Rib cage flare during overhead lifting is a common movement fault seen in fitness athletes. While it is not always an issue, quite often it needs to be addressed for better positioning as an athlete moves weight overhead. If you aren’t familiar with the term rib cage flare, it is another name for overextension of the spine. This usually occurs...

I previously published an article on BENCH PRESS MOBILITY. In this article, I outlined several of the key mobility areas to address to allow for proper bench press form. One of those areas was shoulder extension mobility, a commonly overlooked component of shoulder mobility that can impact not only the bench press, but also pushups, dips, and muscle-ups. Since publishing that...

Many fitness athletes think of improving their mobility for squats and overhead presses. But, few consider the mobility needs of the bench press. Although it doesn’t usually require as much mobility attention as those lifts, I often find mobility limitations in athletes that impact their ability to bench with optimal form. As with any movement, when wanting to improve the...

No two athletes are the same. And while we believe that in a group training setting all athletes will improve follow the same training, it is important to analyze each athlete individually as well to determine if large individual differences in performance warrants some individualization of programming. For example, if an athlete is working on a goal of performing a...

No matter what recreational activity you choose to follow, minor tweaks and injuries are inevitable. Participating in CrossFit is no exception to this. Injuries happen with CrossFit, just as they do with powerlifting, weightlifting, bodybuilding, running, and any organized sport. Yet, there is still a widely held belief that CrossFit is itself a more dangerous activity. But is this true...

Without question, kipping pull-ups are the most controversial exercise performed in CrossFit. While a regular movement in CrossFit workouts, you won’t see it in the rest of the strength & conditioning world. And many non-CrossFitters will criticize the movement as being a non-functional, injury-causing movement that allows CrossFit athletes to cheat. CrossFit athletes, on the other hand, argue that it allows...

Note: This article is a bit heavier on the science than what I typically put out. BUT understanding WHY tendinopathy occurs is vitally important to properly rehabbing them. Please thoroughly read this before implementing it with yourself. As clinicians, there are some injuries and dysfunctions we see more commonly than others. Tendinopathy ranks high on the “most frequent” list when...

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Without a doubt, the most common complaint I hear from athletes is that they have “tight hip flexors”. Most of the time they’ve spent months stretching and foam rolling with no effect. Most of the time, performing combinations of core strength, hip flexor strength, and loaded mobility drills create far more significant and permanent changes than what they’ve been wasting their...