Win a Copy of my Knee Injury Solution Program:

This is coming out next week.

You can win a copy of the program, right now.

This is what is included in the Knee Injury Solution Program:

• 9 exercises that you can do to prevent knee pain
• A quick 10 minute workout that you can do anywhere to make your knees stronger
• The exercises to do after knee surgery to increase range of motion and decrease pain
• Exercises to do in order to make walking easier and pain-free
• A guide for those that have knee pain due to an ACL injury to read and have a better understanding of their injury

This is what you have to do in order to be eligible to win a copy of the Knee Injury Solution Program:

1. Go to the comment area and answer this question: “How will having a go-to exercise program for knee injuries help yourself or your knee injury clients?”

It’s that simple.

I will be reading all the comments over the next few day and will pick the winner Monday evening.

Now scroll down and leave a comment.

Rick Kaselj

I forgot to post this:

Moving on to part 6 of the ACL Injury series.

ACL Exercises (Part 6)

An injury involving the anterior cruciate ligament is a serious matter. The ACL is not adequately supplied by blood, which contains oxygen and the nutrients needed for tissue repair and healing. For this, an injury involving the ACL may take some time to heal, if at all. Over time, this can severely limit your physical activities, mobility, and independence. For severe tears, it may take 6 to 12 months (or longer) to restore knee function. Re-injury is also frequent once your ACL has been torn,  resulting in degeneration of the knee joint.

In complete ACL tears, a surgical procedure is the most likely recommendation to avoid further injury and re-injuries and to restore stability. Although the results of an ACL reconstruction are promising, the cost is financially damaging. In the United States, a reconstruction costs between $20,000 and $50,000.  An additional $3,000 is required for rehabilitation and follow up rehabilitation visits.

A neuromuscular training program is the best and most inexpensive way to prevent the occurrence and recurrence of ACL injuries. This training program consists of specialized balancing, stretching and strengthening exercises of the knee’s dynamic stabilizers, agility drills and plyometrics. These activities aim to improve knee stability on jumping, landing and pivoting. This program retrains you to use and move your body correctly, specifically the muscles and tendons surrounding the knee.

Neuromusclar training exercises are usually completed within 15 minutes. It is recommended that these exercises be included in your regular exercise regimen 2 to 3 times per week.

Warm Up Exercises

Read the rest of this entry »

There is a lot more awareness when it comes to muscle imbalances.

The incredible success of Muscle Imbalances Revealed 2.0 has really taken the industry by storm.

Trainers, coaches, and therapists from around the world have been using it to help their clients overcome injuries, bust through fitness plateaus, and prevent injuries.

It has been amazing to see how this little product has helped thousands of fitness & health professionals, which in return has helped hundreds of thousands of people.

Sad to say, the battle continues.

We need to do more to better understand, assess, and prescribe exercises to eliminate muscle imbalances.

In 2011, there will be more and more emphasis on muscle imbalances.

Muscle Imbalance is my #8 Exercise Rehabilitation Prediction for 2011

 
In fact, I just got approached by an Australian outdoor magazine to write an article on muscle imbalances and how it can affect the outdoor athlete.  Very cool.  I will let you know how it goes.

With the media starting to focus on it, so has the research.

Muscle Imbalances in the Research

Read the rest of this entry »

I know these days we all get lost surfing the internet.

A site I visit, and visit to often, is Pub Med.

Pub Med is a site that is full of the latest and oldest research.  I always go to take a look at what is new when it comes to exercise and injuries.

I know, kind of strange.

One injury I have been seeing more of is tendinosis.

Just last week I got an email from a fitness professional that does group fitness classes that has had 5 months worth of Achilles tendinitis issues from all the step classes she has been doing.  My guess, it is Achilles tendinosis.

So, I will call the increase in tendinosis as Prediction #7 in Exercise Rehabilitation 2011.

Tendinitis versus Tendinosis

The first step is to define what tendinitis is and tendinosis is.

Better yet, I found a table that describes it much better than I could.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nine months of planning and preparation has arrived, and the Mike Robertson’s Bulletproofing Your Client’s Knees and Lower Back seminar is here.

It is so cool to be able to bring the best from around the world to the trainers, coaches, and therapists around Vancouver.

He had a great course planned with a big thick manual of what we were going to go through.

From the start of the course, he started delivering.

He started the day asking:

“What are the Top 10 Questions You Want Answered this Weekend?”

This is the list the group came up with:

• What to do about PFPS (Patella Femoral Pain Syndrome)?
• How to assess function movements?
• What to do about a posterior tilt?
• What are the best exercises for a disc herniation?
• How do you do core regressions?
• What can you do about SI (Sacroiliac) joint issues?
• When should you do rotation exercises?
• Keys to proper squatting.
• What are the key relationships between the knee and hip?
• How do you increase (gluteus maximus) function?

What trainer, coach, and therapist does not want to have one or more of these questions answered by one of the best?

So cool.

I am so excited for the weekend.

I am ready to learn and so is the small group of people, ranging from medical doctors to group fitness instructors, that have come from around the world to be here.

Having your questions answered from the best in the world in an intensive weekend seminar/course is so great.

I love bringing the best to Vancouver and can’t wait to bring more of them, like Justin Price.

I will have some more information on what I learned and some video clips from the course.

Here is a quick clip from today:

Rick Kaselj, MS

I took a break from research reviews.  Well not a review, kind of a filtering down to help you, compared to a full-blown research analysis.

During the break I was getting feedback from you on what you want to see.

I have heard you loud and clear on the things that you want to see when it comes to injuries – elbow injuries, ankle injuries, shin splints, iliotibial band syndrome, tensor fascia latae issues, acute injury recovery tips, chronic pain injury tips, and dealing with pain at the back of the knee when walking.  I will be working on this throughout 2011.

Let me clear out a few of the papers that I have put to the side and still need to look at.  Now let’s get to the article.

What They Looked At

They looked at 10 anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury videos from women during handball and basketball in order to determine what biomechanical factors lead to the ACL injury.

Here is an example of the injury that they looked at:

What they did for the video analysis was very cool in the article.

Cool Points

Few cool things that they said in the introduction:

• Noncontact ACL injuries in women occurring during cutting or one leg landing movements.

What They Found

• At initial contact there was a valgus movement (knee going in).
• The tibia rotated internally and then externally.
• ACL injury occurred at about 40 milliseconds mark after initial contact.
• The mechanism of injury was the valgus movement of the knee with the tibia rotated internally, and then after the tear, the tibia externally rotating.
• The valgus and internal rotation movements contributed to the ACL injury.

A few other things that are not in the abstract:

• 6 injured left knee and 4 right.
• ACL injury occurred during the game and were handling the ball.
• There was a rapid valgus movement of 12 degrees.
• There was a low flexion angle and injury.

Here is a great visual from the paper that I thought was great on how they feel a noncontact ACL injury occurs:

Take Home Message

Focus of a Prevention Program - Prevention programs should focus on good cutting and landing technique with knee flexed and without valgus loading of the knee.

More than Lines and Side Shuffle - I remember when I played basketball.  All we would do for prevention were lines, side shuffles, and drills.  This does not cut it anymore.  More needs to be done with landing and preparing the knee in all planes of movement.  This can easily be done with an 8 minute program that focuses on neuromuscular re-education of the knee.  This can be done before a game or as a drill during practice.

Where to get more info – Koga H, Nakamae A, Shima Y, Iwasa J, Myklebust G, Engebretsen L, Bahr R, Krosshaug T. (2010). Mechanisms for noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injuries: knee joint kinematics in 10 injury situations from female team handball and basketball. Am J Sports Med. 2010 Nov;38(11):2218-25. Epub 2010 Jul 1.

I go through my knee injury rehabilitation exercises here:

If you are looking for other ACL articles to read, I have a stack of them:

Thank you so much for reading.  Let me know if you have any questions or what you think in the comment box below.

Rick Kaselj, MS

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In March of this year I was in Indianapolis.

I was there to live one of my dreams, which was to go to the NCAA March Madness Final Four Basketball Tournament.

It was an amazing experience.

Yes, it was Madness.

While I was out there, I met up with Mike Robertson.

While we were chatting about things, we did a quick video answering a question that I got from a blog reader about knee pain.

Have a look and listen to what Mike had to say:

(REMINDER – The Bulletproofing Your Client’s Knees & Lower Back Course increases by $100 this Wednesday.  So if you want to go, save $100, learn great practical stuff, and get your CECS, CLICK HERE)

What to do About Knee Pain Due to a Sloppy Knee?

Read the rest of this entry »

I like when I get to go to conferences, seminars, and courses.  I learn a bunch of new stuff, and am reminded of stuff that I forgot – plus I get to meet other trainers, coaches, and therapists.

The cool thing I have seen of late is health and fitness professionals specializing more.

As you know, my specialization is effective exercises for injuries.

One person I ran into that specializes is  Rochelle Gravance.

I have interviewed Rochelle before.  CLICK HERE to view the other video I had done with her on knee pain.

You Need More Than Exercises to Overcome Knee Pain

Read the rest of this entry »

After sending out the update on Muscle Imbalances Revealed 2.0, one of the contributors of MIR, Dean Somerset, sent me a great guest blog post for you.

Muscle Imbalances Part 2: The Long and Short of It

The 3 Hams

What is the solution?

Today I have a guest blog post for you.

To Barefoot Run?

I’ve been asked lately what I thought about barefoot running and found myself unable to answer. While I have read that everyone should run barefoot because it reduces injury risk and forces a more natural running stride, I also read that barefoot running wasn’t for everyone.  Apparently, because of the barefoot running craze, physical therapists were still busy with running injuries…not from those wearing supportive shoes, but those who thought they could run mile after mile barefoot!

Read the rest of this entry »

I was digging in my YouTube channel and came across this video.

I don’t think you have seen it.

I know you will find it interesting information and get you thinking about lower back pain & the leg press machine.

Does the Leg Press Machine Cause Lower Back Pain?

Read the rest of this entry »

I was happy to find this research.

I know, I try to do these research blog posts once a week.  I like them and I learn a lot.  I hope you do as well.

I know, it ends up being once every two weeks.

Here we go.

What Increases Your Risk of Another ACL Injury?

I was in Las Vegas presenting at a fitness Mastermind.

One of the people down there was Alex Maroko.

I have known of Alex for some time.

A few weeks back I read a blog post he wrote about “Why should you be strengthening your hip flexors?”

It goes against my thinking, but I am always learning and open to new ideas.

We got to chatting about it and he explained his reason why.

I thought his reply was so good that I recorded it for you.  Have a look:

Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I looked at new patellofemoral pain syndrome research.

Today I wanted to go through an effective exercise program for patellofemoral pain syndrome or runner’s knee.

Lets look at a research backed exercise program for runner’s knee.

What is an Effective Exercise Program for Runner’s Knee?

What They Looked At

The looked to see if a supervised exercise program helped with respect to recovery, pain, and function in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome.

The Exercise Program They Did

People with PFPS were given a standardized exercise program for 6 weeks that was modified to the individual and was supervised by a physical therapist.  They visited the physical therapist nine times in 6 weeks. In addition, they were instructed to practice the exercises daily for 25 minutes over a period of 3 months.

Read the rest of this entry »

It is research day.

I like research day.

This week I looked at what is new in Journal of Orthopaedic Sports Physical Therapy and International Journal for the Spine.

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome and the Hip

What they Looked at

It is thought that the hip during weight-bearing activities contributes to patellofemoral pain syndrome.

They looked at knee and hip motion during stair stepping (ascending and descengin) in female athletes with and without PFPS.

What they Found

What they found was females with PFPS descend stairs with the knee in a more flexed position and have the hip in a more adducted and internally rotated position at foot contact during stair stepping at a comfortable speed.

Take Home Message

The take home message is for those with PFPS, their gluteus medius is not working and needs to be addressed.  I go into this in detail in the Core Stability of the Hip program.

Where to get more details – McKenzie K, Galea V, Wessel J, Pierrynowski M. (2010). Lower extremity kinematics of females with patellofemoral pain syndrome while stair stepping. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2010 Oct;40(10):625-32.
Read the rest of this entry »

Today I got a great video for you.

7 Exercises to Help You Improve Your Squat

I had a few emails from people asking for videos of ACL surgery.

I spent some time on YouTube and picked out the best ones I could find.

Here are two.

I hope they help show you what an ACL injury is, how they determine if you have an ACL injury and how they do the ACL surgery.

ACL Injury & Surgery Information

I like this video because there is great information on what the ACL is, causes of an ACL injury, how they test for an ACL injury, how they determine an ACL injury and how they do the ACL surgery.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here is part 5 of my knee pain and knee injury series.

If you missed part 1, you can see it here. If you missed part 2, you can see it here. If you missed part 3, you can see it here.  If you missed part 4, you can see it here.

Risk Factors and Incidence

It is estimated that the overall ACL injury rate in the United States is about 200,000 annually. This figure suggests that 1 in 300,000 individuals in the U.S. will sustain an ACL injury for the first time each year. ACL injuries commonly occur between the ages of 14 and 29 years, occurring in non-athletes and athletes. Those engaged in football, soccer, basketball, soccer and skiing activities are the most susceptible to ACL injury in the athlete group.

I got  a guest post for you.

It is from Ben Greenfield.  I have been reading his stuff for some time and I asked him to send me a blog post.

I liked it and I know you will as well.  It talks about inflammation which is a huge issue in recovery from injuries, enjoy.

How To Recover Like Wolverine From X-Men

By Ben Greenfield, MS – Author of The Bulletproof Knee & Run With No Pain

Let’s make just one giant assumption and assume that you know all about Wolverine from X-Men.

You know he possesses animal-keen senses.

You know he competes like a super-human weapon.

You know he has retracting bone claws made from space-age metal.

And, perhaps, most importantly, you know he possesses a special healing factor that allows him to quickly recover from virtually any wound, disease or toxin.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, it is a Friday.

A Friday before a long weekend.

Let me take a few minutes to ramble.

Facebook is So Cool!

It is great to get things like this on Facebook:

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