Advanced Stretching LI

06/19/2026

When the lower leg bones don’t move well, the stiffness will eventually cause pain above or below. In this case, it was the knees!

The stiffness here will also keep the foot from having a good range of mobility and will also tighten up the quads as well.

If you are dealing with knee pain, try checking to see if you have adequate range of motion in the foot/ankle, can internally and externally rotate the Tibia/Fibula (lower leg bones), and that you can get good hip extension (get the leg behind you without compensating). These might just give you exactly where your pain is coming from!!

06/17/2026

CAR, The thing your joint needed!

Have you ever wondered if your joints are moving as well as they should?
Most people think about stretching muscles, but often overlook the health and mobility of the joints themselves. One of my favorite drills for maintaining and assessing joint health is something called a Controlled Articular Rotation, or CAR for short.

A CAR is a slow, intentional movement that takes a joint through its fullest available range of motion while keeping the rest of the body as still as possible. Think of it as exploring and maintaining the movement potential of a joint.
While CARs may look simple, they can reveal quite a bit about how your body is functioning.

When performing a shoulder CAR, for example, you may notice pinching, clicking, shaking, cramping, or areas where movement feels restricted. The same can be true for the hips, wrists, spine, and other joints throughout the body. These limitations often provide valuable clues about where mobility, stability, or motor control may be lacking.

One of the biggest benefits of CARs is that they encourage movement through ranges we often neglect in our day-to-day lives. Modern lifestyles tend to keep us moving in repetitive patterns, causing certain ranges of motion to become less accessible over time.

By regularly moving joints through their available ranges, CARs may help:
• Maintain joint mobility
• Improve body awareness
• Enhance coordination and control
• Increase circulation to the joint structures
• Identify movement limitations before they become bigger issues
• Support long-term joint health and resilience

Another benefit is that CARs don't require special equipment or a lot of time. Just a few minutes per day can provide valuable information about how your body is moving and where it may need attention.

In the videos below, I've included examples of shoulder, hip, and wrist CARs. Pay attention not only to how the joint moves, but also to whether you notice shaking, compensation, restriction, or differences from one side to the other. These can all be signs that your body is asking for a little more attention.

Movement is one of the body's most important forms of communication. The sooner we recognize restrictions and compensations, the easier it is to address them before they become larger problems.

If you've noticed stiffness, limitations, recurring aches, or simply feel like your body isn't moving as well as it used to, an intro session is a great place to start.
Together, we'll assess how your body moves, identify areas that may be limiting you, and create a personalized plan to help you move with greater freedom, confidence, and control.

Book your intro session today and take the first step toward better movement and long-term joint health.

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06/17/2026

Vibration can be so effective for releasing tissues that have become “stuck” or “glued” along the chain of movement.

Here, it’s my lat, from the thoracolumbar fascia all the way to my armpit was keeping me from being able to get my arm fully overhead.

The vibration helps to allow these tissues to once again glide over each other to allow for a better range of motion. Once she was done, I added in some Serratus activation and some shrugging to help keep this range.

Just one of the tools I use in my practice to help restore glide, lengthen tissues that need it and help alleviate pain and discomfort for clients.

06/16/2026

Make sure to always check around the site of pain to help figure out where the source might be coming from.

Typically, unless you’re dealing with an acute injury, most times the tissue in question is just waiting for what it needs (myofascia release, air flow, strength…etc.), once given, things usually get better quickly.

The key is knowing where to look. However, you don’t need to be an expert in anatomy to figure things out. Just a curious nature, movement, testing, comparing left and right sides. Really is no wrong way, unless it causes pain. If so, I just take another route.

Pain is rarely at the site.

06/15/2026

When building a corrective exercise program, there are a lot of factors to consider.

How well does someone move? Where are they restricted? How do they breathe? Can they manage pressure effectively? Do they have the mobility they need? The stability they need?

The interesting thing about corrective work is that when you give the body what it’s been asking for…whether that’s an activation, stretch, breathing drill, or movement pattern, the body often responds immediately. Areas that were overly tight may finally let go, while areas lacking support begin to stabilize.

This is why we rarely look at pain as a one-joint problem.

The body works as a system, with each part influencing the others. So when someone comes in with pain, we don’t just focus on the area that hurts, we look at the entire picture to understand why it’s happening in the first place.

That’s why assessment always comes before correction.

06/13/2026

Adding compression to the non-dominant side is something I see a lot of. Most of the time is the dominant side that needs length via stretching and vibration therapy. While the non dominant side is craving stability and strength.

Many times the non dominant side presents with tightness and discomfort but doesn’t need to be released! It’s craving some airflow, stability via some activation and strength. Countless clients have come in with this same pattern, all saying the same thing…I stretch the area all the time and it tightens back up.

That’s your body letting you know, stretch is not what it needs. Trying adding some activation and strength and you’ll notice tissues start to let go. This is one example of many I use to help client understand what needs stretching and what doesn’t. Explore your body and try both. It’ll typically need one or the other.

06/12/2026

There is power in the subtle. This move is great for not only loosening up the flexors of the hip, but also, in figuring out which side core is weaker. Most people notice one side is much harder to pull the hip back. That's the weaker side. Spend more time, doing extra reps on the side.
Bonus points: do a low glute bridge after, to get some good hip extension immediately following this drill.

06/11/2026

Why You Stretch And Still Feel Tight

Most people assume that if a muscle feels tight, it must need to be stretched.

Sometimes that's true.

But many times, the tightness you're feeling isn't actually caused by a lack of flexibility. Instead, it may be your body's attempt to create stability where it feels vulnerable.

Think of your nervous system as your body's security system. Its primary job isn't to make you flexible, it's to keep you safe.

When a joint lacks stability, strength, control, or proper positioning, the nervous system will often increase tension in the surrounding muscles as a protective mechanism. In other words, the muscle may not be tight because it's short. It may be tight because it's trying to help.

This is why some people stretch the same area day after day, yet the tightness keeps returning.

Take the hamstrings, for example. Many people feel tightness in the back of their legs and immediately begin stretching them. However, if the pelvis lacks stability, the core isn't functioning well, or the glutes aren't contributing enough during movement, the hamstrings may tighten to provide additional support. Stretching them may create temporary relief, but the body often restores that tension because the underlying issue hasn't been addressed.

The same thing can happen in the neck, hip flexors, calves, lower back, and many other commonly "tight" areas.

So how do you know the difference?

One clue is how long the relief lasts. If stretching creates only temporary change before the tightness quickly returns, there may be a stability issue involved. Another clue is whether activating and strengthening surrounding muscles improves mobility more effectively than stretching alone.

This is why my approach often combines stretching, activation, breathing, and corrective exercises. Sometimes a muscle truly needs length. Other times, it needs support. The key is understanding which one the body is asking for.

If you're not sure and would like help figuring out where in your body you need stretch and where needs strength and activation, schedule an introductory session and let me help you figure that out.

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06/11/2026

My client came in with pain on the top of her foot. As you can see in the video, the foot was stuck in a high arch position (pushing her more into her heel and a posterior tilt in the pelvis.

She also holds a few times a week, so she rotates rights to left quite a bit. The leg that stops the rotation needs to slow down all that momentum and so, many times gets stuck in that rotated position.

Once we were able to create some stability through activation, the body “let go” and we were not only able to restore movement at the foot and ankle, but the pain left as well.

She left with some banded activations which mimic a left hand swing. This will help counteract all the golf movements she normally does and will be part of her warm up before rounds as well.

06/09/2026

The pitching delivery is a power move with an acceleration and deceleration phase. I’m also a high intent pitcher, which means I’m throwing with 90% or higher intensity. At the end of the delivery, the body flexes and rotates hard at release, the front leg takes this force and transfers to the arm.

So, the next day, I typically will do this type of workout as a recovery and “correction”. A way of negating the, at times, 100+ pitches in a game. It’s really just a repeated pattern and I find ways to do some of the opposite patterns soon after.

The result, I have felt so much better, more open and ready to come back quicker because of it. Start thinking of patterns you get into on a daily basis and get creative or just do the opposite of what you’re doing and see how it helps open things up for you.