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Sunday, September 30, 2018

Mobility Monday: Adductor Destructor


Working on your adductors is not a fun thing.  It is often an area that can get extremely tight and when you get in deep to that tissue that doesn't seem worth it until you're finally finished.  This is a good technique that you can try to start working into all of those areas and getting something accomplished making sure you get it loose to help you out.


Things It Helps:
-Adductor/Groin Tightness
-Weak aBDucdtors
-Reduction in anterior hip pain


Thursday, September 27, 2018

Friday Food: Greek Tortellini Salad

Big fans of tortellini around here and anyway we can incorporate it into a meal we are happy to do so.  This recipe is a little different then your typical tortellini and sauce dinner (even though it isn't pesto).  Something that you can make up ahead of time and use the next day and still get a good set of macros in for a meal.  Give it a try.

The Ingredients:

  • 10 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini (2 1/2 cups)
  • 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp red-wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
  • 1/2 tsp ground pepper
  • 1/4 sp salt
  • 1 cup chopped tomatoes
  • 1 cup chopped cucumber
  • 1 cup sliced spinach
  • 1/4 cup chopped red onion

The Game Plan: 

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook until just tender, about 4 minutes.  Drain.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk feta, oil, vinegar, oregano, pepper and salt together in a large bowl.  Add tomatoes, cucumber, spinach, red onion and the cooked tortellini. Toss to coat.
Refrigerate for up to 1 day.

Source: Eating Well

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Study Spotlight: Clinical Exam and Intramuscular Tendon Involvement in Hamstring Injuries

By: Joel Luedke

Hamstring injuries are the most common non-contact soft tissue injuries that are likely to be suffered by an athletic population.  They are not hard to evaluate but in order to determine the true severity of the injury and if it involves the intramuscular tendon can be tricky.  This Study Spotlight takes a look at that very process, identifying tendon involvement based on the clinical examination.  Check out what they found.

What They Did: 

Researchers in this study set out to take a look at if by using flexibility and strength testing if we are able to determine if intramuscular tendon involvement is present in a hamstring injury.  They wanted to know if we are able to gather this information could it be used in better classification of injury severity on clinical exam.  They did this by measuring flexibility, strength and comparing to diagnosis via MRI.


What They Found:
Of the 74 acute hamstring injuries they evaluated, 52 (70.3%) of the injuries affected the myotendinous junction.  These 52 injuries showed increased deficits in flexibility and decrease mean strength when tested at 15deg of knee flexion compared to the injuries without intramuscular tendon discontinuity.  They also found that flexibility and strength showed major overlap and variance among injuries with and without intramuscular tendon involvement.

What It All Means:
While it is not surprising there was differences when it comes to the flexibility and strength with these more severe hamstring injuries the results show that it is still almost impossible to differentiate the extent of severity with clinical tests alone.  This can make it hard to determine 'proper' return to play timelines due to the fact that you can't really tell intramuscular tendon involvement on clinical exam.

The frequency as which they found intramuscular involvement, 70.3% I think is extremely telling that this might be more common than I previously expected.  While there are on 74 in the study the fact that the percentage is that high will be something we keep in mind as we treat hamstring injuries and look at return to play guidelines.

Limitations
I think the researchers did a good job in listing their limitations with the major one is not being able to know where the subjects were at strength or flexibility wise prior to the injury (as they weren't intentionally injured as part of the study).  This could play a role in how the subjects responded post injury but something that isn't able to be controlled for.

Resource: Can a Clinical Examination Demonstrate Intramuscular Tendon Involvement in Acute Hamstring Injuries?

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Mobility Monday: Shoe Selection for Task at Hand


Shoe selection is about more than just picking up the latest release from your favorite brand or the ones with the fanciest colors and technology.  Selecting the proper footwear for your task at hand is extremely important.  Dr. Starrett talks about that specifically in finding shoes that can mimic what you're trying to get done as if you were doing barefoot.  Some great basic insight.


What It Helps: 
-Proper Shoe Selection
-Improved results in specific task at hand
-Reduced pain/soreness with specific tasks

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Study Spotlight: IASTM Increases Myofascial Trigger Point Pain Threshold

By: Joel Luedke


Trigger points are defined as hyper-irritable, palpable nodules in a skeletal muscle.  If you've had active ones, you know they hurt and hurt a lot.  Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) is a technique using instruments (metal, plastic, stone) to help address these trigger points to help in reducing pain and tightness and breaking the pain/spasm cycle.  This study looked specifically at the application of this technique to the upper trap.


What They Did
Researchers took a group of 29 healthy individuals with trigger points in their upper trap muscle.  They used an intervention of IASTM (see study for details) that lasted 5 minutes with a variety of application techniques.  There was a series of 6 treatments in the intervention group over three weeks.  The measure of influence was changes in the pressure pain threshold of those trigger points.

What They Found
The research group found that a 5 minute intervention using three IASTM techniques can effectively increase the pressure pain threshold of a trigger point over 6 treatment in a 3 week period.

What It All Means
If you have ever had an active trigger point in your upper trap you know how uncomfortable it can be.  Typically pressing into those trigger points does not help the cause unless you can work to get it to release.  The use of IASTM could be a way for you to treat that area with less discomfort and pressure directly down into the trigger point but still allowing for improvement of symptoms.

This presents you options when it comes to the treatment of trigger points and both the local and referred pain they can present.  It adds to the options of massage, dry needling and myofascial decompression that can be beneficial.

Limitations:
This study specifically looked at just one area of how to assess 'improvement' when it comes to trigger points.  That doesn't always mean there is an enhanced function and also a longer term improvement.  That could been seen as a limitation here but relief within a short period of time is promising.

There could also be discussion around the scientific basis for trigger points as depending on the practitioner as well as researcher the belief in what trigger points really are and how they are identified can be controversial.  

LINK: Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization increases myofascial trigger point pain threshold.

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Mobility Monday: Increasing Shoulder ROM


The ideas behind Total Motion Release still seem a little bit out there but when it comes to working on shoulder range fo motion (ROM) we have seen the benefits first hand.  You can get very creative with the principles but even starting at the basics as shown in this video can get you great results.


We encourage you to try point your hand/thumb in different positions especially in working into flexion.  In our own trials this has worked extremely well in helping get back some end ranges of motion that you couldn't get just by trying harder on the involved side.

Things It Helps:
-Increasing Shoulder ROM
-Decreasing Shoulder Pain
-Restoring Shoulder Function


Tuesday, September 11, 2018

What's in a Name?

By: Joel Luedke

What's in a name? Do the letters behind someones name really mean anything? Do they even matter?  We have some pretty strong feelings behind this topic and we haven't been shy about it.  In this post we want to dive into our reasons behind why we think is extremely important to find someone that not only has credentials (they aren't everything) but has the full knowledge and background to back up what they say and they are continuing to evolve in their thinking over time.


Disclaimer: certifications aren't everything, expertise can be gained in other ways and that isn't just experience.  To maximize your ability to get accomplished what you want you have to find that unicorn of a person/coach that has both and will continue to progress their career as they work with you.  Here are some of the basics we think you should take a look at.


Experience vs. Expertise
We reference this idea a lot below and we wanted to clarify.  Experience can be just time spent doing what you do.  You could have 10 years experience being a personal trainer but just because you've done it 10 years doesn't mean you're an expert.  Expertise is so much more and requires continual learning and laser focus.  You can strive for expertise (it's hard to achieve) at any point in your career regardless of experience and we just wanted to make sure that is clear.  On to the name game.

Certified Strength & Conditioning Coach (CSCS) vs. Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) vs. Health and Wellness Coach
Not all personal trainers are created equal.  There are some fantastic ones out there that have years of experience, a ton of continuing education and are really into what they do.  That is fantastic.  There are also ones that take a weekend course, pass a test and think they have it all figured out.  These...not so good.  We trend to the CSCS because of the requirement of needing a degree in a related field in order to complete the test.  This help ensure formal education to get more of a base of knowledge than most CPT exams require.

That being said, both are light years ahead of someone who is claiming to be a health and wellness coach.  These can be dangerous.  Anyone can come up with a workout, make you sore and call it a plan but there isn't one behind it, it is just something to keep coming back.  (See 'Training Like the Everyday Athlete").  Be cautious if there is a sale coming behind it as well as often is the case.  Do they truly have you best interest at heart?

Registered Dietitian (RD) vs. Nutritionist vs. Wellness Coach
Formal education in nutrition is extremely important.  Not trying to fit one type of nutrition plan or 'diet' to everyone is also key.  The highest level of nutrition education is becoming a Registered Dietitian (RD) or doing some PhD work in nutrition.  Following close behind is someone that becomes a nutritionist (CISSN, PN1) where you have to demonstrate a very proficient knowledge of nutrition in order to pass the exams.  This demonstrates knowing more than slinging
supplements and talking about eating healthy.  You have to find someone that really understands how the body works when it comes to nutrition and be able to explain to you how your body might react to different diet types.  

Do NOT settle with nutrition.  There are so many things that factor into it and how your body reacts with nutrition and how nutrition can affect your body and you don't want to put that into the hands of someone that is picking nutrition up as a side gig.  Again, watch out for a sale behind the recommendations in this area.

Athletic Trainer (ATC)/Chiropractor (DC)/Physical Therapist (PT) vs. Anyone Claiming Medical Knowledge.
As with nutrition and exercise you can't short change education and expertise in this area.    If you are going to someone for medical advise you have to be sure that the practitioner you are going to see is someone with the education to back that up.  There are a few exceptions to this rule but they are few and far between.  Nothing trumps formal education, strong continuing education and a focus on wanting to stay at the forefront of their profession.

Be highly cautious of personal trainers and others that don't understand the mechanisms and ideas behind what they are 'prescribing' you.  This can often lead you down a dangerous path of problems and more complications than is needed when it comes to dealing with pain and injury.  We can't emphasize enough how important it is to be able to know what your practitioner has done with their academic and professional career and knowing what they see as most important in your care.


Names can be important and doing your research has never been more important in a day where everyone is an 'expert' and many out to make a quick buck. Do your due diligence and take care of yourself.  As always if you have questions or concerns we are more than happy to help try and clear things up.


Monday, September 10, 2018

Mobility Monday: Long Lever Plank Breathing


Breathing is something we do thousands of times a day and most of us take it for granted. Yes, we know we breath for a reason but are we really getting the best breath in that we are able to?   This video talks about breathing in a long plank position and while we may not find ourselves in that position a lot the principles of setting yourself up for breathing correctly in challenging positions is really important.  Check it out.


What It Helps:
-Creating Stability
-Better Planking
-Application to All Performance Movements


Friday, September 7, 2018

Friday Food: Orange Spiced Pork Chop

A great option to change up your pork chop recipe and give yourself some spice.  This recipe adds some great ingredients to a simple recipe and one that I think everyone will enjoy.  Give it a try.

Ingredients:

  • 1 (6 oz.) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
  • 1 1/2 cups rum
  • 1 habanero pepper, seeded
  • 4 thick cut boneless pork chops, butterflied
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

The Game Plan:

  1. In a blender or food processor, combine the orange juice, rum and habanero Chile pepper and puree until smooth, set aside.
  2. In a large skillet over medium high heat, sauce the pork chops in the oil for 5 minutes per side, or until well browned.
  3. Pour in the orange juice mixture, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Flip chops over and simmer for 30 more minutes.


Resource: Orange Spice Pork Chops

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Mobility Monday: Tricep Partner Smash


You don't often think of the tricep as being an area that gets really tight and you will need spend some time with soft tissue work.  The more we look into it the more it can have a profound effect on your shoulder range of motion (ROM).  This short video gives you some great ideas to help loosen up this area and get you moving again.  This is a hidden game for people with shoulder tightness.


Things It Helps:
-Tightness in the Tricep
-Restricted Overhead Motion
-Anterior Shoulder Pain