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Box Squat and Piriformis Mumbo Jumbo

Q: A lot of strength coaches and athletes (myself included) utilize variations of the box squat. I've heard other strength coaches (one in particular) indicate that it does not fully stimulate/activate the piriformis. What are your thoughts on the issue of the box vs. free squat in terms of advantages and disadvantages? I currently utilize both variations however it would be nice to be able to articulate to an individual the pros/cons. A: I don't buy it. For one, the piriformis is a tiny muscle that is typically very overused. I wish we could get more people to calm it down and used their glutes for the majority of the work! Second, box squats are one tool in your toolbox; we use them in addition to a lot of other lower extremity exercises. In fact, they're an integral part of the Maximum Strength program. Nobody ever criticized chin-ups because they don't target the gastrocnemius - but that doesn't mean that they aren't useful for what they're intended. Additionally, I haven't seen any EMG studies to show the piriformis argument is legit.
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FFL Week 8: It’s a Good Thing Tony Stinks

Let's just say that I had my worst point total (79) of the year - yet still managed to defeat Tony. I was already up 53-49 going into Monday Night's game, and Reggie Wayne, LenDale White, Bo Scaife, and Adam Vinatieri didn't do much for me. So, you could say that I beat Tony with four fewer players. Effectively, you could say that Tony's fantasy football managing strategies are as stupid as THIS. Didn't that must make you a little bit dumber? The good news is that our baseball training seminar in early November in Long Island is going to be videoed, so you can pre-order the DVDs now.
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One More Reason I Love Writing My Newsletter…

I consider myself very fortunate to not only have a good-sized newsletter list, but also to have such a knowledgeable collection of readers who share some awesome feedback with me. After last week's newsletter on the current status of the fitness industry, I got this great email from Nick Beatty, and he agreed to let me reprint it here, as I think it's right on the money. "Eric, "Thanks for your sharing your insightful anecdote about your and Mike's experience at the shoulder presentation. I agree that personal trainers could and should attend these education events, but the lack of trainers in the room speaks to a bigger problem- the very definition of what a personal trainer is and how you become one. "Case in point, where would the sponsors/presenters of the event advertise in order to increase trainer attendance? Within university departments? On journal websites? At GNC and sports clubs? At your local bodybuilding competition? At yoga studios? At your local YMCA? At the tanning salon? "The bar is set low for trainers, so to assume the lowest common denominator and expect a high-school educated personal trainer to comprehend (and more importantly contribute to) a lecture by a professional group that requires an undergraduate degree, followed by a terminal degree in physical therapy, is unfair to the trainer. So who fills the post-rehab gap? Will it be the good trainers, or a special certification (i.e. one in particular rips you off in order to call yourself a post-rehab expert) that gets lots of trainers to that point, or will Dr. Mike Jones and his MES/AAHFRP expand? Who knows, but as long as the gum-chewing dude spotting lat raises is allowed to call himself a Personal Trainer- the industry is screwed. "I recently left my personal training job in NYC to hit the books again, and some of my thoughts from my exit interview echo your sentiments: What didn't you like about Company X? "Regarding my dislikes, it is difficult to to determine whether they are related to Company X or to the industry that Company X is in. Company X operates on a level that is better than most companies in the industry, so it is my guess that the things I dislike about Company X are either because of the industry, or because of the nature of the business. "I dislike personal training, and by that I mean I dislike the whole concept of a 'fitness professional' and what goes along with that. There is no licensure for 'fitness professionals,' only certifications. The high-school drop-out who eats steroids for breakfast and independently trains; the ex-athlete who trains from experience; the certified (insert cert here) trainer who trains at a gym; the highly qualified trainer; the physical therapist with a CSCS; the yoga instructor in a leotard and sneakers at the CEU event; the fitness enthusiast with a website, product, or podcast: ALL these folks are 'fitness professionals.' It is no wonder the public and the profession itself doesn't know what to make of personal training. There is a serious identity crisis in personal training, and until it's addressed, LMTs, PTs, and all other allied health professionals will be better respected- and paid! Best, Nick" Nick Beatty, MS, CSCS, ACSM HFS, is a personal trainer in Manhattan and medical student at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. Feel free to drop him a line at nick@hpdp.org.
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Random Friday Thoughts: 10/24/08

I'm headed down to Maryland today for my longtime friend Greg's wedding. It'll be quite a car ride, but luckily, I've got my girlfriend to keep me company. Of course, I don't know why any of you would care, but I was a little short on introductory content this week, so you had to put up with my senseless rambling. Sorry about that. 1. Speaking of Greg, I'm happy to say that I'm at least partially responsible for him being a stud in his tuxedo this weekend. You see, Greg did my Maximum Strength program over the past four months, finishing two weeks ago. Here are his pre-post numbers: Weight: 205 to 193 Broad Jump: 81" to 93" Bench Press: 245 to 275 Squat: 245 to 295 (Greg is coming back from a knee surgery last year) Deadlift: 275 to 315 3-rep max Chin-up: 250 to 263 (total system weight) His friend Bill did the program with him, and he proved to be another example of a guy who can either maintain or decrease his weight while still improving strength appreciably: Weight: stayed at 170 Broad Jump: 91.5" to 105" Bench Press: 275 to 300 Squat: 315 to 335 Deadlift: 365 to 405 3-rep max Chin-up: 260 to 285 (total system weight) Pretty soon, when he does chin-ups, Greg will have to also include the ball and chain around his leg in his total system weight calculations. Zing! 2. I've come to the conclusion that it kind of weirds me out when people email me and address me as "Coach." To be honest, nobody around the facility calls me "Coach." And, if the people I see in person all the time don't call me Coach, why should people I don't train call me that? I mean, do I look like any of these guys? While we're at it, I'm not a fan of being called "Bro" or "Comrade." And, the word "Yo" is stupid and really 1990s. 3. This isn't really what I had in mind with my focus on unstable surface training, but it's amusing nonetheless. 4. Speaking of unstable training surfaces, you see what happens with you swallow your bubble gum? Commit that to memory, kids. 5. Someone asked me earlier this week if for someone needing extra scapular stability work would find value in doing 1-arm DB punches flat, incline, and even overhead for the serratus anterior rather than just doing them solely on a flat bench all of the time. My response was that I actually think it could potentially be worse to do it on an incline or decline. The decline would encourage a bit more scapular anterior tilt (emphasizes pec minor over serratus anterior), whereas the incline might actually irritate an already-angry shoulder injury. So much for innovation! 6. My newsletter for this week focused on the state of the fitness industry. At risk of sounding overconfident, it's definitely worth a read. 7. I had the best steak of my life on Tuesday night. For those who haven't been, definitely check out Abe and Louie's on Boylston if you are ever in Boston. It was pure, succulent, dead cow bliss. If you're a vegetarian, sorry - but you can at least take solace in the fact that the asparagus and broccoli sides were pretty good (especially since they were drenched in steak juices). 8. While on the topic of steaks, I cooked up some moose meat earlier this week - and it was great. I'm from Maine, so it's not THAT weird-sounding to me. The secrets are to a) use a lot of spices, b) not overcook it, and c) try not to think about how it was carved on the back of a pick-up truck until after you've eaten it. *For the record, I resisted the urge to post a picture of a hunter posing with his rifle in front of the moose he'd just shot. I figured I'd upset the vegetarians enough already with random thought #7. So, I'll just upset the kiddies and cartoon fans by saying that I ate Bullwinkle. We just have eight thoughts this Friday, as my mind's on all the travel I have to do and programs I have to write. With all our pro baseball guys rolling or in the process of getting started, there are a lot of logistics to which I am attending. I'm psyched for a great off-season, and we'll have plenty of blog video content for you along the way. In the meantime, have a great weekend.
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The Truth About Unstable Surface Training: A Physical Therapist’s Perspective

"Unstable surface training is many times misunderstood and misinterpeted in both the physical therapy and athletic performance fields. The Truth About Unstable Surface Training e-book greatly clarifies where unstable surface training strategically fits into an overall program of injury prevention, warm-up/activation, and increasing whole body strength. If you are a physical therapist, athletic trainer, or strength training professional, The Truth About Unstable Surface Training gives you a massive amount of evidence-based ammunition for your treatment stockpile." Shon Grosse PT, ATC, CSCS Comprehensive Physical Therapy Colmar, PA Click here for more information on The Truth About Unstable Surface Training.
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Shoulder or Neck Pain

Mark Comerford made a really good point last weekend when he was talking about differentiating between neck and shoulder-related upper extremity pain. In many cases, the symptoms are very similar. For instance, both labral problems and cervical spine impingement can cause numbness into the lower arm. And, both rotator cuff tendinopathies and tears and cervical spine issues can refer pain to the medial border of the scapula. Comerford noted (and it holds true in everyone that I've seen) that when you have something from the cervical spine (neck), weakness is greater than pain. Conversely, if it's a problem of shoulder origin, there is generally more pain than weakness. Simple, but I've never heard of anyone actually put it out there. Smart dude. Keep your shoulders healthy for the long-haul with Optimal Shoulder Performance.

shoulder-performance-dvdcover

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My Fantasy Football Team is SO Bad…

...that I'm not even going to give them the honor of mentioning them in this week. I'll just say that Reggie Wayne and Greg Jennings are off my Christmas Card list. To salvage some self-respect, I'll just post a testimonial from Chad Waterbury on my new e-book: "Cressey's excellent book, The Truth About Unstable Surface Training, is a rock-solid journey from research to real-world applications. This is an essential product that will elevate your knowledge and performance. I learned a ton, and I bet you will, too." Chad Waterbury Author and Neurophysiologist www.chadwaterbury.com Check out The Truth About Unstable Surface Training for yourself!
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Why Crunches Don’t Work…

Q: I noticed that you include reverse crunches in Maximum Strength, but not standard crunches. Why is it acceptable to have lumbar flexion during a reverse crunch, but not during a standard crunch? A: This is a great question - and there are a few components to my response. First, we use reverse crunches in moderation and only in our athletes who are healthy and those who have extension-based back issues (i.e., more pain in standing than sitting, tight hip flexors, anterior pelvic tilt, dormant glutes). We wouldn't use it in folks who have or have had flexion-based back issues (generally, this equates to disc problems and more pain in sitting). Second, keep in mind that this is unloaded lumbar flexion; we wouldn't add compression to the mix. Third, and most specific to your question, reverse crunches target the posterior fibers of the external oblique more. Given the points of insertion of these fibers, you can address anterior pelvic tilt without affecting the position of the rib cage. Regular crunches shorten the rectus abdominus. While this can help with addressing anterior pelvic tilt, you also have to realize that shortening the rectus abdominus will depress the rib cage and pull people into a more kyphotic position. This is not a good thing for shoulder, upper back, or neck health. So, in a nutshell, if we are going to have any sort of lumbar flexion in our training, it has to be a) unloaded, b) in the right population, c) implemented in lower volumes, and d) offering us something that addresses another more pressing issue (e.g., anterior pelvic tilt). Combat Core is an exhaustive resource on high-performance core training that I'd encourage you to check out as well.

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Random Friday Thoughts: 10/17/08

1. This has been quite possibly the busiest week of my career, and it won't be slowing down over the next two weeks, as I'm heading to Baltimore, Miami, and Atlanta in three separate trips. We will persevere with this blog, though... Factor in that I was up until the wee hours of the morning last night watching the Sox pull off without a doubt the greatest comeback I've ever seen in a single game in any sport, and sleep deprivation is becoming part of the equation... 2. Quite possibly the most awesome forum post directed to me ever: I own your Magnificent Mobility DVD and Maximum Strength book. The content is revolutionary, at least to somebody like me, who's never had professional strength and conditioning training. Each is presented in an easy to understand format, but dive into science enough to capture the technical audience as well. The pictures and demonstrations are very valuable to illustrate the key points in each exercise. There is one thing missing, though. The guy modeling all the exercises could look a little tougher. He absolutely needs a fu manchu moustache. That would perfect your programs. I know it's too late to revise the current products, but please promise me that in future products the model will be sporting some Goose Gossage handlebars. He makes a good point. Once you're magnificently mobile and maximally strong, you might as well be dead-sexy... 3. A lot of people mistake a big butt for anterior pelvic tilt. When the butt sticks out (known as a "badonkadonk," if you ask Tony Gentilcore), it can give the illusion of anterior pelvic tilt when, in reality, these folks might be fine posture-wise. So, you have to look closely (but not too closely; they might slap you, pervert). So, to recap: Big Butt = Good. Anterior Pelvic Tilt = Bad. 4. The Anti-Cressey Performance. Soooooo Lame. 5. In the upset of the week, in the "Stupidest Thing Ever Invented Bowl," the Smith Machine Deadlift narrowly defeated the Meat-Cleaver Colonoscopy. 6. In the past week, I've had three different people tell me that Cressey Performance needs to get with the program and offer mentorships with me. To be honest, it's something I've been pondering for the past month or so, and we're really thinking about putting something special together. If we did it, it would be tight-knit: no more than six attendees at a time. If you'd be interested in something like this, drop us an email at cresseyperformance@gmail.com and let us know. 7. Interesting little fact for the week: 85% of ACL reconstructive surgeries are performed by surgeons who do fewer than ten ACL surgeries per year. So, ask around before you let someone stick an arthroscope in your knee! Or, better yet, pick up a copy of Bulletproof Knees and avoid the ACL injury in the first place! 8. Speaking of healthy knees, check out last week's newsletter. I had some great knee-related content courtesy of Mike Robertson. Lots to do. See you next week.
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Russian Stiletto Race

For the record, my money was on Svetlana the entire time - even if this is the most moronic thing I've ever seen. They ought to do this daily to study ACL injury mechanisms... For those who want more of the background on why I hate high heels, check out the sarcastic and educational previous blog posts on this topic.
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