Blogs

Yup-worst title ever, but it got you this far… In light of discussing hockey and soccer related groin pain for the last couple weeks, I thought I’d give a personal example that will help illustrate how some of the things we’ve talked about come together.  I’ve had off and on knee and hip problems on […]

An overly bold statement? Not in light of experimental and “in the trenches” experience.  Research has shown that adductor (groin) strains result from a strength imbalance between the hip adductors and hip abductors (or the muscles that pull the leg toward the midline vs those that pull it away from the midline).  There is also […]

Several years ago, Mike Boyle introduced me to this concept.  From time to time I get so caught up in my work that I forget to make time for anything else.  Rereading this often helps me remember those things that are truly important in life.  Hopefully it’ll do the same for you. Big Rocks “When […]

Isometrics (producing muscular force without a change in total muscle length…think of pushing against a wall) are probably one of the most effective, and under-utilized forms of training.  Other than wall sits (which is a stupid exercise in my opinion), many hockey players never use isometric training at all. I love isometrics.   I think they’re great […]

Despite my background and involvement in ice hockey, I get more questions on a daily basis about fat loss than any other topic. Should I lift weights? How much cardio should I do? What supplements do you recommend? How do you find time to prepare healthy meals all the time? To which I respond:  Yes. […]

Back to cleaning up groin pain issues in your hockey players… After improving soft-tissue quality through foam rolling, “lacrosse balling”, and manual therapy, the next step is to stretched the newly “released” muscles.  It’s particularly important to focus on the muscles surrounding the hip. As a reminder, the side-to-side discrepancies in range of motion or […]

That’s it.  I quit!  After 6 weeks of low calorie eating, I’ve had enough.  A lot of people asked why I was on a low calorie diet to begin with.  I think it’s important to cycle calories, as well as macronutrient (carb, protein, fat) sources periodically.  In other words, if you usually eat a low […]

This was the last week of my 6-week fat loss experiment.  My training won’t significantly change, but my diet will.  More on this in the days to come.  Training results for the last week are posted below.   Valentine’s Day Words of Wisdom George Costanza once said, “If you can’t say anything bad about a […]

One of the first steps to dealing with groin pain is to restore proper range of motion (ROM) around the hips. Side note: ROM is also referred to as flexibility or mobility.  Although joint mobility in physical therapy refers to an involuntary movement of the bones in the joint, the term mobility is often used […]

At this point I thought it would be a good idea to recap all the things we’ve discussed over the last week.  Below is a summary of the process I take when an athlete comes to me reporting groin pain. 1. Question about the nature of the pain When did the pain/discomfort start? Was there […]