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The Connect blog is where you will find practical, science-based information on injury prevention and recovery, improving your health and fitness and maximizing sports performance. Our goal is to share evidence combined with clinical and coaching experience to help you live, move and perform to the best of your ability.

Are you a regular spin bike enthusiast? If so, optimizing your setup is key to achieving maximum comfort and power output during your workouts. Today, we'll guide you through three simple steps to help you find the perfect fit on your bike. Let's dive in![embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp86SFhJrMs[/embed]Step 1: Finding the Ideal Seat HeightTo start, let's focus on finding the ideal seat height. Begin by placing one foot at the 6 o'clock position and ensuring that your heel is over the center of the pedal. In this position, your knees should be straight. To double-check, bring the ball of your foot back onto

Are you looking to level up your core exercise routine? Dead-bugs might be just what you need to get the results you're looking for. Dead-bugs are a trunk stabilization exercise that helps you develop a strong core base. This exercise is beginner-friendly and can be made harder through a series of simple progressions. In addition to being a great addition to your core routine, dead-bugs are also an effective exercise for injury prevention, managing back and neck pain, and improving technique in other activities such as running and cycling.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1HiPKzo8g8[/embed]Here are two ways dead-bugs can benefit you:Injury Prevention: Poor spinal stability

The Olympic lifts have long been a staple in strength room training for athletes of all levels. The two lifts and their variations, the snatch and clean & jerk, are known for their ability to increase an athlete’s rate of force development, power output and overall explosiveness. But there are many more benefits that the Olympic lifts can provide to athletes beyond explosiveness. In fact, the Olympic lifts are an excellent tool for developing multiple physical characteristics with one movement, making them one of the most comprehensive exercises an athlete can perform.

For active people who have recently recovered from COVID-19, what may be top of mind is the potential for short- and long-term health complications like myocarditis (inflammation of the heart). Although the prevalence of cardiac injuries are quite rare among an athletic population, current medical guidance suggests a conservative approach when returning to exercise as there is limited research regarding longer-term post-infection outcomes.

This study focused on two different ways to improve anterior leg rotation, which you may know as ankle flexibility (dorsiflexion). This action occurs when the shin bone (tibia) moves forward relative to the stationary foot on the ground. Sufficient anterior leg rotation is important for these muscles to do their jobs well. With restricted anterior leg rotation, energy absorption through the muscles is reduced, and more of the force absorbed when landing is transferred to other parts of the leg like ligaments and bone. This can lead to higher risk of injuries like patellar tendinopathy (Jumper’s knee) or even ACL

Training programs often emphasize large muscle groups through compound exercises like the bench press, lat pulldown and overhead press to focus on increasing strength and size. Smaller muscle groups around the shoulder complex that are needed for stabilization are often neglected, and imbalances in these areas can increase risk of impingement and instability.

We all have good days and bad days. We’re never at our best all the time. As an athlete, you probably know better than most how much this is true. When you’re having a good day, you know it and you feel like there’s no limit to what you might be able to accomplish and when you have a bad day…. Well, that can be hard to talk about.