If you know of someone who would be great to interview, please do email. Or if you have an injury story or something that would benefit health and fitness professionals, please contact me.
If you are looking for an all natural pain relieving solution, then check this out!
Dr. Kevin Cuccaro helps his patients eliminate the harmful effects of daily stress and overwhelm. If you want to create a permanent ‘Relaxation Habit’ that eliminates harmful stress in your life, then check out the Overcoming Overwhelm program, here:
If you know of someone who would be great to interview, please do email. Or if you have an injury story or something that would benefit health and fitness professionals, please contact me.
If you are looking for an all natural pain relieving solution, then check this out!
Dr. Kevin Cuccaro helps his patients eliminate the harmful effects of daily stress and overwhelm. If you suffer from a constant feeling of stress and overwhelm, then check out the Overcoming Overwhelm program, here:
A few weeks back, I was in a Mastermind meeting in Las Vegas.
One of the 40 people who attended was Bayo Adio.
I have never met Bayo yet in person but he has been a fan of EFI for years. All of my writing and videos have helped him and his clients. When we finally met during the Mastermind meeting, Bayo asked me a question that he often gets from his clients. I thought the question would help you out.
2 Mistakes People Make When Trying to Fix Shin Splints
Bayo Adio: One of the questions that I get asked about a lot is shin splints especially with runners or new clients that I get.
One of my friends, Rick Kaselj, an injury expert whom I have been following for years on how to fix the shoulder pain, back pain, and knee pain. He is going to give us just a few tips on how to actually help us manage our shin splints.
Rick Kaselj: Hey, I am Rick Kaselj. I specialize in overcoming injuries and pain.
For those people who are doing boot camps or have started running, a really common injury that they get is Shin Splints.
What people often ask or think that they should be doing is they want some specific exercises for shin splints but often times there are two other things that people avoid or don’t do that are the most important things when it comes to overcoming shin splints.
A. Focus on those Shin Splints specific exercises.
B. You need to look at other things that you are doing in your life that could be making your shin splints worse.
The two things that you are most likely to do are:
Look to see if you have the right shoes or if the shoes are old. These will increase your risk and will make your shin splints worse.
Are you putting unnecessary load on your lower body throughout the rest of the day? Meaning, if I am running, all of a sudden I am putting more stress on my lower body by running. For instance, I haven’t ran for quite sometime and then all of a sudden I started to get back to running. Now throughout the day, if I spend a lot of time standing or doing a lot of lower body exercises, all of that are compounding in the lower body and leading to more pain and more likelihood of getting shin splints. Do what you can. If you are focusing on running in your boot camp or for running a race, you try to decrease how much leg work and standing that you will be doing throughout the day. That will decrease the stress on your legs and help you recover from your shin splints.
Instead of looking at the shins, look at the calves and the soleus. The shins are on the front of the lower leg. Look at your calves and soleus and make sure that you have stretched them out, you have good flexibility in them, and that you are foam rolling them out. If those muscles are good and long and they are not tight, that puts less stress on the shin splints. Oftentimes, the muscles in the shins have to work harder to overcome those tight calf and soleus muscles.
There you go. Keep doing your shin splints specific exercises but make sure to add those two other things because they will definitely help you accelerate your recovery from shin splints and also help fend off shin splints for good.
If you want more information about me, my name is Rick Kaselj. Swing by ExercisesForInjuries.com and enter in your injury or pain, there is a good chance that I have an article, a video or an interview that will help you overcome your pain.
I cover shin splints as one of the injuries but I also cover all kinds of injury topics. Give those a go and let me know how it goes down below with a comment or a question. That’s it!
In this video, I wanted to go through the Best Whole Body Filler Exercise to Do.
As you know, Filler Exercises are exercises that you can do in between your exercises or in between your sets in order to help you overcome injury, prevent injury, improve your movement, and improve your mobility.
I want to go through this quick exercise that you can do between sets. It is called the Prisoner Split Lunge.
She’s going into that typical lunge position. Her front and back legs are at 90 degrees. Bringing her arms out to the side and bringing the elbows back and really contracting that mid-back area and relaxing in the neck. And then she will go into that lunge movement, bringing the back knee just to the floor and then coming back up.
Prisoner Split Lunge (Side View)
This exercise is good because we are working on the ankle mobility, knee strength, hip range of motion and mobility. On the front leg we are working on the mobility, knee strength, hip range of motion and mobility.
Looking in the Upper Body, we are working on those stabilizers in the shoulder. We are working on good movement to relax the upper trapezius. And we are looking at stretching the front of the chest area.
Again, one step forward and one step back. Weights are even on the front foot and on the back toe. Lining up with the lunge, making sure that technique is good. Bringing the arms into it, coming down and coming back up.
Prisoner Split Lunge (Front View)
Going through it for 5 to 10 repetitions will help in loosening, strengthening, and activating the whole body.
There you go. Give that exercise a go between your exercises or sets in order to loosen up your ankles, to activate and strengthen your knees, to loosen up and strengthen your hips, and also to stretch out and activate your shoulder area.
Make sure to swing by ExercisesForInjuries.com and enter in your injury or pain. There’s a good chance I have an article, an interview, or a video that will help you overcome your injury or pain.
If you are watching this on YouTube, head up above and hit “Subscribe”. What that will do is every couple of days you will get a video like this where I talk about tips and tricks on overcoming injury or pain.
Lastly, head down below, hit like and leave me a comment or a question.
Today, I wanted to go through an Excellent Filler Exercise for the Ankle.
Filler Exercisesare quick exercises that you can do between sets or your other major exercises in order to help overcome and prevent injury, improve your mobility, and improve the movement of your body.
I am going to go through with this exercise that is excellent for the ankle. It uses a resistive band. I will get Donnalee to sit down on the floor, her one leg is straightened and the other one is bent. She’s going to grab the resistive band tubing and loop it around just above the arch of her foot. She’s pulling the tubing back and try to bend that ankle and then relaxing.
Filler Exercise for the Ankle
You might get a little bit of a light stretch in the calf area but what we are really trying to do is get that ankle moving. A lot of times with a lot of people, the ankle becomes stiff and tight just based upon on how we sleep and the kind of shoes we are wearing. We are not moving the ankle in that four ranges of motion.
With this ankle exercise, you will do 5 to 10 repetitions. We are not really looking for that stretch in the calf. We are looking at loosening up that ankle and getting more and more range of motion in that ankle as you are pulling it back and relaxing.
There you go. Give that filler exercise a go. It is something that you can slide in between your sets. Let say you are doing squat set. In between your squat set, instead of doing nothing or walking to the drinking fountain, you can lie down and work on your ankle mobility and range of motion. This will help you in improving your movement, improving your squat, overcoming injuries, and preventing injuries.
Make sure to swing by ExercisesForInjuries.com and enter in your injury and pain. There is a good chance that I have an article, an interview, or a video that will help you overcome your injury or pain.
If you are watching this on YouTube, head up above and hit subscribe. What that will do is every couple of days you will get a video like this where I give a tip or a trick in overcoming injury or pain.
Lastly, head down below and leave me a question or a comment.
Today, I wanted to go through 5 Awesome Resistive Band Exercises you can do anywhere.
A couple of weeks ago, I left snowy Kelowna. We got two feet of snow. I headed down to Miami. One thing I brought was a loop resistive band. The five exercises that I am going to go through are little routines and some exercises that I do in my hotel room.
5 AWESOME Resistive Band Exercises You Can Do ANYWHERE!
This resistive band is really easy to put in your backpack or your carry-on. It doesn’t take much room and it is really light. The only problem is sometimes when you go through security, when the TSA or whatever they are called, take this out and ask you what it is. It is an awkward experience having to explain and demonstrate some of the exercises to the security but if you are okay with that, here are a couple of exercises that you can do. I will get Donnalee to demonstrate.
#1 – Overhead Band Reverse Lunge
Donnalee is stepping on the tubing with one leg. She is going to press it overhead and then she is going to end up stepping back and going into that reverse lunge, coming back up and bringing the feet together.
Overhead Band Reverse Lunge
A regression for that if you can’t bring your arms overhead is you can have the tubing just at your shoulder height.
Tubing at Shoulder Height
Right leg is on the tubing, left leg is stepping back and then you are coming back. That is a regression you can do if you can’t do the overhead.
Shoulder Height Band Reverse Lunge
But with the overhead, it’s really great because it is challenging and activating the core a lot more which is important when it comes to preventing numerous common pains like shoulder, back, hip and knee pain. And when it comes to the reverse lunge, it puts less stress on the knee joints. If you have funky knees, or knee pain or an old knee injury, try that reverse lunge especially with that loop tubing.
#2 – Side Shuffle with Straight Arms
Donnalee is going to step on the tubing, move back to hip width apart and then she is going to bring the tubing to the front and she is going to Side Shuffle.
Side Shuffle with Straight Arms (front view)
I will get her to demonstrate from the side.
Side Shuffle with Straight Arms (side view)
You saw with Donnalee that she didn’t have her arms way overhead and she didn’t have them straight out in front of the shoulder. She had her arms a little bit below because that will put less stress on the shoulder joint.
A regression you can do if you can’t bring the arms out in front is you can bring the tubing just to shoulder height.
Side Shuffle with Arms Shoulder Height
When it comes to the side stepping, I am going about 30 to 45 degrees. I don’t need to go at 90 degrees and I am moving with one and then I am following with the other. I am trying to maintain that resistance on the tubing.
Now with the arms out in front, what it does is working those shoulder stabilizing muscles which is super important when it comes to shoulder health but then it also ends up really activating and challenging the core. If you don’t have the strength to do that, like I said, you can regress and hold the tubing at shoulder height.
#3 – Push Up with the Loop Tubing
You are going to take the loop tubing. You are going to loop it in behind your back. A big thing you want to remember is you want to have it relatively low because you don’t want to flip up and bonk you in the head which isn’t fun and it leads to the exercise stopping pretty quickly. And when it comes to where you have the tubing, you have it wrapped around your hand.
Back and Hand Positioning of the Loop Tubing
Sometimes you are going to wrap it around your thumb but it puts a lot of pressure on your thumb. But if I have it over my whole hand that is going to be easier, I will have a better grip and it puts less stress on the fingers and the hands.
You go into a push up position. You can go from the toes but with Donna we are going to regress her. She is going to go from the knees. We get her to go from the knees and tight through her abdominal area, good alignment, and going into that push up movement and back.
Push Up with the Loop Tubing
With this one, what happens is it gets easier on the way down and then on the way up it starts to get a lot more challenging as the tubing is increasing in resistance.
That is a great exercise to do. It challenges the push up movement and the end of the push up movement. A lot of times a lot of people bring in the chest down to the floor which is the most challenging and straightening out is being easier but with that resistive loop tubing it makes it more challenging.
#4 – Squat into a Press
Donnalee is going to step on the tubing, get into that squatting position.It might be a little bit wider than hip width apart, toes are often times pointed out a little bit. She puts the tubing up into that shoulder position almost like a rack position and then going into the squat and then she is going to come out of the squat and press overhead.
Squat into a Press (front view)
I will get Donnalee to face this way and we will look at it from the side. Squatting down and pressing up.
Squat into a Press (side view)
A regression if you can’t do the press movement is just leave it in this front rack position and then you are going into that squatting movement.
Squat into a Press (front rack position)
I like pressing overhead because it is really those shoulders and those stabilizing muscles in the shoulders which is really important and also overhead work really challenges the core.
#5 – Cross Band Bent Over Row
Donnalee is going to step on the tubing and then we are moving little bit further than hip width apart. She is going to cross over with the tubing. And then she is going to pull back and drive up with those elbows and really work that mid back.
Cross Band Bent Over Row (front view)
I will get her to shuffle from the side. She is bending through the hip, everything else is straight, grabbing across the tubing. Head is in good alignment and then driving those elbows up and relaxing.
Cross Band Bent Over Row (side view)
With this you are bending through the hips to whatever level that you can. The deeper that you can bend through the hips without losing your low back curve, the better. The better it is when you can isolate that mid back area. But if you only come down a little ways and go through with this, it still going to be beneficial. You just need to be cautious of overworking those upper trapezius muscles.
Those are the 5 Awesome Resistive Band Exercises that you can do anywhere. Next time you go traveling, throw a resistive band into your carry-on or into your luggage and bring it with you and go through these five exercises. When it comes to sets and reps, I would start off with 5 repetitions to get the movement down and to train your body on how to do the movement correctly then you can progress to 10 repetitions or even to a certain amount of time, twenty seconds or thirty seconds or a number of repetitions that you do during that time. You can go through things once or you can go through things a couple of times, two or three times. If you go through things two or three times and going through ten repetitions each, you will have a really good workout that you can pretty much do anywhere.
Now if you are looking for a program to help you overcome your back pain, then check out Fix My Back Pain, here:
I wanted to go through a great exercise that you can do in order to strengthen up your knees.
If you have difficulty or it is painful to go through squatting movements, here is an excellent loop tubing exercise that you can do that will strengthen your knee and will put a lot less pressure on your knee compared to squatting. It’s called the Tubing Reverse Lunge.
I am going to get Donnalee to step on the tubing with her right leg. She is going to bring the tubing up and just start off with the tubing in the front rack position. She is going to step back and then bring the knee down. She is going into a lunge position and then coming back up and back to the start.
Tubing Full Reverse Lunge
For progression, you can add an overhead press.
Overhead Press
Level one would be from that front rack position, holding it and then stepping back into that lunge and coming back up.
Now if you can’t get into that deep lunge, you could do a half reverse lunge. You need to step back and you are just going to go half way, and then coming back up and stepping forward.
Tubing Half Reverse Lunge
A progression that you can do is have the tubing overhead. You can step back and go into that full lunge.
Tubing Full Reverse Lunge with Overhead Press
You can go into that half lunge position and have the tubing overhead, back up and stepping up.
Tubing Half Reverse Lunge with Overhead Press
The overhead really works those shoulder blade muscles which is really important and also challenges the core. The stronger you have your core, the better you will be able to recover when it comes to knee pain. Also, it will be better to prevent knee pain if you have a great core.
There you go. If you are having difficulty squatting, give that loop tubing reverse lunge a go and you can pick whatever progression you want. You can do a full reverse lunge, a half reverse lunge or you can add that overhead reverse lunge, full lunge or half lunge.
If you are looking for a program to help you overcome knee pain, then check out Fix My Knee Pain…
With most chest stretch, people do not stretch pec minor enough.
To target pec minor which when tight, pulls that shoulder out of good alignment and puts the shoulder at greater risk of injury.
What you need to do is to add a “twist”.
In the photo below, I got Dan doing a 90-90 chest stretch. He gets into the traditional chest stretch position, then I am getting him to twist his upper body away from the shoulder that he is stretching.
Bang! Now you have hit pec minor and you will get way more benefit from your chest stretch.
Give it a go, now!
If you, a friend, family member or colleague have shoulder pain, then I would recommend to check out Fix My Shoulder Pain, here:
