Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Articles

Protein isn't just a nutrient; it's the fundamental building block of life. Understanding the true power of protein is the first step toward achieving your fitness and health goals. This article explains what protein is, why it's indispensable, and how to tailor your protein intake to your unique objectives. Discover the secrets to optimizing your protein consumption and fueling your body for success.

Have difficulty getting into a good front rack or overhead position? 🤔 Try this partner drill to improve your shoulder mobility!

In this article we break down why ankle mobility is critical to your success as an athlete (and human being) and three exercises that you can implement today to help improve your ankle mobility.

Tired of dealing with lower back pain and stiffness?

You’re not alone. Eight out of 10 people experience lower back pain in their lifetime and for those who train, it can be a debilitating feeling.

In this article we break down our top five exercises that you can start implementing today to help address the underlying causes of lower back pain and stiffness.

Did you know that poor posture could have a negative impact on your training?

Fair to say that most of us spend a significant time hunched over our phones scrolling Instagram or working on a computer. Over time this can add up resulting in rounded shoulders, a slouched back and forward head posture that can lead to muscular imbalances and put you at increased risk for injury.

Luckily we’ve found a solution! Fix (and prevent) poor posture by including these exercises in your warm up or post training accessories.

Now, more than ever, it is especially important for us to find ways to help support our immune system. Below are some well known, and maybe not-so-well known strategies for boosting immune system function. Whats great is that these strategies all have actual research evidence supporting the claims and they can easily be implemented into your daily life!

Did you know that Creatine is one of the most researched and evidence-backed legal supplements available to athletes? Numerous studies have demonstrated the safety of long-term use and it has been shown to increase muscle mass and strength, as well as enhance recovery.

Strengthening the knee and surrounding structures is so important to your lower body health and function! Targeting the muscles and other structures around the knee can help to reduce the risk of injury and pain at the hips, knees, ankles and even feet. Try these three exercises so you can continue running, lifting, football or whatever way you like to move, for many years to come!

In a perfect world, you would be able to train year round as hard as you possibly could and never get hurt but training at the ragged edges of your ability can come at a price. As a result, surgery may be necessary to get you back to baseline or give you another shot at achieving your athletic goals. Here are five strategies you can implement to help you optimize your recovery after surgery.

For the most part, exercise (like weightlifting) can improve your sleep quality and duration. However, it is common to see your sleep habits disrupted as a result of aggressive exercise and that can impact your recovery. Some studies suggest that excessive or aggressive exercise can overstimulate the bodies natural stress responses and stress hormones, leading to an increased heart rate and alertness. Throw into the mix a pre-workout Fast Twitch RTD and you could have trouble falling asleep missing critical recovery gains as result. We have pulled some tips that you can implement TONIGHT to dramatically change your sleep habits and improve your recovery. 

Sometimes, you just need to feel healthy and drink something green. I started this healthy shake to help me feel more energized and hydrated throughout the day with hopes of consuming a few more nutrients and vitamins as well. After doing more research, I’ve found that the ingredients can help combat inflammation, boost my immune system, and help with digestion!

Full Recipe Included

A strong and healthy spine is paramount to a healthy body and for a Olympic weightlifter, it's critical for stronger and more stable lifts. A number of nagging complaints can hinder performance including; lower back pain, instability, fatigue, and general stiffness. Any of these can lesson an athlete’s ability to stay braced when squatting, catching a Snatch, Clean, or while dipping and catching in a Jerk. Spinal health is to say the least, IMPORTANT. This week we shift our focus to twisting the spine using the Marichi’s Pose.

One of the more common problems that I have come across over the past eight years of developing athletes has been the management and execution of making a full, functional recovery from knee surgery. Thanks to trial and error, I have found a reliable solution using a combination of...

Are you the type who prefers to stretch more than one area at once, getting more bang for your buck, while working your mobility? Or are you limited for time, so working multiple areas at once is a plus? OR, are you traveling through Costa Rica like I am this week and want to mobilize but don’t want to take away time from your vacation?

Today’s stretch, a Low Lunge with Shoulder Opener is a good example of how you can perform one stretching movement while gaining many benefits at the same time. This particular variation of the Low Lunge works the quads and hamstrings but you can also get a psoas stretch and finally an added shoulder opener when done correctly.

Tight hamstrings are an area of concern with most athletes and can become problematic if they aren't addressed on a regular basis. The hamstrings are a catch 22, the harder you work in the weight room the tighter they become. As a result, tight hamstrings can lead to a limited range of pelvic motion adding additional stress on your lumbar spine which ultimately results in lower back pain. Alright, that sounds bleak I know but there is a stretching solution that should be implemented daily to maintain mobility in your lower body and increase your hamstring flexibility.

DEMO VIDEO INCLUDED

This intense shoulder stretch is a great warm up to open the front of your shoulder, from your Deltoid down through your Subscapularis (see image below). Lengthening of the muscles in the shoulder area will help reduce the possibility of overuse injuries that are common in sports like Olympic weightlifting and football. Perform this stretch daily to maintain a healthy, stable and pain free shoulder!

Video Included

If you're attending the first meet in the American Open Series this weekend, this stretch will open both your hips and your spine having you ready to take the platform. The following stretch can be done easily without any props, perfect for the hotel room or training hall.

Demonstration Video and Cues Inside!

Pain in the groin area is not uncommon for Olympic weightlifters and athletes across varying disciplines and is often the result of tightness in your adductors. The heavy weight room training combined with quick lateral and linear movements found in sport, the adductors can easily become overused and result in your hips compressing causing additional tightness. Sounds painful but how does this impact your training?

Click through to learn why adductor tightness happens and how to fix it!

Video Included

We can all agree that routine stretching of the muscles is important to the overall health of any athlete. With the constant grind of heavy weights, Olympic lifting takes a serious toll of your body and as a result it's important to keep your joints mobile and muscles flexible. Through the California Strength Blog, we have built a library of stretches to help with and maintain the overall health of our Olympic weightlifting athletes and have put together the TOP THREE stretches that every weightlifter should implement on a daily basis.

Videos Included!

Tight shoulders and triceps are a common occurrence among Olympic weightlifters and are often one of the first areas that we need to address when on boarding a new member to the California Strength team. As a result of the sheer volume of overhead movement that every Olympic weightlifter undertakes, the upper body is often left feeling stiff and tight. To combat this stress, it is important to maintain a mobile upper body with a particular focus on opening your front rack position. In today's post, we break down two different stretches demonstrated in the video below.

Demo Video Inside!

Giving proper attention to the mobility within your feet and ankles will greatly improve and strengthen your bottom position, which often means the difference between a missed or made lift on the platform.

Demonstration Video Inside!

As we begin the new year, so begins a new weightlifting cycle across the California Strength online programs. During any accumulation phase, relentless work is placed on your hamstrings, causing them to work at full capacity every day of training. To accommodate this work load, your body will be in need of a good stretch to keep up with such a rigorous training cycle. The following assisted variation allows you to not only focus on your form, but will produce a deeper stretch as well.

Demo Video Inside!

Hips hips hips. What can you do for tight hips? I hear it frequently. It’s one of the top complaints for Olympic weightlifters, much in part due to all the heavy squatting that is programmed on a regular basis. Hips are one area of the Fundamental Five; five areas that should be addressed daily to increase your range of motion. That said, a great stretch to increase hip flexion is the Standing Pigeon.

Demonstration Video Included!

The wrists, like ankles, are another area of the body that often gets overlooked when warming up for your weight lifting session. If you think about it, mobile and strong wrists are critically important for pain free Snatching, Cleaning and Jerking. Not only will every overhead movement benefit from having more mobile wrists but it will also improve your front rack position, which can be the difference between a made and a missed lift! Strong and mobile wrists provide support all the way up the chain from forearm to shoulder, which in turn lessens your chance of an injury.

Demonstration Video Inside!

One of the most common complaints I get from athletes and their coaches is a lack of shoulder mobility, most especially front rack and overhead position. This stretch is great for opening and increasing flexibility for both these movements.

Demonstration Video Included!

We have all probably seen it by now… a snatch missed behind or an unstable jerk that leads to the very scary hyperextended elbow.  Why is this more commonly seen in female weightlifters?  Well it turns out that females are more susceptible to this type of injury due to our specific anatomy.

Daily body maintenance with a focus on preventative care if key.  Most overuse injuries are often the result of what were originally smaller aches and paints that manifest overtime into common weightlifting ailments (ex. Patelar Tendonitis, Shin Splints, Elbow Tendonitis). 

Following the completion of a macrocycle, it is beneficial to prescribe at least one complete week off from training.  Stepping away from the barbell allows time for the body to work out any aches and pains that may have amassed from a year’s worth of hard training and allows your Central Nervous System to recharge..