Michael Reeves PT, DPT, ATC, CSCS

Effect of Aerobic Exercise Training With and Without Blood Flow Restriction on Aerobic Capacity in Healthy Young Adults: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors' goal was to:  "examine the effects of aerobic exercise training (ET) with and without blood flow restriction (BFR) on aerobic capacity (AC) and to compare the effect of low-to-moderate aerobic ET with and without BFR to high-intensity aerobic ET with and without BFR on AC." Inclusion Criteria: Study was conducted in healthy individuals There was random allocation of study participants to training and control groups BFR was the sole intervention difference between the groups. Total number of studies: 7 5 low-to-moderate intensity 2 high-intensity All 7 studies had a PEDro score of 6 which is pretty good for these types of studies since it is not really reasonable to expect: concealed allocation, blind Subjects, blind therapists, or blind assessors consider...

ACL Rehab for the Athlete: What Should it Look Like? If you have suffered and ACL injury, you likely know that you have a long road ahead of you before you even think about playing sports again.  After an ACL reconstruction, you will need to undergo at least 9 months of rehab before returning to sport.  During these months you will go through many different stages of rehab each with a different primary focus.   According to an  ACL Rehab Guide  published in 2013, there are 5 phases of rehab: Recovery from Surgery Strength and Neuromuscular Control Running, Agility, and Landings Return to Sport Prevention Re-injury You will notice that there is no time frame on the phases. This is to limit progression for the sake of progression at different time points.  Time post surgery progression has the potential to shift focus off of the goals of our rehab as outlined in the various stages and onto time since surgery.  Time since surgery is ...

Where Traditional Physical Therapy Fails the Athlete When an athlete gets hurt, their first thought is rarely “how long until I can walk again?” - it is normally, “how long until I can play again?” If an athlete needs rehab, they are trusting their physical therapist to get them back to playing their sport. Physical therapists are supposed to be the best at this, right? Well unfortunately you need to make sure that you go to the right physical therapist at the right location if you want your needs as an athlete to be met. Just because a physical therapy clinic says “sports medicine” on their doors, does not mean that you are getting quality sports medicine care. Many of the larger physical therapy companies have huge amounts of overhead, and with insurance reimbursement declining for physical therapy, their clinicians are forced to treat more patients in order to keep the company afloat. This means less time with each patient. Also, these companies are big businesses that cr...

Running Injuries Running is one of the most common forms of exercise. It is a convenient and efficient workout that can be an escape from the noise and stress of the outside world; it can be a great way to get your day started off on a good foot, or to decrease stress after a long day of work.  Many runners use running as their primary, and sometimes only source of physical activity.  Running places a lot of stress on our body and just like with any sport there are inherent injury risks.  When compared to other types of aerobic exercise such as biking, swimming, or walking, running has a higher risk of injury.  This is tied to the amount of impact that our body undergoes during running and the need to dissipate those forces between muscles and joints.  In this blog we will discuss some common running injuries, some potential causes, and some potential management strategies. Common running injuries According to Francis et al.  the knee is the most c...