The Ask Mike Reinold Show

エピソード

• 
  Does PRP Actually Work for Hamstring Strains? 13.08.2026 22分

  Hamstring strains are incredibly frustrating. You get an athlete feeling great, they go for a sprint, and the muscle grabs again. We have all been there. It is the most common time-loss injury we see in running and field sports. For years, sports medicine professionals have debated whether biologics actually speed up recovery. Some studies show great results. Other studies suggest they are a waste of money. The conflicting data makes it hard to give our athletes a straight answer when they as...
• 
  Does Icing Your Shoulder Still Work for Baseball Pitchers? - #AMR392 30.07.2026 17分

  Pitchers are constantly looking for the best way to recover after a long outing. Walk into any training room, and you will hear the hum of massage guns and see guys strapped to ice machines. We're seeing newer things too, like ESTIM machines and even BFR after an outing. We know pitching causes microtrauma and neuromuscular fatigue. The debate over how to properly manage that fatigue never seems to stop. A recent study finally put percussive massage and traditional ice therapy head to head. R...
• 
  Stop Treating the MRI and Start Treating the Athlete 16.07.2026 15分

  Every sports physical therapist remembers the first time they handed a young, anxious athlete an MRI report filled with terms like "partial-thickness tear," "labral fraying," or "degenerative changes." It is a defining moment in a clinician's career. Instantly, the psychological landscape of the rehab process shifts. The athlete, who might only have mild, intermittent symptoms, suddenly views their joint as a ticking time bomb. As a clinician, it is incredibly easy to let that piece of paper ...
• 
  Physician Referrals vs. Online Presence: Which One Grows Your Sports PT Clinic Faster? - #AMR390 02.07.2026 16分

  Building a sports physical therapy practice used to follow a predictable playbook. You opened your doors, printed some business cards, and spent your Friday afternoons dropping off food at local orthopedic clinics hoping to get on their referral list. For decades, doctor relationships were the lifeblood of private practice growth. But the modern healthcare consumer operates differently. Today, even when a physician hands a patient a specific script, that patient immediately pulls out their ph...
• 
  The Truth About BPC 157 Peptide in Sports Medicine: What You Need to Know - #AMR389 18.06.2026 20分

  If you’ve spent any time on social media or in many gyms lately, you’ve probably heard the buzz about BPC-157. Often called the "healing peptide," it’s being touted as a miracle cure for everything from chronic tendinopathy to acute muscle tears. Patients are showing up in our clinics asking where they can get it, and some "wellness clinics" are already handing out injections like candy. But as sports physical therapists, we have to look past the "bio-hacker" headlines and look at the hard da...
• 
  Outcomes and Return to Sport Testing After Bankart and Laterjet Shoulder Stabilization Surgery - #AMR388 04.06.2026 25分

  We’ve all been there—you’re working with a high-level athlete after a Bankart repair or Laterjet, they’re at the 6-month mark, their ROM looks great, and they’re itching to get back on the field. The surgeon gives the green light, but you can’t help but wonder: Are they actually ready? In the world of ACL rehab, we have strict batteries of tests, symmetry indexes, and psychological readiness scales. But when it comes to the shoulder, the literature has been surprisingly quiet on what "ready" ...
• 
  Can the ACL Actually Heal Without Surgery? - #AMR387 21.05.2026 15分

  Wouldn't it be amazing if an ACL tear can heal on its own without surgery? For sure, and there have been recent discussions about the Cross-Bracing Protocol and its impact on these injuries. But is this too good to be true? In this episode, we discuss the emerging cross-bracing protocol for non-operative ACL treatment, exploring its potential benefits and drawbacks. There is some skepticism about the protocol's effectiveness, but we discuss the importance of patient selection and quality of l...
• 
  The New Tommy John: The Rise of the Internal Brace - #AMR386 07.05.2026 19分

  Ten weeks to start throwing after UCL surgery sounds like a miracle timeline, until you’re the clinician staring at a stiff elbow, a deconditioned arm, and a protocol that assumes the athlete is further along than reality. We’re seeing more internal brace UCL repairs and fewer “classic” Tommy John reconstructions, and that shift is changing how baseball pitchers, gymnasts, and other overhead athletes move through rehab. We talk through what’s actually different about the internal brace proce...
• 
  Risk Factors of Arthrogenic Muscle Inhibition - #AMR385 23.04.2026 21分

  We’ve all seen it: the acute ACL patient who drags their leg into the clinic, unable to squeeze their quad to save their life. We call it Arthrogenic Muscle Inhibition (AMI), and for years, we’ve treated it as a stubborn, long-term enemy. But a fascinating new study from the American Journal of Sports Medicine suggests we might be overcomplicating it. Researchers analyzed 300 acute ACL patients and found that while AMI is incredibly common (affecting over half of patients), it’s also surprisi...
• 
  Ranking the Top Patellar Tendon Exercises by Tendon Load - #AMR384 09.04.2026 22分

  We all have our favorite "go-to" exercises for patellar tendinopathy. For years, the single-leg decline squat has been the gold standard, often introduced early in rehabilitation to target the tendon. But what if I told you that this specific exercise actually places more load on the patellar tendon than running or double-leg jumping? A massive new study just analyzed 35 common rehabilitation exercises—from step-ups to plyometrics—and ranked them based on actual biomechanical load. The result...
• 
  Using ChatGPT and AI in Physical Therapy 19.03.2026 21分

  The use of ChatGPT and other AI models has exploded in recent years, and you're starting to see this in most professions, including the medical profession. We've been using AI quite a bit at Champion for a variety of things and wanted to share our experiences. We go over some of the use cases as well as different models that we've tried with varying success We do think you should be using AI. It's an opportunity for growth. We dig into how AI actually helps us treat, teach, and stay current w...
• 
  Should Adults Lift for Less than 5 Reps Per Set? - #AMR382 05.03.2026 20分

  Mike Boyle had a great discussion on Instagram several weeks ago about adults lifting to failure and using low rep schemes. It sparked a lot of arguments among people about which approach is best and whether there's always an answer to this question. We discuss whether adults should lift to failure on low-rep schemes in this week's episode. We'll go over what we do at Champion, how we mostly agree with this, and why we may work low reps for a very certain population for a specific reaso...
• 
  ACLR + LET: Overkill or the New Gold Standard? - #AMR381 19.02.2026 18分

  Surgeons are adding more lateral extra-articular procedures to ACL reconstructions, especially in young cutting and pivoting athletes. On paper, it sounds great—tighten up the anterolateral side, improve stability, protect the graft. But what does that actually mean for clinical outcomes and for how we manage rehab? A new Level 1 systematic review and meta-analysis just pulled together the randomized trials comparing isolated ACL reconstruction to ACL reconstruction plus a lateral extra-artic...
• 
  10 Year Anniversary Episode - #AMR380 05.02.2026 1時間 18分

  Wow, I can't believe it's been 10 years! It truly is an honor to be able to host a live episode celebrating the 10-year anniversary of our podcast. Thank you so much for listening all these years! In this episode, we'll answer live questions from an audience of listeners, reflect on some of our favorite moments of the podcast, and give out some prizes and special discounts to all the listeners! Special thanks to our amazing friends from Ancore, SmartCuffs, Suji, SportGrips, and mTrigger for d...
• 
  Should Every ACL Get E-Stim? What the New NMES Meta-Analysis Really Shows - #AMR379 22.01.2026 14分

  Quadriceps shutdown after ACL reconstruction is one of the biggest barriers we see in the clinic. Even with modern surgical techniques and “aggressive” rehab, too many athletes struggle to get their quad strength back, and that deficit shows up later in gait, loading, and confidence on the field. A new systematic review and meta-analysis just took a fresh look at neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) as an adjunct to ACL rehab. Does adding NMES actually move the needle on quad strength?...
• 
  Hamstring Exercises after PCL and Meniscus Surgery - #AMR379 08.01.2026 17分

  There is substantial variability in rehabilitation protocols following PCL and meniscus repair surgery. There is often a conservative period where we minimize or avoid hamstring activity. Biomechanical studies show that hamstring activity can increase posterior translation of the tibiofemoral joint and potentially put stress on a healing meniscus repair. In this episode, we discuss the science behind this and how we integrate hamstring exercises into our rehabilitation protocols for these pat...
• 
  How Much Time Off Should You Take From Throwing After the Baseball Season - #AMR377 18.12.2025 20分

  Baseball injuries continue to rise at an alarming rate. Over the years, we have seen the development of more advanced training velocity programs and pitchers that are focused on enhancing their performance during the offseason. This has led to a variety of development programs being performed over the offseason, which takes away from downtime and allows the body to heal after a long competitive season. In this episode, we talk about some of the science behind why you should take time off from...
• 
  Using Blood Flow Restriction to Neuromodulate Pain During Exercise - #AMR376 04.12.2025 18分

  Blood flow restriction training is gaining popularity, and new research continues to show benefits and potential new uses. We review a brand-new randomized trial examining a brief BFR session before exercise in patients with knee pain. The question: Can a quick change before you even start your main work meaningfully alter pain during the session that follows? The results nudged us to rethink how we open visits for athletes with anterior knee pain. Want the exact setup—and when it’s worth try...
• 
  Practice Guidelines for Patellofemoral Pain - #AMR375 20.11.2025 19分

  If you treat a lot of knee pain, this week’s episode is for you. We review a new best-practice guide for patellofemoral pain that pulls together research, patient voices, and expert reasoning into one playbook. But here’s the twist: when you blend the data with what patients actually want and what clinicians really do, one deceptively simple priority rises to the top - something many of us already use, but probably not the way this paper suggests. I know we are changing what we do at Champion...
• 
  What to Do When an Athlete Passes Objective Testing But Not Psychological Readiness - #AMR374 06.11.2025 15分

  Returning to sport after an injury is always a challenge. In the profession, a lot of attention has been given to objective testing to determine when and how to progress athletes. This has been a significant evolution that will definitely improve outcomes. But what do you do when an athlete passes objective testing but not psychological readiness testing? We talk about what we do in this week’s podcast episode. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/what-to-do-when-...