Some time back I came out with this video showing an easy assessment for ankle mobility.  Ankle mobility is essential for technique during deep squats, pistols, lunge and step-up variations.  It’s also something that’s implicated in knee pain, potentially causing knee valgus in deep squatting movements.  

One thing I’ll ask my patients and athletes when they do this assessment is, “Where do you feel like you’re being limited here?”  “Do you feel a block or pinch in the front of the ankle or do you feel a pull / stretch in the back of the ankle?”

If the individual feels a strong pull in the achilles and soleus area then we can assume there is a limitation in those tissues.  In this situation stretching, foam rolling and other soft tissue interventions should work really well.

If the individual feels more of a block in the front of the ankle it could be a joint mobility restriction.  In dorsiflexion of the ankle the talus bone should move posteriorly under the tibia and fibula of the lower leg.  If this isn’t occurring it could be causing that “blocked” sensation in the front of the ankle.  In this case, stretching and soft tissue work may not be as effective as in individuals that feel a stretch in the soleus/achilles during this test.  For individuals with a blocked sensation in the front of the ankle I recommend more self joint mobilization.  For these individuals I also highly recommend seeing a good manual therapist to help get things moving a bit better.  Here are some of my favorite ankle mobility exercises I’ll give to my patients as part of their HEP:

As taught in the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) we need to learn how to differentiate between tissue extensibility disorders (TEDs) and …read more

Warming up can be fairly complex.  Now-a-days, scouting around the internet would have you believe that you need a foam roller, system of bands, lacrosse ball, kettlebells, compass and machete to navigate your way through a shoulder warm-up.  Although these tools are great, you can easily warm-up without all of the equipment.  Here’s a quick shoulder warm-up you can try the next time in the gym before your workout.  It also works well in a large group training environment where equipment is limited:

Get those shoulders ready for war,

Dan Pope DPT, CSCS

P.S. If you enjoyed this article then sign up for the newsletter to receive the FREE guide – 10 Idiot Proof Principles to Performance and Injury Prevention as well as to keep up to date with new information as it comes out via weekly emails.

The post Fast and Easy Shoulder Warm-up – No Equipment Needed! appeared first on FITNESS PAIN FREE.

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Frequency of lifting is obviously a very important variable in your programming.  The research in improving strength shows us that having higher volumes and frequencies of lifting is more beneficial for improving strength then lower frequencies and volumes.

However, many people won’t be able to handle this high volume.   Given variables such as:

• Limited time to devote to training
• Mobility restrictions
• Poor genetics for tissues tolerating higher volumes of work
• Stress and lowered recovery rates coming from areas of life besides training (family, career, lack of sleep, diet)
• Past history of injury

It becomes very challenging to improve with the olympic lifts and tolerate higher volumes of lifting.

I spoke with olympic lifters Chad Vaughn and Mike Cerbus to find what frequencies are optimal for steady progress while avoiding overuse injury in novice to intermediate lifters.  This is a huge variable I constantly educate my patients about when they come to see me in clinic.  Every lifter will be different and chances are that the adult lifter will have to train differently then the younger athlete.  Check out the video below and respond with your experience below in the comments section.

It’s 10:00am and I’ve already done 5 snatch sessions,

Dan Pope DPT, CSCS

P.S. If you enjoyed this article then sign up for the newsletter to receive the FREE guide – 10 Idiot Proof Principles to Performance and Injury Prevention as well as to keep up to date with new information as it comes out via weekly emails.

The post How Often Should We Snatch and Clean and Jerk? appeared first on FITNESS PAIN FREE.

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FPF athlete Scott deadlifting like a crane, read the testimonial in the link at the bottom of the page, he has a pretty amazing story

As I alluded to last Wednesday, I now have the Fitness Pain Free Open Training Programming back up!

To be completely honest this programming has been an enormous amalgamation of my own education both from the realms of physical therapy, strength and conditioning, crossfit coaching and personal experience as an athlete.  It’s been reborn completely from my own passion for programming.

The level of intricacy and completeness of the programming has gotten to a whole new level over the past 6 months.  It’s honestly not just a done for you blueprint but a continuing education resource.  Not only is everything completely laid out for you but the thought process behind it all is laid out both in written and video format.  I truly believe that you will come out of the process with a much better understanding of programming from a performance and injury reduction standpoint.  I’ve even had several people subscribe not just for the programming but the educational process of learning how to put it all together.  I honestly don’t think you can find this type of information anywhere else on the internet.  I’m extremely proud of the outcome.

A Brief Snapshot of the Programming:

• 6-days per week done for you program for yourself or for your box (Perfect for affiliate owners)
• Progressive daily olympic lifting, strength, gymnastics, and met-con that fits into a 1 hour block (I know how important it is to fit the entire class into a 1 hour block)
• Two tracks: One for the average Joe looking to stay safe and get fit and another for the competitive athlete looking for success in the open and at competition.  Both tracks …read more