What if your child’s “cute” mispronunciations, drooling, or noisy sleep are signs of a deeper airway and muscle pattern that’s holding them back? We sit down with Dr. Christina Colonna, a pediatric speech pathologist and certified myofunctional therapist, to connect the dots between mouth breathing, tongue posture, palate growth, and the sounds kids struggle to say. Her story begins with her sister’s first words and leads to a practical, family-centered approach that blends speech therapy, airway screening, and playful home exercises that actually work.

We unpack the big red flags parents can spot—few words by 18 to 20 months, open-mouth rest, restless sleep, and one-sided chewing—and why structure shapes function. Christina explains how enlarged tonsils, adenoids, tongue or lip ties, and even long-term pacifier or thumb-sucking habits can narrow the palate and limit tongue elevation, making L, T, and D persistently hard. You’ll hear when an ENT, pediatric dentist, or orthodontist should join the team, how expansion creates space for the tongue, and why pre- and post-frenectomy therapy is crucial to guide the tongue to its new home.

For young athletes, breath is performance. Christina teaches nose-to-nose, diaphragmatic breathing to prevent over-breathing and improve endurance, plus movement-based drills that help kids keep their breath while they run, crawl, and read aloud. We also dig into stuttering strategy—slower starts, lower pressure—and practical swallowing steps that begin with saliva and build to balanced, bilateral chewing. From bottle weaning timelines to safe mouth tape recommendations for adults with clear airways, this is a roadmap for clearer speech, deeper sleep, better focus, and stronger performance.

If this conversation helped you see new patterns in your child—or yourself—tap follow, share the episode with a parent or coach, and leave a quick review so more families can find it.

Elbow pain may scream the loudest, but it rarely tells the whole story. We zoom into the medial elbow to explain the real difference between golfer’s elbow and thrower’s elbow, why the UCL takes a beating during high-velocity throws, and how mechanics, mobility, and sequencing make or break a season. Along the way, we challenge the “overuse” label and show how two athletes with the same workload can have very different outcomes based on shoulder external rotation, scapular control, thoracic motion, and lower-body contribution.

We walk through the anatomy that matters—ulnar collateral ligament, anterior band stress under valgus load, and the flexor–pronator mass—and connect it to on-field phases like late cocking, layback, and acceleration. You’ll learn why maximum external rotation (MER) is a protective adaptation for pitchers, how limited ER or stiff thoracic spines shift force to the elbow, and what “short-arming” reveals about missing range or flawed timing. For lifters and racket athletes, we highlight how repetitive gripping and wrist-dominant swings overload the medial epicondyle, and the simple technique and programming tweaks that reduce tendon strain fast.

Then we map the fix: calm the elbow with smart isometrics and blood flow work, restore missing mobility at the shoulder and t-spine, build scapular upward rotation and retraction, and integrate lower-body power so velocity comes from the ground up. We outline assessment checkpoints—subscap strength, hip mobility, pelvis-trunk-shoulder sequencing—and share a practical progression back to throwing while partnering with a pitching coach to lock in cleaner mechanics.

If you’re a coach, parent, or athlete chasing performance without pain, this is your blueprint to protect the UCL, resolve golfer’s elbow, and keep your arm durable. Listen, share with a teammate who needs it, and subscribe to get more evidence-based training and rehab insights. Got questions or a take we should hear? Drop us a message and leave a review to help others find the show.

What if the path to a stronger athlete and a healthier family starts with less grind and more intention? We sit down with Coach Joel “Mo” Molina—former baseball player, collegiate coach, and founder of 1822 Fitness—to unpack the pressures of youth sports, the myths of early specialization, and the habits that turn potential into sustainable progress.

Joel’s story—from civil engineering to performance coaching—sets the tone for a practical, human approach to training. He explains why he loves working with hungry, developing athletes, how questions create buy-in, and why movement quality beats chasing numbers. We explore multi-sport benefits, from transferable power and coordination to the mental reset that prevents burnout. Joel offers real examples of auto-regulating training based on stress, sleep, and cycle, and how one workout never wins or loses a season.

The conversation widens to parenting and leadership. We talk about regret, boundaries, and saying no as a skill. Joel lays out his morning routine—quiet space, faith, journaling, and a clear plan—to bring “vacation dad” calm into daily life. He shares his work with Baseball Chapel, serving pro and minor league players with mentorship that values people over ROI. We close with how to ask better questions at home, get beyond “good,” and open 30-minute talks that reveal what kids truly need.

If you care about youth athlete development, family rhythms, and evidence-based coaching, this one brings clarity and a plan. Subscribe, share with a parent or coach who needs it, and drop a comment: where do you draw the line between commitment and burnout?