As Gray Cook says, pain indicates a health problem not a fitness problem. In rehab, we deal with pain and dysfunction. In exercise and training, we deal with dysfunction. Pain and health problems should be managed by a licensed professional with appropriate training.Exercising in pain is not the solution and you should seek proper guidance on how t...

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 ...

Going back once again to the podcast with Clinically Pressed, I mentioned the jump rope as a great tool for developing low grade plyometric qualities in the foot and ankle.Let's take this a step further and demonstrate how these same qualities apply to sprinting. Front side mechanics or tripe flexion is extremely important to running and sprinting ...

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...

Groin pain is a common complaint in athletes and active populations as well as a common source of frustration. What makes it so frustrating is the poor understanding of proper management because of the number complexities related to the true cause of groin pain. 15% of all injuries responsible for competition time lost in hockey players is due to g...

Yes it sounds extreme, but it could be our reality. If healthcare spending continues to increase at its current rate, It is estimated that by the year 2040 that 100% of the federal budget will go towards Medicare and Medicaid. That's 100% - meaning no money for anything else.According to the latest CDC report, 1 in 2 American adults have a chronic ...

There's a major flaw in the fitness industry - the ignorance of movement quality at the expense of fitness goals.How far can you run? How fast can you complete this workout? How much can you lift? How many reps can you do? How hard are you willing to push yourself?What fitness has driven us to believe is that these are the true measures of progress...

There are many examples of things we just assume to be true for long periods of time that aren't true at all. The perpetuation of this group think is a real problem.This is especially true when it comes to the industries of nutrition, health care, and fitness. Here's some examples:Dietary cholesterol has no impact on blood cholesterol levels. There...

A common reason for low back pain, hip pain, knee pain is poor functioning hips. What happens to poor functioning hips? They usually get tight. This tightness leads to reduced range of motion and increased likelihood of back, hip, and/or knee pain. Likewise, a common reason for reduced athletic potential is poor functioning hips. The hip complex is...

Exercise or training should not be fatigue seeking. The problem with a lot of training programs or exercise in general is that they are fatigue seeking.The primary mentality is to work hard, wear you down and make you sore rather than build competency or skill. This is a mistake and, all do respect, it's wrong.This is especially true for athletes. ...

Charlie Francis defined tempo running as running performed at 65-75% of maximal speed. Tempo runs have long been used in the training of sprint athletes to enhance speed training. Outside of sprint athletes, sprinting ability and speed is arguably the most important skill field-based athletes can possess. Yet many have never been introduced to temp...

Our brain controls our posture and our muscles. Therefore posture and muscle tone (i.e. how tight or relaxed a muscle is) is an expression of the brain. We must pay attention to this expression and how it relates to movement. A frequent cause of disturbance in our movement quality, why muscles get tight, why we display poor posture, and why we may ...

Movement gets a lot of hype these days and receives plenty of attention in the fitness industry, strength & conditioning industry, and rehabilitative fields. From movement screens to movement coaches, movement is a buzz word it seems some are simply trying to capitalize on.Movement screens don't prevent injuries, they just give you information....

Personal trainers or strength coaches don't have a license to diagnose, treat, or manage musculoskeletal conditions. Yet some are convinced they can play 'therapist' or 'doctor' on the regular.While I do agree that it's important for coaches/trainers to understand pain and how to make appropriate modifications to an exercise plan based on a client/...

Disc herniations and bulges can heal without surgery. Expert neurosurgeons will tell you the same thing. Yet why most elect for surgery is they never find conservative treatment that solves the problem.We must identify the underlying reasons WHY the disc herniated or became sensitive. Often these reasons deal with improper movement and postures tha...

Contrary to what has been preached for years, it is now known that interventions such as rest, ice, anti-inflammatory medications and electrical stimulation will not solve the problem of tendinopathy. The application of these interventions was based upon the assumption that inflammation within connective tissue or joints was created by repetitive m...

Muscle action is also known as 'Direction of Muscle Pull'. The direction of muscle pull is a critical part of kinesiology that is often overlooked. It has huge importance in rehab and performance as it helps us better understand the motor control aspects of movement. Direction of muscle pull defines the kinetic chain. Most people that learn muscle ...

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...

How strong should you be to establish a solid foundation for athletic performance? It's a difficult question to answer given the shear number of variables.It's important to understand that athletes shouldn't overly concern themselves with maximal strength. Not to the degree that a powerlifter, weightlifter, or strongman would. Strength athletics se...

I've never highly regarded myself. There's tons more athletic and stronger people out there. For what I lacked in natural ability, I've been disciplined and worked to accomplish tasks and goals. Even at age 36.I've loved training hard and learning about the human body since I was 14. Ultimately it's what lead me to what it is I do today. I knew as ...