The Mentality of Overcoming Injury
The Mentality of Overcoming Injury

Injury will happen in some capacity as you progress through the sport. How will you overcome the setback—mentally and physically?

The One Armed Guillotine Training Split
The One Armed Guillotine Training Split

Training through injury, the following splits pushed me through elbow surgery and a lat tear.

High-Performance Solutions to Common Injuries
High-Performance Solutions to Common Injuries

Overuse injuries build up over time due to incomplete rest. Take a look at the cycle to prevent your next injury.

Protect Yourself From Stress: Keys to Performance, Recovery, and Quality of Life
Protect Yourself From Stress: Keys to Performance, Recovery, and Quality...

Understanding all the mechanisms of stress can help you become aware of your response to stressors. Believe me, you can do better.

Correct Application and Execution of The McGill Big 3
Correct Application and Execution of The McGill Big 3

The McGill Big 3 has been used for over three decades to help people recover from back pain. However, with the surge in online gurus and overnight trainers, the Big 3 has often been butchered and changed from its original intent.

The Need for Addressing Basic Pelvic Deficiencies in Baseball Programs
The Need for Addressing Basic Pelvic Deficiencies in Baseball Programs

The pelvis and hip cannot be neglected in baseball pitcher’s athletic training programs. Don’t miss out on these key performance indicator’s for your pitching athletes.

How to Make Your Rehab Suck
How to Make Your Rehab Suck

If getting under the bar is the end goal post-injury, here’s what NOT to do. By knowing the wrong approach, it’s easier to grasp what’s right.

No More Shitty Pecs
No More Shitty Pecs

This is a fun one where I relate viscoelasticity to training stimuli in a way you’ll understand to fix your shitty pecs…

Better Ankles Equals Better Conventional Deadlifts
Better Ankles Equals Better Conventional Deadlifts

If you can’t go into more dorsiflexion, your calves and quads won’t be in an advantageous position to deadlift.

How to Progress Anti-Tin Man RDLs
How to Progress Anti-Tin Man RDLs

One way to progress the Anti-Tin Man RDL is by taking that same pattern into a more dynamic and less stable environment through Walking RDLs.

Bulletproof the Effectiveness of Your Injection or Surgery
Bulletproof the Effectiveness of Your Injection or Surgery

Here are some CRUCIAL POINTS to consider to benefit from your treatment. Otherwise, you may never experience long-term relief.

The Squat Bar Isn't Bad For You
The Squat Bar Isn't Bad For You

I know it might FEEL bad, and you might feel banged up from squatting with it, but that does not mean you should be avoiding the straight bar.

Revisiting the Cross-Body Cable Extension
Revisiting the Cross-Body Cable Extension

The Cross-Body Cable Extension has enormous potential to address a myriad of shoulder and upper back issues, but you’re doing it wrong.

Intensity Techniques to Use in a Rehab Block
Intensity Techniques to Use in a Rehab Block

Ditch the boring “three sets of eight to ten reps of rehab movement,” to break the mold and bridge the gap between training and rehab.

Mobility Training is Not What You Think
Mobility Training is Not What You Think

Everything you do in the gym is mobility training, but not everything you do in the gym gives you better mobility.

4 Hacks to Prevent Back and Hip Overuse Injuries 
4 Hacks to Prevent Back and Hip Overuse Injuries 

You’ll want to include some single-limb work, train in multiple planes of motion, provide alternation and stability, plus soft tissue work!

Pain and How We Can Better Manage It
Pain and How We Can Better Manage It

In the moment you say, “Ow, this hurts,” what do you do? Do you push through the pain or go home? Here’s what to know about pain.

The Back-Friendly Approach to Leg Training
The Back-Friendly Approach to Leg Training

How can we create the damage and nastiness required for a productive leg workout while sparing our backs?

The 3-Part Warm-Up You Can Do in 10 Minutes
The 3-Part Warm-Up You Can Do in 10 Minutes

You likely warm-up extensively or do nothing at all. Instead, try this 10-minute, 3-part warm-up to systematically prime yourself for your next workout!

Can Training Be Protective Against Injury?
Can Training Be Protective Against Injury?

Train balls to the wall and stuff is bound to break, right? Back things off and recovery capabilities won’t be as taxed, right? Well, kind of.

3 Steps to an Effective Deload
3 Steps to an Effective Deload

Before you take a break from lifting heavy (and for those of you that are on the fence wondering if deloads are even necessary), consider three backed-by-science steps.

I Am Dani LaMartina
I Am Dani LaMartina

Who’s Dani? Where is she from? What are her passions? What is she accomplishing in her practice and lifting career? She tells you here.

Technique's Role in Injury Risk
Technique's Role in Injury Risk

Can we adapt, get stronger, and build tolerance within what could be considered bad technique. Here’s how injuries occur and don’t.

What is Pain Telling Us?
What is Pain Telling Us?

Pain is your brain going, “Hey, let’s stop this before (more) damage occurs.” Do you push through the pain or do you stop? Then what?

Set Your Mind Free
Set Your Mind Free

Getting over the mental hurdles post injury can be just as painful as the actual injury, but you can come out of it stronger if you choose to.

What is GPP and Who's It For?
What is GPP and Who's It For?

Incorporate General Physical Preparedness into your regimen and watch as you meet or exceed your overall training goals.

Poor Recovery is Holding You Back!
Poor Recovery is Holding You Back!

Training hard but still not seeing gains in strength and size? Try taking a harder look at your recovery. It’s science.

Train and Rehab with Crossbody Extensions
Train and Rehab with Crossbody Extensions

Crossbody extensions address tissue tolerance and scapular awareness—something to use for direct upper body training AND physical therapy.

A Well-Rounded Approach to Injury Prevention
A Well-Rounded Approach to Injury Prevention

No exercise or series of exercises can guarantee injury prevention. It takes a holistic approach with a heaping amount of common sense.

Blending Training and Rehab for the Powerbuilder
Blending Training and Rehab for the Powerbuilder

There’s no reason to be sidelined into rehab purgatory when dealing with a combination labral tear with bicep tendinopathy. Read how this case study is applicable to you.

The Beauty of Quiet Technique
The Beauty of Quiet Technique

If you’re looking to be strong, improve durability, and look better, quiet technique will get you there with less wear and tear. Here are implications and executions of this technique using a variety of exercises.

Hormone Panels 101
Hormone Panels 101

I instruct all of my clients to get a full hormone panel at least once a year. Here’s how to prepare for these labs and what a comprehensive hormone panel looks like.

The Anti- Tin Man Romanian Deadlift
The Anti- Tin Man Romanian Deadlift

Implementation is the easiest part of this exercise because you are using only your available range and not approaching this with a “must have the mobility of a 12-year-old gymnast” mentality. Here’s your chance to access planes and ranges of motion that most of us forget even exist.

It's Better to Wear Out Than to Rust Out
It's Better to Wear Out Than to Rust Out

In my fifties, I started to experience knee pain during and after Olympic lifts, squats, and deadlifts. After a career full of lifting and contact sports, my options were anti-inflammatory medication and gels, surgery, braces, ABI, and PRP. Here’s what helped me.

How to Come Back From Multiple Injuries
How to Come Back From Multiple Injuries

A personal account of my two-year journey from a broken radius, broken ulna, and a torn ACL (all on the same day) to coming back stronger than ever. Tons of people have broken bones and torn muscles and ligaments before, in and out of competition, and this is just one of those stories.

Aging and Keeping Pace
Aging and Keeping Pace

Why is another article in the realm of injury prevention and performance improvement while aging relevant? For two reasons: the audience is growing, and every author has a different writing style. If you remember at least one of my points, remember, “Get the drugs!”

How to Relieve Lower Back Pain
How to Relieve Lower Back Pain

I had my fair share of lower back issues to the point I needed to be fed by my wife. There are only so many times you can go through this before it clicks what the problem is and how to fix it. Here’s what I’ve figured out.

Does Mobility or Stability Come First?
Does Mobility or Stability Come First?

For those involved in the healthcare, fitness, and strength industries, this is a question that has been long debated and has much enthusiasm behind it, creating the ultimate chicken vs. the egg debate in the human body. So which is the answer? How do we know once and for all?

My Left Glute is Not Activating
My Left Glute is Not Activating

Anyone who’s actually said this and FELT this lack of power knows how frustrating it can be: Despite the EBP nerds saying, “Well, the hip is extending, so the glute must be firing.” If you have felt the empty feeling, you know that you’re not firing on all cylinders.

The 8 Pillars of Longevity for Athletes
The 8 Pillars of Longevity for Athletes

The primary drivers of aging can be narrowly reduced to inflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial function. Here’s how to manage them.

What’s Wrong with Today’s Multisport Athlete
What’s Wrong with Today’s Multisport Athlete

Why is the multisport athlete of today more burnt out and fatigued as ever?

Tendinopathy Edition: Programming Variables to Consider When Returning to the Squat
Tendinopathy Edition: Programming Variables to Consider When Returning t...

When it comes to returning an intermediate-advanced lifter to a heavy compound, there are often more factors at play than we initially think. Perfect mechanics probably aren’t enough to get you back to where you need to be.

The Most Underrated Exercise You’re Not Doing for Shoulder Health
The Most Underrated Exercise You’re Not Doing for Shoulder Health

Do your shoulders hurt at the bottom of the bench? If so, what are you doing to fix it? This exercise may help.

Understanding How To Utilize PRI With Youth Athletes
Understanding How To Utilize PRI With Youth Athletes

The Postural Restoration Institute® (PRI) course I took helped me understand body position optimization so much. I immediately saw how I could use this to help benefit my athletes and clients (and hopefully, I can help you help your clients and athletes).

Shoulder Saver Bench Warm-up
Shoulder Saver Bench Warm-up

Since starting this recovery routine, that I do on both of my upper body days per week, I have had far less pain and nagging injuries. Save your shoulders!

Thyroid Health Update
Thyroid Health Update

The intricacies of the thyroid are complicated, so I wanted to triangulate my advice versus just taking one opinion and rolling with it. When I did so, I found that they all had very similar conclusions. Here’s my treatment plan.

Serious Training Considerations for COVID-19
Serious Training Considerations for COVID-19

So here is the decision you need to consider: should you adapt your training in favor of less dangerous styles of exercise and workload, or continue as planned on your strength journey?

Epidemic Survival Strategies for Fitness Enthusiasts and Professionals
Epidemic Survival Strategies for Fitness Enthusiasts and Professionals

For starters, if you have access to equipment during this time, it is recommended that restraint be employed pertaining to exercise intensity and volume as both have been implicated in temporarily suppressing immune system function.

What To Do When Your Thyroid Fails You
What To Do When Your Thyroid Fails You

Slowly each week, I was getting bigger and bigger — and not the good kind. I exploded from a 130-pound fitness chick to a 200-pound walrus. After a solid three years of impeccable blood lab results, it’s time to dabble in my sob story and ultimately share the phases I undertook to regain my health and life.

My Sh*tty-@ss Thyroid
My Sh*tty-@ss Thyroid

Why is it important to get thyroid testing done? What thyroid markers should be tested? What causes thyroid dysfunction? As I dive into thyroid health and function, these are the questions I’m discovering. I’m still trying to get a better understanding of it all, but here’s what I know so far.

War Within a Breath: Balance and Symmetry
War Within a Breath: Balance and Symmetry

Today, we’re going to go over the functional implications that our sympathetic dominance has on our musculoskeletal system. P.S. I’m really enjoying writing this series!

Top 6 Mistakes Powerlifters Make Health-Wise
Top 6 Mistakes Powerlifters Make Health-Wise

I see the same mistakes made over and over, and these mistakes are absolutely huge when it comes to being able to keep training progressively.

A Message for Those Struggling with Mental Illness
A Message for Those Struggling with Mental Illness

It WILL Pay Off: A Message for Those Struggling with Mental Illness, was a log post I wrote four years ago as I was battling depression, anxiety, insomnia, and OCD. Rather than edit my original post to reflect my current state of mind, I’m using this article as an update as I continue to evolve — a lot of things have changed.

10 Ways to Increase your Longevity in Powerlifting
10 Ways to Increase your Longevity in Powerlifting

Do you fall into the category of lifters who don’t move outside of the 1-3 hours spent in the gym? If so, you’re not going to last very long in this game. Here’s how to increase your longevity as a powerlifter.

Do You Want to Increase Your Overhead Strength?
Do You Want to Increase Your Overhead Strength?

Are you not performing optimally because of a tight scapula? Limited scapulae mobility can prevent you from increasing your overhead strength the way you want to.

Structuring a Rehabilitation Plan
Structuring a Rehabilitation Plan

Physical rehabilitation is as much about the mind as it is the body. The right attitude is the first step to putting a stable, consistent rehabilitation plan in motion.

Training Through Setbacks
Training Through Setbacks

No matter the area in life, you are bound to face setbacks. When it comes to powerlifting, you are the only one who can decide what is best for you and whether you will compete or not.

The Post-Surgical Knee: The Stability and Proprioception Rebuild
The Post-Surgical Knee: The Stability and Proprioception Rebuild

The initial stages of the balance, stability, and proprioception phase will be performed through the slow rebuilding of ROM through single-leg movements and will eventually use more advanced dynamic movements, such as jumping and landing mechanics drills.

The Post-Surgical Knee: The Range of Motion Rebuild
The Post-Surgical Knee: The Range of Motion Rebuild

The focus of this article will put on the importance of the phase following the rehab phase in terms of the rebuilding of stability, strength, and proprioception in knee injuries, such as patellar fractures and ACL tears.

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