Blog
In the second episode of the Rehab & Performance Lab podcast, Disconnected Expectations: How Do You Manage ACL Return-to-Sport Timelines?, I team up with Dr. Kyle Matsel to discuss the complexities surrounding ACL return-to-sport timelines.
You can...
How Can We Create Effective Return-to-Running Protocols?
Todd Arnold, MD, medical officer for elite athlete care at USA Track & Field, and I discuss the complexities of return-to-running protocols. We explore the research on the nuances of creating individualized...
I remember him vividly.
He was a cantankerous old farmer. You know the type. Rough and rugged exterior but would do anything for anyone at the drop of a hat. At 72, he was still working on the farm daily.
He’d had a total hip replacement and was resistant to physical therapy from the...
Best Courses for Athletic Trainers For Working with Athletes with Back or Neck Pain
As athletic trainers, historically our education on low back pain has left a lot to be desired. Since a lot of athletes and active individuals (e.g. factory workers) have low back pain, it is important that...
Testing single limb vertical jump for return to sport? Here’s how I do it simply without equipment. For more in-depth information on return to sport testing, check out our MedBridge course, Return to Full Performance After ACL Reconstruction Rehabilitation.
I really think that the lower body return to sport checklist and discharge checklist can accelerate your practice, can really amplify what you're doing because it does a few things. One, it makes sure that we're being comprehensive in nature. The guidelines go from simple range of...
I want to tell you about using the upper body return to sport checklist. This is a little bit different. We don't typically see or use return to sport tests as frequently as the lower body. The lower body is a lot more common, but the upper body is just as important. The problem...
I want to tell you how to use the discharge testing checklist. It's organized in such a way that it goes from simple activities all the way down to complex. So it starts off at range of motion and strengthening and goes all the way through hop testing, agility testing and that type of...
I think one of my favorite return to sport checklists that we have is the Spine Return to Sport Checklist. It's probably the least utilized and admittedly so in my practice, it was the least utilized. We think of lower extremity return to sport checklists and what are we going to do...
I think one of the things I don't do often enough in rehab, especially long term rehab like ACL reconstructions, is revisit the discharge testing checklist.
I do it at the beginning. I'll do it pre-operatively to talk about it. I'll do it post-operatively and describe the...
In another post, I discussed why we would consider testing an athlete in an open-kinetic chain sport with closed-kinetic chain tests. It is important to remember that there is a hierarchy of testing and begins with ROM, strength, plank, and progresses to the Functional...
I am frequently asked
“Why should I test someone in the closed kinetic chain when his sport is exclusively performed in the open kinetic chain?”
OR
“Closed kinetic chain testing is not “functional” for a baseball pitcher, why do it?”
What is the goal of...
