, , , ,

Stretching Lats vs Shoulder Joint – Movement Tweak #1

Here is the first short video of an ongoing series I will be putting out called Movement Tweaks. In this video, I go over why unfortunately I think many gymnasts "go to" stretches for their lat muscles may not be the most effective. Unfortunately, I…
, , , , ,

Mobility Exercise’s To Boost Shoulder Health In Male Gymnasts (Part 1)

Although I do spend more time in women's gymnastics, I want to start offering more information to help take care of the male gymnasts out there. Growing up and training, I had my fair share of injuries and wished that I had some ways to proactively…
, , , , , , ,

Advice To CrossFit Athletes From A Gymnastics Coach, Physical Therapist, and Former Gymnast (Part 1)

After coming back from my first week teaching at Power Monkey Camp, I finally took some time to put an article series together related to some thoughts on gymnastics in CrossFit. I really stand behind Dave Durante’s approach to gymnastics…
, , , ,

Follow Up To Gymnast with Shoulder Instability and Pain During Overshoots, Plus Shoulder Performance Drills

A few months ago I posted an article related to general hypermobility/instability causing shoulder pain in one of my level 9 gymnasts. I brought up some concepts that I think are very important related to flexibility training, dynamic stability,…
, , , , , ,

Improving Overhead Mobility and Transferring It To Handstands : “Overhead Shoulder Performance Complex” Example

I had a great response from the post I put up a few weeks ago related to improving split mobility through one variation of the "Hip Performance Complex" I have been playing around with. I think this approach to changing movement and building…
, , , , , , ,

Are Dips and “Skin The Cat” Type Stretches Dangerous For Female Gymnasts?

I've been brewing on this topic for over a year now, originally sparked one of Eric Cressey's articles on the possible dangers of using dips with baseball players.  Reading that article and some other literature made me start to scratch…
, , , , , , ,

Screening Overhead Mobility in Gymnasts (Application of The JBJ Approach To Handstands Pt 3)

Last month I started writing about how I apply the Joint by Joint Theory proposed by Gray Cook/Mike Boyle into a basic gymnastics movement, the handstand. In Part I of this article series I went over some background info, and talked about the…
, , , ,

Quick Overhead/Posture Pre-Hab for Gymnasts – Wall Angel Progressions

One of the common trends I see in a lot of gymnasts I work with are issues in their middle spine (thoracic spine) and shoulder blade. Many times the gymnast gets "wide back" and rounded forward chest, with the shoulder joints sitting forward/rotated…
, , , ,

Video Quick Tip #2: A Gymnast’s “Shoulder Flexibility” Has Much More To It Than Just The Shoulder

The info and video in this post came about because I'm in the process of putting together a really cool 4 part article series about shoulder pain in gymnasts. I think it would be helpful for all coaches/gymnasts to approach training with their…