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| In a 2007 study, Ellenbecker et al. compared hip internal and external rotation range-of-motion in elite baseball pitchers and elite tennis players. They noted the following:
An analysis of the number of subjects in each group with a bilateral difference in hip rotation greater than 10 degrees identified 17% of the professional baseball pitchers with internal rotation differences and 42% with external rotation differences. Differences in the elite male tennis players occurred in only 15% of the players for internal rotation and 9% in external rotation. Female subjects had differences in 8% and 12% of the players for internal and external rotation, respectively.
So, in other words, baseball pitchers were more likely to be asymmetrical than tennis players. While they both serve/pitch with one arm and push off the same-side leg. Tennis players, move a lot more in various directions. And, just as importantly, they hit backhands - so the asymmetries you see at the shoulder are less pronounced as well.
Who would have thought: moving more and doing the opposite of what you normally do is a good way to stay healthy? Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Regardless of your sport, you need to get out of your comfort zone more often if you want to stay healthy.
To learn more about the common asymmetries affecting overhead athletes and how to manage them, definitely check out the Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set.
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| One of the things that we are constantly working to address with our baseball guys is the loss of range-of-motion following an extended period of throwing (i.e., a pitching appearance). There's some good research out there showing that the marked eccentric stress on the elbow flexors (biceps, etc) and glenohumeral external rotators (posterior rotator cuff) can lead to an acute (and potentially chronic) loss of elbow extension and humeral internal rotation range-of-motion. Pitching with a loss of ROM over the course of a competitive season is a recipe for disaster - both in terms of velocity reductions and risk of injury.
Interestingly, previous research has shown that post-exercise ROM is reduced more with eccentric muscle actions than concentric muscle actions. Since virtually every resistance training sessions comprise some form of eccentric exercise, post-training stretching for the involved musculature is really valuable. And, if you're doing a lot of eccentrics in that training sessions, it's even more important.
A lot of athletes get bored really quickly with static stretching, so one thing I've done a bit (especially with kids who really need to work on their mobility) is to simply repeat our dynamic flexibility warm-ups - but integrate a bit longer of a hold on each rep.
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| Q: You don't like back squats for overhead throwers, is this because of anterior instability or some other reason?
A: In a word, yes; anterior stability is so crucial for a pitcher that I’m not tempted to push it. Then again, that’s the short version – and it also assumes that the lifter is using a closer-grip, which mandates more external rotation.
So, to the casual observer, the solution to this would be to simply bring the hands out and squat with a wider grip, which requires less external rotation. Unfortunately, this logic is flawed, too, as you have to abduct (elevate) your humerus another 15-20 degrees to get to that position. In the process, you bring it further into the “classic” impingement zone. This not only compromises the rotator cuff, but perhaps more significantly, the long head of the biceps, which is an extremely common nuisance in both powerlifters and overhead throwing athletes.
All that said, while I’d never do it with a pitcher, you can probably get away with it with position players because they have better upward rotation. I wouldn’t go near it if thoracic spine range of motion is subpar – or the athlete had a history of shoulder or elbow issues.
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| It never ceases to amaze me when we have an athlete do a 30-second isometric hold (such as a side bridge), and then they'll finish the set at 12 or 13 seconds and think that they're good to go. Apparently, I'm not the only one that noticed this phenomenon - and athletes will unintentionally go overboard as often as they'll underachieve.
According to Wilk, Meister, and Andrews, when professional pitchers were asked to throw at 50% effort, the radar guns showed that they were actually throwing at 83% of peak velocity. And, at a requested 75%, they were popping 90% fastballs.
Perhaps we should stop worrying about ascending oscillatory conjugated inverted periodization, and instead teach athletes how to count and follow the perceived exertion chart. |
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| Q: There have been a few quadriceps pulls in MLB this year. Have you seen these before in baseball players? What gives?
A: This is why I love baseball; it's probably one of the most at-risk sports you'll ever see (particularly in pitchers). Here's a little excerpt from a slide in a recent presentation I gave on training for overhead athletes:
-Very Long Competitive Season
>200 games as a pro?
>100 College/HS?
-Unilateral Dominance/Handedness Patterns
Asymmetry is a big predictor of injury
Switch hitters – but no “switch throwers!”
-The best pitchers – with a few exceptions – are the tallest ones. The longer the spine, the tougher it is to stabilize.
-Short off-season + Long in-season w/daily games = tough to build/maintain strength, power, flexibility, and optimal soft tissue quality
Specific to the quad pulls, I'd add to this list that baseball guys rarely hit top speed; all of their sprint work is done in acceleration, where the quads are dominant. Factor in that they spend a lot of time sitting on airplanes/buses, and it's no surprise that they'd get tight anteriorly. It's why it's so important to really hammer on hip mobility in any population that sits a lot.
The stop and go nature of the sport also dictates that strains would be common, whether they are groins, hip flexors, hamstrings, or quads (likely rectus femoris, which is a hip flexor that can get overactive, particularly alongside poor psoas function).
So, all that said, before anyone jumps to conclusions and tries to criticize some strength coach, it's important to consider:
a) the certain amount of happenstance that occurs with any baseball player due to the nature of the game and the season
b) what that athlete does on his own in the off-season
In terms of "b," I’ve seen some pretty bad stuff, unfortunately. For many guys, it becomes a leg extensions and curls off-season if they're on their own - or they do nothing.
I'd like to think that our success in working with baseball guys is not just in the fact that we've made the programming good, but also in the fact that we've changed the culture a bit in our guys: they appreciate what lifting is doing for them and look forward to getting after it in the gym.
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| Cressey Performance Athlete, Dede Griesbauer Finishes 10th at Ford Ironman World Championship!
This was Dede's second consecutive podium finish. Awesome job, Dede!
EricCressey.com Subscriber-only Q&A
Q: Could you please explain the rationale for the wall triceps stretch you used in a previous blog post?
A: Here’s a photo of that stretch, for those who missed it:
We find that this stretch can relieve shoulder issue in a lot of the guys who come to us with typical pitcher problems – particularly posterior/superior shoulder pain (and sometimes medial elbow pain – but no glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD).
Posterior cuff/capsule stiffness will cause the humeral head to translate superiorly and posteriorly during the late cocking phase of throwing. And, this stiffness also has huge implications on humeral head position during the deceleration and follow-through phases of throwing.
Most throwers with shoulder problems will have the most pain at:
a. maximal external rotation/late cocking phase (usually the worst type of problems, SLAP 2 lesions, that warrant a great consideration of surgery)
or
b. follow-through/deceleration (usually something that’s more easily fixed with good posterior cuff/capsule stretching and good scapular stability work, so conservative treatment is the name of the game)
Of course, all this depends on symptoms, degree of mechanical pain, and what the MRI says.
Sometimes, though, if the stiffness isn't present posteriorly, but you're still seeing these kind of symptoms, you have to look to the inferior capsule. The shoulder capsule is large and relatively “loose” to allow for the wide range of shoulder movements present. When tightness kicks in somewhere, you can see some noteworthy problems.
So, the roundabout answer to your question is that the truth is that this is as much an inferior capsular mobilization/stretch as it is a triceps stretch.
As a general rule of thumb, you always migrate opposite capsular tightness. Inferior tightness leads to superior migration. Inferior tightness is the big problem in regular ol' weekend warriors, and definitely moreso in those who have had surgery and been immobilized with the arm at the side
As an aside to this, rarely will someone need JUST inferior capsule mobilizations; they usually need other attention to areas such as thoracic spine mobility work.
Feedback on The Truth About Unstable Surface Training
Here’s a quote from Leigh Peele of avidityfitness.com on my new e-book, The Truth About Unstable Surface Training :
“This e-book, regardless of if they have to break out a dictionary, is for every trainer/coach/physical therapist out there. Period. If you are a trainer or if you plan on being a trainer or physical therapist, then you need to own this manual. This isn’t just about doing things “right,” either; this puts you ahead of the pack. Your teams, clients, and patients will thank you for the increase of knowledge.
“I also feel that this e-book is for those who are really serious about training and applying the best methods to their program. If you don’t have a good coach and you need one, sometimes yourself is all you have. If that is the case, go to the education. Coach yourself.
“In short, if you design programming, be it for yourself or for others, you should get this e-book for a learning resource.”
Click here to purchase The Truth About Unstable Surface Training.
Blog Updates
Detailed Feedback on Maximum Strength
Random Friday Thoughts
A Little Monday Update
Random Friday Thoughts
All the Best,
EC
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On Monday night, Josh Hamilton put on an amazing show with 28 homeruns in the first round of the MLB Homerun Derby. While he went on to lose to Justin Morneau in the finals of the contest, Hamilton did smash four 500+ ft. shots - and stole the hearts of a lot of New York fans. It's an incredible story; Hamilton has bounced back from eight trips to rehabilitation for drugs and alcohol to get to where he is today.
Geek that I am, though, I spent much of the time focusing on the incredible hip rotation and power these guys display on every swing. According to previous research, the rotational position of the lead leg changes a ton from foot off to ball contact. After hitting a maximal external rotation of 28° during the foot off “coiling” that takes place, those hips go through some violent internal rotation as the front leg gets stiff to serve as a “block” over which crazy rotational velocities are applied.
How crazy are we talking? How about 714°/s at the hips? This research on minor leaguers also showed that stride length averaged 85cm - or roughly 380% of hip width. So, you need some pretty crazy abduction and internal rotation range-of-motion (ROM) to stay healthy. And, of course, you need some awesome deceleration strength – and plenty of ROM in which to apply it – to finish like this.
Meanwhile, players are dealing with a maximum shoulder and arm segment rotational velocities of 937°/s and 1160°/s, respectively. All of this happens within a matter of 0.57 seconds. Yes, about a half a second.
These numbers in themselves are pretty astounding – and probably rivaled only by the crazy stuff that pitchers encounter on each throw. All these athletes face comparable demands, though, in the sense that these motions take a tremendous timing to sequence optimally. In particular, in both the hitting and pitching motions, the hip segment begins counterclockwise (forward) movement before the shoulder segment (which is still in the cocking/coiling phase). Check out this photo of Tim Hudson (more on this later):
Many of you have probably heard about a “new” injury in major league baseball – oblique strains – which have left a lot of people looking for answers. In fact, the USA Today published a great article on this exact topic earlier this season. Guys like Hudson, Chris Young, Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols, Chipper Jones and Carlos Beltran (among others) have dealt with this painful injury in recent years. You know the best line in this entire article? With respect to Hudson:
“After the 2005 season, he stopped doing core work and hasn't had a problem. Could that be the solution?”
I happen to agree with the mindset that some core work actually contributes to the dysfunction – and the answer (to me, at least) rests with where the injury is occurring: “always on the opposite side of their throwing arm and often with the muscle detaching from the 11th rib.” If I’m a right-handed pitcher (or hitter) and my left hip is already going into counter-clockwise movement as my upper body is still cocking/coiling in clockwise motion – both with some crazy rotational velocities – it makes sense that the area that is stretched the most is going to be affected if I’m lacking in ROM at the hips or thoracic spine.
I touched on the need for hip rotation ROM, but the thoracic spine component ties right into the “core work” issue. Think about it this way: if I do thousands of crunches and/or sit-ups over the course of my career – and the attachment points of the rectus abdominus (“abs”) are on the rib cage and pelvis – won’t I just be pulling that rib cage down with chronic shortening of the rectus, thus reducing my thoracic spine ROM in the process?
Go take another look at the picture of Tim Hudson above. If he lacks thoracic spine ROM, he’s either going to jack his lower back into lumbar hyperextension and rotation as he tries to “lay back” during the late cocking phase, or he’s just going to strain an oblique. It’s going to be even worse if he has poor hip mobility and poor rotary stability – or the ability to resist rotation where you don’t want it.
Now, I’m going to take another bold statement – but first some quick background information:
1. Approximately 50-55% of pitching velocity comes from the lower extremity.
2. Upper extremity EMG activity during the baseball swing is nothing compared to what goes on in the lower body. In fact, Shaffer et al. commented, “The relatively low level of activity in the four scapulohumeral muscles tested indicated that emphasis should be placed on the trunk and hip muscles for a batter's strengthening program.”
So, the legs are really important; that 714°/s at the hips has to come from somewhere. And, more importantly, it’s my firm belief that it has to stay within a reasonable range of the shoulder and arm segment rotational velocities of 937°/s and 1160°/s (respectively). So, what happens when we give a professional baseball player a foo-foo training program that does little to build or even maintain lower-body strength and power? And, what happens when we have that player run miles at a time to “build up leg strength?” How many marathoners do you know who throw 95mph and need those kind of rotational velocities or ranges of motion? Apparently, bigger contracts equate to weaker, tighter legs…
Meanwhile, guys receive elaborate throwing programs to condition their arms – and they obviously never miss an upper-body day (also known as a “beach workout"). However, the lower-body is never brought up to snuff – and it lags off even more in-season when lifting frequency is lower and guys do all sorts of running to “flush their muscles.” The end result is that the difference between 714°/s (hips) and 937°/s and 1160°/s (shoulders and arms) gets bigger and bigger. Guys also lose lead-leg hip internal rotation over the course of the season if they aren’t diligent with their hip mobility work.
So, in my opinion, here’s what we need to do avoid these issues:
1. Optimize hip mobility – particularly with respect to hip internal rotation and extension. It is also extremely important to realize the effect that poor ankle mobility has on hip mobility; you need to have both, so don’t just stretch your hip muscles and then walk around in giant high-tops with big heel-lifts all day.
2. Improve thoracic spine range of motion into extension and rotation.
3. Get rid of the conventional “ab training/core work” and any yoga or stretching positions that involve lumbar rotation or hyperextension and instead focus exclusively on optimizing rotary stability and the ability to isometrically resist lumbar hyperextension.
4. Get guys strong in the lower body, not just the upper body.
5. Don’t overlook the importance of reactive work both in the lower and upper-body. I’ve read estimates that approximately 25-30% of velocity comes from elastic energy. So, sprint, jump, and throw the medicine balls.
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2007 Ford Ironman Results
A huge congratulations goes out to Dede Griesbauer, who had her first ever podium finish (7th place) in this past weekend’s Ironman in Kona, Hawaii. Dede was the top American female finisher with a time of 9:33:34.
To make the feat even more impressive, after a mishap just before she left for Hawaii, she did so with a fractured ulna that just so happened to press right on the aero bars of her bike for all 5:13:05 of her bike. Who would have thought that there would actually be a way to make 5+ hours on a bicycle seat more uncomfortable? Leave it to Dede to find it!
Kidding aside, Dede worked harder in the weight room over the past nine months than any endurance athlete I’ve ever trained. And, that was on top of the 15 swim/bike/run sessions she did outside the gym with her great endurance coach, Karen Smyers. Congratulations, Dede!
A Podcast Interview with EC
A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Chris Peacock for his blog; we covered mobility questions and a few other odds and ends. Just a heads-up: it’s an audio file, and Chris has a thick Scottish accent (or I just have a thick American accent, depending on who you ask). I’ve seen Braveheart several times and talk to Alwyn Cosgrove frequently, so I think I understood him pretty well. Or, I could have been answering all the wrong questions. I guess the only way to find out is to listen!
An Interview with Eric Cressey
For more information, check out www.MagnificentMobility.com.
Along those same lines…
As a follow-up to my interview on baseball training at T-Nation, I received an inquiry about what mobilizations besides the sleeper stretch that we use to improve internal rotation range-of-motion in the throwing shoulder of baseball players.
Given that I’m much bigger on mobility than static stretching, and the fact that a recent study demonstrated that a cross-body stretch was superior to the sleeper stretch in improving internal rotation ROM, we’ve made some modifications. One drill we’ve used for nearly a year now is the cross-body lat mobilization; with the new research, we’ve just increased the frequency of it relative to a few of the others. I like this drill because it not only mobilizes the posterior shoulder girdle and does so in a dynamic fashion, but also because it involves some overhead motion and therefore requires a bit of scapular rotation to accomplish. The more we can train ideal upward rotation patterns in overhead throwing patterns, the better. This is especially true in pitchers, as another recent study demonstrated that pitchers have less scapular upward rotation than do position players.
You can check out a video of the mobilization HERE.
Anytime you can perform an upper-body mobilization and link it with the lower-body without compromising the effectiveness of the movement, definitely do so. There is a huge link between shoulder dysfunction and dysfunction in the opposite hip and ankle. For instance, Bill Hartman pointed me in the direction of this study that showed that there is a hip ROM deficit or abduction weakness in approximately half of all individuals with diagnosed posterior-superior labral tear.
Contrary to what many people seem to think, getting healthy shoulders isn’t just about silly rubber tubing exercises. For more information on some excellent alternatives, check out the Inside-Out DVD.
Enjoy the rest of your week, and keep your fingers crossed for the Red Sox!
All the Best,
EC
Click here to purchase the most comprehensive shoulder resource available today: Optimal Shoulder Performance - From Rehabilitation to High Performance. |
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No-Hitters
First off, a big congratulations goes out to Lincoln-Sudbury’s Kevin Scanlan, a Cressey Performance athlete who pitched his first career no-hitter last week. With a 3-0 record, 0.35 earned-run average, and 40 strikeouts in 20 innings pitched, Kevin is the top-ranked pitcher in the competitive Dual-County League here in Massachusetts – en route to pitching for the University of Maine next year. Kevin is also batting almost .500 at the clean-up spot and playing first base when he isn’t pitching. Great job, Kevin!
Cressey Performance has become somewhat of a breeding ground for the 7-1 Lincoln-Sudbury baseball team, with seven of the athletes training with me. Stay tuned for more of the same success in the months and years to come!
Nipples
As you may have heard, there was a great feature article in the Boston Globe about Stephanie Holland-Brodney, one of my clients who ran the marathon. And, needless to say, the picture that accompanied the article served as great blog material:
The School of Hard Nipples
Self-deprecating humor is the best kind, right?
With the help of Jon Boyle, we’ve really upped the content considerably on the blog over the last few weeks. Be sure to check it out at www.EricCressey.com on the homepage - and by all means, please spread the word. The more popular it gets, the more content we’ll pack into it each day. In the meantime, here are a few of the more popular ones from the past few weeks:
The 315 Deadlift Fiasco
Lifestyle Checklists
Lower Back Pain and the Fitness Professional
Until next week, train hard and have fun!
All the Best,
EC |
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