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07/31/2026

ACL Rehab Knee Pain Flare-Up: What to Do Next

07/19/2026

🚨 The FPF Specialist Certification is now OPEN for enrollment (this week only). Comment "FPFSPEC" to learn more and get started.

Learn how to confidently evaluate, treat, and return active patients to lifting and sport with 30.7 CEUs, real patient cases, and evidence-based rehab systems. Enroll before the sale closes this sunday at midnight

The Jefferson curl isn't a bad exercise—but I think it's often overprescribed in rehab for strength athletes.
When the goal is getting someone back to squatting, deadlifting, and lifting heavy, I usually prioritize exercises that are better tolerated, load the posterior chain heavily, and more closely replicate the demands of barbell training.

My go-to alternatives:

âś… Barbell Hip Thrusts
✅ 45° Back Extensions
âś… Good Mornings

These exercises allow athletes to progressively load the hips and spine while developing the strength and tissue capacity they'll actually need when returning to heavy lifting. They also tend to have greater carryover to sport-specific performance than spending large amounts of time chasing end-range spinal flexion.

The best rehab exercise isn't the one that looks the most unique—it's the one that best prepares the athlete for the demands they'll return to.

If you're a physical therapist who wants to stop guessing and start building rehab programs that keep athletes training, the FPF Specialist Certification was built for you.

✔️ 31.5 CEUs
✔️ Step-by-step clinical frameworks
✔️ Exercise progressions for active patients
✔️ Lifetime access & updates

⏳ The sale is only open for a limited time. Comment "FPFSPEC" to learn more and get started now.

👇 Want to become the physical therapist athletes trust? Comment FPFSPEC below.When most people think about grip strength...
07/18/2026

👇 Want to become the physical therapist athletes trust? Comment FPFSPEC below.

When most people think about grip strength...

They think about deadlifts.

Rock climbing.

Maybe arm wrestling.

But researchers think about something completely different.

Longevity.

Over the last two decades, grip strength has repeatedly been shown to be associated with:

✔️ Mortality
✔️ Disability
✔️ Frailty
✔️ Cardiovascular disease

No...

Improving your grip strength alone won't magically make you live longer.

But maintaining muscle strength throughout life appears to be one of the strongest markers of healthy aging that we have.

That's one reason strength training is such a powerful intervention—not just for athletes, but for nearly everyone.
As physical therapists, we have an incredible opportunity to help people build that capacity.

đź’¬ Comment FPFSPEC and I'll automatically send you everything you need to know about the FPF Specialist Certification, including the curriculum, CEUs, and enrollment details.

07/17/2026

🚨 The FPF Specialist Certification is now OPEN for enrollment (this week only). Comment "FPFSPEC" to learn more and get started.

Learn how to confidently evaluate, treat, and return active patients to lifting and sport with 30.7 CEUs, real patient cases, and evidence-based rehab systems. Enroll before the sale closes this sunday at midnight

The cable face pull isn't a bad exercise—but I rarely make it the cornerstone of shoulder rehab for lifters.

Instead, I prefer exercises that either:

âś… Better replicate the demands of pressing and overhead lifting
âś… Directly strengthen tissues that are commonly overloaded in strength athletes

My go-to alternatives include:

• Incline Dumbbell Scaption
• Side-Lying Dumbbell External Rotation
• Cable Pec Flyes

Side-lying external rotation specifically targets the infraspinatus, one of the rotator cuff tendons that frequently becomes symptomatic in lifters. Meanwhile, incline scaption and cable flyes expose the shoulder to loading patterns that more closely resemble the demands of real strength training, making them easier to transfer back to pressing and athletic performance.

The best rehab exercises aren't always the most popular—they're the ones that address the patient's goals and prepare them for the demands they'll actually face.

If you're a physical therapist who wants to stop guessing and start building rehab programs that keep athletes training, the FPF Specialist Certification was built for you.

✔️ 31.5 CEUs
✔️ Step-by-step clinical frameworks
✔️ Exercise progressions for active patients
✔️ Lifetime access & updates

⏳ The sale is only open for a limited time. Comment "FPFSPEC" to learn more and get started now.

👇 Want to become the physical therapist athletes trust? Comment FPFSPEC below.One of the biggest mistakes I made early i...
07/16/2026

👇 Want to become the physical therapist athletes trust? Comment FPFSPEC below.

One of the biggest mistakes I made early in my career was treating pain like the finish line.

A patient would tell me...

"My knee feels great."

Perfect.

Discharge them.

Now I realize that was only part of the picture.

Pain is important.

But it's only one outcome.

The better question is:

What can they actually do?

Can they sprint?
Can they cut?
Can they squat heavy?
Can they tolerate practice tomorrow?
Can they perform the demands of their sport with confidence?

That's capacity.

And capacity—not just pain—is what determines whether someone is truly ready to return.
It's one of the biggest mindset shifts we teach throughout the FPF Specialist Certification.

đź’¬ Comment FPFSPEC and I'll automatically send you everything you need to know about the FPF Specialist Certification, including the curriculum, CEUs, and enrollment details.

07/15/2026

👇 Want to become the physical therapist athletes trust? Comment FPFSPEC below.

Stopping training altogether is rarely the answer.

One of the biggest mistakes I see in rehab is removing meaningful strength training instead of modifying it. The goal isn't to avoid loading—it's to find exercises that create a strong training effect while keeping symptoms manageable.

In this video I demonstrate four of my favorite deadlift alternatives:

âś… Barbell Hip Thrusts
âś… Pull-Throughs
âś… Tempo Trap Bar Deadlifts
âś… Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts

Each variation changes the load, range of motion, stability demands, or movement strategy to help patients continue building strength while recovering from low back pain and other lower-extremity injuries.

The best rehab programs don't just reduce pain—they preserve strength, confidence, and athletic capacity.

This is exactly what we teach inside of the FPF Specialist Certification.

đź’¬ Comment FPFSPEC and I'll automatically send you everything you need to know about the FPF Specialist Certification, including the curriculum, CEUs, and enrollment details.

07/14/2026

Learn The 5 Biggest Mistakes Clinicians Make Treating Lumbar Radiculopathy in Lifters And What High-Performing Sports Physical Therapists Do Instead

👇 Want to become the physical therapist athletes trust? Comment FPFSPEC below.One of the biggest shifts in my career hap...
07/14/2026

👇 Want to become the physical therapist athletes trust? Comment FPFSPEC below.

One of the biggest shifts in my career happened when I stopped obsessing over finding the "perfect exercise."

Instead, I became obsessed with programming.

The truth is...

A squat isn't inherently good or bad.

A deadlift isn't inherently good or bad.

Almost every exercise can be the right choice—or the wrong choice—depending on how it's prescribed.

That's where many rehab programs fall apart.

Elite clinicians think differently.

They adjust:

Load
Tempo
Volume
Frequency
Range of motion
Recovery
Progression

That's what transforms a collection of exercises into a rehabilitation program that actually gets people back to lifting, running, competing, and performing.

This philosophy is at the core of everything I teach inside the FPF Specialist Certification.

đź’¬ Comment FPFSPEC and I'll automatically send you everything you need to know about the FPF Specialist Certification, including the curriculum, CEUs, and enrollment details.

Comment "LUMBAR" below and I'll send you a link to register for my FREE live webinar: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Clinicians ...
07/13/2026

Comment "LUMBAR" below and I'll send you a link to register for my FREE live webinar: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Clinicians Make Treating Lumbar Radiculopathy in Lifters (I'll send the recording if you can't make it)

Should every athlete be completely pain-free before returning to heavy lifting?

Not necessarily.

The better question is:

Have they developed the capacity to tolerate the demands of their sport?

Successful rehabilitation isn't simply about eliminating pain.

It's about progressively restoring confidence, strength, and resilience while respecting symptom behavior along the way.

That's often where the biggest breakthroughs happen.

👇 Do you agree, or do you prefer waiting until symptoms are completely gone before progressing?

🎓 If you'd like to learn the complete return-to-lifting framework, comment LUMBAR and I'll send you the registration link for my FREE live webinar on rehabilitating strength athletes with lumbar radiculopathy.

Comment "LUMBAR" below and I'll send you a link to register for my FREE live webinar: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Clinicians ...
07/12/2026

Comment "LUMBAR" below and I'll send you a link to register for my FREE live webinar: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Clinicians Make Treating Lumbar Radiculopathy in Lifters (I'll send the recording if you can't make it)

Bird dogs.

Dead bugs.

Clamshells.

They're great... until they aren't.

Eventually every strength athlete has to transition from rehabilitation to performance.

If your exercises don't evolve with your patient's goals, you may unintentionally become the limiting factor.

The best rehabilitation programs build a bridge from pain to performance—not just symptom reduction.

👇 What's your favorite exercise progression for returning lifters to heavy training?

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