Several weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to host Brian Mulligan at his first baseball game and have him present a private workshop for my staff. What an experience! In addition to providing some excellent treatment techniques, he (and his colleague Brian Folk) also managed to help some of us with low back pain, hamstring tightness, and lateral epicondylitis!
For those that don’t know, Brian Mulligan is a world renowned physical therapist from New Zealand. He is the originator of the NAGS, SNAGS, and MWMS concepts of manual therapy and has a very popular book on the topic (and a part of my essential reading list for physical therapists).
His concepts are simple, yet highly effective, and an example of how we need to consider thinking outside the box at times and incorporate manual therapy techniques that work regardless of the evidence behind the rationale. If you are familiar with the techniques then you know what I mean, there are some simple techniques that can have an immediate effect. I am not kidding. These are tools we should all have in our belt. If you are not familiar than click below for more information on Brian Mulligan’s website. You can also see some examples of the techniques in the videos below and in his book.
Performance Physical Therapy: Why Our Profession Needs to Progress
Physical therapy can span a wide spectrum, ranging from injury rehabilitation, to injury prevention, and even performance enhancement. To truly help people get the most out of their bodies, we need to focus on all three of those. But many of us don’t, and if you’re one of them, I think you may be really missing the boat. It’s not enough to simply try to restore someone to their previous baseline. That’s “traditional” physical therapy if you ask me. Performance physical therapy not only restores function, but also works on optimizing and enhancing performance. That’s the key difference to me.
