A few weeks ago he walked in limping after a hypertension episode, and his MRI showed cartilage defects. He could barely bear weight efficiently on that leg. His range of motion and strength were limited, and even basic single leg work was difficult. I did not shut him down. I assessed what was actually limiting him, restored joint motion, rebuilt positional strength, and progressed load in a way that respected tissue healing while still pushing performance. Everything had a purpose and was adjusted based on his response. Within a couple of weeks he went from limping and guarded to training at a high level again. Tonight he is stepping back onto the field for a professional match. I believe high level rehab is about precision, constant reassessment, and intelligent progression, and I am proud of how he committed to the process.

Just wrapped up a month working with a pro soccer player who was 10 months out from ACL surgery. He was technically “cleared,” but squatting hurt. Poliquin step ups lit up his knee. Confidence just was not there. Big thing we found? His patellar mobility was terrible. Infrapatellar fat pad, medial and lateral fat pad, suprapatellar pouch all stiff and irritated. The knee just was not gliding well. We spent time cleaning that up with targeted manual work and restoring real motion. Once the patella moved better, everything changed.Less pain. Better squats. Stronger quad loading. Way more confidence. And now he is back with the first team this weekend. He has been out for over a year, so I am fired up to see him back on the field doing what he loves. One of the best parts of this job is seeing the joy on our athletes’ faces when their bodies are no longer holding them back.

just wanted to send some updates on the stubborn hamstring injury i posted about! Assessed hip IR and hip ER: tight and restricted hip IR when compared bilaterally so did some MET exercises for hip IR and hip ADD. I did some inferior mobs on the hip with a gait belt as well, then ended with some cupping over soleus and did some active DF/PF with knee bent and I literally saw and felt the soleus/fascia release and got feedback from the athlete too! tibial ER and IR were a little tighter on her injured side as well so I will work on addressing that in rehab and next time shes in clinic. Thank you so much for the feedback and suggestions, it's easy to get tunnel vision on an injury and forget to work up/down the chain when you aren't seeing improvement :)

Had a college baseball player come and see me because he experienced some decreased VO as he was pitching. He was sitting around 83 mph before he saw me. His first outing after he saw me he hit 87. One of the biggest things we’ve been working on is increasing his thoracic extension. Here’s a five minute before, and after of our work.

When working with MTSS patients, I’ve consistently seen something interesting. If we are ELITE in 5 specific areas, symptoms drop dramatically. When these boxes are checked, the athlete can achieve a neutral foot push off and is far less likely to fall into excessive navicular drop, especially during terminal hip extension. Here are the 5: 1️⃣ Dorsiflexion: 45 degrees of neutral foot dorsiflexion in a weight bearing lunge test. 2️⃣ Tibial Internal: Rotation Greater than 30 degrees bilaterally .If the tibia cannot internally rotate, the foot will compensate. 3️⃣ Hip Rotation: (90 degrees external rotation, 45 degrees internal rotation) If the hip cannot rotate, force gets dumped distally. 4️⃣ Hip Extension: 30 degrees passive hip extension. Without it, athletes push off early and collapse medially. 5️⃣ Hallux Extension: 90 degrees of big toe extension. This allows proper arch recoil and neutral push off. When these are present, stride mechanics clean up fast. The foot can stay neutral in late stance, and we dramatically reduce stress on the deep posterior compartment musculature. MTSS is not just shin issue. It is a stride mechanics issue. Curious what standards you all are using in your assessments.