Claim OwnershipThe Ask Mike Reinold Show
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© 2026 Mike Reinold
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Answering all your physical therapy, fitness, strength and conditioning, sports performance, and career advice questions. Join me, Lenny Macrina, Dave Tilley, Dan Pope, Mike Scaduto, Lisa Russell, Kevin Coughlin, Diwesh Poudyal, and others from my team at Champion Physical Therapy and Performance in Boston, MA and learn how we help people feel better, move better, and perform better. Ask your questions at http://mikereinold.com/askmikereinold.
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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...
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?...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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-...
There is no doubt that back and hip pain are often linked and sometimes confusing to diagnose. But sometimes it's hard to differentiate the two, and what may be the underlying cause versus the symptoms. We discuss in this week’s podcast episode. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/how-to-differentiate-between-hip-and-low-back-pain/ ---------- Want to learn a complete system to help people restore, optimize, and enhance their performance? Enrollment in my Champio...
A meta-analysis was recently published, suggesting that outcomes may be the same between nonoperative and surgical reconstruction after ACL injury. Clearly, social media has been buzzing. But are outcomes really the same? We discuss this in this episode. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/are-the-outcomes-really-the-same-between-nonoperative-and-surgical-treatment-of-acl-injuries/ ---------- Want to learn a complete system to help people res...
One of the most essential parts of ACL rehabilitation is regaining strength in the leg. Traditionally, rehab specialists have been guilty of underloading people during the rehabilitation of these injuries. Ah, the old “3 sets of 10.” In this episode, we review a recent journal article that compares the outcomes of two different set and rep schemes during ACL rehabilitation. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/periodization-of-strength-training-after-acl-reconstru...
Hamstring strains continue to rise in sports. As we continue to learn more, the evolution of our rehabilitation programs has also evolved. Here are our current thoughts on how fast to progress athletes back to sports after a hamstring strain. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/how-to-progress-rehabilitation-following-hamstring-strains/ ---------- Want to learn a complete system to help people restore, optimize, and enhance their performance? Enrollment in...
Objective strength testing is always important to document progress and ensure that patients are ready for the next phase of rehabilitation. But, when do you start testing strength with a hand-held dynamometer after rotator cuff repair surgery? We discuss on this episode of the podcast. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/when-to-test-strength-after-a-rotator-cuff-repair/ ---------- Want to learn a complete system to help people restore, optimize, and enhance th...
Low back pain injuries are common in athletes, and often present differently than the typical orthopedic disc-related neurogenic pain. In this episode, we discuss a recent review article on the diagnosis and management of low back pain in athletes. It was nice to see this topic applied to a specific athletic population and include recommendations on treatment as well as evidence-based lifting modifications. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/evaluation-and-treat...
As we continue to learn more and more about arthrogenic muscle inhibition after ACL reconstruction surgery, we can continue to build better rehabilitation programs for our athletes. In this episode, the team discusses a recent review article on AMI and its impact on postoperative rehabilitation and return to sport decision-making. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/management-of-arthrogenic-muscle-inhibition/ ---------- Want to learn a complete system to help p...
In this podcast, we review a recent article on the effect of strength training on running economy and performance. Many people have been advocating for incorporating more strength training into the routine of runners for some time. It’s nice to see research emerging to continue supporting this. A simple strength training program can improve running performance. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/does-strength-training-improve-running-performance/ -----...
Swelling and quadriceps muscle weakness are not uncommon after ACL reconstruction, and can even persist for several months. Athletes want to get back to running and eventually their sport as fast as they can. But sometimes using time-based criteria is not optimal. In this episode, we answer a question about whether an athlete should start running 5 months after an ACL reconstruction, even though they have persistent swelling and very low quad strength compared to the other limb. To see full s...
Over the last several years, the PT community has grown more convinced that athletes should not return to sport earlier than nine months. Research reports suggested that 9 months was a magic number. But what if your patient looks amazing at 8 months? In this episode, we review a recent article that showed that athletes returning earlier than 9 months were not at more risk if they met the proper objective criteria. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/is-9-months-t...
The debate over postoperative rehabilitation after rotator cuff repair continues to evolve. In this episode of the podcast, we review a recent article that looked at outcomes between two groups, one that was stiff and one that wasn’t. Here are our thoughts on the paper. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/does-stiffness-lead-to-better-outcomes-after-rotator-cuff-repair/ ---------- Want to learn a complete system to help people restore, optimize, and enhanc...
It's important to have objective test data to safely progress patients and return them to sport after injuries like ACL reconstruction. Isokinetic testing is still the gold standard. However, the machines are large and expensive, and they are used much less frequently. We don’t even have an isokinetic machine at Champion. Here’s what we do instead. To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/do-you-need-isokinetic-testing/ ---------- Want to learn a complete system to h...
Internal bracing is becoming a very popular procedure with orthopedic surgeons. Repairing ligaments and then augmenting the tissue with an internal brace has shown to be promising throughout the body, including the MCL of the knee. But, what do you do if there is prolonged stiffness? To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/knee-mcl-repair-with-internal-brace/ ---------- Want to learn a complete system to help people restore, optimize, and enhance their performance? ...
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What about the fact that the knee is swollen and may be a bit hot already first 2 weeks - Ud still use the heat pad before ?