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Ever wondered why some injuries seem to linger or why athletes frequently re-injure the same area? The answer might surprise you—and it's not always where the pain is.

Reconditioning injured athletes requires looking beyond the obvious. When working with athletes recovering from injury, I start with a crucial conversation to understand whether we're dealing with an acute or chronic issue, contact or non-contact injury, and what specific movements trigger discomfort. These details provide the roadmap for effective recovery.

What most traditional approaches miss is the powerful role of the nervous system in pain perception and movement restoration. Protective reflexes often remain activated long after tissue has healed, creating ongoing issues and setting the stage for re-injury. This explains why a previous injury remains the strongest predictor of future injuries—your body's alarm system never fully reset.

Through brain-based approaches, I've seen remarkable results—like the soccer player whose Achilles pain completely disappeared after addressing a pelvic misalignment, or the football player who returned from injury stronger by correcting throwing mechanics that caused the problem in the first place. Sometimes where the pain is, it isn't. The discomfort may simply be the final expression of a chain of compensations happening elsewhere.

My reconditioning process incorporates natural healing supports alongside proper movement training. Using food supplements, light therapy, grounding techniques, and other modalities can significantly accelerate recovery, often allowing athletes to safely return to play sooner than conventional timelines suggest. But perhaps most importantly, I help injured athletes feel like athletes again during recovery—integrating perceptual training, reactive drills, and sport-specific activities appropriate to their stage of healing.

The future of effective reconditioning lies in comprehensive approaches addressing mechanics, neurology, timing, and perception. By incorporating tools like interactive metronomes to assess and improve neurological timing, we're addressing dimensions of recovery that traditional approaches miss. The cerebellum—your brain's center for accuracy, balance, coordination, and timing—proves critical for athletes returning to high performance.

Ready to transform your approach to injury and recovery? Listen now to learn practical strategies you can implement today to bridge the gap between pain and performance.

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Dive into the revolutionary world of jiu-jitsu coaching with Greg Souders, owner of Standard Jiu-Jitsu in Rockville, Maryland, as he challenges traditional teaching paradigms and demonstrates how using the Constraints Led Approach transforms martial arts training.

Greg has made a name for himself through his athletes' impressive results and his distinctive methodology. While traditional coaching often produces athletes who rely on their instructors for solutions, Greg's constraints-led approach develops independent problem-solvers who thrive unpredictably.

What sets Standard Jiu-Jitsu apart? From day one, beginners engage in live, unscripted training—pushing, pulling, and making decisions against resisting opponents. There are no lengthy warm-ups, technique demonstrations, or static drilling sessions. Instead, Greg designs rich learning environments where skills emerge organically through properly constrained problems.

Our conversation explores the philosophical foundations of ecological dynamics, the concept of invariance in movement, and how coaches can shift from being central instructors to environmental designers. Greg shares practical insights about managing athlete recovery, implementing high-frequency training, and monitoring physical readiness through heart rate variability and CO2 tolerance metrics.

Whether you coach combat sports or team athletics, Greg's perspective challenges conventional wisdom about skill acquisition and offers a compelling alternative that prioritizes whole practice over decomposition. His results speak volumes—proving that what many claim impossible is achievable and potentially superior. Prepare to question everything you thought you knew about coaching and learning.

Watch a Foundations Class at Standard Jiu-Jitsu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4QtQTRwwD0&list=LL&index=3

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In this episode, we are excited to welcome back Dr. Robert Melillo, the world's foremost expert on neurological development. It's been five years since our previous discussion with Dr. Melillo, so we'll be exploring the new and innovative projects he has taken on. Our conversation will cover brain development, the ways our posture mirrors this growth, and how retained primitive reflexes influence athletic performance, injuries, and rehabilitation.

This is an episode you won't want to miss!

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In today's episode, we have podiatrist Andy Bryant. Andy focuses on the natural function of the feet, exploring how they are biologically and evolutionarily designed to move. Andy is also a professional educator for The Foot Collective, a global community of experts committed to addressing the root causes of dysfunction and restoring foot health.

In this episode, we explore what led Andy away from traditional podiatry and onto a natural path. We also cover common foot issues he encounters in his clinic, his thought process for addressing them, considerations regarding children and footwear, and instances of misdiagnosis in foot problems.

https://thefootcollective.us/

https://www.instagram.com/andybryant_podiatrist/?hl=en

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Mat is a wealth of knowledge. In this episode, we welcome back Mat Boule, founder of the IP Institute and Posturology Instructor at CIES.

In our discussion, we explore the complex neuroscience of brain development, looking at various brain regions and their functions, including the neuroscience of posture and our feet.

Mat is a vast source of knowledge.

To learn more from Mat, check out his courses.

IP Institue: https://institutip.com/?lang=en

Posturology: https://ciesposture.com/?lang-en#team

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"If you don't know history, it's as if you were born yesterday. If you were born yesterday, then any leader can tell you anything." - Howard Zinn.

“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill.

“The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.” - Maya Angelou.

In this episode, we look back through history and the forgotten contributions of one of the ultimate greats in our field of sports performance, Dr. Bondarchuk.

Dr. B was a pioneer in the study of Transfer of Training, individualization of training, and periodization. His results and the results of his athletes speak for themselves. (12 World Records. His athletes won Gold, Silver, and Bronze in three Olympic Games. That’s every Olympic hammer medal for 12 years in a row.)

His work should be commonplace knowledge in our field.

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Today's episode is with Skill Acquisition Coach Tyler Yearby. Tyler is the co-founder of Emergence: A Movement Skill Education Company.

Tyler has worked with athletes at all levels and most recently just received his PhD in Sport & Exercise. In this episode, we go through what a Skill Acquisition coach is. What is Ecological Dynamics, and how is it different from the standard "coach lead" approach? What an "alive" movement practice may look like, and where coaches interested in applying these concepts can start.

Tyler has also published articles and research, which I highly recommend you check out!

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/382911760_The_Role_of_Skill_Acquisition_Specialists_Within_Sports-Why_Every_High-performance_Sports_Organization_Needs_These_Experts

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367319646_Being_Water_how_key_ideas_from_the_practice_of_Bruce_Lee_align_with_contemporary_theorizing_in_movement_skill_acquisition

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359706952_Applying_an_Ecological_Approach_to_Practice_Design_in_American_Football_Some_Case_Examples_on_Best_Practice

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In today's episode, we have Meredith Oak. Meredith is the Executive Director of the Institute of Applied Quantum Biology and hosts the Quantum Biology podcast.

Meredith is a wealth of knowledge in quantum health, and in this episode, we discussed how modern medicine is missing a significant peace in the health and wellness puzzle. What is good and bad light. The misconceptions of sunlight. And how changing your environment can affect your overall health.

If after listening to this episode doesn't fire you up to start making simple changes to your life and long-term health, we are affiliated with RA Optics blue light-blocking glasses. Just use the discount code dcsports to save!

We are also affiliated with Therasage Infrared Products. Click on the link to see their fantastic line of healing products and save using our discount code 6528.