We have a pandemic that’s been plaguing athletes for decades. No, it’s not a virus. It’s an issue that has been widely overlooked, and incomprehensive in the training of athletes for dynamic, explosive sports.

This problem causes ruptured Achilles tendon, ACL tears, MCL tears, hamstring pulls, torn labrum in hips, and lower back issues particularly in the lumbar region L4 – L5.

It’s the excessive training with no movement of the ankles such as squats to a bench or box, half or quarter squats, lunges or split squats where the knee does not travel forward past the toes and the hamstrings and gastrocnemius muscle do not touch.

This type of movement/training technique is essentially putting a cast around the ankle complex thus mummifying the ligaments, tendons, muscles, and fascia surrounding the ankle complex.

The Achilles tendons is the strongest tendon or spring in the human body.

This spring, which is crucial for explosive, dynamic reaction, absorbing, stretching, and releasing of strain energy is being tightened and dried up like an elastic band.

What happens to a dried-up elastic band?

It snaps when called upon to stretch explosively, quickly, and dynamically if the elastic band is not exposed to those loads for months and even years.

For example, a 600 lbs squat down to a sitting bench looks impressive and especially when done by well-known star athletes. The problem is Saquon and many others like him are cutting their career short and they don’t even know it.

That is bothersome! They are the role-models for millions of young athletes. These young kids will follow and try to mimic what the professionals do. This will be decades, if not centuries of broken development and high injuries.

This is why the taping business is a multi-billion dollar business.

I can’t blame them though. They don’t know better. They are only doing what they are told by personal trainers, chiropractors and physiotherapists who want to be strength coaches for athletes. That’s why I created the Athlete Activation System, the first Strength and Conditioning Certification in Canada geared towards developing professional athletes.

These so-called people don’t know anything about the trenches of strength and conditioning. These text book profontications can not translate to the dynamic complexity of the human body.

I can’t just sit there and watch this bullshit without saying something, I won’t be able to look at myself in the mirror if I don’t.

The thing is, a lot of these coaches and therapists are not trying to defraud the athletes intentionally (at least I hope not), they are simply regurgitating what they have learned in university textbooks, certifications, bodybuilding, and powerlifting gurus.

A study by Hartman clearly states that the squat methods held by the NSCA Chandler 1991 must be changed – it’s incorrect.

“…. instruc­tions about a restriction of the forward knee displacement have to be strictly avoided. This recommendation is based on a misinterpretation of existing data and should be removed in future practical literature.” – Hartman, 2003

I’ll leave you with this to remember at all times: strong tight things snap, and strong elastic things stretch. If you can understand this simple concept you are on your way.