I know, I know – I’m posting this badboy up a bit later than usual, but I actually have a legitimate excuse. For starters, ummmmm, hello??? Freakin Ben Affleck is slated to be the next Batman!!!!
I don’t know how I feel about this yet. Part of me is like “hell yeah.” He’s an often under appreciated actor, and he’s obviously made his mark as an A-List director (Gone Baby Gone, The Town, Argo), so I feel like he’s a good fit because he knows what it’s like to direct and will offer his own vision to some degree.
Plus, lets be honest: he’s got the jawline for the role.
And part of me wants to punch a hole in the wall because I’m so enamored with Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ franchise and Christian Bale’s portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne, that it kind of makes me sad that we’re moving on and turning the page on that chapter in the Batman franchise.
It’s going to be interesting for sure, and if nothing else, this marks Day One of my campaign to try to convince Ben Affleck to come to Boston (his home town no less) and train for his role at Cressey Performance.
Someone contact DC Comics for me and make that happen!…….;o)
But in all seriousness, the reason I’m a bit late posting today is because we’ve been absolutely swamped at CP with new assessments (16 this week alone), and I (along with the rest of the staff) have been writing programs like a boss. I swear every waking moment outside of coaching has been spent writing programs. Okay I watched the season 7 finale of How I Met Your Mother, but other than that, I’ve been glued to Excel.
Moreover I was the one who ran Excellence Bootcamps this morning, and treated all the participants to a little TG techno magic time. Which is to say, for five hours straight there was nothing but Swedish House Mafia, Tiesto, Deadmaus, and other sick beats while I took everyone through a healthy dose of Prowler pushes, carries, deadlifts, and fist pumps for days.
It was awesome. But I guess you had to be there.
Nevertheless, even though most people reading are no longer at work, and are probably 2-3 Martinis deep into their weekend, here’s some stuff to read:
I respect the hell out of Artemis, and not because she can round house kick me to the face faster than I can say “Tracy Anderson is about as intelligent as a ham sandwich.”
Which is pretty darn fast, mind you.
I just love the consistent message that Artemis relays on her blog, and it’s pretty cool to witness.
Please, ladies: check out her stuff and forward to ALL of your friends who are married to the scale.
This was a fantastic article over on Fitocracy.com by former CP intern, Kyle Arsenault, on the many benefits of sprinting and why many people probably shouldn’t doing it. At least not yet.
There are a lot of, shall I say, “douchey” personal trainers out there. Most don’t know their ass from their acetabulum, yet are able to hit their quotas each and every month because they’re essentially glorified babysitters. They train their client’s mouths more than they train their posterior chain.
Rare is the event where a client “buys in,” or hits that tipping point where they finally “get” what you’re trying to accomplish with them as their trainer.
Even rarer when you convert your client’s train of thought into actually LIKING lifting heavy things and showing up week in and week out for more “torture.”
In this thought provoking post, Justin describes the “buy in,” and how you as a trainer can get to that point.
This was a quick article I wrote for MensHealth.com on Olympic lifting and why I tend to shy away from including them in 99.98% of the programs that I write.
I’d love for you guys to check it out and show MH.com some love by “Liking” the article. But if you think it sucks, that’s cool too. I won’t cry. That much.
Anyone in the strength and conditioning realm, or general fitness for that matter, has at one time or another come across the name ‘Tabata’ during their various fitness related rendezvous.
Most common would be those interested in interval training for fat loss. Back in 1996 Dr. Izumi Tabata and his colleagues submitted what is now a well renowned (and often misinterpreted) study that revolutionized the fitness industry.
In fact, as my good friend, Mark Young, noted a while ago, “this study created such a rage that now hundreds of thousands of trainees around the world now include “Tabatas” as part of their fat loss programming.”
You name it, people have Tabata the shit out of it. You have your garden variety bike and sprint intervals, which most people equate Tabatas with and are most familiar with. And now it’s not uncommon to see people performing Tabatas with the Olympic lifts (borderline asinine), deadlifts, squats, kettlebell swings, push-ups, pick your poison and it’s been done.
Hell I wouldn’t be surprised if Tabata cow tipping has entered the foray somewhere. Anything to feel the burn, right?
Well now it seems it’s gaining steam elsewhere, and I suppose it was only a matter of time before it happened.
My other good friend, Emily Socolinsky (which many who read this blog consistently should recognize), posted the following picture on Facebook wall yesterday:
After ungluing my face from my keyboard, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “poor Mr. Tabata.”
You see what many out there think is Tabata training is anything but, and jives AGAINST what the actual study demonstrated.
Rather than try to explain it myself, I’m just going to defer to Mark Young again who wrote THIS post a while ago on some common Tabata Myths:
Despite the widespread use of this system, most people have absolutely no idea what the actual Tabata protocol is. In the often cited (but rarely actually read) study, one group performed moderate intensity (70% VO2 Max) steady state cardiovascular exercise for one hour on 5 days per week. This would be along the lines of what most people would be accustomed to doing in the gym.
The other group used the Tabata protocol which consisted of a 10 minute steady state warm up followed by 7-8 sets of 20 seconds at 170% VO2 Max on a mechanically braked cycle ergometer. Subjects were given 10 seconds of rest between each set.
One more interesting part? On 4 days of the week the Tabata group performed this exact protocol. On the fifth day they actually did 30 minutes of steady state exercise at 70% VO2 Max followed by 4 Tabata style intervals.
So over the course of a week the Tabata group also did a total of 70 minutes of steady state exercise as well!
But here is where most people mess up. VO2 Max is determined (in this case) by having the person ride the ergometer while measuring their oxygen uptake and gradually increasing the wattage until the person’s oxygen uptake no longer continues to rise. This is considered 100% of their VO2 Max and it is often associated with complete exhaustion and/or vomiting.
Now imagine increasing the resistance on the bicycle to increase the wattage to 170% of that value. That is the intensity required for a true Tabata interval. Each interval is completed with maximal effort.
Despite what you’ve been told, front squats, resistance bands, or any other bodyweight routine you might be doing may replicate the time sequence of the Tabata protocol, but it is NOT a Tabata interval. If your first set is performed at a submaximal weight that becomes maximal by the final set this does not even come close. It might be hard, but it isn’t a Tabata.
Now I know what some of you may be thinking: “what the hay Tony…..why are you chastising people for wanting to work hard, and what’s more, why are you playing semantics?”
Listen I’ll never downplay anyone who wants to work hard and take steps to improve their health. Moreover, I don’t necessarily care how they go about doing it. Sure I have my own biases as to what I feel are the most ideal, time efficient, and most important of all, SAFE, ways to go about things given one’s goals and ability level; but in all, if someone is taking steps to improve their health, I’m all for it.
Who am I to judge?
I just think it’s funny (and by funny, I mean the exact opposite of funny) that the word Tabata has grown to encapsulate what mounts to, well, everything.
Tabata burpees; Tabata apple picking; Tabata recycling; Tabata Dating………..I’ll keep going! I’ll do it!
And I’ll just add as an afterthought my fingers are crossed that there’s some semblance of assessment (and regression/progression system) to ascertain one’s ability level before starting one of these classes.
The last thing Dick from accounting, who’s 40 lbs overweight and hasn’t exercised since Patrick Swayze made stone-washed jeans cool, needs is to jump into a 30 minute class of mountain-climbers and lunges on day one.
I’d argue that if most people placed a premium on getting stronger, were CONSISTENT, didn’t automatically feel that they have to resort to 30 minutes of “HIIT” training to the point where they can’t feel the left side of their face, stopped crushing Frappuccinos, and actually went to bed at a decent hour (and drank more water), they’d be surprised with their results.
As some of you know I had the luxury of spending the past few days attending Phase II of the Elite Baseball Mentorship hosted at my stomping grounds, Cressey Performance, listening to Eric Cressey, Eric Schoenberg, and Matt Blake discuss, well, training baseball players.
And while training baseball players is our Soup de Jour at Cressey Performance, what many fail to realize is that we train a wide variety of athletes (softball, basketball, football, hockey, boxing, and at one point we even trained a fencer!) as well as general population clients at the facility.
While the crux of the information covered over the weekend pertained to baseball players and the intricacies involved with managing their care and programming, a fair percentage of it spilled over into the meathead/general population crowd as well.
As is the case every time I attend a seminar or workshop there’s always a nugget or two of information that blows me away and makes me wonder “why am I such a moron?”
One such instance involved a comment that Eric Schoenberg made regarding lunges and how we (as an industry) coach them. In a nutshell he questioned the audience (us) as to why we don’t include more of a hip hinge pattern when we introduce it and coach the lunge?
Ask any strength coach how he or she generally “patterns” the squat, deadlift, kettblebell swing, or any number of other foundational movements, and almost always they’ll say everything revolves around the hip hinge.
Why, then, when we coach the lunge, as Eric noted, do we gravitate towards more of an upright torso (which in turn results in more of a “gross” extension based pattern)?
“Huh,” I thought. “That’s interesting.”
But to be more specific, for visual reference, the video below best depicts my reaction the second Eric made this point.
To give more of a play-by-play description: I’m Triple H, and Eric’s comment is John Cena straight-up power slapping me in the grill.
It……was……awesome. And helped to turn on a light bulb in my head.
And, the whole shebang makes perfect sense when you think about it.
Coaching the lunge with an upright torso isn’t inherently wrong; it just might not be the most ideal way to go about things for some people.
Especially with regards to baseball players and more of the meathead/athletic crowd (who live more of their lives in “gross” extension anyways).
Think about it: those in extension tend to have excessive anterior pelvic tilt, which in turn leads to more femoral internal rotation, which in turn leads to more tibial internal rotation, which then, as we all know, is the real cause of global warming.
But in all seriousness, someone may exhibit faulty hip mechanics, we then coach them to perform a lunge pattern in a way that feeds into said faulty hip mechanics, and then we bark at said athlete or client when his or her’s knee caves in when they lunge.
What’s more, coaching the lunge with a more upright posture only feeds into the extension pattern which doesn’t do their lumbar spine (and more specifically their facet joints) any favors.
And, to add insult to injury, if someone is purposely programmed to think that staying upright is ideal (which isn’t always the case for some), the DBs are going to serve as a counterbalance to keep them in extension.
Instead, what’s wrong with cueing more of a hip hinge and slightforward lean to save their back and to help offset a poor pattern?
One simple cue would be: don’t think of shoulders over the hips, but rather shoulders over the knees.
Thoughts?
This is something that completely flew over my head up until this past weekend, and is something I plan to fix sooner rather than later.
Sadly, I can’t fix the epic fail of having Taylor Swift playing in the background in the above videos.
For those wondering what the picture is on the left, that’s this week’s Cressey Performance nutrition tip. While we do go out of our way to post beneficial tips for our clients – like providing simple strategies to increase fruit and veggie consumption, protein shake recipes, and letting them know that a kitten dies every time you toss an egg yolk into the kitchen sink – we also like to have a little fun from time to time.
Hope you got a little chuckle out of it.
It’s been a busy week on my end, and I have a few deadlines to meet. Note to my editors: I love you.
This weekend is looking to be just as jammed pack what with Phase II of the Elite Baseball Mentorship going down at the facility. It’s basically three days filled with talking about anything and everything as it relates to training baseball players, and I’m pumped to hear what Eric Cressey, Eric Schoenberg, and Matt Blake are going to be sharing (even though I kinda already know what’s going to be covered).
On that note, I hope everyone enjoys their weekend, and I’ll see you back here next week!
I love me some rants. And this my friends, is an EPIC rant. I don’t think I’ve high-fived my computer screen as much as I did listening to this seven minute video.
We can discuss any industry and go on and on and on about how many people within that industry suck. Just like there are shitty personal trainers out there (and there are A LOT), we can also make a case for all the shitty lawyers, doctors, car mechanics, and librarians out there too.
Because there’s no real governing body when it comes to personal trainers, and access/certification is nothing more than a $99 credit card payment to some random website, it’s not surprising that many people have a bad taste in their mouth when it comes to personal trainers.
Thing is though: many of the PTs that we deem as “sucking donkey ass (my words, not the internet’s),” don’t even realize how much they suck. They’re meeting their quotas, they’re making money, they have an arm band tribal tattoo. Life is good!
Anyways, I think many of you will enjoy this rant and will be nodding your head in agreement as much as I did.
I love this post for a variety of reasons – but mainly because of how beautifully simple it was. Some people will go out of their way to come up with the most asinine rationales for why they’re not making progress in the gym.
My left big toe dorsiflexion is off.
I didn’t feed my pet bald eagle this morning.
It’s a leap year.
When the truth of the matter is it’s never anything remotely as complicated as they think it is.
I often feel like Todd and I are long lost brothers. I mean, we both like to lift heavy stuff, we’re both bald, it’s uncanny!
I don’t think there’s ever been a time where I read something he’s written and I didn’t think to myself, “Wow, it’s almost as if I could have written the same thing!”
Needless to say I really respect Todd’s work, and I always look forward to reading his stuff. This one is no different.
The bench press. There’s no mistaking it’s popularity. Walk into most gyms and you’re bound to see an inverse relationship between the number of bench press stations available and squat racks. Likewise, it’s no coincidence that there’s a lot barrel chested guys walking around with chicken legs than vice versa.
I get it, though. As dudes (and yes, women can enter the conversation too, but they’re not nearly as enamored) it’s almost engrained in our DNA out of the womb to bench press.
Ask any guy what he did the first time he stepped foot in a gym and nine times out of ten he’s gonna say “come on man, I benched.”
No exercise is as glamorized nor put on pedestal as the bench press. Moreover, no exercise eats up one’s shoulders like the bench press.
That said, the bench press isn’t going away anytime soon (not that it should, it’s a fantastic exercise), but below are a few suggestions on how tweak it so that your shoulders are less likely to hate you.
1. Uh, Stop Benching (Just for a Little While)
Whenever I start working with someone and they start to describe how much their shoulder hurts one of the first questions I’ll ask is what their benching frequency is like.
More often than not, to put it lightly, it’s a lot.
And while I realize it’s borderline asinine for me to say (because it seems so obvious), I’m going to say it anyways: stop benching.
If bench pressing hurts your shoulder, stop doing it Sherlock!
But since most guys will react by pounding their feet to ground and screaming, “no, no, no, NO!” and then act as if I just ruined their world and said “you’re not leaving this table until you finish your veggies Mister!” I’ll usually lighten the blow by telling them that I only want them to lay low for a week or two, just to see if their symptoms subside.
In the interim I’ll suggest they ramp up their horizontal rowing frequency to the tune of 2:1 or 3:1 (pull:push) ratio and start adding in more push-up variations (which will usually end up being more of a challenge than they think).
Guys often scoff at push-ups, but you’d be surprised as to how many can’t perform them correctly, let alone be able to do ten straight.
I LOVE push-ups in that they’re a closed chain exercise (bench pressing is open chain) which allow for a little more wiggle room for the scapulae to actually move. Conversely, with the bench press, the shoulder blades are glued to the bench itself which can be problematic down the road.
Sure, setting the scapulae in place for stability and transference of force is paramount, but considering the long-term ramifications that can have on shoulder health, it “may” not be ideal for some.
In any case, it’s amazing how much better most shoulders will feel after a couple of weeks of laying off the bench press and addressing muscular imbalances by including more rowing into the mix.
Speaking truthfully, outside of the powerlifting realm I’d be perfectly content with nixing benching altogether for most guys and just opting for push-up variations and dumbbell work. But since pigs will fly before that happens, and guys are going to want to bench press no matter what, here are some more options.
2. Change Your Hand Position
Utilizing more of a narrow or close grip variation will undoubtedly be more “shoulder friendly” in the long run. When we bench with a wider grip it’s a lot easier for the elbows to flare out, which in turn makes the shoulder more vulnerable, unstable, and want to flip us the bird.
Don’t go too narrow however. The one caveat with using a super narrow grip is that we’ll tend to “crowd” ourselves once the bar reaches chest height and the scapulae will dip into anterior tilt and cause more anterior humeral glide (which again, will lead to more instability, not to mention a pissed off bicep tendon).
My general rule of thumb for close grip is roughly shoulder width apart, maybe a teeny tiny bit less depending on the person. For a frame of reference, here’s a picture I snaked off of Mike Robertson’s site:
3. Get a Hand-Off For the Love of God
If you ask any powerlifter or strength coach how important the initial set-up is for the bench press, they’ll inevitably say it’s VERY important.
I don’t want to get into the specifics here – you can easily go read anything Dave Tate has written on the topic – but suffice it to say it’s crucial to set a stable base of support when benching. And that’s going to entail setting your shoulder blades together AND DOWN!!!
A lot of guys will set up properly only to lose everything once they go to un-rack the bar. In order to un-rack the bar they’ll have to protract and abduct the shoulders which kind of defeats the purpose of going through the trouble to set up.
For whatever reason some guys are stubborn when it comes to getting or asking for a hand-off, as if it’s some kind of hit on their manhood.
You’re asking for a hand-off, not for a pedicure. Not that there’s anything wrong with getting a pedicure from time to time. They’re actually quite lovely sometimes. Er, I mean, that’s what I’ve heard at least.
For those too lazy to click on the link, here’s the video component for your viewing pleasure.
4. Board Presses
We actually have a checklist of progressions that we like our clients and athletes to go through before they actually touch a standard bench press. It starts all the way down with push-up isometric holds (pain free ROM) all the way up to the end game of bench pressing like a boss.
Somewhere in the middle are board presses.
Board presses are beneficial for a variety of reasons
1. For the sake of this conversation they’re fantastic because they allow us to limit the ROM so that benching it’s pain free. But we’re still benching, so psychologically it’s a huge win for most guys.
We can start with a 4-5 board press and work our way down three, two, and then one…..so it’s a nice sliding scale of progressions.
2. A bit off topic, board presses are also a fantastic way to teach the body to hold more weight. Because of the reduced ROM, we’re able to load the bar heavier and you can program your CNS to “feel” what it’s like to hold a heavier load.
3. Plus, board presses are an awesome exercise to hammer the triceps.
5. Decline Bench Press
Eric Cressey noted this point yesterday during a staff in-service and is something he’s goes into much more detail on in his Elite Training Mentorship series.
When we’re referencing true “impingement” syndrome with most guys, many will light up when they reach roughly 80-90 degrees of shoulder flexion.
With the decline bench, it’s not uncommon to see 10-15 degrees less shoulder flexion and subsequently guys tend to stay outside of that “danger” zone. So, this is yet another way to make benching a bit more shoulder friendly, and serves as a nice progression leading up to regular bench pressing down the road.
Note from TG: Continuing on from yesterday’s post, today in part deux strength coach Joe Giandanato takes the reigns and talks about his own battles with laxity and how’s he’s been able to manage his symptoms and pain through dedicated strength training as well as some attention to detail with other things.
For those looking to geek out on anatomy and assessment talk (me, me, me!!), Joe breaks down ligamentous verbiage, talks about rate of force development, as well provides some sage words on medical treatment. For the record: it does NOT include watching old Jean Claude Van Damme movies like Blood Sport or Kickboxer or Double Impact.
OMG – those movies were so awesome.
And don’t roll your eyes at me – you know you watched them back in the day. Don’t kid yourself!
Anyways, I’ll let Joe take it from here.
Challenges of Dealing With Lax Athletes
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges I’ve faced as an athlete, lifter, and coach is dealing with ligamentous laxity. I’ve found through my years as a coach and personal trainer that athletes and lifters with ligamentous laxity need to be “slowed down” in the gym. They must master first bridging and planking variations to find a stable core and hips before progressing to barbell exercises.
I’ve found that tempo training works well, especially when the eccentric or isometric is accentuated. Prolonging both help provide the athlete or lifter greater proprioceptive benefits along with a smoother transition to more advanced exercises.
Nine times out of ten, I’ll usually scrap static stretching in the post-workout portion of the training session and in its place, I’d have the athlete perform lower threshold activation exercises for the muscles of the hips, shoulders, and upper back as well as those encircling the knee. (such as what?)
I’ve found these areas to be the most problematic and they’ll typically require the most programming attention. As you’ll soon read, working with athletes with ligamentous laxity can be highly rewarding. Many times, these are explosive individuals who are shrouded by inefficient movement patterns and in some instances dysfunction and pain. With sound programming and proper care, these individuals can blend the best of both worlds – elasticity and strength, unearthing the explosive athlete within.
Joe’s Story
My brief story involves a lifelong love-hate relationship with congenital laxity. My athletic career actually began in a gymnastics studio as a five year old who was enamored by all of the things the older neighborhood girls were capable of. Though my stint in gymnastics didn’t last very long, I remember being just as flexible as all of the girls in class. As I continued my athletic pursuits, which included soccer, basketball, and eventually football, I began to notice that my extreme flexibility had become a detriment of sorts.
Although there was an incredible amount of spring to my step and I was typically one of the faster athletes on the field or court, I was also one of the weakest and most susceptible to joint injury.
Once my mediocre athletic career concluded, which consisted of a brief stint of walking on my local college’s soccer team and flirtations with semi-pro and minor league football, I solely dedicated my extracurricular efforts to the iron.
Although I competed in an unsanctioned push-pull meet a number of years ago, I’ve struggled to keep my body intact long enough to make a concerted attempt in a full powerlifting meet.
The unraveling of my musculoskeletal health triggered an extensive amount of reflection and research. For the past decade I had been bogged down by a cranky sacroiliac joint. If anyone has suffered from SI joint issues, you’ll know that virtually any activity or posture has the capacity to piss that joint off.
SI joint issues aren’t conducive to the “big three” and they certainly don’t lend themselves to productive training sessions.
My maligned speculation of what was causing it was limited to muscles. Although no muscles connect the ilium to the sacrum, the joint itself is governed by the musculature of the lumbopelvic hip complex. A faulty firing pattern could lead to a lateral or anterior pelvic tilt influencing movement of the SI joint.
When the sacrum tips forward, it nutates, when it tips rearward it counternutates. When the SI joint loses its ability to nutate and counternutate effectively, biomechanical compensations occur, which are typically accompanied by pain. Initially, I made the mistake of zeroing in on the muscles responsible for my pain and decreased strength while I overlooked the ligaments.
Ligament A&P Briefer
Ligaments are strong, fibrous bands of connective tissue which connect bones to each other across all joints. Ligaments are composed of both solid and liquid components. The solid components include multiple types of collagen as well as elastin, actin, and proteoglycans, which are glycosylated proteins that play a number of roles in connective tissue health, relevantly the regulation of collagen fibrillogenesis and stimulate cell growth.
The liquid components are mostly comprised of water, which influences cellular and viscoelastic functioning. I should also point out that ligaments are not independent of our body’s neurovascular network as the epiligament, or outer ligament, has a rich supply of proprioceptors and blood.
Individuals with congenital laxity typically have ligaments that are loose, or for a lack of a better term, “stretchy”. These stretchy ligaments do more than allow laxity sufferers to perform parlor tricks such as stretching a muscle beyond a normally safe end range, they can pull joints out of centration which alters proprioceptive abilities as Miguel alluded to before.
Since stretchy ligaments do not allow an individual to maintain joint stability, much less establish it in first place, then joint health will erode over time. Individuals with congenital laxity are at a greater risk for developing osteoarthritis, degenerative disc conditions, and patellofemoral issues. They are also more susceptible to joint sprains likely due to compromised proprioception.
Benefits of Being Lax
However, having ligamentous laxity doesn’t relegate you to the good girl/bad girl machines tucked away in the corner of the gym. Lax individuals can ramp up rate of force development due to their enhanced elasticity. RFD isn’t just limited to a muscle’s force generating capacity.
RFD is also linked to the contributions of the parallel elastic component (PEC) and series elastic component (SEC). Anecdotally, I have found that trained individuals with laxity are more proficient in absorbing force during eccentric movements, which is likely why many lax pitchers can hurl ched as they gather elastic energy during the windup and cocking phases of the pitch.
Assessing Laxity
Typically congenital laxity is assessed via the Beighton Scale. The test features nine domains which include: bilateral passive thumb apposition, bilateral pinky dorsiflexion, bilateral knee hyperextension of at least 10 degrees, bilateral elbow hyperextension of at least 10 degrees, and bending at the waist and placing your hands on the floor while the knees are locked out. Scoring 4 points will earn you a laxity diagnosis.
Registering a 9 out of 9, like Miguel did in his self-administered exam, will get you enshrined in the laxity hall of fame. As thorough as the test may seem, it is rather limited as it overlooks a number of potentially problematic joints.
Watch as my physician, Dr. Hartman assesses me on the table and demonstrates the examination to Miguel and three medical students who are getting napalmed with knowledge.
Medical Treatment
Receiving treatment from Dr. Hartman has been a godsend. When I first visited him a few months ago, nagging SI joint pain had flared up again rendering mundane ADLs such as bending over to tie my shoes, colossally painful. The closest thing I came to squatting and deadlifting was from a spectator’s perspective, observing my athletes perform these lifts while I was writhing in pain, hunched over a power rack.
While medical management of laxity isn’t necessary for everyone, I can personally attest that Dr. Hartman’s treatments have worked wonders for me. Though pedestrian by powerlifting standards, I can crank out sets of deep squats with 405 and conventional deadlifts with 500 pounds on command. Though there’s still a lot of room for improvement on my end, I have come a long way through Dr. Hartman’s care.
One of the treatment modalities that Dr. Hartman utilizes is prolotherapy. Prolotherapy or “prolo” for short involves injecting a hypertonic dextrose or saline solution into the joint. The injection incites an inflammatory response which promotes tissue repair, thereby improving ligamentous integrity and reducing or eliminating musculoskeletal pain.
Medical research indicates prolotherapy as an effective treatment option for those with laxity of the anterior cruciate ligament (4) and knee osteoarthritis (5). Another study suggests that prolotherapy is effective in treating lower back pain in conjunction with additional interventions (6).
If you’re interested in what a round of prolotherapy treatment entails for the SI joint, check out the video. If you’re squeamish, it’d be in your best interests to avoid the 1:09 mark in the following video.
REFERENCES
1.“Clinical Application of Neuromuscular Techniques, Volume 1: The Upper Body [Hardcover].” Clinical Application of Neuromuscular Techniques, Volume 1: The Upper Body: Leon Chaitow, Judith DeLany: 9780443062704
2. Lephart, Scott M., and Freddie H. Fu. Proprioception and Neuromuscular Control in Joint Stability. [Champaign, IL]: Human Kinetics, 2000. Print.
4. Reeves KD, Hassanein KM. Long-term effects of dextrose prolotherapy for anterior cruciate ligament laxity. Altern Ther Health Med. 2003;9(3):58-62.
5. Rabago D, Patterson JJ, Mundt, M, et al. Dextrose prolotherapy for knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial. Ann Fam Med. 2013;11(3)229-237.
6. Yelland MJ, Del Mar C, Pirozzo S, et al. Prolotherapy injections for chronic low back pain: a systematic review. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2004;29(19):2126-2633.
About the Authors
Miguel Aragoncillo, B.S., CSCS, H.F.S, is a strength coach at Endeavor Sports Performance in Pitman, NJ. Miguel is also a Personal Trainer in the Philadelphia area. Miguel enjoys short sprints on the beach, lifting heavy things (sometimes even in competitions), and dancing on the weekends. You can check out his musings on his blog HERE, as well asfollow him on Twitter @MiggsyBogues.
Joe Giandonato, MS, CSCS, FSBSCC is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach and Fitness Director at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, PA. Giandonato is also a Personal Trainer at the University of Pennsylvania, Department of Recreation. He also serves as the Senior Sports Science Editor on joshstrength.com, a website dedicated to strength athletes and those desiring improved body composition and performance.
In 2012, Giandonato was named a fellow of the esteemed Society of Balding Strength and Conditioning Coaches, hoping to one day join the ranks shared by Tony and Eric (Cressey).
Note from TG: Given the special, niche population we work with at Cressey Performance – baseball players – it’s no coincidence that we deal with many athletes who walk in on day one with a preponderance towards being “lax.”
Too, it’s not uncommon to see this in the general population as well, as we’ve also had our fair share of yoga instructors, dancers, and overall “stretchy” (for lack of a better term) people walk through our doors.
It’s a unique circumstance to put it lightly. Is laxity bad? Yes and no. For some, being lax allows them to do what they do – and be successful at it. While for others it can be the bane of their existence. All told if it’s not approached with delicate hands and some careful thought to programming, as a coach or trainer you could be causing more harm than good.
In this guest post by former Cressey Performance intern (and resident breakdanceologist), Miguel Aragoncillo, he dives into this often overlooked (and under-diagnosed) phenomenon. It’s a two parter, but it’s chock full of awesome information.
I hope you enjoy it!
My own story of hypermobility begins with breakdancing throughout high school and college, and later dealing with it while taking up the sport of powerlifting, and still managing it to this day. I have quite a bit of congenital laxity – in some ways it helps, other times it hurts.
When I worked as a personal trainer for a few years after college, I was convinced that the general population displays tightness due to a combination of work demands, poor posture, and a lack of exercise. This would be illustrated through tightness in their hamstrings, back, and pectorals, and that they would usually need to static stretch in order to decrease that tightness.
From my own time spent breakdancing, I was aware that I was fairly flexible, but it wasn’t until I began reading Eric’s and Tony’s blog that perhaps there was some genetic predisposition that allowed me to slip into certain positions without stretching for hours on end. This point was driven home further after completing an internship at CP in the fall/winter of 2012 last year.
While my time in Massachusetts was filled with pitchers with laxity, talks about glenohumeral instability, and deadlifting to techno (<—- Note from TG: YES!!!!!!), I discovered that there was more to this self-flexibility observation than I had imagined.
Hypermobility or being congenitally lax involves a series of tests that present themselves in various joints and ligaments due to a lack of specific protein called collagen. In fact, I determined that I was indeed hypermobile through a self-adminstered Beighton Laxity Test.
Personal anecdotes aside, hypermobility affects enough of a population to be documented, namely in those who have African, Asian, and Arab origin, along with youth due to growth and structures not fully developing quite yet. (Chaitow & DeLany).
Concepts Behind Congenital Laxity
Namely, as a strength coach and personal trainer, it comes down to managing the effects of laxity, whether it is taking a pro-active approach through exercise selection or referring to further treatments through a physician’s care.
To break it down, joint stability is a combination of passive stability (think ligaments and tendons), and active stability (agonistic and antagonist co-activation). Further…
“Functional joint stability is determined by the interaction of several factors… joint geometry, the friction between the cartilage surfaces, and the load on the joint caused by compression forces resulting from gravity and the muscles acting on the joint. Of all the factors contributing to the functional joint stability, the load imposed on the joint is one of the most important.” (Lephart and Fu, p15)
Theoretical Approach to Joint Instability
If there is a lack of stability within any movement, there could be several reasons for said instability: weakness of a stabilizer, lack of bony congruency, lack of synaptic signaling from the brain to the affected joint, along with a proprioceptive deficit in said joint.
While each case of hypermobility is unique to the individual, there are a few overarching themes that should be reinforced when talking about stability, namely, co-activation of “agonistic and antagonistic muscles to create stability and coordination for functional joint stability” (Lephart and Fu, pg 15)
Putting this into action would involve proper positioning during exercises that you may be familiar with already: planks, push-ups, rows, squats, lunges, and Tony’s fave – deadlifts.
With hypermobile athletes, there are two points to be made: 1. Stopping a joint from reaching full hyperextension and 2 Encouraging a partial range of motion as variations for beginner athletes. By encouraging a safer range of motion, there will be an increase in proprioceptive feedback on top of increased muscular activation in the major stabilizers of the shoulders and hips. With these tools you can create a safer environment for your athletes, along with adding a more varied exercise selection to choose from at the same time.
To use a common ankle sprain as an example, there is a prevalence for inversion of the ankle to occur. Signals from the brain must be sent to the ankle to provide an equal or greater eversion force to prevent an injury from occurring. “The response (of an ankle injury) is still the body’s dynamic response to a potentially dangerous situation, however, and it seems reasonable to assume that the faster the reaction is, the greater the degree of protection achieved.” (Lephart and Fu, p243)
However, there are a few instances which may present themselves, namely the muscles that must be activated through a conscious awareness of a possible injury from occurring due to an over-inversion of the ankle will be insufficient to react in time.
When discussing injury prevention, the discussion for bracing and taping vs zero bracing is brought to mind. The argument for bracing and taping includes providing proprioceptive feedback from the skin’s mechanoreceptors. These receptors can provide proprioceptive information or may facilitate joint proprioception by increasing sensitivity or motoneuron excitability. (Lephart and Fu, pg.306)
So in regards to the extremely lax athlete, there may be some theoretical benefit to wearing a brace, but at the same time there should be a push towards encouraging an increase in joint position sense during both static exercises and dynamic exercises.
So whether you believe in joint centration and encouraging those activation of joint stabilizers after centration, or utilizing bracing to increase proprioceptive feedback, the end goal should be the same – increase proprioception and re-establish proper stabilization of major joints.
I personally would like to have my cake and eat it too, or food analogies aside, I’d love to see training encouraged in a proprioceptive rich environment, sans the bracing, and after training and outside in the regular world, perhaps wear the brace or taping to help in “everyday activities”. After a period of time, retest various movements and joints by using a variety of stabilization tests or assessments and reassess the plan of action.
With athletes who display Cirque du Soleil-like flexibility, here are a few drills and exercises that may be more beneficial and specific to helping establish this proprioception that I keep on harping on about, particularly reactive, perturbation-like drills, and finding reference centers for the body.
Managing Hypermobility with Exercise Selection
For lower body reactive drills, progressions involve hurdle hops, single leg hurdle hops, all the way to lateral bounds (or heidens) – all involve “sticking” or landing the movement.
Emphasis should be on maintaining tension through the hip external rotators and avoiding a “knees-in” movement during landing. These exercises can serve as a progression for youth athletes and advanced general population clients, as the cause for knee internal rotation during flexion is increased due to structural variances of passive structures in the knee in a hypermobile population. (Lephart and Fu, p60).
Upper body drills involve perturbations during various drills – whether it is during a static movement such as a quadruped med ball perturbation, or a more dynamic movement such as perturbating a side lying windmill, these are all great variations to use to reinforce proper stability of the humerus within the glenoid socket.
Further, after being exposed to the philosophy along with attending a few seminars held by the Postural Restoration Institute, there seems to be a manageable series of movements that will help encourage viable movement within the hypermobile population.
Speaking with several coaches, physical therapists, and fitness professionals, there seems to be a concerted effort to finding “reference centers” within the body for those who may be “floating in space”, a common feeling for those who are affected by hypermobility.
These reference centers are facilitated through various positional breathing techniques, and a few of these breathing exercises have been referenced by Greg Robins and Eric Cressey throughout their blog. Specifically, these “reference centers include the left abdominals, left ischial seat (sit bone), left heel and right arch.” (-3)
A hierarchy for exercise progressions would be first to develop force in a static or isometric fashion, and from there develop the force through dynamic movements to help increase proprioception in specific stabilizers. This in turn will help to create a protective mechanism within the faulty joint for healthy movement – whether in everyday life or on the field.
And that wraps up Part 1. Tomorrow I’ll delve into some more challenges facing the “lax” athlete, assessment, as well as provide a unique case study.
There are a lot of things that I can’t do. I can’t juggle. I can’t tap dance. I can’t speak Spanish. I can’t eat dairy without making a room smell like old lady fart passing through an onion. And I can’t not quote Lord of the Rings every chance I get.
YOU….SHALL….NOT…. PASS!!!!!!!!
It’s especially funny whenever we’re walking around the city and Lisa wants to go down Newbury St or something and do a bunch of window shopping.*
Anyways, yeah, there are a lot of things I can’t do. Which reminds me: I can’t whistle. Weird, right?
And I’m sure it’s a mentality that many people share with me. We all know our limitations. But lets be honest: I’m sure if I put my mind to it I could learn to juggle; or speak Spanish; or not eat a metric shit-ton of cheese whenever I go out to eat.
With the exception of a few obvious examples (I’m probably never going to punch a great white or be a fighter pilot), I can easily turn any “can’t” into a “can” with a little time and effort. And yes, some will power too. I mean, goddammit I love cheese.
The “I can’t” mentality never rears its ugly head more so than in the gym – especially with women. And especially when it comes to lifting weights.
Whenever I begin working with a female client and mention to her that one of my goals is to help her bang out some unassisted chin-ups I usually get a stare that suggests I just asked her to climb Mt. Everest, and then that’s followed with a ubiquitous “dude, I can’t do that!”
I think that’s a bunch of bologna, and it’s why I was elated to team up with Women’s Health Magazine to develop the Yes, You Can! Chin-Up Challenge.
It’s a 6-week program that will undoubtedly get people outside their comfort zone and (hopefully) help many realize that doing their first unassisted chin-up isn’t as insurmountable as they originally thought.
I know a lot of women read this blog, and I’d LOVE to get as many of you involved as possible. Below is a video that my friend, the lovely Jen Ator, filmed demonstrating the moves involved, and you’ll have to pick up this month’s (September 2013) issue of Women’s Health to get the full details as far as the breakdown of the actual program.
On top of that we encourage everyone who participates to share their progress on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtage #ChinupChallenge.
So what are you waiting for? It’s time to kick gravity in the nuts where it counts and prove once and for all that, yes, you CAN do it.
* = Or whenever she tries to walk into the bathroom. Or anytime she wants to drag me to the latest Nicholas Sparks movie. You know, stuff like that.
Awwww yeah. Mark your calanders because I’m happy to announce that on Sunday, September 22, Cressey Performance will be hosting our second annual fall seminar.
Despite Hurricane Sandy laying into the East coast and throwing a monkey wrench into things last year, it was still an extremely popular event, and we’re expecting a big crowd yet again this year.
[Fingers crossed zombies don’t attack or something].
We’ve got the entire CP staff lined up to speak – alongside some special guests – and much like last year, we want to make this an affordable event for everyone and create a great forum for industry professionals and fitness enthusiasts alike to interact, exchange ideas, and learn.
Here are the presentation topics:
Cracking the Crossfit Code – Presented by Eric Cressey
Let’s face it: Crossfit is here to stay. With that in mind, it’s time for someone to take an unbiased look at how we can make coaches and fitness enthusiasts successful within the scope of this training system. In this presentation, Eric will look past the emotions people have with respect to this approach, and discuss rationale ways to accentuate the positives while offering solutions for the shortcomings. In short, the goal is to bring people together, not drive two sides further apart.
Training Joe vs. Jane: Do Women Need to Train Differently Than Men? – Presented by Tony Gentilcore
Should women avoid lifting appreciable weight? What are the most effective strategies for training women through pregnancy? Is there such a thing as an ACL-Prevention Program?
In this presentation, Tony will discuss many of the common misconceptions and “myths” relating to training female athletes and general population clients. He’ll provide extensive responses and feedback to some of the most frequently asked questions he’s encountered relating to the art of strength training for women.
Note from Tony:
Dear Tracy Anderson,
I highly encourage you to attend this talk. I’ll even comp you a seat, because I’m cool like that.
Respectfully yours/Pink dumbbells suck,
Tony
Insulin: The Hormone, The Myth, The Legend – Presented by Brian St. Pierre
Carbs spike insulin and insulin causes fat gain. So, cut the carbs and you’ll end up lean and healthy. End of story. Or is it?
While the Paleo and low carb camps loudly proclaim that carbs and insulin are the enemy, the latest science suggests otherwise. In fact, we’re starting to learn that high insulin is an effect of being overweight, not a cause. In this session, Brian will explore the real relationship between carbs and insulin, discussing some of the common myths about insulin, and sharing some practical eating strategies you can put into action immediately.
Integrating Corrective Exercise for Performance Enhancement – Presented by Mike Reinold
Often times, muscle imbalances, alignment issues, and movement impairments can lead to injury and decreased performance. However, corrective exercises are often unsuccessful for various reasons. By focusing on several key principles, you can maximize your ability to apply corrective exercises to optimize movement and enhance performance.
Getting To Know Your Athlete: Understanding Learning Styles to Be a More Effective Coach – Presented by Chris Howard
In this presentation, I will discuss the different learning styles and how knowledge of this information is helpful in becoming a more effective coach. I will also delve into the differences between introverted and extroverted clients and how it is necessary to coach and assess them differently.
Excellence In Group Training – Presented by Greg Robins
Group training, small group training, and bootcamps are here to stay. Let me help you understand how I manage the variables associated with group training to optimize a less than ideal scenario. The information presented will be sure to help everyone from the strength and conditioning specialist to commercial fitness professional alike.
The Role of Physical Therapy in a Strength and Conditioning Facility – Presented by Eric Schoenberg
Physical Therapy earns little respect in strength and conditioning circles due to the inability of traditional PTs to properly progress a patient from injury to high-level activity. This lack of versatility has contributed to an increased role of the strength and conditioning professional in the care of the injured athlete. But, is there a role for Physical Therapy in the training world? Physical therapist Eric Schoenberg will share his thoughts on why partnering with the right physical therapist can add great value to your business and improve results for your clients.
Location:
Cressey Performance,
577 Main St.
Suite 310
Hudson, MA 01749
Cost:
Regular – $129.99 regular early bird (by September 8), $149.99 thereafter Student (must present current student ID at door) – $99.99 early bird (by September 8), $129.99 thereafter
Date/Time:
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Registration 8:30AM
Seminar 9AM-5:30PM
We’re really excited about this event, and would love to have you join us! However, space is limited and each seminar we’ve hosted in the past has sold out quickly, so don’t delay on signing up!
If you have additional questions, please direct them to [email protected]. Looking forward to seeing you there!
If you’re a gym junkie, and unless you’ve been living underneath a rock for the past five days, you’ve undoubtedly come across the Tweet which has circulated the intertubes of Wolverine, Jean Valjean, Van Helsing Hugh Jackman deadifting his ass off with the caption that reads, “if the bar ain’t bendin, then you’re just pretendin.”
< —– For visual reference, here it is.
My man-crush on Hugh just hit Matt Damon status. Hugh, if you read this: If you’re ever in Boston, come train at my gym. We’ll deadlift, quote Shakespeare, give each other high fives. It will be awesome.
Predictably, many a internet hater chimed in and had nothing but negativity to throw Hugh’s way, making derogatory remarks about his “chicken legs,” and saying that what he was lifting was no big deal.
Fact is many people UNDERestimated the amount he was lifting, not realizing that the plates he was using were in kilograms and not lbs. That’s 465 lbs people!
While not all that impressive in powerlifting circles, he’s not a freakin powerlifter! He’s an actor who’s paid to look badass
And, dare I say, I can almost guarantee a vast majority of the people who scoffed at the picture would be doing cartwheels down Main St. if they could sniff that much on their pull. Let alone for reps.
In the article above Bret hits the nail on the head. I’m always amazed at how snobby people can be, and even more amazed as to how so many people will take time out of their day for the sole purpose of being an a-hole.
Okay I’ll admit it: I’m a little biased when it comes to this particular post because Kelly is my cousin. Nevertheless it’s still an awesome article with a worthwhile message: Yes, supermom’s are busy. But with a little effort it’s not all that difficult to implement healthier food strategies.
There’s a lot to be said by implementing more “explosive” type training into your weekly workouts. In this article Lee breaks down a few ways one can go about doing so in a safe and effective manner. And, it includes one of THE BEST post clean and jerk dances of all time. Trust me, watch it!
