Summer comes to an end and fall sports start up. High school sports are a big part of many teenagers’ life and the Pre-Participation Physical Examination (PPPE) is a necessary step to help ensure that youth athletes are healthy and can participate in their respective sport. The topic of this blog covers the first part of our discussion on the PPPE. As always, enjoy, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and share. This is important information for parents and their athletes, alike.
We get asked a lot of questions about what types of shoes to wear. Afterall, there are a lot of options. Some are functional, some are fashionable. We like to stick with function over fashion. Afterall, we tend to work with an active population and athletes of all disciplines need proper footwear to help optimize performance and reduce the likelihood of injury. There is so much information (misinformation) out there and it seems like most everyone has an opinion. We are not after opinions. We are after facts.
We’re going to cover two popular and discussed shoe configuration topics. This blog (and associated YouTube video below) will cover zero drop and the next one will cover neutral shoes.
Zero drop refers to the heel to toe drop in a shoe. Literally, the heel of a shoe is usually made to be higher than toe (forefoot). The shoe effectively angles down from the back of the foot to the front. You won’t usually see this just looking at the shoe. You’ll likely need to see the listing online or write the company. Some shoes are still using 10-12mm heel to toe drops. Ouch! This effectively shortens your calf musculature at all times…not good. In effect, it’s like you’re wear heels.
If you’re an athlete, it’s time to stop static stretching.
Static stretching is bad for you if you are about to play any sport. Surprised? Don’t be. Plenty of data is provided below. In spite of what has been incorrected pushed for decades at every level of sport, the research has shown for decades that static stretching leads to decreased performance and a greater likelihood of injury. So many injuries could be prevented if ‘warming up’ was performed properly, by everyone. Watch the video below and read the blog to learn more. Please also subscribe to our YouTube channel. Help us help you and those you care about!
We should all be familiar with lateral and medial ankle sprains as we discussed them in previous blogs. We are now going to talk about the last and least understood form of ankle sprain, also known as the dreaded ‘high ankle sprain.’ These sprains are documented as being between 11 and 17% of all ankle sprains. They are not too common, but they are very significant. Proper identification of this type of ankle sprain is vital. It will need rehabilitation by a trained professional who has experience with this type of sprain.
Luckily, the explanation and understanding of a high ankle sprain is quite easy. A high ankle sprain is a syndesmotic sprain that occurs above the lateral ankle. A syndesmotic sprain involves the ligaments and fascia between bones. In this case, the tibia and fibula bones above the ankle joint are involved. In effect, a particular trauma causes the two bones to separate from one another and the ligaments and other tissues between them tear in the process. This leads to a lot of pain and a good amount of dysfunction.
We previously discussed when we turn our ankle in…now we need to look at when we turn it the other way.
Turning the ankle out does not occur as much as when we turn the ankle in. In fact, data show this happens between 5-10% of the time. We do see a lot more lateral ankle sprains, but we must be aware of medial ankle sprains and what to do with them. Why are there more lateral ankle sprains? Simply put, it’s a lot more unstable on the lateral side than the medial side. On the medial side, we have more ligaments, a larger weight bearing bone, ideally a proper arch, that even if reduced, helps support the medial side.
This begs the question: If it’s so much more stable, how can it turn outward? Generally speaking, this form of ankle sprain occurs more often when there is contact with another athlete. It also occurs when we are cutting/moving and the foot gets planted in the ground and our body goes across it. This can flatten out the arch and create a nasty valgus (ankle in, foot turns out) stress. This creates stress on the inside of the ankle as the body rolls over it, thus causing injury.
Ankle sprains/strains happen…a lot. (We’ll have a YouTube chat about this soon as well as this blog here. Please subscribe to follow us.) That horrible feeling when you ‘roll your ankle in’. What exactly does this mean and what do we need to look for with ankle sprains?
The inversion ankle sprain is the most common of all ankle sprains, accounting for about 75-80%. The ankle can roll outward, but this is not too common. The medial side (inside) of your ankle tends to be more stable. This blog is about the most common form of ankle sprain, so let’s get going. (We’ll save the outward rolling ankle sprains and high ankle sprains for another discussion!)
Cross Crawl pattern as baby’s left upper extremity goes forward, so too does the right lower extremity
As DBAM starts moving into education on the topic everything youth sports, it’s important to consider our most primitive movement patterns. This is where it all starts.
Babies start their true ability to move around by crawling. It involves the left upper extremity moving forward while the right lower extremity also moves forward. Then vice versa. The cross crawl is not just a thing kids do before they get upright. The crawling movement is an essential action to proper development of the brain. This is why those parents who try to have their kids walk as soon as possible are, can we say, Meatheads? Continue Reading →
What are they really doing? Many will tell you that leg lifts (any variation) are good for the abdominal region. Why they believe this is beyond me. I’ve never seen an anatomy chart that has shown the abdominal muscles attaching to the lesser trochanter (hip). In fact, leg lifts are great for facilitating already facilitated musculature. What does this mean?
Facilitated muscles are muscles that are shortened and have lost their ability to stretch. It’s more of a neurological issue vs. the sensation of just an area feeling ‘tight.’ The last thing we want to do with these muscles is shorten them any further. The hip flexor muscles, or the muscles that are responsible for that silly leg lift exercise, tend to be chronically facilitated.
After all, we tend to sit/drive all day and certainly, we are not going out of our way to exercise our gluteal region. We certainly do not need to tighten the hip flexors any further. If we are trying to target the abdominal muscles, we need better ways of doing it (likely coming soon to a blog near you). Continue Reading →
I’ve written and taught on the topic of the exercise called the ‘Upright Row’ many times in the past. Sadly, people are still performing this most awkward and dangerous exercise. I guess I will try to keep reaching as many people as possible about this movement. It is responsible for too many injuries. This blog falls on the heels of a prior blog about ‘side deltoid raises’ and the issue of impingement.
The upright row is responsible for shoulder damage. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen injuries occur right in front of my face with people performing this exercise. Ouch! Let’s look at the picture above and break it down!
The upright row movement is a flexion/abduction movement of the shoulder rolled in with internal rotation and a bit of retraction, all while under load. What does this do for your shoulder? Well, nothing too much on the good side and a lot on the bad side (meaning, it’s bad). This movement is notorious for impinging the supraspinatus muscle. It just so happens that the supraspinatus is the most damaged rotator cuff muscle. The more distal fibers lie under the acromion process. Continue Reading →
So, you’re a runner and keep getting ankle sprains. You are a powerlifter and keep ‘pulling’ your hamstrings. You are recovering from shoulder surgery and you simply cannot get back to where you should be even though the surgeon tells you all is okay. Your knees are just not recovering from what was supposed to be a simple meniscus repair.
WHY can’t you get better? You feel better but things just aren’t working the way they should…well…here is the likely reason and you’ve never heard about it.
