Reaching Peak Performance [ARTICLE SUMMARY]

I’m loving the early edition of this paper in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. There’s no doubt that athletes need to train hard to reach peak performance. But how hard? And how fast should that training ramp up? Thanks to Tim Gabbett for this excellent commentary. In my very humble opinion, clinicians, coaches, and athletes all need … Read More

Running form: what’s ideal? [INFOGRAPHIC]

I get a lot of questions on “how to run.” This infographic outlines general guidelines, but please note that there is no perfect method for running. Use these as general suggestions, but keep in mind that everyone’s body is different. For example, some colleges did not recruit Michael Johnson due to his unconventional sprinting form. If you don’t have an … Read More

Perfect Your Training Intensity For Your Best Results Work smarter? Or harder? Balance is key to optimal performance and decreased injury risk.

Training harder and smarter.

Which are you… The person who never stops training?  The one who tries to outwork the competition? Or the person constantly looking for a way to hack the system?  (The one taking a break from Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Body to read this post?) Which is better?  Or, from a health perspective, which increases injury risk?   Overtraining or undertraining? … Read More

Hurt or Burnt Out From Your New Fitness Regimen? How to Fix it

Getting better mentally and physically means challenging your body through your fitness routine.  However, there’s a delicate balance between how far to push and when to take a break.  At this time of year, it seems we spend lots of time beating ourselves up over poor health choices during the holidays (Skipping workouts for holiday parties?  The endless trays of Christmas … Read More

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Early Sport Specialization- Part 2

In part one of this series, I discussed the myth that single-sport athletes are more successful than multi-sport athletes.  I also examined the risks of specializing in one sport too early.   See this link if you missed it. So now the question… If specializing in a sport early is not good, then how DO we set our kids up for long-term athletic … Read More

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Early Sport Specialization- Part 1

The number of multi-sport athletes in the US is dwindling. The young athletes in our country are in a race to specialize in a sport earlier than their peers. This fits right into the American culture of “bigger, better, faster.” We want our kids to excel and we want a success quickly.  Some parents dream of their kids getting college … Read More

RESEARCH ROUNDUP: Why Proper Form matters for Strength Training and Running

This week’s pair of articles are from the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy.  The first one discusses the effect of posture on a commonly used hip strengthening exercise.  The second talks about running gait re-training which is becoming more common in rehab and prevention of running injuries.  Enjoy the new knowledge below and contact CLE Sports PT with any … Read More

Concussion Series Part 5: Do Concussions Cause Other Injuries?

I’ve been working with concussion patients for a few years now… I’ve also presented on the topic of concussions in female athletes twice nationally.  When I was prepping my first talk, I came across this article.   College athletes who suffered a non-contact ACL injury scored lower than their non-injured teammates on a test of verbal memory, processing speed, and … Read More

Concussion Series Part 4: Does Neck Strengthening Prevent Injury?

Neck strengthening programs are the Sports Medicine community’s newest weapon in combatting the concussion epidemic.  Syracuse University’s football team made news in 2012 when the program implemented a neck strengthening program in 2012, attempting to cut the number of concussions.  While many Sports Medicine Experts recommend revisions to Syracuse’s program – more on this later- it has still been considered a … Read More

Research Roundup- Baseball Edition

Could hip strengthening help you become a better pitcher?  You bet it can!  Multiple studies (here, here, or even here) including this recent one, have shown that the hip muscles are active during baseball pitching.   The study also showed the importance of the muscles around the shoulder blade (the scapular stabilizers). The pitching motion requires total body strength-  Include hip and core strengthening in … Read More