Eclipse Wellness

Eclipse Wellness Physical Therapy and Nutrition experts helping you reach your goals with one-on-one care

05/24/2026

Baseball players with low back pain - try this drill in your return to throwing program!

If you can turn around and throw quickly, then you are probably not worrying about your low back. I often see athletes return from an injury and become so hyper-focused on the site of the injury that they lose perspective on the actual athletic movement.

Throwing a baseball requires your low back and pelvis to rotate quickly. Physical therapy should include movements that are more strenuous than the ones that you will face on the field so that you know you are ready. A full rotation of your low back with this drill is much more difficult than the movement created with a typical throw or pitch.

If you find yourself missing to the arm side, you might not be rotating your hips and back enough. Missing glove side can also be caused by the arm rotating faster than the hips, causing you to pull the ball. Try to hit a target directly in front of you and film yourself throwing so that you can see any potential issues. It is best to have an expert (physical therapist or baseball coach) with you, but you can still try this drill on your own, once you are cleared to do so.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

05/23/2026

How should baseball players strengthen their rotator cuff?

The answer is of course: it depends.

If you are an injured athlete coming in for physical therapy, we might do some lighter band exercises. However, if you are fully healthy and competing on the field, bands might not be enough.

We often confuse muscle activation with muscle strengthening. Research shows external rotation exercises with a band are best for activating some of the rotator cuff muscles. That is good information, but it isn’t as important for muscle strengthening. Your bands can only get so heavy before shoulder exercises become impractical.

The point of the rotator cuff is to hold your shoulder in place. Heavy bench press forces your rotator cuff to stabilize the weight that you are holding, and it is much easier to scale than band exercises. Other movements such as rows are just as effective.

Does that mean healthy baseball players shouldn’t use bands? Of course not. They are great for warm-up exercises or endurance. At a certain point, they are not making you stronger. Don’t become so focused on muscle activation and baseball-specific exercises that you forget the easiest way to get stronger is to increase the weight you are lifting. I promise you will strengthen your rotator cuff when lifting heavy weights!

05/05/2026

Baseball pitchers - if you are recovering from an injury, don’t forget to be an athlete!

Most baseball players I see after an injury think that they need to work harder on their mechanics. That could be part of the solution, but it isn’t the whole solution. In all likelihood, you become so focused on your mechanics that you lose the feel of what makes you you.

Take some time during your rehab to make some athletic throws. Do a proper warm up and then let it rip from shortstop. Work some backhands, field some slow rollers, go crazy and see how you feel. Having the external target of catching a ball and throwing it to get a runner out can do wonders for getting you out of your head. You may even discover some new thoughts that make sense for you as a thrower!

04/28/2026

Do this to help your arm recover after throwing!

Don’t forget to mobilize your lat and teres major before and after throwing. This won’t prevent injury, but proper preparation and recovery can certainly decrease your risk.

The lats run from your shoulder to your low back. They are (hopefully) massive muscles, but they have a lot of possible injury mechanisms. Tight thoracic spine: could affect the lats. Tight lumbar spine: could affect the lats. Tight hips: could affect the lats. Bad gut health: tell your provider to shut up and do better 😂

Foam rolling is an easy way to self-treat your lats. If you have tightness that won’t go away, you can look at possible root cause issues (tight spine, tight hips, weakness, throwing volume, mechanics), but we want to start with the basics. If your tight lats aren’t responding to your methods, reach out to a physical therapist for a diagnosis of the root cause and more targeted treatment. Don’t spend your baseball season frustrated by shoulder pain or tightness!

04/22/2026

As a physical therapist, here are 4 movements I use if I have low back pain with bending backwards.

First of all, I would only do these movements if my pain was a 5/10 or less. Anything more than a 5 warrants seeing a professional, and I typically have my clients avoid movements that cause that much pain so their bodies can heal.

Start out with some gentle stretching of the entire spine. Often, you have pain with extension because you are flexed all day in sitting. This is not damaging your back (see my post yesterday and YouTube video on the subject), but it can make it tight. Spending some time on your stomach can decrease stiffness rapidly.

If you have low back pain with extension, it is important to stretch the areas above and below your low back. The hips and thoracic spine can get tight and limit extension mobility. Make these stretches a habit and it will take pressure off of the low back.

Save these for the next time your back is hurting with extension!

04/20/2026

Here are some of my favorite exercises if you are dealing with back pain when you are bending forward.

I would use these if my back pain was a 5/10 or less. In my experience, people with mild to moderate pain benefit from a gradual load in the painful direction.

Starting out in unloaded positions like lying down or on your hands and knees is an easy way to introduce these movements in a non-threatening way. Focus on deep breathing and maximizing your low back mobility before gradually adding more load.

If you are dealing with 6/10 pain or more, you might benefit from avoiding bending for the time being to allow your body to heal. That might mean avoiding prolonged sitting or sleeping on your side.

I posted a YouTube video and wrote a blog about back pain with bending forward and whether sitting actually causes back pain. I take you through my rationale and some exercises and lifestyle strategies to implement if you are dealing with back pain!

04/20/2026

There is no such thing as a bad exercise for anyone, let alone baseball pitchers.

It is a hot topic on social media to bash certain exercises as unsafe for pitchers. That is at best lazy and at worst harmful to baseball players who might be seeing those posts. For better or worse, posts on social media carry more weight than they should. Some guy in his garage with 1,000 followers can look very convincing with the right lighting and a compelling caption.

The truth is: social media is meant to elicit strong reactions. Telling someone to never do an exercise will get you more views than saying context matters. No one wants to hear that some exercises are good for some people, while other people probably shouldn’t be doing those exercises. That isn’t compelling.

I try to hold myself to a higher standard because it is the right thing to do. I don’t get a lot of clients through social media. If you are reading this in Ohio, then we will probably never meet in person. I highly doubt you will come to Sterling, Virginia to work with me for physical therapy. I put out information for general education. It upsets me when I see real or imagined experts using fear tactics to motivate, gain followers, or get people to pay them money. There is enough confusion in the world of baseball as it is. We need to get rid of the clickbait nonsense.

Sorry I got distracted while writing this. Pitchers should be able to overhead press behind their heads. If you can’t do this, you probably can’t comfortably get into layback and throw a pitch. This exercise can show limitations and diagnose issues. Some people benefit from adding it to their workout, others don’t. Honestly it depends. Would you expect me to say anything else?

04/18/2026

Baseball players - if you are losing power at the plate, it might be due to your shoulder mobility.

We often focus on the hip side of hip-shoulder separation. However, you need adequate shoulder mobility to maintain tension when you swing. Try this test to see if your back shoulder mobility is limiting your hitting power!

If your back shoulder is tight, try some pecs or biceps stretching to loosen it up. This will help keep that hip-shoulder separation and improve your power at the plate!

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