Eclipse Wellness

Eclipse Wellness Physical Therapy and Nutrition experts helping you reach your goals with one-on-one care

04/02/2026

Here is how I have my spondylolisthesis and other back pain patients squat if they have pain with back squats.

Raising your heels and having a box behind you are great tweaks, but sometimes the issue is the position of the load. Your body is a series of levers. Having weight behind your center of mass causes you to shift weight to the front of your feet. Your body then compensates by extending your low back to push your hips backwards and counter the weight on the front of your feet.

Putting the weight in front of your center of mass allows you to keep your weight evenly distributed in your feet and avoid the low back extension. This decreases the stress on your low back.

You can utilize front squats while you are recovering and transition back to back squats as your body allows. You can also keep front squatting because as long as you are not lifting in competitions, it doesn’t matter how you squat. Front squats can help target the quads and provide a different stimulus to incorporate in your regular workout routine.

Try this simple suggestion if you are dealing with low back pain, particularly with squatting!

04/01/2026

Here are some simple exercises that I use with clients recovering from a spondylolisthesis.

Extension of the low back is often painful in these clients, so I want to maximize the extension in the segments above and below the lumbar spine. That means progressing thoracic and hip extension.

These exercises accomplish those goals with minimal lumbar stress. Your physical therapy should include interventions targeting the surrounding areas as they can help speed up healing and decrease pain!

03/31/2026

Try these exercises if you are early in the rehab process with back pain.

A spondylolisthesis typically results in more pain with extension and rotation. To start preparing for rotation, we want to load the rotational muscles isometrically. That’s where these exercises come into play.

They are a great way to load the muscles early in rehab, but they can also bridge the gap if you are having trouble getting back to full rotation with some lingering pain. Load up the weight and use these movements to build some baseline strength to improve your tolerance to rotation and extension.

Give these a try if you are dealing with low back pain, specifically a spondylolisthesis!

03/30/2026

Trigger point dry needling is an amazing treatment if you are dealing with spondylolisthesis.

Early in the rehab process we have a tough time stretching or mobilizing the muscles around the injury. Instead of stressing a painful area, I prefer trigger point dry needling to decrease muscle tension.

I have been dry needling for almost 10 years (yikes) and I was slow to adopt electric stim with dry needling. However, research shows that it is typically more effective than the piston technique that I previously favored. At the end of the day, I want to give my clients the best options and this is another tool in the toolbox.

If you are dealing with an injury, don’t just rely on rest early on in recovery. Manual therapy techniques like dry needling can decrease pain and accelerate healing. Questions about dry needling or spondylolisthesis or anything else? Reach out!

03/28/2026

Some simple lifestyle modifications can pay huge dividends when you are dealing with spondylolisthesis.

Extension and rotation tend to cause the most pain, so we want to avoid those movements. I’m hesitant to mess too much with sleep, as most people are particular about positioning. However, these are some simple changes with a pillow that can improve sleep quality and decrease pain in the morning.

Sitting also tends to be more comfortable, so sitting exercises such as a stationary bike are a good way to relieve pain. They allow you to move and get your blood flowing with minimal back strain.

Try these if you are dealing with any back pain at night, but especially if you have a spondylolisthesis!

03/27/2026

Spondylolisthesis is a scary word, partially because it sounds intimidating. Let’s break down what it means, especially for baseball players.

A spondylolisthesis occurs when there is a fracture on the back of your spine. This fracture can be small and asymptomatic, or it can be bigger and cause the spinal segment to slip forward. There are grades of spondylolisthesis, which simply tells you how far it has slipped forward.

These fractures can occur from trauma or repetitive stress. Excessive rotation such as swinging a bat can lead to stress that causes the initial injury.

You can imagine that a spinal fracture by itself can be painful. There can also be trauma to the nerves or surrounding muscles. Treatment involves rest to avoid exacerbation of the fracture. Surgery is rarely considered and conservative management with physical therapy is ideal. Stay tuned to see some treatment options that I love for baseball players with spondylolisthesis!

03/26/2026

Out-of-network physical therapy does not mean more complicated.

In fact, it is the opposite. It simplifies things and narrows the focus to the patient and the physical therapist. That way you and your physical therapist can focus on the task at hand: you feeling better.

I did not even go into the financial transparency with out-of-network care or the higher standard. At Eclipse Wellness, you can stop physical therapy at any time if it isn’t up to your standards. In-network care locks you into a practice because the insurance company approves visits for that individual provider. This is a uniquely frustrating system. It is easier to just not be a part of it.

Questions about out-of-network physical therapy? Let me know! You would be surprised how much time I spend explaining health insurance to patients. I think I know it pretty well!

03/25/2026

Here is the final movement pattern that I would include in every workout for 13 year old baseball players.

Lower body plyometrics help you develop as a general athlete: running, jumping, changing direction, etc. but they also help with explosiveness for baseball-specific movements such as throwing and hitting. Similar to lifting weights, you want to accumulate repetitions with plyometric exercises while you are young to help performance and decrease injury risk.

These are easy to implement into a workout. I recommend plyometrics before traditional lifting because they can be very fatiguing. Start with a good warmup, hit some plyometrics and power movements, and then move to lifting. Creating a consistent foundation at a young age is crucial!

03/22/2026

We can’t forget to train rotation for 13 year old baseball players.

They are probably rotating a ton during baseball, but we want to train it in different ways in the weight room. The first way is to rotate in both directions. If you throw and hit from the same side, you may see changes over time resulting in decreased performance. Train rotation to both sides to become a better athlete and baseball player.

The first exercise is a side plank with rotation. This addresses core stability, but it also builds thoracic mobility. Loading the mobilization provides better results and this a great starting place with young athletes.

The second exercise attacks the strength side of the strength-speed curve, which I have previously discussed. Baseball involves very fast movements with light weight. We want to train the opposite: slower movements with heavier weight. This creates better athletes.

Finally medicine balls are a great way to work on rotational power. I see many baseball athletes who get in their own head when it comes to hitting or throwing and they stop focusing on doing it quickly. Grabbing a medicine ball takes away the game stress and forces them to focus on the basics: rotating really fast. This trains power in a more effective manner than simply doing BP.

Rotation is crucial in baseball players and it should be one of the fundamental movement patterns that you train with every workout. Try one of these exercises each time you workout and watch your velo and bat speed increase!

03/21/2026

If I were a 13 year old baseball player, these would be part of my workout.

Hinging is a crucial movement to develop the back of your legs - the hamstrings and glutes in particular. These muscles are paramount for throwing and hitting velocity and it’s important to start developing them early in baseball players.

Deadlifting is a difficult movement for some folks to master, so I love to start with a bridge. It teaches athletes to hinge at the hips and helps load the hamstrings and glutes in a simple movement. You can scale bridges easily to make them more challenging with one leg or different surfaces.

Once bridges are easy, we move to deadlifts. Starting from the top of the deadlift is the easiest way to learn. Bend your knees a little and then try not to move them. All of the motion for deadlifts should come from your hips moving backwards and forwards. Your hamstrings flexibility will probably be the thing that limited your motion. Add weight to this movement to improve strength and mobility!

Finally, deadlifting from the floor is useful for mobility and athleticism. Think about anything from picking up a ground ball to jumping, you want to learn to flex your hips and knees before coming upwards in an explosive fashion.

Hinging should be a part of any workout program, especially for baseball players. Don’t fear this movement, instead learn to do it correctly. Most injuries occur from poor mechanics with load. If you learn how to hinge at a young age, you are going to be ahead of other athletes at the high school level.

03/20/2026

Squats are another fundamental movement pattern for 13 year old baseball players.

I think of squats as the push movement of the lower body. They are primarily for strengthening the quadriceps, which are essential for a solid foundation with throwing, hitting, and running.

A box squat is a great starting place for most athletes. Often, I see clients get lost in space with squat depth and hip position. Having a target like a bench or chair can teach them control and coordination. You can load the weight and gradually decrease the time spent sitting to progress this exercise.

Once the box squats are coordinated, you can remove the seat. Now the athlete needs to control the depth themselves. In my opinion, deeper is better as long as they can control it. Deeper squats improve mobility and strengthen the muscles through a wider range. As athletes progress, they will figure out their comfortable squatting depth.

Finally, lunges are squats in a single leg position. This is a good way to determine asymmetries on each side and work on balance. There are arguments online that lunges are better than squats but I think that is faulty thinking. Any exercise is the best exercise as long as it fits your rationale. If you want to get as strong as possible, you should favor squats. Using two legs allows you to load up weight to build strength quickly. If you want to even out your legs or work on stability, lunges are better. It really depends on your needs and honestly most people need both.

There you have it for squats. Tomorrow, I will post about hinging, which is the pull for the lower body. Stay tuned for that and let me know if you have any questions!

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