As the forgotten and neglected uncle of the leg family, the ankle is a joint as detailed as any in the body. Containing 26 bones, 33 joints and over 100 muscles, ligaments and tendons it's clearly not as simple as it may look.

What we need is a concoction of mobility drills, proprioceptve drills and stability drills to nail all facets, important in getting our ankle ready for training.

If you’ve ever done any of the exercise, it’s likely that you’ve heard the phrase “technique is King” (or similar).

I’d like to play the devil’s advocate here, just to question whether our fetish with form has missed the point. Maybe it hasn’t - I’m happy to be wrong on this one.

I feel like culture around technique has drifted so far out of context that it’s more like the Emperor’s new clothes. It seems to have devolved into a lot of mansplaining dweebs stipulating narrower and narrower terms and conditions on any movement and trolling any differing perspective until everyone’s too tired of the criticism to step out and say “Oi! Maybe there’s a bit more to it than that.”

Last weekend I had the privilege of watching our very own Peta G smash through waves in row boat. Of course, being the absolute beast that she is, she won all four of her races on the day.

Before this day I had never even heard of surf boat rowing. I love discovering new sports; whether through friends or patients that I’ve treated.

Here’s a short list of unusual sports that I’ve come across with my personal interpretation of each:

It’s that time of the year again. Football pre-season is upon us, so what can we do to complement our training to optimise power and speed on the field? Undoubtedly your pre-season training will consist primarily of aerobic training and ball work, however, power development is often overlooked at the local level.

Building power in the athlete is beneficial on many levels. Increasing power will allow you to jump higher, kick further, break tackles and burst through packs.

Power is defined as strength multiplied by speed. Heavy compound exercises followed by explosive movements have been demonstrated to improve power and performance in athletes of various sports.

Exercises need to be transferable to the game and requirements of AFL. Developing power within relevant movement patterns is essential for game day performance.

At this stage of training, it is desirable to build a solid strength base for future training. The focus will be on strength and speed in order to develop power. 

Actually, it feels like its already here!

You rock up to the box, rugged up from head to toe and your coach announces that its time to WARM UP! What does that even really mean? You’re already warm right? Beanie, scarf, hoodie, track pants….

Here’s a break down on why we really warm up and how to do it correctly!

The squat has long been held as a mainstay exercise in programming for a wide range of athletes and gym-goers.  From bodybuilders to powerlifters to sprinters to golfers and everyone in between, the weighted squat remains the ultimate exercise in lower body strength and power and a key to high-level athletic performance.  But what makes the squat so effective? What are the factors that lead to such obvious physiological improvements? 

Is CrossFit the Sport of Fitness? It uses high intensity workouts combined with Olympic lifting moves, strength training and gymnastics to build strength, speed, power and endurance. So does it work? Sure you may be getting stronger, and you may have cut your Fran time in half, but are you truly improving your aerobic capacity?

There are a lot of articles out there both promoting and condemning the extent of energy system crossover from training with a CrossFit style program.

So to put this uncertainty to rest, a couple of the guys from Evolutio Sports Physio  are setting out to test the extent of movement and energy system transfer by entering into a 45-kilometer run through the Victorian Alpine Region.

Many of you will have heard of the terms tendinitis or tendinopathy…some of you will have even had the misfortune of experiencing the disruptions it can cause to your training or worse, to day-to-day activities!

Lets be honest, this condition hangs around like a bad smell! The inconsistency in its presentation can drive you insane…it doesn’t take much to flare it up, but on any given day, it could feel like its miraculously disappeared, giving you false hope that you’ve recovered, only for it to come back with a vengeance.