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Gymnastics, Please Stop Doing These Stretches (Part 1)

I try my best to not be on the offensive side of the coin when it comes to my writing. However, lately I have seen a ton of flexibility drills that I feel are not only dangerous, they likely are causing large performance drops in gymnasts.…
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Rehab Tips For Clinicians To Treat Gymnasts with Extension Based LBP – Part 3: Intermediate Phase

Over the last few weeks I have been trying to offer some of my thoughts around how I approach the rehabilitation program of a gymnast with extension based back pain. In part 1 I went over calming down acute hypersensitivity and addressing issues…
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From Clinic To Practice #4: Gymnast With Chronic Hamstring Injury and “Tightness”; Due To Core Control Issues

I recently evaluated an optional gymnast who was struggling in the last year with pretty intense high hamstring pain and "tightness" limiting her splits, leaps, sprinting for Yurchenko's, and inbar skills. As it turned out, I felt her hamstring…
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Rehab Tips For Clinicians To Treat Gymnasts with Extension Based LBP – Part 2: Subacute Phase

In Part 1 of this article series I went over some basics around managing the acute phase, and the importance of figuring out issues above and below the area with pain. I also mentioned some educational, manual therapy, and basic exercises I…
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Rehab Tips For Clinicians To Treat Gymnasts with Extension Based LBP – Part 1: Acute Phase

Extension based lower back pain is one of the biggest epidemics in gymnasts, cheerleaders, dancers, and others. Injuries range from acute muscular strains, to more series acute symptomatic spine fractures. Over the last few years I have seen…
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Stretching Hip Flexors/Quads vs Stressing Lumbar Spine – Video Quick Tip

If you missed it, last week I posted Part 1 of this video series talking about how an overhead shoulder stretch commonly used by gymnasts may may be putting strain on the shoulder joint, instead of stretching the lats like intended. In Part…
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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…
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Why I Don’t Use Ankle Weights With My Gymnasts

To start, I'm aware this is another controversial topic in gymnastics. I have spent quite a long time organizing my thoughts and how to present them in a positive, constructive article. As a younger coach, I used to do a ton of ankle weight…

10 Phrases I’d Teach A Parrot To Recite To Injured Gymnasts

This post was 100% inspired by Chris Johnson of Zeren PT, who recently wrote a great piece related to common things he seems to always say to injured runners. I laughed to myself when I saw the title, because of how true it seems to be. When…
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Concussion Tools for Gymnastics Coaches, Parents, and Medical Providers

I spent the last 4 days in Washington D.C. taking an Emergency Medicine Response course as part of my upcoming Sports PT boards (don't worry I passed). One area of injuries we spent a long time discussing and practicing was spinal/neck injuries…