It's Halloween, and as you're reading this, I'm down in Georgia for baseball stuff. Because I'm actually writing this on Tuesday night, it's hard to get in the mood and be spooky, but I'll do my best.
1. I'll be doing a LOT of baseball seminars over the next few months: November 8-9 (NY), December 14-16 (TX), January 30 (MA), and February 14 (MA). For more information, check out my schedule page.
2. I actually think the Fat Tax is a good idea. While we're at it, can we institute an a**hole tax for guys who curl in the squat rack? My girlfriend was lifting at a gym down in Southern CT this week, and she told me a guy took up a squat rack all morning to do three curl variations - and then proceeded to set up two bars in the rack to do dips. The good news for him, though, is that the Horse's A** trophy he receives partially offsets the tax.
3. When dealing with athletes post-ACL reconstruction, it's obviously important to get range-of-motion back quickly. However, the direction of that ROM can actually tell you quite a bit about what is going on. When someone is struggling to get knee extension, the problems are usually do to scarring. Flexion problems, on the other hand, are usually related to graft tensioning issues. In other words, when there is loss of flexion, it is usually surgical. When there is loss of extension, it is usually rehabilitative. When there is a loss of both flexion and extension, the problem is - you guessed it - Richard Simmons.
Yes, he's spooked, spooky, and stupid. I don't want your trick or your treat, Richard; I just want you to put some pants on and get a haircut.
4. Scientists recently confirmed a virgin birth in a shark. Apparently, the baby shark (called a pup, for reasons I can't explain) carried no male genetic material. Immediately upon its birth, the shark started bitching about how it didn't want to get too bulky.
Scientists fear for the pup's survival, as it refuses to swim fast enough to catch its prey because it doesn't want to get out of the "fat burning zone."
5. I went into quite a bit of detail on why I dislike the term "shoulder impingement" in my newsletter this week. Check it out HERE.
Just five this week, as I've got lots to do. Have a great weekend!
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.
1. Busy day today, so we'll be short and sweet. I met my new nephew last night for the first time, and as would be expected with the Cressey last name, he's a stud. Based on grip strength, I would project him as a 2026 draft pick for the Red Sox. He also really likes to sleep, which is a trait I've also noticed in all our pro baseball guys. We don't have a lot of height in the family, so I'm thinking that lefty-specialist out of the bullpen will be the best route to go. He'll throw some wicked pisser cheddar (pronounced "wikkid pissah cheddah" here in Boston).
2. Click HERE for a great review from Leigh Peele of my new e-book, The Truth About Unstable Surface Training.
3. We've put in a lot of work (actually, Kevin's done most of the work) on the site this week, and our new format should be good to go within the next two weeks. This new set-up will put my personal website and blog in the same place.
4. I saw a 6-6, 323-pound athlete vertical jump 24 inches this week. For those who haven't experienced this first-hand, that's a big peak power output. He then devoured two undersized high school athletes in a single bite.
5. Who says you can't load a push-up?
At the top, on the first few reps, this is a percentage of my body weight plus 10 chains (150 pounds total).
6. I heard talk last weekend of a pretty cool "scapula shirt" that essentially bridges the gap between post-surgery "scap jackets" (help with posture) and Underarmour-type shirts. This could have a ton of merit for those who tend to fall into bad postures easily during the day. The product hasn't been released, but you can bet that I'm going to get my hands on one as soon as possible to test drive it.
7. Volume 1 of the Fitcast Insider is available in its entirety. I did an interview with Kevin Larrabee, and there's some great stuff in there. If you're an up-and-comer in the strength and conditioning or personal training fields, definitely check this out HERE.
8. I talk a lot about how much of a problem glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD) is in baseball players, but it's also a significant issue in the general population. As a rule of thumb, everyone should be able to get 65-70 degrees of shoulder internal rotation at a position of 90 degrees abduction without the scapula going into anterior tilt. For this reason, we test everyone on their backs with the scapula fixed. The numbers are lower, but it keeps people honest.
9. Let's go Sox!
1. We finally got our act together and put up the Elite Baseball Development Program page up on the Cressey Performance website. We’ve already got more than a dozen pro ball players committed for the off-season with several more just confirming schedules and accommodations. It should be a great time. We’ll be making this blog pretty interactive with videos as the guys get after it this winter in scenic Hudson, MA, the vacation destination of choice for guys who like to lift heavy stuff, run fast, dominate medicine ball walls, and throw wicked pissah fastballs.
2. Word’s gotten out that I’ve made myself a guinea pig for the Warpspeed Fat Loss program along with Kevin and Danny at CP. It’s the truth. Honestly, I took my before pictures and they weren’t nearly as bad as I expected to be, but I’m still going to go through with it. I won’t be doing the programming to a T, but in terms of diet, I’m 100% on board. We’ll see where it takes me; I’m not really worried about making it Warpspeed, to be honest; I just want to see some subtle changes and not lose strength.
3. Eric Chessen is doing a seminar in Hanover, MA on exercise for children with developmental disabilities. Eric specializes in autism and has some awesome ideas. Check it out HERE.
4. Also on the seminar front, Dr. Mike Maxwell has Dr. Stuart McGill presenting on October 25 in New Brunswick, Canada. Dr. McGill is absolutely fantastic in seminar and I’d highly recommend you check it out if you’re in that neck of the woods.
5. I got asked this week why strengthening the external rotators of the humerus drives the bench press up. The truth is that I don't know that the external rotators have a huge direct effect on the bench aside from stabilizing the humeral head in the glenoid fossa. However, if you don't have humeral head and scapular stability, it's like trying to shoot a cannon from a canoe when you bench.
Probably more significantly, though, strengthening the external rotators is valuable because it indirectly helps you build strength by keeping your shoulders health for the long haul. I'll take a guy who can train continuously for a year over a guy who trains nine months out of the year and nurses a bum shoulder the rest of the year.
That said, in the grand scheme of things, I’d put more emphasis on a number of other factors with respect to improving the bench press independent of actually benching.
6. Thought for the weekend: hindsight is definitely 20/20. Doh!
We are publishing this on Thursday night again, as I am going to be up early tomorrow to train, do an evaluation on a pro baseball pitcher who is in town from South Carolina, and then hit the road to get to Stamford, CT in time to speak on a roundtable at Ryan Lee’s Bootcamp. I’m looking forward to a great weekend and catching up with plenty of friends in the industry – including Mike Roussell and Alwyn Cosgrove, which leads me to…
1. For those who missed it, it isn’t too late to get the EricCressey.com subscriber-only discount on Warp Speed Fat Loss. Check out this week's newsletter for more details – or just head over to pick up a discounted copy through the following link (coupon code is embedded already):
Warp Speed Fat Loss
2. Still overpriced and lame.
3. Alan Aragon had a great article published at T-Nation yesterday. Definitely check it out:
A Musclehead’s Guide to Alcohol
4. Anyone who can find me a good study that shows that you can isolate the vastus medialis effectively gets a gold star. If you want to save yourself a few days of frustrating Pubmed searching, you’ll give up now, because you aren’t going to find it.
5. Someone asked what I thought the best substitute for front squats would be in the Maximum Strength program if one didn’t have access to a power rack. I’d probably go with walking dumbbell lunges – mostly because it’d be funny to see someone do clusters with lunges!
For the record, that was a joke, folks; lunge clusters would be stupid.
6. Some researchers say that we all would die of heart disease eventually if we “outlasted” everything else. I, on the other hand, would likely die from the monotony and pure frustration of trying to explain to baseball players and coaches why distance running is stupid. To tack a few years onto my life, please do me a favor; if you are a baseball player or coach, you need to read these two articles – and then forward them on to everyone you know who also plays or coaches.
Part 1Part 2
7. Someone asked me the other day if I thought all problems were related to anterior pelvic tilt. While it’s a big problem in athletes, I would not attribute any of the following problems to anterior pelvic tilt: gonorrhea, shingles, global warming, diarrhea, traffic jams, or that annoying cashier at Trader Joe’s who always insists on commenting on how I’m buying a lot of eggs. I do hope that bastard’s hip flexors are tight, though; he rubs me the wrong way. Michelle would probably kill him for a stupid comment like that.
8. I’ll be introducing a new product next week. While many of you might be disappointed that it won’t be the 2009 Mike Robertson Pin-up Calendar (March is the Funky Knee Surgery Scar Month; it drives the ladies wild), I’m sure you’ll be delighted with the content. This is absolutely, positively, a must-read for all personal trainers and strength and conditioning coaches. And, I suspect that a lot of you everyday gym-goers will like the content as well. If you aren’t already signed up for my free newsletter, sign up using the opt-in feature to the top-right of your screen (Name and Email Address) and you’ll be among the first to know.
Have a great weekend, folks!
Q: Eric, I know you see a ton of baseball pitchers, so I wanted to ask you if there are particular flexibility restrictions you notice. I am guessing that because it is such a "lopsided" sport that imbalances tend to be magnified. Thanks.
A: Absolutely! The "money" flexibility issues we aim to address are:
-Throwing shoulder glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD)
-Lead leg hip internal rotation deficit (HIRD)
-Lead leg hip extension deficit
-Lead leg knee flexion deficit
-Trailing leg hip flexion deficit (tight hamstrings)
-Pec minor
-Sternocleidomastoid
-Long head of triceps
-Throwing elbow extension deficit (secondary to length issues with brachialis and other elbow flexors)
Some of these are attacked with more dynamic flexibility, while others are addressed with 30s static stretching and/or prolonged holds. We're also always working on thoracic mobility and ankle mobility, although I look at these issues more as gross mobility deficits than specific muscles that are short.
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used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
1. Here’s a great article on the potential drawbacks of yoga. I’ve written about this before, but it’s nice to see someone else providing a "user’s perspective."
2. My girlfriend deadlifted 250 and benched 135 this week. She’s awesome and I’m the luckiest guy in the world.
3. I’ve written about it before, and I’m going to reiterate it again: Vitamin D supplementation is going to be the next big thing. The typical 400IU dosage doesn’t appear to be enough; there’s a solid benefit for most to up that to 1,000IU/day or slightly more. In some serious clinical deficiencies, they’ll go on some insane dosages.
4. The All-Star Break has just finished up, but I’m already as excited as a little kid on Christmas when I think about our crew of pro baseball guys for the upcoming off-season. We’re going to be kicking out studs for years to come. If you're a ballplayer (or other athlete, for that matter) with interest, drop us an email at cresseyperformance@gmail.com.
5. Brian St. Pierre attempted to become the first person to ever get me to puke with training program with an insane pseudo-Strongman medley at the facility on Tuesday. It was to no avail, though; I only dry-heaved, so the perfect record is intact. Thanks for playing, Brian.
6. I really can’t stand the phrase "It is what it is." What the heck does that mean? "I’m too lazy to finish this sentence or come up with another useful thought."
7. Mike Robertson and Bill Hartman are offering a SWEET discount on their Inside-Out Product Line. As you probably know, as a "shoulder guy," I'm a huge fan of the drills in this DVD. Through 7/21, if you go HERE, add it to your cart, and enter the code IFAST in the discount code box at the right, you'll get 40% off the DVD and/or manual.
In a 2007 study, Ellenbecker et al. compared hip internal and external rotation range-of-motion in elite baseball pitchers and elite tennis players. They noted the following:
An analysis of the number of subjects in each group with a bilateral difference in hip rotation greater than 10 degrees identified 17% of the professional baseball pitchers with internal rotation differences and 42% with external rotation differences. Differences in the elite male tennis players occurred in only 15% of the players for internal rotation and 9% in external rotation. Female subjects had differences in 8% and 12% of the players for internal and external rotation, respectively.
So, in other words, baseball pitchers were more likely to be asymmetrical than tennis players. While they both serve/pitch with one arm and push off the same-side leg. Tennis players, move a lot more in various directions. And, just as importantly, they hit backhands - so the asymmetries you see at the shoulder are less pronounced as well.
Who would have thought: moving more and doing the opposite of what you normally do is a good way to stay healthy? Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Regardless of your sport, you need to get out of your comfort zone more often if you want to stay healthy.
To learn more about the common asymmetries affecting overhead athletes and how to manage them, definitely check out the Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set.
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used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
One of the things that we are constantly working to address with our baseball guys is the loss of range-of-motion following an extended period of throwing (i.e., a pitching appearance). There's some good research out there showing that the marked eccentric stress on the elbow flexors (biceps, etc) and glenohumeral external rotators (posterior rotator cuff) can lead to an acute (and potentially chronic) loss of elbow extension and humeral internal rotation range-of-motion. Pitching with a loss of ROM over the course of a competitive season is a recipe for disaster - both in terms of velocity reductions and risk of injury.
Interestingly, previous researchhas shown that post-exercise ROM is reduced more with eccentric muscle actions than concentric muscle actions. Since virtually every resistance training sessions comprise some form of eccentric exercise, post-training stretching for the involved musculature is really valuable. And, if you're doing a lot of eccentrics in that training sessions, it's even more important.
A lot of athletes get bored really quickly with static stretching, so one thing I've done a bit (especially with kids who really need to work on their mobility) is to simply repeat ourdynamic flexibility warm-ups - but integrate a bit longer of a hold on each rep.
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used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
