Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group, LLC Blog

This past summer I was honored to be asked to team up with Brijesh Patel and contribute to Craig Liebenson’s upcoming function training text book.  Craig is a health care provider that understands the need for both rehabilitation and serious strength training in order to perform at the highest level while reducing the chance of injury.

In short, Craig “gets it”. 

Recently I was able to watch Craig’s most recent contribution to the health and performance field, his 3-disk DVD set.

Core Stability Training

Functional Performance Training

Flexibility, Yoga Training & Postural Advice DVD

This 3-DVD set is a great addition to all sports medicine libraries as Craig is able to bridge the gap between basic sports medicine rehabilitation exercises all the way to high level training with clear examples and coaching details.  It has been my experience that it is this very gap that so many athletes either reinjure themselves or simply never get out of and thus fail to transition to elite sports performance altogether.  The exercises that Craig outlines can be used in both rehabilitation settings or any high performance training center.

I was particularly impressed with both Craig’s respiration assessment and lower belly breathing exercises, which so many clinicians fail to evaluate and implement during their primary physical exam, along with Craig’s exercise selections and progressions within the Core Stability Training DVD.   Because low back pain is nearly inevitable for all of us, and a certainty among college basketball athletes at some time during their college career, a working knowledge and a mastery of appropriate exercise selection is a paramount.  The exercises outlined in this DVD are a must for all athletes as part of their general physical conditioning prior to low back pain or as part of their comprehensive core strengthening program after an episode of low back pain.

Who hasn’t heard one of these refrains “I brought my MRIs”; “I have a herniated disc so I can’t exercise”; “Don’t I need an MRI?” Educating patients about the importance of finding the painless dysfunction (Cook 2 or 3 score) is one of the cornerstones of modern management of musculoskeletal pain (MSP). Karel Lewit called it the “Functional Pathology of the Motor System”. Stuart McGill trumpets the need to make a “functional diagnosis”.  Our job as rehab & athletic development specialists is to help our patients/athletes to re-conceptualize their problem through a functional lens. This will open the door to a patient-centered goal driven approach powered by self-care methods that restore function. A win-win!

Click HERE to continuing reading Craig's latest blog post.

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/

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