Dr. Rob Tarulli

Often overlooked in mobility training is recognizing when it’s time to shift the focus from EXPANDING mobility and emphasizing CONTROL.
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When you have determined that sufficient passive range has been achieved (client/patient goals, task performance requirements), the next step is maximizing control of this range.
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Passive Range Holds (PRH) are a great strategy in bridging the gap between active and passive ROM (active-passive ratio).
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This is a setup I utilize frequently for wrist flexion/extension passive range holds (PRH) in the kneeling base position.
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makesh*tworknice

A few essential components of the catch position in the sn**ch is sufficient ankle, hip, thoracic and shoulder mobility. After assessing this Olympic weightlifting athlete I identified mobility limitations (controllable range of motion) in 3 of the aforementioned articulations.
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You can appreciate the significant degree of flexion and right rotation of the thoracic spine in addition to left shoulder flexion in the first video as she descends into the unloaded catch position. This may be fine unloaded but when you are lifting 80+% of your max these compensatory movements not only lead to more failed attempts but also increases injury risk.
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Manual therapy inputs allowed access (temporarily) to new ranges of motion which was followed up with active inputs into these new ranges to facilitate mobility acquisition.
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Although promising to see results after a treatment it is important to note that mobility takes time and consistency to develop and translate into performance.
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*tworknice **ch

Here I am using a modified isometric movement path from deep squat to kneeling as an advanced intrinsic foot strengthening progression.
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My intent is to create tension and irradiate that tension throughout my entire body as I eccentrically lengthen and concentrically shorten the plantar foot tissues.
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I used an internal cue of gliding through air that is 50% more dense than normal to help facilitate maximal time under tension.
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Kinstretch

Had an awesome time providing Athletic Therapy for the athletes at the CCSAI Olympic weightlifting OCAA Extramural competition this past weekend.
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Huge congrats to for coordinating the event for the first time at Centennial College. He not only coordinated but also coached his athletes throughout the comp. He put in serious time and effort and it really showed with how smooth the event ran.
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Hats off to Josh and the entire weightlifting program at Centennial College. The future is bright!

Keeping on top of his hip articular health before the training session. Low tension CARs (not shown) followed by 90/90 transfers.
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The left vid is what day 1 transfers looked like. You can see very little motor control as his hips work through these foreign ranges of motion. The video on the right demonstrates current day performance of 90/90 transfers with much less articular resistance and better motor control throughout the movement.

🚫🚫No one ever clamshelled their way to a functional squat🚫🚫
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I often see isolated glute activation exercises being prescribed as a way to correct knee valgus in young athletes. If you are unfamiliar with what a dynamic valgus is and the associated risk factors, I have an earlier post that describes these. The focus here is the intervention.
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In the first video you can appreciate the massive collapse of knees inwards as she began ascending from the catch phase of the sn**ch. Fast-forward to last weeks training session and you can see a crisp, powerful catch with zero knee collapse. Complete dominance over the movement. Guess what wasn’t ever prescribed to correct her dynamic valgus? 🤔🤔
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Once you have established the joint pre-requisites for any movement pattern, you have to train that movement pattern specific to how you will utilize it.
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It is well documented that training a novel skill, such as the sn**ch produces changes in the neural circuitry of the brain that are specific to the muscle groups necessary to execute the task. These neural changes do not occur following isolated repetitive use of those same muscle groups.
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Movement based problems require movement based solutions.
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Shoutout to for the programming and coaching. Also shoutout to for her killer work ethic that makes the progress possible 👌 ▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️
📚Adkins et. al. Motor training induces experience-specific patterns of plasticity across motor cortex and spinal cord. J Appl Physiol. 2006

That feeling when you start seeing improvements in your .
I’m finding that in this weightlifting game it’s important to celebrate the small victories and use them as motivation to hit the next level, even if that victory is marginally cleaner technique or a 5kg improvement in load. On some days the momentum created from those little victories is the difference between getting up and going to the gym or staying home!

This patient has been recovering from a plantar fasciopathy. Initially, she displayed little intrinsic foot control, restricted right ankle dorsiflexion (reported multiple ankle sprains), and her right ankle proprioception was decreased compared to the left side (poorly rehabbed prior sprains). These features combined with wearing flip flops and a few weekends at the cottage was a recipe for disaster.
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The top video displays her improving (current) intrinsic foot control and the bottom clip is a few repetitions of eccentric (high load) contractions.
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The goal? increased tissue resiliency and improved foot motor control. 👍
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Why? 🤔🤔The loads that were being placed through her medial longitudinal arch on a daily basis were greater than the capacity of the tissues to handle them, resulting in injury. 😓
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As manual therapists, we cannot alter intrinsic risk factors associated with plantar fasciopathy, such as congenital pes planus (flat foot) and pes cavus (high arch). However, we can improve the foot "hardware" by increasing the load capacity of the tissues, ensuring optimal joint mobility of the surrounding articulations and managing the external loads throughout the healing process.
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📚Huffer et al. Strength training for plantar fasciitis and the intrinsic foot musculature: A systematic review. Phys Ther in Sport. 2017.
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📚Rathleff et al. High-load strength training improves outcome in patients with plantar fasciitis: A randomized controlled trial with 12-month follow up. Scand J Med Sci Sport. 2014.
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📚Petraglia et al. Plantar fasciitis in athletes: diagnostic and treatment strategies. A systematic review. Musc, Lig and Tendons J. 2017

Overcame a good battle en route to hitting a Sunday morning PR 135kg (~300lb) back squat today 💪. The beauty of weightlifting is that you are always in a battle with the bar. You aren't given anything and must earn the lift every time.
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Outside of all the physiological health benefits, I firmly believe that overcoming physical adversity, like struggling through a new PR or even just getting in a daily workout, creates a lot of positive momentum that manifests in all other aspects of life (emotionally, physically, cognitively, spiritually). Embrace these battles 💪

&c

Sometimes you have to just stop and appreciate the artistic beauty in sport. Shoutout to #5 .02

Here are two examples of dynamic valgus in young, developing (lacrosse, gymnastics) athletes. This pattern is important to recognize because it is a significant risk factor for non contact ACL tears, PFPS and ITB syndrome. Biomechanically, chronic tensile load that is experienced by the MCL in athletes exhibiting this pattern may also predispose to chronic MCL sprains. Common contributing factors include: lack of ankle mobility, hip stabilizer weakness or incorrect squat motor patterning. Don't just assume glute med weakness with this pattern (unless you have muscle tested it). Often it is a motor control issue and therefore isolated strengthening of the hip abductors won't solve it alone. Retrain the pattern.

Check out these pre and post treatment SFMA left shoulder pattern 1 movements in a powerlifting athlete. Although both patterns demonstrate an ability to reach the contralateral inferior angle of his scapula, the quality of the two patterns is very different. The still shots under the videos display the last frame of the pattern. In the pre-treatment (left) there is significantly more scapular winging and thoracic left lateral flexion to compensate for the lack of left shoulder extension (JMD), established on the breakout. Once extension was facilitated (right), you can appreciate a more fluid movement pattern