Matt Rutzou Applied Exercise Science

💥Sport Specific💥
📝 What does the term 'sport specific' really mean in the context of a strength and conditioning program?
❌ What it doesn't mean is getting carried away with exercises that look like your sport (ie: doing agility ladders with a soccer ball or sprint training with a rugby ball under your arm). In fact anyone that knows anything about motor patterning and skill acquisition will tell you this will only decrease skill and performance.
✅ What is does mean is training athletic qualities relevant to the demands of the sport itself (ie: strength, power, speed, endurance, robustness etc.)
👉 The following is an example of an upper body strength/ ballistic power session for a Rugby Union athlete. Exercises include force production and absorption as well as joint robustness capacities specific to the sport.
A1: Rotational MB Throw (not shown)
A2: Clap Push Up + Stiff Arm Catch
A3: Prone Blackbird
B1 Bench Press
B2 MB Tall Kneeling Falling Chest Pass
C1 TRX Row.- Feet Elevated
C2 Half Kneeling Cable Chop
D1 DB Fly
D2 High To Low Cable Row - 1 Arm
D3 Banded Shoulder Clocks - Slider
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💥Ankle Proprioception💥
🤕 Ankle injuries are among the most common in sports and physical activity. This due to the high degree of force that travels through the ankle anytime we participate in strenuous ground based activities. Todays post looks at ankle proprioception and how it helps reduce the likeliness of ankle injury and furthermore increases athletic performance.
📝 Simply put, proprioception is the ability to coordinate and determine the bodies position and movement in space.
🦶 The foot and ankle is our first point of contact between the body and the surrounding environment, thus providing important sensory feedback with every step to help optimise balance control.
✅ Exercises that promote instability at the ankle statically or dynamically have been shown to be most effective in preventing ankle injuries and improving balance control and proprioception. (which is correlated to increased performance).
👉 The following exercise progressions can be used as part of a periodised holistic approach to ankle rehabilitation, injury prevention or increased performance.
1️⃣ Standing -1 leg
2️⃣ KB passover - B Stance
3️⃣ KB Round the World
4️⃣ KB Round the World - Balance Pad
5️⃣ Arabesque
6️⃣ MB Rotational Slam
7️⃣ Lateral Hops - Inside & Outside Edge
8️⃣ Lateral Hops - Undulating
9️⃣ Perturbations - 1 leg (not shown)
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