Composite Rehab & Chiropractic

03/27/2026

A pretty great infographic here! Social media and influencers can glorify & show off unrealistic expectations of “working hard” via always seemingly going to failure (that’s what is video’d typically). That being said, building muscle and strength can be done in a way that is strategic in helping keep down the risk of overtraining as well as the risk of injury. Not every set is meant to go to failure!

To Fail or not to Fail(ure) for Muscle Growth: Necessary or Not?

A lot of lifters still act as if a set only “counts” if it ends in complete collapse. The newer evidence does not support that.

Grgic et al. systematically reviewed and meta-analysed studies comparing resistance training performed to repetition failure versus non-failure and found that muscle hypertrophy was not meaningfully different between approaches when training was otherwise reasonably hard and well-designed. In plain English, you do not have to hit failure to grow muscle. PMCID: PMC9068575.

Singer et al. looked primarily at rest intervals and hypertrophy, but an important sub-analysis asked whether the set endpoint mattered, that is, training to failure versus stopping short. Their conclusion was that failure versus non-failure did not meaningfully change the relationship between rest intervals and muscle growth. Again, failure was not shown to be a magic ingredient. PMCID: PMC11349676.

That lines up nicely with the newer ACSM Position Stand (link in bio), which concluded that training to momentary muscular fatigue or failure did not consistently improve hypertrophy outcomes across the evidence base.

So my take-home is simple:

FOR MUSCLE GROWTH, FAILURE IS A TOOL, NOT A REQUIREMENT

You can grow very well by training hard, getting close enough to make the set count, accumulating enough volume, and recovering well.

Not every set needs to become a hostage situation.

Train hard. Leave a rep or two when needed. Come back and do it again.

Citations:
Grgic et al. PMCID: PMC9068575
Singer et al. PMCID: PMC11349676

03/23/2026

If you’re a runner dealing with nagging foot, ankle, or even knee pain, it might be time to look at something simple—but often overlooked: your big toe.

👉 Big toe extension (how well your big toe bends upward) plays a huge role in efficient running mechanics.

Here’s why it matters:

🔹 Push-off power
During each stride, your big toe needs to extend upwards of about roughly 60–70 degrees to allow proper push-off (depending on the activity). Limited motion = less force production and a less efficient stride.

🔹 Load distribution
When your big toe doesn’t move well, your body may compensate by shifting load elsewhere—often to the outside of the foot, plantar fascia, or even up the chain to the knee and hip.

🔹 Injury risk
Restricted big toe extension has been linked to issues like Plantar Fasciitis, Achilles irritation, and forefoot pain. It’s not the only factor, but it’s an often underlooked piece of the puzzle.

🔹 Stride mechanics
Without proper toe extension, you may cut your stride short or rotate your foot outward to “cheat” the motion—both of which can reduce efficiency and increase stress on other tissues.

Bottom line:
Better big toe motion won’t magically fix everything—but ignoring it can potentially keep you feeling stuck. Small joint, big impact.

02/23/2026

Started off the Sunday yesterday with two busy patients that needed appointments during the weekend!

If the week being too busy / crazy is a problem to you and you can’t find anywhere to get into - feel free to contact me! I do not list the option to online book on the weekends, but will certainly accommodate weekend appointments if contacted.

02/17/2026

How common are MRI imaging findings in shoulders.... even in asymptomatic individuals? Quite shocking results for most.

Where do we go from here?

It starts with reframing how we view imaging findings as well as their impact. For individuals, you most likely aren't "fixing" the way your partial rotator cuff tear looks on imaging by rehabilitation (nor is it relevant to feeling better). What you are doing is : decreasing sensitivity, increasing capacity, improving function, increasing strength, increasing confidence. There are some things that simply cannot be seen by a still image.

02/10/2026

YOU AREN'T MADE OF PORCELAIN

I think individuals are genuinely quite shocked to come out of a visit without being told they are "not allowed" to do a particular exercise or activity. Unfortunately, there are still a ton of providers that are telling individuals that they will "never be able to squat again", that they should "never run again" and the list goes on of blanket statement recommendations given. All this does is further promote disability and brings individuals further away from their goals or needs.

This approach creates movement illiteracy. Individuals never learn how to load, modify, or self-regulate because they are being told that the movement itself is the villain. It creates dependency on the clinician to tell them what they can and can't do, and that their only solution to their pain is to seek care.

The underpreparation mentality shifts the focus from avoidance to capacity. The question becomes "What are you not ready for YET?" instead of "What must you never do?" It simply respects adaptation. Gradual, progressive exposure is how tissue, nervous systems, and confidence improve over time.

"Off-limits" assumes the body is fragile.
"Underprepared" assumes the body is adaptable.

So what are you not ready for yet, but want to progress to?

02/08/2026

I IMPLEMENTED SOMETHING IN POST-INJURY AND LEARNED SOMETHING FROM IT -

Initially, I had considered throwing in a paused & eccentric lowering for deadlift as a means to limit the absolute load while trying to drive some higher stimulus sessions by keeping relative intensity higher. What I realized is that by doing the eccentric lowering it was a great way to teach / remind me just how high I could set my hips up for each rep as well as just how much more tension I could increase in the upper back before pulling (try slowly lowering a heavy deadlift for multiple reps & you’ll understand what I mean).

At the end of the day the goal of the post is that injuries suck, but the way you choose to respond to them can make them a lot better.

1) I learned something useful that can be used as a tool for later training sessions even when I am not dealing with an injury! 2) I was able to pick a variation that still allowed me to work hard as symptoms got better 3) I might even get some movement efficiency gains from it 😎

01/19/2026

It felt like a pretty good opportunity to repost this for my fellow gymgoers / athletes as I also am experiencing an injury from last Tuesday. While I was deadlifting I felt a deep sharp jolt in the back of my shoulder to the top of my tricep, scary right?! I thought there was potential that I had even torn my lat (think it is safe to say it was just a strain at this point).

If I had to build onto this checklist:

First things first is emphasizing the do NOT panic. You would be surprised how quickly you can start to feel better and find ways to modify to work around it.

Show yourself some grace. It is easy to think about all the things you did wrong. Even if you did everything right - sometimes s*** just happens! This would have been when I would have least expected it myself. It was on a very light day on a warmup set.

Lastly…reset and refocus! Modifying or changing exercises that feel tolerable is 🔑 and allows you to keep focus on the positives. Sometimes it just means placing more focus on other muscle groups or movements for the time being. Complete rest or withdrawal is NOT the answer!

If anyone is curious - today I personally went back to doing full ROM pull-ups (prior session was partial reps) 🙂 the only thing that is left is to return to increasing the weight back to what I am used to lifting.

Need help navigating what this means for you? Let’s have a chat!

11/30/2025

It was Black Friday but we aren’t discounting these REPS 😤

Trialing some rehab exercises & movements after my workout on Friday to always work to deliver the best experience & results.