[P]rehab author
Michael was born and raised in Northern California but now currently resides in Sunny SoCal ever since attending the University of California, Los Angeles as an undergraduate…
Michael was born and raised in Northern California but now currently resides in Sunny SoCal ever since attending the University of California, Los Angeles as an undergraduate majoring in physiology. After his undergraduate studies, he received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from cross-town rival the University of Southern California. As a licensed physical therapist with a strong background in strength and conditioning, Michael likes to blend the realms of strength training and rehabilitation to provide prehab, or preventative rehabilitation, to his patients. A common human behavior is to address problems after they become an issue and far often too late, which is a reactionary approach. He believes the key to improved health care is education and awareness. This proactive approach-prehab-can reduce the risk of injuries and pain in the first place. He is a huge proponent of movement education and pain science. Clinically, he has a special interest in ACLR rehab and return to sport for the lower extremity athlete.
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44 articles
Plantar fasciitis is one of the most nagging and limiting orthopedic pathologies in the foot. It's estimated that nearly 2 million Americans experience plantar fasciitis each year and it is the most common condition of the foot in runners. Plantar fasciitis can be defined as…
Step up and step down exercise variations are amazingly simple, yet truly effective in lower extremity rehab. Step-ups will always be a staple drill in rehabilitation and strength and conditioning programs. Considering the unilateral, weight-bearing nature of the step-up, it…
Posterior pelvic tilt, squats, and butt winks - you've got questions and we got answers. This is an awesome topic we are pumped to help you all understand! Everyone has a slightly different boney anatomy, thus we're going to look a bit differently when we move. Whether it’s a…
Before we dive into the best plank exercises, we must first set straight what the core is and why core stability is so vital for our movement system’s health and longevity. The core, from a muscular standpoint, is so much more than just a 6-pack of washboard abs. It essentially…
The landmine has got to be one of the most underutilized, but highly effective pieces of equipment for adding a challenge and variation to your core movements (push, pull, hip hinge, etc). Even if you don't have a landmine available, you can use a corner of your gym (please use…
Muscle activation exercises prior to training, playing sports, and working out is absolutely essential. Oftentimes, we see individuals who become injured because they do not warm up nor cool down properly with exercise. We get it, we know it can be challenging at times to…
Hip strengthening should be stable in any rehabilitation or strength and conditioning program. The hip musculature is capable of generating large amounts of torque used for explosive athletic movements. Additionally, the hips are the key to trunk and core stability, and therefore…
The stork exercise (also referred to as the captain morgan exercise), is one of our all-time favorites for gluteus medius activation and neural priming prior to exercise. Not only is it already in a functional weight-bearing position, but you can ramp up as much activation as you…
Hamstring injuries are among the most common non-contact injuries in sports. It is important to train hamstring muscles optimally in order to prevent these injuries from occurring. In this article, we're going to show you how to strengthen your hamstrings, by covering our…
The neck is an area that often gets neglected in regards to exercise, and therefore is not our strongest asset! Having weakness and poor recruitment of the deep neck muscles has been correlated with increased pain and disability in our population. In this article, we demonstrate…
Recently you’ve begun to feel numbness, tingling, and occasional burning pain in your hand and your co-worker proclaims, “Oh no, you have carpal tunnel syndrome!” If that indeed is true, don’t feel like you’ve been struck with a bit of bad luck, as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is…
The split stance position is hands down one of the most underutilized positions when it comes to leg day workouts and lower extremity rehab. The split stance position can and should be utilized as a transitionary stance between the double leg and single leg positions. Double leg…
Take your home workouts to the next level with bodyweight chair exercises! Similar to a bench in a traditional gym, you can use a chair in a variety of different ways to get an absolutely killer bodyweight chair workout. Whether it's your arm, elbow, knee, or feet on the chair,…
The perfect working desk posture is something that every worker in the world is trying to obtain. But what is it, exactly? Is it the classic seated position with hips, knees, and elbows all bent to a perfect 90 degrees? Or is it converting your desk to a standing workstation,…
Do you have a headache after a whiplash injury? Do you experience pain that seems to start in the neck and then spread to one side of your head or arm? Does moving your head seem to start your headache or exacerbate your pain when you have a headache? If you answered yes to any…
Dead bug exercise variations are one of our absolute favorite exercises when done properly with advanced progressions, they can be a core killer!! Learning to activate your deep spinal stabilizers like the transversus abdominis in these positions is a stepping stone for…
Lunges are one of the most commonly performed exercises in rehab and general fitness alike - and for good reason. You are able to target different muscle groups or movement patterns just simply by changing up lunge directions from forward, to backward, to sideways, or even into a…
The bridge is probably the single most prescribed exercise by physios...it seems that the bridge exercise is ubiquitous with physical therapy and rehab. As you may be suspecting, we think this is a pretty bad thing! Yes - the bridge is in fact a decent exercise that can help…
Have you been trying to get into the position for a particular lift, and it just doesn't feel right? Particularly in this article, we will be addressing the most commonly overlooked front rack mobility constraints and more importantly, the best ways to fix them. Yes, thoracic…
Quadriceps inhibition or the inability to feel/activate your quadriceps after knee injuries or major knee surgeries like ACL reconstruction can be very frustrating early on in the rehabilitation process. How is it possible that you can't squeeze your quad?! Luckily for you, we'll…
Medial knee collapse, also known as knee valgus, is when the knee collapses or falls inward during any sort of weight-bearing activity, like a squat, during gait, or during sport-specific movements like cutting. Knee valgus is characterized by hip adduction and hip internal…
Regaining full terminal knee extension is paramount following any knee surgery. The ability to fully extend the knee equal to the other side is usually one of the most important early goals in knee rehab. While there are a ton of knee extension exercises you can do, the most…
Turf toe injuries many times are left improperly managed and can lead to chronic pain, reduced push-off strength, and eventually joint deformity if left untreated. Turf toe describes an injury to the bottom surface of the big toe joint, known as the plantar…
How many times have you heard from your trainer, physio, or coach to not let your knees go over your toes?! One too many times I would say! The recommendation to never let your knees go over your toes is rooted in misinformation and unjustly injects fear into a very normal and…
After surgery, understanding how to improve knee flexion is absolutely critical. While we’ve discussed the importance of regaining knee extension extensively, restoring knee flexion is a close runner-up for your rehab goals after surgery. Restoring knee flexion is often not…
Check out this Q&A with world renown ACLr physio Mick Hughes talking about common ACL rehab questions. In this article, you'll find a video with almost an hour of content answering common questions regarding ACL reconstruction rehab, reviewing the evidence surrounding ACLr, and…
Just sprained your ankle? You're not alone. Ankle sprains are the most common lower-body injury in all of the sports, so if you're one of the few that has never experienced an ankle sprain until now, consider yourself lucky! While they can initially be very painful and limiting,…
Slings (also referred to as chains and/or loops) are a functional component of the musculoskeletal system. If we think of our torso as a core cylinder, there are multiple slings that wrap around the cylinder in different orientations. The cylinder depends on strength and balance…
Getting your body ready for the activity you are about to perform is of utmost importance. If you go into an activity "cold", typically performance goes down and injury risk goes up! Looking for the absolute best dynamic warmup before your workout? Look no further! In this…
Deadlift variations are simply loaded hip hinge patterns, which is an essential movement pattern to master. There are many benefits to deadlifting, which include improving core stability, improving the strength of the lower extremities, improving the strength of the lower back,…
Injuries are unavoidable. $HiT happens! Whether it's your knee, ankle, or hip, you need to follow a systematic return to a running protocol to ensure that you've built up the adequate strength to run. Getting back to running after an injury without a plan is like running a…
Banded side steps….ooooh so fancy and sexy! But really, there is an over-obsession with the banded side step exercise in the fitness community, yet most don't really need to do this exercise if they are already healthy and strong as the maximum voluntary isometric contraction…
Cervical radiculopathy is defined as cervical nerve root compression. Many times, what causes this so-called compression is things like herniated disc material or arthritic bone spurs. It's essentially the "sciatica" of the upper extremity. Common symptoms include neck and…
Stretching after a workout is very common in recovery programs. 'Tight' muscles that are not properly managed could lead to potential muscle imbalances, abnormal movement patterns and compensatory strategies, and even muscle spasms. The hamstrings are responsible for specific…
The deadlift is one of the best exercises for both the power and strength athlete as well as the recovering patient in rehab. Not only can the lift be progressively overloaded for a proper training/rehab stimulus, but most importantly, it gives individuals the confidence that…
The latissimus dorsi, or the lats for short, play a huge role in shoulder function and health. Oftentimes, these muscles become tight and stiff after injury, surgery, immobilization, a lack of stretching, or repetitive lat overuse/overdevelopment! Because they act to extend and…
The single leg Romanian deadlift is a whole body, complete, functional exercise that can be used for rehabilitation, as well as strength and conditioning purposes alike. You get phenomenal posterior chain recruitment while working on single leg stability, which is absolutely…
Plyometrics exercises should be an integral part of any lower extremity rehab or injury prevention program to increase power development and teach proper absorption movement mechanics. In the rehab realm, you could argue that it's even more important to learn how to absorb forces…
Dealing with low back tightness? You're not alone, did you know that low back issues are the most common musculoskeletal complaint and one of the top reasons for time lost at work? However, don't be too alarmed, another way to look at it is low back pain and tightness is like the…
Being stuck in a boot or cast after an injury or surgery is no excuse to not move. It is actually quite the opposite, now is the time to take extra care of the rest of your body! While it is imperative to protect the integrity of the injury/surgical site and allow for proper…
Got shoulder pain? A tight posterior cuff is associated with a handful of shoulder dysfunctions like subacromial impingement syndrome, posterior impingement, anterior instability, etc. And thus, increasing posterior shoulder mobility is part of the treatment protocol for many…
You just had a BAD ankle sprain. It's black and blue. It hurts like hell. How do you know that it's ONLY an ankle sprain, and not anything worse like a FRACTURE?! Well lucky for you, there's a quick and easy test you can do NOW to screen if you need an x-ray after an ankle…
Mike had the unique opportunity to spend 4 months treating in China. Sadly, the people there have an extremely low level of education and understanding of their health. Every day in the clinic, we battled not just construed cultural enigmas, "my back hurts because of the cold…
There is a huge misconception in the fitness and rehab worlds about 'bad' exercises. Far too often, we label exercises as a good exercise or bad exercise for all athletes, however, these types of blanket statements without any context or exceptions can cause more harm than good.…
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