Sports Chiropractor Martin Kumm

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Schweiz
Basel
Sports Chiropractor Martin Kumm

"I help top athletes reach their goals" I am based in Basel, Switzerland, but due to my work I travel all around the world. What method do I use in my work?

About me
I am Martin Kumm, I am a sports chiropractor with an academic background and more than 10 years of experience working with some of the best athletes and coaches in the world. My main goal is to help the athletes achieve their maximum potential, using a unique method that gives excellent results. The most used method of training as much and as hard as possible will usually end up getting the athlete injured and will never reach their full physical potential. Instead, recovering from that takes up precious time from actually improving the results. My approach, on the other hand, is to work smart, not hard. Despite all the technological advancements, what is often lacking in the current performance world, is smart monitoring and adjusting the training load to individual athletes' needs. Yet, there is a so-called “Green-Zone Window” for training. It's where training/racing stimulus matches neurological and tissue loading capacity - recovery exceeds tissue breakdown (optimal loading). To say it simply - this means that if an athlete is physically and mentally in the “Green Zone” the likelihood of getting injured is minimal and the highest level of performance can be expected. If an athlete trains out of the “Green-Zone Window” the body needs to start using compensatory mechanisms Which in turn and in time leads to a chronic overload which in turn ends up the athlete getting an injury. The question is, how to find the “Green-Zone Window” for each athlete, since it's very personal and depends on the person. That's exactly where I come in. What's the exact process? With athletes I work closely together I use a simple but effective protocol: Test, Treat, Leave It. Test - the simplest and quickest way to tap into their neuromuscular system is to use muscles as indicators to see what is the maximum load where the compensatory systems won't be switched on. When they do the so-called “glitch” happens by the central nervous system as a protection mechanism. It’s my job to figure out using different tests where in the system this “glitch” is and Treat it. To treat the “glitch” I use different chiropractic techniques. After finding and treating the “glitch” in the system comes the most important part - Leave It which means leaving time for the results to show. This part is where the magic happens. Athletes body needs time to react to the treatment and mostly it has 3 outcomes: Got better, stays the same, got worse. Any one of these outcomes carries a very valuable information to me. While using the same tests again I can compare and figure out if the “glitch” in the system is manifesting with the same tests or it has moved. Especially with chronic overload injuries it might take quite a long time before I have removed all the compensational “layers” and I reach to the true cause of the athletes pain. An example of a success story
In 2016 I had the honor to work with Swiss Orienteering superstar - Judith Wyder. A year before she had dominated the orienteering World Championships by winning 3 gold medals. In 2016 her body gave in and she was far from medals. Post Worlds she turned to me to figure out what had gone wrong. She was not able to lift her left leg and had upper back pain. How she still managed to even run at the Worlds beats me. MRI and X-ray scans were all unremarkable - all her doctors said she is fine. We set to work. I used the same principle - Test, Treat and Leave It. I knew as long as she is not able to lift the leg on the treatment table she's far from running. We did multiple sessions per week to monitor her progress. Within a couple of weeks her neurology started to improve. She had regained some hip muscular activity which in turn allowed her to start lifting the leg. Her muscular activity was improving, even though her pain had not changed much. For me this was all good news as 90% of the times muscle strength precedes pain. Even though pain was not completely gone she started training as our indicator muscle tests stayed strong - meaning her neuromuscular system was healed and ready for loading. Within 2 months she returned to racing pain free. Whom have I previously worked with? Teams:
-EHC Basel Ice Hockey Club
-Estonian National Ice Hockey Teams (U20/Men)
-Sm'Aesch Volleyball Team
-Education First - Easy Post Professional Cycling Team. Individual Athletes:
-Robert Rooba (Ice Hockey)
-Marko Albert (Triathlon)
-Judith Wyder (Orienteering)
-Silvan Wicki (Track and Field, sprinter)
-Alexandra Burghart (Track and Field, sprinter)
-Amelie Lederer (Track and Field, sprinter)
-Markus Fuchs (Track and Field, sprinter)
-Ivona Dadic (Track and Field, Hepatlon)
-Anu Ennok (Volleyball)
-Pascale Stöcklin (Track and Field, Pole Vault)
Danijel Vukicevic (Handball)

If you are an athlete or a coach and feel that I could be of help when reaching your goals, find my contacts on www.martinkumm.com and contact me!

24/12/2025

Ride. Recover. Enjoy Christmas 🎄

Wishing you relaxed legs, happy joints,
and great rides ahead.

23/12/2025

Pain that disappears isn’t recovery.

It’s your body compensating before tissues are ready.

We’ll break this down soon.

16/12/2025

Pain is the last symptom…
not the first.

Your body gives clues earlier.

09/12/2025

Most cyclists focus on hip mobility, but mobility only matters if you can use it when you ride.

The floor drill in this video builds mobility while activating the adductors — the muscles that stabilise the femur and prevent the knee from drifting outward under load.

But cycling doesn’t test your passive mobility.
It tests whether you can keep that hip stable when force increases — climbing, low cadence, accelerations, torque blocks.

That’s why the standing variation matters.
It adds glute activation and hip control, the exact combination your knee relies on to track smoothly through the cleat.

The formula is simple:

1. Create mobility on the floor (adductors on)
2. Use it on your feet (glutes controlling the pelvis)

This is how hip mobility actually transfers to cycling power and knee comfort.

Save this for your next strength session.

05/12/2025

Last week: “Here’s my go-to test.”
This week: “Ok fine, THIS is the test I actually use all day.”
Clinical reality always wins.

⸻

Serious bit below

The standing version of the Modified Thomas Test gives me more relevant information for cyclists.
It shows how the hip behaves when the pelvis is in a weight-bearing position — which is much closer to how you produce force on the bike.
It also exposes asymmetries, compensations and control issues that often disappear when someone is lying on a treatment table.

For cyclists dealing with hip tightness, low back stiffness or knee tracking problems, the standing variation is usually my first choice because it reflects real on-bike demands more accurately.

21/11/2025

Cyclists are currently in a high-torque phase of the training year, which already places a significant demand on the lower back.
But many riders stack gym exercises on top of that which make it worse — especially side plank twists and V-sit ups.

These exercises create more rotational and compressive load on the spine.
That means extra stress on the facet joints and discs… exactly where cyclists tend to get irritated when power and torque increase outdoors and on the trainer.

Instead, gym work should support the spine during heavy pedaling forces.

A better approach is anti-rotation training — exercises designed to resist movement rather than create it.
That’s why I recommend alternative front plan variations.
They train the core to stabilize under load and protect the lower back during high-torque efforts on the bike.

If you want to stay powerful and pain-free as the intensity builds, shift your core work in this direction.

Save this and use it in your next strength session.

18/11/2025

Knee pain is one of the most common issues I see in cyclists, and it often shows up even when the bike fit is spot on.
In many of those cases, the real limitation isn’t the bike — it’s the rider’s hip mobility.

This test, the Modified Thomas Test, helps identify whether tight hip flexors are increasing load on the knee during every pedal stroke.

Here’s how to do it:

• Lie near the edge of a bench or table
• Pull one knee to your chest
• Let the other leg hang relaxed toward the floor
• Keep the pelvis neutral without arching the back or rotating your hips

What we want to see is the thigh dropping to table height while staying aligned.
If the thigh stays elevated or the pelvis tilts, those hip flexors are holding tension.

Why does this matter for cyclists?

When hip flexors are tight, they limit how well the hip can extend.
That forces your knee and lower back to compensate to maintain power — which often leads to irritation, pain, and reduced efficiency on the bike.

Check both sides and notice any differences.
If one side is clearly tighter, that could be the side contributing to your knee symptoms.

Save this test and use it as part of your regular mobility check.

14/11/2025

Most cyclists think their glutes are strong…
until we put them to the test.

This side-lying glute endurance test shows whether your glute med can support your knee and pelvis during every pedal stroke.
Weak endurance → more load on your knee → more pain.
How to do it:
• Leg long + slightly back
• Lift and lower with control
• Count your reps per side
• You should feel it in your glutes
👉 If you feel it more in hamstrings or lower back, your glutes aren’t doing their job

Compare sides — if one drops off early, that’s likely your troublemaker. 😬

🎯 Save this and test your glutes later — then tag a cyclist who needs this check!

11/11/2025

Does your knee dive in when you step down?
That’s the same movement that often causes knee pain on the bike.

This simple Lateral Step-Down Test shows how well your hips and knees work together.
I use this test every day in my clinic to spot weak links that lead to pain and power loss. ⚡️

✅ Keep your knee in line with your 2nd toe
❌ Avoid collapsing inward
🎥 Film yourself from the front — small details matter!

Send your video via DM or tag me — I’ll give quick feedback on your form. 💬

09/11/2025

Just a normal Sunday at our house hold. 🤩treatments for everyone.

Adresse

Reinacherstrasse 116
Basel
4053

Webseite

http://www.humanrx.ch/

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