– January 2014 –
1) Pain and Central Sensitization is a growing topic in our field. And for a good reason, pain is the #1 reason people come to see us. Plus, chronic pain is becoming more and more common. It’s great having so much information available to learn about these topics, however, there isn’t a lot of information on the specific clinical application. I sought out pain expert, Adriaan Louw, to answer some clinical questions on pain science in this months post.
2) Charlie Weingroff goes over some theory on why ankle mobility is important for glute activation. He also has a great article on how different body types tend to move and perform.
3) Neurological Warm up from XLAthlete. There’s at least one thing from here that you can use on your patients tomorrow.
4) The “Knees Out” cue is great to prevent dynamic valgus. However, sometimes it forces patients into a severe varus positin at the knees or a severe inversion moment at the ankle. I’ve also seen a lot of patients struggle to keep their big toe down when trying to keep their knees out. Derrick Blanton uses the cue “drive the lateral heels” to help avoid these mistakes. The more cues you have, the more patients you can help.
5) Hebb’s Law – “Neurons that fire together, wire together”
6) So we need to stop icing? “Now a study from the Cleveland Clinic shows that one of these recommendations, applying ice to reduce swelling, actually delays healing by preventing the body from releasing IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor-1), a hormone that helps heal damaged tissue (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, November 2010).”
7) Zac Cupples PRI Advanced Integration Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 & Day 4. The PRI approach seems like a bottomless rabbit hole. These reviews will help get you deeper. “When I have the ability to flex, I have greater variability to change. In extension, movement blocks more likely occur. If you think about the human body, how many joint’s closed packed positions involve extension? ”
8) Nutrition is a lot like politics. Everyone has an opinion, trends and buzzwords are all you hear about, and no one knows what is really going on. Luckily for us, Kris Gunnars creates a great post on the science and research behind nutrition recommendations.
9) I’m a big fan of the SFMA and global-neuro-movement-approaches. This is a great post on some of the SFMA principles.
10) If everyone did this everytime they looked at their phone, neck pain would decrease by 723%.
11) I remember learning about the importance of intensity in my exercise physiology classes. Of all the variables (load, duration, frequency, etc.), intensity may be the most important. And the fitness industry is now taking advantage of this important variable.
12) The Gait Guys go over some of the potential dangers of activating an inhibited muscle.
13) Some great conversation on the latest tendinopathy research with Peter Malliaras. Download the podcast onto your phone and give it a listen.
14) Eric Cressey went over his top articles for the year. I remember this one on 15 Static Stretching Mistakes was extremely useful. I think anyone that works with movement should be forced to read it.
15) Seth Oberst has a great post on the cervico-mandibular relationship. “Anatomically, a forward head changes the line of pull of several muscles (the infrahyoids) running from the mandible (lower jaw bone) to the sternum and even the scapula. This new alignment causes an altered pull on the jaw jamming up the delicate, sensitive disk within the TMJ.”
16) MDT Clinical Pearls for the flared up patient from Erson.
17) 3 Great Quotes from this Article on Setting Goals
• “When helping patients set goals, it is imperative to understand the Contrasting Effect, which refers to beginning the goal setting process with the ideal future, then contrasting it to the current condition. This creates motivation, optimism, and positivity.”
• “It is key to remember to start with a picture of the patient’s ideal future, and then work backwards for greater chances of success.”
• “We are not ultimately the one setting the goals for our patients. It is our work to extract the goals that are most important to them and then use our expertise to support them in succeeding.”
18) The deadlift is a great shoulder exercise. The distraction force causes reflexive stabilization.
This is what happens when you don’t have reflexive shoulder stabilization during a deadlift
