Forgive the aloof and standoffish tone. I recognize the term “scapular winging” is a thing and that it can be an actual, real-live, medical diagnosis with dastardly consequences.1
But more on that in a minute.
It’s just that, in some ways, I find a lot of fitness pros – personal trainers, strength coaches, and even physical therapists – can often be a little too liberal with use of the term. They toss it around with little understanding of what it actually means and with little “feel” on how it’s interpreted by their clients and athletes.
I’ve long championed the sentiment that most (not all) fitness pros use the initial assessment as an opportunity to showcase how much people suck at doing things and how broken they are, and that, for the mere cost of a 215 pack of training sessions (the equivalent of a really, really nice Audi), they’ll fix you.
Pffffft, who wants an Audi anyways?
Here’s how a typical conversation goes:
Client: “Hey, I’m thinking about hiring someone to train me.”
Douchy Trainer: “Great, I’d be glad to help. We need to start with an assessment so I have ample opportunity to showcase how much of walking ball of fail you are and how I alone can fix you.”
Client: “Uh, okay. When do we start?
Douchy Trainer: “Right now, take off your shirt.”
Client: “Not going to buy me dinner first, huh? Kidding, okay, BAM.”
[takes off shirt]
Douchy Trainer: “Oh……….MY………..GOD.”
Client: “What? What’s wrong?”
Douchy Trainer: “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but, you may want to sit down for this.”
Client: “Okay. What is it?
Douchy Trainer: “I’m sorry to have to tell you, but, but…..you have scapular winging.”
Client: “Is….that bad?”
Douchy Trainer: “I honestly have no idea how you’re able to walk, let alone speak complete sentences. We need to fix this ASAP.”
And this is where the trainer turns into that a-hole nun from Game of Thrones walking the client, Cersei style, down to the training floor to take them through a bevy of corrective exercise drills.
Now, admittedly, the key words used to find this picture were “most fucked up, dumpster fire of a case of scapular winging on the internet,” so don’t get too alarmed.
This is a legit, medically diagnosedcase, and not at all normal.
In a general sense, when we say “scapular winging” all we’re saying is that the shoulder blade comes or “wings” off the ribcage.
It’s sorta tricky because this pretty much describes everyone. You, me, George Clooney, your second cousin’s brother-in-law’s nephew’s Little League coach, literally, everyone, has some form of scapular winging.
So, what is it then? How much is too much? And, more importantly, what, if anything, should we do to fix it? Do we even need to fix it?
Dr. Quinn Henoch of Juggernaut Training Systems described this beautifully not too long ago. In short: a true case of scapular winging, like what’s pictured above, is a neurological condition where the Long Thoracic Nerve isn’t doing it’s job of innervating the Serratus Anterior (who’s job it is to adhere the shoulder blade to the ribcage).
The approach or fix in this case hasn’t anything to do with turning on “x” muscle or performing x, y, and z corrective exercises.
It’s not quite that simple.
Scapular Winging: What It Isn’t
I’ll tell you this much: we don’t have a pandemic of people walking around with true scapular winging. The vast majority of people you’ll encounter are owner’s of a completely healthy Long Thoracic Nerve.
They’re not broken. There’s nothing super duper nefarious happening.
What’s likely the culprit is a lack of tension and motor control.
The fix, then, is……..Drum roll…..
LOAD
If we can figure out ways to introduce load and subsequently, tension, this will not only help to turn shit on (without having to go down the 19-part corrective exercise rabbit hole) but also help people get into better positions via a little introduction to protraction.
Want to “cure” someone’s scapular winging in a matter of seconds?
Watch this. Closed-chain movements, protraction in general, is kind of magical.
Wall Press & Push-Ups That Don’t Suck
Pretty cool, right? That’s some Gandalf shit right there.
Quadruped Rockback w/ Floor Press
Typically the Quadruped Rockback is a a screen used to gauge active hip flexion ROM and to ascertain someone’s appropriate squat depth based of his or her’s anatomy. However, after listening to Mike Reinold speak on the topic it’s also a great drill to cue people into more protraction and upward rotation
Floor Press w/ Upward Rotation
Taking the floor press a step further, we can take away a base of support (and force the stabilizing arm to work that much harder in order to maintain position) and then incorporate some upward rotation.
Wrap Up
The umbrella theme here is not to dismiss scapular winging as an actual diagnosis. It is a diagnosis. It’s just not as common as people think, and I wish more fitness pros would stop jumping to conclusions so fast.
Oftentimes the fix is just to coach people up, introduce some load, and get them into better positions.
Last Chance to Save $100 off Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint
Last week Travis Hansen wrote part one and covered some arguable topics that you can focus on as a trainer/coach to help improve your personal and online training business over the long-haul.
It’s a very competitive world and there are many sub-fields within the training industry that you can explore to try and make a living and attempt to specialize in. (i.e. fat loss, muscle building, bodybuilding, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, Crossfit, athletic development, bootcamps, corrective exercise, etc. etc.)
Trying to stay general and master all areas of training development is a pipe dream and self-limiting.
Just take a quick look at the best in the business, and they are once again sharing something by having a specific brand or niche.
Granted you could make a very strong case that these guys could hold their own in just about any type of debate about a specific subject matter.
Nonetheless, most have a specialty because training is extremely competitive and technical when you get into the nitty gritty and discover lots of depth on a topic. And as I mentioned in part #1, this is yet another reason why you will need a sound network, so that you know who to turn to when an issue originating in an area outside of your target specialty occurs.
Also, bear in mind that there is much overlap between speciality’s which will require strong foundations across many types of training, but be sure to be real with yourself always and make it a point to identify your limits and knowledge gaps.
2. Practice What You Preach
This one probably pretty much goes without saying at this point, but I still think it’s worth mentioning.
If you want immediate attention and respect from clients and athletes in the short-term then all you need to do is look the part.
For example, if you want to train bodybuilders then be a bodybuilder. If you want to attract football players then play collegiate or even pro football and watch the initial waves of players that come knocking on your doorstep.
But does all of this guarantee that you are going to keep clients coming back in for more?
Hell no.
Why?
People inevitably want what they want, and this is results!
Although, having gone through the type of training you are preaching will award a temporary competitive advantage since you have gone through the process…beyond that you will have to gorge yourself with info and be a “student.”
This is why you see many pro superstars that don’t evolve into becoming coaches after their career’s are finished. They didn’t learn all of the x’s and o’s. Training goes beyond just hard work and talent. You have to really dedicate yourself to craving more knowledge and learning both the science and art of training.
Conversely, on the other end of the spectrum you have guys that have very little experience in a style of training, but are absolutely phenomenal and world class at what they do. There are several examples but it’s not important.
These individuals are brilliant intellectually, and can identify angles and interpret information and research differently from the rest of us. They are of course the exception, and are few and far between though.
And just so you don’t think I’m talking out of my ass, here is a comparison video from years ago of me walking the walk:
I was running consistent mid to high 4.4’s from multiple people hand timing me. And there happened to be one day where I felt superhuman and did record a 4.31 (4.54 fully electronic)!
What I was really proud of is that I spent half of a decade trying to improve my speed because I love speed training.
I started at a 4.7-4.8 initially.
I researched every technique, book, research study, program, and periodization model that I could find. My goal was to run a 4.3 naturally, and once I did that I lost all of my motivation and wanted to help others with a similar passion in becoming as fast as possible.
Since then there has been hundreds of athletes follow our training system and become much faster. Which brings me to the next factor.
3. Build Your Portfolio
Early on in my training career I would spend money on business cards, pamphlets, etc. in hopes of generating business leads and potential clients since I had just become self-employed and hated the corporate scene.
This was the approach that was advocated by my circle at the time, but I must admit that it didn’t feel right at all and I quickly dismissed the idea and went a different route altogether.
I asked myself why am I trying to sell a service with out much evidence that it works, along with a crystal clear understanding of what I’m actually doing?
And that is when I decided to commit myself to constant learning and daily practice.
Moreover, I wanted to make the absolute most out of each opportunity that I had training each client.
My learning to client ratio at the time was like 9:1.
I wasn’t making really any money, but I had a large window of time that I could capitalize on outside of training to gradually improve my training skill set. Anytime outside of that was focused on being social and staying sane!
And then I would train my ass myself.
Over time, I had taken care of a lot of people, and my clientele incrementally started to grow. But my whole mission of being results based and results driven has never changed and never will.
Do good work and people will come. Word of mouth will start to surface, and then eventually you will have something tangible that you can really market and sell to the public.
4. How Do You Respond to Failure?
How you respond specifically to acts of failure is going to be a huge determinant in how far you go I’ve found out.
Like anybody, you are going to always take your lumps in this business or any for that matter.
I think a big key factor is trying to minimize your failures and not make things harder on yourself than necessary. I can tell you firsthand that I’ve had days where I’ve completely sucked, cried, broke shit, sat there and shook my head in disbelief, and questioned whether or not it was all worth it, or if I really wanted to do this anymore.
A big part of the reason for this I think is because I have ridiculous goals and always have since I was 8 years old. And when you are miles and miles away from were you want to be, well it f*%ken sucks.
But when you start to become and remain accountable with yourself and you are constantly learning and practicing your craft with full effort, then it all starts to make sense eventually and things begin to fall in place slowly.
Wrap Up
On a final note, I really sincerely hope these two pieces may have enlightened you on a few things you may not have thought about with the profession and my full intention is to help you as much as possible.
Stay patient, grind, laugh, have fun, and try not to worry too much or be too critical of yourself. It will eat you alive!
About the Author
Travis Hansen has been involved in the field of Human Performance Enhancement for nearly a decade. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fitness and Wellness, and holds 3 different training certifications from the ISSA, NASM, and NCSF.
He was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Reno Bighorns of the NBADL for their 2010 season, and he is currently the Director of The Reno Speed School inside the South Reno Athletic Club.
He has worked with hundreds of athletes from almost all sports, ranging from the youth to professional ranks. He is the author of the hot selling “Speed Encyclopedia,” and he is also the leading authority on speed development for the International Sports Sciences Association.
I’ve long been an advocate of the landmine press. Not only is it one of my favorite “shoulder friendly” pressing variations, but it’s one of my favorite pressing variations in general.
It gets you jacked and ripped and your shoulders feeling like a million bucks. If it’s performed correctly.
The landmine press doesn’t come without it’s own set of snafus and mistakes. Below is a quick video I shot that breaks down a few “big rock” things to consider as far as execution and common mistakes people make when performing it.
(Cough, cough, hint hint): If you want to dig a little deeper on shoulder (and hip) shenanigans you should check out Complete Shoulder and Hip Blueprint, currently on sale at $100 OFF the regular price through July 5th.
Surviving in the fitness industry is tough. Now, granted, this isn’t The Revenant…we don’t need to worry about wrestling grizzly bears or anything. But it is pretty cut-throat out there and the one’s who “survive,” and do well, are the ones who can separate themselves from the masses.
Today’s guest post by strength coach Travis Hansen showcases some ways you can do just that.
Trying to be successful in the fitness industry is a lot harder than most people tend to think.
The temptation for instant gratification and fly by night credibility is a very strong one, and provides with it a common misconception that you won’t have to grind on a regular basis, learn, and actually train people, not to mention generate legitimate results to remain alive in the business.
I’ve heard from a few credible sources that far less than 10 percent of individuals who start in the fitness business remain alive after a decade, and based on my experience that definitely seems to be pretty true.2
In this article I am going to share with you some arguable principles that I’ve utilized over the course of the past 12 years to stay alive and grow both my online and personal/athletic training business. I am by no means the most successful individual and I’m sure that many others could add to the list, but I honestly think the issues I am going to share with you are essential to your survival if you love this business and ultimately want to help people. I think everything stems off of the two factors I just mentioned and they serve as the groundwork for everything else to help lead you on your way.
So here we go….
#1- What Room Are You In?
Something that is very common I noticed from other trainers or even just the general public, is that there seems to be a constant battle in determining who knows more than the other person, or someone immediately jumps out and gets defensive if their current thought process is challenged by someone who may in fact be right.
I would be willing to wager a bet that our industry is far more guilty of this problem compared to any other profession with all of the hyped up trends that are out there still, hands down!!!
If you watch closely you will notice that the best in the business often times have their note pads out, eyes locked in on the person they are interacting with, ears open wide when they are trying to learn anything they can take away from the present conversation, and more times than not, don’t engage in these petty intellectual ego driven arguments that accomplish zero in the long run, unless the individual is just that damn stupid and asking for it.
As Mike Boyle once said:
“ There is a reason we have two ears and one mouth.”
The harsh truth is that you should probably spend the first 10 years of your career searching out the people who make you uncomfortable and dumb for the moment and eventually it will all start to make sense, and I guarantee you will be surprised just how much better you get.
The last thing I want to discuss in this regard is that something world renown coach and gym owner Zach-Even Esh once said that really resonated, and that is that people are often times uncomfortable and unsupportive of successful people as it makes them introspect and assess where they are at relative to their goals.
I honestly feel if that you start admiring successful people and try to emulate and even beat them then good things start to happen.
Don’t hate congratulate!
#2- Sacrifice
What a lot of surviving comes down to is how much you’re willing to do and sacrifice in order to achieve your goals.
Once you have mentally committed to doing whatever the hell it takes in order to achieve your goals without being illegal or walking over someone in the process then eventually you can start to grow.
I remember when I first got into this business I would buy and immerse myself into any fitness related material I could get my hands on to help build a solid learning filter. I was working 6-7 days per week for 8-12 hours per day. I would contact and pester any expert that would respond back to me with questions I had.
Luckily I stumbled across some great people that I still consult with today. You need very strong mentors and a network to better yourself and help your people.
#3-ASK FOR HELP
Never be afraid to ask for help or admit to your clients that you do not know something.
This only improves your credibility and earns more trust from your people in the long run.
Conan O’Brian once said in his late night talk show that saying you don’t know is often a sign of intelligence.
If you elect to retain your massive ego and state of ignorance, then you are only setting your education and growth back, and eventually your people are going to catch onto your bullshit and you will join the massive crowd of fly by night trainers that exist in our society today.
And remember you are only as strong as your network or alliance.
#4- Re-Invest
If you pay attention on social media, many times the high level practitioners and coaches in the field will send you subtle hints on how to be successful by showing you pictures of their personal training library and such.
There is also generally a very robust “Resource” section on every one of their websites where they show you where they learned from and how to improve your potential knowledge gaps.3
Your success will be ultimately determined by how smart you are, how hard you work, and how much you invest in your education and business. I never personally took out a business loan, but every paycheck and sometimes my whole paycheck was dedicated to learning material or small equipment purchases that accumulated into a bigger and bigger training setting or environment.
And then eventually once people see that you know what you are doing, you’re legitimate, and you get results, then they will more than likely invest in you and the ball just keeps growing bigger and bigger!
About the Author
Travis Hansen has been involved in the field of Human Performance Enhancement for nearly a decade. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fitness and Wellness, and holds 3 different training certifications from the ISSA, NASM, and NCSF.
He was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Reno Bighorns of the NBADL for their 2010 season, and he is currently the Director of The Reno Speed School inside the South Reno Athletic Club.
He has worked with hundreds of athletes from almost all sports, ranging from the youth to professional ranks. He is the author of the hot selling “Speed Encyclopedia,” and he is also the leading authority on speed development for the International Sports Sciences Association.
Groin strains can be a stubborn son-of-a-bitch. Once you have one, it’s one of those pesky injuries that never really seems to go away. In today’s guest post by strength coach and physical therapist, Sam Spinelli, he breaks down some common ways to resolve the issue.
Groin strains are often a hard problem for people to manage. We see them present in many different populations and occur with a wide range of activities. Strains are common in sports such as baseball, hockey and soccer where this is a huge demand on the groin.
With the groin musculature being a collection of numerous muscles, it is involved in so many different movements – flexing the hip, extending the hip, bring the knee towards midline, internally rotate the hip, and externally rotate the hip.
Due to the involvement in these movements, the “groin” can get stressed while performing them, but also get strained when the opposing movements are done as well.
For example, the adductor brevis (one of the higher up groin muscles) acts to adduct, internally rotate, and flex the hip.
If strained, during those three movements the muscle will be challenged to contract.
In contrast, during hip abduction, external rotation, and extension the adductor brevis will get lengthened. When the adductor brevis is strained, excessive lengthening can increase the damage to the vulnerable tissue.
The first step to managing these strains is to get things to calm down. Check out THIS article for more on that in regards to strains.
Get Long
When we say get long, we are talking about having someone comfortable with allowing the involved musculature to elongate.
This isn’t trying to lengthen the actual tissue – which is a topic we will discuss in a separate article/video series – but have the tissue be able to express the range it actually has with ease.
Below is a series of options – foam rolling, less dynamic movements, and more dynamic movements.
We start off with foam rolling as a means of helping in the short term, which we can use to help reduce the perception of tone in the tissue. Ideally this is used only briefly and removed as soon as possible so we are not relying upon it.
The less dynamic movements are one which have less involved movement, fewer joints involved, and more support. These are a great starting point for moving and reducing fear in individuals coming off a groin strain.
The more dynamic movements are things that will have more transfer to daily life and sporting activities.
Once we are in the phase of building things up, we will shift our focus to exercises to help make the tissue more resilient. In particular, we are going to start off with an approach to get long and get strong.
Soft Tissue – Adductors
Split Stance Adductor Mobilization
Frog
Frog 2.0
Lateral Lunge
Cossack Lunge
Cossack Squat
Get Strong
A muscle that is stronger can handle more stress placed upon it. This is why developing the musculature related to this injury can help in the future. In particular, we will look to increase the strength of the groin muscles, but also that of the abdominals.
When we look at where most of the groin muscles originate, we can see they share a common insertion with some of the abdominal muscles. This can be like a tug of war between the muscles. If we have one side not holding up its part, then we can be left with imbalanced force production and a not optimal tension-length relationship. This is often overlooked and can lead to reoccurring issues – which is why we address it here.
We use a similar approach here of utilizing less dynamic movements initially to help target the groin muscles, then build in more dynamic movement and load over time.
For the abdominals we use an approach of challenging the abdominals in both a isometric and isotonic format. This helps to integrate static strength to hold position, but also strength in being able to manipulate the pelvic positioning.
Adductor Strengthening
Side Lying Adduction
Feet Elevated Side Plank – Top Leg Only
Feet Elevated Side Lying Adduction
Lateral Lunge – DBs
Lateral Lunge – 1 Rack
Band Resisted Lateral Lunge
Abdominal Strengthening
Reverse Crunch
Hanging Knee Raise
Hard Style Plank
An Example Introductory Session
Upper Body Lift +
A1. Split stance adductor mob x10 x3sets
A2. Side lying adduction x10 x3 sets
B1. Frog x10 x3 sets
B2. Reverse Crunch x10 x3sets
As you start to build strength and comfort, we can progress to:
Modified Lower Body Lift (RFESS, deadlifts, etc.) +
A1. Lateral Lunge – DBs x6 x3sets
A2. Hard style plank – 3(10s) x3sets
B1. Feet elevated side plank – top leg only x3(10s) x3 sets
B2. Hanging knee raise
Wrap Up
Over time you would want to keep progressing the variations while also building to more advanced movements involving power, agility, and requiring greater motor control of positioning.
Move well, lift heavy, stay healthy,
Author’s Bio
Sam Spinelli is cofounder of The Strength Therapist, a company devoted to educating people about strength training for rehab and performance.
Coming from the great white north of Canada, Sam spent 5 years working with high level hockey as a strength and conditioning coach. Currently he has taken up a nomad status in the United States to pursue his doctorate of physical therapy and hang out with really smart people (Like Tony G).
Outside of spending his time reading research papers and drinking coffee, he is a competitive strength athlete in sports such as powerlifting, weightlifting, and strongman.
On the “Like It” side of the fence are powerlifters, people who like to lift heavy things, Gandalf, and otherwise those who view it as a basic movement pattern (hip hinge) which helps people get bigger, faster, stronger, more resilient, less likely to breakdown, and less likely to die during the impending zombie Apocalypse.
Gracing team “Hate It” is an eclectic group as well. While there are exceptions in each example given below, in my experience, those who have beef with the deadlift tend to be primary care practitioners, some physical therapists, some chiropractors, some fitness professionals, 90% of yoga instructors, every person with a vested interest in selling a product preying on women’s irrational fears of getting bulky, and rabbits.
I can’t explain it. Rabbits are weird.
Believe me when I say this: The list above is not concrete. I have many friends and colleagues who are physical therapists, chiropractors, yoga instructors, and the like who are fans of the deadlift and use it routinely with their clients/athletes/patients.
It’s just that, more often than not, whenever I do hear someone speak ill of it, it’s almost always someone with a lot of letters next to his or her’s name (or with limited experience in the weight room).
Take this recent email I received from a chiropractor friend of mine:
“If you could be of assistance I would love to share your opinion on deadlifting with some of my colleagues who feel it is detrimental to the low back. One doc feels it could be responsible for pars fractures in the lumbar spine, I agree with you not likely if done correctly.”
To answer your question:
1. Seriously, I can’t explain the rabbit thing.
2. A Pars Fracture is one of the most common causes of low back pain in general population clients, but also adolescent athletes. It involves a small connecting bone in the lumbar spine called the pars interarticularis, and it’s an area that’s (generally) compromised when excessive extension and rotation of the spine enter the mix.
As far as youth athletics is concerned, I saw this a lot in my time at Cressey Sports Performance as a result of one of two scenarios:
A sedentary kid jumps right into playing a rotational sport (baseball) without any window of preparation. These were the kids who would wait until a week or two before the season started before participating in any strength & conditioning work.
An overzealous kid (or, rather, parent) plays a sport, one sport, year round, and develops a pattern overload injury.
In both cases there can be deleterious effects, at worse, a condition called Spondylolisthesis or “spondy” or end-plate/pars fracture.
With regards to general population, many of the above still applies. But usually it’s a sedentary lifestyle resulting in poor hip mobility, t-spine mobility, which then compromises spine integrity resulting in faulty movement mechanics.
I.e., being “stuck” in extension.
As an example:
Deadlift Setup: Overarch/Gross Extension/Gross in General
Deadlift Setup: Doesn’t Make My Corneas Want to Jump Out of Their Sockets
In the first picture there’s an exaggerated extension pattern, which, over time, could (not always) have negative ramifications on spine health.
If so, fix it!
Clean up/regress the pattern to where someone is successful, limits compensation patterns, and can “own” the movement. Remember: A deadlift isn’t just a loaded straight bar on the ground.
Don’t demonize an entire exercise and label it the root cause of a specific type of back pain because you’re unable to coach it well or understand how to scale it correctly to fit the needs, injury history, and ability level of an individual.
What’s to say any ONE thing is the culprit in the first place? We don’t really know what cause back pain:
Lack of hip internal rotation.
Repetitive flexion, repetitive extension.
Weak anterior core.
Weak glutes.
Kitten cuddles.
It could be anything.
I think any health/fitness professional who frames any one exercise or modality as all-encompassing “dangerous,” at all times, for every individual, and is the root-cause of any one specific injury, is doing the industry a disservice.
The words we use and how we frame things can set a toxic precedent.
Messages That Can Harm People With Back Pain
Note: I found this list somewhere on the internet and saved if for a time I’d need it, like this. I have zero recollection where I found it, and I don’t even remember there being a source.
Regardless, thank you to the person(s) who made it. Please don’t sue me for plagiarism.
Promote Beliefs About Structural Damage/Dysfunction
“You have degeneration/arthritis/disc bulge/disc disease/a slipped disc”
“Your back is damaged.”
“You have the back of a 70 year old.
“It’s wear and tear.”
Promote Fear Beyond Acute Phase
“You have to be careful/take it easy from now on.”
“Deadlifts are dangerous/you should avoid deadlifts from now on.”
“Your back is weak.”
“You should avoid bending/lifting.”
Promote Negative Future Outlook
“Your back wears as you get older.”
“This will be here for the rest of your life.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you will always be in pain.”
“Back pain doesn’t mean your back is damaged. It means it’s sensitized.”
“Your Back pain can be sensitized by awkward movements, postures, muscle tension, inactivity, lack of sleep, stress, etc.”
Promote Resilience
“It’s very rare to do permanent damage to your back.”
“Your back is one of the strongest structures of your body.”
Encourage Normal Activity and Movement
“Your back gets stronger with movement.”
“Motion is lotion.”
“Protecting your back and avoiding movement can make things worse.”
Because It’ll Make You Feel Better To Say It
“The next time you tell me deadlifts are bad or dangerous, I’m going to tell you to eat a bag of dicks.”
Or, Maybe Don’t Do That and Take This Sage Train of Thought From Dean Somerset
“Anything “could” be bad if done improperly, or for the wrong reasons, wrong volume/load, or in people who don’t qualify to do the exercise. I would say it’s best to not blame the exercise as a cause, but to understand the mechanism of the injury and see if the exercise could contribute to it or not. There’s a lot of injuries that can come from deadlifts, not limited to only pars fractures.
I wouldn’t avoid programming them for people due to this alone, but would progressively build people up to doing them well and under control with a load that is within their abilities to perform and recover from appropriately.”
We owe it to ourselves (and the industry) to be a little more open-minded, responsible, and less magnanimous at making such boisterous claims.[WU-TANG’s FOR THE CHILDREN.[/efn_note]
I arrived back to Boston late last night from London and I’d like to say I woke up today well-rested and ready to wow everyone with some witty fitness prose.
I’d like to say that.
Not gonna happen today. I’ve got a ton of emails and programs to catch up on, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have any content prepared for you today. Andrew Millett, good friend and Boston based physical therapist/strength coach was kind enough to send along this baller post today.
I got the idea for this post after recently attending the Advanced Warm-Up and Recovery Workshop put on by Matt Ibrahim and Dr. John Rusin. I didn’t know what new things I may learn at the workshop, but after taking pages of notes and getting new ideas for my clients and patients, it was definitely worth it.
You walk into any gym or fitness facility and you will see people warming-up on the bike, treadmill, elliptical, or maybe even rolling around on the foam roller. It is great to see people putting in the time and effort to consciously warm-up their musculoskeletal, nervous, and circulatory systems prior to engaging in their exercise routine.
The key word in that last statement is:
Consciously
Too many times, people warm-up without any direct goals or agenda in mind. They hop on one of the aforementioned cardio machines and watch TV or read a magazine and aimlessly pedal or step until they think they are ready to exercise. If they are on the foam roller, they probably roll around on it like they are rolling out pizza dough or look like a boy scout trying to start a fire with 2 sticks.
When you are working with a client or are performing a warm-up in your own gym routine, there needs to be a specific goal in mind while warming-up prior to your exercise session.
First off, we need to assess our clients to see what areas they may be lagging in. Here are a few quick and easy tests to see if there are any areas that need to be targeted for some type of self-myofascial release.
Ankle
In the sagittal plane, the ankle needs to be mobile. It needs to be able to plantar-flex and dorsiflex for the demands of life as well as demands in the gym.
In order to perform a squat without compensations, the ankle must be able to dorsiflex and allow the tibia to translate anteriorly as the person descends down in the bottom position. To determine if someone has adequate ankle dorsiflexion, try the Knee to Wall Test.
Knee to Wall Test
You instruct the client to place their foot on the tape strip. On the tape strip, there are 4 lines, each 1-4 inches away from the wall.
Start with the client’s foot on the “4” line. Four inches is required for adequate dorsiflexion in order to perform the squat.
Tell the client to try and touch their knee to the wall without letting their heel come up. Also, make sure they are going into valgus or varus movements at the knee to potentially compensate for lack of dorsiflexion.
If someone cannot reach from the “4” line, then have them move up and determine where they can reach from. Then test the opposite side.
If they cannot reach, ask them where they “feel it.” If they feel they can’t go any farther due to tightness in the back of their ankle, then we know that some of the soft tissue structures on the posterior aspect of their lower leg could be to blame.
For that, some type of self-myofascial release (SMR) to the soleus, posterior tibialis, flexor hallucis longus/flexor digitorum groups could help to improve range of motion at the ankle.
If they feel a pinch on the anterior aspect of the ankle, that could potentially be a joint mobility dysfunction.
Try a Banded Ankle Mobilization.
Start by placing a thick superband around a post or squat rack; something that can’t move. Then place the band at the ankle joint, just inferior to the medial and lateral malleoli. Place a good amount of tension on the band. While maintaining this tension, recreate the same movement as if you were performing the knee to wall test. Go as far as you can comfortably go. Hold for 2-3 seconds when you can’t go any farther. Return to the starting point and repeat for 6-10 reps.
Then retest the Knee to Wall Test.
If it improves, then we know the Banded Ankle Mobilization worked. Whether it improved or not, it might be wise to refer out to a licensed healthcare practitioner to further assess the ankle to determine what may be limiting that motion.
If there has been an improvement in ankle mobility, we want to be able to control that “new found” mobility.
Try the Heel Raises with Single Leg Eccentric. I first saw this from Dr. Ryan DeBell of The Movement Fix.
Key Points:
– Perform the movement slow and controlled.
-When your foot is are parallel to the ground, slightly flex the knee and go slow and controlled towards the ground.
-Imagine like you are slowly pulling your heel to the ground.
Hip
At the hip, we need to determine a few different areas of mobility. Starting in the sagittal plane, we need to determine if the client has adequate hip extension. If the client doesn’t have adequate hip extension mobility, they will have a more difficult type using their gluteal musculature to perform some of the movements we ask them to.
In addition to not being able to effectively activate and use certain muscles, lack of hip extension mobility can place increased stress on the lumbar spine and the knees, as well as some other more distal joints. By ensuring the client has adequate hip extension mobility, then we know some of the other joints of the body will be able to function properly.
To determine if someone has adequate hip extension mobility, we have two different options. First off, you can perform the ½ Kneeling Hip Extension Test.
VID ½ KNEELING HIP EXT TEST
Have the client place one knee down on a padded surface and the other knee up. Instruct them to contract their gluteus maximus on the down leg side, brace their abs, and slowly bring the hips forward.
We ideally would like to see 30 degrees of hip extension on the trail leg. You can use the Inclinometer App on the Iphone to measure the angle.
You can also perform a Thomas Test. This is a test that is typically taught in physical therapy schools to determine hip extension mobility.
*Disclaimer*: First off, you need to ask your client if they are okay with you placing your hands on them to assess their hip mobility.
Thomas Test
Self Thomas Test (and Sick Beats)
You are going to have the client lie supine on the side of a table or bench. Have them hold their knee at 90 degrees of hip flexion, or at hip height. Place your thumb on their Anterior Superior Iliac Spine (ASIS).
Using your other hand, slowly lower the leg the client is not holding with their hands.
If you can lower their leg to the level of the table and their ASIS does not translate anteriorly, then we know they have adequate hip extension mobility.
If you lower the client’s leg and their ASIS DOES translate anteriorly prior to the leg reaching the level of the table, then we know there is some muscle group limiting hip extension.
To determine, which muscle group, then we need to change the position of the lower leg.
If we extend the knee and perform the same test, this will place tension on the Psoas and Iliacus muscle groups. If you lower the leg with the knee extended and the ASIS translates anteriorly, then we can determine Psoas and Iliacus are to blame for decreased hip extension mobility.
If we lower the leg and the ASIS doesn’t translate anteriorly, then the only other muscular group to blame would be Tensor Fascia Latae (TFL).
To test for this, we slightly abduct the hip and perform the same test. If the ASIS translates anteriorly, then we know TFL is to blame.
If we run through all of these tests and each test with the knee extended doesn’t cause anterior translation of the ASIS, but when the knee is flexed it does, then we can determine that Rectus Femoris is to blame.
To improve hip extension mobility, try SMR to whichever area you determine to be problematic.
SMR w/ Lax Ball to Iliacus/Psoas & TFL
SMR to Rectus Femoris
SMR to Vastus Lateralis & TFL
Then re-test to see if any of these SMR variations improved the client’s hip extension mobility.
Once someone’s hip mobility has improved or is normal, we want to make sure they can stabilize in that mobility.
The Cook Hip Lift is a great movement for accessing and stabilizing hip extension mobility.
Key Points:
-Place a ball in your hip crease.
-Use non-stance leg to keep ball in hip crease.
-Lift hips up off ground. Do not let ball fall out
-Perform for 8 repetitions per side.
Thoracic Spine
The thoracic spine is another area of the body that needs adequate mobility. If it doesn’t present with adequate mobility, areas of the lumbar and cervical spines and the shoulder can be affected. It is one of the most influential areas of the body because of the impact it can have on so many different areas.
To determine if your client has adequate thoracic spine mobility, it is best assessed in quadruped using the Quadruped Thoracic Rotation Test.
Normal thoracic rotation in the general population should be 50 degrees. To measure this, use the Inclinometer app and place it ½ way between both shoulders on the thoracic spine.
When you are passively bringing them through the movement, make sure there is no lumbar movement such as sidebending occurring as this will skew your measurements. Also, gently rotate the client. Don’t try to force rotation on someone that may not have it.
If the client does not have 50 degrees of thoracic rotation, there are various thoracic spine mobility drills that can be performed such as:
A-Frame T-Spine Mobilization
Side Lying Thoracic Rotation
Side Lying Rib Roll
If the client has 50 degrees or more of passive rotation, but less than 50 degrees of active rotation, a thoracic spine motor control drill can be performed.
Drills such as:
Quadruped Assisted Thoracic Rotation
Key Points:
-Perform slow and controlled.
-Make sure not to side-bend through your spine. Make sure to rotate through mid-back.
Seated Assisted Thoracic Extension
Key Points:
-Squeeze ball between your knees.
-Slightly turn away from where band is attached.
-Slow and controlled, allow band to rotate body.
Shoulder
The last pertinent area of the body to address in a warm-up is the shoulder. Limited shoulder mobility in shoulder flexion, abduction, or internal/external rotation can affect function at the shoulder, cervical spine, thoracic spine, and even the lumbar spine.
To assess the shoulder, movements such as:
Supine Shoulder Flexion Test
Supine Shoulder ER Test
If there are limitations in mobility, performing self-myofascia release as shown below can help:
Once mobility has been improved, now we want to make sure we can use that mobility. Performing movements such as:
Back to Wall Shoulder Flexion
Key Points:
-Maintain low back flat to the wall.
-Raise arms up and when the reach shoulder height, gently reach 1 inch in front of your finger tips.
-Continue this gentle reaching as you continue to raise your arms overhead.
Forearm Wall Slides
Key Points:
-Slide arms up the wall.
-When your elbows get to shoulder height, gently press into the wall/push your trunk away from the wall.
-Maintain the pressure on the pinkie side of your hand as you slide up the wall.
Quadruped Assisted Reach Roll and Lift
Key Points:
-Perform slow and controlled.
-Slowly reach out. Rotate palm up to the sky. Slowly raise arm up.<
Yoga Push-Ups Sans Pushups
Key Points:
-Think of pushing the ground away from you with your hands.
-Should be felt in your upper back and out and around your rib cage.
If you have no mobility limitations in any of the aforementioned areas, feel free to use the motor control or stability drills to help primer your nervous system to prep you for your lift.
There you have it! Create a plan for your warm-up, do said plan, and then go and get after your training!
About the Author
Andrew Millett is a Metro-West (Boston) based physical therapist
It’s elegant as it is simple: Easy training is good training.
Much like we’re seduced into thinking that driving a certain car, wearing a specific perfume/cologne, or adopting certain fashion trends will lead us to greener pastures (whatever that means to you), it’s also common practice for many of us to be seduced by the “more is better” mentality when it comes to working out.
The harder, elaborate, or “sexier” our workout(s) and training program(s) are, the more results we’re going to get. And the more jacked, diesel, and, well, sexier we’re going to be.
A colleague of mine sent me this tongue-in-cheek message on Facebook Messenger last week regarding one of his clients:
“I did CrossFit and got great results. I was always hurt, though.“
Relax. This isn’t going to be a rambling anti-CrossFit diatribe. There have been roughly 317 of those posted this week alone on the internet (+/- 49). I was part of that train 6-7 years ago when CrossFit was really going mainstream. In recent years, however, I feel I’ve taken a pretty agnostic stance on it as a whole.
Some boxes do “it” very well, assessing people, scaling movements based off ability level and unique injury history, and otherwise giving a shit. Others take the Sweet Brown approach:
All told, I give CrossFit a ton of credit. Nothing, and I mean nothing has done more to make barbells and lifting appreciable weight cool.
Ten years ago if someone saw me deadlifting it would have been blank stare central:
Nowadays, people see someone, anyone, deadlifitng, and they’re like “dude, you CrossFit? OMG….I do too!!!.”4
So, in all, we’ve come a long ways and I can dig it.
However, I’d be remiss not to toss a slight begrudging stone their way in that they’ve also helped “nurture” this mentality that every workout MUST to be an all out war, galvanizing the troops into an incessant “go hard or go home” mindset.
And, to some degree, this is okay.
Far be it from me to nudge people into not push themselves in the weight room. If anything, many people could use a little nudging in that direction; whether we’re referring to CrossFit or not.
That said, it’s foolhardy to believe this train of thought should be universal. All we have to do is revisit the quote from above:
“I did CrossFit and got great results. I was always hurt, though.“
To be fair, lets OMIT the “c” word and replace it with strength training, powerlifting, olympic lifting, or Jazzercising in a park.
If you’re always hurt at the expense of always making your workouts as hard as possible, are you really getting results?
Lets use a real live example: one of my own clients who I’ve only been working with for about two months.
She came to me with several issues that had been nagging her for a while: low back pain and a nasty case of Plantar fasciitis to keep it brief. We did her initial assessment and I pointed out a few “red flags” that may or may not have been the culprits: very limited ankle dorsiflexion, an inability to dissociate lumbar movement from hip movement, and a few technique snafus I felt could be cleaned up.
I wrote her program and at the end of Week #1 she reports back, “everything is going great, but my workouts seem easy.”
I explained to her that was the point. I wanted them to feel easy, in no small part to help her gain some confidence and modicum of success. That she could train pain-free and make progress.
I wanted her to be consistent with a well-structured plan that (hopefully) addressed some root causes I felt would resolve her repeated setbacks with training.
Easy Training Is Good Training
My client was on board – and still is – and has been crushing her training since. But I’d be lying if I said it still hasn’t been a bit of a mind-fuck (my words, not hers. Although, I think she’d agree with my terminology here) on her end. She’s been programmed to think that training has to be hard, that it has to be “I think I just shit my spleen, yay!” brutal in order to get results.
Even as recent as two weeks ago she was still commenting how easy some of her workouts have been.
Me:“Are you getting all of them in?”
Her:“Yes.”
Me:“Do you feel good?”
Her: “Yes.”
Me:“Are you doing more work and adding more weight?”
Her:“Yes.”
Me:“Are you in as much pain?”
Her: “No.”
Me:“Excuse me while I go toss my face into an ax.”
I’m being facetious, of course. She gets my point of view and understands her flawed way of thinking. We’re making baby-steps…..;o)
I love an analogy I stole from T-Nation contributor and overall badass, Paul Carter (albeit I’m going to put my own spin on it).
10% of your workouts you’re going to feel like Mick Jagger on cocaine. The weights will just fly up.
10% of your workouts you’re going to feel like Mick Jagger the day after. You feel like a bag of dicks. I don’t know what a bag of dicks feels like, but I can assure you it (probably) ain’t good.
80% of your workouts are the ones where you go in and just do the work. You show up, get your reps in, and leave. Easy peasy. <—-THESE are the workouts we should strive for and crush.
I’d argue for most people, most of the time, they should leave the gym wanting more. This is what 80% workouts are all about.
Don’t get me wrong: there’s a time and place for workouts and/or programs that exist solely to be ass-kickers and make you hate life:
The thing to consider, though, and what many fail to recognize, is that programs like the ones mentioned above are designed to be done once a year (if that) and only for a fraction of time.
A small window of hell if you will.
They’re not designed to be done week in and week out for an extended length of time.
I mean heck, if you don’t believe me, take a deep dive into many of the most popular (strength) training programs in recent memory (5/3/1, Juggernaut, Cube Method, any of Travis Mash’s programs). If you dissect any of them you’ll find the bulk of the work being done in those programs is in the 75-85% of 1RM territory.
Nothing hardcore or “ball-busty” about it.
It’s smart training, designed to ensure people feel fresh, recovered, and ready to attack every training session without, hopefully, all the bumps and bruises along the way.
And, to take it step further, freakin Dan John and Pavel wrote a book titled Easy Strength. It’s excellent by the way.
Wrapping Up
The umbrella message here isn’t that working hard should be avoided. On the contrary, there are some people who could use a nice warm cup of “suck it up buttercup.”
Lifting weights isn’t supposed to tickle.
Nevertheless, there’s a fine line between working hard and taking it so far that it becomes more of a hinderance than anything else.
After all, in the end, you’re at the mercy of how well you allow yourself to recover.
Hard training is fine and has a place. But it’s the “easy” training that will get to where you wan to go in the long run.
This train of thought is something I’ve experienced throughout my career on several occasions, first, when I was still at Cressey Sports Performance. Other coaches would stop by for the day to observe or shadow and inevitably one of them would inquire why we tended to solely use the trap bar for deadlifting.
“Don’t you feel that’s sorta cheating?“
Inside my head, whenever this was asked, I’d want to say something to the effect of:
“Yes, because here at CSP we’re all about shortchanging our athletes and making them inferior in every way possible. Trap bar deadlifts, 1/4 squats, UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B,A, START, SELECT5, it’s all good.”
And if they didn’t pick up on my sarcasm I’d follow up with:
“I guess I’ll just go fuck myself. Ten points taken away from Gyffindor for being an inferioir coach and using the trap bar.”
I mean, really? Cheating?
Cheating?
That’s how you assume we (I) roll? Cheat?
In reality, I’d just smile and politely mention the trap bar deadlift was a starting point for pretty much everyone who walked through our doors, professional athlete or not.
Our version of “scaling” the movement.
I understood it was just a question, that it was harmless, and that there was (likely) no ill-intent on their end to be condescending.
But holy shit, it would take every ounce of restraint to not want to do this:
And even now, on occasion, I’ll catch flak from other coaches via social media whenever I post videos of clients deadlifting with a trap bar.
The most egregious of the bunch will provide snide remarks like:
“1. Yeah, well, everyone in my gym performs conventional.”
My Response
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAryFIuRxmQ
“2. Trap bar is great for beginners, but only for a few weeks. Eventually they’ll have to progress to the straight bar.”
My Response
Says who? You? The tooth fairy?
Listen, no one has to do anything. Unless you’re a competitive powerlifter or OLY lifter you don’t have to use a straight bar.
If it’s someone’s goal to straight bar deadlift, cool, lets progress accordingly. However, lets be clear that no one has to deadlift with a straight bar.
Advantages of the Trap Bar
1. It’s More Joint/Back Friendly
Because execution of the exercise requires standing inside the bar – rather than the bar in front of the body – the axis of rotation (hips) is closer to the line of pull reducing much of the shear load on the spine.
In English: It allows people to maintain more of an upright posture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-sA3PG1kGY
Thus making the trap bar deadlift a much more joint-friendly way of deadlifting.
2. It Takes Into Account Mobility/Movement Restrictions
Those who lack the appropriate ankle dorsiflexion, hip flexion, and/or t-spine extension to get into proper (safe?) position to begin with will benefit greatly from the trap bar deadlift.
Likewise, from an anthropometric (individual differences in body types and levers) standpoint, the trap bar deadlift will lend itself more advantageous to those with longer torsos, longer femurs, and/or T-rex arms.
Basically, for taller individuals, in addition to those “stuck” in computer guy posture, the trap bar deadlift is a solid, almost long-term, fit.
3. Trap Bar Deadlift = Still a Deadlift
Correct me if I’m wrong: but the weight still starts from the floor, right? Someone still has to hinge from the hips with a neutral back position, lift the weight up, lockout, and reverse the action back down, right?
How is this not a deadlift?
How is this “cheating?”
Is an asterisk needed warranted upon the completion of each rep?
In the End
Relax. Take a deep breath. Get off your high-horse. If you’re a powerlifter or OLY lifter or Jason Bourne, then, yes, you should probably get really comfortable with straight-bar deadlift variations.
However, if you’re neither of those three, or if you work with athletes and general population clients who are not powerlifters, OLY lifters, or secret government assassins suffering from amnesia, then STFU.
The trap bar deadlift is not cheating.
Rather, you’re just being competent, well-intentioned coach who understands the balance between helping people get bigger, faster, and stronger AND keeping them healthy long-term.
I felt like an asshole yesterday. And when I say “I felt like an asshole,” I don’t mean in the rhetorical “haha, I did something goofy and feel like an asshole” sense. I straight-up felt like a heaping pile of asshole.
HINT: I was an asshole.
To get right to the point: I let a client down. And it was 100% on me.
I hope this will be a lesson to every fitness professional reading that you’re always being watched and that you’re always making decisions – whether directly or indirectly – that will affect your business and people’s perception of you.
However, before I dive into my assholiness from yesterday, I hope you won’t mind if I take a second to butter myself up and break down a scenario where I was less of an asshole.
I think it goes without saying most personal trainers and coaches – at one point or another, have experience working in a commercial gym.
Admittedly, it can (not always) suck. One of the biggest drags is many trainers are left fending for themselves in terms of harvesting their own clients.
This can be a daunting task for those new in the field, are a little more introverted, and otherwise inexperienced.
Whenever I’m contacted by someone asking me advice on this topic, my immediate response is:
“Act as if you’re always being observed or judged.”
A great example would be how you approach floor hours.
Most (new) trainers at most clubs are required/obligated to accumulate “x” number of floor hours per week. It’s more or less the fitness industry’s version of hazing or probation/purgatory, where you walk around the club feeling like a tool picking up after everyone else’s mess.
If I had to liken it to anything, it would fall somewhere between preparing your taxes and jumping into a shark’s mouth as far as things I’d rather be doing.
Anyways, when I had to do it I used it as an opportunity to get in front of as many people’s eyes as possible. I’d say hello, make eye contact, and occasionally offer some advice on technique, unique core exercises, or maybe strike up conversation on favorite GI Joe characters.
You know, cause I was cool.
All told I used my floor hours as an opportunity to provide a service and to reel people in as clients.
And speaking of clients, when I was with one, I’d always, ALWAYS make sure to give them my undivided attention. I’d be on-time, had my programs ready to go, and always prided myself on being more proactive, giving cues and feedback at all times. You know, coaching.
As a result, on many occasions, I’d be approached by other people asking if I had openings because they had been watching and observing me throughout the weeks or months prior.
Little did I know – at the time – that I was constantly be observed and judged.
It resonated with me then and it’s something, still, that’s important to me now. It never gets old when, after working with me for a handful of sessions, a new client mentions how much they appreciate my approach compared to past experiences they’ve had with other trainers and coaches.
They’re being coached rather than babysat for.
I don’t say this to be vainglorious, but interpret it as you will.
But Back to That Me Being an Asshole Part
All of this to say: we all fuck up from time to time. Or, maybe more germane: have a slight lapse in judgement.
Most days I show up 10-15 minutes prior to clients showing up at CORE.
I had two clients scheduled to show up yesterday at 4 PM. 3:30 hit and I was still home prepping the day’s blog post and catching up on emails.
3:40 hit and, while I knew I was pushing my luck (my gym is only a mile from my apartment, but still a 10-15 minute commute that time of day), I had to post the article up on Facebook.
Priorities, right?
“Okay,” I thought to myself, “I’m probably going to be a teeny-tiny bit late. I’ll shoot my clients a quick email to let them know I’m on my way and that I’ll be a few minutes off.”
No biggie.
Feeling justified, I rushed out the door and headed to CORE.
I arrived at 4:03. Both clients waiting outside the side of the building trying to avoid the first oppressively hot day.
Joe, an accomplished businessman here in Boston (12,000 employees answer to him) who just started with me three weeks ago and has been an exemplary client – shows up on time every session ready to work his ass off – was the first to greet me.
“Hey man, it’s past 4 o’clock.”
“Yeah,” I said, “sorry I’m a little late.”
“Stop posting on Facebook and lets get to work.”
He saw my post. He called my BS.
What an asshole I was.
Joe wasn’t malicious or anything, or even that mad. I think. He didn’t even make me being late a thing. He said what he said, and we did, we got right to work. However, his matter of fact way of calling me out on my momentary hiccup really punched me in the gut.
And, honestly, it served as a nice wake-up call.
I’m better than that.
You’re better than that too.
Let this be a lesson: You’re always being watched.
