It goes without saying we could fill an infinite abyss of “synergistic” pairings that play off one another, of which one component helps to enhance or harmonize the effectiveness of the other.
One pairing that doesn’t belong on that list is CrossFit and baseball.
We work with a crap ton (just a shade under a boat load) of baseball players and one of the more common themes or questions we receive on a weekly (if not daily) basis is our opinion on CrossFit.
It seems you can’t walk more than 20 yards nowadays without crossing paths with a CrossFit gym – or someone bragging about their Paleo lifestyle. And, for better or worse (mostly better, it’s hard to dismiss anything which gets people excited to grab a barbell), it’s abundantly clear it’s been tattooed into our popular culture.
As such, many people – athletes in particular – are curious about its merits.
CrossFit is a great fit for a small percentage of people, an okay fit for a slightly larger percentage, and an absolute ball of walking fail for an even larger percentage.
Baseball players fall into the latter category and in my latest article for Stack.com I explain why.
Sometimes I feel like I’m the dumbest person on Earth.
Not “dumb-dumb” mind you. I mean, I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on the human body (how it works, how to make it stronger, etc), I know to pay my taxes, I’ve already made Valentine’s dinner reservations (holla!), I can make a piece of toast without burning down my apartment, and I know my multiplication tables like no one’s business.
So I don’t mean dumb in the literal sense of the word.
What I’m referring to are those times where I read a book, an article, watch a DVD, have a casual conversation with someone, or attend a seminar or workshop and somebody says something so profound and utterly jaw-dropping that it blows my mind.
Or makes my face melt (<— it happens a lot).
And it doesn’t necessarily have to exit the mouth of some intellectual luminary such as Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, or Captain Planet.
Yay for random 80s cartoon references!
I’ve witnessed some doozies from the most unexpected people.
But in the realm of strength and conditioning – there are a LOT of very smart people, and I’d be lying if I said I felt I was one of them.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a conversation with Eric Cressey, Bret Contreras, Mike Robertson, Kevin Neeld, Cassandra Forsythe, Mike Reinold, or Bill Hartman (to name a few) and thought to myself, “holy shit, I have no idea what the hell they’re talking about. Okay Tony, just nod your head, say “mmm hmmm” a few times, and pretend as if they haven’t lost you”
Likewise whenever I’ve had the opportunity to listen to the likes of Dr. Stuart McGill, Charlie Weingroff, Gray Cook, Thomas Myers, or Professor Dumbledore speak….I can’t help but feel like the a complete nincompoop.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a page or two and immediately got a headache from all the big words.
All of this to say: sometimes I feel really, really inadequate.
But that’s the price you pay when you try to get better; as if it’s a prerequisite – your DUTY – to go out of your way to surround yourself with smarter people than yourself.
A few years ago Alwyn Cosgrove wrote a very popular article on T-Nation titled “5 Ah-Ha Moments,” (hence the veryoriginal title of this post) in which he described five instances where the proverbial light bulb went off inside his head.
I thought I’d take today and share a handful of my own ah-ha moments. Some you’ll undoubtedly recognize, and others maybe not so much.
While I’ll be the first to admit my brain doesn’t work in the same fashion as some of my colleagues – I don’t think I’ve ever come up with an original idea, like, ever – I can “steal” (while giving credit) with the best of them. As such I feel my strongest asset is being able to take complex ideas, water them down, and explain them so that even a cave man can understand.
You’re welcome…..;o)
1. Joint-by-Joint Approach
Giving full credit to Gray Cook and Mike Boyle, I don’t think anything has influenced my train of thought as far as how I approach assessment and thus, program design, as this concept.
In short it goes like this: some joint need to be addressed or trained with mobilityin mind (ankle, hips, t-spine), while others need to be addressed or trained with stability (knees, lumbar spine, scapulae) in mind.
What both Cook and Boyle noticed was that if you look at patterns, the whole mobility-stability continuum alternates on a joint-by-joint basis up and down the kinetic chain of the body.
The foot generally wants/needs stability. The ankle wants/needs mobility. So on and so forth as you work your way up.
And it was here where the entire industry slapped their collective hands to their foreheads.
Taking things a step further, when discussing pain and dysfunction in any joint – lets say the lower back – it’s generally accepted that the source of pain stems from either the joint above or below (or both!).
If someone’s hip and t-spine mobility rivals that of the Tin Man – ie: they’re stiff – it’s no wonder why their lower back will flip them the middle bird.
The reason why – again, generally speaking – their back hurts is because they’re asking it to do more work than it’s designed for. Because their hips and t-spine are locked up, the lower back has to pick up the slack and sacrifice stability for more mobility.
Does the “theory” have its flaws? Absolutely. Nothing is 100% infallible. Even football Jesus, Tom Brady.
But I’d argue the Joint-by-Joint approach has done more to progress the industry than anything in the past decade, and that’s saying a lot.
Sorry Shake Weight.
2. No One Cares About Big Toe Dorsiflexion.
Seriously, outside of the uber anatomy geeks no one cares.
This was a lesson I learned back when I first started personal training. To put it bluntly, as a way to try to impress new clients and try to “win” their business I used to put them through all these elaborate assessments and screens to try to show them how smart I was and how I was going to take over the world.
I took them through all the normal screens like a Thomas Test, shoulder ROM, core stability, as well as movement quality tests such as the squat and lunge.
But then I would up the “wow factor” and start talking fascia, contralateral limb restrictions, and even go so far as to test their great toe dorsiflexion to demonstrate how a limitation there could affect their hip mobility!
While research will back-up its efficacy, in hindsight it was a dumb idea.
Here’s a piece of advice to any new trainers who may be reading. No one – outside of you and your other geek friends – gives two shits about anatomy. This is especially true with your clients.
All they care about is feeling better and losing 15 pounds. They don’t want to hear about superficial fascial lines or glenohumeral range of motion deficits or anterior pelvic tilt. And frankly, they don’t care that you can name all the muscles in the body in alphabetic order or that you were named one of the 50 Best Trainers by NoOneGivesTwoShits.com.
[Of course it’s cool and an honor to be named to any list……..but just know that a vast majority could care less.]
This isn’t to say that you won’t have more proactive clients who want to put on their geek hat from time to time, but trust me when I say this: 97.45% of your clients don’t care.
3. Vertical Tibia
This is a concept that was popularized by physical therapist and uber strong dude, Charlie Weingroff a few years ago.
First off: lets address the pink elephant in the room.
It’s virtually impossible not to squat without *some* forward translation of the tibia. But there’s a huge difference between *some* and going to the point where the knees go so far forward that the heels come off the ground.
Moreover, PAIN is the determining factor here.
If someone walks into my facility complaining of chronic knee pain, and I watch him or her squat/lunge/brush their teeth, almost always I’m going to see an excessive amount of tibial translation and I have to teach/coach them to maintain a more vertical shin angle.
Stealing a line from my pal Mike Robertson: stacked joints are happy joints.
If someone squats to the point where their knees go waaaaaay over their toes, it’s going to cause a ton of shear stress on the knees.
It is any surprise why their knees would be hating them?
Much of the time it’s going to come down to re-engraining a good hip hinge pattern and to try to teach a more vertical shin angle.
I know some will argue that, “well, if you block the knees from going forward, the stress has to go somewhere, and the hips and low back will end up taking the brunt.”
This is true. But again, there will ALWAYS be some forward movement of the knees. I want to avoid anything that’s excessive. When someone is in PAIN, coaching a more vertical tibia makes a ton of sense.
4. Being More Cognizant of Anterior Humeral Glide
There are a plethora of things that can irritate a shoulder. Poor tissue quality, poor t-spine mobility, poor scapular stability, lack of glenohumeral ROM, poor programming, too much bench pressing, and too much overhead dwarf throwing to name a few.
While many like to gravitate towards the more inane things, I’d make the case that most fail to see the forest for the trees and would be better served taking themselves through an exercise technique audit.
Take the cable row for example. One of the more glaring “mistakes” we have to correct at CP is guys going into too much glenohumeral extension when performing their rows, essentially allowing their elbows to go way past the midline of the body, causing the humeral head to glide anteriorly (forward), and placing a lot of undue stress on the bicep tendon.
Eric Cressey does a fantastic job of explaining this whole idea in more detail in this video:
5. Nixing the Sleeper Stretch
I received an email the other day from a trainer asking what we do at CP – other than the sleeper stretch – to increase internal range of motion in our baseball players (or general population clients as well).
Apparently he had been doing sleeper stretches with many of his athletes and clients with little or no results.
While there are exceptions to the rule, we haven’t performed a sleeper stretch underneath our roof in like four years. For a few reasons:
1. Outside of most people performing it incorrectly, there are just better ways to garner more IR other than people cranking on their shoulder.
We can look into tissue quality in the pec minor and lats, focus on more t-spine mobility, and even toss in some dedicated anterior core stability work and breathing patterns and often see a (transient) improvement.
2. You also have to recognize that a lack of IR is just a measurement and oftentimes a completely NORMAL adaptation. It’s not uncommon to see right-handed throwers with less IR on their dominant arm compared to their non-dominant side. And this sentiment mirrors those in the general population as well.
3. The more important thing to consider is TOTAL ROM between left and right sides. If there’s a huge discrepancy or asymmetry between the two, that could present as a bright, red flag that may need to be addressed sooner rather than later.
The answer isn’t to crank on their shoulder like you’re trying to jam a square peg through a round hole. Sometimes you just have to understand that a lack of IR is okay, and sometimes, normal.
Honorable Mention
– Realizing that trying to “win” an argument with my girlfriend – who’s a clinical psychologist – is a pointless endeavor. Trying to win an argument is pointless either way, but especially when you’re dealing with someone with Jedi mind-trick powers.
– Cueing someone to “keep their chest up” during the deadlift is actually more of an effort to get them to learn how to posteriorly tilt their shoulder blades. Too much “chest up” may cause them to excessively arch their lower back.
– Intermittent fasting isn’t for everyone. Sorry, but you’re not going to get huge putting yourself through 24-hour fasts every three days.
– Who knew I’d be such a cat lover????
– No matter which way you swing it, bulgarian split squats suck! A lot. More than Tracy Anderson. Okay, maybe not that much.
Note: by “suck,” I mean they’re a fantastic exercise…..they’re just not fun to do.
I’ve been keeping this article in my back pocket for a while now because I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to approach writing it. Lets be honest: talking smack about the beloved bench press is the fitness equivalent of talking smack about Princess Diana or worse, kittens.
You just don’t do it!
To save face, though, let me be clear up front: I LOVE the bench press. Well, let me back track a little bit. From a personal standpoint I freaking hate the bench press.
I’m an admittedly horrible bencher (god awful in fact), and if it came down to choosing between bench pressing or tossing my body in front of a mack truck, I’d seriously consider the latter.
Every time I look at my program and see the words “bench press” written down this is pretty much my standard reaction:
Temper tantrums aside, I do recognize that the bench press is an important strength building (and for those more aesthetically minded individuals reading, chest building) exercise. I think we can all agree that the bench press is a super star and is one of the staple exercises behind any well-rounded program.
But is it for everyone?
One of the more common questions we receive at Cressey Performance when people come in to observe is: Tony, why do you coach with your shirt off? Tony, how come you don’t allow your baseball guys to bench press?
It’s a loaded question, but one that can be answered relatively easily.
I’m of the mindset that there aren’t many contraindicated exercises (you can generally find a legitimate and appropriate use for any exercise. Yes, even if done on a BOSU ball), as there are contraindicated lifters!
For me bench pressing and baseball don’t mix – for a variety of reasons – and there are plenty of other exercises we can use in lieu of the bench press to elicit a training effect.
In this article I wrote for Stack.com I explain my rationale on both fronts:
What is the Tony Gentilcore Premium Training Group?
So glad you asked!
The Cliff Notes version: Far too many people go to the gym and think that just because they show up, they’ll magically get results. They feel that if they put in the time, they deserve the results, without considering the quality and goal of their training.
It just isn’t that easy.
While their intentions and heart are in the right place, where I see many people failing is that there’s no PURPOSE or INTENT in their training.
Worse still – many are just haphazardly roaming around the gym floor aimlessly performing a few bicep curls here and a few leg extensions there until their 60 minutes are up.
Sound a little familiar?
Well, I’m here to help. I want to be your coach!
I’ve recently teamed up with WeightTraining.com to offer the Tony Gentilcore Premium Group where I become your virtual strength coach and trainer.
I take over your training, take all the thinking out of your hands, and show you what it’s like to actually follow a well-structured, coherent, efficient, evolving, fun, and LONG-TERM program. You will get stronger, move better, look better, and feel like a million bucks.
Here’s a brief video – with what’s arguably the worst screen shot in the history of man-kind (can I look any creepier?) – explaining the whole concept as well as goals behind the program. Don’t worry: for those who would rather not listen for seven minutes, I’ll explain everything below.
Giving full disclosure: I understand that distance or online coaching means different things to different people. I’ll be the first to champion the sentiment that IN-PERSON training with a “good” trainer is ideal.
Being under the microscope or watchful eye of a good coach who can not only assess, but tweak technique with their athletes and clients is the gold standard.
BUT, and I say this a bit tongue-in-cheek, many trainers are flat our garbage. I can say this because not only do I observe garbage whenever I happen to train at a commercial gym, but I also spent the first five years of my career working with and observing said garbage.
I sometimes feel sorry for those people who don’t know any better and are paying good money – upwards of $70, $80, $90, sometimes more – per session t0 be shown how to put the pins in the proper place through a Cybex circuit or how to perform bicep curls on a BOSU ball. It’s borderline stealing, and more often than not the client would be better off flushing their money down the toilet.
I want to change that.
I am a good coach. Unlike many “internet gurus” out there, I actually train people for a living. Like, in person. I don’t just “claim” or write about training people. I’ve been training athletes and people from all walks of life for over ten years. My body of work – Co-founding Cressey Performance, speaking at various seminars and workshops, and my writing – speaks for itself.
It is going to be a kick-ass program for sure, and it’s going to help a lot of people……..but like any program , it has its limitations. Specifically, I have not evaluated you, and I will not be by your side while you train.
Here’s What It Is
My goal for this group is to create a community where you/we train our asses off, encourage one another, and have fun doing it. It is to provide goal-directed, structured, quality training for those who don’t have access to a “good” training or for those who can’t afford to have a trainer work with them individually.
This is more than just casually following The Six Pack Abs Workout or the WhoEvertheFuckCurrentActorJustGotJacked program.
This is about improving one’s life, taking the bull by the proverbial horns, and bringing out your inner beast mode.
Whatever that means is up to you, of course. For some it may entail training for health reasons. For others maybe it’s working up to a 2x bodyweight deadlift. And even for others, it may be all about vanity.
But for everyone it’s also about the journey, the process, the moments when you’ll hate life (and me), and getting outside your comfort zone.
The truth is: we’re all human, and we like to do what we’re good at. This program is the opposite of that. It’s designed to make you do things that you “need” to be doing, and not necessarily what you “want” to be doing.
This group is going to be an ever-evolving “process”. Those who sign up will be at my mercy. What I say goes.
But don’t worry, I’ll keep things manageable. Ish.
Think of it this way: For what amounts to $1 per dayor $2.50 per workout, you have me in your corner. There’s no time commitment and you can stay in the group for as long as you’d like.
What You Need To Do (<— This Is Important)
1. Go HEREand sign-up for the Tony Gentilcore Premium Workout Group on WeightTraining.com, and click on the “Join This Group” button.
Note: If you’re not already a member of the site, you’ll first sign-up for a FREE account. Don’t worry, it’s easy. Even a Jersey Shore cast member could do it!
2. From there you’ll enter the appropriate information (ie: credit card info, favorite color, etc)
Also………(and This Offer is Limited)
The first FIVE people who sign up and use the code TGWT2M will receive TWO MONTHS FREE. After that, the next TEN people who sign up and use the code TGWT1M will receive ONE MONTH FREE.
I have no idea how quickly those codes will last, so if you want to take advantage of them, act quickly.
I’ll be sure highlight when there are no more available.
UPDATE: All codes have been entered – but that doesn’t mean this still isn’t a good isn’t a good investment….;o)
3. From there you’re all set. God you’re smart. And good looking.
Some Miscellaneous Info and Tidbits
– Once you sign-up, not only are you an official member of the Tony Gentilcore Premium Group where you’ll have the opportunity to follow monthly programming written by yours truly, but you’ll also be given automatic access as a PRO-MEMBER to the entire site of WeightTraining.com, which offers a plethora of other programs and tools to use.
– In addition to being part of the TG community, you’ll also receive monthly tutorial videos solely for the group. As an example, in month one, I provide a video on proper front squat technique as well as discuss the rationale behind some of the “corrective” breathing drills that will be incorporated into the program.
There’s also talk of incorporating “hangout sessions” down the road where participants will have the opportunity to participate in a video chat and ask me questions pertaining to the program, any number of other fitness and training questions, or trying to figure out if I’m wearing pants.
– One cool feature is that you’ll be able to organize your workouts as you see fit according to your own weekly schedule, and WT.com will send you reminder emails of the days you’re supposed to workout. You know, to keep you accountable and stuff.
If you want to train on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday you can set the workout scheduler to that setting. If that doesn’t work, and you’d prefer other days, you’ll be able to tinker with the settings.
Take Note: this won’t ALWAYS be a 3x per week program.
My intention is to progress to a 4-5x per week program over time, and to “up the ante” as the months pass.
I’m a strength guy, and I want to get people strong.
– Moreover, for those with an iPhone, iPad, iPod, or iTouch, you can use the WeightTraining.com App to follow and log your workouts.
Don’t worry Android users: you won’t be left in the dark. The App will be available for you starting in April.
But even if you don’t have an Apple device or you’re anti-Apple, you can still print out the worksheets and keep track of your workouts the old-fashioned way.
– Like I said, it’s a COMMUNITY. The objective of the group is to train together, kick-ass, encourage one-another, leave comments, be competitive (if that’s your bag), and have fun!
Are you ready? Click the link below to get started!
Yes, this is an article on warming up (both the pre-lift ritual as well as how to warm-up for your main lift of the day).
Yes, most people are going to read the title and subconsciously yawn.
Yes, these are the same people (athletes included) who tend to get hurt more easily, have more nagging injuries that never seem to resolve, and quite frankly – although not always – are shooting themselves in the foot from a performance standpoint for not taking the ten minutes (tops) it takes to warm-up.
Seriously, we’re talking ten minutes here!
Yes, this is something I feel is important and that most trainees haphazardly gloss over.
And yes, this article includes a Twilight burn. So at least there’s that.
Don’t you roll your eyes at me! I’ll give you something to roll your eyes about!
When I first moved to Boston – roughly seven years ago – I was working at a swanky, fancy-pants commercial gym in the downtown area and I remember on one of my days off Eric Cressey and myself took a little road trip to Worcester, MA to take part in an impromptu and informal workshop that orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Chris Vinton, was doing at the College of the Holy Cross on Femoral Acetabular Impingement (FAI).
Like some of you seeing this for the first time and starring at the screen as if I were saying the alphabet in Klingon, at the time of Dr. Vinton’s talk I had a similar reaction: Femoral Acetabular Say-What-Now???
Without beating around the bush, in laymen’s terms: “FAI is a condition of too much friction in the hip joint. Basically, the ball (femoral head) and socket (acetabulum) rub abnormally creating damage to the hip joint. The damage can occur to the articular cartilage (smooth white surface of the ball or socket) or the labral cartilage (soft tissue bumper of the socket).”
FAI comes in a few flavors. You have your Cam form which manifests itself as a bony overgrowth on the femoral head itself, and you have your Pincer form which results from a bony overgrowth on the rim of the acetabulum itself. And lastly, for those unfortunate few who can’t seem to make up their mind, you can also have a Mixed form which is a bony overgrowth of the two.
Even then, seven years ago, as I was sitting through the presentation, FAI wasn’t that prevalent in the athletic or fitness community – or, so it seemed. I couldn’t recall one case of a current or past client who I felt fell under this FAI tree.
Fast forward to today and it seems everyone has FAI. Hockey players, baseball players, soccer players, the mailman, the woman who does your hair, Batman. Everyone.
Of Note: Eric was talking the other day about this and mentioned something about a recent study that came out which showed something like 90% plus of high school hockey players have some degree of FAI.
I’ll have to see if I can ask him to find the study. Stay tuned……
I don’t feel it’s because of some new pandemic or anything – like we’ve somehow mutated into a bunch of hip impingement ninjas. Nah – nothing like that.
Well, maybe a little bit. If I were speak freely I do feel that athletes today – particularly young athletes – fall into two categories:
1. Those who specialize too early and play ONE sport year round without any breaks. It’s not rocket science to see how someone who plays a rotational sport year round, and develops pattern overload, can run into problems.
2. Those who make the Tin Man look agile. It’s sad to say, but kids (and adults) just don’t move around as much anymore. Texting has taken the place of riding a bike. Call of Duty has trumped pick-up baseball games. Escalators > stairs.
So I think we have ourselves to blame…..to a degree. When we take people who have joint restrictions and don’t move well, and then ask them to “do stuff” they aren’t prepared to do. Well…….
But too, I just feel we’ve gotten a heckuva lot better in recent years at screening for FAI and recognizing symptoms.
Before I go on I should state the obvious: as a strength coach I’m not diagnosing anything. I can use some rudimentary “screens” (like the one to follow) which will better help me ascertain the situation and provide information on how I’ll go about programming for someone. But almost always, I’ll be referring someone out to a more qualified fitness professional who can do a more thorough exam and/or possibly order an MRI.
That said if I’m working with an athlete or general population client who’s complaining of consistent and chronic hip pain – especially if they participate in a rotational sport or when squatting, I can do a quick “screen” as follows.
Here, I lie the person on their back and make sure their lumbar spine is flush against the table. Then I’ll bring the affected limb into flexion, adduction, and internal rotation.
If the person winces or punches you in the face, it’s fair to say that that lit them up, and they may be a candidate for FAI. You can tweak the test by having them brace their abs – which will encourage more posterior pelvic tilt – and if it feels better, you know that’s it’s more of an alignment issue and not a worse case scenario.
No need to send someone for an MRI when all they had to do was posteriorly tilt their pelvis.
But it stands to reason that even with their anterior core engaged, if that still causes discomfort, it’s time to refer out and get them to see a more qualified practitioner to dig a little deeper. Only through a combination of screens, tests, and possibly an X-ray or MRI can FAI be truly diagnosed.
But What Can You Do In the Meantime?
A lot, actually. But lets try not to get carried away in thinking we’re going to solve the issue. This is more about working AROUND the issue and maintaining a training effect than anything else.
FAI is a condition, not a disease. But here’s some food for thought.
1. Rule numero uno is to nix squatting. You’re not going to last long as a strength coach or personal trainer if you’re throwing caution to the wind and squatting those who are candidates for FAI.
I will say, though, that I say that with a grain of salt because technically you could still squat someone – albeit NOT BELOW 90 DEGREES OF HIP FLEXION.
If you look at the pictures provided above of the Cam and Pincer lesions, you can see how if someone were to squat below 90 degrees, that that would be, well, dumb.
Depending on symptoms you could get away with staying above 90 degrees, but honestly my rule of thumb is to wait six months before playing with fire.
2. The good news is that you can still hit the lower body fairly hard. Things like rack pulls, trap bar deadlifts, or even conventional deadlifts would be fair game given that neither require significant hip flexion. In addition barbell glute bridges would be a viable option as well.
3. Surprisingly, single leg work is fair game. Even things like Bulgarian split squats – as counterintuitive as it sounds given they require deep hip flexion – would be okay.
The thing with single leg work is that the trainee can sort of find his or her “groove” with regards to hip internal and external rotation and be able to find a pain free ROM.
To that end I wouldn’t be apprehensive to crush single-leg training with someone with FAI – although certain things like femoral glide syndrome should be on the radar and may lend itself to making appropriate modifications.
4. Go read anything and everything by Kevin Neeld on the topic. THIS and THIS would be good starts.
And that’s about it really. I think as strength coaches and personal trainers it IS in our best interests to know when to refer out and understand scope of practice. But just as equally (if not more) important is to have the ability to assess and screen clients for certain conditions and be able to still garner a training effect and not make them feel like a patient.
Of course there is still a lot that’s unknown about FAI (s0me doctors still fail to admit that it exists!), and this post isn’t meant to serve as a definitive path to address the issue. If anything I just wanted to throw it out there and hopefully bring forth a little more awareness on the topic.
Despite the cheekiness nature of the title, you can relax: I’m not suggesting that your shoulders are “depressed” in the literal sense of the word.
I mean, it’s not as if they just got word they contracted ebola or that their heart just got ripped out by some uppity bitch who left them for some toolbag named Cliff who goes to Harvard and rows Crew. Or worse, they’re a Celtics fan (<—- they’re really bad this year).
Nope, we can hold off on the Zoloft, Haagen Dazs and Bridget Jone’s Diary marathon for now. That’s NOT the depression I’m referring to.
When it comes to shoulders and the numerous dysfunctions and pathologies that can manifest in that region, generally speaking we tend to give much more credence to anterior/posterior imbalances like a gummed up pec (major or minor) or weak scapular retractors.
Rarely, if ever, do we point the spotlight on superior/inferior imbalances.
Translated into English, yes the rotator cuff is important, but we also have to be cognizant of the interplay between upward and downward rotation. More and more (especially with our baseball guys, but even in the general population as well) we’re seeing guys walk in with overly depressed shoulders.
For the more visual learners in the crowd here’s a picture that will help:
It should be readily apparent that 1) that’s a sick t-shirt and 2) there’s a downward slope of the shoulders, yes?
Hint: yes.
This can spell trouble for those whose livelihood revolve around the ability to get their arms over their head (baseball players) as the downward rotators of the scapulae (levator, rhomboids, and especially the lats) are kicking into overdrive and really messing with the congruency and synergy between the scapulae, humeral head, glenoid fossa, and acromion process.
And this doesn’t just pertain to overhead athletes either.
We’re seeing this quite a bit in the general population as well, particularly with meatheads (those who like to lift heavy stuff), as we’ve (i.e: fitness professionals) done a great job of shoving down people’s throats ”shoulder blades down and together” for years now, emphasizing what I like to call reverse posturing.
Likewise, much of what many meatheads do (deadlifts, shrugs, farmer carries, pull-ups, rows, fist pumps, etc) promote more of what renowned physical therapist, Shirley Sahrmann, has deemed downward rotation syndrome.
Putting our geek hats on for a brief minute, statically, it’s easy to spot this with someone’s posture. For starters, you’ll see more of a downward slope of the shoulder girdle (see pic above). Additionally, you can look at the medial (and inferior) border of the scapulae and observe its relationship with the spine and ascertain whether someone is more adducted (retracted) or abducted (protracted).
Many trainees, unless engaged in regular exercise or sporting activity, have a slightly protracted scapulae (kyphotic posture) due to the unfortunate nature of modern society where many are forced to stare at a computer screen for hours on end.
If someone’s rhomboids and lats are overactive, however – which is fairly common with meatheads – they’re going to superimpose a stronger retraction and downward pull of the shoulder blade, which in turn will result in a more adducted position. In short: the shoulder blade(s) will “crowd” the spine.
All of this to say: things are effed up, and are going to wreck havoc on shoulder kinematics and affect one’s ability to upwardly rotate the scapulae.
So, hopefully you can see how this would be problematic for those who A) need to throw a baseball for a living or B) would like to do anything with their arms above their head.
With special attention to the latter, if someone is aggressively downwardly rotated, the congruency of the joint is such that the humeral head is going to superiorly migrate, which will then compromise the subacromial space (making it even narrower) leading to any number of shoulder ouchies.
Throwing more fuel into the fire, because the lats are stiff/short, shoulder flexion is going to be limited and compensation patterns will then manifest itself in other areas as well – particularly forward head posture and lumbar hyperextension.
Which, of course, makes doing the Dougie a little tricker.
Okay, with all of that out of the way what can be done to help alleviate the situation. Luckily the answer isn’t as complicated as it may seem, and I don’t need to resort to bells, whistles, and smoke machines or take a page out of Professor Dumbledore’s Magic Book of Bedazzling Hexes and Awesome Shoulder Remedies (on sale now through Amazon!) to point you in the right direction.
But make no mistake about it: you WILL have to pay some attention to detail.
Lets get the contraindicated stuff out of the way first.
Basically it would bode in your favor to OMIT anything which is going to promote MORE scapular depression – at least for the time being (not forever).
Things To Avoid
To that end, things to avoid would be the following:
– Deadlifts
– Pull-Up/Chin-Up Variations (even those these may “feel” good, they’re just going to result in feeding into the dysfunction)
– Suitcase Farmer Carries (again, these are just going to pull you down more).
– Anything where you’re holding DBs to your side (think: walking lunges, reverse lunges, etc).
– And we may even need to toss in aggressive horizontal row variations if someone presents with an overtly adducted posture.
– Overhead pressing. Listen, if you can’t get your arms above your head without compensating, you have no business doing push presses, or snatches, or whatever it is you’re thinking about doing. Stop being stupid.
– Sticking your finger in an electrical socket. That’s just common sense.
Things To Do Instead
– In lieu of the deadlifts, if you have access to them, utilizing speciality bars like a GCB bar or Safety Squat bar would be awesome. Learn to make lemonade out of lemons: why not emphasize your squat for the time being?
And because I know I just ruined someone’s world out there by telling them not to deadlift, because you’re going to deadlift anyways, at the very least, limit yourself to ONE day per week.
– You can still hit up a lot of carry variations, just not the suitcase variety. At Cressey Performance we HAMMER a lot of bottoms-up kettlebell carries because they offer a lot of benefits – especially for those in downward rotation.
Moreover, we can also toss in some GOBLET carries like so:
http:////www.youtube.com/v/90mxsAsOKwQ
– You can still implement a wide variety of single leg work using DBs, but I’d defer again to utilizing GOBLET variations only.
In this way you’re not feeding into the dysfunction by holding the DBs to your side (and pulling you into downward rotation.
With regards to overhead pressing, I’m not a fan for most people. I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating here: you need to earn the right to overhead press.
That said I do love LANDMINE presses which tend to offer a more “user friendly” way of “introducing” overhead pressing into the mix. Check my THISarticle on T-Nation I wrote a few months ago, which offers more of a rationale as well as landmine variations to implement.
And the Boring Stuff (<— The Stuff You’re Going to Skip, But I’ll Talk About Anyways)
From a corrective exercise standpoint it’s important that we stress the upper traps to help nudge or encourage us into more upward rotation.
And by “upper traps,” I AM NOT referring to the most meatheaded of meathead exercises – the barbell shrug.
These wouldn’t be useful because there’s no “real” scapular upward rotation involved, and you’re doing nothing but encouraging more depression anyways.
Instead incorporating activation drills like forearm wall slides and back to wall shoulder flexion – both of which encourage upper trap activation, WITH upward rotation – would be ideal:
Forearm Wall Slides w/ OH Shrug
Back to Wall Shoulder Flexion w/ OH Shrug
NOTE: something to consider would be how you actually go about cuing the shrug portion. We like to tell people to begin the shrug pattern once your elbows reach shoulder height. Meaning, it’s not as if you’re going elevate your arms up and THEN shrug. Rather you want to combine the two.
Another important corrective modality to consider would be something to address the lats. In this regard my go to exercise would be the bench t-spine mobilization
Bench T-Spine Mobilization
And while I could sit here and pepper you with a deluge of other “correctives,” I think by now you get the point and those three should be more than enough to get the ball rolling in the right direction.
Those combined with the programming modifications suggested above should definitely help to that shoulder frown upside down. <— HA – see what I just did there?
Today is my girlfriend’s birthday. And anyone who knows Lisa knows she looooooooves her birthday – to the point where it shouldn’t even be considered a birthDAY, but a birthWEEK.
In any case we have a jam packed day today – a late breakfast, a tandem workout “date,” and then we’re heading to a fancy schmancy spa for the afternoon. Holla! Followed by a decadent dinner of chicken wings and pizza.
Yeah, it’s going to be an awesome day.
Thankfully my good friend, Michael Anderson, who’s written several guest posts on this site before, came through in a pinch and sent along this gem.
Enjoy!
The topic of weightlifting (when used as one word it references the sport of Olympic Style weightlifting) has become a hot topic lately and is polarizing in many ways. Some coaches live and die by it and still other coaches won’t touch it with a 7-foot barbell. As usual, the answer lies somewhere comfortably in the middle.
Note from TG: I wrote a post not too long ago on Why I Don’t Use the Olympic Lifts (<—-maybe you should check it out. It’s not as polarizing as the title makes it seem. Promise).
With the popularity of CrossFit rising at a rapid rate, the sport of weightlifting has finally become something that the masses are aware of. For many years it has been the “other” iron sport; hidden behind the behemoths of powerlifting, the veiny striations and posing briefs of bodybuilding and the ESPN coverage of strongman. I myself have been training as a weightlifter with Coach Ivan Rojas of Risto Sports since last April and had been “training” (i.e. dicking around) for another six months prior to that.
The polarizing topic for many coaches is not whether or not weightlifting is beneficial for athletes, but whether or not it is beneficial enough to employ in their programming.
Some coaches, like Wil Fleming have great success with it, while others find it cumbersome to teach and can do a host of other things in the time it would take to make someone proficient in the competition lifts (snatch, clean and jerk).
Note from TG: speaking of Wil Fleming, for anyone interested in learning more about Olympic lifting I can’t recommend his resource Complete Olympic Lifting enough. While I don’t go out of my way to coach the OLY lifts, I still do own this DVD and think it’s fantastic.
I agree with both sides.
For some populations it’s just not worth teaching them all of the steps to have a decent looking snatch, or the stress that the clean and jerk can put on your wrists. Too, some athletes just shouldn’t have a loaded barbell overhead, and to do so would be irresponsible of the coach.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from some variations of the classic lifts that are both easy to teach and will produce some of the great benefits that you can get from the full variations. One of the marks of a great athlete is the ability to contract, relax and contract explosively all at the exact right moments; this skill is exactly what weightlifting is all about.
NOTE: these are NOT necessarily weightlifting-specific exercises, but variations that are applicable and beneficial to a certain population.
Also, know your population. If you are working with athletes with particular contraindications then don’t force them into an exercise they shouldn’t be doing. There are no contraindicated exercises, just contraindicated lifters (thanks Tony and Eric!).
Note II: I am not a professional weightlifter, I’m quite aware that my form is not perfect. If you have some constructive criticism please let me know, but don’t just remind me that I am painfully slow.
Power Clean
In terms of weightlifting variations that can help create better athletes, the power clean is at the top of the list. There’s not much that I could say about the power clean that hasn’t been said already (and said better than I’m able to), but it fits this list of variations very well.
You produce power, move big weights, get stronger and then dominate the world.
The biggest limiting factor would be the athlete’s mobility to pull off the floor or their ability to get their elbows around to catch the bar in the correct rack position. If your athlete can’t get down to the bar in a good position, then start them from a hang position or from blocks. If they can’t rack the bar due to mobility restrictions, then take some time and work on it; it’s not a particularly complex position and your athlete would benefit from the mobility required to do it.
(For the most in-depth look possible at this exercise, please refer to THISpost by Wil Fleming.
Snatch Pulls
Let me start by saying that I despise snatch pulls.
With Coach Rojas we finish almost every training session with a few sets of snatch pulls; it’s the dingleberry on the ass of a long, hard workout when all you want to do is shower and eat.
However, they are an exceptionally simple and beneficial exercise and are a staple in the program of nearly every weightlifter on the planet.
The snatch pull is the first half (give or take) of the full snatch and ends at complete triple-extension of the hips, knees and ankles. Complete a big shrug and use your hips to absorb the weight when it comes back down. If your athletes don’t have the mobility to get down to the floor with a snatch-grip, you can pull from blocks or from the hang position.
You can also try adding in a pause at the knees to help reinforce this position. This is a great way to develop a strong hinge pattern that transfers into powerful hip extension. It also does a great job of building the entire posterior chain.
Note: I don’t personally find snatch high pulls to be a great lift to teach athletes. If you don’t fully understand how it carries over to the classic snatch then it’s too easy to form deteriorate while they just try and muscle the weight up as high as they can.
Jerk Behind The Neck
The jerk is the most violent and explosive movement in weightlifting and, arguably, in all of sports.
In competition jerks are done from a front rack position, but for training purposes jerks from behind the neck work because they don’t put nearly as much strain on your wrists and elbows.
The pre-requisite for this exercise is being able to support a loaded barbell overhead without putting yourself at any risk for injury. Assuming that, this exercise is a fantastic way to develop leg drive, uni-/bi-lateral lower body stability and a ton of core stability. You can use either a power-jerk (bi-lateral) or a split-jerk (uni-lateral) to complete the lift, and you can either eccentrically lower the barbell to your shoulders or you can use jerk boxes and just drop it to avoid any eccentric stress at all.
That’s It, Yo
At least one of these three variations should fit into nearly any training program for any athlete. The amount of time it takes to coach them is pretty minimal and the benefits that your athletes will be able to see are significant.
Add them into your program as your first exercise after your warm-up and, generally speaking, do 4-6 sets of 2-3 reps.
Do not use weights that require any sort of grind. The name of the game is power production (aka how fast can you be strong); so make sure the barbells are always moving at top speed.
Add these into your programs for a little while and see what kinds of benefits you can get. Have a great day and go lift some heavy shit!
About the Author
Mike is a Boston area personal trainer and also completed a successful stint interning with Boston University Strength and Conditioning.
Mike is also finishing his degree in Exercise and Health Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He loves bacon, beer and his 7 year old pit bull Lexi. You can reach him with any questions, comments or notes of affection at [email protected]. You can also visit his website HERE.
Anyone who’s read my blog for any length time knows that I’m fairly passionate about a number of things. In no particular order (except for the first one) they consist of:
1. BACON!
2. Tiesto.
3. Zombies.
4. Watching zombies get pwned.
5. LIfting heavy things (and more germane to today’s conversation – advocating that women lift heavy things).
I’ve been everything but bashful when it comes to my thoughts and feelings towards the mainstream media and how it placates a negative, seemingly cancer-like stronghold on women and their attitudes towards body image and what’s considered an “ideal” body-type.
In case you missed them (or are new to the site), you can check out a few glowing examples:
And I’m not that only who champions this same sentiment. There are a plethora of other people who have gone out of their way to debunk (female) training myths, chastise those who feel women don’t belong in a squat rack, and otherwise have rolled their eyes at an industry (society?) who feel women are these delicate rainbows who should resort to “Skinny Bitch” diets and consider a yoga mat heavy lifting.
My good friend, and ambassador to quote-on-quote female training, Nia Shanks, is another “item” I’d add to my list above. There are many reasons why I respect Nia as a friend and as a fitness professional. She’s without question one of the most passionate, non-judgmental, and “real” people I know.
I say “real” not in the context of “wow, she’s a human-being. I can interact with her, and share protein bar recipes and stuff. Awesome!”
No, when I say “real” I mean she’s someone who doesn’t BS people. She knows what works, talks the talk, but more importantly, walks it.
I’m in awe of her for what’s she’s accomplished in helping to empower women that lifting weights is not only okay, but something they should (and can) do.
And it’s not even that. Nia understands that being healthy (and happy) is much more than how much weight someone can lift. While that’s cool and all, Nia will be the first person to tell you that becoming the best version of yourself entails many components, from nutrition to the mind-body connection to Matt Damon movies.
Okay, I added that last one in. But needless to say Nia’s the shit.
Which is why I’m always more than willing to do my part in helping promote her products. Her latest “project,” The Train to Be Awesome Guide, is no different.
In a world where most books encourage dieting, deprivation, gradually eating less, restriction, working out to total exhaustion, fixing “flaws”, and meeting someone else’s opinion of “ideal”, in her words Nia “wanted to share something that empowers women to eat delicious food, to focus on building themselves up (through physical AND mental strength training) and to realize that they are uniquely awesome.”
Maybe even more heartfelt is the notion that Nia’s ultimate goal was to “create a guide and program that a mother would be proud to share with her daughter.”
I asked Nia if she’d be willing to jot down a few more
Who’s it for? The Train to Be Awesome Guide is for the woman who wants to become the strongest, most awesome version of herself with simple, no nonsense, strength training and nutrition that enhances her overall life, and doesn’t dominate it.
Basically, it’s for any woman who wants to reach her full potential in the gym and build a great body in a unique way.
What makes it unique? Many things, actually. The Train to Be Awesome Guide is all about building a great body, but without focusing on that goal. I know it’s confusing, but allow me to explain.
For example, the main focus of the accompanying strength training program is to get stronger and improve your performance. Each workout you’ll strive to do a little better than last time. It’s not about getting tired or achieving as much fatigue as possible –
It’s about getting stronger, building yourself up, and becoming even more awesome.
It’s also unique in the fact that you won’t track the typical markers as with most fitness regimens.
It may seem daunting, but you won’t step on a scale or even take measurements. Instead you’ll focus on POSITIVE, performance orienting markers that you’ll track throughout the program.
Specifically, you’ll track your squat (either barbell or goblet), number of push-ups and chin-ups (or inverted rows), and the number of swings you can perform in a set period of time. You’ll also track some subjective markers such as energy levels and how your favorite pair of jeans (or dress) fits.
When THOSE things improve, THEN you’ll also reap the body transforming results you want. But this way, they’re just a wonderful side effect from becoming stronger and more awesome.
There are also some simple, flexible, DIET-FREE, nutrition guidelines.
Finally, the Train to Be Awesome Guide includes a detailed, step-by-step success guide so you know exactly what you need to do to be successful.
What makes it awesome? It’s awesome because it will show you exactly how to become even MORE awesome.
You’ll do this with the “Train to Be Awesome Philosophy” and the accompanying 16 Week Program that includes demonstration videos for every exercise that you can watch on your smart phone, tablet, or computer.
And, finally, because it’s super simple and practical. You’ll only have to work out 3-4 days per week. The information is simple to implement so you’ll not only achieve results, but you’ll maintain them long-term.
The Train to Be Awesome Guide is on sale NOW through this Friday, October 18th for only $29. For what it costs to go see an IMAX movie for two on a Friday night, you can get 16-weeks of programming and nutrition guidance that will undoubtedly set you up for LONG-TERM success.
It’s rare that I post anything on the weekend, but when I do you know it’s kind of a big deal. Today I’ve got a special guest post from Dave Dellanave, author of the brand spankin new resource (and arguably the best title for a book, like ever) Off the Floor: A Manual for Deadlift Domination.
Admit it. As soon as you read the title of this post you were thinking “No way.” The deadlift is a lift you perform once per week, if that. It’s too taxing on the CNS and there’s just no way your lower back can handle deadlifting that often. Plus, your hands would probably get torn to shreds, and your gym would kick you out for dropping a heavy bar over and over again every time you come in to lift.
Right?
Is everything evil we’ve been told about frequent deadlifting true? People often say the same thing about squatting, and many authors have dispelled and debunked that myth, including our gracious host, Tony.
What I’d like to do here is convince you that if you like deadlifting, it’s more than okay to deadlift more frequently, and you stand to gain tremendously from it. Here are a few reasons I deadlift as often as I do, and I think you should, too:
There aren’t many ways to work more muscles than the deadlift. From your hands up to your neck, down your entire back to your calves, and back up the fronts of your legs and your abs, almost every muscle in your body is working during a deadlift. Maybe the only thing it doesn’t develop impressively is your chest. (But who cares about chest muscles when you’ve got a massive back?)
Picking up heavy things is an essential life movement. It’s unlikely that a single day goes by that you don’t pick something up. When the time comes to lift something heavy, it’s pretty awesome to not even have to think twice about it because you know it’s a fraction of your deadlift.
Having a big deadlift is like having a cheat code for every lift in the gym. I will be the first to tell you I am an embarrassing hack when it comes to the Olympic lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk. Yet I can snatch over my bodyweight, and I can clean over 275 pounds, simply because I can cheat with my strength. I won’t be competing at the next Olympic Games, to be sure, but it’s not a bad start from next to nothing. My point is, relative to a triple-bodyweight deadlift, most other things in the gym become easier to achieve.
Let’s be honest, nothing is more awesome than taking a heavy bar in your hands and standing up with it like all that is man.
Fortunately, I don’t think I have too much of a tough sell to convince you, a reader of Tony’s site, that deadlifting is awesome. So how can you do it more often?
As I mentioned initially, most programs involve deadlifting once per week with very low sets and reps at a high percentage of your max. For good reason, as well, since it is true that unless you’re very, very new to lifting and very weak, you’re not going to be able to deadlift heavy three times per week. At least, not for very long before you run out of steam. To pull off that frequency, you’ll need a little more creativity and variety. Here’s what I suggest:
Day 1: Heavy, low-rep deadlifts. This looks like your typical deadlift programming, with your favorite deadlift variation performed at a high intensity (meaning percentage of max, not turning up the music and getting slapped before you lift) for 1 to 5 reps and a few heavy working sets.
Day 2: Grip deadlifts. Picking up anything heavy off the ground is a deadlift. To cut down the absolute amount of weight lifted, make it hard to hold on to. An extra-thick bar or a pinch lifting block is a great way to do that. Since your hands are going to be the limiting factor here, it’s going to be awfully hard to do too much, so feel free to crank up the volume.
Day 3: Light technique or speed. This is your chance to amp up the volume because you’ve dialed down the intensity. At a lighter weight you can either do a lot more reps to hone your technique, use as much speed as possible to improve your rate of force development, or both. At first you will require a fair amount of recovery from higher-volume deadlifting, but in a few weeks you’ll be surprised at how little recovery you actually need and how much work you can get in without affecting your heavy days. If you’re on a M-W-F lifting schedule, you’re probably wondering how it would go to lift heavy on Monday after doing a ton of deadlifts on Friday. Again, you’ll be surprised at how little it affects you negatively, and how it can even improve your heavy days.
This is, in a nutshell, is the program I lay out in my book Off The Floor.
Of course, to round out the program you’ll want to fill in any gaps with appropriate accessory exercises, but this should give you a great starting point. If you love deadlifting even half as much as I do, you’ll get your fix as often as you can handle by deadlifting three (or more) times per week.
Sometimes beliefs, even unfounded ones, can be very limiting. I’ve found, through my own experience and helping people improve their own deadlifts, that not only can you get away with deadlifting often but it’ll do exactly what you want it to do: make you stronger, put more muscle on your body, and up your deadlift numbers.
Looking for more insights like these on the deadlift – as well as a great program to help you improve your pull? Be sure to check out Dave’s new product, Off the Floor: A Manual for Deadlift Domination, which is on sale at a great price until Saturday (Sept. 7th) at midnight.
I read it one sitting last weekend while snuggling on the couch in a blankie, and literally had to resist the urge to hop in my car to drive to the facility right then and there to go train. It’s awesome.
If I were you I’d act quickly, because the price increase 50% by midnight tonight.
About the Author
David Dellanave is a lifter, coach, and owner of The Movement Minneapolis in the Twin Cities. He implements biofeedback techniques, teaching his clients, ranging from athletes to general population, to truly understand what their bodies are telling them. He writes articles to make you stronger, look better naked, and definitely deadlift more at http://www.dellanave.com/.
maybe it’s working up to a 2x bodyweight deadlift. And even for others, it may be all about vanity.
Take Note: this won’t ALWAYS be a 3x per week program.
