Brian Schiff’s Blog
Injury Prevention, Sports Rehab & Performance Training Expert
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I find that many patients and clients lack dynamic shoulder and pillar stability. Assessing this with tall plank arm taps or tall plank Y reaches can tell you a lot about one’s ability to stabilize and resist gravity in single arm support. In light of the insufficiencies I see, I prefer to use exercises that encourage integrated shoulder, torso and hip stability.
Improving shoulder and torso stability is important for overhead athletes, wrestlers, MMA competitors as well as those with any shoulder instability. This exercise is a great way to build dynamic stability and postural stability.
Click here to read my entire online column for PFP Magazine on this exercise including progressions and regressions. I think you will find this movement both challenging and rewarding for you or your clients.
Have you ever experienced a significant injury? If so, do you remember wondering if you would ever be whole again? Pain, fear and the inability to do your sport or physical activity can cripple the human spirit.
Over my 21 years as a physical therapist and fitness professional, I have witnessed how powerful the mind is and how critical it is to have the right mindset to overcome physical obstacles. Some people are mentally stronger than others – period. With that said, adversity and pain has a way of testing the spirit and will of an individual.
In any given week, I see at least 5-10 patients rehabbing an ACL injury. The injury, surgery and rehab is physically and mentally grueling. The injury itself takes the athlete away from his/her passion or sport immediately, while presenting them with a long path back to full health. Many suffer an identity crisis as they become isolated and away from their peers. Physical therapy that fully restores function is a must in this group of patients. For more on what complete ACL rehab looks like, click here to read one of my previous posts.
Fear of reinjury and persistent knee symptoms are common reasons for a lack of return to play after ACL reconstruction. Click here to read an abstract regarding kinesiophobia in this group of patients.
With any injury, it is only natural to worry about the outcome. Clients often wonder quietly whether they will be able to return to their previous level of play. In this post, I want to talk about the elephant in the room for patients coming back from an injury, and that is a legitimate fear of reinjury.
One of the benefits of being an online columnist for PFP Magazine is having an opportunity to test out the latest training tools in the fitness industry. recently, I received a PowerWave 2.0 Constrainer from Power Systems. I really liked the versatility and ease of use with this particular apparatus. It is portable, yet challenging and offers various models for the end user.
I have included the two videos I put together for my column ‘Functionally Fit’ that emphasize how to use the PowerWave to perform cleans and the bus driver. I think you will find that the PowerWave 2.0 Crosstrainer is much like the TRX in that it offers lots of options in a limited footprint if you want to work out at home. You can target strength, explosive training and metabolic conditioning using it.
Check out the videos below:
See the full columns at www.fit-pro.com.
It is that time of the year again. Everyone wants to lose weight and trim their waistlines. Abs, abs and more abs, right? I am all about some core training, but I am always concerned with some of the ab variations that I see commonly used at the gym and in group fitness environments.
Many exercise enthusiasts have tight hip flexors and poor abdominal control. Sprinkle in a history of low back pain or a prior disc injury along with straight leg abdominal exercises and now you have the perfect recipe for a possible back injury. Why is that? Well, the psoas originates from the lumbar spine and attaches to the lesser trochanter on the hip.
In the picture above, you can see how the muscle impacts the spine and hips. As you lower your legs toward the ground during an ab exercise, there is a reverse muscle action that takes place and resultant anterior shear force exerted on the lumbar spine. When the abdominal muscles cannot resist this motion, the lumbar spine hyperextends.
Many people will even report feeling a pop in the front of the hip while doing scissor kicks, leg lowering or throw downs. In many cases, this may be the tendon running/rubbing on the pectineal eminence. Unfortunately, long lever and/or ballistic abdominal exercises with inherently poor core stability/strength, fatigue and gravity working against you will create significant load and strain on the lumber spine. Ever wonder why you wanted to put your hands under your back while doing 6 inches? Your brain is trying to flatten the spine using your hands as it knows the hyperlordotic position is uncomfortable and threatening.
In light of this, I put together a little video for PFP Magazine revealing a safer way to work your abs and prevent undue stress and strain on your back. Check it out below.
Keep these modifications and progressions in mind the next time you hit the gym or a boot camp class focusing on core/ab training.
I have a steady flow of baseball players who come to see me for shoulder and elbow rehab. As a former pitcher whose playing career was altered by an arm injury at age 14, I have a particular interest in throwing injuries. My son is a 6’2″ left-handed pitcher that plays showcase baseball. He will be the subject matter of this post moving forward.
Many of the players I see for shoulder and elbow pain suffer from pathological GIRD (glenohumeral internal rotation deficit). While it is common to see throwers with less internal rotation on their dominant side, it is important to assess total shoulder motion to make sure their mobility is within 5 degrees of their non-dominant side. Asymmetry in total shoulder motion and shoulder flexion increase the odds of elbow injuries. Click here to see the correlation in professional pitchers. Additionally, insufficient external rotation gain on the throwing arm increases injury risk. Click here to read an abstract summarizing data within the same group of professional pitchers.
Given this information and my background, I have preached arm care for years to my son. For some background, my son has pitched since he was 9 years old. Since I have been a coach for his team in one capacity or another since he was 10, I have closely monitored and controlled his pitch counts, innings per outing and total innings per year. He has always been able to throw hard, but he had a big growth spurt in middle school and his velocity grew with that.
He now throws between 75-77 mph as a HS freshman. He is projected to be 6’5″ tall and weighs 170 pounds at this time. His showcase coach pitched in MLB, and we have two other organizational pitching instructors with big league experience who supervise his weekly bullpens. His total innings pitched for 2017 = 43. Research indicates anything over 100 significantly increases injury risk. With all that said, he has developed some medial elbow pain over the past 4 months. He has no history of arm trouble to date. My intention is for this post to serve as useful diagnostic and proactive intervention for those who may see and experience similar cases.
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