McEntee Physio & Performance Centre

McEntee Physio & Performance Centre Bringing you the best in Chartered Physiotherapy and Performance Conditioning Chartered Physiotherapists

18/03/2026

Bulgarian Split Squat - Floating Heel🔥

This exercise shifts greater demand onto the ankle complex specifically targeting control & strength.✅

Foot control is relevant in all lower limb rehab and is quite often a forgotten necessity.

📍Cue: Keep the heel floating

16/03/2026

Inner Range Quads Strength & Extension Control

🔎Inner range quads strength refers to the strength of the quad muscles when they are in a shortened position (when the knee is nearly straight)

❎After knee surgery or injury a deficit in inner range strength is common. This can lead to difficulty in regaining full knee extension range as the quad muscles lack sufficient strength to access / control the last few degrees of the movement.

This exercises on the leg press is a nice way of restoring inner range quad strength and can be used as a progression to traditional bed based inner range strength exercises🎯

13/03/2026

Mid Foot Dissociation:

🔎Mid foot mobility, the keystone of the medial arch. The mid foot serves as an attachment point for structures to support the inside arch of the foot, the tibialis posterior tendon being the most notably soft tissue structure in the context of what we see in clinic.

👀Inadequate movement in the midfoot can place additional stress through this tendon (which is invariably lacking in its function anyway - a likely contributor to the lack of adequate movement of the midfoot in the first instance) and can lead to painful symptoms in this region as well as the medial shin/knee/ankle when repetitive loads are placed through it during activities such as running.

✅Maintain 3 points of contact with the first toe, fifth toe, and heel. Aim to keep these points of contact as you drop the arch downwards & draw it upwards.

There is indeed movement necessary at the rearfoot for this to happen, but in the context of what we are trying to achieve here, our cue is to minimise movement at the heel🎯

Our aim in this case is to move the midfoot independent of the forefoot and rear foot✅

11/03/2026

Barbell single leg elevated bridge:

🎯The single leg elevated bridge is a posterior chain focused exercise targeting the gluteal and hamstring muscles. This can be used in the mid-late stage of rehab to address deficits in strength, endurance, and functional limitations in the posterior chain.

🔎This exercise can be used with or without the barbell. Using the barbell, we are targeting maximal strength using high load and lower reps. Without the barbell, we can target posterior chain strength-endurance with no load and a higher rep range.

✅As part of a return to play battery, the single leg elevated bridge can be used as a return to play marker. A score of < 20 was poor, 25 average and > 30 good.

09/03/2026

This single leg RDL variation, among other things, challenges foot and ankle control on the standing leg.🔥

The rotational force generated & released increases the challenge of control & stability of the trunk, pelvis and hip as well as really testing how these structures can coordinate around a stable foot/ankle.🎯

06/03/2026

Unilateral hamstring sliders:

👀We're seeing an influx of hamstring injuries into the clinic in recent weeks as GAA season kicks off. Whilst no two situations are exactly the same, high speed running is a common activity associated with injury. Another, is injury occurring when the hamstring is lengthened.

🎯This exercise works on eccentrically controlling the hamstring with an additional trunk lean, effectively putting the hamstring under more lengthened stress through both its attachments at the knee and pelvis. Here we intend on bridging the gap to deal with demands of gameplay when the hamstring is more vulnerable.

We need to build tolerance to tissues being stressed in a lengthened state and address this within our hamstring rehab / prehab / training.📈

04/03/2026

The tibialis posterior plays a key role in controlling movement of the rearfoot and midfoot.👣

It helps to control foot pronation during the stance phase and assists with push off, both needed for efficiency of running and indeed walking.✅

Having an adequately functioning tib post (in conjunction with other factors) reduces the likelihood of disproportionate loading of the plantar fascia and medial midfoot (medial arch). 🎯

02/03/2026

The seated squat jump🔥

The seated squat jump is an exercise that works on the concentric phase of a jump pattern by removing the stretch shortening cycle (rapid eccentric deceleration / momentum used in the first phase of a counter movement jump). 📈

✅This can be beneficial for:
1. As a rehab exercise - improving concentric power
2. As part of a test battery - assessing an athlete’s force production from a dead stop versus their reliance on the stretch shortening cycle to achieve vertical jump height

27/02/2026

Controlling toe-off

🔎Toe-off is the moment in the gait cycle when the foot pushes off the ground to propel the body forward.

Those who have a history of foot/ankle injuries often struggle to control this movement with the ankle often rolling inwards or outwards.

When dealing with issues around the knee and hip/groin it is important to address the foot/ankle as well. A lack of control here can lead to excess load on structures further up limb.🎯

25/02/2026

Cone jumping / hopping (Linear and 2 forward - 1 backward)

🔑Plyometric exercises and repeat hop ability are key precursors ahead of a return to running. These low-intensity extensive plyometrics can be commenced early in the rehab process.

✅This is a nice mid-late stage plyometric exercise that can be used in rehab when athletes have mastered a pogo hop on the spot.

Double Leg
Level 1 - Double Leg
Level 2 - Double Leg - 2 Forward/1 Backward

Single Leg
Level 1 - Single Leg
Level 2 - Single Leg - 2 Forward/1 Backward

❎What we are looking for here:
1. Avoid knee collapsing inward
2. Avoid stiff leg landing to land softly (absorb force with knee and hip with a relaxed knee)
3. Rhythmic control

23/02/2026

Eccentric Calf Strength

🎯This "2 up, 1 down" calf raise focuses on the eccentric part of the calf raise (the part of the movement when the muscle is lengthening). In the case of a calf raise this is when the heel is lowering towards the floor.

❓Good eccentric calf allows the calf muscle to absorb high amounts of force when the muscle in a lengthened position. Therefore eccentric strengthening plays an important role in the rehabilitation of calf and Achilles injuries.

Increasing eccentric calf strength can also help to improve jumping and hopping performance as the muscle is able absorb and produce more force during tasks like pogo hops and drop jumps.📈

20/02/2026

Vertical Drive: Achilles Rehab - Overcoming Isometrics

The calf and achilles absorb 6-8 times body weight on each step when running. Therefore it's crucial we are strong around this ankle complex in order to contribute to force production (along with the knee and hip)🎯

It's important we perform this with maximal effort and building load tolerance with increasing duration from 10-45 seconds holds.🔥

🔎We often test this in clinic with force plates for our ankle injuries. Striving for x2.5 times body weight and symmetry within 10% to guide our rehab progressions.

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Mullaghboy Industrial Estate
Navan
C15TD7Y

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