Mike Masi’s Blog
Squatting with Your Knees Past Your Toes is NOT Dangerous! Here’s Why.
The Easter Bunny. The Boogieman. Avoiding knees in front of toes during a barbell back squat. What do these 3 have in common? All myths. In fact, limiting forward knee translation can actually limit progress with the squat and even create undue stress at the lumbar...
Fixing Shoulder Pain with the Overhead Press
What is the Overhead Press? The overhead press is a simple exercise that any athlete can perform whether they are a beginner or a more advanced athlete. Unlike some other exercises such as the jerk or push press that require more coordination and instruction this can...
Powerlifting: The ULTIMATE Therapeutic Exercise!
Part 1 - What is Powerlifting? Powerlifting is a strength-sport in which competitors attempt to lift as much weight as they are capable over three different exercises; the back squat, the bench press, and the deadlift. Most programming also involves big comprehensive...
Powerlifting to Fix Your Lower Back
Part 2 - General Low Back Pain Low back pain (LBP) is the number 1 most common orthopedic issue treated by physical therapists and seen by sports medicine physicians. This is an extremely common problem, as the lifetime prevalence of LBP is upwards...
Powerlifting to Fix Your Knees
Part 3 - Knee Pain (Including: Patella Femoral Pain Syndrome, Patellar Tendinopathy, Arthritis) The knee is arguably the largest joint in the human body. It is comprised of four bones, the patella, femur, tibia, and fibula. The three most common knee pain diagnoses I...
Powerlifting to Fix Your Shoulder
Part 4 - Shoulder Pain (Including Rotator Cuff Tears and Shoulder Impingement) The shoulder complex is a tricky body region to picture the moving parts and understand how they are all interrelated. I find myself teaching basic shoulder anatomy and kinesiology to...