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...

Deadlifts are unfortunately all too commonly believed to be unsafe exercises for an individual’s low back health. But the research says quite the opposite of what many believe. Crazy right? An exercise known to help make your back and hips STRONGER might also make it HEALTHIER!!! Let’s dive into the research on deadlifts for low back pain. Are Deadlifts Safe?...

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...

The push press is a great exercise for improving sports performance, but for a lot of people in the strength conditioning world, it’s a really undervalued exercise in terms of analyzing how an athlete moves and figuring out what they need to work on to improve as on overall athlete.   Push Press Video Transcript: So what’s the Push Press?...

Postpartum Fitness Sarah Duvall At the start of 2018, I asked TheBarbellPhysio followers what they wanted more information on this year. By far the biggest request I had was for Postpartum fitness advice. So, I reached out to my friend Sarah Duvall. We recorded a talk on postpartum issues to give athletes, coaches, and clinicians some guidance on this area....

The pistol squat is a challenging bodyweight strength exercise. It not only requires strength but significant control and mobility. Quite often the extreme mobility demands of the pistol squat are overlooked. So, we will start with the most commonly limited mobility deficits for the squat and then discuss a progression of strength exercises you can use to build up to...

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...