(Disclosure: This was not a free item given to me for review. I paid for this on my own but I have learned a lot from the creator of this product and that information has helped me and my patients a ton so maybe that makes me biased. If that is a bias I hope I continue this bias for a long time.)
Today I will be reviewing the Edge Mobility Band which is part of the Edge Mobility System by Dr. Erson Religioso, DPT of The Manual Therapist. I have been following his blog for quite awhile now and from the start I was very intrigued by the magical blue bands that he kept using on his patients and in his videos.
I would watch his videos and read his blog posts about the increased function, mobility and decreased pain associated with using these bands as part of his treatment protocol. At the time I was unaware of the Voodoo floss bands so this was my first exposure to compression wrapping for anything other than edema prevention/reduction. I even tweeted at him back in April of this year to inquire whether a poor graduate student like myself could substitute a resistance band for his bands and get the same effect. He answered my tweet with complete honesty and told me that there was nothing magical about the Edge Mobility Bands. He stated that a simple resistance band should suffice.
While there may be nothing magical about these bands there is definitely something special about their construction and design considering that I wasted many hours trying to experiment with resistance bands instead of coughing up $24 bucks for two Edge Mobility Bands of my own. Most of those experiments led to cutting off the circulation of extremities, excessive body hair pulling, and the constant rolling and tearing of many thera-bands. It simply wasn't a feasible substitute for me but maybe it works or would work for somebody that is more coordinated, stubborn or cheap than me.
This link is to a post by Jimmy Moore on where you can find his newly released book 'Cholesterol Clarity: What The HDL Is Wrong With My Numbers' and includes both international and US locations. I haven't read this book yet but I sure would like to eventually.
Run.
Today's second post is an article by Dr. Phil Maffetone and is entitled "Gait 101: Learning to Run More Naturally." This part 1 of a two part guest post series by him over at the Natural Running Center and is a little lengthy but Dr. Maffetone always seems to have a unique but quality opinion on running related matters.
I recently got a new phone and I have been in the process of downloading new apps for it. This is my first Android phone so I am getting used to it but it has made me think about how much I use different apps on a daily basis in the clinic, on the field or in the classroom.
This also gave me the idea of telling you all about ten different apps that I find myself using quite frequently. I am always looking for more apps that will help keep me organized and productive so if you have any suggestions please feel free to comment below.
I have both an iPad and a Samsung Galaxy S4 so this list will include both android and Apple apps but many are available to users of many different devices. Now onto the list and in no particular order...
Sorry for the delay in posts everybody! I have been busy with a combination of work, working on my thesis, and pre-season football practices. Enough complaining...lets get to the post!
I recently got myself a few new toys to use in the clinic when I bought myself a pair of Edge Mobility Bands from The Edge Mobility System. I am in the process of experimenting more with these bands so I can write an extensive and fair review of them to publish here. Nevertheless, I have already started to find them handy and beneficial when treating my athletes.
I have been using them with great success to increase mobility and decrease pain of a few football players that have been complaining of persistent and chronic knee pain. In particular, I have been using them to increase hip internal rotation mobility and I made a video to showcase this technique with the help of some of the athletic training students that are assigned to me. The student I use in this video also used to be a football player (kicker) in college and is normally restricted with Right (kicking leg) Hip IR especially compared to his Left leg.
For my second and final year of graduate school I will be featured as a semi-regular guest blogger at ATC Hacks. The series will be called "Grad Life" and as you might guess it will be about my time as a graduate student and graduate assistant athletic trainer.
I will be discussing things like advice for prospective graduate students, reflections on my own experiences, and anecdotes related to my own trials and tribulations. Here is a link to my first post! It isn't very long or informative, it is just more of an introductory post! This is the same website that featured me on their "In The ATR" series and you can find that post here if you haven't checked it out yet.
My next post will be my 50th blog post which I am considering a mini milestone, so I hope that I can make it something interesting for you all! To also go along with that piece of news is the fact that you can now type in EatRunRehab.com and it will redirect you to my site. No more worries about the long URL or spelling rehabilitate correctly! ;)
The weekend is finally here and that means you might have some more free time on your hands. If that is the case then here are some recent and interesting reads for you all. They are split up by genre! ;)
I am not sure if the title of this post makes any sense but what I am trying to say is that I am itching to get back into the clinic. All of my athletes(patients) are on summer break and I won't be dealing with any athletes for another two weeks or so. I love being an athletic trainer and I have been reading/watching/learning a lot this summer that I want to use to advance my skills as a clinician.
With no athletes to fix I have resorted to offering a helping hand to others outside of my athletic training world. I work as a barista for a part-time summer job to help foot some of my bills and fortunately for me over the past week this job has been a source for me to help some people with musculoskeletal issues.
I have put together a video compilation of some of my favorite mobility and strengthening exercises for the foot. The target of most of these will be for the intrinsic soft tissues of the feet but you can't fully target just one area or muscle of the body with an exercise. I didn't think of all of these ideas and I tried to give credit to those that I learned them from where I could!
These would be good for anyone with a history of ankle, lower leg or foot injuries. It doesn't matter if you wear Hoka One Ones or nothing on your feet because all of us should have strong and mobile feet. Your feet do a ton of work for you and are your main contact point with the ground. Take care of them!
Here comes another rant or a pet peeve that I have related to recent warm weather and people exercising in it. Just like this photo displays I hate that people think safely exercising in warm weather is all about preventing dehydration, and drinking copious amounts of fluids. Some athletes and coaches think that they can work vigorously and non-stop in extreme conditions as long as there is an adequate water supply. It doesn't matter how much you drink, it won't prevent your core body temperature from rising. The real danger is exercising in a way that allows the core temperature to reach unsafe levels where heat stroke can occur.
Concussions are still a hot topic and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. The media loves to discuss them, coaches loathe them, parents fear them, and the research is still within its infancy. It isn't time for anyone to jump to conclusions or panic but it is definitely a good time to stay informed and properly educated on the topic. This blog post came as a result of the latest edition of the Journal of Athletic Training, which had several concussion related articles. To begin the issue there was a special editorial written by concussion research expert, Kevin Guskiewicz, PhD, ATC, FNATA, FACSM. He is also the chair of the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Guskiewicz recommends that sports medicine professionals stay informed on upcoming concussion research to be published within the next 6 months. This includes the ‘‘Consensus statement on concussion in sport: the 4th International Conference on
Concussion in Sport, Zurich, November 2012’’ that was published in this edition of the Journal of Athletic Training and originally published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in March, 2013. He advises that these documents "will
define the standard of care for athletic trainers and team
physicians for at least the next 4 to 5 years. These
documents are very well prepared and will make significant
contributions to the sports medicine community." He also had these three major closing points:
Read these documents,
Develop and implement a sound concussion-management program and policy
Check the boxes each time you manage a patient with a concussion.
Dr. Guskiewicz had one last closing piece of advice that is very important for concussion management but is applicable to everything we do as clinicians and arguable important for any person to learn. I know football season for me is fast approaching so I know I need to make sure I get caught up on my concussion literature. I will leave you with his advice in quotes and a link to the latest journal issue!
"But just as important, be sure you go the extra mile to educate yourself and your athletes and to ensure that both
you and your athletes are protected. "
Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links on this blog are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links. I have used all of these products listed and recommend them because they are helpful and are products from companies that I trust, not because of the commissions that I may earn from you using these products.
Caution
All content on this blog is meant as instructional and educational. The author and guest authors of this blog are not responsible for any harm or injury that may result. Always consult a physician or another proper medical professional for medical advice.
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