Q: Recently, I've noticed that I've lost a lot of mobility/flexibility that means I can't squat with my hands close in and with a high bar like I used to, I now have to go low bar and hands almost at the collars. What stretches/mobility work would you recommend to remedy this problem? I don't think this situation's very good for my shoulder health.
A: It's a common problem, and while the solution is pretty simple, it takes a dedicated effort to regular flexibility and soft tissue work. And, you're right that it isn't very good for shoulder health; that low-bar position can really wreak havoc on the long head of the biceps.
For starters, it's important to address thoracic spine mobility. If you're rounded over at the upper back, it'll be impossible to get the bar in the right "rack" position - regardless of what's going on with the shoulder itself. The first thing I do with folks in these situations is check to make sure that they aren't doing any sit-ups or crunches, which shorten the rectus abdominus and depress the rib cage, causing a more "hunchback" posture.
After you've eliminated these exercises from their programming, you can get to work on their thoracic spine mobility with drills from Optimal Shoulder Performance; one example would be thoracic extensions on the foam roller.
As you work to regain that mobility, it's valuable to build stability within that newly acquired range-of-motion (ROM) with loads of horizontal pulling (rows) and deadlift variations.
With respect to the shoulder itself, it's important to regain lost external rotation ROM and scapular posterior tilt. As I recently wrote in "The Right Way to Stretch the Pecs," I prefer the 1-arm doorway pec stretch and supine pec minor stretches. You can find videos of both HERE - and you can expedite the process with regular foam rolling on the pecs.
In the interim, substitute front squats, overhead squats, single-leg exercises, and deadlift variations to maintain a training effect.
As you progress back to squatting, you can ease the stress on your shoulders by going with a pinky-less grip in the short-term.
That said, for many individuals, the back squat set-up may not be appropriate. These include overhead throwing athletes, those with flexion-based back pain (e.g., disc herniations), and individuals with posterior labral tears.
I'd estimate that only about 25% of Cressey Performance clients do a true back squat, but that's influenced considerably by the fact that we deal with a ton of baseball players, and I get a lot of shoulder corrective exercise cases. Instead, we do a lot of work with the giant cambered bar and safety squat bar, in addition to front squatting.
Hopefully, these recommendations get you headed in the right direction and back to squatting as soon as possible!
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1. There were no Random Friday Thoughts last week, as my girlfriend and I were in Fort Lauderdale for a quick 3-day "the guys are off to spring training, so Eric is going to regain his sanity" vacation. As you read this, I'll have just returned to Boston (Sunday night), refreshed and ready to go for the last three weeks before the high school baseball season starts.
2. With almost all the guys done for the off-season, I figured that this was as good a time as any to send out some spring training well wishes to all the Cressey Performance pro baseball guys:
Chad Rodgers (Braves)
Will Inman (Padres)
Tim Collins (Blue Jays)
Tim Stronach (Mets)
Shawn Haviland (A's)
Nate Nelson (Blue Jays)
Steffan Wilson (Brewers)
Steve Hammond (Giants)
CJ Retherford (White Sox)
PJ Zocchi (Indians)
Matt Morizio (Royals)
Ryan Reid (Rays)
Matt Kramer (Braves)
Dave Wasylak (Nationals)
Jason Lavorgna (free agent)
Matt Cooney (free agent)
Chris Gusha (free agent)
Good luck this season, fellas. Thanks for all your hard work.
3. I often get asked what we do with folks who can't go right to foam rolling with the Foam Roller Plus (a more diesel version that is just foam on top of PVC).
In these folks, we usually start them with a foam-only roller - and ideally one that has been "broken in."
Another option that Cressey Performance has pioneered is suited up in catcher's gear before rolling. Safety first, folks.
4. Just wanted to give you a quick heads-up on an upcoming seminar (4/17-4/19) in Central Virginia with an outstanding line-up of speakers. I'm bummed that I can't make it, but you should definitely check this out if you're in the area:
Central Virginia Performance Seminar
They have limited the event to 75 attendees, so be sure to register sooner than later.
5. My girlfriend had the Oscars on last weekend, and I couldn't help but wonder who the heck this guy is and what he did to Ferris Bueller!
In place of Random Friday Thoughts this week, we've got Random Late Thursday Afternoon Madness. Here's how it works:
1. Sled (on the floor, not turf) with four plates on it
2. Four guys (in this case, Tony, Pete, and I and one of our high school seniors)
3. 16 trips of 16 yards as fast as possible
4. Ideally, each guy does four full trips, but when one guy can't get it done, somebody has to step up and finish his trip.
5. Extreme nausea is normal, and projectile vomiting is considered a form of artistic mastery.
Enjoy:
This week, I encourage you to check out:
1. Why wait to repair an ACL?
2. 5 Keys to Bulletproofing Your Knees
3. The Agenda and Line-up for the 2009 MGH Sports Medicine Conference at which I'll be speaking alongside some really smart dudes. While you're checking it out, read over Mike Reinold's stuff; Mike is the assistant athletic trainer for the Boston Red Sox and consistently puts out great material for the physical therapy community in his blog.
I just received an email from another satisfied Maximum Strength customer. Steve made great progress overall, but to take an already-great bench and add 15 pounds to it in four months with no change in body weight after 10 years of lifting is really impressive.
"Coach Cressey,
"I loved the Maximum Strength program!! I just finished it and the results were amazing. I currently have two friends on the program and they are also doing quite well.
"I've trained pretty consistently for about the last 10 years. My goals have changed throughout the years. I used to weigh approximately 189 lbs, but have been focusing on strength and athleticism more recently as that is more applicable to my profession than being big. Here are the results:
Packing Day:
Body weight: 172
Broad jump: 106 inches.
Box Squat: 365 lbs.
Bench Press: 315 lbs.
Deadlift: 405 lbs.
3 Rep Chin-up: 232 lbs.
Moving Day:
Body weight: 171
Broad jump: 111 inches.
Box Squat: 405 lbs.
Bench Press: 330 lbs, with an almost at 345.
Deadlift: 455
3 rep Chin-lup: 271 pounds
Steve Estvold"
Q: I know that you're a bid advocate of including barefoot weight training in your strength and conditioning programs. What in general is your "shoeless" policy with your athletes, if any?
A: Yes, we use a lot of barefoot weight training around Cressey Performance in our strength training programs. In addition to strengthening the smaller muscles of the feet, barefoot training "accidentally" improves ankle mobility in athletes who have been stuck in restrictive shoes their entire lives.
Here are the exercises we're open to doing barefoot:
All deadlift variations (rack pulls and DB variations included), box squats (hip dominant), and all any body weight mobility drills.
We don't go barefoot for any loaded single-leg movements (aside from 1-leg RDLs and 1-leg squats/pistols) or more quad-dominant squatting variations.
All that said, we are careful about integrating barefoot drills in very overweight or very weak clients. These individuals do not go barefoot for any of our dynamic flexibility warm-ups aside from in-place ankle mobilizations, as lunging variations can be a bit too much stress on them at first.
We do, however, encourage clients (in most cases) to go with a good minimalist shoe. My personal favorite is the New Balance Minimus.
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Let's get right to it...
1. Here's a link to a great news story about Cressey Performance athlete Olympic Bobsled hopeful Bree Schaaf:
Bree Schaff hopes to be on US Olympic Bobsled Team
2. Here's this week's mind-numbing personal trainer moment...
Our facility landlord spends much of his winter down in Florida, and as he told me yesterday, he went to a personal trainer down there to help him with some chronic shoulder pain he's had (this is funny, because I'm in his building and he never thought to ask me, but I won't digress). I talked with him for a few minutes, and without even having to physically examine him, I could tell it was a classic ol' supraspinatus tendinosis (external impingement - but it's more complex than that, as I've written in Newslettter 130 and 131). Taking him through some provocative tests just verified everything; he had extremely poor scapular stability (abducted and anteriorly tilted), markedly limited glenohumeral external rotation, and poor thoracic mobility. This is a pretty easy one to fix, I think.
Since he isn't going to be back up here full-time for a month or two, I asked him what he'd been doing with his personal trainer to address the shoulder issue. So, he shows me this stretch that they've been doing three times a week:
For the record, he wasn't wearing the short shorts and funky tube socks, and didn't appear so "cartoonish," but you get the idea. My bigger concern was that this dude was treating a) scapular instability and b) poor external rotation ROM with a stretch into internal rotation without the scapula stabilized. This is analagous to taking someone with poor glute function and stretching the lumbar spine into flexion. You're stretching the wrong structures at the wrong joint!
And, to take it a step further, this movement actually closely resembles two provocative tests for symptomatic impingement:
[caption id="attachment_2963" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Hawkins Kennedy Test"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2964" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Yocum's Test"][/caption]
So, I guess you could say that our landlord paying this personal trainer to tell him to do this stretch is roughly on par with paying someone to bang your head against a wall when you have a headache.
Once again, it all comes down to assessment. If you can't assess, you can't effectively prescribe exercises to prevent or correct imbalances. For more information, check out Building the Efficient Athlete.
3. I gave Moneyball (one of my favorite books) a mention and some love in a recent newsletter, and then Tony Gentilcore sent me a link about how the book may be turned into a movie starring Brad Pitt. It better be good, because if it isn't, I'll berate Pitt mercilessly for tarnishing the reputation of a great read.
That's all I've got for this week, folks. The shoulder rant above sapped the life from me, so I'll recharge this weekend and bounce back with some good stuff for you on Monday. Enjoy the weekend!
Hey Gang,
A few months ago, Precision Nutrition contributor Erin Weiss-Trainor tracked me down for an interview of sorts where she inquired about what goes on in a day in the life of Eric Cressey. It includes training, nutrition, and what goes on at Cressey Performance. You can check it out at the link below:
Precision Nutrition Expert Profile: Eric Cressey
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[caption id="attachment_2964" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Yocum's Test"]
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