The Ask Mike Reinold Show

Building a sports physical therapy practice used to follow a predictable playbook. You opened your doors, printed some business cards, and spent your Friday afternoons dropping off food at local orthopedic clinics hoping to get on their referral list. For decades, doctor relationships were the lifeblood of private practice growth. But the modern healthcare consumer operates differently. Today, eve...

If you’ve spent any time on social media or in many gyms lately, you’ve probably heard the buzz about BPC-157. Often called the "healing peptide," it’s being touted as a miracle cure for everything from chronic tendinopathy to acute muscle tears. Patients are showing up in our clinics asking where they can get it, and some "wellness clinics" are already handing out injections l...

We’ve all been there—you’re working with a high-level athlete after a Bankart repair or Laterjet, they’re at the 6-month mark, their ROM looks great, and they’re itching to get back on the field. The surgeon gives the green light, but you can’t help but wonder: Are they actually ready? In the world of ACL rehab, we have strict batteries of tests, symmetry indexes, and psychological readiness scale...

Wouldn't it be amazing if an ACL tear can heal on its own without surgery? For sure, and there have been recent discussions about the Cross-Bracing Protocol and its impact on these injuries. But is this too good to be true? In this episode, we discuss the emerging cross-bracing protocol for non-operative ACL treatment, exploring its potential benefits and drawbacks. There is some skepticism a...

Ten weeks to start throwing after UCL surgery sounds like a miracle timeline, until you’re the clinician staring at a stiff elbow, a deconditioned arm, and a protocol that assumes the athlete is further along than reality. We’re seeing more internal brace UCL repairs and fewer “classic” Tommy John reconstructions, and that shift is changing how baseball pitchers, gymnasts, and other overhead athle...

We’ve all seen it: the acute ACL patient who drags their leg into the clinic, unable to squeeze their quad to save their life. We call it Arthrogenic Muscle Inhibition (AMI), and for years, we’ve treated it as a stubborn, long-term enemy. But a fascinating new study from the American Journal of Sports Medicine suggests we might be overcomplicating it. Researchers analyzed 300 acute ACL patients an...

We all have our favorite "go-to" exercises for patellar tendinopathy. For years, the single-leg decline squat has been the gold standard, often introduced early in rehabilitation to target the tendon. But what if I told you that this specific exercise actually places more load on the patellar tendon than running or double-leg jumping? A massive new study just analyzed 35 common rehabilit...

The use of ChatGPT and other AI models has exploded in recent years, and you're starting to see this in most professions, including the medical profession. We've been using AI quite a bit at Champion for a variety of things and wanted to share our experiences. We go over some of the use cases as well as different models that we've tried with varying success We do think you should be...

Mike Boyle had a great discussion on Instagram several weeks ago about adults lifting to failure and using low rep schemes. It sparked a lot of arguments among people about which approach is best and whether there's always an answer to this question. We discuss whether adults should lift to failure on low-rep schemes in this week's episode.  We'll go over what we do at Champion, how...

Surgeons are adding more lateral extra-articular procedures to ACL reconstructions, especially in young cutting and pivoting athletes. On paper, it sounds great—tighten up the anterolateral side, improve stability, protect the graft. But what does that actually mean for clinical outcomes and for how we manage rehab? A new Level 1 systematic review and meta-analysis just pulled together the randomi...

Wow, I can't believe it's been 10 years! It truly is an honor to be able to host a live episode celebrating the 10-year anniversary of our podcast. Thank you so much for listening all these years! In this episode, we'll answer live questions from an audience of listeners, reflect on some of our favorite moments of the podcast, and give out some prizes and special discounts to all th...

Quadriceps shutdown after ACL reconstruction is one of the biggest barriers we see in the clinic. Even with modern surgical techniques and “aggressive” rehab, too many athletes struggle to get their quad strength back, and that deficit shows up later in gait, loading, and confidence on the field. A new systematic review and meta-analysis just took a fresh look at neuromuscular electrical stimulati...

There is substantial variability in rehabilitation protocols following PCL and meniscus repair surgery. There is often a conservative period where we minimize or avoid hamstring activity. Biomechanical studies show that hamstring activity can increase posterior translation of the tibiofemoral joint and potentially put stress on a healing meniscus repair. In this episode, we discuss the science beh...

Baseball injuries continue to rise at an alarming rate. Over the years, we have seen the development of more advanced training velocity programs and pitchers that are focused on enhancing their performance during the offseason. This has led to a variety of development programs being performed over the offseason, which takes away from downtime and allows the body to heal after a long competitive se...

Blood flow restriction training is gaining popularity, and new research continues to show benefits and potential new uses. We review a brand-new randomized trial examining a brief BFR session before exercise in patients with knee pain. The question: Can a quick change before you even start your main work meaningfully alter pain during the session that follows? The results nudged us to rethink how...

If you treat a lot of knee pain, this week’s episode is for you. We review a new best-practice guide for patellofemoral pain that pulls together research, patient voices, and expert reasoning into one playbook. But here’s the twist: when you blend the data with what patients actually want and what clinicians really do, one deceptively simple priority rises to the top - something many of us already...

Returning to sport after an injury is always a challenge. In the profession, a lot of attention has been given to objective testing to determine when and how to progress athletes. This has been a significant evolution that will definitely improve outcomes. But what do you do when an athlete passes objective testing but not psychological readiness testing? We talk about what we do in this week’s po...

There is no doubt that back and hip pain are often linked and sometimes confusing to diagnose. But sometimes it's hard to differentiate the two, and what may be the underlying cause versus the symptoms. We discuss in this week’s podcast episode. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/ how-to-differentiate-between-hip-and-low-back-pain / Learn our proven system for s...

A meta-analysis was recently published, suggesting that outcomes may be the same between nonoperative and surgical reconstruction after ACL injury.  Clearly, social media has been buzzing.  But are outcomes really the same?  We discuss this in this episode. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/ are-the-outcomes-really-the-same-between-nonoperative-and-surgical-treatmen...

One of the most essential parts of ACL rehabilitation is regaining strength in the leg. Traditionally, rehab specialists have been guilty of underloading people during the rehabilitation of these injuries. Ah, the old “3 sets of 10.” In this episode, we review a recent journal article that compares the outcomes of two different set and rep schemes during ACL rehabilitation. To see full show notes...

Hamstring strains continue to rise in sports.  As we continue to learn more, the evolution of our rehabilitation programs has also evolved. Here are our current thoughts on how fast to progress athletes back to sports after a hamstring strain. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/ how-to-progress-rehabilitation-following-hamstring-strains / Learn our proven system for...

Objective strength testing is always important to document progress and ensure that patients are ready for the next phase of rehabilitation. But, when do you start testing strength with a hand-held dynamometer after rotator cuff repair surgery? We discuss on this episode of the podcast. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/ when-to-test-strength-after-a-rotator-cuff-re...

Low back pain injuries are common in athletes, and often present differently than the typical orthopedic disc-related neurogenic pain. In this episode, we discuss a recent review article on the diagnosis and management of low back pain in athletes. It was nice to see this topic applied to a specific athletic population and include recommendations on treatment as well as evidence-based lifting modi...

As we continue to learn more and more about arthrogenic muscle inhibition after ACL reconstruction surgery, we can continue to build better rehabilitation programs for our athletes. In this episode, the team discusses a recent review article on AMI and its impact on postoperative rehabilitation and return to sport decision-making. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/...

In this podcast, we review a recent article on the effect of strength training on running economy and performance. Many people have been advocating for incorporating more strength training into the routine of runners for some time.  It’s nice to see research emerging to continue supporting this. A simple strength training program can improve running performance. To see full show notes and more, he...