|
Seminar Stories
I wanted to start this newsletter off with a thank you to everyone who came out last weekend for the John Berardi seminar here in Boston. Dr. Berardi put on a great show, and the feedback has been fantastic. If you ever have the chance to see JB speak, don’t hesitate to jump at the opportunity.
Naked Nutrition
A few months ago, Mike Roussell sent me the preliminary version of his new project, The Naked Nutrition Guide. Mike went out of his way to contact several industry notables to go over this manual with a critical eye, and this feedback – combined with Mike’s outstanding knowledge of nutritional sciences – resulted in a fantastic finished product. There are bonus training programs from Alwyn Cosgrove, Nate Green, and Jimmy Smith. Check it out for yourself:
The Naked Nutrition Guide
Female Fitness
Last week, Erik Ledin of Lean Bodies Consulting published Part I of an interview he did with me on female training. Check it out:
EL: First off, thanks for agreeing to the interview. We've known each other for a number of years now. I used to always refer to you as the "Anatomy Guy." You then became know for being "The Shoulder Guy" and have since garnered another title, "The Mobility Guy." Who is Eric Cressey?
EC: Good question. As you implied, it's the nature of this industry to try to pigeonhole guys into certain professional "diagnoses." Personally, even though I specialize in athletic performance enhancement and corrective exercise, I pride myself on being pretty well-versed in a variety of areas - endocrinology, endurance training, body recomposition, nutrition, supplementation, recovery/regeneration, and a host of other facets of our industry. To some degree, I think it's a good thing to be a bit all over the place in this "biz," as it helps you to see the relationships among a host of different factors. Ultimately, I'd like to be considered a guy who is equal parts athlete, coach, and scholar/researcher.
All that said, for the more "traditional answer," readers can check out my bio.
EL: What are the three most underrated and underused exercises? Does it differ across gender?
EC: Well, I'm not sure that the basics - squats, deadlifts, various presses, pull-ups, and rows - can ever be considered overrated or overappreciated in both a male and female population.
Still, I think that single-leg exercises are tremendously beneficial, but are ignored by far too many trainers and lifters. Variations of lunges, step-ups, split squats, and single-leg RDLs play key roles in injury prevention and development of a great lower body.
Specific to females, we know that we need a ton of posterior chain work and correctly performed single-leg work to counteract several biomechanical and physiological differences. Namely, we're talking about quad dominance/posterior chain weakness and an increased Q-angle. Increasing glute and hamstrings strength and optimizing frontal plane stability is crucial for resisting knock-knee tendencies and preventing ACL tears. If more women could do glute-ham raises, the world would be a much better place!
EL: What common issues do you see with female trainees in terms of muscular or postural imbalances that may predispose them to some kind of injury if not corrected? How would you suggest they be corrected or prevented?
EC:
1. A lack of overall lower body strength, specifically in the glutes and hamstrings; these shortcomings resolve when you get in more deadlifts, glute-ham raises, box squats, single-leg movements, etc.
2. Poor soft-tissue quality all over; this can be corrected with plenty of foam rolling and lacrosse/tennis ball work.
3. Poor core stability (as much as I hate that word); the best solution is to can all the "turn your lumbar spine into a pretzel" movements and focus on pure stability at the lower back while mobilizing the hips and thoracic spine.
4. General weakness in the upper body, specifically with respect to the postural muscles of the upper back; we'd see much fewer shoulder problems in females if they would just do a LOT more rowing.
EL: You've mentioned to me in the past the issues with the ever popular Nike Shox training shoe as well as high heels in women. What's are the potential problems?
EC: When you elevate the heels chronically - via certain sneakers, high-heels, or any other footwear - you lose range of motion in dorsiflexion (think toe-to-shin range of motion). When you lack mobility at a joint, your body tries to compensate by looking anywhere it can to find range of motion. In the case of restricted ankle mobility, you turn the foot outward and internally rotate your lower and upper legs to make up for the deficit. This occurs as torque is "converted" through subtalar joint pronation.
As the leg rotates inward (think of the upper leg swiveling in your hip joint socket), you lose range of motion in external rotation at your hip. This is one of several reasons why females have a tendency to let their knees fall inward when they squat, lunge, deadlift, etc. And, it can relate to anterior/lateral knee pain (think of the term patellofemoral pain ... you've got restriction on things pulling on the patella, and on the things controlling the femur ... it's no wonder that they're out of whack relative to one another). And, by tightening up at the ankle and the hip, you've taken a joint (knee) that should be stable (it's just a hinge) and made it mobile/unstable. You can also get problems at the hip and lower back because ...
Just as losing range of motion at the ankle messes with how your leg is aligned, losing range of motion at your hip - both in external rotation and hip extension - leads to extra range of motion at your lumbar spine (lower back). We want our lower back to be completely stable so that it can transfer force from our lower body to our upper body and vice versa; if you have a lot of range of motion at your lower back, you don't transfer force effectively, and the vertebrae themselves can get irritated. This can lead to bone problems (think stress fractures in gymnasts), nerve issues (vertebrae impinge on discs/nerve roots), or muscular troubles (basic strains).
So, the take-home message is that crappy ankle mobility - as caused by high-top shoes, excessive ankle taping, poor footwear (heel lifts) - can cause any of a number of problems further up the kinetic chain. Sure, we see plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinosis, and shin splints, but that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what can happen.
How do we fix the problems? First, get out of the bad footwear and pick up a shoe that puts you closer in contact with the ground. Second, go barefoot more often (we do it for all our dynamic flexibility warm-ups and about 50% of the volume of our lifting sessions). Third, incorporate specific ankle (and hip) mobility drills - as featured in our Magnificent Mobility DVD.
Oh, I should mention that elevating the heels in women is also problematic simply because it shifts the weight so far forward. If we're dealing with a population that needs to increase recruitment of the glutes and hamstrings, why are we throwing more stress on the quads?
Stay tuned for Part II - available in our next newsletter.
Have a great week, everyone!
EC |
| Read more |
|
We’re five newsletters in, and while the feedback on our interviews has been fantastic, I’ve actually received several emails from people wanting to hear more from me. In my infinite wisdom, I guess I never realized that people would actually sign up for an EricCressey.com newsletter to hear from Eric Cressey. With that said, I figured that since I receive hundreds of emails on a weekly basis, I might as well pick a few from the pile and respond for everyone. There will be some information, some sarcasm, and the occasional rant; I guess that’s part of the beauty of having your own newsletter. As always, if there is something you’d like to see in the newsletter, just say the word; I’m all ears.
Q: From reading your stuff and that of John Berardi, I’ve really begun to reconsider the traditional bodybuilding-influenced “bulk-cut” approach to improving body composition. With respect to getting people to below 10% body fat, Dr. Berardi wrote that “people usually OVERESTIMATE the difficulty and UNDERESTIMATE the duration,” and that it is possible as long as:
“1) They're willing to work out in excess of 5hrs per week (sometimes up to 8 hours/week).
“2) They're willing to commit to eating better with each meal. Not follow a fat loss or bulking diet. Simply, every time they sit down to eat, they do better.
“3) They're willing to learn a new normal. We all have habits that are ‘normal’ and if you're 15, 20, 30% fat, your ‘normal’ = good for fat gain. A diet is abnormal. You'll always get back to 15%, 20%, 30% if you're always doing something abnormal. However if you re-learn a new normal, you can have a new body.”
Judging from your writings, you seem to favor a similar approach. I was just wondering if you would care to elaborate on any of these things. I’ve really been thinking about how traditional bulking and cutting might very well be outdated, and would appreciate your thoughts.
A:
Those are definitely some statements with which I agree wholeheartedly, and I think that the more people that check out JB’s Precision Nutrition products, the less often I’ll have to encounter questions like this! Once people start to adopt these ideals, I really think that we’ll see a paradigm shift in the world of training-nutrition interaction for body composition improvement.
I, too, get really sick and tired of the “bulk and cut” mentality to which so many people adhere. And, as a competitive athlete myself who has to maintain reasonably strict control over my body weight – yet has still seen consistent improvements in body composition over time – I feel that I have a solid frame of reference from which to speak. In fact, as I look to drop a few pounds prior to APF Senior Nationals (June 2), my overall training and nutrition strategies aren’t changing much at all.
With that said, I've got several problems with what has seemingly become the “traditionalist” approach:
1. People adopt programs, but never habits. Consistency is more important than you can possibly imagine, but when you're constantly shuffling back and forth between programs, you're never really "getting it." If you had the good habits in the first place, chances are that you wouldn’t have ever had to come to consider the extreme cutting or bulking, right?
2. Progress can be very tough to monitor in experienced individuals. Experienced natural lifters might be lucky to add five pounds of lean body mass a year. How realistic is it to really micromanage such subtle changes over a three-month period (assuming two bulks and two cuts per year)? Spread five new pounds out over an entire body and you'll see that it isn't readily apparent. Work with some guys who are 7-feet tall like I have and you’ll see that it’s even more hard to notice – especially when you see them on a daily basis.
3. Bulk/Cut is no way to live. Let's assume that a year consists of two bulks and two cuts. So, basically, you're spending one half of the year gorging yourself until you become a fat-ass, and the other half in misery until you get lean enough to feel crappier and look better. Toss in a few root canals, a colonoscopy, and a few Ben Affleck movies*, and you’ve got yourself a year to be forgotten. Yeehaw.
4. Think of the long-term consequences of the bulk/cut scheme. If you read the research on weight regain and body fat distributions in recovered anorexics, you’ll see that central adiposity is extremely common. Are severe cutting diets really that much different than clinical cases of anorexia? Taking someone’s thyroid out and stomping on it would actually be a quicker means to the same end.
5. Do we really want to adhere to guidelines that are predominantly geared toward professional bodybuilders who are so juiced to the gills that you can smell GH on their breath? They’ve got extensive anabolic arsenals in place to maintain muscles mass and optimize nutrient partitioning as they diet down, and thyroid medications to keep their metabolic rates up in spite of the reductions in calories. Indirectly, all these substances improve strength and stave off lethargy, making training sessions more productive in spite of caloric reductions. In the bulking scenarios, the nutrient partitioning effects are still in place, as these individuals are less likely to add body fat when eating a caloric surplus.
Now, put a natural lifter in the same scenario, and you’ll see right away that he’s immediately at a disadvantage. Drop calories too fast, and your endogenous testosterone and thyroid levels fall. You get tired and weak, and your body has to find energy wherever it can – even if it means breaking down muscle tissue.
I’m not trying to get on a soapbox here; I’m just trying to make people realize that they’re comparing apples and oranges. You need to do what’s right for you.
And what does that entail? Adopt admirable dietary, training, and lifestyle habits, and you’ll build a strong body that moves efficiently and just so happens to look good. Leave the quick-fix approaches for those with “assistance” and anyone silly enough to watch a fitness infomercial from beginning to end.
*Note to readers: This reference was spurred on by my good friend, Tony Gentilcore, who was responsible for the quote of the week:
“There are two kinds of people that irritate me: people who use the leg press, and Ben Affleck.”
(For your information, Tony has a bit of a crush on Jennifer Garner, and it tends to make him a little biased when the time comes to review Affleck movies)
Q:
I was wondering what your thoughts on “finishers” to workouts are. You know, tough stuff to test yourself at the end of a lift.
A:
Truthfully, I rarely add "finishers" to the end of sessions. In my opinion, this brings to light an amazing "phenomenon" that exists in the performance enhancement field. Those who make frequent use of finishers are the very same individuals who don't know a thing about volume manipulation for optimal supercompensation. If the finisher was such a valuable inclusion, then why wasn't it written into the program initially?
Some people claim that these are an ideal means of enhancing mental toughness. I can’t disagree, but I do think that your mental training stimuli should already exist in your programming. If you need to search around for things to haphazardly incorporate at the end of a session, then you need to take a look at program design abilities. I’d rather see a “finisher” just be considered an appropriately-planned “last exercise.” Believe it or not, there should even be times when you leave the gym feeling fresh.
There may be instances where I'll push an athlete (or myself) with increased volume and/or intensity based on the pre-training mood. This is one basis for cybernetic periodization; effectively, you can roll with the punches as needed.
I will say, however, that finishers have their place with younger athletes where you’re just trying to keep the session fun. If you find something productive that they’re enthusiastic about doing, by all means, deviate from your plan a bit and build on that enthusiasm. When they start getting more experienced, though, you’re going to have to know when to hold back the reins on them a bit.
Q:
In December of 2001, I was rear-ended going about 30mph; five cars were involved, and I was the first car hit from behind. My knee hit the dashboard when I was hit from behind and my head was jerked backwards when I hit the car in front of me.
My knee started hurting soon after, although I never got it checked out. It’s now become a sharp pain and a constant, dull ache as well with weakness on stairs and squatting-type positions especially. In addition, there are tender areas, on the outside and top of the knee, that cause extreme pain when I am bending, squatting, lying down, or sitting down for too long. My hip has also been affected, also aching constantly. My right leg and knee also hurt and knot up easily. The surrounding muscles are very weak with several knots in them, and I also have a very tight iliotibial band. Any ideas what might be going on?
A:
I thought "PCL" (posterior cruciate ligament) the second I saw the word "dashboard;" it's the most common injury mechanism with this injury. I’m really surprised that they didn’t check you out for this right after the accident; you might actually be a candidate for a surgery to clean things up. Things to consider:
1. They aren't as good at PCL surgeries as they are with ACL surgeries, as they're only 1/10 as common. As such, they screw up a good 30%, as I recall – so make sure you find a good doctor who is experienced with this injury to assess you and, if necessary, do the procedure.
2. It's believed that isolated PCL injuries never occur; they always take the LCL and a large "chunk" of the posterolateral complex along for the ride. That would explain some of the lateral pain.
3. The PCL works synergistically with the quads to prevent posterior tibial translation. As such, quad strengthening is always a crucial part of PCL rehab (or in instances when they opt to not do surgery). A good buddy of mine was a great hockey player back in the day, but he has no PCL in his right knee; he has to make up for it now with really strong quads.
4. Chances are that a lot of the pain you’re experiencing now is related more to the compensation patterns you’ve developed over the years than it is to the actual knee injury. For instance, the tightness in your IT band could be related to you doing more work at the hip to avoid loading that knee too much. Pain in the front of the knee would be more indicative of a patellar tendonosis condition (“Jumper’s Knee”), which would result from over-reliance on your quads because of the lack of the PCL (something has to work overtime to prevent the portion of posterior tibial translation that the PCL normally resisted).
5. From an acute rehabilitation standpoint, I think you’d need to address both soft tissue length (with stretching and mobility work) and quality (with foam rolling). These interventions would mostly treat the symptoms, so meanwhile, you’re going to need to look at the deficient muscles that aren't doing their job (i.e. the real reasons that ITB/TFL complex is so overactive). I'll wager my car, entire 2006 salary, and first-born child that it’s one or more of the following:
a) your glute medius and maximus are weak
b) your adductor magnus is overactive
c) your ITB/TFL is overactive (we already know this one)
d) your biceps femoris (lateral hamstring) is overactive
e) your rectus femoris is tighter than a camel's butt in a sandstorm
f) you might have issues with weakness of the posterior fibers of the external oblique, but not the rectus abdominus (most exercisers I know do too many crunches anyway!)
Again, your best bet is to get that PCL checked out and go from there. If you’ve made it from December 2001 until now without being incapacitated, chances are that you’ll have a lot of wiggle room with testing that knee out so that you can go into the surgery (if there is one) strong.
Good luck!
That’s all for this week; I hope everyone enjoyed it!
All the Best,
EC |
| Read more |
|
| Q: What advice do you have for sore knees? It might be from over use, squats, dead lifts, cardio, but I'm sure joggers run into this all the time. Do you cover it in you Mobility DVD?
A: "Knee issues" is a very broad topic. You can have dysfunction at the ankle, hip, or knee itself - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. We most commonly see issues at the ankle, hip, or both, though. It could be mobility deficits, soft tissue restrictions, capsular issues, or even congenital issues (femoral-acetabular impingement, for instance). Issues like you describe can simply be a result of imbalanced training programs, too. Most people tend to be very quad dominant and do a lot more squatting work than hip-dominant exercises.
With Magnificent Mobility, we've definitely had some excellent results in people with nagging knee issues. However, given that you have more of a "amorphous" issue, you'd be better off picking up a copy of Mike Robertson's Bulletproof Knees Manual. Mike goes into great depth on knee issues, their causes, and solutions - all while educating the reader in an easy-to-understand manner.
Eric Cressey |
| Read more |
|
| This blog is continued from part 1.
Rule #4: You can never have too much information. Ask a lot of questions and consider every angle — and know when to refer out to a professional more qualified than you to handle the problem in question.
Your Take-Home: It will never hurt to get diagnostics done on your knee from a qualified physician. Some of your problems could be related to a meniscus issue; it would explain some of the problems with weight-bearing exercise (although you would still be able to do some exercises in the standing position). That said, though, you still likely have a big window of adaptation ahead of you, so read on.
Rule #5: Think "correct" before you think "different." If an exercise causes pain, stop performing it. Evaluate technique before moving on, though. If performing the exercise correctly alleviates pain, keep it. Chances are that correctly performing the exercise will actually help correct the imbalance.
Your Take-Home: Have you considered that it might be the way that you squat that is the problem? Are you breaking the knees forward or hips back first? Perhaps front-squatting is a better option for you now. Is box squatting painful?
Rule #6: Make the athlete feel like an athlete — not a patient — both physically and psychologically. Tell them what they can do.
Your Take-Home: I can almost guarantee that deadlift variations, pull-throughs, various single-leg movements, and glute-ham raises would allow you to train pain-free in closed-chain motion if you performed them correctly and with appropriate progressions.
Rule #7: Before you go changing what's going on in the gym, figure out what you can do to improve what's going on outside of it. Think posture, repetitive motions, sheer lack of movement, sleeping posture, footwear, and even poor diet.
Your Take-Home: What is your footwear like? Is it appropriate for your foot-type? Are you taking fish oil? Glucosamine? Are there activities in your daily life that you do repetitively that could be avoided or revised to keep you healthy?
Rule #8: Soft-tissue work serves a valuable role in preventing and correcting imbalances, without making any programming modifications. Foam rolling and lacrosse ball work is cheap and effective. Just do it.
Your Take-Home: I’m willing to bet that you aren’t foam rolling or doing any work on your calves or glutes with the lacrosse ball. And, I’m guessing that massages aren’t a common occurrence in your life. All three are great interventions (the former two are very affordable, too).
Rule #9: Implement mobility and activation work in your warm-up. It only takes 5-10 minutes, which is a lot less time than it takes to recover from an injury. You'll be amazed at what shakes free when you enhance stability through full ranges of motion.
Your Take-Home: I’m guessing that you haven’t done anything to improve hip internal and external range of motion, hip extension ROM, or ankle dorsiflexion ROM. You should be.
Rule #10: As a last step, modify the training plan — and only on a small-scale, if possible. This is the most "sacred" aspect of an athlete's preparation, so you should butcher it as little as possible. The more you screw with things, the more the athlete is going to feel like a patient.
Your Take-Home: I’m guessing that the leg extensions are causing more harm than good. I would try some lower intensity rack pulls and/or pull-throughs, plus some split squat isometric holds. See how it goes.
I would also highly recommend picking up a copy of Mike Robertson’s Bulletproof Knees manual. Mike goes into far more detail in several hundred pages than I ever could with a single blog post.
Good luck,
Eric Cressey |
| Read more |
|
| Hello Eric, I just read “The Truth About Leg Extensions.” Because of my standing work , I can`t do any leg exercises that press under my feet (deadlift, squat, and leg press), more that once a week, without getting trouble with my knees. They get full of water and hurt. When training full-body, three times a week, I do leg extensions Monday and Wednesday and then squats on Friday. This way, I don’t have to stand up for 8 hours the day after squats. I just tried to do squats twice a week (Monday and Friday), also with bad results. So I am happy to have the Leg extension.
With Friendly Regards from Denmark,
Bent
A: You know, I can only imagine how challenging your life must be if you can only go to the bathroom once a week. I mean, honestly, not being able to squat down to the toilet more than once every seven days? You must have a pretty strong colon!
Kidding aside, I’m the last person from whom you will get sympathy. I regularly train clients and athletes anywhere from 7-13 hours per day – and those are on some pretty hard rubberized gym floors (rubber is on top of turf). I also happen to have supinated feet (very rigid feet that don’t like to cushion the body), so I regularly wear through the insoles I put in my shoes. Still, I do a wide variety of lifts – from deadlifts, to squats, to various single-leg movements – and sprint 2-3 times a week on top of that stimulus.
Now, getting to your issue…
First off, go check out my article, The Ten Rules of Corrective Lifting, at T-Nation. It will give you an idea of the direction I’m going to take with this reply. I would actually recommend opening it up in another window as I go through step-by-step what could be your problems.
Rule #1: Fit the program to the lifter, not vice versa. The best way to correct dysfunction is to prevent it. If you're blindly following cookie-cutter programs, stop.
Your Take-Home: Stop reading your favorite muscle magazine; it takes more than leg extensions and squats to build solid legs that are pain-free.
Rule #2: Learn to program for yourself. Establish a small group of people who will give you honest feedback on your programming ideas, and then use your intuition when it comes to modifying things on the fly.
Your Take-Home: Seek out the help of others who understand the dynamics of your knees better than you do.
Rule #3: Some exercises just aren't worth it. Don't bother with them; there are better options available to you.
Your Take-Home: Cough…leg extensions….cough.
See the rest of this article in tomorrow's update! |
| Read more |
|
Will the excercises on Magnificent Mobility help treat runner's knee, along with the tight IT bands and hamstrings? Are there different exercises which you would recommend for the knee/IT band problems?
I haven't bought the dvd's yet, but if they'll help my knees I'd consider it.
Absolutely, Peter. Most knee issues arise from lack of mobility at the ankles and hips - so one goes to the knee (what should be a stable joint) and creates range of motion. We've had a lot of great feedback from people with bum knees who have seen great results with the DVD.
Mike and I are more than happy to help you customize the drills to your needs.
I'd also recommend that you pick up a foam roller to work on soft tissue quality in the ITB/TFL. You can read more about it here. I'd also recommend that you take a lacrosse ball to your calves and glutes to free up any restrictions that are there - very common in anterior and lateral knee pain. |
| Read more |
|
| I get a lot of questions about whether single-leg exercises are quad-dominant or hip dominant and where to place them in training programs. After chatting more with Mike Boyle and considering how I’ve approached it in the past, I’ve realized that if you categorize things the way Mike does, you have a lot of “wiggle room” with your programming to fit more of it in. Mike separates his single-leg work into three categories:
1. Static Unsupported – 1-leg squats (Pistols), 1-leg SLDLs
2. Static Supported – Bulgarian Split Squats
3. Dynamic – Lunges, Step-ups
From there, you can also divide single-leg movements into decelerative (forward lunging) and accelerative (slideboard work, reverse lunges). I’ve found that accelerative movements are most effective early progressions after lower extremity injuries (less stress on the knee joint).
I think that it’s ideal for everyone to aim to get at least one of each of the three options in each week. If one needed to be sacrificed, it would be static supported. Because static unsupported aren’t generally loaded as heavily and don’t cause as much delayed onset muscle soreness, they can often be thrown in on upper body days. Here are some sample splits you might want to try:
3-day
M – Include static supported (50/50 upper/lower exercise selection)
W – Include static unsupported (only lower body exercise)
F – Include dynamic (50/50 upper/lower exercise selection)
Notice how the most stressful/DOMS-inducing option is placed prior to the longest recovery period (the weekend of rest).
4-day
M – Include static supported in lower-body training session.
W – Include static unsupported (only lower body exercise in otherwise upper body session)
F – Include dynamic in lower-body training session
Sa – Upper body workout, no single-leg work outside of warm-up and unloaded prehab work
Be sure to switch exercises and rotate decelerative/accelerative every four weeks.
Eric Cressey
See How This Fits Into Your Upcoming Season |
| Read more |
|
LEARN
HOW TO
DEADLIFT
- Avoid the most common deadlifting mistakes
- 9 - minute instructional video
- 3 part follow up series
|
