control yourself with dr andreo spina

In this episode Dr. Spina sits down with Sport Specialist Chiropractor, and FRS Instructor Dr. Michael Chivers to discuss the functional anatomy and clinical management of the shoulder girdle.

However, as is usually the case, the conversation ends up following a number of important tangent topics, this time related to the overarching idea of system emergence and how it affects the evolution of human movement, anatomic evolution, injury creation, as well as injury management.

This deep dive is invaluable for the listeners of all backgrounds including Strength & Conditioning specialists, Manual Therapists and medical practitioners, as well as those simply looking to improve their physical wellbeing.

In this episode Dr. Spina sits down with Dr. John Saratsiotis Physiotherapist, Chiropractor, Biochemist, and lead FRS instructor to discuss a controversial topic in the world of manual therapy and injury management, namely the topic of soft tissue Fibrosis.  What is it?  How does it form? How does it affect force transmission and the many misconceptions surrounding both its existence following injury as well as soft tissue management. We also cover related concepts including tissue directionality in the fascial system, the evolution of tissue healing in humans, what pain is and the role manual therapy plays in its management, and selection of appropriate therapeutic outcome measures.  Complete with scientific references, this talk is a deep dive into the cellular understanding of fibrosis and how it effects human performance making it an important listen for Strength & Conditioning specialists and Manual Therapists alike.

To get the most out of this episode, watch it on YouTube where we reference illustrations and scientific sources.

John Quint and I recently visited Tom Barry, Chief Operations Officer of Westside Barbell, and we’ll be co-releasing that episode in the coming weeks.

For this podcast, John and I took the opportunity to sit down to discuss John’s history at WSBB and his relationship with Louie Simmons who was a pioneer in developing world, record- breaking strength athletes. We also discuss the present state of strength training and how it has evolved to include training the internal environment.

Some of the topics discussed are:

• The evolution of strength
• The use of resistance bands in life at WBSS
• What are the force velocity and force posture curves
• Internal versus External training
• What embryology tells us about anatomy
• Quint’s specialty training for offensive lineman
• How much strength do you need for sport?
• And much more.

Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice and it is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. For more information or to seek out an FRS provider in your area, please visit our website.

To watch on YouTube, visit Dr Andreo Spina

In this episode I sit down with FRS Instructor Josh Halbert for a philosophical discussion about the concept of “exercise”. We discuss the merits of using an evolutionary perspective to view exercise, modern approaches to physical training, inherent problems with current approaches, and how to reframe intentions and results through training.

Other topics include:

• The influence of memetic selection on exercise creation
• The history of sports science
• Complex system emergence
• Strength programming for trained vs untrained populations
• What it means to send physiological signals for sport specific results
• And multiple other topics

Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice and it is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. For more information or to seek out an FRS provider in your area, please visit our website.

In this podcast, I sit down with FRS Master Instructor Dr. Michael Chivers for a technical discussion about the evolutionary perspective of anatomy with special attention on the hip joint. We explore how evolutionary pressures forged anatomical structures and their influence on the biomechanics of joints and how the FRS Bioflow model differs from traditional understandings of anatomy.

We also discuss the concept of tissue force profiles, tissue specificity in palpation and rehabilitation, and clinical examples from our experiences treating and training clients.

Some of the specific anatomy discussed includes:

• Joint space of the hip
• Capsular tissues and ligament formation in evolution
• The adductor magnus, longus, and brevis
• The rectus femoris
• The gluteus minimus
• Pain and referral patterns
• And more...

If you would like to see the related anatomy visuals, please watch the podcast on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/URYpG5UvjnA

 

Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice and it is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. For more information or to seek out an FRS provider in your area, please visit our website.

In this episode Dr. Spina sits down with FRS Master Instructor Hunter Cook to discuss case study of a retired professional baseball pitcher. Though an FRS lens, Hunter and Dre discuss how this athlete’s training was managed over time with reference videos and photos of his progress. 

Topics covered in the conversation include:

• The pathophysiological effects of pitching over time
• The pitfalls of kinetic chain assessment
• Shoulder dynamics in pitching
• Establishing active to passive ratios
• The importance of neurological-biological afferent and efferent communication
• The relationship between motor learning, skill acquisition and tissue quality
• Creation and maintenance of cortical action maps
• Cultivation of musculoskeletal longevity
• And many more…

Whether you are manual therapist, S&C coach or athlete, this episode highlights the intricacies of improving and/or reversing deleterious effects of decades of performing at the highest levels of human athletics.

Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice and it is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. For more information or to seek out an FRS provider in your area, please visit our website.

In this bonus episode we listen in on a meeting between Dr. Spina and FRS instructors John Quint and Dewey Nielsen as they discuss a variety of topics surrounding two cases of Jiu Jitsu athletes with very different backgrounds. 

Topics covered in the conversation include the cultivation of absolute strength in non-absolute strength sport athletes; how to prioritize training goals using the FRS Internal Strength Model; the “Training Delusion”; dosing of Internal vs. External training; injury management programming, and many more.

Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice and it is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. For more information or to seek out an FRS provider in your area, please visit our website.

 

 

Volume has largely been viewed as an endlessly positive quality to pursue in current strength and conditioning protocols. However, “more” doesn’t alway equal “better”. 

In this episode, Dr. Spina sits down with FRS Instructors John Quint and Dr. Michael Chivers to discuss programming and volume issues in training. What are the downsides of pursuing volume? Moreover, what is missing from standard-model training programs?

Topics include:

• What is strength?
• How to elicit specific endocrine responses towards building this strength.
• Training inputs and how they can be defined and categorized.
• Programming and the importance of intensity.
• Blind-spots in current approaches to clinical rehabilitation. 

Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice and it is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. For more information or to seek out an FRS provider in your area, please visit our website.

LOAD > CAPACITY = INJURY. Using this simple equation as a starting point, Dr. Spina explores the idea of Load Management in professional athletics. Specifically, he discusses how a shift in focus to tissue specific training can hedge an athlete's tissue capacity against the increasing loading demands that occur over their career.  Topics covered include injury mitigation and management, the physiology of tissue healing, cellular communication and force signalling, loading ‘vacations’ in professional sport, and more.

Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice and it is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. For more information or to seek out an FRS provider in your area, please visit our website.

In this episode Dr. Spina discusses the management of low back pain and what may be missing from your treatment and/or rehabilitation strategy. Topics include the evolutionary anatomy of the spine, the importance of re-establishing segmental spinal motion, the misunderstandings regarding neutral spine, the need for specificity in treatment and training inputs, and more.

Whether you are a therapist, S&C coach, or patient, this podcast will shed light on some of the most common issues in dealing with both acute and chronic low back pain cases, as well as provide ideas to improve long term clinical outcomes.

Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice and it is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. For more information or to seek out an FRS provider in your area, please visit our website.