John Rusin, DPT, CSCS

Background

With more than a decade of elite-level training experience and advanced degrees in both exercise science and physical therapy, Dr. Rusin develops performance, regeneration, and aesthetics programs for some of the world's best power athletes, NFL and MLB athletes, gold-medal Olympians, competitive powerlifters, and bodybuilders.

Dr. Rusin is a coach, speaker, and writer, whose work has been popularized in Men's Fitness, Stack Magazine, Testosterone Nation, and Mountain Dog Diet. In addition to his sports-performance physical-therapy practice in Madison, Wisconsin, he's also the owner of John Rusin Fitness Systems, an online fitness platform geared toward synergizing the best of high-performance training and intelligently designed physiotherapy/regeneration programming to athletes and clients across the world.

Dr. Rusin is also the author of .

Links:

Articles

  • Safe, Strong Upper-Body Lifting Begins With These Two Ratios

    Don't wonder why you're in pain. Make sure that any program or training style you're following has these two crucial benchmarks covered, and you're setting yourself up for long-term success!

    Published on: Jun 15, 2018

  • Mix Weights And Body Weight To Build Maximum Muscle!

    Get ready to leave it all out there. By precisely combining heavy strength work with scorching high-rep bodyweight challenge sets, you can inflict maximum muscle fatigue without making your joints raise the white flag!

    Published on: Apr 13, 2018

  • 3 Superior Spine-Friendly Alternatives To Crunches And Sit-Ups

    The old-school way of training abs isn't doing your back any favors. Kick those never-ending sets of sloppy reps out of your life, and build your sixer with these safer and more effective moves!

    Published on: Mar 29, 2018

  • How To Program Your Biceps Training For Pain-Free Gains

    It's an arm workout as old as time: heavy barbell curls, then dumbbells, then hammer or reverse curls. But, turning it on its head might be the best choice you make this year for your elbows, shoulders, and yes, for your biceps!

    Published on: Feb 20, 2018

  • Never Waste Another Warm-Up! Do This Instead.

    Treat your body like a finely-tuned machine and walk into every workout feeling like an animal! This warm-up involves six phases, but you can knock it out in the same 10 minutes you've been wasting on the treadmill!

    Published on: Jan 29, 2018

  • 3 Essential Lateral-Raise Variations

    You have more choices than you realized with this bodybuilding staple. Go light, hit these hard, and your muscles will scream while your joints celebrate!

    Published on: Nov 22, 2017

  • The Only Dumbbell Lateral Raise Article You Need

    All the presses in the world won't earn you big, strong, pain-free shoulders. You need lateral raises, and you need to do them the right way!

    Published on: Oct 16, 2017

  • Most Of You Are Foam Rolling Wrong. Here's How To Do It Right.

    A lot of people do it, but many don't know how or why. If you're looking to maximize the value you can receive from the fitness world's favorite accessory—and you should be—you owe it to yourself to read this article!

    Published on: Jul 18, 2017

  • Don't Do High-Rep Squats, Deads, And Bench! Do These Instead

    To build strength and size, you need both low reps and epic burnouts. But not all moves lend themselves to both approaches! Rather than risking life and limb under the bar, use these smart approaches!

    Published on: Jul 12, 2017

  • Podcast Episode 19: How to Earn Your Best-Ever Back Squat

    In this info-packed episode, strength coach and doctor of physical therapy John Rusin, Ph.D., gives his step-by-step guide to earning your right to kneel before the throne of the so-called King of Lifts. Do these squat variations in this order, and do your back squat this way, and you'll never regret it!

    Published on: May 30, 2017

  • The More Gain, Less Pain Guide To Squats

    If you wince at the mere mention of the back squat, you're not necessarily banished to the machines forever. Do these intelligent squat variations instead for pain-free progress in your lower-body training!

    Published on: May 11, 2017

  • Stop Going Heavy on These 3 Exercises

    If you've been chasing 1RM strength in these movements, you're barking up the wrong tree. Stay pain-free and get better results by switching to these three exercises!

    Published on: Mar 14, 2017

  • Protect Your Back With This Daily Routine

    Your glutes, core, and lower back called. They're tired of getting the short end of the stick! Give them 5 minutes of love each day with this routine, and you'll never regret it.

    Published on: Jan 19, 2017

  • The Trap-Bar Fix For 3 Painful Movements

    If there were powerlifts for the trap bar, these would be them. You can go heavy on these 3 movements and feel great doing it!

    Published on: Nov 20, 2016

  • 3 Fixes For Mysterious Knee, Back, And Elbow Pain

    Hammering away at your painful joints with every roller, ball, and torture device you can get your hands on? You might be barking up the wrong tree. Here are the real problems you should be tackling.

    Published on: Aug 1, 2016

  • The New Way To Train Upper Body Twice A Week

    Training your upper body twice a week is a surefire way to build size and strength, but you don't want to lift as heavy as your first day. Grow more with these push-pull trisets!

    Published on: Jul 30, 2016

  • 3 Ways To Train The Single-Arm Dumbbell Row

    The single-arm dumbbell row should be placed in every single type of training program, period. Here's how to use it for your specific strength, hypertrophy, and performance goals!

    Published on: Jul 17, 2016

  • 3 Ways To Train The Single-Arm Dumbbell Row

    The single-arm dumbbell row should be placed in every single type of training program, period. Here's how to use it for your specific strength, hypertrophy, and performance goals!

    Published on: Apr 14, 2016