1. Where Is Your Pain?

2. Assess Your Pain

Hip Assessment:

Recorded Squat: After an injury, the first priority should be a sound assessment of your basic movements. Let’s start with a basic squat. Have a friend or family member film and look at your form. Refer to the video below for the proper form. Ensure that your feet are shoulder width apart and that you are maintaining a straight back as you go down. You should note where pain begins and ends and where you can feel it. Also any imbalances in your form. This means watching for your legs, feet, and hips and making sure they are symmetrical and not pointing out. If there is no pain from this, hold a barbell and complete a weighted squat. Again notice your form and look for painful points. Occasionally injuries and pain only appear with a sufficient load or force and adding weight to the squat simulates this.

Recorded One Foot Stand: Next in the assessment process, we want to begin to pinpoint where the injury lies specifically. Stand on one foot for 30 seconds for the next exercise. Due to the balancing forces that are introduced to your muscles when only standing on one foot, hip pain is highlighted with this exercise. Again, search for any pain or discomfort and watch what parts of your body compensate as you balance.

Recorded Single Leg Squat: The next one is a little hard but still useful for identifying where your pain is. If you are unfamiliar with a one-legged squat, watch my video below for the proper form. The goal here is to maintain control of the squat. Note for pain or instability in the video. These three assessment movements should help you determine where the pain is coming from and what movements aggravate them. After you are done with them, click on the button below to assess and regain mobility.

Knee Assessment:

Recorded Squat: To begin your injury assessment start with recording a basic squat. This will highlight any areas that are overcompensating or imbalances in your knees. A couple of important things to look for are caving knees and imbalances and asymmetries in the hips and feet. Also, note the location of pain and where it stops. These are all important features of diagnosis and can hint at where your injury may lie.

Recorded Lunge: This test is very squash specific because the lunge is one of the main movements in the sport. Have your friend take a video of you and notice where there is pain. Notice arching in the back and ensure that the front knee is directly over your front foot. Notice any instability on either side.

Recorded Single Leg Squat: The next one is a little hard but still useful for identifying where your pain is. If you are unfamiliar with a one-legged squat, watch my video below for the proper form. The goal here is to maintain control of the squat. Note for pain or instability in the video. These three assessment movements should help you determine where the pain is coming from and what movements aggravate them. After you are done with them, click on the button below to assess and regain mobility.

Ankle Assessment:

Achilles Assessment: Lie down with your legs hanging off of a surface. Have a friend squeeze the middle of your calf and notice if there is any movement on the foot. This test allows you to check if the Achilles Tendon is functionally intact. If your foot moves when your calf is squeezed, the Achilles Tendon is still functioning and intact. If your foot does not move, please seek medical help.

Double/Single Leg Raise: Stand tall on flat ground and raise yourself into the air onto the balls of your feet. Notice any pain that comes with this movement. Next, stand on a slightly elevated surface and have your heels hang off. Complete the same exercise and notice any pain. People with pain on the flat ground exercise tend to have mid-tendon Achilles tendinopathy. People who experience pain on the elevated surface exercise tend to have insertional Achilles tendinopathy. Regardless of which diagnosis you might have, continue to the next tests to understand more about it.

Ankle Mobility Test: To begin, let’s explore below the painful joint. Assume a shallow lunge and place your front foot 5 inches from the wall (the length of a smaller iPhone about). Press your hips forward such that your knee touches the wall. If you are unable to reach the wall with your knee when your foot is 5 inches away, it means that you have tight ankles and need to work on their mobility. For your tight ankles, you should roll out your calves and Achilles. This exercise can also be used to enhance your mobility if done in sets.

Shoulder Assessment:

Recorded Bar Press up: Begin by finding a bar. It can be a broom handle or even a barbell from the gym. In my video, I use a small piece of wood that still works. Hold this bar above your shoulders and press it up. Notice and locate any painful points and analyze the video for any asymmetries. Focus on shoulder blade motion because lots of shoulder blade motion can be due to instability and weakness in the rotator cuff.

Recorded Arm Lift: Start with your arms at your sides with your thumbs facing to the side and palms facing forward. Raise your arms slowly, keeping your palms facing forward. Notice any pain or asymmetries. Limited range in this area can be a sign of a poorly functioning serratus anterior muscle.

Pull-up (optional): A pull-up is also a good diagnosis test although I know that some are unable to do them.

Elbow Assessment:

Nerve Pain: The elbow is particularly susceptible to nerve pain because it has a lot of nerves that are useful in your hands traveling through it. Nerve pain is important to screen and address so that you can make the distinction between muscular treatment and nerve treatment. Start this assessment by standing tall and having your arms at your side. Rotate your head around its axis, reaching as far as your neck allows you. Notice for any burning sensations, radiating numbness, or tingling in the arm. If this exercise creates pain, please go see a medical doctor!

Ulnar Nerve: Standing with the injured arm completely straight, provide pressure to the inside of the lower bicep. Bend your arm up. If you feel any tingling, numbness, or burning, you likely have an ulnar nerve Injury.

Radial Nerve: Standing with the injured arm by your side, place the non-injured hand on your shoulder and slightly push down to ensure minimal trapezius compensation. Make a fist with the injured hand and extend the wrist. Lift your arm up by your side and notice any tingling, numbness, or burning. If you feel these symptoms, you likely have a radial nerve injury.

Back Assessment:

Posture Assessment: One of the key features of back injuries is that they are sometimes caused by how you move about your everyday life. Oftentimes, they are caused by posture or the incorrect form for lifting something. To begin this assessment, let’s begin with a posture check. Have a friend take a video of your posture and notice how you are standing. If your ears are in front of your shoulders and there is an obvious curve to your spine you have a rounded spine. If your chest is puffed out and your hip rotated back you have an over-extended spine. The best posture would be to be standing straight and trying to make yourself as tall as possible as if there is a string at the top of your head pulling you up.

Load Assessment: Sit in a chair and grab the bottom of it with your hands. Begin by sitting as tall as you can with good posture in the chair. Pull up from the bottom of the chair and notice any pain in your spine. If there is pain here, this means that you likely have a load intolerance, and adding loads to your back causes pain. Next, round your back and pull up. Notice any pain that you feel. If you felt pain here, your back likely has a flexion intolerance. Next, overextend your back and sit with your chest puffed out while pulling up. Notice any pain that you feel. If you felt pain here, your back likely has an extension intolerance.

Prone Lies: Lie flat on your stomach and wait here for a moment. If you notice that your pain has decreased after lying on your stomach, you likely have flexion intolerance. If you noticed that the pain got worse while lying there, you likely have extension intolerance. Next, lie flat on your stomach again but this time lift one of your legs slightly into the air while keeping the other on the floor. If pain, place a pillow under your stomach and try again while bracing your core. If you still have pain, it likely means that you have an extension intolerance with a rotational component.

Anterior Band Mobilization: In a shallow lunge, place one end of the band around your thigh and the other end of the band around a stable structure. Slowly rock back and forth and notice any pain. Make note of the location and timing of the pain if you do.

Hip Mobility:

Knees to Chest: First, lie on your back and pull your knees to your chest. If you feel pain with this motion there is likely a problem in the joint connection of the femur to the hip (hip impingement, etc). These issues often require doctors for fixing but can be managed with the proper program.

FADIR Test: The FADIR Test stands for Flexion-Adduction-Internal-Rotation Test. To perform this test, begin by lying on your back. Have a friend push your thigh to your chest while pushing your knee to your midline and pulling your foot away from your midline. People with hip impingements often feel pain with this exercise and are limited in the FADIR Tests motion. If you feel pain in the front of your hips with these exercises, do Banded Joint Mobilization exercises.

FABER Test: The FABER Test stands for Flexion-Abduction-External-Rotation Test. To perform this test, begin by lying on your back. Place the ankle of one leg on the knee of the other, bending your knee. Allow your knee to fall to the ground as far as it can. Have a friend measure the distance of your knee to the ground using fists. Ideally, the length from your knee to the ground should be about two fist lengths. If this is not the case or there is an asymmetry in your external rotation, do the Hip Airplane exercises.

Hip Internal Rotation Test: For this mobility test, begin by lying on your back and lifting your bent leg 60 degrees above the ground. Have a friend rotate your shin away from the midline to determine the internal rotation of that leg. People with restrictions here often have joint problems or limited muscular flexibility. If there is pain in the front of the hip with these exercises, do the Hip Airplane and Banded Joint Mobilization exercises. If there is pain in the back of the hip and less internal rotation on the painful side, you likely have a shortened piriformis muscle. To solve this, stretch and roll your piriformis using the soft tissue mobilization exercises outlined in the next section. On the other hand, if there is pain in the back of the hip and more internal rotation on the painful side, you likely have an elongated piriformis muscle. Do not stretch this! Instead, strengthen the muscles around the piriformis using the exercises below.

Thomas Test: To perform the Thomas Test, start with your knees at your chest at the edge of an elevated surface. Hold onto one knee and allow the other to drop naturally. The leg should drop naturally to be straight in line with the body. If the leg is hanging to the side, your lateral hip muscles (TFL) are likely tight/shortened. If the leg is unable to fall to 90 degrees, your quad muscles (rectus femoris) are likely tight/shortened. To solve both of these problems, roll out your quads using the soft tissue mobilization exercises in the next section.

Knee Lift: For this exercise, sit at the edge of a table. First, try to lift your thigh by yourself and hold it for 5 seconds. if there is no pain, have a friend push down on the thigh slightly and resist their force. If there is pain at any point in this exercise, you likely have a hip flexor injury and should try Hip Flexor Isometrics to strengthen.

Adductor Test: Lie on your side and bend your top leg while keeping the bottom one straight. Lift your bottom leg and notice for pain. If there is no pain, then have a friend apply force. If there is pain as you resist this force or pain with lifting your leg, you likely have an adductor injury. To strengthen these muscles, do adductor isometrics.

External Derotation Test: Lie on your back and raise your bent knee 90 degrees. Have a friend push toward your midline while maintaining your knee position. If there is no pain, then try to resist. If there is pain at any point in this exercise, you likely have glute medius tendinopathy. To help this injury proceed to the hip strengthening section to rebuild the muscles around it.

Single Leg Bridge Test: Begin this test with your foot elevated on a bench and your knee at 90 degrees. While maintaining this knee position, elevate your hips. If there is no pain, straighten your knee slightly to make a more obtuse angle. If there is pain with either of these exercises, you likely have some form of hamstring tendinopathy. This kind of injury often occurs with too high-intensity training or overuse of the hamstring. To help this injury rebuild, complete hamstring isometrics, Bent knee bridges, and RDLs

Hip Pain and Back Pain: if you are feeling pain in your hip, there is a possibility that your pain is somehow linked to your back. To assess this go through the back assessment section and see if any new information arises. Afterwards, proceed to the strengthening section by clicking the button below.

3. Mobility

Knee Mobility:

Ankle Mobility: To begin, let’s explore below the painful joint. Assume a shallow lunge and place your front foot 5 inches from the wall (the length of a smaller iPhone about). Press your hips forward such that your knee touches the wall. If you are unable to reach the wall with your knee when your foot is 5 inches away, it means that you have tight ankles and need to work on their mobility. For your tight ankles, you should roll out your calves and Achilles. This exercise can also be used to enhance your mobility if done in sets.

Tuck Jumps: Next we will be doing 10 double-legged tuck jumps. Start standing with your feet shoulder length apart and jump. When in the air, try to get your knees up to your armpits, making a tuck position. On the landing, try to absorb the shock of the ground with your toes to identify how your knee pain handles shock absorbing. If there is any pain within this exercise, you likely have a load-bearing injury to the knee and should limit load bearing for the time being. Next, do the same thing but on one leg. Again, notice for pain, especially if the pain moves around during the exercise or if it just stays in one place. If the pain does move around, your problem likely lies in biomechanical dysfunction. This means that you need to retrain your movements so that they stop hurting you.

Single Leg Bridge: This next test will assess the strength of your glutes and therefore the supporting muscles for your knee. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the ground. Push your hips up and hold for 10 seconds. If this is difficult for you, it likely means that you need to work on your glute strength. Often people with knee pain have poor glute strength as well.

Hip Mobility: lie down on a bench with one need up at a 90-degree angle and have a friend pull your foot away from your midline while maintaining your knee position. This will test the internal rotation of your hip and assess whether the problem truly lies in your knee or lies in your hip. If you find major inconsistencies in the amount that the foot can move away from your midline then you have likely found that your hip mobility may be a factor in your knee pain. Address this mobility using the Hip Mobility section above.

Ankle Mobility:

For ankle mobility, do the same exercises from the Assessment step. Use these to improve your mobility and work on your ankles. I also recommend doing some band work. By band work I mean just to get a mobility band and work your foot in all the directions that you can think of. A few examples are shown below.

Shoulder Mobility:

Seated Mobility: Sit with your legs crossed and your back to a wall. Hold a bar in your hands in front of you with your palms facing down. From this position, try to lift the bar as much as possible, keeping your arms straight. Try to get your arms to touch the wall behind you and notice any inconsistencies in your shoulders. Next, complete the same exercise except with your palms facing up this time. In this exercise, aim to keep your arms straight and to get your arms to about your ear height.

L Screen: Staying in the sitting position, hold your arms in the shape of two “L”’s. Pull your elbows down as far as possible without removing your arms from the wall. Notice any pain and continue this exercise to better your range.

Standing Mobility: While standing, create the same L shape from before with your arms. From here, rotate about your elbow such that your forearm and hard and now parallel to the floor. This exercise will screen for internal shoulder motion.

Pec Minor Flexibility Test: Lie down with your knees up. Have a friend press your shoulders. There should be flexibility in this area but if there isn’t then that likely means that you have a tightness in your upper chest area. If there is minimal flexibility in this area, you likely have stiff Pec Minor muscles.

Pec Major Flexibility Test: Lie down with your knees up. Place your hands underneath your head and bring your elbows down to the floor. If you are unable to bring your elbows to the floor, you likely have stiff Pec Major muscles.

Thoracic Spine Mobility: Mark an X on the floor with items around the house or tape. Sit cross-legged in the middle of the X with a bar. Your hips should be facing in between two of the points of the X. Place the bar on the front of your chest and rotate your spine to reach the lines of the X. This is a test for the thoracic spine but having too much tightness in this area can cause lack of mobility in the shoulder.

T Test: Lie down on a bench or the floor. Lift one arm straight out to the side and lift it above the line of your body. Have a friend apply resistance to this arm while it is lifting. Notice any pain that accompanies lifting the arm. If your friend was easily able to move your arm, you likely have poor scapular stability or poor scapular strength. This can be fixed by strengthening your scapular muscles.

Y Test: Lie down on a bench or the floor. Lift your arm out to the side as before but this time angle it to look more like a “Y” rather than a “T”. Have a friend apply resistance and notice how your body responds to it. If you are weak in this area, you need to work on your scapular muscle strength.

External Rotation: Stand with your elbows at your side bent at a 90-degree angle. Have a friend push your forearms in. Resist this force and notice any weakness or pain.

External Rotation at 90 degrees: Stand with your arm at a 90-degree angle from your side and then bend your forearm to create a 90-degree angle as well. From here, have a friend push against the top of your forearm as if to rotate it forward. Resist this motion. Notice any weakness or pain. These exercises are gauging your rotator cuff strength. If you felt weakness in these two exercises, you may need to strengthen your rotator cuffs.

Full Can: Stand holding your arms out to create a “V” in front of you with your thumbs facing up. Have a friend push down on your forearms. Resist this force and notice any weakness or pain. If there is weakness with this exercise, you likely need to strengthen your serratus anterior muscle. Use the following rebuilding section to do so and focus specifically on this muscle.

Serratus Anterior Strength: Stand holding one arm straight out in front of you. Have a friend press down on your forearm and monitor your shoulder blade. If you have a weak serratus muscle your shoulder blade will become prominent on the back and pop out. Your upper trapezius muscle might also shrug in compensation while you are resisting your friend’s downward force. If you notice any of these things, make sure to particularly work the serratus muscle.

Elbow Mobility:

Wrist Mobility: Standing, press your palms together as if praying. Maintaining contact, move your hands down. If you are unable to do this stretch, you likely have stiff forearms that need to be loosened through rolling or other forms of soft tissue mobilization.

Shoulder Mobility: Standing and keeping your elbows by your side, bend your arms up with your thumbs pointing up. Have a friend provide force towards your midline. Resist this force. Next, hold your elbow at a 90-degree angle by your side. Have your arm bent at a 90-degree angle as well with your palms facing forward. Have a friend try to rotate your forearm forward by pushing your hand. Resist this force. If there is any pain here, please consult the shoulder section of this page.

Back Movement:

Lunge/Deep Lunge: Begin with a shallow split stance and then lower yourself, bending your front knee. Make sure to keep your back straight and your knee above your foot. Next, assume a wider stance and lower yourself, bending your front knee. Again, make sure that your back remains straight and your knee doesn’t go over your foot. This is a very squash-specific movement and you must have the proper form.

Bar RDL: Hang a weight bar hanging in front of you with both palms facing toward you. Hinging at the hips and keeping your back straight, lower the bar to below your knees. Notice any pain or imbalances.

Single Leg Squat: The next one is a little hard but still useful for identifying where your pain is. If you are unfamiliar with a one-legged squat, watch my video below for the proper form. Stand on one leg and bend your knee, hingeing at the hips as well. Keep your back straight and your weight forward by putting your hands in front of you. The goal here is to maintain control of the squat. Note for pain or instability in the video. This will test your hip’s influence on the pain in your back.

Kettlebell Load Testing: Hold a kettlebell with both hands in front of you. Without bending your arms, lift the kettlebell in front of you. Maintain a tight core and notice any pain that you feel.

Heel Drop: Stand tall on the balls of your feet with your heels up in the air. Drop your heels and allow them to make a strong impact with the floor. Notice any pain that accompanies the impact. This exercise is particularly useful in diagnosing quick load-bearing intolerance. Often these kinds of intolerances are found in runners because of the pounding of the ground that your feet do.

Single Leg Bridge: Lie on your back with both knees bent and your feet on the floor. Lift one leg into the air and straighten it. Elevate your hips and hold. Notice any weakness or pain. If there is a weakness with this exercise, your back pain is likely due to weakened glutes.

Thoracic Spine Mobility: Mark an X on the floor with items around the house or tape. Sit cross-legged in the middle of the X with a bar. Your hips should be facing in between two of the points of the X. Place the bar on the front of your chest and rotate your spine to reach the lines of the X. This will test the mobility of your thoracic spine. Having tightness in this area can contribute to back pain with rotation.

Seated Shoulder Mobility: Sit with your legs crossed and your back to a wall. Hold a bar in your hands in front of you with your palms facing down. From this position, try to lift the bar as much as possible, keeping your arms straight. Try to get your arms to touch the wall behind you and notice any inconsistencies in your shoulders. This exercise will test your shoulder’s contribution to your back problems.

Child’s Pose: You can also stretch your upper back and mid back with the child’s pose position. To do the child’s pose, kneel on the ground and reach forward with your hands as far as you can while keeping your butt as close to your feet as possible.

4. Strengthen Your Muscles

Hip Strengthening

Seeing a Medical Doctor: Before I dive heavily into this section, I think it is important to emphasize that many injuries do require medical attention. If you are reporting any of the following symptoms, please find a doctor.

-catching, locking, or clicking in your hip

-Shooting pain down your thigh

-Sensation of your leg giving out

-Bowel or bladder problems.

Rolling (Soft Tissue Mobilization): if you failed the Thomas Test, have inner thigh pain, or have a shortened piriformis these mobilization routines will help you. For the Thomas Test, the first thing we want to roll is the TFL. Take your roller and place the side of your thigh on it. Roll this area back and forth slowly. When a painful area arises make sure that you focus on that area and try to loosen it up. Another routine you should do for failing the Thomas Test is the rolling of the rectus femoris. For this routine, you will place the roller underneath one of your legs while facing the floor. Roll the top face of your thigh up and down, stopping and focusing on areas of pain/tightness.

For inner thigh pain, you should be rolling your adductors. To roll your adductors, you will lie on your side with your top leg bent at a 90-degree angle. Place the roller underneath this leg in the groin area and roll. Again, focus on areas of pain/tightness and roll slowly.

For a shortened piriformis, start lying down with one knee bent up. Place the other knee on top of the bent knee and place the roller under your butt. Roll slowly and focus on tight spots. All of these routines are outlined in the video below.

Banded Joint Mobilizations: For this exercise, begin in a shallow lunge with a resistance band around the thigh that is in front. Attach the other end of the resistance band to a solid structure and mobilize your hip toward and away from the structure. Use your hand to guide if needed. This exercise allows you to increase your range of motion in your hips and also gently builds strength around the joint.

3 sets of 10 reps back and forth.

Hip Airplane: Stand a little bit more than an arm's reach away from a solid structure that you can grab onto. Grab the structure and lift one of your legs. From this position, rotate your foot and hips to be facing away from your midline. Hold this position and then proceed to rotate your hips toward your midline, over rotating from your original position. This exercise is particularly useful if you failed the FABER and FADIR tests and you should use the test-retest method with this exercise.

10 reps of a 5-second hold in each position

Isometric Adductor: Lie down with your face up and knees bent. Place a ball, pillow, block, etc. between your legs, press inward, and hold for 5 seconds. Once you begin to grow stronger you can increase the time of your holds to 15 seconds.

2 sets of 15 reps with varied holds (start with 5 seconds)

Isometric Hip Flexor: Lie on your back with your knees bent and in the air. Place an elastic band between your feet. Extend one leg while maintaining the original position with the other leg and alternate every 15 seconds.

2 sets of 15 reps with a 5-second straight leg hold

Isometric Glute Medius/Isometric Glute Medius Advanced: Stand with a band placed above your knees, pushing against the band. In this position and while maintaining resistance do a half squat.

5 reps of a 20-second hold

if this becomes easy, try the advanced version. Stand next to a wall facing it with your side. Bend one leg and lean onto the wall with it bent. Hold this position for 30 seconds.

6 reps of a 30-second hold

Glute Bridge/Glute Bridge Advanced: Lie with your back on the floor and your knees bent. Elevate your hips and hold.

2 sets of 20 reps with a 10-second hold

Lie with your back on a bench and knees bent. Lift hips and hold.

3 sets of 10 reps with a 10-second hold

Side Plank Clamshell: Put a band around your thighs, right above your knees. lie on your side with your knees bent. Place your elbow on the ground and elevate your hips from the side while keeping your knees bent. Open and close your thighs to complete the exercise. Hold for 5 seconds on each side.

2 sets of 10 reps with a 5-second hold on each side

Single Leg RDL: Standing on one leg, lift the other leg and reach toward your toes, keeping your back straight and bending your knee on the ground slightly. When you feel comfortable you can add weight to your hands for this exercise.

3 sets of 10 reps on each side

Notes: All of these workouts can benefit a person with hip pain regardless of where it is. While training a specific area is important for rehabilitation, it is also important to strengthen the muscles around the injury to compensate and make sure it doesn’t get injured again. I would also recommend adding some of your favorite movements that target your injury into your daily pre-squash session routine. It is important to make sure your muscles are warm and this is especially applicable to previously injured muscles.

Knee Strengthening:

Seeing a Medical Doctor: You should see a doctor when you notice the following symptoms in your injury.

-locking or clicking

-significant swelling

-tingling

-numbness

-throbbing in the back of your knee

Rolling: For knee pain, make sure to roll out your quad and lateral thigh. These areas can impact knee pain because their tightness can potentially make the muscles in the knee uncomfortable.

Seated Leg Extensions: Begin by sitting on a table or bench with your knees hanging down. Extend one leg and make it straight while the other continues to hang. If this is too easy, place small amounts of weight on your foot or ankle and continue the exercise. Make sure to get both sides.

3 sets of 10 reps with a 3-second hold while extended

Squat Progression: Begin the squat progression with a simple bodyweight squat. If a full-depth squat is too painful for you in early rehab, only go down halfway but make sure that you add in the full-depth squat later in your rehabilitation. When a full-depth squat becomes easy, add a kettlebell or weights to your squat.

3 sets of 8 reps with a 3-second hold at the bottom

Side Lying Straight Leg Raise: Lie on your side and lift your top leg with your foot flexed. Hold at the top for 3 seconds. This exercise will help strengthen your glutes.

3 sets of 10 with a 3-second hold at the top

Double/Single Leg Bridge: Lie on your back with your knees bent. Elevate your hips and hold for 10 seconds. Engage your core and your glutes. When this becomes easy, alternate to a single-leg bridge to apply a more focused approach.

2 sets of 10 with a 10-second hold

Lateral Side Walk: While standing, place a band above your ankles. Shuffle sideways for about 20 feet. Bend your knees slightly and maintain resistance on the band at all times. Make sure to come back too so you can get the other side.

2 sets of 2 20 foot side shuffles

Unilateral Abduction: While standing, place a band above your ankles. Keep one foot on the floor and push the other one to the side as far as you can. Make sure to do the other side as well.

3 sets of 10 reps on both sides

Toe Taps: Stand on a slightly elevated surface, facing away from the edge. Reach back with one leg and lightly touch the ground with a flexed foot. Make sure to keep your back straight and your chest up while doing this exercise. Complete these at a very slow pace.

3 sets of 5 reps on both sides

Stand on an elevated surface facing the edge with the side of your body. Gently touch the ground with your foot, maintaining a central hip position and a straight back. Complete these at a very slow pace.

3 sets of 10 reps on both sides

Balance Taps: This exercise is designed to enhance your balance. Before starting, place a few items a legs reach distance away in a circle around you. In my video, I used the lines of a squash court to help me. Start by standing in the middle of the circle and reaching with one leg to touch the item lightly while maintaining the position of the other leg in the center.

4 sets of 10 touches on both sides

Banded Squat: Place a band above your knees and squat. Make sure that you are pushing out with your knees to activate your glutes. Conduct this squat at a very slow tempo so that you get the most out of the band work.

2 sets of 8 reps

Wall Sits: Lean on a wall with your back while bending your knees 90 degrees. Hold this position. Alternating the placement of weight in your feet can also be beneficial to this workout because it will allow you to focus on your quads (weight in front) and glutes (weight in back).

5 reps of 50 seconds

Decline Squat: Find something to go under the heel of your foot so that you elevate it. Hold one leg out and squat with one leg, gently tapping the ground with the heel of your extended foot. Go slowly. This exercise brings blood flow to the knee without applying too much force which can be helpful in injury repair.

3 sets of 15 reps

Depth Drop: Find a slightly elevated surface and stand on top of it, facing the edge. Hold one leg out and drop off the edge, attempting to absorb the blow with your legs. This will begin to condition the load-bearing qualities of the knees and reawaken your impact absorption movements.

3 sets of 15 reps on each side

Pogos and Single-Leg Hops: Hop up and down making an effort to absorb the impact of each jump throughout your leg. Alternate the height of your jumps.

2 sets of 30 seconds

Complete the same exercise except on only one leg.

2 sets of 20 seconds on each side

I highly recommend that you do all of these exercises together because all of them are good for strengthening the muscles around the knee. If at any time the pain gets worse, please go see a medical doctor. These exercises are researched through multiple resources but it is often hard to diagnose and know what is going on without the help of a trained medical professional.

Ankle Strengthening:

Seeing a Medical Doctor: Please see a medical doctor if the following are part of your symptoms:

-locking or clicking

-significant swelling

-tingling

-numbness

Stretching and Rolling: Start strengthening the ankle by getting it loser and less tight. Begin with the Foot on the wall stretch which is pretty self-explanatory. Place one foot’s toes on the wall and place your heel on the ground below it. From here keep your knee straight and push into the wall with your hips. This will create a stretch in the upper calf. Next, bend your knee and push towards the wall with your hips. This should give a different stretch and be targeted much lower in the Achilles. Use both these stretches holding for about 30 seconds for each leg. Next, is the Box Stretch which will have you place one foot on top of an elevated surface in a deep lung. The other foot will remain on the floor and your weight should be pushed forward such that your knee is in front of your foot. This stretch is also good for loosening up ankle mobility. Lastly, make sure to roll out your calves and ankles. Feel free to isolate certain sections or apply extra force by putting one leg on the other. For more instruction, watch the video below.

Isometric Heel Raises: Stand in place and raise your heels, standing on the balls of your feet. Hold this position for about 45 seconds and then let go. If this becomes easy, add weight by wearing a backpack or holding a dumbbell. If this becomes easy, try to do these one leg at a time.

4 sets of a 45-second heel raise

Seated Heel Raise: Sit on a bench and place weight on top of your knees. Ensure that the weight is on your knees so that you are getting the full benefit of the exercise. From this position, raise your heels off the ground and hold for 30 seconds each.

4 sets of a 30-second heel raise

Depth Drop: Find a slightly elevated surface and stand on top of it, facing the edge. Hold one leg out and drop off the edge, attempting to absorb the blow with your legs. This will begin to condition the load-bearing qualities of the knees and reawaken your impact absorption movements.

3 sets of 15 reps on each side

Pogos and Single-Leg Hops: Hop up and down making an effort to absorb the impact of each jump throughout your leg. Alternate the height of your jumps.

2 sets of 30 seconds

Complete the same exercise except on only one leg.

2 sets of 20 seconds on each side

Tibialis Raises: Stand with your back on a wall. Walk your feet out so that you are lean toward the wall at about a 30-degree angle. From here, raise your toes and hold for 5 seconds. This exercise pinpoints a muscle that comes down your skin and goes around your ankle. Having strong Tibialis muscles is key to limiting rolled ankles and other ankle injuries.

Shoulder Strengthening:

Seeing a Medical Doctor: Please see a medical doctor if the following are part of your symptoms:

-numbness or tingling down the arm, can be tested with nerve tests (later presented in the elbow section)

-pain is severe and shoulder weakness is significant

-unable to raise the arm to shoulder height

Rolling: Rolling parts of your shoulder can also be super beneficial to loosening the area up and helping with your injury. Start by lying with your side on a roller and your bottom air stretched above your head. In this position, roll back and forth on the underside of your arm. This will loosen your latissimus dorsi (lats) and ultimately loosen up your shoulder joint. You can also roll your lats using a small hard-ish ball by sandwiching the ball between a wall and your lat. Loosening your pectoralis (pec) muscle is also important for loosening the shoulder. To work the pec you can use a small ball and press it between a wall and your peck. Explore different parts of the muscles by rolling all around them.

Pec Corner Stretch: Make sure to also stretch these spots. You can stretch the pec by standing in a corner and holding both walls with your arms as you lean in and out with your body weight.

4 sets of a 30-second hold

Box Lat Stretch: You can also stretch the lat by kneeling in front of a box or elevated surface with your hands holding a bar. Ensure that the distance between your elbows is much smaller than the distance between your hands. To feel the stretch, reach over the back of your head and try to touch your upper back.

2 sets of a 20-second hold

Child’s Pose: You can also stretch your upper back and mid back with the child’s pose position. To do the child’s pose, kneel on the ground and reach forward with your hands as far as you can while keeping your butt as close to your feet as possible.

4 sets of a 30-second hold

Thoracic Box Spine Stretch: Another good stretch for this is the Thoracic Box Spine Stretch. Kneel in front of a box with your elbows on the box. Hold a bar with your palms facing up and try to reach for your upper back to feel the stretch. All these exercises should enable you to loosen up the areas around your shoulder joint so that it can recover stronger.

2 sets of a 20-second hold

Quadruped Rotation: These stretches should help you loosen around your scapular muscles. Assume the quadruped position and reach with one arm between the other arm and knee. Reach as far as you can, rotating the shoulder and back.

4 sets of a 30-second hold

Deep Squat with Rotation: Assume a deep squat position. Bring your shoulder inside your squatted knee and hold the other arm up straight, rotating your torso.

4 sets of a 30-second hold

Eccentric Curl Up: After mobility and stretching have been completed here is where the strengthening work begins. First, we want to strengthen your shoulder’s load-bearing capabilities. Grab a pull-up bar with your hands facing towards you and jump to the top position. Slowly lower yourself to the ground for 6 seconds.

3 sets of 6 reps with a 6-second count

Half Prone Angel: Lie face down with your hands under your armpits as if to do a push-up. Lift your hands off the ground and extend your arms over your head. Turn your hands such that your thumbs face up and then repeat.

3 sets of 10 reps

External Rotation: Lie on your side with your knee bent up to rest your arm on. Hold yourself up with your other arm and hold a small weight in the arm that is resting on the knee. Beginning with your forearm parallel to the floor, rotate your arm upward.

4 sets of 12 reps

Banded W: While standing, hold a band between your hands. Bend your arms to be 90-degrees and pull away on both sides. This motion should be controlled and slow, work with less resistance if it is too difficult for you.

4 sets of 12 reps

Inverse Kettlebell Press: In a shallow lunge, hold a kettlebell in one hand, with the heavier side on top. Start with your arm at a 90-degree angle and extend it straight over your head. This exercise is great for working the smaller muscles in your arm and shoulder and allows you to strengthen your whole shoulder and arm rather than focusing on one point.

2 sets of 10 reps

Full Can: Standing with small weights in your hands, hold your weights up to shoulder height and keep them there.

4 sets of a 30-second hold

Push-up Plus: Assume a push-up position. Rotate your shoulder blades to perform the push-up. Arms should remain straight. This exercise is particularly useful for people trying to build up their scapular muscle strength.

3 sets of 8 reps

Scapular Raise: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Hold your hands with your thumbs facing up by your side and slowly lift them, bracing your core. Get as high as you can go without compensating with your lower back. This exercise will help improve your shoulder mobility.

3 sets of 8 reps

Supine Floor Angel: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Have your hands facing up and your arms making two “L”s by your head. Raise your arms as high as possible while keeping them on the floor and bracing your core.

3 sets of 8 reps

Elbow Strengthening:

Seeing a Medical Doctor: Please see a medical doctor if the following are part of your symptoms:

-numbness or tingling down the arm

-pain is severe and elbow weakness is significant

-unable to raise the forearm as if to curl

Rolling: Use a small ball or roller to massage the soft tissue in your forearm. Roll slowly and notice any points of pain or tension. If there is tension, slowly roll over that section of your forearm until it feels looser.

Scapular Pull-up: Hanging from a bar with your hands facing forward from you, allow your shoulders to relax and just hang there. Keep your arms straight and do a pull-up with just your scapular muscles by engaging them to lift your body slightly.

2 sets of 8 reps

Inverse Kettlebell Press: In a shallow lunge, hold a kettlebell in one hand, with the heavier side on top. Start with your arm at a 90-degree angle and extend it straight over your head. This exercise is great for working the smaller muscles in your arm and shoulder and allows you to strengthen your whole shoulder and arm rather than focusing on one point.

2 sets of 10 reps

Isometric Wrist Extension: Sitting on a bench with your elbow positioned on your knee, hold a small weight in one hand and slightly extend it with your hand facing down. Hold this position for 30 seconds and then release.

4 sets of a 30-second hold

Wrist Curls: Sitting on a bench with your elbow positioned on your knee, hold a small weight in one hand with your hand facing down. Curl your wrist up and slowly bring the weight down.

3 sets of 12 reps

Banded Joint Mobilization: Lying down next to a stable structure, place one end of a resistance band around the structure and one end around your arm, above your elbow. While keeping your arm at your side, make the band taut. Lift your arm slightly off the ground and clench your fist. Unclench your fist and repeat.

4 sets of 12 reps

Ulnar Nerve Sliding: Stand with your arm straight out to the side and wrist facing up. Extend your wrist slightly. Bend your elbow to a 90-degree angle while bringing your arm to the front of your body.

2 sets of 5 reps

Radial Nerve Sliding: Standing with the injured arm by your side, place the non-injured hand on your shoulder and slightly push down to ensure minimal trapezius compensation. Make a fist with the injured hand and extend the wrist. Lift your arm up by your side.

2 sets of 5 reps

Back/Core Strengthening:

See a Medical Doctor: If none of the strengthening exercises work and your pain is getting worse. Go see a doctor. If you are unintentionally losing weight, having incontinence, pain or numbness in the abdomen or pelvic floor, go see a medical doctor.

Crunch: The best way to solve back problems is to provide a more solid base for the back to function around. This means improving core strength. To start this, let’s start with the crunch. Lie on your back with your knees up and your feet on the ground. Place your hands behind your head and lift the top of your chest up. Keep your neck in a neutral position so that you avoid straining it.

3 sets of 12 reps

Russian Twist: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Hold a weighted ball on your chest. Sit up using your abs and alternate touching the ball to the ground on either side of you.

3 sets of 12 reps

Cat-Cow: Assume a quadruped position. Bend your head down and arch your back for the cat position and then look up and overextend your back for the cow position.

3 sets of 12 reps

Side Plank: Lie on your side with your elbow propping you up. Elevate your hips and hold for 40 seconds.

3 sets of a 40-second hold

Side Lying Leg Lift: Lie on your side with your arms cross across your chest. Lift your legs up and down slowly.

3 sets of 12 reps

Bird-Dog: Assume a quadruped position. Extend one arm and the opposite leg out to form a straight platform with your back. Bring them in slowly and repeat.

3 sets of 12 reps

Knees to Chest: Lie on your back and bring your knees to your chest and hold. This is a good stretch to centralize your back.

3 sets of a 30-second hold

Double Leg Bridge: Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the ground. Elevate your hips and hold.

3 sets of 12 reps with a 5-second hold

Isometric Squat Hold: Assume a deep squat position with your arms in front of you holding a weight. Slightly lift yourself out of the squat and hold for 10 seconds.

3 sets of 8 reps with a 10-second hold.

Sources:

Hogan, Scott. Built From Broken: A Science-Based Guide to Healing Painful Joints, Preventing Injuries, and Rebuilding Your Body. Palm City: SaltWrap, 2021.

Horschig, Aaron, and Kevin Sonthana. Rebuilding Milo: The Lifter’s Guide to Fixing Common Injuries and Building a Strong Foundation for Enhancing Performance. Las Vegas: Victory Belt Publishing Inc., 2021.