1.  I have seen a lot of guys who have hamstrings pulls in their health histories, but I don’t recall ever coming across any studies that show that shooting yourself in the leg expedites recovery time.

The sad truth is that you’ll probably have dozens of kids around the country with hamstrings strains shoot themselves in the leg in hopes of returning to play sooner because “Burress does it.”  I’ll stick with soft tissue work, glute activation, and sprint mechanics training…

2. I got a question the other day about how we approach rest periods for our medicine ball work, and while it could be somewhat of a long, detailed response, I can probably respond even better with a simple, “We are always trying to slow guys down because they rush through them.”  Usually, our rest intervals are in the ballpark of one minute between sets.  So, here’s a little sample of what one of our professional pitchers did yesterday:

A) Side High Box Step-ups w/Leg Kick: 2×4/side
B1) Overhead Med Ball Stomp to Floor: 4×8 (5kg)
B2) Side-Lying Extension-Rotation: 3×8/side
C1) Recoiled Shotput: 3×3/side (4kg)
C2) Wall Hip Flexor Mobilizations: 2×8/side
D1) Recoiled Shotput: 3×3/side (2kg)
D2) Lying Knee-to-Knee Stretch: 2x30s
E1) Crow Hop to Overhead Med Ball Throw: 5×2 (2kg)
E2) Multiplanar Hamstrings Mobilizations: 2×5/5/5/side

So, as you can see, we use mobility work between sets to slow the guys down and address range-of-motion deficits they might have at the same time.  A lot of these drills can be found on Magnificent Mobility (lower body) and Inside-Out (upper body).

3. It was a wild Thanksgiving morning at Cressey Performance; we had ten people in to train and get after it with the staff.  For some great commentary, check out these two posts:

Tony Gentilcore: First Annual Cressey Performance Thanksgiving Morning Lift
Steph Holland-Brodney: Testosterone, Training, Talk, and Turkey: My Thanksgiving Thursday

Who needs Turkey Trots when you can just do 405×20 on the trap bar and get it over with?

4. For some good reading – particularly with respect to nutrition – check out Brian St. Pierre’s blog.

5. I’m going with Joseph Addai over LenDale White this weekend.  Thanks to everyone for the feedback from Tuesday.  Fingers crossed…

6. Happy Birthday to Cassandra Forsythe-Pribanic!  Cass and I go way back, and she’s been a great friend and resource for me all along the way.  If you’re looking for top-notch female-specific nutrition and fitness resources, you definitely ought to check out The New Rules of Lifting for Women and the Women’s Health Perfect Body Diet, both of which Cass or co-authored.

That’ll do it for this week.  I’ve got some sweet content in line for next week, so stay tuned.  Have a great weekend!