Here are some recommended strength and conditioning reads to kick off the week:
Perfecting the 1-leg RDL - My business partner, Tony Gentilcore, troubleshoots this commonly-screwed-up exercise in a video blog with lots of great coaching cues.
An Intelligent Answer to a Dumb Question - This blast from the past talks about the value of single-leg training and reviews Mike Robertson's great product, The Single-Leg Solution.
The Fibroblaster IASTM Tool - This post from Jacob Fey on Mike Reinold's site describes the Fibroblaster, a new instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization tool, that was actually designed and manufactured by Fey himself. Jacob's a buddy of CP's own Chris Howard, and as a result, we've had a chance to experience the Fibroblaster first-hand in the manual therapy that's done at Cressey Performance. It's a fantastic implement with a promising feature, for sure.
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As you probably know, when I come across high-quality products that I really enjoy that I think will be a good fit for my audience, I am thrilled to be able to write up thorough reviews for you. This way, it not only gives some love to these products’ deserving creators (and learn myself!), but also gives you more background to make sure that it’s a good fit for you if you opt to purchase it.
To that end, I wanted to use today's post to highlight the top seven products I reviewed in 2010. Considering that I receive literally dozens of products in the mail each year to review (I still have a stack left to cover), these represent not just the cream of the crop, but the ones where I actually had the time and inclination to write something up. Check them out by category:
For the Fitness Professionals:Muscle Imbalances Revealed - This set of six webinars can be viewed conveniently from the comforts of your own home. No travel or shipping charges to ruin your day! Check out my review Product Review: Muscle Imbalances Revealed.
The Single-Leg Solution - Mike Robertson is a great friend of mine - but that's not the only reason I liked this product. It was very thorough, well-researched and written, and offered some excellent coaching cues that any fitness professional would be wise to study up on. My review is The Single-leg Solution: Detailed Product Review.
Movement - I just realized that I never got around to writing up a review of this great book from Gray Cook, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't an excellent read. I HIGHLY recommend it.
For the Fat Loss Enthusiasts (then again, can you really be enthusiastic about having to lose fat?):
Body of Fire - This fat loss resource from Chad Waterbury was great for the masses - especially if you only have minimal equipment at your fingertips. I loved the focus on movement rather than just crazy high volume training. Check out my interview with him: Waterbury on Why Most Fat Loss Plans Fail Miserably - and a Better Approach.
That wraps it up for the best of 2010 product reviews; hopefully you can reward yourself with some late holiday shopping by picking up one or more of these items; you won't regret it. I'll be back tomorrow with the best videos of 2010.
A few weeks ago, I came across this recent study of different ACL grafts. It found that there was no difference in follow-up success rates at two-year mark between hamstrings and patellar tendon grafts. The patellar tendon group did, however, exhibit more anterior knee pain – which isn’t a surprise because it’s not uncommon to see longer term tendinosis in athletes with patellar tendon grafts even after their “rehabilitation period” is over. That said, I would be interested to see what would happen if they:
a) evaluated those patellar tendon graft subjects who received soft tissue treatments as part of their rehabilitation versus those who didn’t (my experience says that the anterior knee pain goes away sooner when manual therapy is present) .
b) evaluated those who went to effective strength and conditioning programs immediately post-rehabilitation versus those who didn’t (my hunch would be that those who continued to activation/strengthen the posterior chain would have experienced less anterior knee pain).
c) looked at performance-based outcomes at ~12-18 months in the hamstrings group, as these folks have more “intereference” with a return to normal training because of the graft site (you want to strengthen the posterior chain, but can’t do that as soon if you are missing a chunk of the hamstrings). My experience has been that patellar tendon patients can do a lot more with their strength and conditioning program sooner than those who have hamstrings grafts.
It’s not to necessarily say that one is better than the other, as they both have their pros and cons – but I think this study potentially casts patellar tendon grafts in a less favorable light when the truth is that hamstrings grafts can have just as many complications down the road. Above all else, the best ACL grafts are the ones that the surgeon is the most comfortable using – so pick your surgeon and defer to his expertise.
As an interesting aside to this, I remember Kevin Wilk at an October 2008 seminar saying that 85% of ACL reconstructions in the U.S. are performed by doctors that do fewer than 10 ACL reconstructions per year. So, don’t just find a surgeon; find a surgeon that does these all the time and has built up a sample size large enough to know which ACL graft site is right for you, should you (unfortunately) ever “kneed” one (terrible pun, I know).
Related PostsWho "Kneeds" Normal Knees?An Intelligent Answer to a Dumb Question: A Review of "The Single-leg Solution"Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter:
Also, don't forget that today is the last day to get the $20 early-bird discount on The Single-Leg Solution. Don't miss out; the introductory price ends tonight at midnight.
About a year ago, Mike Robertson came out with an outstanding product, The Single-Leg Solution - and it reminded me of an experience I once had at a seminar. A guy posed the following question to a panel of speakers in which I was included:
"If you could only choose one exercise to do, what would it be?"
We all agreed that it was a pretty stupid and unrealistic question, but reluctantly, we each answered. In spite of my distaste for the question, I responded without hesitation: "Lunges - or any single-leg exercise, for that matter."
In my eyes, single-leg work really is that valuable - and for a lot of reasons.
(Gold star to none other than me for thinking of up the title for him. Booyeah.)
So why is single-leg work the best thing since sliced bread?
First, there is obviously going to be some direct carryover to the functional demands of life and athletics, as we spend most of our life on one foot in one capacity or another. Muscular recruitment patterns are different for bilateral and unilateral exercises, so in terms of specificity, single-leg work really can't be beat.
Second, it's much more lower-back friendly, as you can load single-leg exercises appreciably without axial loading. And, to take it a step further, it is easier to maintain neutral spine (and avoid lumbar flexion with compressive loading) with a split-stance - regardless of whether you axially load or hold the weights in the hands at one's sides. Simply stated, while single-leg exercises will never (at least in my eyes) take the place of squatting and deadlifting, they are absolutely essential supplemental exercises for one's training repertoire.
Third, in the case of back pain (or hip pain, with femoroacetebular impingement being an example), they're hugely helpful in allowing one to maintain a training effect in spite of whatever pain is present.
Fourth, single-leg exercises are hard. Let's face it: most people exercise like pansies and pick the exercises they like the most, not the ones that they need the most - or the ones that are the hardest. This is 225 pounds for eight pretty effortless reps, which makes girls want him and guys want to be him (or something like that).
Fifth, Robertson insists they are good, and this guy knows as much about knees as anyone I've ever met. If you want to keep your wheels strong and healthy for the long-term, including them is a no-brainer.
This is just five reasons to include single-leg work in your programming, and frankly, Mike includes a heck of a lot more in the 96-page tag-along manual that accompanies the 60-minute DVD in The Single-Leg Solution Package.
Knowing that single-leg work is important isn't enough, though, as I see exercise enthusiasts and fitness professionals alike absolutely butchering the technique on these exercises. And, they have absolutely no rhyme or reason for the "who, what, when, where, why" they include them; it is just throwing a wad of turd on the wall to see what sticks. Optimal progress is dependent on population-specific exercise selection, pristine technical execution, and pinpoint exercise progressions - and this is where Mike really shines with this product.
So, whether you're a personal trainer, bodybuilder, powerlifter, runner with knee pain, desk jockey with a bad back, or just some random dude who wants to get stronger, move better, and be just a little more awesome, I'd highly encourage you to check out The Single-Leg Solution..
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