Welcome to the second installation of our four-part travel training series. This episode is designed specifically for the layover portion of your airline travel. In this video, we will cover five foam rolling exercises that will help you work out some of the kinks from your flight. I have chosen the following combinations to target the areas of your body most impacted from sitting in a compact airline seat for an extended period of time.

Compression wear has greatly increased in popularity in the athletic community over the past few years. From swimmers wearing them between trials and finals at a big meet, to triathletes and runners wearing them in competition, these sometimes neon colored sleeves/tights are hard to miss. But do these skin-tight garments actually improve performance? There are numerous studies on the issue providing slightly different results. But first off, what’s the draw?

This video is the first in the 4-part Bridge Travel-Training Series. Included are 5 stretches that I like to include in a pre-travel routine to prep the body for the journey ahead. Remember, these are just a few examples from the overall routine that I have found to help combat the travel blues.

Bridge coaches & athletes: competition travel and the holiday season are once again upon us. We are, therefore, shifting our focus in the Weekly Video series from breaking down exercises to offering suggestions for you on how to overcome the rigors of travel. Happy Holidays and good luck from all of us at Bridge.

The Power Clean Pull is the first pull exercise in the power series. Following the Dumbbell Jump Shrug, this exercise is the next step in the strength training progression from a strength phase to a power phase. The Power Clean Pull is a compound exercise that helps the athlete develop power and speed through the hips.

If you watch ESPN, or have ever seen a football game live, you’ve probably seen a horrific concussion. Recent attention in the media towards concussions may beg the question of why this is relevant to you. A concussion is, by an increasingly loose definition, a mild traumatic brain injury that includes any trauma induced alteration in mental status that may or may not involve a loss of consciousness. Moreover, this is purely a clinical diagnosis, meaning no test exists today that can concretely detect concussions. In fact, when doctors analyze CT scans and MRI results, the absence of brain abnormalities on the images helps convince them of a concussion-free diagnosis.

The dumbbell jump shrug is an ideal movement to work on vertical power in your strength training. This exercise is key in the transition from a strength work phase into a speed phase. Dumbbells are utilized in lieu of a barbell for developmental athletes, or with athletes that are trying to generate more hip speed. Keep in mind that the focus is hip speed; do not use dumbbells that are too heavy, as this will not allow you to achieve optimal velocity or power.

The shoulder is a complex joint that keeps your arm from its natural desire to fall out of its socket while enabling a wide range of motion in all 3 planes. The joint capsule, rotator cuff muscles, and the tissue connected to your bone, called the labrum, all work to stabilize the joint. Swimmers and water polo players increase their range of motion by creating tiny tears in their labral tissue, trading in shoulder stability for greater mobility. However, high mobility combined with overtraining can compromise the labrum by creating a larger, painful tear. This can be caused by an acute event or gradual repetition.Shoulder injuries are ubiquitous in sports, but swimmers, water polo players, and any athletes that execute repetitive overhead motions are exceptionally at risk. You are 1/3 more likely to dislocate your shoulder with a torn labrum. The labral tissue has little blood supply so these injuries do not heal easily. The frayed ends of a tear contain nerves that cause pain with motion. Depending on the size of the tear, surgery may be necessary to reattach the tissue to the bone, while more minor tears can avoid surgery partially by strengthening the surround musculature to compensate for weakened tissue. Despite the advantage associated with greater mobility in athlete’s joints, larger tears in the labrum can be painful, severely compromise shoulder stability, and lead to worse injury.

Know the Difference between a Separated Shoulder and a Dislocated Shoulder: Mechanism of AC tears and Shoulder Dislocations

The terms “separated shoulder” and “dislocated shoulder” are thrown around in sports so often that it is easy to misinterpret their origin. A separated shoulder injury occurs at the most important joint between the thorax and arm, known as the acromioclavicular (or AC) joint. Located between the end of your clavicle and your scapula, the AC joint and surrounding ligaments are subject to high load transferring from the chest to the upper arm. Ligament tears from falling on your shoulder, especially with your hand outstretched, or striking something hard (like a body check in hockey), allow the clavicle to separate from the scapula, thus the term shoulder separation. In a shoulder dislocation, the upper arm bone, known as the humerus, pops out of the socket known as the glenoid. This injury can also occur from falling, as your body weight pushes the humeral head out of place. The labrum, joint capsule, and muscles are supposed to stabilize the joint and prevent dislocation, but if any of the three are injured, dislocation occurs more readily. A dislocated shoulder can be pushed back into place, and pain may diminish very quickly. Resting your shoulder will prevent re-dislocation, and therapy can improve your range of motion gradually. Separated shoulders are treated by first immobilizing the AC joint with a sling. In a minor separation, healing may take a few weeks, whereas a larger separation may take weeks to months and involve surgical reattachment of torn ligaments1.