achieving a solid overhead position won’t be possible making overhead pressing, snatches, overhead squats, and efficiency suffer. Far too often, athletes waste time foam rolling and performing band distraction drills that only temporarily improve their range of motion. Then the next day they must repeat the process again, never seeing the long term improvements they want in their performance. The...

The front rack can be a very challenging position for many athletes to get into. And without a solid front rack, the Olympics lifts, front squats, and even overhead pressing become significantly harder to perform. Then, with repeated workouts involving those movements, pain begins to creep in making the rack position even more difficult. Quite often pain begins in an...

The best fitness professionals have a plethora of exercises they can pull out at a moment’s notice to scale a movement based on a client or athlete’s needs. Unfortunately, far too often, we see programming without sufficient scaling options to ensure safe and effective workouts for all gym members. Join Dr. Zach Long (The Barbell Physio) and Dr. Andrew Millett...

The best fitness professionals have a plethora of exercises they can pull out at a moment’s notice to scale a movement based on a client or athlete’s needs. Unfortunately, far too often, we see programming without sufficient scaling options to ensure safe and effective workouts for all gym members. Join Dr. Zach Long (The Barbell Physio) and Dr. Andrew Millett...

We’ve all used foam rollers, stretching, band joint distractions, and lacrosse balls to improve mobility. But there is a big gap between having the available range of motion and being able to use that available motion. Eccentric isometrics fix that! It is rare to find athletes that can functionally utilize their full available range of motion. I commonly see athletes...

An unassisted pull-up is a foundational movement for the fitness athlete. This movement is often underestimated in its importance. Requiring back, core, and shoulder strength, this movement is fantastic for any athlete. The major problem with the pull-up is that many athletes struggle to build the foundation of a sound pull-up. And they set themselves up with appropriate progressions for...

I realized a terrible truth this week…a while back, I wrote an article on the best kettlebell exercises to use in rehab. But despite being The BARBELL Physio, I’ve never written about the best barbell rehab exercises. Travesty!  So here we go, our favorite exercises with the barbell to use in rehab! For more rehab exercises, see my articles on the...

Training With Shoulder Pain Shoulder pain is the most common complaint I treat in the CrossFitters, Olympic lifters, and powerlifters that I treat in my physical therapy clinic. Often these athletes have completed stop training shoulder based movements due to their pain, but the following exercises are my go-to movements for training with shoulder pain. For more complete assistance in helping...

Most people don’t think of the upper body when performing a back squat.  It’s generally thought of as a lower body strength training movement.  But if you don’t have certain pre-requisites of squat upper body mobility, it can lead to shoulder, low back, and lower body issues. In order to get yourself under the bar in the proper position during...