Ep. 20: Tactical Strength and Conditioning

In this episode, we dive into injury risk profiling—a critical tool for assessing and mitigating injuries in athletes and tactical professionals. We break down how injury profiles, assessments, and biomechanics can identify potential risk factors for injury. You'll learn: ✅ Why human performance teams should screen for injury risk ✅ How to develop and implement a screening protocol✅ Key indicators of injury risk based on sport and athlete profiles If you work in a high performance team as a sports medicine provider or strength and conditioning coach, this episode provides an actionable framework to develop injury risk profiling for your athletes and team. 🎧 Tune in now and take control of your performance!

Ep. 28: Discussing the importance of taking a reconditioning approach to athletic injury to get athletes ready for return to competition What You'll Learn: ✅ The key differences between rehab and reconditioning ✅ Why traditional rehab falls short for athletes ✅ How to train around injuries and maintain performance ✅ The importance of reverse-engineering recovery plans ✅ Why recovery should be seen as a preparation period, not just downtime Thanks for listening and as always, please let us know if you have any questions, recommendations, or topics you would like us to cover!​ More About Us:  Instagram: ⁠⁠@athletes_first_physio YouTube: AthletesFirstPhysio

Improving PT Outcomes in 2025 1. Improving diagnostic ultrasound skills 2. Becoming certified in Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT) 3. Dialing in muscle force testing to become more objective during the rehab and reconditioning process The Musculoskeletal Imperative Enhancing Combat Capability through Effective Injury Management ​Thanks for listening and as always, please let us know if you have any questions, recommendations, or topics you would like us to cover! ​  More About Us: Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@athletes_first_physio⁠⁠⁠ ​

In this week's podcast we talked about the barriers and facilitators to implementing injury prevention and human performance programs within the military. The podcast is based off the paper: Perceived barriers and facilitators to implementation of injury prevention programs in the military: Feedback from inside the trenches Thanks for listening and as always, please let us know if you have any questions, recommendations, or topics you would like us to cover!​ More About Us: Instagram: ⁠⁠@athletes_first_physio⁠ “The views and opinions presented herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its Components. Appearance of, or reference to, any commercial products or services does not constitute DoD endorsement of those products or services. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute DoD endorsement of the linked websites, or the information, products or services therein.”

5 Benefits of Working as a PT for the Army H2F Program Direct Access Physical Therapists as Primary Care Practitioners No Insurance Limitations Working Within a Human Performance Team Education, Teaching, Training Thanks for listening! Message me @Athletes_First_Physio if you have any further questions regarding being a PT with H2F, military PT, or anything else. Athletes First Performance Website “The views and opinions presented herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its Components. Appearance of, or reference to, any commercial products or services does not constitute DoD endorsement of those products or services. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute DoD endorsement of the linked websites, or the information, products or services therein.”

Griffin Zink, PT, DPT, CSCS  joined the podcast to discuss psychological readiness for athletes returning to sport following ACL reconstruction. We reviewed his residency research project as well as his recently published article in Sports Health: The Influence of Strength and Sport Exposure on Psychological Readiness After ACL ReconstructionTopics Include: Why psychological readiness should be considered independently from strength and hop testing Screening psychological readiness via the ACL-RSI  The Inverted U Theory and the critical timepoints and milestones during rehab that have fluctuations in emotions When to administer the ACL-RSI during the return to sport continuum How demographics such as age and gender impact psychological readiness Potential interventions to address psychological readiness Contact: Instagram: ⁠@GriffinZink Email: [email protected] Zink GP, Zwolski CM, Thomas SM, Paterno MV, Schmitt LC. The Influence of Strength and Sport Exposure on Psychological Readiness After ACL Reconstruction. Sports Health. 2024;16(2):239-246. doi:10.1177/19417381231223522⁠​Thanks for listening and as always, please let us know if you have any questions, recommendations, or topics you would like us to cover! ​  More About Us: Instagram: ⁠⁠@athletes_first_physio⁠⁠ ​ Run Time: 36:33  Released on 7April2024

Javy Ramirez, CSCS  joined the podcast to discuss his journey from enlisting as a Navy Submariner, to making the rounds as a D1 football strength and conditioning coach, and ultimately finding his way back into the military setting to become a tactical strength and conditioning coach Topics Include: Experiences in the Navy and lessons learned  Gaining meaningful coaching experience while getting his degree The importance of networking and building relationships to get the jobs and experience that you want in life Leveraging his prior experience in the Navy to help connect, teach, and lead soldiers to higher levels of physical performance Instagram: @Javy_RPerform The Awakening Training Program on Train Heroic ⁠Thanks for listening and as always, please let us know if you have any questions, recommendations, or topics you would like us to cover!​More About Us: Instagram: ⁠@athletes_first_physio⁠​Run Time: 58:21  Released on 26March2024

Orthopedic Surgeon Paul Inclan, MD  joined the podcast to discuss ACL reconstruction, rehab, return to sport, and prevention programs.  Topics Include: Initial evaluation for athletes with an acute knee injury  ACL graft type selection ACL rehab considerations for meniscus pathology  Best ways that surgeons, PT's, and ATC's can come together for designing rehab protocols and return to sport testing How to maximize return to play and injury prevention programs for athletes recovering from ACL reconstruction Paul Inclan, MD Email: [email protected]: Inclanpm⁠Thanks for listening and as always, please let us know if you have any questions, recommendations, or topics you would like us to cover!​More About Us: Instagram: ⁠@athletes_first_physio⁠​Run Time: 1:01:46  Released on September 10, 2023

Trevor Lomax joined the podcast to discuss performance nutrition for the injured athlete and soldier. Topics Include: Key concepts that every athlete or soldier should know about nutrition and injury recovery The nutrition pyramid by Eric Helms  Supplementation to enhance performance and recovery  Nutrition protocols for common injury patterns seen in soldiers How to maximize nutrition during long term rehab post surgery  Trevor Lomax, MS, RD CSSD, CSCSInstagram: ⁠@trevorlomax⁠Thanks for listening and as always, please let us know if you have any questions, recommendations, or topics you would like us to cover!​More About Us: Instagram: ⁠@athletes_first_physio⁠​Run Time: 1:12:43  Released on July 28, 2023

Matt Matau, CSCS joined the podcast to discuss his career as a strength and conditioning coach, moving from the university setting to working with the Army as part of a H2F team. Topics Include: How to handle working with multiple teams as a college strength and conditioning coach The path to becoming a tactical strength and conditioning coach Building relationships with the soldiers that he works with Key considerations when working with the tactical population Advice for coaches who want to move into the tactical setting Matt Matau Instagram: @mathew_f_matauThanks for listening and as always, please let us know if you have any questions, recommendations, or topics you would like us to cover!​More About Us:Instagram: @athletes_first_physioRun Time: 35:34  Released on July 15, 2023