Why I Don’t Love the Sleeper Stretch for Throwers ⚠️
The sleeper stretch is basically the Hawkins-Kennedy impingement test in disguise.
Ask 100 throwers where they feel it and less than 20 will say the posterior cuff or capsule (the actual target). Most feel it in the front/side of the shoulder… where the impingement is happening.
➡️ Add in body weight causing shearing and a long lever allowing athletes to easily use excessive force.. Now we’re putting the shoulder in a compromised position with a high risk of over mobilizing or pinching on cuff tendons.
Before you go cranking IR range, ask this:
👉 Is total arc (ER + IR) the same as the non-throwing arm?
If yes, it’s likely just a normal bony adaptation, causing more ER, less IR. That’s not typically a problem.
But if you identify a true capsular or muscular restriction, we’ve got better tools:
✅ Arm Bar Rotations – the kettlebell applies safe, active posterior mobilization ✅ Rotation Cuff Stretch - Does a pretty good job isolating posterior rotator cuff
📲 Bulletproof Your Arm With The Armored Heat App
IYKYK! What’s your heat level?🔥
Fun facts about “heat” rubs 👇
🔥 They don’t actually increase temperature
✅ How do actually they work?
They used something called the Gate-Control Theory of Pain.
Simply put, all sensations travel on the nerve pathways from your body to your brain
Different sensations use different pathways which all run at different speeds.
It just so happens that the extreme heat sensation travels faster than discomfort sensation
The Capsacin (yes, the same ingredient in Jalapeños), stimulates the receptors for heat and thus floods the brain with more heat signals (faster) than pain signals.
This will slightly dampen the discomfort, but will not fully mask it.
There is also a prescription heat rub called “Cheese” that makes its way around big league clubhouses (10x the heat of Red Hot). That one is for the psychopaths!
Let’s just say that was part of my initiation my first year as an intern. 😂 I’ll leave it at that.
Complete game seven inning shutout vs Omaha!
Tremendous Triple-A debut for #Guardians 24yr old LHP prospect Doug Nikhazy tonight for Columbus in game two of a doubleheader as he picked up the win striking out five over 7.0 scoreless innings of work allowing just two hits!
Line - 7.0(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 3BB 5SO (90 Pitches 55 Strikes)
2024 - 55.1(IP) 33H 17R 17ER 22BB 54SO 2.77 ERA
#ForTheLand
💣 Athletes: Do not rush into Labrum Surgery solely based on an MRI
⚾️ A VERY high percentage of healthy throwing arms have Labral damage that are asymptomatic
🔥The Clinical Exam and history must match the imaging
🧠 You don’t want to repair a labrum that isn’t the main issue
Body transfer illusion
The illusion of owning a part/or entire body other than one's own
sight, touch and proprioception (a sense of body position) all combine to convince this person that a rubber hand is their body part
🔈This video has sound
https://t.co/uBLAEGSmMd
Good diaphragmatic breathing has many benefits ranging from:
✅Better ability to relax
✅Lower blood pressure
✅Improves lung function
But many people don’t do it well because of common misconceptions in technique.
Here’s how to properly train it:
🙌 THANKFUL FOR OUR RAPIDLY GROWING COLLEGE BASEBALL FAMILY!
Fired Up for another year of building Armored Scaps across the country and watching these teams dominate!
An easy way to think about arm care for pitchers:
1. Train muscles
Build capacity by training specific muscles. Many arm muscles are working near max capacity when pitching.
2. Train movements
Every link in the chain matters to optimally position the arm—feet to fingers.
Recovery is everything in baseball.
What's the best way to recover?
- Prepare your body for the demands of the sport.
- Fuel your body with a complete, balanced diet.
- Dial in your sleep routine.
This is the foundation. Everything else is icing on the cake.
Fired Up about our Partnership with @OleMissBSB providing Armored Heat to all of their Pitchers 🔥
Looking forward to working with such a prestigious program and being a resource to their incredible Sports Medicine Staff 🙌
Knowledge Bomb 🔥💣🧠: Ribs/T Spine Influence on Scapular Performance
✅ Your ribs and T spine are highly dependent on each other. If one is hypomobile (restricted) at a certain segment, the other will likely be restricted at that same segment
🔥A HUGE factor to take in to consideration is that the Ribcage is the foundation the Scapula Sits on
👀Two important thing to visualize:
1) T spine flexion/extension: picture the always rounded T Spine athlete. The upper ribs would be significantly more forward than the middle ribs at the bottom of the scapula. This would create a large anterior tilt of the scap as it sits flat on the ribs. In contrast, the athlete with great T spine extension would have the top ribs sitting posterior to the mid ribs leading to a posterior tilted scapula = Clean Lay back 🔥
*You don’t want to be STUCK in either position
2) Arm Side T Spine/Rib Rotation (Specifically Ribs 2-5): Now, visualize this righty rotating to the right pushing those top ribs more posterior relative to the bottom of the Scapula (Usually T7/Rib7). This would also lead to the Posterior tilt AND External Rotation of the Scap (bringing the right side of the scap backwards) presetting it to allow greater amounts of Horizontal Abduction while staying centralized
In a nutshell:
✅ T spine/rib extension can help clean up Max ER
✅ Arm sided rotation can help clean up Horizontal Abduction
This is why T Spine/Rib Extension and arm side rotation are so important in arm health and performance!!!
Now, What Factors can Influence these Positions:
1) Chronic/Prolonged Posture: If you spend all of your time in the flexed position, you may start to become rigid in that position over time and lose full Extension Range
2) Breathing Patterns: In general, if you spend all of your time in an inhalated state (shallow breathing), you may visually appear to have good T Spine Extension. However, because you don’t have the Rib/T Spine fluid movement out of extension each each breath , you may be lose the ability to actually use this extension Range to whip/spinal wave into flexion to maximally transfer force
3) Training: You want to touch all end ranges of Rib/Tspine Movement with both Speed and Under Load. This is incredibly important in times of no throw or when capped at a submaximal intensity. Classic case of if you don use it, you may lose it
4) Compensation for other postures or impairments up and down the chain