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Build Power and Core Control with These 3 Medball Exercises

Many athletes do a lot of isolated core work like side or front planks, hollow rocks, leg lifts, and so on. This type of core strength is valuable when in conjunction with teaching athletes the basics of breathing, bracing, spinal control.…
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Does Having Good Form Make A Gymnast’s Squat Worse?

It's known to the gymnastics world that having good form in all skills is pretty much essential to success. You can throw all the craziest skills in the world, but if they are very sloppy the aesthetics look pretty bad, and judges likely break…
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“Hip Flexor Tightness” in Gymnasts and The Most Common Error In Stretching

A topic that comes up frequently in my flexibility lectures and when treating gymnastics patients is hyper mobile athletes who feel "hip flexor tightness" or experience ongoing "hip flexor strains". This issue plagues many gymnasts leading…
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Video Quick Tip! Suitcase Carries for Lateral Core Work

I'm a big fan of suitcase carries as they can take a more traditional side plank and turn it into an upright, reactive, and more challenging exercise. Although we do a lot of side plank variations also, suitcase carries create a very unique…
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Rehab Tips For Clinicians To Treat Gymnasts with Extension Based LBP – Part 5: Return To Training

Over the last two months I've been outlining my thought process for the rehabilitation of gymnasts with extension based lower back pain. The acute phase, sub acute phase, intermediate phase, and advanced phase of rehabilitation were Parts 1…
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Rehab Tips For Clinicians To Treat Gymnasts with Extension Based LBP – Part 4: Advanced Phase

Over a few different posts in the last month, I have been offering my thoughts behind the rehab progression of a gymnast with extension based low back pain. In Part 1 I first covered the acute phase, then in Part 2 the subacute phase, then in…
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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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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…