Podcast Interview with Dr. Josh Eldridge from Gymnast Care

A few weeks ago I got asked to do a podcast interview for Gymnast Care with Dr. Josh Eldridge, and I’m really excited to share that it got released today through his website. I have been talking a lot with Josh in the last few months for how to help gymnasts reduce injuries and perform at their best. We talk about tons of good stuff including my background and why I started my blog, what the pre-hab model is about, how PT can help gymnasts, some common gymnastics problems/injuries, how coaches can use the info from my blog in their gyms, and much more. I’m really thankful and grateful for the opportunity from Gymnast Care, use this link to find the podcast:

http://gymnastcare.com/session7

Gymnastics Application of The Joint by Joint Approach (Pt 1): Concepts and Skill Examples

The “Joint by Joint Approach” is a concept created by Gray Cook, and it has been pretty popular in the medical/rehabilitation world for some time now. Many Physical Therapists, Athletic Trainers, and Strength and Conditioning coaches use this concept when working with patients, clients, and athletes.  Although I try to learn and pull from many different schools of thought, I personally am a big fan of Gray Cook’s ideas. In the last 6 months have been using it quite a bit to look into and break down common problems/injuries that gymnasts deal with. Side note I have to mention that inspiration for this post came from Dan Pope’s website which you can find in the references below, his article give’s a great breakdown of this concept.

The Joint by Joint Approach is certainly not a brand new concept, but applying it to gymnastics is on the newer end. I’m sure other people have published on tying these concepts together for the gymnastics benefits. It is not the only approach out there, and as with many ideas it works best when combined when all the other information available. However, I can say that it has really helped me to break down problems when I work with gymnasts (and all other types of people).  I have gotten some good results for complaints of pain, nagging overuse injuries, and increasing gymnasts skill performance from using this model as a framework. For this post I wanted to start by explaining this concept in a very basic way so coaches and gymnast can understand, and then I wanted to give some direct examples of how it applies to gymnastics. I think that it is really something all gymnasts and coaches can benefit from to better understand how to trouble shoot gymnastics skill problems, understand common injuries/pain, and help optimize performance.

The Joint by Joint Approach

Creating An Integrated Gymnastics Pre-Hab/Injury Management Model For Your Gym – What It Is, and Why It’s Important

This blog has been up and running for about 4 months now, and I must say that I have been amazed about what has come with it. I really feel lucky to be in the position I am, being able to work in both the gymnastics/coaching world and the Physical Therapy world every day. The biggest part I have enjoyed is that it has been the perfect avenue to promote learning for members of the sport and myself. By using the literature available, new concepts, and other people, I try to brainstorm on how we can take all the great information out there and put it into motion for gymnasts and coaches to use in their every day training routines.

In the last two weeks, I’ve had 3 gymnasts I coached in the past contact me to say they had major injuries (torn ACL, torn meniscus, torn Achilles), and that it is costing them their season this year as it has just begun . I have also had a handful gymnasts also tell me with season in full swing (no pun intended) they are pushing through ongoing or recurrent overuse injuries that always seem to come back despite resting/modifying practice. These ranged from ankle sprains, to lower back pain, to shoulder pain, to wrist pain, and so on. It made me really step back and think there has to be a way to get more gyms to practice preventative measures in their every day practices in an attempt to stay ahead/properly of these problems.

Tackling Faulty Lower Spine and Hip Posture In Gymnasts (Pt II): How To Address The Possible Contributing Issues

Last week in Part I of this topic, I went over some contributing factors to gymnasts developing chronic archy back, or anterior pelvic tilting. I also outlined how this may link to possible progressive/traumatic injuries,  and decreased skill performance with gymnastics based skills.  If the issue gets to the point where it causes an injury or pain, it is often times very frustrating for the gymnast. The then have to deal with the pain during daily activities, and they usually need to stop gymnastics while using PT to address the underlying issues. Patients of mine that are gymnasts with this issue unfortunately have progressed to the point they are in this situation, and are being forced to deal with the recovery aspect while missing their season. It is much better to address the issue very early during training in the gym, and hopefully prevent it before it gets to be too serious.

Improper Half Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch – Note Anterior Pelvic Tilt and Compensatory Use of Lower Back Arch

There are definitely some ways that coaches and gymnasts can help to correct for this faulty lower body posture commonly seen. By far the biggest factor in this is being cognitively aware of it, and making sure athletes are actively trying to correct the problem during training. If the gymnast does not try to fix the problem when doing drills/skill, standing in line for turns, sitting in school, and through their daily activities, it will be very hard to fix the overall problem. All the stretches, myofascial work, and corrective exercises won’t get you anywhere if the athlete spends 12 hours a day hanging out in the arch back position.

Tackling Faulty Lower Spine and Hip Posture in Gymnasts (Part I): Links To Injury and Possible Contributing Factors

 The very first post I ever put up on this blog was about hip flexor mobility restrictions, and it had some information related to improper posture in gymnasts. It concerned how a lack of hip flexor mobility can contribute to both decreased skill performance, and possibly some injuries. Although that is definitely one contributing factor for the typical lower back posture many athletes assume, there is a lot more to it that coaches and athletes can learn about. Due to it being so common with gymnasts, many members of the sport view it a natural part of doing gymnastics. However, it is not something that should just brushed over. I hope to educate readers about the possible reasons behind this lower spine/pelvis/hip posture, describe why it can be problematic for gymnasts, and discuss how to deal with some of the issues. During this weeks post I will break down some possible contributing factors gymnasts may have, and why it might lead to some not so fun situations related to skill performance/injuries.  Here’s a common picture we probably all see, gymnasts waiting for turns hanging out in this type of archy posture. I happened to catch one of our girls in the background of a photo. 

Example of Resting “arch back” Gymnastics Posture

This type of posture can be linked to a few big issues like:

• Increased lower back stress during backward bending skills, and contributions to possible hyper mobility of the lower spine. This can lead to various sprains/strains of the spine, and possible slippage of the vertebrae if it becomes a habit.
• Decreased performance for bridge based skills (tumbling, bar releases, yerchankos) as well as for leaps, dance, and jumps requiring hip extension
• Increased risk of forceful back extension with landings, dismounts, and bounding or “jamming” the back (opening early in front skills, or 1 1/2 punch on floor for example). Which I can tell you from experience, feels just awful.
• Faulty dismounting and landing mechanics, which can then be linked to multiple other spine and lower leg problems
• Builds a base of faulty movement patterns for gymnastics skills and development, which gives coaches and gymnasts a major headache down the road when athletes struggle to undue the habits.