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Q: I have received a golf fitness program designed specifically for my injury history. This program came from the - Insert Noteworthy Golf Performance Institute’s Name Here - I have concerns about this program.
Some of the exercises I am concerned about involve:
1. mimicking my golf swing on an unstable surface
2. performing one legged golf stance with my eyes closed
3. hollow my stomach for 30 second holds
4. upright rows
Correct me if I'm wrong but your advice on various T-Nation articles and your Newsletter go against these practices. Should I look elsewhere for my golf fitness program?
A: Where do I even begin? That's simply atrocious!
I've "fixed" a lot of golfers and trained some to high levels, and we've never done any of that namby-pamby junk. In a nutshell...
1. I did my Master's thesis on unstable surface training, and it will be featured in the August issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. I can’t release the results yet, but let’s just say that if the ground ever moves on YOU instead of you moving on the ground, you have bigger things to worry about than your golf conditioning; you’re in the middle of an earthquake!
2. There is considerable anecdotal evidence to support the assertion that attempting to replicate sporting tasks on unstable surfaces actually IMPAIRS the learning of the actual skill (think of competing motor learning demands). In a technical sport like golf, this is absolutely unacceptable.
3. Eyes closed, fine - but first show me that you can be stable with your eyes open! Most golfers are so hopelessly deconditioned that they can’t even brush their teeth on one foot (sadly, I’m not joking).
4. Abdominal hollowing is "five years ago" and has been completely debunked. Whoever wrote this program (or copied and pasted it from when they gave it to 5,000 other people) ought to read some of Stuart McGill's work - and actually start to train so that he/she gets a frame of reference.
I’m sorry to say that you got ripped off. The fact of the matter is the overwhelming majority of golfers are either too lazy to condition, or too scared that it’ll mess up their swing mechanics (might be the silliest assumption in the world of sports). So, said “Performance Institute” (and I use the word “performance” very loosely) puts out programs that won’t intimidate the Average Joe or his 80-year-old recreational golfer grandmother. For the record, Gram, I would never let you do this program, either (or Gramp, for that matter). On a semi-related note, Happy 85th Birthday, Gramp!
In short, I’m a firm believer in building the athlete first and the golfer later – and many golfers are so unathletic and untrained that it isn’t even funny. Do your mobility/activation to improve your efficiency, and then apply that efficiency and stability throughout a full range of motion to a solid strength training program that develops reactive ability, rate of force development, maximal strength, and speed-strength. Leave the BOSU ball squats, Body Blade frolicking, and four-exercise 3x10 band circuits for the suckers in the crowd.
Yours Cynically,
EC |
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| I get asked quite a bit about what I look for when I see a screwy shoulder. Here you go!
1. Scapular stability
2. Thoracic spine range of motion
3. Cervical spine function
4. Breathing patterns
5. Mobility of the opposite hip
6. Mobility of the opposite ankle
7. Overall soft tissue quality (especially posterior capsule)
8. Glenohumeral (ball-and-socket joint) range of motion
9. Rotator cuff strength
Rotator cuff function is lower down on the ladder simply because the rotator cuff is reflexive and you don't have to worry about firing it in everyday life. Nobody actively tightens up infraspinatus to pick up a suitcase - and you can more easily compensate for a lack of rotator cuff function with added scapular stability (as evidenced by the number of people with internal impingement - a hypermobility problem - who can get by without surgery).
The thing I absolutely love about the Inside-Out DVD from Mike Robertson and Bill Hartman is that it covers the overwhelming majority of these problems. If you have a shoulder problem or want to prevent one, it's a great DVD to have on your shelf.
Eric Cressey |
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| Back in the spring of 2001, I got an email from some guy named Joel Marion. At the time, I was a whopping 19 years old, and he and I had a few mutual friends who thought it would be a good idea for the two of us to get in touch.
Apparently, we were both up-and-comers in this "biz" as evidenced by the fact that we spent a lot more time lifting weights, posting on training/nutrition forums, and reading everything in sight than all our peers, who were busy boozing themselves into oblivion.
It was somewhat of an ordinary introduction email, but the signature line was what got my attention (and not for the reason you might think):
Joel Marion
2001 Body-for-Life Grand Champion, Ages 18-25
Continue Reading...
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| When we made the Building the Efficient Athlete 8-DVD set, Mike Robertson and I – by our own admission and intentions – barbecued some sacred cows in in the fitness industry with some of our non-traditional ideas. Moreover, given that Mike and I interact with a ton of physical therapists, doctors, athletic trainers, and other health care professionals – and do a lot of writing with respect to corrective exercise – it’s safe to say that this DVD set has turned some heads in the medical community as well. I thought you might be interested in the following testimonial sent to us by Hector Lopez on behalf of Physicians Pioneering Performance, LLC:
“Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson’s BTEA raises the bar and sets a new standard for applying functional anatomy, biomechanical assessment, and corrective exercise to athletes at all levels. Congratulations on fine work that addresses many limiting factors of human performance, while enabling the athlete/client to progress and experience a training effect. Just one pass through this DVD set, and it stands to make us all more critical and active in thinking through the patient/client/athlete’s pain, dysfunction, impairments and inefficiencies.
“A fantastic resource that we (Physicians Pioneering Performance) would recommend without reservation, not only for athletes, strength coaches and fitness professionals, but also for musculoskeletal/sports medicine practitioners and many of their patients."
Hector Lopez, MD, CSCS
Co-Founder, Physicians Pioneering Performance, LLC
Northwestern University – Feinberg School of Medicine |
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I saw you write somewhere recently that subscapularis dysfunction was generally associated with posterior capsule tightness? Is there a causal relationship?
The subscapularis, infraspinatus, and teres minor work together to depress the humeral head during dynamic shoulder activities.
The subscapularis posteriorly pulls the humeral head in the joint (counteracts pectoralis major), while the other two anteriorly pull it (counteract posterior deltoid).
So, they're antagonists and synergists at the same time.
If subscapularis shuts down, infraspinatus and teres minor fire overtime as depressors - but you don't get subscapularis’ posterior humeral head pull. Tightness kicks in with the posterior capsule, and you can also get anterior humeral glide issues. This is a big no-no in overhead throwing, as they’ll look to the elbow to get range of motion – and that’s when you start to see ulnar collateral ligament ruptures, ulnar nerve compression, etc.
Eric Cressey
Click here to purchase the most comprehensive shoulder resource available today: Optimal Shoulder Performance - From Rehabilitation to High Performance. |
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What is your opinion of front versus back squat? I question with my football players whether I should be doing back squat with some of my older kids; they all go off to college and do them. Recently I've run into a problem with kids going to the gyms to do back squat because we're not doing them at the school. I struggle between sticking to my guns and continuing to educate the kids on why we do front squat and feeling like If their going to back squat I'd rather have them lifting with me under supervision. Can you offer any guidance on this?
I don't do any full Olympic back squats anymore. All our quad dominant squatting is either front squats or Anderson front squats. When we're looking for more posterior chain emphasis while squatting, I will box squat them. Box squats get crucified by a lot of coaches simply because they don't know how to teach them - or they've watched someone else teach them poorly.
I'm an accomplished powerlifter who has been around them long enough to know how to teach them very well, so they're a mainstay in my program. We go regular box squats, box squats with a front squat grip (awesome exercise), and safety squat bar box squats. The concerns with forward lean isn't as bad when you're only squatting to slightly below parallel and not giving the kid wiggle room to good morning the weight up out of the hole.
Eric Cressey |
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| Q: In regards to shoulder injuries, do front squats place less stress on the shoulder than back squats?
A: This would depend on the shoulder injury in question.
For people with typical impingement problems, the back squat position puts them in the at-risk position (abduction + external rotation). So, for them, the front squat set-up is much better.
For people with acromioclavicular (AC) joint problems, the bar position on the front squat will put some really uncomfortable pressure directly on the AC joint. They'll handle back squatting a bit better.
So, I guess the answer - as always - is "it depends."
Eric Cressey |
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| Q: I am a first year physical therapy student in college, and I have a real passion for strength and conditioning. I have been reading some of your articles and they are great. The reason I am contacting you is to ask a question about having athletes warm up barefoot, as you recommended in your last article. I understand your reason for doing this, but if we are so focused on doing things “functionally,” why barefoot? Most athletes compete in some form of shoe, so shouldn't we have them perform exercises in shoes? I am really into orthopedics, so the foot and ankle joints are really of interest to me. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
A: Thanks for your email and the kind words. I think the response is that the functional movement craze goes a bit too far in some instances. In this case, the addition of inappropriate footwear has actually created a weakness in the smaller muscles of the foot and lower leg. And, barefoot is as functional as you get, if you consider the way we "should" have evolved. I don't like the idea of altogether ignoring a glaring weakness; we lose a ton of dexterity in our feet as we age.
As an aside, most Americans sit on their fat a**es all day, yet we advocate doing as much training as possible standing up because it's more "functional." Acting counterintuitively isn’t always a bad thing. Food for thought!
Eric Cressey
It's all about efficiency. |
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What is your opinion of online or distance education masters degrees in human kinetics/kinesiology? Do you know of any good distance education programs? I want to further my education, but I already have a good full time training job and client base that I don't want to leave to do a master’s degree at one of the local universities.
To be honest, I'm not too fond of the online master's degrees in THIS field. Exercise Science really is a hands-on discipline; a large portion of the master's degree should be about experiencing things. When I look back at my time at the University of Connecticut, I'd say that about 90% of what I took away (which was a lot) was experience-based between strength and conditioning and the human performance laboratory – not to mention just interacting with labmates, fellow coaches, and the faculty – while only about 10% was classroom-based.
Are you close enough to any universities to go part-time over an extended period of time? You have to look at this as an INVESTMENT, not an expense.
With all that said, there are a lot of great coaches out there who don’t have Master’s degrees – but they’ve picked up the slack with tons of reading, building huge networks, and interning under other coaches who have gone before them. So, at the very least, put yourself on academic quarantine as often as possible to get some reading done, and seek out those who are doing what you’d like to do – and doing it well.
Eric Cressey
Why the general off-season is the "meat and potatoes" of the training year, and how to make the most of it. |
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| The Eric Cressey Blog welcomes a guest entry by Maki Riddington:
Even though we spend a third of our lives sleeping, scientists are still trying to learn exactly why people need sleep. In animal studies it has been shown that sleep is necessary for survival. For example, while rats normally live for two to three years, those deprived of REM sleep survive only about 5 weeks on average, and rats deprived of all sleep stages live only about 3 weeks. In humans, those who had been deprived of just one night’s sleep were shown to have a reduction in mental exertion. In real life situations, the consequences of being sleep-deprived are grave. Some speculation has linked sleep-deprivation to certain international disasters such as the Exxon Valdez oil-spill, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and the Challenger shuttle explosion.
Taking this into the gym can mean that the ability to concentrate and focus can become compromised which means less of an effort and intensity in the workout (9). Hopefully it’s not leg day.
Athletes who suffer from sleep-deprivation have been shown to see a decrease in cardiovascular performance (10), that is, their time to exhaustion is quicker. Sleep-deprivation in studies has been shown to occur around 30-72 hours. For an athlete who has a full course-load, studies, mid terms, and trains, sleep-deprivation can accumulate very rapidly.
Another study looked at cortisol and performance levels after staying up for an 8-hour period overnight. Performance declined and cortisol levels increased. For someone looking to pack on muscle and increase strength, this is bad news since the main focus is to minimize cortisol release since it is a catabolic hormone (11).
From a fat loss perspective, sleep deprivation can impair fat loss through a decrease in levels of the satiety hormone leptin, and increases in the hunger hormone ghrelin. According to Dr. Van Cauter a professor of medicine at the university of Chicago, “One of the first consequences of sleeplessness is appetite dysregulation.” “Essentially, the accelerator for hunger [ghrelin] is pushed and the brake for satiety [leptin] is released.” “The leptin levels are screaming ‘More food! More food!’” What this means is that the hormone leptin is responsible for telling the body when it is full. However, with decreased production of this hormone, the body will crave calories (especially in the form of carbs) even though its requirements have been met. For someone trying to diet, good luck!
Voluntarily sleeping less than 6 hours per night has been associated with an increased incidence of impaired glucose tolerance, according to a cohort analysis of the Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS) reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine. (12) This may mean that a chronic lack of sleep can impair glucose tolerance, which can make body recomposition a difficult task. Most people have a hard enough time trying to regulate their carbohydrates and time them so that the body metabolizes them efficiently.
So, if you’re getting the required 8 hours of sleep, are you ok? Well, if this sleep is broken up, then its value decreases as the sleep cycle is interrupted. Deep sleep appears to be connected with the release of growth hormones in young adults. Many of the body's cells also show increased production and reduced breakdown of proteins during deep sleep. Since proteins are the building blocks needed for cell growth and for repairing bodily stress (muscle damage from strength training), uninterrupted deep sleep plays an important role in recovery and regeneration of the body.
Finally, adequate sleep and a properly functioning immune system are closely related. Sleep-deprivation compromises the immune system by altering the blood levels of specialized immune cells and important proteins called cytokines. These chemical messengers instruct other immune cells to go into action. As a result of being compromised, greater than normal chances of infections are likely to occur. And we all know that being sick can be a big setback both in and out of the gym.
Maki Riddington |
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