In my last post, we covered the most popular articles here at EricCressey.com in 2009. Today, we'll cover my top product reviews of 2009. Several of these were interviews with authors that came in light of their launch of new products. In addition to discussion of the products, most of these have a ton of good information you won't want to miss.
Warpspeed Fat Loss Results Part 1 and Part 2 - Technically, this was the end of 2008, but had we done a November-to-November year, it would have blown the rest of these product reviews out of the water. The reason? Results! Check out the before and after pictures of one CP client who kicked some serious butt with this program. For a lot of you who are looking to get on track with your fat loss efforts in the new year, this would be a good product to check out.
Strength and Conditioning Webinars - I think this product might be the most useful one of the year for fitness professionals, as Anthony Renna has made sure that there is awesome content coming out month after month. It's cheaper than traveling to seminars, and you can get educated on YOUR schedule. I highly recommend checking it out.
Off-Ice Performance Training for Hockey (with Kevin Neeld) - This is an interview with Kevin that covers hockey training tips for both coaches and players.
Tomorrow, we'll cover the most popular EricCressey.com exclusive videos on the year.
This is a bold subject line, I know, but I really do feel that strongly about it. And, I'm honored to be one of the speakers featured on the "ticket" for this DVD set. In fact, I feel so strongly that I'm going to kick in a sweet bonus for anyone who purchases, so read on.
Multiple times each week, I have someone ask me why I haven't gotten my act together and put together a baseball product. My response is always the same: "There is a ton to cover, and just when I feel like I'm ready to put something in writing and on tape, I evolve a little bit more. Plus, I just don't have time right now because I'm so busy actually training players that I don't have the time to give such a project the attention it deserves."
Fortunately for me, though, Ron Wolforth brought together some of the best minds in the business at his Ultimate Pitching Coaches Bootcamp in December - and what resulted was a great product that should be a part of the libraries of EVERY baseball coach, baseball strength coach, and baseball parent. This DVD set really is that good simply because it's so versatile. Here is what you get:
Brent Strom- St. Louis Cardinals- The Histrionics of Pitching Mechanics- Separating Fact from Fiction: a Return to 'Classic Mechanics'. The Key Mechanical Efficiencies: Intent, Momentum, Rhythm and Tempo, Arm Action & Pelvic LoadingRon Wolforth-Pitching Central- Neuromuscular Blending- Getting your Drills to transfer over to the Game & Pitchers on the Ropes - Assisting your pitchers to be explosive, dynamic and durable using ropes and chainsEric Cressey- Cressey Performance- Building The Complete and Superior Pitching Athlete- The Common Myths and misconceptions regarding strength development and conditioning of the pitching athlete which actually inhibit or constrain their performance and development.Phil Donley- What is GIRD? Why is it a problem for pitchers? How to prevent it and treat it!-What is a Sick Scapula? Why is it a problem for pitchers? How to prevent it and treat it!-What are common Mobility and Asymmetry Issues for Pitchers? Why every pitching coach in America should pay attention to their pitcher's mobility and core asymmetries? How to identify issues, prevent them and correct them.Perry Husband- Understanding the Concept of Effective Velocity Joe Fletcher-The Recovery Process for Pitchers. How one can greatly enhance a pitcher's recovery via nutrition, the food/ fuel you consume, the type and duration of your workouts, your mechanical efficiencies and your mental/emotional statesTom Hanson-The Mental Side of Pitching
Andy Whitney- Using Kettlebells in Baseball
Essentially, you've got an exhaustive research for dealing with baseball players - and pitchers, in particular. The majority of us presenters were involved in hands-on sessions where we went over assessments and training strategies - and the panel Q&A sessions were great as well.
I can tell you that the stuff in my presentation is a lot of information that I hadn't put in writing or seminar format prior to this date, and it details a lot of what I do with my high school, college, and professional ballplayers.
And, if you are interested in preventing elbow and shoulder issues, you absolutely have to see Phil Donley speak. It should be "required viewing" for any coach, trainer, and physical therapist that deals with baseball players. A long-time rehabilitation consultant for the Phillies, Phil is absolutely brilliant and has rehabilitated loads of multi-million dollar arms.
Ron and Brent are the guys pushing the envelope for pitching coaches to think outside the box and do special things with athletes. Ron's Baseball Ranch down in Houston has produced LOADS of guys throwing 90+mph in recent years.
Perry Husband's presentation absolutely blew me away. This guy charted every pitch in Major League Baseball in 2004 and came up with some awesome conclusions that can really dictate pitch selection.
So, effectively, you've got a resource that will teach you performance enhancement, injury prevention, strategic planning, and regeneration. It's already an incredible value, but I'm going to sweeten the deal:
From now until midnight on Saturday February 14, if you purchase the Ultimate Pitching Coaches Bootcamp DVD set and forward your email confirmation receipt to ec@ericcressey.com, I'll send you a free e-version of my Ultimate Off-Season Manual, which has never been available as an e-book - until now. This is a $99 value and the offer won't be around for long, so pick up a copy of the UPCBC DVD Set now!
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used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
Q: I'm a baseball pitcher who was diagnosed with a posterior labral tear. Since I was young and the doctor didn't feel that the tear was too extensive, he recommended physical therapy and not surgery. I'm still training the rest of my body hard, but am finding that I can't back squat because it causes pain in the shoulder. Any idea why and what I can do to work around this?
A: It isn't surprising at all, given the typical SLAP injury mechanism in overhead throwing athletes. If there is posterior cuff tightness (and possibly capsule tightness, depending on who you ask), the humeral head will translate upward in that abducted/externally rotated position. In other words, the extreme cocking position and back squat bar position readily provoke labral problems once they are in place. The apprehension test is often used to check for issues like this, as they are commonly associated with anterior instability. Not surprisingly, it's a test that involves maximal external rotation to provoke pain:
The relocation aspect of the test involves the clinician pushing the humeral head posteriorly to relieve pain. If that relocation relieves pain, the test is positive, and you're dealing with someone who has anterior instability. So, you can see why back squatting can irritate a shoulder with a posterior labrum problem: it may be the associated anterior instability, the labrum itself, or a combination of those two factors (and others!).
On a related note, most pitchers report that when they feel their SLAP lesion occur on a specific pitch, it takes place right as they transition from maximal external rotation to forward acceleration. This is where the peel-back mechanism (via the biceps tendon on the labrum) is most prominent. That's one more knock against back squatting overhead athletes.
If you're interested in reading further, Mike Reinold has some excellent information on SLAP lesions in overhead throwing athletes in two great blog posts:
Top 5 Things You Need to Know about a Superior Labral TearClinical Examination of Superior Labral Tears
The solutions are pretty simple: work with front squats, single-leg work (dumbbells or front squat grip), and deadlift variations. If you have access to specialty bars like the giant cambered bar and/or safety squat bar, feel free to incorporate work with them.
And, alongside that, work in a solid rehabilitation program that focuses not only on the glenohumeral joint, but also scapular stability and thoracic spine mobility.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches
used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
As a guy who trains a ton of baseball players - and is a competitive powerlifter (and weight-training author), I get a ton of questions from both baseball coaches/players and folks looking to get stronger (and healthier, for that matter). And, to take it a step further, since the release of Maximum Strength, I've gotten a lot of questions about whether or not Maximum Strength is appropriate for baseball players.
My response is "yes" - but only with some important modifications:
1. Substitution of dumbbell bench pressing in place of barbell bench pressing (rep count will have to come up a bit higher, as you aren't going to be doing heavy dumbbell bench pressing singles)
2. Substitution of clap push-ups in place of speed benching
3. Substitution of front squats in place of back squats
4. Substitution of alternating low incline dumbbell press in place of 1-arm dumbbell push press
5. Really emphasize the sleeper stretch, wall triceps stretch, and elbow flexors stretches - particularly after you throw.
I figured I ought to give the official check-in report on my Warp Speed Fat Loss journey, as I'm six days in (started last Tuesday). As I noted in Friday's blog, I don't really have a whole lot to lose, so I'm just playing it by ear on how I respond. Through five days, I have dropped from 194 to 187.5 pounds.
I'm normally a pretty low carb guy anyway, so it really isn't as much water weight as one would normally think. I tend to lose "puff" from my face right away when I cut calories, and two people told me on Friday that I looked like I'd lost weight. They were right.
Performance-wise, things aren't going badly at all. On Wednesday of last week, I benched 315 for 3x3 before heading on to a bit more "metabolic" weight-training pairings. I've been doing some low-intensity cardio (walking on the treadmill), but to be honest, I am on my feet so much at the gym that it's really not necessary, especially when you consider that I'm not looking to drop 20+ pounds.
Thursday was just my 30 minutes of the where I take a medicine ball and just throw the crap out of it. It's an absolute blast; here's a little taste:
When I was done, I did two rounds of 5x40yd sprints with jog-backs between sets. It is a little bit of a compromise between actual speed work and true metabolic conditioning.
Lower-body lifting was Friday, and after doing some speed front squats at 275 for doubles, I hit up the trap bar for some higher rep work. Already with two sets of ten under my belt at 405, Pete called me out and said I could do more. He answered "14," so I went and did 14 on the next set (and another ten on the last set). It was probably a lot more amusing for him than me; my glutes, hams, and traps are all still sore.
The low carbs caught up to me on Saturday. We did quite a bit of sprint work prior to our lift, and by the time I actually got around to speed benching, I was pretty gassed. I'm working at higher percentages now, and did my 225 for 6 sets of three, and while it was fast, it wasn't as fast as it should have been. Moved on to some assistance work to save the session, and made sure to get in some good post-training nutrition and hit up Sunset Cantina that night with the crew for some lime and garlic-rubbed chicken fajitas (more on that later in the week).
Yesterday (Sunday), was my first extremely low carb day (i.e., less than 30g), and honestly, it wasn't so bad. I do fine with lower carbs, and was actually just doing boring computer stuff most of the day, so it wasn't an issue. All in all, so far, so good.
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!
We see a lot of baseball players, so a lot of these guys come to use with elbow problems. In most cases, the doctors they’ve seen have said, flat-out, “NO LIFTING WEIGHTS.” This drives me nuts for a variety of reasons:
1. They’ve still got two good legs, one good arm, and a bunch of core musculature that needs to be strong and functional.
2. This recommendation implicitly means “Stay away from personal trainers and strength coaches.” It’s probably due to the fact that there are a lot of bonehead personal trainers out there who could do more harm than good, but the truth is that these services comprise more than just lifting weights. We do a lot of mobility and activation work and self-myofascial release on the foam roller.
Collectively, #1 and #2 demonstrate that this blanket recommendation includes an insanely ignorant omission, as the majority of elbow problems can be attributed to mobility and strength deficits at the shoulder. You can train a shoulder a thousand different ways without even involving elbow motion – let alone challenging it sufficiently to cause a problem. In fact, I'd estimate that you could prevent 90% of elbow problems in baseball guys if we simply taught all of them how to sleeper stretch in their early teenage years:
I'd strongly encourage you to check out this article I wrote, where I go over the common mistakes folks make when performing the sleeper stretch.
3. This recommendation flat-out ignores the specific nature of the overwhelming majority of elbow problems in throwing athletes. Let me elaborate..
In my estimation, 95% of baseball players with elbow pain couldn’t elicit their pain in a weight room if they wanted to; seriously! The reason is that this elbow pain is typically mechanical in nature; that is, it’s only aggravated by specific activities (in their case, throwing).
Believe it or not, I have had guys do everything from pull-ups, to dumbbell bench presses, to rows, to push-ups, to grip work just days out from elbow surgery. It isn’t true in every case, but it’s definitely the majority. And, they can all get diesel in the lower body during this time period.
Some great related reading for you:
Inefficiency vs. PathologyLay Back to Throw GasSign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches
used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
1. Yes, you read that right; it’s Random Wednesday Thoughts. Today (it’s technically 12:01AM), my girlfriend and I are moving to a new apartment. And, tomorrow, we’re headed north to Maine for the weekend. Since the internet still hasn’t been introduced in Maine, I won’t be able to blog while I’m up there.
2. Michael Phelps is pretty dominant, huh? At some point, this is going to get old. Don’t be surprised if he asks them to replace the Star Spangled Banner with “Living in America” by James Brown just to keep things amusing.
3. Speaking of the Olympics, does anyone understand a word that Bella Karolyi is saying?
4. To the folks who were trying to argue against the 40-inch vertical jump I posted earlier this week by implementing complex mathematical equations, I’d strongly encourage you to go back to your Star Trek reruns and get your hand out of your pants. And, try to come up with an elaborate scheme to get your squat up to 135 and maybe, just maybe, actually kiss a girl someday. Female cousins don’t count, though, fellas.
5. I recently received an email question asking if I felt that bench pressing below the “90 degree” elbow mark is harmful for the shoulder, particularly the capsule. The capsular stress argument is really only an issue in those who go into anterior tilt as they approach the bottom position. If you force hyperextension on a scapula in anterior tilt, this will be an issue. Benching with good technique - elbows tucked, chest to the bar, shoulder blades back and down, air in the belly - avoids this problem. For more information, head over to T-Nation.com and read my “Shoulder Savers” series.
6. I’m pretty amazed at how many people have to ask if they need to warm up on their first resistance training exercise. They do the mobility warm-ups prior to lifting, but then wonder if it’s a problem to just throw 315 on the bar and start squatting. Duh! Gradually work your way up.
7. I’ve actually begun to think that all physical therapists should take some sort of class or certification on dealing with overhead throwing athletes. This summer alone, I’ve seen two athletes cleared for return to play with overwhelming glaring movement impairments that are sure-fire recipes for disaster. Long story short, both athletes had internal rotation deficits of greater than 27 degrees on their throwing shoulder. The research has shown that anything over 17.9 degrees markedly increases one’s risk of elbow pain and shoulder (SLAP lesion) problems. Just because an athlete is pain free does not mean he/she is physically ready to participate.
8. Can someone please tell me how synchronized diving was retained as an Olympic sport while baseball and softball are being kicked to the curb?
Wow, that was pretty cynical. Michelle must be rubbing off on me. She'll be so proud!
It's that day of the week again, folks. Here we go...
1. Last night, Dan Toledano hit a 405 bench - his first 400+ pound bench. Congratulations, Dan. If you keep this up, you might actually get around to kicking that Star Trek fetish and meeting a girl who has all her teeth and is interested in your for more than just your Jedi Gym training background:
2. Speaking of bench presses, I got a question the other day about whether I thought that wrist wraps interfere with forearm hypertrophy. I doubt it, if you'd just using them to bench and possibly squat. For me, the benefit completely outweighs the cost, as the diameter of my wrists is right about six inches (that's small, folks). So, for me, the wraps allow me to stay healthy for the long haul - even they don't offer too much in terms of poundage increases. You can find some great wrist wraps at APT.
3. If you want to laugh like crazy - and don't mind the occasional rattling off of obscenities, here's a great blog from Cressey Performance client, Michelle Elwell. I could just post a hyperlink, but I'm not going to lie: the title is worth typing out:
http://www.michellethinksyoureanasshole.blogspot.com
Michelle is awesome - definitely one of our favorite clients. Yes, it's because we're afraid to not like her, but that's not the point. Read, laugh, and if you're one of the a**holes to which she's referring, clean up your act, a**hole.
4. There is some awesome feedback on some tremendous results from a Maximum Strength follower HERE. You can pick up a copy through my website.
5. Here is a great read about how saturated fat isn’t all that bad – and how low-carb diets outperform low-fat diets (again!).
6. Great quote from Mike Boyle:
“Soft tissue work, whether for chronic muscle strains or for tendon issues, is like weight training. Treatment is actually a stimulus. In effect, what the therapist is doing is irritating the tissue to produce a chemical response. The chemicals produced are what begin the healing process. This why soft tissue work is often painful and can leave you feeling similar to a workout the next day. According to Dr. [Donnie] Strack, soft tissue mobilization (think massage) stimulates the formation of fibroblasts, which help take immature, and randomly aligned Type 3 collagen (found in tendinosis) and changes it back to a stronger, more parallel mature Type 1 collagen. In other words, massage changes the quality of the muscle fibers.”
For those of you who don’t know, Mike Boyle heads up what is definitely one of the best information sources on the ‘net for those interested in strength and conditioning and fitness. They have a 14-day trial offer in place for just $1 – so I’d definitely recommend checking out StrengthCoach.com. You really don't have anything to lose.
7. I got my act together and organized all my baseball content in one place. You can check it out HERE.
8. As a surprise birthday present for my girlfriend, today, I’m taking her horseback riding*. She rode a lot when she was younger, and hasn’t been since she was a teenager. I, on the other hand, have never been on a horse, so it’s safe to assume that when I get on that critter, I’m totally screwed. I doubt that powerlifters and horses get along, so send some good vibes my way – and put in a vote for me for boyfriend of the month.
*Honey, if you actually read my blog, you could stop asking me what the surprise is by now. Don’t worry, though; if I had to put up with me all the time, I probably wouldn’t read this blog, either.
Have a great weekend, folks.
