At the last Winter Olympics, Dutch speedskater Sven Kramer missed out on a gold medal because his coach, Gerard Kemkers, directed him into the wrong lane part way through the race. Kramer finished the race with an Olympic record time - four seconds ahead of his nearest competitor - but was immediately disqualified because of an incorrect lane change with eight laps remaining on his long-time coach's cue.
In the aftermath of the disqualification, Kemkers obviously came under a ton of scrutiny. After all, he committed a pretty big coaching mistake - and it'll probably become a huge part of his legacy, as unfortunate as it is.
Here is a guy who has likely helped thousands of speed skaters over the years, presumably devoting countless hours to research, coaching, and becoming the best he could be - both as a coach and an athlete (he won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics). And, as Kramer noted, it is hard to argue with the success Kemkers helped him achieve: "Three times world champion, four times European champion, so many World Cups and Olympic gold in the 5,000 meters." In the process, Kemkers had to have omitted little to nothing; otherwise, he wouldn't have been coaching at such a high level.
Had Kemkers never endeavored to get to a high level - or taken shortcuts to get there - there would have been countless omissions along the way: gaps in his knowledge, an inability to befriend athletes, and a fundamental misappreciation for what it takes to compete at a high level. He would have been mediocre at best.
Kemkers' mistake was an act of commission, not omission.
Meanwhile, millions of "armchair" quarterbacks around the world will criticize him for being an idiot, when in reality, the opportunity to make this mistake might never have come along if he hadn't spent so much time preparing to not be an idiot.
Speedskating isn't really our thing here in the United States, so let's apply this to something that better fits our existing schema: ACL injuries in female athletes. We know ACL tears are extremely common in female athletes, particularly those participating in basketball, gymnastics, and soccer. I actually recall reading that the average NCAA women's soccer team has one ACL tear every year, and that typically, 1 in 50 female NCAA basketball players will blow out an ACL in a given season. These numbers may be a bit dated now, but you get the point: if you don't train to prevent these injuries, you're omitting an insanely valuable initiative that protects your athletes...and mascots.
Now, we need to see another "ACL Injury Prevention Protocol" on Pubmed like I need to experience another Tony Gentilcore Techno Hour. In other words, there are plenty of them out there, and we know what kind of strength and conditioning programs work; it is just about execution.
So, let's take your typical strength and conditioning coach who puts his female athletes through everything he should to protect them from ACL injuries - but one girl drops a weight on her foot and breaks a toe to miss the rest of the season.
Had he omitted external loading from his strength training program, this never would have happened - but he probably would have had four times as many ACL tears as broken toes and his athletes wouldn't have performed as well. Here, an act of omission would have been far worse than an act of commission - just like we saw with Kemkers. This isn't always the case, but it's important to realize that two kinds of mistakes occur, and sometimes you're better being proactive and making a mistake than you are ignoring a responsibility and just keeping your fingers crossed.
It's been said before that strength and conditioning programs are both a science and an art - and the art is interpreting what to leave out and what to include in light of risk-reward for each unique athlete. For instance, a front squat is a fantastic exercise from a scientific standpoint, but on the art side of things, it may not be appropriate for an athlete whose spine doesn't like axial loading. Or, it may be a problem if an athlete hasn't been front squatting, and introducing it right before competition would cause soreness that might be counterproductive to performance.
Think about how this applies to the next strength and conditioning program you write, and the next client/athlete you coach.
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Four years ago, I wrote What I Learned in 2006, my first year-in-review series that continues to this day. Since then, this website has gone from T-Mag to TMUSCLE. I've opened my own facility, got engaged, and thanks to a little bit of both, lost a bunch of my hair.
Interestingly, people seem to be writing "What I Learned in 2009" series all over the Internet. I've seen the phrase flown on banners behind airplanes, "tweeted" by NBA superstars at halftime, and printed across the back of girls' short-shorts.
But let's get something straight, folks: you're reading the original right here. Got it? Good. Now let's move on.
Continue Reading...
This week has been a busy and exciting one, to say the least.
1. There's no more fitting way to start this list of random thoughts off than with a huge congratulations to CP athlete and Team USA bobsledder Bree Schaaf, who finished 5th at the Olympics on Wednesday night. I first started working with Bree in July of 2007 when she was working her way up the ranks as a skeleton competitor for the US National Team (she was as high as 12th in the world at one point) after her collegiate volleyball career ended. A few months later, Bree decided to make the switch to bobsled - and just two years later, wound up in the Olympics.
The whole Cressey Performance "Extended Family" is incredibly proud of her hard work and how far she's come.
To check out videos of Bree's four runs, head over to nbcolympics.com.
2. My fiancee and I had an offer accepted on a house this week as well, so between negotiations/offers and making arrangements for mortgage stuff, a home inspection, appraisal, and dates for the P&S and closing, it's been a hectic week. It'll all be worth it, though, as the move will substantially reduce my commute time (by at least 80 minutes per day!) and, obviously, improve my productivity and our quality of life. Needless to say, we are really excited about how things are developing and love what will be our new house.
3. I'm experimenting with some Underarmour Performance mouthwear right now in my training, thanks to a generous gift from CP client Dr. Jeff Tocci, who fits dozens of these each week for athletes and non-athletes alike.
There is actually quite a bit of research supporting these initiatives, so thanks to Jeff, I get to put it to the test while I'm lifting heavy stuff this week to see how I respond. So far, so good.
4. Mike Reinold and I are working hard to put the finishing touches on our new DVD set, Optimal Shoulder Performance. We definitely plan to have it up and running sometime in March.
5. No surprise here, but pitchers who throw harder are more likely to develop elbow issues. You can look at this transiently in the context of the faster arm speed placing more stress on both the active and passive restraints. However, more chronically, if you consider that the arm is moving faster, you'll realize that the deceleration-imposed adaptations (more specifically, the muscle shortening that comes from repeated eccentric exercise exposures) can lead to chronic adaptations (loss of elbow extension and shoulder internal rotation) that can place more stress on the elbow. Likewise, stud pitchers who throw the crap out of the ball are more likely to get overused - so it's really a triple whammy working against you if you throw hard.
That said, I'd rather throw 100mph with a higher risk of injury than throw 76mph and get shelled in some beer league.
Here's some recommended reading for the week...
Effective Abdominal Training - I linked to a Bill Hartman post last week, and I'm going to do it again this week, because he puts out great stuff! Check out this post, which features a video on core control.
Youk's Diary: Good, Bad of Spring Training - CP client Kevin Youkilis will be keeping a blog on ESPN.com this season, and he gave us a little shoutout in the first one. In addition to checking out Youk's blog, I'd strongly encourage you to visit and donate to Youk's Hits for Kids, a charity Kevin founded that does some awesome stuff for underprivileged kids.
7 Habits of Highly Defective Benchers - This was one of the most popular articles I've ever written, so I figured it'd be worth a "rerun."
Last, but not least, don't forget that our spring training sale ends TONIGHT at midnight. Don't miss out on your chance to get 30% off! Click here for more information.
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.
Q: One of my favorite (insert generic sarcastic look here) things to watch in the weightroom is my pitchers getting under the rack for bench presses. It's not the fact that they're benching that upsets me, but the "Beach Body" mindset that is behind it. What's the most efficient way for a pitcher to work on his bench, and more importantly, what should he be trying to gain by performing the bench press correctly?
A: Okay, let's get right to opening this can of worms.
With any exercise, we look for carryover to the functional demands of our sport. However, we accept that general strength gains transfer in most cases. As an example, we know that we can improve throwing velocity with a variety of training initiatives, but training specificity like this is stupid:
Now that we've all gotten a bit dumber, let's continue...
As it relates to pitching, the fundamental problem with the conventional barbell bench press (as performed correctly, which it normally isn't) is that it doesn't really train scapular movement effectively. When we do push-up variations, the scapulae are free to glide - just as they do when we pitch. When we bench, though, we cue athletes to lock the shoulder blades down and back to create a great foundation from which to press. It's considerably different, as we essentially take away most (if not all) of scapular protraction.
Additionally, the closed-chain nature of push-ups is much more shoulder friendly, even if pitching is an open-chain exercise. In fact, most rehabilitation progressions - regardless of the shoulder issue in question - will begin with push-up variations before any open-chain pressing exercises.
With dumbbell benching, we recognize that we get better range-of-motion, freer movement of the humerus (instead of being locked into internal rotation), and increased core activation - particularly if we're doing alternating DB presses or 1-arm db presses. There is even a bit more scapular movement in these variations (even if we don't actually coach it).
With a barbell bench press, you don't really get any of these benefits - and it's somewhat inferior from a range-of-motion standpoint. While it may allow you to jack up the weight and potentially put on muscle mass a bit more easily, the truth is that muscle mass here - particularly if it leads to restrictions in shoulder and scapular movement - won't carry over to throwing the way the muscle mass in the lower half and upper back will. I've seen a ton of guys with loads of external rotation and horizontal abduction range-of-motion throw the crap out of the baseball, but can't say that I've ever seen any correlation - in the research or my anecdotal experience - between a good bench press and throwing velocity.
That said, I recognize that there are still a lot of "wannabe meatheads" in the pitching world, so we do our best to meet our athletes halfway and please the bench press gods. Most of the time, dumbbell bench pressing and push-up variations will be sufficient, but we will sometimes us the multipurpose bar with our pitchers because it puts them in a more shoulder-friendly neutral grip.
Add some chains to the bar, and you have a great stabilization challenge that works the true function of the rotator cuff.
That said, if you absolutely feel like you need to do traditional benching, keep the volume down, keep the elbows tucked, and keep the shoulder blades stable underneath you. And, be sure to recognize that your ego probably isn't doing much for your success on the mound - as there are training initiatives with better returns on investment. Remember that pitchers have loads of competing demands - from throwing, to mobility training, to soft tissue work, to fielding practice, to movement training - so what you do in the weight room has to highly effective to justify its inclusion. I just struggle to consider bench pressing "highly effective" for pitchers.
We're back on track with our next list of recommended reading. Here are some things worth checking out:
13 Tips for Fitness Blogging Success - I know a lot of you have blogs of your own, and I'd encourage all of you to check out this great collection of advice from Mike Robertson. A lot of it parallels exactly what I've tried to do with EricCressey.com.
Never Eat Alone - This is one of the better business books I've ever read, as it focuses a ton on how to build and maintain a network in the business world. I came across the title in some reading I was doing the other day, and it reminded me of just how much it has helped me since I read it in March of 2007.
Vanilla Pumpkin Pie: Best Smoothie Yet? - Another great shake recipe from Brian St. Pierre.
Dude does a face plate into a bunch of iron after a one-rep max deadlift attempt - Okay, I gave this one away. It was too good to not repost.
Sorry, dude. That's what you get for celebrating like a weenie.
This week, we've already covered the most popular articlesand product reviews from EricCressey.com in 2009. Next up are the popular videos.
One of my goals for 2009 with this site was to include a lot more video content - whether it was "built in" to the text, or serving as a stand-alone content source in itself. Here were some of the most popular ones for the year:
Correct Push-up Technique - This one got over 9,000 views in spite of the fact that I never even included it in a blog post (that I can remember). I guess my theory that most people really need to learn how to do good push-ups was right on the money.
My 660 Deadlift - I guess lifting heavy stuff is only about 89% as cool as body weight push-ups.
Tim Collins Can Jump - Great guy, stud athlete, bright future. Gotta' love him.
16x16 Sled Madness - This sled masochism was popular among our staff early in the year. There is more info on it HERE.
Rollouts: Friend or Foe - This video went hand-in-hand with this newsletter.
Anterior Core Progressions - This video was a follow-up to the previous one, and was found in this newsletter.
Measuring Hip Internal Rotation - This video was featured as part of this newsletter.
Lastly, there were a few newsletters that included a ton of video content. Here's my personal favorite, a follow-up from Mike Reinold and my shoulder seminar (available soon on DVD): Recap: Testing, Treating, and Training the Shoulder.
Tomorrow, we'll cover the top guest submissions for the year at EricCressey.com.
One of the most common issues we see in both athletes and our general population clients is a lack of ankle mobility - and more specifically, dorsiflexion range-of-motion.
For just about everything in life - from sprinting, to lunging, to squatting - we need a certain amount of dorsiflexion (think of how far the knees can go over the toes, or the positive shin angle one can create without lifting the heel). If we don't have it, we have to compensate.
One of the most common things we see in people with a lack of dorsiflexion ROM is an "out-toeing," as this opens up the ankle and allows for them to get to where they need to be - even if it isn't the most biomechanically correct way to do so.
This out-toeing may also be caused by hip internal rotation deficit (HIRD), so it's important to assess both. Check out this previous video blog for more information on how to assess for HIRD.
In a more "uncompensated" scenario, an athlete with poor ankle mobility may push through the toe instead of the heel - creating a quad-dominant propulsion in a scenario that should have signification contribution from the posterior chain musculature. In the pictures below, you'll see that Josh Beckett requires a considerable amount of dorsiflexion range-of-motion to get the job done (push-off without the heel leaving the ground).
This lack of ankle mobility may also negatively affect knee function. Research has shown that a lack of ankle mobility can increase rotational torque at the knee. This falls right in line with the joint-by-joint school of thought with respect to training; if you lock up a joint that should be mobile, the body will look elsewhere to create that range-of-motion.
This definitely applies to what happens to the lumbar spine during squatting in a person with an ankle (or hip) mobility deficit. If someone can't get sufficient dorsiflexion (or hip flexion and internal rotation), he'll look to the lumbar spine to get that range of motion by rounding (lumbar flexion). We know that combining lumbar flexion with compressive loading is a big-time no-no, so it's important to realize that folks with considerable ankle mobility restrictions may need to modify or eliminate squatting altogether.
Take, for example, Olympic lifters who wear traditional Olympic lifting shoes with big heel lifts. This artificially created ankle mobility allows them to squat deeper. While I'm not a huge fan of this footwear for regular folks for squatting, used sparingly, it's not a big deal.
Other individuals may be better served with hip dominant squat variations (e.g., box squats) that allow them to sit back and not squat quite as deep while they work to improve that ankle mobility and get closer to squatting deeper (with more dorsiflexion). With these individuals, we supplement the more hip dominant squatting with extra single-leg work and plenty of deadlift variations.
The take-home message is that ankle mobility has some far-reaching implications, and it's important to be able to assess it to determine if it's the factor that's limiting someone's safe and efficient movement.
For more information on how to evaluate and address ankle mobility, check out Assess and Correct.
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