Home Posts tagged "Strength Exercises" (Page 10)

Lynx Grips: Our Most Versatile Piece of Training Equipment

Back in 2006, Indiana Pacers Strength and Conditioning Coach Shawn Windle told me about a new piece of training equipment and connected me with the company that made it.  A week or so later, my first pair of Lynx Grips arrived in the mail - and I've been using them extensively ever since.  In fact, I found Lynx Grips to be so versatile that when the opportunity to buy a small portion of the company arose, I wrote a check immediately. Originally, the grips were positioned as a better alternative than lifting gloves, especially for females who didn't want to develop "man hands" from lifting heavy stuff.  They certainly prevent the issue completely.  My fiancee loves them - and actually refers to them as her "tacos."

lynx-grips

The more I used them, though, the more I realized that we could integrate them in our strength and conditioning programs with a multitude of other benefits. I recommended Lynx Grips to my online consulting clients who trained in places (i.e., commercial gyms) that didn't allow chalk - and the grips made it easier to pull heavy without losing one's grip during sweaty training sessions.  Problem solved. Conversely, we also started using the Lynx Grips to make grip strength exercises harder - by doubling or even tripling them up to thicken a handle.  Another problem solved. Then, we turned around and used the grips to make things easier on the hands again - but wrapping them around the connector chains we use for reverse sled drags.  This made it easier for us to haze interns (you'll notice him pick up the Lynx Grips at the 2:05 mark of this video). Problem solved...again.

Lastly, we have certain bars - the giant cambered bars, safety squat bars, and farmer's walk bars - that are slightly thinner than other bars, so our muscle clamps don't keep the plates from sliding during one's set.  Slide a Lynx Grip in the small space between the clamp and the bar, and you're good to go.  Yet another problem solved.  Look closely, and you'll see four of them being put to good use in this medley:

I'm not the only one who feels this way.  Dozens and dozens of collegiate and professional sports teams are using Lynx Grips on a daily basis in our strength training programs. What's the take-home message?  Lynx Grips are the real deal: versatile, convenient, durable, and affordable.  Check them out HERE.

lynx

(I'd recommend you pick up two pairs - which is four total grips - so that you can double or triple them up for grip work.) Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a deadlift technique tutorial!
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Strength Exercise of the Week: 1-leg Push-up Iso Holds w/Perturbations

This is an excellent strength exercise that provides both an anti-extension and anti-rotation core stability challenge, plus the benefits of scapular stabilization and dynamic function of the rotator cuff.

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Clearing up the Rotator Cuff Controversy A Recap: Testing, Treating, and Training the Shoulder

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Strength Exercise of the Week: Face Pulls with External Rotation

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Strength Exercise of the Week: Pallof Press

(even though our camera/editing guy spelled it incorrectly)

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Strength Exercise of the Week: Standing 1-Arm Cable Rows

The standing 1-arm cable row is one of my favorite exercises for shoulder health; here's how to do it correctly.

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Strength Exercise of the Week: Push-ups

This one gets absolutely butchered all the time, so good form can never be hammered home often enough! Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a detailed deadlift technique tutorial!
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“My Coach Says I Shouldn’t Lift…”

I got this question in person from the parent of a new athlete the other day and thought I'd turn it into a blog post, as I've received the email before on many occasions. Q: I read with great interest your blog on Crossfit for Baseball, but my question would be what your response would be to a coach that insists that baseball players shouldn't lift weights PERIOD?  My son's baseball coach is completely against it. A:  This is definitely going to be one of those "where to even begin" responses, but I'll do my best.  Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'll start with a quote directly from my e-book, The Truth About Unstable Surface Training: "...resistance training exercises performed on stable surfaces have been demonstrated effective in numerous research studies with respect to improving a variety of athletic qualities, including:
  • muscular strength (5)
  • power (5)
  • aerobic endurance (53)
  • running efficiency (54)
  • anaerobic endurance (5)
  • rate of force development (66,90)
  • hypertrophy (5)
  • reactive strength (66,90)
  • agility (47)
These qualities transfer to improved performance in a variety of sporting tasks, including vertical jump (74), throwing velocity (79), sprinting speed (22), and running economy (53)." (FYI, these numbers are references from the e-book, so if any of you would like the exact studies, please just request them in the comments section) Now, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that your coach IS NOT looking to field a team that lacks agility, sprinting speed, jumping prowess, throwing velocity, rate of force development (think of a catcher's pop time).  In fact, even those who are clinging to a worthless training initiative like long-distance running for pitchers can get closer to their chosen training effect (as silly as it is) from lifting! Taking this a step further, we know that resistance training can enhance immune and endocrine function, so players will get sick less often and feel better when game time rolls around. And, just as importantly, remember that resistance training is one of the foundations of modern physical therapy.  Would your coach tell a physical therapist that resistance training as part of a rehabilitation program was inappropriate? Of course not!  How in the world it is within his scope of practice to tell a kid that lifting is bad for him - either in terms of increasing injury potential or decreasing performance - is completely beyond me.  Throwing a baseball is the single-fastest motion in sports; you simply don't decelerate 7,500 degrees/second of humeral internal rotation without at least a bit of muscular contribution. And, let's not forget that an ideal strength and conditioning program encompasses a lot more than just strength exercises. It includes good self massage work (foam rollers, etc), mobility training, sprinting/agility/plyos, and much, much more.  It begins with a detailed assessment to determine what mobility or stability deficits may lead to injury down the road.  It may also be the only avenue through which an athlete learns proper nutrition. The fundamental problem is that many baseball coaches think of garbage like this when they hear the words "lifting weights:"

Can someone please tell me how my "biceps will develop" with this?  Only at "Expert Village" does the biceps EXTEND the elbow.  Yikes.

Ouch.

The take-home message is that a lot of coaches think that lifting programs are either a) a waste of time or b) flat-out dangerous.  Sadly, as the videos above demonstrate, in many cases, they're right. However, completely contraindicating lifting can really stunt the development of players and predispose them to injuries.  Throwing is dangerous when done incorrectly, and so are sprinting, fielding ground balls, and taking batting practice.  We don't contraindicate those, though, do we?  We educate athletes on how to participate in these training initiatives properly.

I can tell you that at Cressey Performance, each one of our pro baseball players lifts four times a week, throws the medicine ball 2-3 times a week, and does supplemental movement training 2-3 days per week during the off-season - and they continue lifting during the season (at a lower frequency and volume).  This is true of both position players and pitchers.

Our high school guys get after it as well; I don't know of many other private sector facilities in the country who have eight high school guys throwing 90mph+ before the age of 18 (with several more right on the cusp of this milestone).  Something is working.

And, beyond just the direct training benefits of this system, there is something to be said for the camaraderie strength and conditioning does for teammates on top of regular practices.  The fact that kids actually requested this says volumes!

Hopefully, blogs like this - and bright coaches who are "in the know" - will help to spread the word about what safe, effective training is - and where to get it.

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Strength Exercise of the Week: Stability Ball Rollouts

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Strength Exercise of the Week: Dumbbell Reverse Lunges

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Strength Training Programs: Front vs. Back Squats

A topic of interest that seems to get thrown around quite a bit nowadays is whether front squats are a "safer" exercise than back squats.  We don't do much back squatting at Cressey Performance, so a lot of people automatically assume that I'm against the idea of back squatting.  This couldn't be further from the truth, as my answer to the question "which is safer?" is a resounding "IT DEPENDS!" At last check, 74% of the Cressey Performance clientele is baseball players.  The majority of these athletes have acquired actual structural changes to their shoulders that make the back squat set-up more of an at-risk position than in non-overhead-throwing athletes.  To make a long story short, in this externally rotated, abducted position of the shoulder girdle, the biceps tendon pulls awkwardly on the superior labrum.  This peel-back mechanism is exacerbated in the presence of a glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD) and scapular instability - two features extremely common in baseball players.  So, for these folks, the front squat is a much safer alternative.  We also use giant cambered bar and safety squat bar squat and lunge variations. Conversely, take an athlete with either traumatic or chronic acromioclavicular joint problems, and the front squat will really irritate his shoulder because of the bar's position atop the shoulder girdle.  Move this bar to the upper back, and the pain is avoided altogether.  So, for AC joint pain suffers, the back squat is a safer bet. Let's be honest, though; the entire front vs. back squat argument is about lumbar spine health.  So, we'll attack it from that perspective. To kick things off, I've got a little announcement that may surprise you: I haven't back squatted in almost two years, and my back squat form isn't very good. I know what you're thinking: "You're a strength coach, Cressey; you must really suck at what you do if you can't even back squat." Well, I guess that would depend who you ask.  I regularly squat well over 400 pounds with the giant cambered bar. Front squatting isn't a problem, and I can use the safety squat bar, too.

The issue for me with back squats is a bum shoulder from back in my high school tennis days - similar to what I outlined earlier.  Because my shoulder doesn't like the externally rotated, abducted position, the only way I can get under a bar pain-free is to use an ultra-wide grip - which means my scapulae are winged out and my upper back is rounded over.  My shoulder range-of-motion is just fine, but the structural flaws I have (partial thickness tear, bone spurring, and likely labral fraying) means that if I want to back squat pain-free, I have to do so like someone who lacks external rotation. Who lacks external rotation?  Well, just about everyone who sits at a computer all day, and every athlete who has spent too much time bench-pressing.    Combine this with poor scapular stability and a lack of thoracic spine extension, and you realize that a large chunk of the weight-training population simply can't effectively put a bar on the upper back, let alone actually stabilize it. Let's be honest: if you have poor hip and/or ankle mobility, both your front and back squats are going to look pretty ugly.  You'll go into lumbar flexion or come up on your toes to get your range of motion, in most cases.  You'd think that one potentially protective factor would be that in the back squat, the lifter can better utilize the latissimus dorsi  (in a more shortened position) to help stabilize the spine. The main problem with the back squat, in my eyes, is that not everyone has sufficient upper body mobility to position and stabilize the bar properly.  As a result, it can "roll forward" on people - and that's where more of the forward lean problems come about.  More forward lean equates to more shear stress, and an increased risk of going into lumbar flexion under compressive load.  The front squat - even under heavier loads - keeps a lifter more upright, or else he'll simply dump the bar.

So, with all that in mind, while it may be a bit of a bold statement, I'd say that for individuals with excellent whole-body mobility and no upper extremity pain, a back squat is no more dangerous than a front squat. While the extra stabilization contribution from lats may reduce some of this risk, the simple fact that one can move more weight with a back squat probably "cancels out" this advantage in this comparison. All that said, regardless of whether you front or back squat, I'd encourage you to regularly get video of yourself lifting - or find an experienced coach - to give you feedback on your technique.

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