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| Q: I recently had an 'elite' runner come through the clinic where I work. I won't get into his injuries but he is jacked up.
He does absolutely no strength, flexibility, or mobility work. His warm up consists of jogging about 5 minutes. I'm sure this is a familiar scenario.
My question is before you created such an outstanding reputation as a strength/rehab/corrective coach, how did you get athletes to buy in to what
you are telling them? It appears that my sales pitch is lacking. Do you have any tips/attention getters that you find useful when dealing with know
it all but know nothing athletes? I know you are extremely busy, any advice would be helpful.
A: Sell him on the easy stuff, first. Hop on a foam roller and show him that you're pain free, and then stick him on one and let him appreciate how much it hurts on his TFL/ITB. Do the same with a lacrosse ball on his butt and calves. That shows the soft tissue differences between the two of you.
Start simple instead of trying to overhaul everything. Give him some supine bridges, birddogs, and a few more mobility exercises to improve hip rotation and extension.
Next, add in some lifting and swap a distance session for a sprint session.
Sit down with him and talk footwear as well. Runners love to buy new sneakers.
Win him over bit by bit.
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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| It seems only fitting that one of my first product reviews be devoted to what I believe to be one of the greatest resources available for coaches, trainers, physical therapists, physicians, and everyday weekend warriors with a desire to understand human function and dysfunction. In Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes, Shirley Sahrmann provides a breath of fresh air to those who are tired of following the medical model of care by simply treating symptoms. Instead, Sahrmann proposes countless functional tests and corrective exercise interventions aimed at treating the causes of the problems rather than the compensations that emerge after dysfunction has emerged.
This book has profoundly impacted the way that some of the industry’s greatest minds train their clients and athletes and themselves. To be blunt, Shirley Sahrmann has likely forgotten more than most physical therapists will ever know. If you’re serious about your own education, and have the best interests of your clients and athletes in mind, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this classic.
Eric Cressey |
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