Omniathlete

Tissue flossing — the application of elastic compression bands during active movement — has been a standard tool in athletic training rooms and rehabilitation clinics for over a decade. The evidence base supporting its use for improving range of motion, joint mobility, and movement quality is well-established. What has been less well-defined is why some presentations respond immediately and durably, while others produce only temporary improvement before the restriction return

For more than two decades, core stability has been one of the most widely used concepts in sport science and rehabilitation. It appears in clinical assessments, warm‑ups, physiotherapy prescriptions, and performance programs. It is invoked to explain pain, prevent injury, and enhance athletic performance. Yet the more closely we look at the origins of the idea, the less coherent it becomes.

In contemporary sport, the word “recovery” is sometimes used so casually that it has almost lost its meaning. Athletes and practitioners repeat that recovery is essential, yet the practical interpretation often collapses into a narrow set of routines—usually a foam roller, a massage gun, or a cold plunge. This reductionist view is incompatible with the complexity of human physiology.

In clinical practice and high-performance settings, one of the most persistently mismanaged presentations is the athlete who has full passive range of motion but cannot access that range under training demand. Passive straight leg raise looks normal. Ankle dorsiflexion appears adequate on the table. But load a Romanian deadlift, drive into the bottom of a squat, or ask for push-off at sprint velocity — and the restriction reappears immediately.

Turf toe is far more complex than a simple hyperextension injury. While contact mechanisms remain relevant, a substantial proportion of cases arise from modifiable biomechanical factors such as excessive pronation, functional hallux limitus, restricted FHL glide, and insufficient intrinsic foot strength. Effective prevention and rehabilitation require a comprehensive approach that addresses these underlying mechanisms rather than merely treating symptoms.

Static, constrained movement screening tests like the FMS are built on outdated assumptions about motor control and movement quality. By ignoring variability, degeneracy, and the role of constraints, they fail to capture the essence of athletic movement. Worse, they risk misleading practitioners into overvaluing appearance over function.

The use of metronomes is often seen as a means of excessive control in movement and training in general. However, when used strategically, the metronome can acts as a temporal scaffold that stabilises neural control when the system is noisy, injured, or actually relearning. Its value does not lies in dictating how movement should look like, but in supporting when movement unfolds.

In recent years, hamstring tantrums (also referred to as Swiss‑ball kicks or flutter kicks) have gained popularity, largely supported by EMG studies reporting high levels of hamstring activation during the exercise, and viral trending videos on social media. However, what's important to understand is that muscle activation alone is a poor criterion for judging the usefulness of an exercise.

For decades, the fields of sports science and medicine have operated under a reductionist paradigm. We've often viewed the human body as a collection of parts. However, a growing body of evidence and a shift toward dynamical systems theory suggest that this perspective may be incomplete. This article explores the concept of movement systems, how movement patterns emerge through the interaction of complex constraints, and why "movement solutions" are more important than "ideal

Isometric training is often discussed as a single method, but this framing obscures the critical distinctions between how isometric force is produced and why those distinctions matter for performance, durability, and health. This article outlines the rationale for progressing isometric training through Isometric Strength Endurance using Pushing Isometric Muscle Actions (PIMA) at longer contraction durations (45 seconds) and maximum descending intensity across the whole body.

Foot strengthening exercises are inexpensive, easy to perform, and result in significantly better outcomes.

by Gursharan Chana, PhD We all know maintaining good hydration contributes significantly to peak physical and mental performance. However, knowing when you have drunk enough fluid to achieve optimal hydration is not clear cut, and relying on your body’s thirst response can lead to significant underestimation in fluid requirements. Why is maintaining fluid balance so important? Water is the main constituent of the human body, comprising 60% of total body weight, with the vital

by Sports Excellence (Athens, Greece) p.s. This is the english transcript of the interview originally published on n. 6 issue (March 2020) of the e-Mag edited by Sports Excellence ( https://sportsexcellence.gr/wp-content/uploads/fylladia/SE_emag_issue06_MAR_2020.pdf ) Sports Excellence: How important do you consider the monitoring of an athlete to be, through the use of a modern software designed to measure training load and perceived tiredness? Antonio Robustelli: Monitor

Whether you are recovering from an injury or looking to upgrade your athletic performance, one major key to success lies in the nervous system. The nervous system, including the brain, is a major influence on the function of the body. It directly controls cognitive and athletic performance, hormonal releases, energy levels, organ function, and the processes of healing and recovery. One particularly interesting quality of the brain is that it spends a lot of energy limiting us

Recovery is an essential part of the training program for high-level performance and continued improvement (Dalleck, 2019). Lack of recovery, trauma, overuse or prolonged stress of the tissue structures are all common examples of causes of the occurrence of sport injuries (Bahr et al., 2015). There are several treatments that are usually performed after sports injury aiming to speed up the recovery process. These treatments traditionally include e.g. hot or cold packs, thera

If you’ve had issues with hydration or cramp in the past and have gone online looking for a solution then the chances are that you’ve seen the term ‘sweat test’ mentioned. In this piece i will explain just what a ‘sweat test’ is, what the options are and how taking one could help you significantly improve your performance. First, Why do Humans Sweat so Much? Here’s a pub-quiz-worthy fact for you, humans sweat considerably more than any other animal on earth. Our sweat rate

For almost 20 years I have been helping people overcome pain with manual therapy and using exercise to help them improve functional capacity. I have found it very easy to perform manipulation, tooling, needling, taping (among other modalities) to help alleviate pain. But as a clinician I have the responsibility to include active therapy (exercise) whenever possible. My belief is manual therapy is the bridge to help people be more active and exercise more. The difficult part f

Every death is too early to occur. The various deaths of professional athletes, that have occurred in recent years, unfortunately start a series of debates on professional sport as well as worrying discussions. Meetings and good intentions still doesn't lead to any results or positive outcomes and funeral ceremonies are trapped in the meaningfulness. Recently, Fiorentina's captain Davide Astori and 18-year-old French football player Thomas Rodriguez died as a result of an hea

The Hamstring Management series continues with the fifth episode in which i had the pleasure of discussing with Andreas Beck, currently holding the role of the Head of Strength & Conditioning at Borussia Dortmund. AR: Andreas, thank you for being part of this hamstring management series. Can you explain how your role has evolved over time and how you actually manage all the aspects related to performance and rehab at Borussia Dortmund? Andreas Beck: I'm working in professi

For the fourth episode of the Hamstring Management series i'm happy to introduce Gustavo Pérez Solano, which is currently the Head Fitness Coach at River Plate 2nd Team. I have known Gustavo for several years, he is one of the smartest and respected professionals in football in Argentina and he has worked with all the best Argentinian players the River Plate has been producing for the past 20 years. AR: Gustavo, you've been working with River Plate for a long time now. Can