Do you love working out?

Do you enjoy playing tennis or pickleball?

Do you prefer being out on the links, playing a little golf?

Or maybe you like to run, bike, swim, or play hoops occasionally?

Whatever activity you love, if you want to continue to do it, you must make sure your joints are up for the task.

Today, more than ever, active adults are falling prey to the "Vicious Cycle of Soft Tissue Care." A cycle that kicks the pain down the road until you need some kind of invasive intervention like surgery.

Anti-inflammatories, injections, and symptom-focused modalities can extend the time of your favorite activity, but eventually, the "inevitable" occurs.

There was a time in the last 20 years of working with athletes and active adults where I too participated in kicking the pain down the road.

I achieved great results by using specific bodywork techniques and increasing an athlete's efficiency of motion.

Through continual exploration and learning, I've realized some of the holes in my approach.

My mentor of 20 years shared with me a discovery he had made while working with some of the top professional athletes in the world.

This means that just because you can physically go out and play tennis, do CrossFit, play golf, or go for a run does NOT mean your joints can sustain the activities.

Another way to think about it. If you lack proper strength in your foot/ankle complex, when you run, your body will find a way around this local deficiency and compensate by overusing another region or joint.

This can manifest as knee, back, and even neck pain. The frustrating thing is this can seem to "come out of nowhere." One minute everything is fine, the next minute it isn't.

I have been running around playing basketball and soccer for decades. Thousands of suicide sprints for basketball and miles and miles of runs for soccer. Never had a problem . . . until I did.

In my early forties, every time I ran, my neck would KILL me. For years, I've been unable to tolerate running because of my neck. I knew I had a shock absorption problem and blamed it on my structurally flat feet. I just accepted that running wasn't for me and retired my running shoes.

This all changed when I was introduced to these joint capacity assessments.

I had a high global capacity. I could squat, and bench press heavy weight. Could throw a football around, go hiking, do CrossFit WODs, play some basketball, and go for 20 mile bike rides.

The aches and pains I had in my neck from running and my knee, shoulder and ankles when I worked out, were just things I figured I'd have to live with. I managed it by lifting lighter weights, doing more reps, foam rolling, and daily steam and cold plunges.

All super helpful things.

But what was exposed by these exercises was that my local tissue capacity was, frankly, terrible.

One of the areas that had significant deficiencies were my feet and ankles.

After doing Exercise #1 below for a month, I have been on 4 runs and have had zero any neck pain.

The 5 exercises below will assess whether your joints can handle your current activity levels.

The 5 areas of the body that are most injury-prone are the lower leg, knee, hips, lower back, and shoulders.

These five exercises are essential for you to be competent in. I found them challenging, and I'm always surprised by how tough they are for many of my active clients.

The Heel Rise Exercise tests the tissues of your foot and ankle to sustain load and tension over a period of time. This is important because the foot sets up the kinetic chain for success in every standing activity you do. Therefore it is important for it to have the strength endurance to transfer load up the body.

Researchers conducted and analyzed this test with individuals aged between 20 to 81. These studies provide guidelines for where you should be based on your age.
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​The chart below shows the "low-average-high" number of reps performed by males and females at various ages (20s, 30s, etc.) As an example, I am 45 years old and male so I should be able to do approximately 26 heel rises on each leg.

These reps must be high quality reps done repetitively without resting. This test is often done incorrectly, so all variables must be accounted for when executing. The video below walks you through how to do it.