Relationships: The Foundation of Sports Medicine

Last August Paul LaDuke, an Athletic Trainer and a colleague of mine from Pennsylvania, posted on his blog about the importance of relationships in athletic training. I always knew that was important, but I never truly realized it until recently. As a young professional, I am always trying to improve my professional life from many standpoints. One consideration was going back to graduate school and becoming a graduate assistant athletic trainer. I had a couple of offers and opportunities that would have put me into Division I athletics which would have been awesome. But for a variety of reasons, I have elected not to do so and as I was trying to make my decision that word kept coming back to me: Relationships.

See more at: http://www.bocatc.org/blog/athletic-trainer-certification/relationships/

Exercise of the Week: Ankle Prehab

This week’sExercise of the Weekcomes from Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego. We’re going to work on strengthening the ankles and work on the foundation for our workouts…

Check out her blog at http://injuryfreefemaleathletes.wordpress.com/

Quote of the Week: Move Well

This week’s quote of the week comes from Gray Cook’s book, Movement. I have been reading this book for a few weeks now and still have a pretty good length to go in it. This book is a difficult read, but it has really made me think! Anyway, enough about the book (that’ll come later)…

“First move well; then move often.” –Gray Cook

Youth Athletes Dealing with Sports Injuries

I found this video on YouTube and although it’s a couple of years old, I think it is important for us to be thinking about and understand. ACL injuries in female athletes have a large presence in high school and youth sports. Check out this video…

Check out this excellent post by Mike Boyle on his Strength Coach Blog! It just makes sense…

Michael Boyle's Strengthcoach.com Blog

Recently I wrote a fairly well received article I titled There is a Reason There is a Box. The premise of the article was that “out of the box” thinking is running out of control and that we need to make sure that we are “masters of the box” before we begin to think outside the box.

A recent conversation with my friend Dan Dyrek DPT added yet another thought to the process. As we discussed the premise of the previously mentioned article Dan said “what if your box is too small”.  I realized that this was a brilliant slant that I had missed. I have often criticized the one tool wonders. These are people who have a very small toolbox yet think they can cure every ill with their one tool. Imagine a handyman with nothing but a hammer in his small toolbox. The visual quickly brings us…

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Mike Matheny Letter to Parents

Mike Matheny is the new manager for the St. Louis Cardinals. Matheny played for the Cardinals as well as other teams in his playing career. I have always been a big fan of his in his Cardinal playing days and he is off to a fantastic start as the Cardinals manager. Previous to him becoming the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Matheny coached his son’s youth team. This is a letter he wrote to the parents of the players on the team before one season…

I always said that the only team that I would coach would be a team of orphans, and now here we are. The reason for me saying this is that I have found the biggest problem with youth sports has been the parents. I think that it is best to nip this in the bud right off the bat. I think the concept that I am asking all of you to grab is that this experience is ALL about the boys. If there is anything about it that includes you, we need to make a change of plans. My main goals are as follows:

Exercise of the Week: Kettlebell Snatch

This week we’ll bring back the kettlebell with thisexercise of the week. Here’s a short instructional video on the kettlebell snatch. Enjoy!

Quote of the Week: Bill Cosby

A word to the wise ain’t necessary – it’s the stupid ones that need the advice.—Bill Cosby

A New Chapter in my Life.. Sort of

The NATA says that over 70% of all athletic trainers have a masters degree or higher. Since a bachelor’s degree is all that is required to become a certified athletic trainer and practice as an athletic trainer, I think it bodes well for the profession when so many professionals have decided to continue their education and achieve advanced degrees. Those degrees could range anywhere from masters degrees in physical education to administration to degrees in physical therapy or physician assistant studies. Regardless, it is increased education and the profession is better for it.

Exercise of the Week: TRX Letters

This week’s Exercise of the Week is bringing back the TRX Suspension Trainer. This series of exercises are for the arms and more particularly geared toward the rotator cuff. They are commonly performed using Theraband or light dumbbells, but this is another way of doing them!