The importance of ankle mobility is paramount in the squat – in fact, any closed chain movement where the foot is in contact with the ground. Dorsi-flexion of the ankle (ie: lifting the ball of the foot with the heel in contact with the ground) is perhaps the most important of the degrees of freedom
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Range of Motion's top articles on musculo-skeletal injury and rehabilitation.
Competitiive CrossFitters (or at least those who prioritise and commit to training) love to work hard. In the most part, this hard work has a perfect positive correlation with rate of return (increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains). There becomes a point where ‘hard work’ becomes detrimental. The further back we can push
One of my university lecturers took the controversial view that every person who injures themselves should have a cross carved into their arm by a scalpel. The idea being, when the cross has healed, so has the underlying injury. The problem is, if an injury is soft tissue (muscle/ligament/tendon etc), it is visually hidden from
‘Mobility’ is in vogue. Both the word, and the practice. All the cool kids are ‘mobilising’. But first let’s define the term, because I fear it has become a blanket term for the pre- and post- exercise routines that all individuals should complete around their training. Effectively, mobility is ‘movement around a joint’ – its
The explosion of performance based fitness has brought with it the popularisation of recovery. Foam rollers and trigger point balls are no longer confined to yoga and pilates studios, or to the consult rooms of physiotherapists. It’s now more unusual to find a gym without these tools than it is to find one with. With
Movement provides a window into the body. Assessing movement is like detective work. Observing movement and assessing faults gives us clues to identify underlying dysfunction. There are few better diagnostic tools than the squat. The number of directions in which movement can occur at the joints involved (degrees of freedom) means we have a lot
The use of various temperature protocols (cryotherapy, cold water immersion/ice baths, contrast therapy) for increased recovery and performance has garnered mainstream acceptance from athletes. Here, we review the literature to examine the effectiveness of these treatment methodologies, as well as methods of best practice. Summary: Cryotherapy methods result primarily in subjective (self reported) improvements, not
You should see every repetition you do as an opportunity for improvement. Every. Single. Rep. The end goal is perfection. But it’s a goal that can never be achieved, because absolute perfection of movement is unrealistic. What is realistic is improvement. Movement quality exists on a continuum. On the far left of our continuum sits
Volume and intensity are undeniably important elements of high level training. More of both is better. To a point. If an athlete is doing nothing (or not enough), any increase in volume or intensity will result in improvement. The problem however, lies in the athlete who continues to layer more and more volume and intensity.
Exercise is a form of stress – it’s actually termed ‘Eustress’. Eustress is positive stress, stress causing some favourable effect to your body. None-the-less, it is stress, and stress has the potential to cause damage and degeneration. The beneficial effects of exercise far outweigh the potential negatives, but sometimes we have to carefully manage our
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