Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group, LLC Blog

We asked what the Giants in Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation, Basketball and Hockey performance training have read or are currently reading and we brought their list to you.  

Click HERE to view our recommended library with an ongoing list from these speakers who presented at the BSMPG "Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants" 2011 summer seminar.

Brijesh Patel

We asked what the Giants in Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation, Basketball and Hockey performance training have read or are currently reading and we brought their list to you.  

Click HERE to view our recommended library with an ongoing list from these speakers who presented at the BSMPG "Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants" 2011 summer seminar.

Keynote Speakers Pete Viteritti and Shirley Sahrmann

If you're going to work...

work hard.

That way, you'll have something to show for it.

The biggest waste is to do that thing you call work, but to interrupt it, compromise it, cheat it and still call it work.

In the same amount of time you can expend twice the effort and get far more in exchange.

From our family to yours - Happy Independence Day!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend with friends, family, fireworks and hopefully a little bit of fitness this long weekend.

Happy Canada Day to our readers north of the border!

So often individuals with knee pain miss out on the opportunity to resolve their troublesome and agonizing cases because the answer comes dressed in overalls, a hard hat and carries a lunch box.  Addressing knee pain means so much more than sitting back and relaxing in your local physical therapy or athletic training center with an ice bag and electrical stimulation on your knee.  Addressing knee pain takes hard work and requires that patients become an active participant in their care plan.

In a recent article published in Sports Health, Lake and Wofford reviewed current literature examining therapeutic modalities and their effectiveness for the treatment of patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) or good old fashion knee pain.  Their findings come as no surprise to those that understand that knee pain is a real pain in the butt – meaning, quite literally it's cause is coming from your butt (or a lack thereof).  Conclusions drawn from their examination was that, “none of the therapeutic modalities reviewed has sound scientific justification for the treatment of PFPS when used alone.”

So what’s the answer?

Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water quite yet.  A comprehensive treatment approach offering therapeutic modalities as needed with a focus on eccentric strength training along with an overall strengthening program for the hips and gluteus musculature in addition to providing mobility above and below the knee (hips and ankle) continues to be the best approach to getting athletes back to competition faster and putting smiles on knee pain sufferers  time and time again.

See additional knee pain articles below: 

Treating Anterior Knee Pain - Part I and Part II

Lake D., and Wofford N. Effect of Therapeutic Modalities on Patients With Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: A Systematic Review. 2011. Sports Health, Vol. 3(2)p.182-189.

The hard part (one of them)

A guy asked his friend, the writer David Foster Wallace,

"Say, Dave, how'd y'get t'be so dang smart?"

His answer:

"I did the reading."

No one said the preparation part was fun, but yes, it's important. I wonder why we believe we can skip it and still be so dang smart.

On June 24, Craig Liebenson’s 3 new DVDs will be available on Amazon.

These DVD's are a prelude to his new textbook, in which a number of authors contributed including, Charlie Weingroff, who wrote the chapter on Deadifting (literally and figuratively!).

The Functional Training Handbook mentioned above is set to be released January 15, 2012.

Dr. Liebenson is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Chiropractic, Division of Health Sciences at Murdoch University, Perth Australia and consultant for the Murdoch University and the Anglo-European Chiropratic College M.Sc. program in Chiropractic Rehabilitation. The first ever chiropractic member of the McKenzie Institute (U.S.) Board of Directors, he serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals including the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation; the PM&R  Journal of Injury, Function and Rehabilitation; the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapy; and Journal of Manual Therapy.

Dr. Liebenson is the first health care provider to receive a Certification of Recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) on Achievement of Recognition for Delivery of Quality Back Pain Care. He is actively engaged in ongoing research on the spinal stabilization system as a Visiting Scholar at Pr. Stuart McGill’s Spine Biomechanics Laboratory at the University of Waterloo. He regularly assists Pavel Kolar in his courses and has worked with both Dr. Karel Lewit and Pr Vladimir Janda beginning in 1987. Dr. Liebenson publishes extensively and is the editor of  the book/DVD Rehabilitation of the Spine: A Practioner's Manual (2nd ed), 2007.

He has had books published into Spanish, Greek, Korean and Japanese. He was the team chiropractor for the N.B.A. Los Angeles Clippers from the 2006-2007 season until 2009-2010 seasons and is currently a consultant for the M.L.B. Arizona Diamondbacks and Athletes Performance International.
http://www.lasportsandspine.com/

Articles:

Q&A

by Shaun Bossio

I had a colleague recently come to me out of frustration. Their position grade was below that of several other people in their department that they felt were not as valuable. In addition, they felt as though both title-wise and salary-wise they should be receiving more consideration than these folks that they felt had received some undue advancement. After about three years in their position, they felt as though they deserved more than the token merit increases that they had seen over that time.

In actuality, there are two different problems here. The first is that they felt as though they were not receiving the proper recognition. The second and most important though is that they were measuring themselves against the performance of others within their department. Therein is where the problem lies for you. Unless these staff members are reporting to you, there is not a whole heck of a lot you can do about their perceived performance vs. yours. Equating yourself to other comparable employees within your organization is a lot like playing golf. You cannot control what your opponents are shooting, so your best option is just to concentrate on shooting the best score that YOU can. Focusing on comparisons between your coworkers and yourself is a trap that many people fall into and really it is energy that could be better spent making yourself an even better employee.

Many of us at one time or another have felt as though we were not receiving the proper amount of credit (compensation, title, accolades, etc). It is important to remember that while this may be the case, it is a matter to be handled between your employer and yourself and has nothing to do with your coworkers. If you are truly underappreciated in your organization, then it is time to approach your supervisor and let them know why and remind them of the value that you provide to them. In some cases it may be as simple as making a solid case for your yourself and in others the possibility exists of setting goals that, if met, will yield increased benefits to you. Sometimes however, your opportunity lies elsewhere. In many organizations (universities in particular come to mind), unfortunately your best chance is in taking a promotion with another company. In these cases, if you revere your organization, the chances of returning at a higher salary/title have already increased.

Regardless of how you perceive your future, know that the best thing for you is to simply focus on yourself and to do the best job that you can do. If you get to a point where you feel as though you are not being properly appreciated, take some time to remind your employer what they have and why they need you around. The folks that are busy comparing themselves to each other are the ones that are only concerned with doing their job as well or slightly better than their coworkers. In the meantime, you can be the one excelling and getting people to notice.

Shaun Bossio is the Assistant Business Manager at the Boston University FitRec.

Agency

A door is not responsible if it swings and hits you in the nose. Neither is the hand of the guy who punched you.

Philosphers and lawyers talk about agency. Responsibility comes with the capacity to act in the world. If you can decide, if you can act, you have agency.

Life without agency would be a nightmare. Trapped in a box, unable to do anything by choice, nothing but a puppet...

Why then, do organizations and individuals struggle so intently to avoid the responsibility that comes with agency? "It's not my job, my boss won't let me, there's a federal regulation, we're prohibited, it's our supplier, that's our policy..."

It's not something you can turn on or off. Either you have the capacity to act in the world. Or you don't.