23 Ways to Dominate in 2012! My Top Articles for 2011
January 3, 2012 
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Lets kick off the new year by looking back at the top 23 articles of 2011! What better way to get ready to dominate in 2012!?! We had another great year of thoughts and discussions, I appreciate everyone’s participation and look forward to more of it in 2012! My new forum has been a hit and I hope you will use it as a resource to ask questions, share ideas, and all grow together. Check out the new rehabilitation and fitness forum.
Photo by Cogdogblog
Top Posts of 2011
Here is the top 10 articles written in 2011. I had many articles that were written prior to 2011 that ranked pretty high, but I wanted to limit this list to just 2011. This is a bit of an unfair comparison as an article written in January will definitely have more views than one just written in December, but I tried to take that into consideration.
- Why I Do Not Like the Y T W L Shoulder Exercises. An article I wrote about the common shoulder exercises and my thoughts on us getting a bit too fancy with them at times. Sometimes you have to just stick to the basics!
- Pull Up or Chin Up? Which is Better? A loaded question of a title but actually an article on EMG findings between the two. I got a lot heat over this article and the squat EMG article (a few below on this list) by many people that thought I read too deep into one study. If you go back and read the article, I really don’t. Simply a presentation of some small findings that may impact choosing the chin up or pull up for certain people. The underlying theme of the article is the most important concept to me – think before you start an exercise! One variation may be great for one person but less than ideal for another!
- Femoroacetabular Impingement – Etiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment of FAI. A guest post by Trevor Winnegge, who again seals the title of top guest post of the year two years in a row! A great overview of FAI. Trevor has had some great content on this site, thanks my friend!
- Why I Don’t Use the Sleeper Stretch. This article was needed this summer and I hope you continue to spread the word. The sleeper stretch is widely overused and abused. This articles explains why.
- Graston technique: A Case Study and Other Thoughts on Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization Techniques. This article by Eric Schoenberg started a large discussion on the site and on Facebook. I am a fan of IASTM and hope to release my IASTM technique website in the next few months to teach others about this valuable tool.
- Squat Technique and Back Extensor Muscle Activity. Similar to the chin up/pull up article above, I got a ton of heat from people about this. A popular comment was that front squats were less stressful because you use less weight and load the spine less, but makes comparing front and back squats difficult if you are talking about different weights. Please go back and read the article. I never say that back squats are best for all people, but studies like this provide some rationale as to why certain people may benefit from back squats while others benefit from front squats, important information to consider when programming.
- The Shoulder W Exercise. An article describing one of my favorite exercises for the shoulder, scapula, and general good posture. I love it.
- The Hip External Rotation Clamshell Exercise. Another article describing a simple exercise, but one that is vital to overall function.
- 6 Key Factors in the Rehabilitation of Shoulder Instability. A detailed article of shoulder instability rehabilitation.
- Understanding and Managing Fatigue. A guest post from Eric Cressey that really made me think, a great article and concept for us all.
Top Guest Post of 2011
Three guest posts were listed above in the top 10, which is a great sign of collaboration on this website! I love that others contributed such engaging content for us all! Here are the next three top guest posts of the year, thanks everyone for submitting!
- Thoracolumbar Fascia. A literally begged Patrick Ward to write me an article for the last year or so, I just really enjoy his website and perspective! A great article on the importance of the thoracolumbar fascia.
- Corrective Exercises for the FMS. Joe Heiler from the fantastic SportsRehabExpert.com website submitted this great article showing a couple of corrective exercises for the FMS.
- The Importance of Hip Flexion Strength. Chris Johnson writes a nice piece about the importance of the often overlooked hip flexion strength. This article was well received and caused a couple of nice follow ups articles afterward.
Mike’s Favorite Articles from 2011
In addition to all of the above great posts, here are a bunch that didn’t make my top 10 list that I really liked and want to make sure you didn’t miss! Sometimes I write something that I am really proud of but just doesn’t get as many readers as I would like! Check these out if you missed them:
- Thoracic Mobility Drills. A nice overview of several thoracic mobility drills including a series of very simple techniques with video demos that I use all the time.
- A Simple Modification to the Bridge to Maximize Glutes. A dead simple way to get more out of the bridge, something that we should all consider.
- What we can all Learn from Steve Jobs and What we can All Learn from a Barbershop. These two articles were a littler different for me, more philosophical than my usual articles, but I loved writing them because the content just came to me and exploded into the article. Some great lessons here for us all.
- The Correct Way to Perform the Sleeper Stretch and Alternatives to the Sleeper Stretch. The follow up articles to my Why I Don’t Like the Sleeper Stretch article. I wasn’t going to just leave you hanging with that first article, here are some “solutions” to your “problem!”
- Functional Assessment and Exercises to Enhance Hip Flexion. A follow up to Chris Johnson’s guest post above but some quick thoughts on how we can look at hip flexion a little more and apply it to our patients and clients.
- Movement Quality and Compensation. A quick piece on how some people, especially athletes, are master compensators.
- The Kinetic Chain Ripple Effect and The Difference Between the Source and Location of Symptoms. Not rocket science here, but articles about thinking outside the box and stop focusing on the symptoms instead of the source!
- The Problem with the Kinetic Chain. Another quick piece about some flaws with the kinetic chain concept.
- 2 Exercises You Need in Every Program. A lead in to a couple of articles above that I singled out and showed video demos of, but still something to think about. As you can see, I am a believer of working in exercises to “feel good” and not just “look good!”
- The TRX Serratus Slide Exercise. An exercise I came up with to strength the serratus anterior using the TRX suspension system. I really like this exercise and use it more and more each day.
Well, I hope that gives you enough reading for the week! Hope I highlighted an article you missed earlier in the year. Go read them but more importantly share them on Twitter and Facebook to make sure your friends didn’t miss them either. What was your favorite post of 2011, let me know if the comments below!
This is great!!! Thanks for putting this together in one post for us. For those PTs, who find themselves working with a lot of runners, I would encourage you to take a close look at the Tspine post as well as the shoulder W post as these are valuable exercises/activities for runners to help in resolving any forward shoulder poster while facilitating an upright posture. I see far too many runners suffering from impairments involving these regions of the body that often go under addressed. Lets not forget about the importance of head position for runners, and what better way to put the head and neck in to optimal position than through the Tspine and scapula (OK and the hip flexors). Thanks again Mike! Hope your 2012 is off to a good start!!!