The Basketball Doctors

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The Basketball Doctors

We are a team of physical therapists who aim to provide evidence-based rehabilitation to optimize mo

17/07/2025

🏀 Is your body ready to perform? Or asking for rest?
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) helps basketball athletes, coaches, and clinicians monitor recovery, stress, and readiness to train or compete. 📈
✅ Higher HRV → more parasympathetic (rest & recover) activity
✅ Lower HRV → more sympathetic (stress & fatigue) activity
📚 Research shows:
Elite players tend to have lnRMSSD ~4.3–4.6 (RMSSD ~50–100ms)¹
Drops >1 standard deviation below baseline for 2+ days signal the need to lower training intensity or focus on recovery²
HRV biofeedback & recovery strategies can improve readiness & reduce anxiety³
Track your trends over time — don’t chase “perfect” numbers. Use HRV alongside sleep, mood, and performance data for smarter decisions.
💡 Save & share this post with a teammate who wants to train smarter, not just harder!
📚 References:
Sánchez RP, et al. Heart rate variability in basketball: the golden nugget of holistic adaptation? Appl Sci. 2024;14(21):10013. doi:10.3390/app142110013
Buchheit M. Monitoring training status with HRV. Sports Med. 2014;44(9):969–988. doi:10.1007/s40279-014-0212-2
Esco MR, Flatt AA. Ultra-short-term HRV and its relation to training load. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2014;9(6):852–857. doi:10.1123/ijspp.2013-0456

04/07/2025

Basketball Nutrition!
Fueling for basketball should be a top priority along with training!
Basketball is demanding and we need precise nutrition to sustain energy, better recovery and fewer injuries!
We collaborated with on our latest YouTube video talking all things basketball nutrition.
Here we have a summary of key things we talked about in our YouTube video and check it out to learn more.
Big take away is to fuel before and post game with both carbs and protein!
Hydration is key and that means not just drinking water but also electrolytes!

19/06/2025

🏀 RECOVERY = PERFORMANCE 🛌
Basketball players change direction ~997 times per game.
Recovery isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. Here’s a breakdown of 11 science-backed recovery strategies to help you stay sharp, avoid burnout, and optimize performance. 🧠💥
From proper sleep and hydration to compression and red light therapy, this post covers it all 🔬.
✅ Save this post 📩 Share with a teammate 💬 Comment your go-to recovery tool!
📚 Reference: Mihajlovic M, et al. Sports. 2023;11(11):230. doi:10.3390/sports11110230

12/06/2025

🧠💥 Training Load vs. Injury Risk in Basketball — What the Research Says
Whether you’re an athlete, coach, or rehab professional, understanding how to balance training and recovery is critical for performance and longevity.
A 2024 systematic review of 14 basketball studies confirmed:
✅ Rapid spikes in training load = higher injury risk
✅ Low load or inconsistent exposure = also risky
✅ Sleep quality and playing time matter more than you think
✅ Monitoring internal + external loads = essential for staying healthy
If you’re not tracking your sRPE, ACWR, or sleep… you’re leaving performance (and durability) on the table. 🗂️
Swipe through this post to learn what the science actually says — and how to apply it in real life. 📊
📚 Source: Chan C-C et al. Healthcare (Basel). 2024;12(18):1829. doi:10.3390/healthcare12181829
👇 Drop a 🏀 if you’re focused on staying healthy this season
📥 Save + share with a teammate or coach who needs this

17/04/2025

NBA Injury Alert
The playoffs are here so we wanted to give you guys an injury update on some of the big stars!

09/04/2025

Did you sprain your ankle?
Check out these three tips to help decrease swelling in your ankle following a sprain!
If you are dealing with an ankle sprain click the link in our bio for our online ankle sprain rehab program.

11/11/2024

Here are a couple exercises we like to use with our athletes for the core with minimal equipment. Try it our and let us know what you think

13/10/2024

If you are dealing with osgood schlatters pain here is a foam rolling technique we like to use with our athletes to help decrease knee pain overall. If you have any questions regarding osgood schlatter send us a message to see how we can help you.

10/10/2024

IF you recently tore your ACL then you have to listen to this video. Some of the times you do not need to have surgery right away. Here is a video of Dr. Gabe Ignacio talking about different options of whether to have or not have surgery follow ACL tear.

08/10/2024

Did you sprain your ankle recently? Here are some exercises we like to use with our athletes to help return back to basketball working on lateral plyometrics.

05/10/2024

In this video we go over what are the possible options following meniscus tear. There are surgical and non surgical options. The surgical options for meniscus tears are menisectomy, meniscus repair and meniscus transplant.

03/10/2024

Are you dealing with pain below your knee cap? you may be dealing with osgood schlatters which affects athletes under the age of 18. Here are a couple of stretches we like to use with athletes dealing Osgood Schlatter.

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The Basketball Doctor’s Story

Our names are Gabe Ignacio and Marco Lopez, and we are a team of physical therapists who aim to provide evidence-based rehabilitation to optimize movement for basketball players of all skill levels. We will empower the community by presenting fundamental knowledge relevant to injury prevention and performance enhancement, as well as, training for athletes with the goal of enjoying basketball for life. As avid basketball players as children, the love for the game continued to grow throughout our lives from watching the game being played at all levels to attending basketball camps to going through the ups and down of our own basketball journey. We each experienced numerous injuries and set-backs, which exposed us to the realization that our childhood dreams of playing in the NBA was not a realistic goal, among other key factors. As a result, we re-evaluated our goals and focused on our education, which led us to becoming Doctors of Physical Therapy at the University of Southern California. We noticed that there was not a big presence of a place for people to access information on basketball specific injuries and recovery. Equipped with our attained knowledge throughout our educational careers, we wanted to combine our passions for healthcare, movement, biomechanics, and basketball to provide a platform of information and care. Although playing basketball for a career is no longer the driving force of staying connected to basketball, we hope to make a positive impact on the game we love by helping and collaborating with anyone involved in the basketball community to meet a common goal; whether it be making the high school/collegiate team, playing in weekly recreational leagues for life, or optimizing movement and skills to play recreationally and professionally.