he played college football.

We recently concluded 12 weeks and during that time he had three BOD POD evaluations. Debate on the accuracy of the BOD POD aside, impressive changes were made in only 8 weeks. These evaluations occurred on 11/21/17, 12/19/17, and 01/16/18.

Some of the BOD POD highlights include:

• Fat Weight lose of 3.786lbs
• Body Fat % decrease from 12.6 to 10.3
• Fate Free Weight gain of 6.745lbs
• Body Weight increase from 182.9 to 185.9

Images 1-3. BOD POD results from 1/16/18. This was the third, and most recent, analysis during an 8-week period.

Included below are photos of a few of his training weeks to give you a glimpse of how his training was structured. Along with the changes seen in his body composition, his strength continues to progress and he is training with weights and a frequency that he has not seen in over two years while maintaining a healthy feeling body.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6qNeTnJdyU[/embed]

In this video we discuss two deadlift variations that will build rock solid functional core strength - the suitcase deadlift and pitchfork deadlift.

The suitcase deadlift and pitchfork deadlift are two deadlift variations that will expose energy leaks and strength imbalances real quick. Building a functional core often requires unconventional methods that go beyond aesthetically driven exercises. While unconventional these exercises force the lifter to generate total body tension to complete the lift - which makes them an awesome tool to teach lifters how to generate and maintain tension during squats, deadlifts or heavier training.
Each variation offers something unique.
1) The Suitcase Deadlift -  targets the lateral stabilization system or lateral line in the body as detailed in Anatomy Trains. The lateral line will create or resist lateral bend in the body and serves as a 'brake' for lateral and rotational movements of the trunk. The lateral line runs in balance on both the right and left side of the body from the skull down to the trunk and lateral aspect of the hips, thighs, calves and mid-point of the foot.
2) The Pitchfork Deadlift - this variation of the pitchfork deadlift also targets the lateral stabilization system while forcing the lifter to resist rotation. It really hammers the spiral line detailed by Thomas Myers in Anatomy Trains. The spiral line is responsible creating or resisting rotations in the body. The spiral line is a myofascial sling that includes musculature that begins in the neck down to the opposite shoulder and then to the same side hip, knee, and foot arch, then up the back of the body to rejoin the fascia on the skull. 
The bonus is both these exercises will reinforce patterns of stabilization in the body that are essential to movement.
These exercises are advanced and it is not recommended to go try them just to see if you can do them. They require a certain level of stability, coordination and strength to be able to do. Respect the process needed to progress to these exercises.
 
More related reading:

https://gallagherperformance.com/movement-improves-brain-function/

https://gallagherperformance.com/athletes-do-not-need-balance-to-be-successful/

https://gallagherperformance.com/the-essentials-of-speed-training/

https://gallagherperformance.com/fascia_muscular-adhesions_how_they_relate-_to_pain_and_overuse_injuries/

https://gallagherperformance.com/the-best-exercise/

 
 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIIQ_DLv6kw[/embed]

In this video, we discuss shoulder external rotation commonly performed on a cable column machine. This exercise is also frequently performed with the use of bands. Regardless of whether you use the cable column or bands, these pointers will still apply.

The quality of shoulder external rotation one can achieve plays a big role in overall shoulder health and upper body strength. Shoulder external rotation is dependent upon the quality of scapular stabilization one can achieve. That said, in order to improve shoulder external rotation, we can apply a hack to reflexively improve scapular stabilization.

By placing an object such as a yoga block, small exercise ball, or folded up towel or sweatshirt between your torso and elbow, we creating a fixed point to improve scapular stabilization. In doing this, it forces pure shoulder external rotation when the movement is performed well - making it very difficult to cheat!

Some key points discussed in this video:

• The traditional cable column external rotation can be improved to heighten scapular stabilization and the demand on the external rotators/rotator cuff of the shoulder.
• How to create a fixed point at the elbow to improve scapular stabilization by increased activation of the serrates anterior.
• Avoiding ulnar deviation and maintaining a neutral wrist.
• Increased global stabilization and muscular activation by setting the feet, hips, pelvis and spine into correct posture and utilize intra-abdominal pressure (IAP).

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/Bcsrzr2jLxq/?taken-by=gallagherperformance[/embed]

In this video, we discuss the dumbbell press and how the position of the wrist impacts pressing strength and shoulder stability.

Wrist position is often overlooked during the dumbbell press but is a critical part of ideal mechanics. The wrist should maintain a neutral position during the entirety of the lift. Often you'll see wrist extension and/or ulnar deviation as a compensation when the wrist falls out of neutral position. We discuss ulnar deviation and making sure to avoid this position as it can place too much stress on the wrist and feed into reducing pressing power.

As usual, the key is finding and maintaining optimal stabilization of the shoulder and upper extremity. Avoiding wrist extension and ulnar deviation will keep the wrist and shoulders more stable, healthier and stronger. The goal is to improve performance while reducing the risk of injury and pain developing in the shoulders, elbows or wrists.

Some key points discussed in this video:

• What ulnar deviation looks like and how to avoid it while holding dumbbells.
• How to press through the dumbbell with correct hand and wrist position.
• How ulnar deviation will cause the shoulder to destabilize and fall into internal rotation. This isn't ideal for shoulder health and pressing mechanics.

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BcaN02NDlZg/?taken-by=gallagherperformance[/embed]

In this video, we discuss the proper way to create ideal hand support during exercises which require you to have contact with the ground. When it comes to creating ideal scapular stabilization during hand supported exercise, how well someone loads the hand or supports from the hand will directly impact their shoulder.

By creating a stable hand, the scapular stabilizers can work more efficiently at holding your shoulder blade in the proper position during exercise. This applies to exercises such as push-ups, plank variations, hand walks or row variations that involve support from the hands.

Poor hand loading is often a reason for poor scapular stabilization, shoulder pain and poor shoulder function. Learn to properly load the hand and make improvement.

Some key points discussed in this video:

• What proper hand loading looks and feels like. More importantly what improper hand loading looks and feels like.
• How to create an awareness of proper hand loading and make sure you are maintaining it during your exercises.
• How the hand and elbow positioning will influence your shoulder positioning. This is important as the position of these joints can destabilize the shoulder if they aren't position correctly.

When it comes to athletes, critical developmental stages begin at an early age. As children mature, they progress through these important developmental stages during their growth and maturation process. If long-term athletic development is of any importance to the coach, parent, or athlete, specific aspects of athletic development must be addressed at appropriate time periods, otherwise the chances of the athlete reaching elite status is reduced.

The model used at Gallagher Performance began with a review of research and methods utilized in child and athletic development around the world. Through the review of current and past training methods used with elite athletes, it was concluded that to truly address athlete development, a new way of looking at how to properly structure “Strength and Conditioning” programs must be considered.
The reason is because early specialization in sport is becoming increasingly more common amongst children in the United States, and it’s not working. The rationale behind such a decision typically being if a child plays one sport, year round, they will be more advanced than their peers, more likely to be the ‘star’, get recruited, and/or possibly go on to make millions.

Recent research from UCLA reveals that early specialization in sport has very poor connection with young athletes achieving elite status. A survey of almost 300 NCAA Division I athletes found that 88% played two or three sports as children and 70% did not specialize in one sport until after the age of 12. These findings were already understood in former East Germany and USSR within their youth development programs.

Studies in former East Germany and USSR found that children who went through an early specialization program did have more immediate improvement in their performances. But these children also had their best performances between the ages of 15-16, had greater inconsistencies, many quit or ‘burnt out’ by the age 18, and they had greater rate of injuries because of forced adaptation compared to children who played multiple sports and specialized later in life.

Long-term athletic development is a process that occurs over many years. This is not an “8 week program”. Rather, it starts at an early age and continues on into adulthood. Long-term athletic development is about progressive development and must be approached accordingly. It is not simply a linear process, but is one that must be highly individualized to assist the athlete in reaching their full potential.

The greatest challenge to coaches, parents, and athletes is the understanding of how difficult this process is. Young athletes are continually dealing with massive changes in physical attributes, brain function, and sport skill acquisition. These all must be managed simultaneously while stressing the concepts of hard work in a positive environment.

For more reading on how we approach sports performance training for athletes, click on the links below:

https://gallagherperformance.com/the-value-of-in-season-training-for-athletes/

https://gallagherperformance.com/why-specificity-in-your-training-plan-matters/

https://gallagherperformance.com/early-specialization-in-sports/

https://gallagherperformance.com/guidelines-for-selecting-a-strength-coach-or-personal-trainer/

https://gallagherperformance.com/commonmistakesindevelopingyoungathletes/

https://gallagherperformance.com/3-benefits-of-integrated-training-and-therapy/

Although we’ve worked with a broad spectrum of athletes - high school, collegiate, professional, former World’s Strongest Man, and elite triathletes - we work with just as many weekend warriors and those who simply love to be active. Whether it’s improving your running distance, increasing strength in the gym, or swinging a golf club without pain, we want to help you achieve your goals.

We also successfully treat those with overuse injuries, enabling them to return to the highly active lifestyle they enjoy.

Being active is an essential part to a healthy lifestyle. The many benefits of movement and exercise are well documented. Unfortunately, injury can become a reality for those that live an active lifestyle. When injury occurs, the effects are not only physical, but psychological as well. It is easy to become frustrated when your active lifestyle has been interrupted and concerned when you aren’t healing or turning around as quickly as you had hoped. Recovery from injury is a process that must be understood, appreciated and respected.

To help you better understand how to manage your own recovery from injury, here is a short list of items to be aware of so that you can respect the healing process and set yourself up for a timely and safe return to sport or activity.

Avoid Complete Rest

Don’t Rely on Social Media Gurus to Solve Your Injury

Seek Out Professional Evaluation and Treatment

Recognize the Gift of Injury

Understand the Science of Pain

Wrapping Up

The chiropractic profession is an interesting one to be a part of. For some, they more than accept the role chiropractic can play in not only getting them out of pain, but also elevating their overall sense of health and well-being. For others, they remain skeptical and dismissive for reasons that simply come down to myths and misconceptions that have been perpetuated for years. We can thank growing amounts of scientific evidence that has proven many common myths and misconceptions about chiropractic to be false.

In this article, we want to address some common myths and misconceptions regarding chiropractic,  addressing them from an educational viewpoint. But before we get into those, it would benefical to define what chiropractic is for those of our readers who may not be familiar with the scope of the profession.

What is Chiropractic?

#1 - There is no scientific evidence to support chiropractic

• Low back pain (1)
• Sciatica (2)
• Neck pain (3)
• Headaches (Tension and Migraine) (4)
• Shoulder pain (5)
• Hypertension (aka high blood pressure) (6)
• Certain neurological conditions (7)

#2 - Chiropractors only treat necks and backs

#3 - Once you start going to a chiropractor, you have to go for life

#4 - All you do is "crack backs", that's easy

1. MYOFASCIAL RELEASE. Myofascial release targets adhesions that develop either within a single muscle or between adjacent muscles and other forms of connective tissue such as fascia, tendons and ligaments. Many athletes and patients experience accumulative or overuse trauma (ex: plantar fasciitis due to running or carpal tunnel syndrome due to prolonged computer/desk work). The goal becomes to work a muscle to remove adhesions and restore neuromuscular function to decrease pain while increasing range of motion, strength, and coordination of movement.
2. FUNCTIONAL REHABILITATION. In addition to providing relief through chiropractic manipulative therapy and treating muscular adhesions, it can prove to be incredibly valuable to identify the source of a patient’s symptoms. The functional approach to rehabilitation includes identifying joint dysfunction, muscular imbalances, trigger points, and faulty movement patterns. These are often the hidden causes of injury. Observing how a patient moves and functions allows us to identify improper movement patterns that become contributors to pain and poor sport performance. By placing an emphasis on strategies to improve movement and function, functional rehabilitation is effective in improving qualities of endurance, strength, stability, balance, agility, coordination, and body awareness.
3. DYNAMIC NEUROMUSCULAR STABILIZATION (DNS) & VOJTA THERAPY. DNS and Vojta Therapy are advanced approaches used to not only treat a variety of neuromuscular conditions but  also used by athletes worldwide to elevate performance. By applying principles and techniques rooted in the study of child development, DNS and Vojta Therapy aim to improve and restore the activation ideal movement patterns. These techniques are used to promote the ideal postures, movements, and degree of body awareness that is essential not only to athleticism, but to also treating the underlying causes of several pain syndromes that are commonly treated by chiropractors and rehabilitation specialists. There are dozens of studies to support the effectiveness of DNS.
4. NERVE FLOSSING (NEURODYNAMIC MOBILIZATIONS). Nerve flossing is a specialized diagnostic and treatment technique commonly used to diagnose and treat neural tension, which usually expresses symptoms such as muscular tightness, pain, weakness, numbness and/or tingling. Nerve flossing is proposed to help nerves and its branches slide against adjacent structures (muscles, bone, etc.), increase blood flow, oxygen and nutrient delivery, and improve the immune response. (8)
5. THERAPEUTIC & CORRECTIVE EXERCISE. Exercise progressions and protocols are used to develop strength, range of motion, re-educate the neuromuscular system in order to address the underlying causes of dysfunction and pain.

Final Thoughts

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oAEjdiQK1A&feature=youtu.be[/embed]

Clinically Pressed Podcast Episode 38

Had the opportunity to sit down with Joel and Kyle of Clinically Pressed and answer their questions.

Clinically Pressed is committed to sharing as much useful and applicable information as possible to their audience. Comprised of a PhD, DC and ATC, the CP podcast that seeks to make the complicated simple. CP wants to connect you with experts in their fields - all at no cost to you. They want their audience to be able to access information as easy as possible. Be sure to check them out on the web, on their social media, and support them on Patreon. Also be sure to check out their free weekly newsletter - Total Athletic Therapy.

Website: clinicallypressed.com
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Newsletter: Total Athletic Therapy
From the Clinically Pressed website, here the notes from the show:

0:00- Episode introduction and check out Paragon Nutrition for some of the most effective and well done supplements on the market.  Use code “CP15” for 15% off at check out.

1:26-CP Intro Video: Courtesy of Justin Joy of “Elder Pine Media”  Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

2:04-Welcome Sean Gallagher DC of Gallagher Performance and the connection to Palmer College.

3:38-The sports injury department at Palmer and it being one of the only in the country.

6:00-Dr. Juehring of Palmer and his clinical experience along with his athletic background make him one of the hidden gems in the industry.

Scoliosis.

The diagnosis can make anyone uneasy and it can become even more unnerving for parents when they hear that diagnosis for a child. Scoliosis in children between the ages of 10-18 years of age is termed adolescent scoliosis and can be due to many causes. But the most common type of scoliosis in the adolescent period is one in which the cause is unknown and is called adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). The reason why it is called idiopathic scoliosis is because there are currently no identifiable reasons as to why scoliosis develops in these children.

When we consider the current limited understanding of scoliosis in a traditional medical sense and the limitations in medically accepted treatment of AIS, it makes one wonder if there is a model of evaluation, treatment and management of scoliosis that may provide the potential for deeper understanding of the condition and reasons why it develops. Possibly bringing to light conservative treatment measures that have the ability to stop it's progression - or even reverse it.

Before we get to more detail on these discussion points, lets review what is currently known about AIS, from symptoms to treatment.

Symptoms
AIS generally does not result in pain or neurologic symptoms in children and teenagers. I can't stress this enough as often times this is the reason why the diagnosis of scoliosis can blindside many. Again, your child or teenager often times has no pain and no complaints. They seem to be perfectly healthy, active kids. This is a big reason why often times, scoliosis is either identified by primary care physicians during routine annual exams or during school exams.

While there may be no pain present and the child seems to be otherwise healthy despite curvature changes in the spine, how serious can the condition really be if it isn't that limiting?

While pain and neurologic symptoms may not be present, there can be disturbances within the nervous system on the cerebellar and sensory-motor integration level (1). Often there can be altered reflexes as identified by Janda, hypermobility, and muscular imbalances which create functional changes within the body (1). These functional changes have a direct effect on movement, thus having a direct effect on structure. In this case, the curvature of our spine (structure) is directly related to the function of our musculature and movement system.

Disturbances within our muscular/movement system can be identified by functional evaluation, however these evaluations are not typically part of the traditional medical evaluation process.

Does this lack of functional evaluation potentially leave pieces of the scoliosis puzzle unsolved? Pieces that would aid in determining the most appropriate course of treatment and management - and potentially a patient-specific reason for the development of the condition?

Evaluation & Physical Exam Findings
Classically, the physical evaluation and physical exam of a child diagnosed with AIS has a few key findings:

• Visible signs of lateral spine curvature along with asymmetries seen in the shoulders or hips, in which one side appears higher than the other.
• Adam's Forward Bending Test revealing either structural or nonstructural (aka functional) scoliosis. Adam's Test is consider the most sensitive test for scoliosis and the most common test used in the diagnosis of scoliosis.
• Radiographs or x-ray indicating positive findings for scoliosis. The curves are often measured for angles of the curves to determine severity.

• Functional tests to assess movement control and coordination of the musculature surrounding the shoulders, spine, and hips.
• The central role proper neuromuscular function plays in spinal stabilization and optimal spinal posture.
• Sensory-motor integration and cerebellar function in the patient's ability to sense their body awareness, posture, and joint position in space.
• Hypermobility and other present musculoskeletal compensations in response to poor function of the integrated stability stabilization system (ISSS).

1. Observation
2. Bracing
3. Surgery

1. Cerebellar function and hypermobility in patients with idiopathic scoliosis, Kobesova A, Drdakova L, Andel R, Kolar P. International Musculoskeletal Medicine. , 2013, 35(3): 99-105.