Justin G. Walls, Certified Personal Athletic Trainer

There was a blog post recently that has sparked some heated debate over the past five days since it was posted. The original blog post was trying to point out that certain types of hip and femur structures will affect the squat position of each client, basically concluding that each person will feel comfortable in one foot position may not be the same as another. Apparently, his post got around to a bunch of people, including a DC Area Crossfit Coach who had nothing nice to say about poster (including saying "When you come at the king, you best not miss" a quote from the show The Wire ). The original poster responded with a short video explaining that he was not trying to disprove mobility training, but was instead trying to enlighten trainers to some potential structural differences that may affect their client's ability to go.... ahem.... where they have never gone before. I can tell you that studies have been conducted and written about in expert textbooks. One su...

No more sore knees for sports and running The link above is for an article by Justin Price, M.A. on alleviating knee pain. Ouch! That's some serious knee pain! The first thing to understand is knee function: the knee only functions in one plane, and that would be going straight forward or straight backward. In order for the knee to move in a different direction, other joints have to give in order to change the legs direction. Those joints that assist in angling the direction of the knee are the hip and ankle joints. If the muscles around these joints are weak or overused, then inflamation can develop, reduce range of motion to protect the area, and create unnecessary load on the knee. An overloaded knee can result in recruiting tendons for support, and the tendon most likely to suffer is the ilioptobial band (ITB), which is located on the outside of the knee. The article mentions the benefit of using the BOSU balance trainer to increase the range of motion of the f...

Think about the following issues: Can you raise your arms above your head? Can you raise your arms above your head without arching your back? Can you raise your arms above your head without arching your back AND do not hear any popping, clicking, or feel a rubbing against your shoulder? Without getting too technical, it suffices to say that all of our muscles are connected together via Fascia . If one muscle is too tight or too weak, then another muscle elsewhere in the body may be tugged, stretched, or restricted in movement. Due to modern posture issues, such as constant computer and desk work, our bodies tend to roll the shoulders forward, tilt the head forward, and contract the abdomen. Constant tension in these postions creates tightness in those muscles while hyperextending many back and neck muscles. One possible solution help strengthen the back and improve posture is to hold a proper plank. Once you master holding a plank, you may also want to add some Serrratus Pu...