Home Posts tagged "Stuart McGill" (Page 3)

Mobility Exercise of the Week: Bowler Squat

I was introduced to the bowler squat originally by Dr. Stuart McGill at one of his seminars back around 2005.  Beyond the endorsement from one of the world's premier spine experts, the fact that it's been a mainstay in our strength and conditioning programs for about seven years should prove just how valuable I think this combination mobility/activation exercise is. Before describing it, though, I should mention that the name is a bit misleading.  While it does look like a bowler's motion, the truth is that it's more of a "rotational deadlift" than it is a squat.  There is some knee flexion involved, but the shin remains essentially vertical, and most of the motion occurs at the hips - and that's what makes it such a fantastic exercise.  Have a look:

We talk all the time about how important glute activation is, but most folks simply think that a few sets of supine bridges will get the job done. The problem is that this exercise occurs purely in the sagittal plane, while the glutes - as demonstrated by their line of pull - are also extremely active in the frontal and transverse planes.  The gluteus maximums isn't just a hip extensor; it is also a hip abductor and external rotator.

As such, the gluteus maximus is essential to properly eccentrically controlling hip flexion, adduction, and internal rotation that occurs with every step, landing, lunge, and change-of-direction.  You can even think of it as an "anti-pronator."

A bowler squat effectively challenges the glutes to both lengthen and activate in a weight-bearing position in all three planes.  And, for the tennis and baseball players out there, check out how closely the bowler squat replicates the finish position from a serve and pitch (I noted this in a recent article, Increasing Pitching Velocity: What Stride Length is and How to Improve It).

To perform the exercise, push the hips back as if attempting a 1-leg RDL, but reach across the body with the arm on the side of the non-support leg.  The "hips back" cue will get the sagittal plane, while the reach across will get the frontal and transverse plane. Make sure to keep the spine in neutral to ensure that the range of motion comes from the hips and not the lower back.  Keep the knee soft (not locked out), but not significantly flexed, either.  Be sure to get the hips all the way through at the top, finishing with a glute squeeze.

A few additional cues we may use are:

1. Tell the athlete to pretend like he/she is trying to pick up a basketball with the support foot; it can help those who keep tipping over.

2. Provide a target - a medicine ball or dumbbell - that the athlete should reach for in the bottom position (this keeps folks from cutting the movement short, or making it too sagittal plane dominant).

3. Encourage the athlete to keep the chin tucked (to keep the cervical spine in neutral).

4. Put your hand a few inches in front of the kneecap and tell the athlete not to touch your hand with the knee; this keeps an athlete from squatting too much when he/she should be hip-hinging.

Typically, we'll perform this drill for one set of eight reps per side as part of the warm-up.  However, in a less experienced population - or one with very poor balance - this may serve as a great unloaded challenge that can be included as part of the actual strength training program.

Give it a shot!

For more exercises like this, be sure to check out Assess and Correct: Breaking Barries to Unlock Performance.

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Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 3/21/12

Here's a list of recommended reading for the week: Exercises You Should Be Doing: Half-Kneeling Band Overhead Shrug - Here, Tony Gentilcore highlights an exercise we use quite a bit at Cressey Performance with some of our athletes who are stuck in scapular downward rotation.  It's a big hit with those guys with low shoulders (especially right-handed pitchers).  As an aside, I actually prefer the tall kneeling version over the half-kneeling variation, but that's minutia. An Interview with Dr. Stuart McGill: Part 1 and Part 2 - This two-part interview by Chad Waterbury with Dr. McGill was fantastic.  All of McGill's work is must-read material if you're in the fields of health and human performance. The Red Meat Scare: What Do We Make of It? - Jonny Bowden does a great job of discussing the flaws in the way some folks have interpreted some recent research on red meat consumption and its relationship to mortality. Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!
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Strength Training Programs and Squat Technique: To Arch or Not to Arch?

Q: I’m confused about when I should arch.  I was re-reading some of your older articles, and noticed that in the Neanderthal No More series, you and Mike Robertson advocate posteriorly tilting the pelvis while performing some core exercises, yet when it comes to performing squat and deadlift technique, you encourage people to maintain the arch.

My back tightens up a lot when I arch strongly, but if I just bend over to touch my toes in flexion, it doesn’t bother me at all.

1.  Could it be possible that I am arching too much during everyday movements and strength exercises?

2.  What really constitutes a neutral spine?  Is it different for each person?

3.  When is it (if ever) appropriate to have a flat spine?

A: The main thing to consider – at least in my experience – is whether there is compressive loading on the spine. In compression, you want an arch - or at the very least, the natural curve of your lumbar spine.  The discs simply don't handle compression well when the spine is in flexion (or flat).  We do more of the posterior pelvic tilt stuff when you are on your back (glute brides, as the glutes posteriorly tilt the pelvis) or on your stomach (if you arch, you're slipping into hyperextension, which defeats the purpose of trying to resist gravity as it pushes you down to the floor).

Bending over is a LOT different than squatting and deadlifting (and comparable strength exercises).  When you add load, the game changes.  Cappozzo et al. found that squatting to parallel with 1.6 times body weight (what might be “average” for the typical weekend warrior) led to compressive loads of ten times body weight at L3-L4. That’s 7000N for a guy who weighs about about 150.  Meanwhile, in a study of 57 Olympic lifters, Cholewicki et al. found that L4-L5 compressive loads were greater than 17,000N. It’s no wonder that retired weightlifters have reduced intervertebral disc heights under MRI! They get strong, but at a "structural price."

According to Dr. Stuart McGill in his outstanding book, Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance, the spine doesn’t buckle until 12,000-15,000N of pressure is applied in compression (or 1,800-2,800N in shear) – so it goes without saying that we’re always playing with fire, to a degree – regardless of the strength training exercise in question, as there’s always going to be compressive loads on the spine.  That’s a laboratory model, though; otherwise, the Olympic lifters above wouldn’t be able to handle much more than 12,000N without buckling.  In the real world, we have active restraints – muscles and tendons – to protect our spine.

If those active restraints are going to do their job, we need to put them at a mechanical advantage – and flexion is not that advantage.  The aforementioned Cappozzo et al. study demonstrated that as lumbar flexion increased under load, compressive load also increased. In other words, if you aren’t mobile enough to squat deep without hitting lumbar flexion (because the hips or ankles are stiffer than the spine), you either need need to squat a little higher or not squat at all. That said, I don't think that you have to force a dramatic arch when you squat (or any strength exercise, for that matter); I think you need to brace your core tightly and create stability within the range of motion that you already have – and, indeed, “neutral spine” is different for everyone.  For instance, females have an average of 5-7 degrees of anterior pelvic tilt, whereas males are more like 3-5 degrees - meaning that females will naturally be a bit more lordotic.

Having sufficient lumbar flexion to touch your toes with “uniform” movement through your lumbar spine is certainly important, and for most, it’ll be completely pain free (regardless of range of motion), but that doesn’t mean that a flat or flexed lumbar spine is a good position in which to exercise with compressive load.

So, to recap:

1.  Neutral spine is different for everyone.  What’s the same for everyone is the need to have stability within the range of motion that you’ve got.

2. Flexion is fine (and a normal functional task) when it isn’t accompanied by compressive loading.  And, there is a different between subtle lumbar flexion and end-range lumbar flexion.

3. Arching (lumbar extension) doesn’t need to be excessive in order to be effective in improving tolerance to compressive loads.  In most cases, that “arch” cue simply keeps a person in neutral spine as they go into hip flexion in the bottom of a squat or deadlift (or comparable strength exercise).  “Arch” doesn’t mean “hyperextend;” it means to maintain the normal lordotic curve of your lumbar spine.

Looking to learn more?  Check out Functional Stability Training, a comprehensive resource for assessment, programming, and coaching.

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Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture – Part 2

Today, we move forward with more strategies for correcting bad posture. In case you missed it, be sure to check out Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture: Part 1.  We pick up with tip #5... 5. Don't overlook a lack of glenohumeral (shoulder) joint internal rotation. When it comes to bad posture, everyone thinks that the glenohumeral joint is only a "player" when it's stuck in internal rotation; that is, the ball - or humeral head - is rotated too far forward on the socket - or glenoid fossa - meaning that the individual just doesn't have adequate external rotation.  And, this is often true - especially in non-athletic populations. However, you'll also very commonly see poor posture folks who present with big glenohumeral internal rotation deficits (GIRD), particularly on the right side (for very legitimate reasons that go well beyond the scope of this article).  This is much more common in athletes, particularly overhead throwers (read more: Static Posture Assessment Mistakes).  When the posterior rotator cuff is stiff/short and there is an internal rotation deficit, we have to substitute excessive scapular protraction (winging) or thoracic flexion/rotation each time we reach for something. So, for many folks, posterior shoulder mobility and soft tissue work is an important inclusion in cleaning things up in terms of appearance, function, and shoulder health.  If - and only if - you've been assessed and it's been determined that you have an internal rotation deficit that compromises your total motion at the glenohumeral joint, you can integrate some gentle sleeper stretches (scapula stabilized!) to get a bit more ROM in the posterior cuff.

6. Don't overlook a lack of glenohumeral (shoulder) joint flexion. The shoulder is a tremendously mobile joint, so we need to appreciate what goes on outside the transverse plane as well. In particular, I see shoulder flexion limitations as a big problem. These limitations may come from the lat, teres major, long head of the triceps, or inferior capsule.  Another overlooked cause can be posterior cuff restrictions; it's not uncommon to see both GIRD and major shoulder flexion limitations on the same side.  As the picture below shows, the infraspinatus and teres minor run almost vertically when the arm is abducted a mere 90 degrees - which means that they're struggling to lengthen fully to allow full shoulder flexion (and abduction, for that matter).

These restrictions that can contribute to both faulty compensation patterns in certain positions, as well as overall bad posture chronically.  Let's have a look at what these issues look like in the real world. First, in someone with a shoulder flexion limitation, you'd first want to check them in the supine position, with the knees flexed and back flat (to avoid substituting lumbar extension for shoulder flexion).  Ideally, the arms should rest flat on the table - so this would be a "not-so-hot" result (especially since the arms "fall" to the sides a bit instead of staying in "attempted flexion"):

Next, let's take this same shoulder flexion limitation, and look at what would happen actively.  In the first three reps of the video below, take note of the position of our subject's head at the start and finish of each rep; you'll see that as he "runs out" of shoulder flexion, he substitutes forward head posture.  On the next three reps, after I cue him to keep his cervical spine in a more neutral posture, he has to arch his back excessively (lumbar hyperextension) to complete the movement.

Now, imagine taking this walking disaster (only kidding; I had Dave fake it for the video, as he's actually a finely tuned trained killing machine who can't be stopped by conventional weapons - and he's single, ladies) taking up overhead pressing, Olympic lifting, or just reaching for a glass on the top shelf.  Then, imagine him doing those tasks over and over again. Obviously, the posture will get worse as he reinforces these compensation schemes - but something is going to surely break down along the way; it's just a question of whether it's his low back, shoulder, or neck!

Correcting these issues is easier said than done; as I noted, there are several structures that could be the limiting factor.  However, for those looking for a relatively universal stretch they can use to get a bit of everything, I like the wall lat stretch with stabilization, one piece of a comprehensive (but not excessive and boring) static stretching program included in Show and Go.

7. Don't ignore the thoracic spine. The previous two examples focused exclusively on the glenohumeral joint, but the truth is that it is tremendously dependent on thoracic spine positioning.  Ask any physical therapist, and they'll tell you that if they can get the thoracic spine moving, they can instantly improve glenohumeral joint range-of-motion without even touching the shoulder (this is incredibly valuable with folks who may have stiff glenohumeral joints that can't be mobilized aggressively following shoulder surgery; they need ROM in any way possible).  And, truthfully, you can substitute a lack of thoracic spine extension for the shoulder flexion problems and compensation schemes above, and a lack of thoracic spine rotation can work in much the same way as a GIRD (substitute excessive scapular protraction with reaching tasks).

If you ever want to quickly check to see what limiting thoracic extension does to someone's upper body posture, just put them in supine position and push the sternum/rib cage down - which will bring the thoracic spine into flexion. Watch what happens to the position of his chin, and the size of the "gap" between his neck and the table:

Now, just consider what kind of "yank" this puts on the sternocleidomastoid chronically...

...and you'll understand why a lack of thoracic spine mobility can give people enough neck pain and tension headaches to make Lindsay Lohan's hangovers look like a walk in the park.  And this doesn't even consider what's going on with scalenes, suboccipitals, levator scapulae, subclavius, and a host of other muscles that are royally pissed off!  Also, think about all those folks in your gym doing hours and hours of crunches (especially while tugging on the neck).  Ouch.

For that reason, we need to get our thoracic spine moving - and more specifically, we need to get it moving in both extension and rotation.  I've mentioned in the past that the side-lying extension-rotation is one of my favorites (assuming no symptoms); remember that the overwhelming majority of the range-of-motion is coming from the upper back, not just the shoulder:

Here's another we're using quite a bit nowadays in our folks who have good internal rotation (which we want to keep!):

8. Watch your daily habits and get up more frequently. I'm at 1,140 words for this post right now - plus several pictures and videos.  In other words, some of you might have been hunched over your computer screens trying to figure out what I'm saying for over 20 minutes now - and that's when "creep" starts to set in an postural changes become more and more harmful (both aesthetically and functionally).

With that in mind, make a point of getting up more frequently throughout the day if you have to be sitting a ton.  Likewise, "shuffle" or "fidget" in your chair; as Dr. Stuart McGill once said, "The best posture is the one that is constantly changing."  Now, shouldn't you get up and walk around for a few minutes?

I'll be back soon with Part 3 of this series, but in the meantime, I'd encourage you to check out Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better, a comprehensive program that includes many of the principles I have outlined in this series.

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Preventing Lower Back Pain: Assuming is Okay

It's widely known that approximately 80% of the population will suffer from lower back pain at some point during their lives.  What isn't widely known, however, is that even those who are asymptomatic are usually walking around with a host of nasty stuff going on with their spines.  Don't believe me?

A 1994 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that in a study of MRIs of 98 asymptomatic individuals, 82% of those MRIs came back as positive for a disc bulge, protrusion, or extrusion at one level.  And, 38% actually had these issues at more than one level.  You can read the free full text HERE.

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As the others discovered, it doesn't stop with disc issues, either - and that's where a great study from Soler and Calderon comes in.  They looked at the incidence of spondylolysis (vertebral fractures) in elite Spanish athletes, and found that 8% of those they examined had them.  Only about half of those diagnosed via imaging actually had back pain, though.  The incidence was highest in track and field throwers, rowers, gymnasts, and weightlifters - and I'd expect that this figure is actually higher in the U.S., where we have more sports (hockey, baseball, lacrosse) involving violent extension and rotation, more contact sports, and more participation in weight training.

What does this mean for us?  Well, as Chou et al. reported in The Lancet, "Lumbar imaging for low-back pain without indications of serious underlying conditions does not improve clinical outcomes. Therefore, clinicians should refrain from routine, immediate lumbar imaging in patients with acute or subacute low-back pain and without features suggesting a serious underlying condition."  That's not the point of my article today, though; I'll leave that stuff to the physicians to decide and rehabilitation specialists to interpret and treat.

As fitness professionals, strength coaches, and even just fitness enthusiasts and athletes, we need to assume that there is are probably a lot of structural abnormalities going on in the spines we encounter - including our own.  The programs we write and follow need to be sound and take these issues into account, considering differences in age, gender, sport participation, and injury history.  The technique we use needs to position us so that we can avoid causing them to reach threshold.  And, we need to appreciate that there is a risk-reward balance to be "struck" with everything we do in training because nobody will ever be "perfectly prepared" for the demands to be placed on their bodies.

Rather than lay all my thoughts out here, I'm going to direct you to some previous writing of mine:

To Squat or Not to Squat?
Lower Back Savers: Part 1
Lower Back Savers: Part 2
Lower Back Savers: Part 3

I'd also highly recommend Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance by Dr. Stuart McGill.

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The Lucky 13: Cressey’s Top Reading Recommendations

A few months ago, I gave a two-day seminar to just over 80 fitness professionals and strength and conditioning coaches.  Even with a seminar this long, I can never cover everything I'd like to cover - and it's generally because much of what I'd like to address relies on some prerequisite knowledge that the attendees may not possess.

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With that in mind, at the attendees' request, I sent a follow up email to all of them with a list of some of the best resources - books/manuals and DVDs - that I've encountered along my journey of self-education. Please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list, by any means, but it does cover what I'd consider requisite reading to get a good foundation in a lot of the concepts I covered last weekend. 1.  Any anatomy text will do, but I prefer texts that speak more to functional anatomy.  Netter's Atlas of Human Anatomy is very good, and I know of many physical therapists in the US who keep a copy of this book on hand for patient education.  Kinetic Anatomy is also a solid text that speaks to functional anatomy, and I believe the newer version comes with a tag-along DVD.  Lastly, our Building the Efficient Athlete DVD set was created in part to educate folks on the functional anatomy side of things that they may miss during a conventional college curriculum.  I know of several facilities in the US that use it extensively for staff training. 2. Anything from Stuart McGill - While there are several schools of thought with respect to low back function and rehabilitation (and I'd encourage you to check out each of them), McGill is the one that resonates with me the most.  You can find a lot of his research on Pubmed, but he also has several books (and a DVD) available that I'd highly recommend.  For those of you who are interested in some science and some applied, go with Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance.

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For those of you who are a bit geekier and want to learn a lot more about the clinical side of things, check out Low Back Disorders.  If you are going to train clients or athletes, you need to understand back pain. 3. Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes by Shirley Sahrmann is probably the book that has influenced me more than any other in my career.  It's worth every penny.

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4. For shoulder stuff, I think that The Athlete's Shoulder is a great resource.  It is written by physical therapists and surgeons, though, so it can get very clinical at times.  Those of you who are more interested in actual practical applications would be more interested in our new Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set, which is the video of a seminar I did with Mike Reinold, who is actually one of the co-authors of The Athlete's Shoulder.  If you enter the coupon code "reinold200osp" today only at checkout HERE, you can get the DVD set with free shipping today as part of Mike's "sale week" to celebrate his 200th post.

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5. Muscles: Testing and Function with Posture and Pain - This is a newer version of Kendall's classic text, and it's an incredibly detailed resource that you'll find yourself referring back to time and time again.  Several of the screens we use in our everyday assessments with clients and athletes were influenced in part or entirely by Kendall's text. 6. Gray Cook's work is fantastic.  If you want quick, practical tips, check out Secrets of the Hip and Knee and Secrets of the Shoulder.  Both DVDs give you some tips that you can immediately put into practice. 7. Anatomy Trains by Thomas Myers is an excellent read to get you thinking more and more about the role of the fascial system.  I saw Thomas speak this past weekend in Providence, and he was absolutely fantastic - so excellent, in fact, that I'll probably write up a blog with some quick notes from his lecture.  And, I'll be reading this for the third time this week, too!

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8. Bulletproof Knees - Mike Robertson wrote this manual and I can honestly say that I haven't seen a better product on the market with respect to information that can be quickly applied to clients with knee pain - both in terms of understanding it and correcting it.

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9. Mike Boyle has some excellent products - including all the Functional Strength Coach DVDs (#3 was the most recent).  You can always find some good reading at StrengthCoach.com.  I believe they still have the 14 days for $1 trial period, and as part of that, you get his Designing Resistance Training Programs and Facilities book for free. 10. Anatomy of Breathing - I think it's valuable to appreciate the muscles involved in respiration and start to put them into your functional anatomy framework as soon as possible.  This book is a very quick read, but you'll get that foundational knowledge and start to think about how all this stuff lines up.

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11. 2008 Indianapolis Performance Enhancement DVD set - This is a product that has largely flown under the radar because it was overshadowed by several other products that were launched around the same time.  However, the short vs. stiff discussion that Bill Hartman presented as part of it is well worth the cost of the entire DVD set. 12. Clinical Applications of Neuromuscular Techniques (Part 1 and 2) - These books read like stereo instructions, but they are insanely thorough.  I recommend them to anyone who is really dorky like I am.  They will definitely help you to collaborate with manual therapists and physiotherapists a lot more effectively. 13. Assess and Correct - Shameless self-promotion here, but I'm extremely proud of this product.  It's a DVD set and four accompanying manuals that cover 27 assessments and 78 corrective exercises we use with our clients and athletes.  If I had to recommend one of our products to a trainer, this would be it.  Stuart McGill have us some extremely flattering reviews on Assess and Correct as part of his new DVD.

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I should note that the countless journal articles I've read over the years are noticeably absent from this list, but you can easily access the abstracts of those pieces at www.pubmed.com if you search by whatever keyword relates to your area of interest.  I find myself using it daily, and I'll generally follow up on these abstracts by getting the full-text articles.  Also, in addition to the few resources I note below, you can find a more extensive collection of recommended readings on my resources page. This includes a collection of links to free blogs that I read daily.  Many of my blog readers don't know that, in addition to this blog, I have a free newsletter where readers get exclusive content and early notice on things - so you'll definitely want to sign up HERE if you haven't already. It's also been a matter of interacting with as many smart folks as possible, just making (and documenting) observations with our clients/athletes, and going to seminars.  This list should get you started, though!
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Random Friday Thoughts: 12/11/09

1. Sorry for the slower week here on the blog.  In addition to trying to catch up from my three days in Houston, I had a few projects that needed to get sorted out this week.  For starters, we had to finalize the agenda for my seminar in Vancouver in March. And, the bigger task of late has been finishing up a chapter (on baseball testing and training) that I'm contributing to Dr. Craig Liebenson's newest book.  Others contributing include Dr. Stuart McGill, Sue Falsone (Athletes Performance), Dr. Ben Kibler, Dr. Pavel Kolar, Ken Crenshaw (Arizona Diamondbacks), and Mike Boyle (among others).  Needless to say, I'm lucky to be in such awesome company, and you'll definitely want to check it out once it's available.  In the meantime, you might be interested in Liebenson's most popular work, Rehabilitation of the Spine: A Practitioner's Manual.

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2. Mike Reinold and I are also working on getting our seminar, Testing, Treating, and Training the Shoulder: From Rehabilitation to High Performance, ready for production and sale.  We're hoping it'll be ready by the first of the year, but only time will tell; editing takes time, and it's out of our hands now!  Speaking of Mike, he just posted a blog outlining the recently revised pitch count rules.  If you coach young players or one of your kids plays ball, definitely check it out HERE.

3. On the topic of little league, the clinic with Matt Blake and I at Cressey Performance on Tuesday night was pretty popular with local coaches.  One of the things that Matt and I tried to stress is that kids almost never get hurt for JUST one reason.  Usually, injuries are multifactorial, so you have to look at a host of different causes - from overuse, to physical limitations (weakness or immobility), to mechanical flaws in the pitching delivery.

The questions we received gave me some ideas for future posts, so keep an eye out for those in the not-so-distant future.  Along those same lines, if there are specific baseball development questions you'd like covered, feel free to post some suggestions here as a reply to this blog.

4. I got the following question the other day, and thought it might make for a quick Q&A here:

Q: I am planning on training Westside style but I do not have access to bands and chains (or any other special equipment for that matter). What should I do to change up my dynamic effort days? Should I just use variations of the lifts (i.e. close grip vs regular grip bench, sumo vs conventional deadlifts)?

A: The whole idea that you absolutely have to have bands, chains, and specialized bars to learn from the Westside school of thought (which is constantly evolving anyway) couldn't be further from the truth.  There are bits and pieces borrowed from Westside teachings in Maximum Strength, and you'll see that there is plenty of rotation among movements in the four-month program - and the assumption is that you don't have any of these goodies.  Rotating among back squats and front squats (without a box, with a box, or from pins) and deadlifts will give you a great rotation of movements.

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Regarding dynamic effort days, I don't think it's as important to rotate exercises on a regular basis, as this speed work is there to improve bar speed on that specific movement and help you groove the movement pattern itself.  However, if you want to change it up, it's not too difficult.

In the lower body, simply go to a different deadlift or squat variation, or change the percentage at which you're working.  In the upper body, you can change the grip width on the bench press, do some plyo push-ups, or even just throw the medicine ball around.

5. I'm going to see The Nutcracker tonight with my fiancee.  In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

6. I will, however, say that I'm a little bummed that Jim Breuer is in town tonight about ten minutes from where I live, and I'm not going to get to see him.  Doh!

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Things I Learned from Smart People: Installment 1

This post marks the first of a new series where I'll give credit to a lot of the people who in one way or another have made me better at what I do.  In most cases, they'll be quick tips that I've taken away and applied immediately into my existing methodology.  Very few of them will require more than a few sentences to explain - and I'll usually give you some recommended reading at the end of the entry. Today's tip was one I picked up from Bill Hartman on a recent trip to Indianapolis.  Keep in mind that this is more along the lines of "knowledge for the sake of being smart," not because many of these provocative tests are ones that should be used by those who aren't trained as physical therapists. Anyway, We were talking about the high frequency of lumbar spine disc herniations and bulges on MRI that are not accompanied with any symptoms. Taking it a step further, though, you'll also see people who have back pain plus these issues on diagnostic imaging, yet that doesn't necessarily mean that the imaging finding is clinical significant (the pain might be coming from something else).  One classic test that's been used to test for neural tension in this regard is the slump test. As is the case with most physical assessments, though, a good test should simulate the injury mechanism, and while the slump test gets things rolling in the right direction, Bill actually mentioned that he favors a McKenzie-influenced repeated flexion test  (slump test only involves a single "bout" of flexion) - which essentially simulates how you'd herniate a disc in a laboratory setting.  If someone has a one of these findings on the MRI, plus back pain, but this repeated flexion test doesn't provoke their symptoms, chances are that the pain is coming from somewhere else (muscular, etc.).  If symptoms are exacerbated, it's probably related to the disc issue.  Of course, repeated extension would apply to more posterior issue. Of course, check with a qualified physical therapist for issues along these lines; you don't want to be self-diagnosing or provoking something on your own.  However, the trainers and strength and conditioning coaches in the crowd can use this information attained by physical therapists to classify folks as extension-based or flexion-based back pain and program exercise accordingly alongside rehabilitation initiatives.   I covered this in some detail in Lower Back Savers: Part I. Recommended Reading: Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance, by Stuart McGill

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Newsletter 162

Tis the Season...for Spondylolysis? I've written previously about the prevalence of spondylolysis (lumbar fractures) in young athletes - and particularly those in rotational sports.  You can read my in-depth newsletter on the problem HERE.  It's a huge problem in young athletes; I'd estimate that I've trained more than 15 athletes since 2006 through their entire 12-16 week back-bracing periods.

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Now, while July is usually recognized for barbecues, baseball, and beaches (and anything else that's exciting and begins with a "B"), I've begun to recognize it as "back-bracing season."  What gives? Well, for starters, I've seen two new spondy cases come through our door in the past week.  Considering that prevalance is estimated at anywhere from 15-63% in the general population, it isn't a huge surprise.  However, why would more present with symptoms at this time of year? Think about the sports we play in the spring and summer: baseball, tennis, and lacrosse.  And, many soccer and hockey players have been going non-stop since the fall.  In other words, rotational sports have been going on for a long time, and kids are getting more and more detrained - with less flexibility and strength - as these neverending seasons go on. Likewise, as a great article in the Portland Press Herald observed this past weekend, many high school athletes are riding multiple horses with one saddle. In other words, now that they're out of school, you've got kids participating in basketball/hockey (winter) and lacrosse/baseball at the same time - and doing their best to attend fall sports (field hockey, soccer, football) practices.  And, just when they are ready for a day off, they're going to play golf with Dad on Sunday.  When are these kids removing the rotational challenges and preparing themselves physically with good strength, stability, and flexibility training? Anybody who says that the era of the three-sport athlete is dead doesn't know his arse from his elbow.  While early sports specialization has definitely taken off, now, multi-sport athletes are expected to "specialize" in three different sports at once.  They compete all the time, but never prepare their bodies to compete - or play at all. In The Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual, I go into great detail on how those athletes who do choose to specialize should do so.

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However, in younger populations, a lot of these guidelines don't apply, as they're balancing multiple sports.  They need to hang out with their friends, play multiple sports, and get involved in less organized physical activity.  And, most importantly, they need to participate in strength training and flexibility programs, as these exercise modalities are different than traditional sports because they can be fluctuated on a regular basis to avoid imbalances. I know there are a lot of parents who read this newsletter and are trying to do the right thing for their kids.  It isn't fair to condemn them for signing their kids up for another travel team, as that's the game as it's played with respect to player development and college recruiting nowadays.  However, I would encourage those parents to "undo" some of the early specialization damage by encouraging sons and daughters to participate in training to prepare their bodies for this specialization. Lastly, for those of you who are looking to learn more about low back pain, I can't say enough great things about Dr. Stuart McGill's Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance book.  It's a great investment.

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A Quick Congratulations... Just a quick note to recognize CP athlete Danny O'Connor, who moved his professional boxing record to 7-0 last Saturday night.  Check out a great write-up in the Boston Globe featuring Danny, his coach, and some nutcase named Cressey: Punching His Ticket in the Pros
New Blog Content Random Friday Thoughts Stuff You Should Read A Sneak Peak at the New Project EC Finally Understands Women Have a great week! EC
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Random Friday Thoughts: 5/22/09

Let's get right to it. 1. First up, a few quick congratulations are in order for some Cressey Performance ballplayers.  Justin Quinn (Lincoln-Sudbury) and Sahil Bloom (Weston) were named Dual County League Large and Small Players of the Year, respectively.  They are also two of the three finalists for the MA Gatorade Player of the Year award.  LS won the DCL Large, and Weston won the DCL - thanks in large part to the efforts of these two guys.  Both were selected as league all-stars, as were CP athletes Garrett Moore (LS), Ryan Wood (LS), Derek Lowe (LS), Chris Conlon (Weston), Reed Chapman (Weston), Alex Hill (Wayland), and Scott Lueders (Newton-South).  Congratulations, guys! 2. Padres prospect and CP athlete Will Inman jumped up to AAA from AA on Wednesday.  If you're anywhere near Portland, OR, get out to watch him make his first start tonight (Friday) at 7PM.  Will is 4-1 with a 3.05 ERA in eight starts on the year, having given up only 33 hits and eight walks in 44.1 innings pitched. Congratulations to Will on taking the next step in his baseball journey.

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3. Check out this great video content today from Dr. John Berardi about The Key to Accidental Fitness.  I can tell you that this is 100% spot on from my own experiences - and the thousands of clients and athletes I've seen over the years. 4. I got a question the other day about who I thought were the most important individuals to add to one's network in the field of strength and conditioning.  My first response was "anyone who is smart, openminded, and willing to share ideas." That said, I realize this individual was probably looking for a list of occupations in this regard, so here goes: doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, athletic trainers, other strength coaches/trainers, radiologists, sports coaches, researchers, sports psychologists, equipment manufacturers/distributors, and loads others that I have probably forgotten.  Basically, you're just trying to find people who have different areas of specialization to either add to, refute, or confirm your existing knowledge. 5. Had some car and computer issues earlier this week, so I got a bit sidetracked on the writing side of things this week.  I submitted the third installment of Lower Back Savers a bit late, so it didn't run this week.  For those who missed Parts 1 and 2, you can check them out HERE and HERE. 6. Just finished up my powerpoint for the Distinguished Lecture Series in Sports Medicine at Northeastern on June 5-6.  This is an awesome event featuring guys like Dr. Stuart McGill, Mike Boyle, Dr. David Tiberio, and others (including some schmuck named Cressey).  It's very affordable, and I can tell you that the last two years have been fantastic.  Check it out HERE for more details.

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7. Can we please get over this swine flu stuff, people? They are closing schools left and right in Boston - and as a result, ASYMPTOMATIC kids are having to FORFEIT games/matches - and now, potentially playoff games. 8. I'm most likely getting a new car tonight.  I've never been a "car guy," so it's more of a chore than anything.  Let's hear some of your favorite strategies for bargaining with car dealers (particularly when you've got a trade-in)...
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