Derek M. Hansen - September 2023

This past summer I have spent more time going back to my roots and watching the sport of Track and Field, also referred to ‘Athletics’ outside of North America.  All of my kids are still competing in the sport and I still have lots of friends coaching at all levels.  It was enjoyable to watch a sport where individual performances and results based on quantifiable times, distances and heights determined success and gratification.  Of course it is always nice to win and take home a medal.  However, achieving a measurable improvement in your discipline can still be rewarding and worth the thousands of hours of time and effort.

When you have had the chance to work with a multitude of sports over the years, it is both easy and embarrassing to try to take credit for the success of a team.  The aggravating reality of the situation is that there are so many factors that go into achieving a championship...

Derek M. Hansen - August-September 2023

Fear-mongering is one of the best ways to get people’s attention these days.  It’s being used effectively by all groups – most notably, politicians, economists and virologists – so why not take full advantage of this phenomenon when advising strength and conditioning coaches, fitness experts and rehabilitation professionals.  Calling something a ‘disorder’ is also a good way to formalize and articulate a problem in society.  So now that I’ve got your attention, let’s get down to business.

I’m going to come out and say it right now.  I believe there are far too many exercises out there, and it is creating a problem for both athletes and the general population.  Injuries are continuing to rise at unacceptable rates in both of these groups, and it is debatable if any  performance improvements we are seeing are the result of savvy...

Derek M. Hansen - August 2023

Now that we are in the midst of NFL pre-season training camps, the combination of heavy training and competition for a roster spot tends to be a fertile ground for catastrophic injury.  While soft-tissue injuries such as hamstring pulls, calf strains and low back pain are a common side effect of training camp, it is the season and/or career ending injuries involving joints and connective tissues that are much more concerning to players and the teams’ head offices.

In particular, we are discussing the dreaded Achilles tendon rupture.  If you have ever been present when the thickest tendon in the human body decides to unravel instantaneously, the sound of the ‘pop’ that occurs will haunt you forever, especially if you are a middle-aged former athlete.  Individuals who have had the unfortunate experience of having their Achilles tendon rupture during an athletic pursuit will comment that the injury initially felt as...