Podcast Summary: The mindbodygreen Podcast

Episode 606: How to improve mobility & strength for injury prevention | Henry Abbott
Host: Jason Wachob
Guest: Henry Abbott (award-winning journalist, founder of True Hoop, author of Ballistic: The New Science of Injury Free Athletic Performance)
Date: July 13, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the science and practical strategies behind mobility and strength for injury prevention, leveraging new research from the NBA and leading biomechanical labs. Guest Henry Abbott shares insights from his book Ballistic and the pioneering work at the Peak Performance Project (P3) with Dr. Marcus Elliott's team, discussing how data, biomechanics, and simple training shifts can reduce injuries for both elite athletes and everyday people.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Immobility Is a Major Health Crisis

• Immobility is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide (01:51).
• It’s linked to cancer, bone health issues, mental health declines, and more.
• Quote:

  "Everybody knows you got to move, right? This is a problem that we don't move nearly enough."
  — Henry Abbott (01:54)

• Injuries are a key driver of immobility, even among active people and elite athletes.

2. Introducing P3: The Peak Performance Project

• P3 brings a data-driven, predictive approach to injury prevention—moving beyond “wait until it breaks” thinking.
• They use motion capture, force plates, and AI to track a million data points per athlete (03:36–05:35).
• This allows detection of subtle biomechanical patterns that precede injuries, like ACL tears.
• The methodology is likened to how cardiology shifted from guesswork to prevention after the invention of diagnostic tools like the EKG (03:36).

3. Breakthrough Finding: The Role of Ground Contact

• In P3’s landmark NBA study, every player who tore an ACL first landed on the outside of the foot, then rolled weight inwards—a movement previously unrecognized as a risk (06:05–07:36).

• Foot and lower leg strength are crucial. Weak lower leg muscles create “sloppy” ground contacts.

• Quote:

  "The muscles from the knee down emerge in PD research as incredibly important in injury prevention for a lot of reasons."
  — Henry Abbott (08:03)

• Key takeaway: We tend to neglect knee-down muscle groups, such as the soleus and tibialis posterior, which have outsized impact on safe landings (08:46).

4. Simple Training for Injury Prevention

• Single-Leg Calf Raises and Jump Rope:

  • Standing on one leg, raising and lowering slowly (10:06–10:53).
  • Followed by jump rope to reinforce neuromuscular patterns—teaching muscles to communicate and stabilize quickly.
  • Quote:

    "Jumping rope has become so easy for me... you want the force of hitting the ground to be absorbed into your glutes."
    — Henry Abbott (10:53)

• Plyometrics:

  • Progression matters: Start small (jump rope, lateral jumps over a broomstick) before advancing to complex moves.
  • The objective is to train unpredictable landings safely.

5. Hips: Another Critical Injury Hotspot

• The second biggest risk factor for ACL tears: lack of hip stability or mobility.
• P3 finds everyone needs improved hips—either more stability (often women, at higher risk for ACLs) or more mobility (often men) (12:43–15:11).
• Home assessments:
  • For Stability: Side plank in “big X” for 30 seconds (15:13).
  • For Mobility: Standing figure four (tree pose, sitting deep on standing hip) (15:55–16:54).
• Quote:

  "The joke shorthand is that everyone who does yoga should lift weights, and everyone who lifts weights should do yoga."
  — Henry Abbott (16:54)

6. Applying These Insights Beyond Athletes

• Proven programs teaching proper landing mechanics can reduce ACL risk by 67%—yet adoption, especially in youth sports, lags (18:10–19:36).
• The basic principles apply to all: pickleball players, weekend athletes, and parents playing with kids.
• Quote:

  "It depends on which program exactly, but conservatively, it's a 67% reduction in ACL tears, which is about as successful as medical interventions ever get."
  — Henry Abbott (18:33)

7. The Role of Unpredictability and Agility

• Most training is too predictable. Real-life injuries often happen during unexpected movements.
• P3 teaches unpredictability using drills like balancing on one leg with eyes closed (24:00).
• Encourages varied, playful movement in children and adults—think “puppies playing on the beach” rather than repetitive sports specialization (26:45–29:13).
• Quote:

  "You want to move so freely... The language of movement you bring with you into adulthood and you want to apply those lessons, right?"
  — Henry Abbott (27:48)

8. Workout Equipment & Practical Modifications

• Elliptical caution: It’s “not ballistic”—removes bounce and reduces neuromuscular challenge (30:45–31:14).
• Instead, incorporate “bounciness” and play.
• Pickleball insights:
  • Most injuries come from poor lower-leg stability and hard surfaces.
  • Warmup, foot muscle strengthening, and plyometrics are key (32:46–33:11).

9. The Biggest Posture Problem: “Computer Back” or Kyphosis

• Ubiquitous in modern life.
• Fixable at any age with snatch squat presses (broomstick squat + overhead press) (35:18–36:53).

10. Personalizing Prevention: Assessment and Genetics

• Everyone has a unique risk profile—assessment (like at P3) helps identify the 2–3 most important exercises for you (34:08).
• Genetics plays a role, but movement “fluency” (kinematic moving) can be developed. The best athletes are not always the most “specimen-like” but those whose movement patterns distribute force harmoniously (38:14–39:58).

11. Women, Strength, and Aging

• Recent movement encouraging women to lift heavier—for bone and muscle health—is correct, if done safely (43:02–43:57).
• Quote:

  "When you lift heavy, it trains your brain to recruit more tissues around there."
  — Henry Abbott (43:21)

• Mobility should be embedded in all routines; government “cardio-first” guidelines are outdated (44:13–45:52).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the importance of variation:

  "Like agility, I think is a core skill kids should develop. The beauty of agility is you can develop that in a very unstructured format or also structured."
  — Jason Wachob (29:13)

• On the societal cost of immobility:

  "It's the fourth leading cause of death, according to the World Health Organization."
  — Henry Abbott (01:51)

• On movement as language:

  "Marcus will explain that like we learn motor programs of movement like we learn language."
  — Henry Abbott (27:10)

Key Timestamps

• 03:36–05:35: How P3 predicts injuries with data
• 06:05–07:36: The link between foot contact and ACL risk
• 10:06–10:53: Lower leg exercises & jump rope
• 12:43–15:11: Hip assessment and importance for both genders
• 18:10–19:36: 67% reduction in ACLs through simple youth programs
• 24:00: Unpredictability drills—balancing with eyes closed
• 30:45–31:14: Why elliptical machines fall short
• 32:46–33:11: Preventing pickleball injuries—practical tips
• 35:18–36:53: Kyphosis and how to fix it at home

Actionable Takeaways

• Strengthen knee-down muscles: Single-leg calf raises, jump rope, plyometrics.
• Assess and train your hips: Use the side plank and figure-four tests.
• Add unpredictability to your workouts: Practice eyes-closed balance, unexpected movements.
• Prioritize movement variety, fun, and agility over routine repetition (especially for kids).
• For aging adults: Rethink elliptical machines, work on postural strength (snatch squat press), and maintain playful movement—try new activities often.
• Women: Integrate safe heavy lifting for joint and muscular resilience.
• Warming up: Include multidirectional, bouncy, mobility-focused drills, as in P3’s 13-step warmup.

Final Thought

The “new science of injury-free performance” means understanding your unique vulnerabilities and building movement fluency through strength, stability, mobility and playful variety—not just more rigid exercise. Whether you’re chasing athletic dreams or a pain-free daily life, a few key changes (jump rope, varied movement, hip tests) can keep you healthy and moving.

Recommended: Read Henry Abbott’s Ballistic for deeper assessment guides, illustrated exercises, and a breakdown of P3’s recommended warmup routine.