CategoriesAssessment coaching Corrective Exercise mobility

3 Unconventional Ways to Move Better

Counting today’s post, four out of my last five entries have had a number included in the title. That’s never happened before.

Wanna know what else I’ve never done?

  • Gotten a speeding ticket.
  • Tried calamari.
  • Deadlifted 2000 lbs.
  • Cried to the movie Notting Hill.[footnote]Which is a complete lie. I totally cried during that scene when Julia Roberts’ character was standing in front of Hugh Grant’s character and was all like “I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” Fucking waterworks.[/footnote]

Nevertheless, in conjunction with Dean Somerset putting his Ruthless Mobility resource I sale TODAY (through July 4th) I wanted to share a few thoughts on the topic (mobility/movement/general badassery) that maybe some of you reading would find useful or interesting or mildly captivating.

Captivating like this picture of a kangaroo punching someone in the face:

1. Anterior Pelvic Tilt Doesn’t Always Have to be Fixed, Nor Is It Bad. Everything Will Be Okay. Seriously.

New Client: “I’m so excited to work with you. I was told by my previous trainer I had anterior pelvic tilt.”

Me: “Okay, explain.”

New Client: “Well, I went in for my assessment and he told me I had anterior pelvic tilt and that it needed to be addressed and that he’d write me a program to fix it.”

Me: “I see. How long did you do the program for? And, was it fixed?”

New Client: “I worked with him for eight months, and I don’t know if it was fixed. All I know is that we did a metric shit-ton of stretching, corrective exercise, and very little strength training.”

Me: “Well, that’s unfortunate. Excuse me while I go toss my face into a brick wall.”

Okay, the brick wall comment didn’t really happen…but everything else stated above was said verbatim as I sat down with a new client recently.

Without going into the particulars I went on to state that roughly 7 billion other people in the world “suffer” from anterior pelvic tilt, and that it’s truly reached pandemic levels of clusterfuckedness.

In short: I explained that, aside from scenarios where excessive anterior pelvic tilt may be causing pain or movement dysfunction, having it was not a disease or a scenario which always required intervention.

In fact, APT is considered anatomically neutral. I.e., Your lumbar spine has a natural lordotic curve.

To quote Bret Contreras:

“Is APT abnormal?

No, it’s not. According to a published study by Herrington 2011, 85% of males and 75% of females presented with an anterior pelvic tilt, 6% of males and 7% of females with a posterior pelvic tilt, and 9% of males and 18% of females presented as neutral. Anterior pelvic tilt is also the most common postural adaptation in athletes according to Kritz and Cronin 2008, and it seems to naturally occur with athletes that do a lot of sprinting. Therefore, it’s actually normal for healthy individuals to possess APT, and the average angle of anterior pelvic tilt ranges from 6-18° depending on the study and methods used to determine the angle, with around 12° appearing as the norm (ex:Youdas et al. 1996, Youdas et al. 2000, Christie et al. 1995, Day et al. 1984).”

As I recall, there’s no definitive test or “screen” which can correlate “x-degrees” of APT and one’s vulnerability to pain and dysfunction.

Some people have APT and walk around in considerable pain, while others have APT (even excessive APT) and have no issues what-so-ever.

However, those coaches with an acute eye for assessment and movement can often use a plethora of screens and tests to ascertain whether or not APT may be something that’s needs to be addressed.

To reiterate, APT is not always wrong (or bad)…but it can be problematic once we start allowing ill-prepared people to load the pattern and not only that…begin to add repetitions and/or speed.

Often, it’s the LACK of ability (or our proclivity to refrain from) posteriorly tilting the pelvis when bad things start to happen.[footnote]Here is where a more corrective strategy may become more prevalent. If someone is “stuck” in APT due to dominant and weak force couples then it behooves us to address them with things like foam roller, manual therapy, additional stretching/mobility work. Janda’s Lower Cross Syndrome can’t be ignored.[/footnote]

As Tony B mentions above: There’s a big difference between cueing someone to arch like crazy (and thus encouraging excessive APT, resulting in poor positioning and increased instability) and cueing someone to posteriorly tilt the pelvis to nudge them into a more neutral spinal position.

 

NOTE: As Mike Robertson notes in THIS article, there is no such thing as a bad cue. However, there does exist poor cues when they’re not applicable to the individual or are used haphazardly (because you heard someone else use it).

2. Thoracic Spine Endurance is Often Overlooked

A huge shout-out to Mike Reinold for hammering this point home in a recent Inner Circle I watched on How to Improve Thoracic Extension.

Mike noted that in order to improve t-spine extension it is important to work on mobility (Windmills, Bench T-Spine Mobilizations, Quadruped Extension-Rotations, etc), however we can’t dismiss the importance of ENDURANCE in order to maintain it.

 

Mike also noted that with regards to posture, “sitting upright is fictitious.” The amount of hours many of us spend in a flexed position far out-weigh the number or hours we’re upright. As such, keeping an upright posture is freakin exhausting.

My words, not his.

Building spinal endurance (not strength) is key here.

Don’t get me wrong: strength is (and always will be) important. A healthy dose of horizontal rowing (DB rows, seated rows, chest supported rows, Seal rows) is never a bad thing.

However, when we’re talking about our “posture muscles” – the muscles that need to be on all day in order to keep us upright – endurance is the name of the game.

3. Lack of ROM Isn’t Always Because You Need to Stretch More

The second someone is told that they lack range of motion (ROM) in any part of their body, they’re immediately shown 37 different stretches and ways to “smash” their tissue.

Many end up cranking this joint and yanking that joint till their blue in the face.

One of the more common examples I like to use here is lack of shoulder flexion (or ability to elevate the arms above one’s head).

Many people are unable to do so without some form of compensation via forward head posture, rib flair, and/or excessive lumbar extension. Picture on the left.

The fix can be any number of things: addressing lat length, fighting a zombie, poor anterior core control, poor tissue quality in the pecs/pec minor, you name it.

And none of those approaches would be wrong. Fighting zombies is awesome.

However, stretching tends to be the “go to” modality for many fitness professionals, and frankly it isn’t always the answer.

Oftentimes, taking the time to teach people to get 3D expansion of the rib cage with their breath (front, side, and into the back) and then learning to fully exhale (to get rib cage down and promote better engagement of anterior core) will help to “open up” the thorax.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tested someone’s shoulder flexion and saw an immediate 10-20 degree improvement after having them perform ten good breaths.

I call it my Gandalf moment.

Except, you know, I’m not a wizard.

Did Someone Say Gandalf?

For more insights on the topic and wizard-like shenanigans I’d recommend checking out Dean’s Ruthless Mobility.

You get FIVE hours of content (digital or DVD) from one of the smartest coaches I know on assessment, corrective exercise, and how to get people moving better.

What’s more, CEUs are available AND it’s on SALE at close to 50% off the regular price.

Go HERE and thank me later.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 5/22/14

You know what?  I didn’t do a ton of reading this past week for two reasons.

1. Instead of my normal morning reading I opted to watch Functional Stability Training for the Upper Body, which really meant I watched my shirtless cameo on a repeated loop.  Just kidding.

Kinda.

2. Lisa was away all last weekend up until last night visiting her mom in Florida, which meant I was a bachelor for five days.  Five glorious days of not making the bed, not putting the toilet seat down, or not making any food for myself.  Don’t worry, I didn’t starve or anything.

I understand that correlation doesn’t necessarily translate to causation, but I also know that the frequency of me hitting up Whole Foods for meals while Lisa is away goes up around 783%.

So, basically, it’s science.

I also took that time to CRUSH some movies.  I went to the theater a total of four times in five days…no big deal.

I watched Godzilla (holy s***balls, GODZILLA!!!), Neighbors (hilarious), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (might be my favorite Avengers film yet), and a smaller, independent film called Chef, written by, directed by, and starring Jon Favreau (the guy who wrote and starred in Swingers, and directed the first two Iron Man films).

For any foodies out there reading:  you’ll LOVE this movie.  And even if you’re not a foodie, I’d still recommend it.

So, um, yeah….I didn’t do much reading since the last edition of this series.  But that doesn’t mean I didn’t do any!

Here’s some stuff to check out.  Enjoy!

Breathing Techniques for a Smaller Waist and Tummy – Zach Moore

I know this comes across as a bit ironic given I wrote a post earlier this week on how I feel some trainers and coaches are taking the whole breathing thing a bit too far.

But this is a classic case where “if the shoe fits…..”

Look at the before and after pics above and tell me that it didn’t work!

Nice job, Zach!

Lifting for Two? – Meghan Holohan

FINALLY!!!  I mainstream media source touting the BENEFITS of lifting weights and why it can be BENEFICIAL for pregnant women.

I’ve long championed the notion that pregnant women can still train – and train fairly intensely – during their pregnancy, given they already have experience and understand that it’s important to listen to their body.  There’s little evidence to suggest that women who are already active and continue to stay active during pregnancy pose any more harm to the fetus.

This was great to see a more high-traffic, mainstream site touting the same message.

 A Muscular Career Marriage – Bryan Krahn

I’m a big fan of Bryan’s stuff, and probably more a fan of his writing style.

This was a fantastic “perspective” piece of writing that I feel every fitness professional should read.

CategoriesAssessment Corrective Exercise

How Deep Down the Rabbit Hole Do We Really Need to Go?

Today’s topic has been something that’s been festering in my brain for a while now, and it’s only been within the last few weeks where I felt the need to put something down on paper.

Or in this case, down on keypad.

To save face, you can relax….it has nothing to do with Tracy Anderson (I’m kind of over bitching about her).  Or Paleo Nazis. Or the fact that I was never able to beat Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out back in the day.  There’s always been a void in my childhood for that fail.

Nope, it has nothing to do with any of those things.

I guess you could say the impetus or tipping point came a few weeks ago at The Fitness Summit when Harold Gibbons and Kyle Langworthy – both brilliant coaches at Mark Fisher Fitness in NYC – asked me the following question:

“Hey Tony, do you think the long-head of the tricep can act as a spinal rotator?”

[Cue crickets chirping]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh.  Yes? No?  I mean yes. No wait, no!  What was the question again?

What made the interaction more hilarious was the fact they asked it in such a nonchalant, casual manner, as if asking me “Hey Tony, do you like food?”

To their credit, both Harold and Kyle have been immersed in the rabbit hole that is PRI (Postural Restoration Institute), and not surprisingly have been having their minds blown.

It’s very much akin to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, where Alice ends up following the White Rabbit down his rabbit hole.

Except in this case, instead of a mescaline induced world of hookah smoking caterpillars, Cheshire cats, and Mad Hatters, we have things like predicted (normal) asymmetries in the human body, terms like Left AIC (anterior interior chain) and PEC (posterior extension chain), and aberrant breathing patterns (we’re really good at inhaling, but poor at exhaling).

Both Harold and Kyle admitted that they’ve been exploring the rabbit hole and that they’ve been traveling deeper and deeper.

To which I say:  how deep do we as coaches and trainers need to go?

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s fantastic that more and more trainers are educating themselves, experimenting, and digging deeper.  I wish more would follow suit and do more of it!

This phenomena is something both Harold and I discussed in our little chat last week (so for those assuming I’m tossing Harold and Kyle under the bus, think again.  I’m not).

Besides, I’d be remiss not to express my own accolades and biases towards the PRI mentality.

We’ve been using aspects of PRI at Cressey Performance for coming up on two years now. We recognize that it’s POWERFUL stuff, that it works, and it helps people feel better.

I like PRI. I use PRI. But man, I really wish some trainers and coaches would tone it down a notch and just get people strong.

The PRI 10-Second Elevator Pitch

Before we continue, I should first apologize to those reading who have no idea what the hell I’m talking about.

I’m sure some of you are sitting their scratching your head and thinking to yourself “Postural Restor……WTF are you talking about?”

Let me explain.

While trying to squeeze PRI’s philosophy into one sentence or paragraph would be doing it a huge disservice, if I had to give a quick ten second “elevator pitch” on what their schtick is and what they’re all about, I’d say:  it’s about breathing!  Or, to be more precise, it’s about how most of us suck at it.

I’m more of an analogy guy, so using one that most people can (hopefully) appreciate:  if our breathing patterns are like the worst karaoke singer we’ve ever heard, we’d sound like a whale passing a kidney stone.

Yeah, not pretty.

More to the point it’s about understanding that symmetry – as much as we try to attain it, and think that it exists – probably ain’t gonna happen.

It’s recognizing that we’re inherently designed in such a way where asymmetry is inevitable – we have a heart on one side, a liver on the other, more prominent diaphragmatic attachments on one side compared to the other – and that how we breath plays a major role in that.

PRI tries to teach people how to breath more efficiently, which in turn, in conjunction with their corrective modalities, will help attempt to bring them back to neutral.

In short, the diaphragm is kind of a big deal, and because many of us are locked into a scissor pattern in conjunction with a left rib flare – what PRI refers to as a Zone of Apposition – we have a hard time breathing correctly.

Ideally the diaphragm will act as a superior and inferior “canister,” compressing when we inhale and elongating when we exhale….which in turn provides optimal stability up and down the kinetic chain.

Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned scissor posture (to the far right in the pic above), we tend to see more anterior translation of the diaphragm locking us into more extension, which in turn doesn’t allow it to perform optimally.

For the more visual learners out there, here’s how the diaphragm should work:

So that was a little more than 10 seconds, but you get the idea. I think.

This stuff IS important, and it definitely has its place in the grand scheme of things – ESPECIALLY if someone is in pain.

But I can’t help but feel that sometimes this knowledge is crippling some trainers and that they’re missing the forest for the trees.

It’s kind of like they’re constantly operating with their emergency brakes on.  They can apply the gas, and yes, the car will move, albeit it will be at a snail’s pace.

What’s starting to become more common is that trainers and coaches are forgetting that they’re trainers and coaches and they’re not training their athletes and clients.

Where I find this becomes more dangerous/annoying is that new, more inexperienced trainers are falling into this trap.  It’s one thing for someone with years of experience to start playing around with this stuff – as is the case with myself, Harold, and Kyle (and many, many, many others).

But it’s a whole nother ball of wax when you have inexperienced trainers trying to implement this new information when they haven’t yet learned to integrate it appropriately.

Stealing a line from Michael Mullin (who’s a PRI instructor himself)…..”just like any new skill, there’s a learning curve involved.”

How can one justify using more advanced techniques like positional breathing tactics when they can’t even coach someone how to squat correctly?

More importantly:  how much are we (as coaches and trainers) allowed to teeter with our scope of practice?

There’s no doubt an overlap between the physical therapy world and the strength and conditioning world.  Where do we draw the line though?

I’m always asked my opinion on “corrective exercise,” and to be brutally honest I feel that CORRECT MOVEMENT is corrective.

Coach people to squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, and carry correctly, and it’s amazing what can happen.

The kicker is that PRI has been around for a few decades.  It’s only been in the past 2-3 years that it’s blown up to the point where everyone – physical therapists, chiros, strength coaches, personal trainers, and your local weather man – are using it.

As my boy, Mark Fisher himself, notes:

It frankly reminds me of the FMS mania a few years back where every trainer thought they were “diagnosing dysfunction” and “correcting” shit for hours on end (which is hilariously something that drives Gray fucking NUTS)

I’m sure it will all blow over soon (these things always do) and we’ll be left with the good big rocks of knowledge that can be implemented in a fitness setting, but good loooord people.

I’m 100% on the same page as Mark, with the exception of one thing.

I don’t feel PRI is just some random thing that will blow over – I mean, come on, One Direction is a thing.

I find a lot of value in PRI, and I know it works because I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

I think it’s great that more trainers and coaches are exploring the rabbit hole. But it’s important not to get too carried away. PRI is a tool in the toolbox.  Nothing more.

Just remember that.

CategoriesCorrective Exercise Rehab/Prehab

The “Why” and Why It’s Still Important to Get People Strong

Today I wanted to share a recent email exchange I had with a friend of mine, Mike Anderson, who’s a local personal trainer and strength coach here in Boston.

Some of you might recognize Mike from the handful of guest posts he’e written on this site – namely HERE, HERE, and HERE.

I’d highly encourage you to check them out if you haven’t already, because Mike’s a really smart guy and offers a lot of insight and wherewithal that I only wish I had when I was his age.

Plus, he’s single.  Ladies?

Well, I think he’s single. If not, my bad Mike’s girlfriend!

Anyways, Mike sent me an email last week linking to a post he wrote on the seemingly screaming school girl “OMG-One-Direction-Is-On-the-Cover-of-TigerBeat” overreaction the fitness industry is going through with regards to corrective exercise. And more specifically, to it’s current obsession over breathing patterns.

Including but not limited to:

– What exactly does “breathing patterns” refer to?

– How do we assess it?

– What are we looking at?

– Seriously?  What are we looking at?

– Okay, I’m lost.

– Ohhhhhh, the diaphragm!  I get it.  Most people are woefully horrible breathers and have no idea how to use their diaphragm efficiently!

– Understanding breathing patterns can help “unlock” the key to understanding that symmetry – as much as we try to attain it, and think that it exists – probably ain’t gonna happen.

– Taking even a step further, it’s recognizing that we’re inherently designed in such a way where assymmetry is inevitable, and that how we breath plays a major role in that.

– Taking a brief glimpse into the PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) philosophy, we see that it tries to teach people how to breath more efficiently, which in turn, in conjunction with their corrective modalities, will help attempt to bring people back into a sympathetic state.

– In doing so, with time (and proper programming) we’ll often see improved performance on and off the field – as well as on the gym floor.

– What’s that?  Zone of Apposition?  Apical expansion?  Okay, now I’m lost again.

– I’m hungry.

Appropriately, Mike brought up an interesting conversation:

“Here’s another thing that I’ve been thinking about: why is this all suddenly such a huge concern? People have been strong and healthy for quite a long time without worrying about their breathing patterns. I know the same can be said for things like mobility and soft tissue work, but those things have a readily apparent change on the way someone feels and moves.

Would Bo Jackson had been a better athlete if someone had focused on his left-smaller-diaphragm? Would Arnold have been more symmetrical and better proportioned if he’d be concerned about his Left Posterior Mediastinum Inhibition?

I’m personally having trouble figuring out where all of these other things fall into the role of a strength and conditioning coach. If getting someone’s diaphragmatic rhythm in sync with their scapulothoracic rhythm will get them to a 40″ vertical, a 10.2-second 100-yard dash or a 585 deadlift then I’ll be all about it.

For right now, however, my job is to get people stronger, faster and keep them healthy. I’ll keep doing that.

My Response (along with a massive brain dump/random thoughts)

Well said my man.  Well said.

I completely agree (for the most part), and think the whole breathing thing is starting to get out of hand.  Not out of hand in the sense that I don’t feel it’s efficacious to look into it, that I don’t feel it’s important 0r that I don’t feel it works.

On the contrary:  I think it’s powerful stuff and we’re only just cracking the surface.

I feel things are getting out of hand to the extent that everyone, and I mean everyone (personal trainers, strength coaches, physical therapists, athletic trainers, your Little League coach) are starting to look into this stuff.

And frankly, many have no business doing so.  Well, at least in the sense that many are overstepping their bounds and taking it too far.

I think a lot of the problem stems from those who don’t recognize scope of practice.  I remember when I first moved to Boston and worked at a swanky commercial gym downtown.  I’d watch some of the trainers walk around with Kendall’s Muscles: Testing and Function (a phenomenal book, mind you) as they were training clients.

Basically they carried the book around with them thinking they’d kill two birds with one stone and try to diagnose and train their clients.

Um, no.  That’s just asinine, and a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Of course, on one hand I’d commend any trainer to take it upon him or herself to further their knowledge base and to better understand the human body and how it works.

BUT YOUR JOB IS NOT TO DIAGNOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now you have those same trainers walking around thinking they’re on the same level as physical therapists, chiropractors, and manual therapists (people who went through additional schooling to do what they do) because they read a book.

Even worse, they get their hands on some of the PRI literature and now they’re assessing breathing patterns (which is fine, because assessing dysfunction what we do) and before you know it, they’re treating people and performing open heart surgery.

It’s crazy.  And pompous.  And completely unacceptable.

It hasn’t gotten to pandemic proportions yet, though. Those types of assclowns are few and far between, and there are far more who understand their limits and don’t step outside their scope of practice.

Having said that, I DO feel that looking into breathing patterns is something to consider with most people.  But the rub is that we SHOULD NOT be spending an inordinate amount of time on it.

At Cressey Performance, we LOVE the PRI stuff.  Eric has been to three or four of their seminars, and Greg Robins recently attended one as well.

Which brings up a valid point:  going to an actual seminar and seeing this stuff done firsthand is A LOT different than just reading about it.

Moreover, we’ve had staff in-services on it where PRI practitioners have come in, talked shop and helped  us comb through some of the finer points to see how we can implement SOME of their modalities with our clientele.

Here’s the deal: at CP we only use like 6-7 drills, total. And not all of them at the same time.

I like how Mike Robertson discussed it in his recent “Warm-Up” article on his blog.  Spend maybe 2-3 minutes on it, and move on.

We take a very similar approach with our athletes and clients.  We may (or may not) include specific breathing pattern drills into their warm-up. But if we do it’s like two or three….tops, taking all of 2-3 minutes to complete.

Afterwards we move on to the dynamic warm-up, and then it’s off to go lift heavy things.

I think the point Mike’s making (and it’s an important one at that) is that far too many fitness professionals are going to get carried away and forget that giving people an actual training effect is kind of important too.  Even worse, many will forget (or neglect) to get their athletes/clients strong.

Just to reiterate:  the why IS IMPORTANT!!!!!!!  I think it’s fantastic when people go out of their way to dig deeper, try better themselves, and gain more knowledge.  I can’t bemoan that point.

What grinds my gears, though, is when people start to overstep their bounds and don’t understand, appreciate, or respect scope of practice.

Worse still: they neglect to actually train their clients.

What are your thoughts?  Agree?  Disagree?

On that note, for those trainers or general fitness enthusiasts reading interested in material that’s easily applicable, I’d encourage you to check out the Muscle Imbalances Revealed series, which features a collection of outstanding webinars from a lot of recognizable names in the industry.  Rick Kaselj, who organized the series, just put the entire package on sale at a huge discount ($210 off!) through this Friday at midnight.  Check it out here.

CategoriesCorrective Exercise Rehab/Prehab

Why Are We Breathing Inefficiently (and What Are the Ramifications)?

Last week I wrote a quick synopsis of a staff in-service we participated in that consisted of  Michael Mullin stopping by for a few hours and proceeding to melt our faces off with the number of knowledge bombs he dropped regarding some of the “inner workings” behind the PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) philosophy.

For those who missed it, you can check it out HERE (< — click me, don’t be shy).

In a nutshell (if that’s even possible to do):  we breath like poop.

I’m more of an analogy guy, so using one that most people reading can appreciate:  if our breathing patterns are like the worst karaoke singer we’ve ever heard, we’d sound like a whale passing a kidney stone.

Yeah, not pretty.

As a corollary to the above post I linked to, current Cressey Performance intern/coach (and resident break-dancing/ Gangham style guru), Miguel Aragoncillo, wrote a quick follow-up that I felt many of you would enjoy.

Why Are We Breathing Inefficiently?

Everyone is breathing incorrectly. We are all stuck, we are all patterned. The real question is… Do you want to get out of the pattern?

Take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed, and believe what you want to (and still breath like an asthmatic Darth Vader).

Take the red pull, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

The stance that the Postural Restoration Institute takes (pun intended) is that yes, we have two arms, two legs, two eyes, two ears, etc. To elaborate on the PRI aspects of Tony’s blogpost, we have one heart on the left/central part of our body, liver on the right, along with different diaphragmatic discrepancies such as more crural attachments on the lumbar spine, right versus left lung control, and lung structure.

With this anatomy refresher, you have to wonder: how does this affect our ability to use our diaphragm effectively?

To break down how the body compensates, here are a few factors that are involved in the PRI philosophy:

1. Posture

What is your posture like? If you are constantly standing or moving around (or coaching), you are subjecting ourselves to being in a more extended position.  Comparing by contrast, if you’re a desk jockey – a phone pressed to your ear, a keyboard to crouch over and work on, and more often than not, a not so comfortable chair that you plop yourself into everyday – you’re most likely a walking (or more appropriately, a sitting) ball of flexion.

Whether you are extended or flexed for the majority of your day, it is safe to say that the posture you assume for most of your day will definitely affect you in the long term.

2. Patterns

After attending a 2-day PRI seminar at Endeavor Fitness, my brain was mush on the ride home. So to spare your face from getting melted like Tony from our most recent in-service, understand that there are different patterns that we can be classified into, along with the breakdown of what exercise we should use to not only inhibit these patterns, but also “encourage” us into a better working posture.

Further, if you’re an athlete that has extreme unilateral demands (ie: baseball), it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’re an ideal candidate for PRI’s corrective exercises.

Personally, as a breakdancer, I’m full of dysfunction and asymmetry – rotating in one direction along with favored limbs for other dance movements falls neatly within the PRI philosophy.

During the PRI Seminar, I had many “A-ha!” moments as to why I move the way I do, along with why I favor one side versus the other during years of dancing.

Now take a look at any sport – baseball exhibits handedness (right-handed vs. left-handed pitcher), soccer shows favor for a dominant leg, and swimmers favor one side over the other to rotate towards their flip turns.

The constant demands of a chosen sport, coupled with your structural posture (thanks to the above reasons) will more often than not “feed into your dysfunction,” which in turn can often exacerbate common injuries seen in specific sports.

These dysfunctions alter how we breathe and how we respond to certain exercises or stretches.

3. Positioning

When we got into the practical portion of our in-service at CP, we were asked to get into some rather crazy positions, even blowing up a balloon. However, by getting into an ideal position, we are more readily able to get ourselves out of this pattern. So do not fear – most of us are able to get out of this pattern, much like Neo did in The Matrix. 

WARNING – I’m going to geek out a bit…

 “The activation/setting of the abdominals pulls the lower ribs down and in (caudad and posterior) and helps to inhibit/relax the paraspinals muscles (trunk extensors) which may help to decrease the patient/athlete’s lumbar lordosis and pain in the paraspinal region through reciprocal inhibition.”-1

(Side note: After performing these exercises, a few mentioned that they felt immediate results – loss of tension in their back, or even getting rid of back pain upon movement after being “repositioned”. Some pretty magical stuff.

On another aside: I asked Michael Mullin to walk me through some of the advanced tests, as I had only experienced the lower half of the assessments. After breathing into a few positions, I had seen immediate results with my shoulder issues. Craziness – I know.)

Putting It All Together

So putting the pieces of this puzzle together shows that a large majority of us may fall into a few of these categories from the get-go. What can we do now? Luckily for us, PRI gave us a few corrective exercises that they use often enough for the unlucky few that are still caught up in “The Pattern.”

Sounds like a Stephen King novel, I know, but bear with me.

One question that’s often been asked: where can we fit more exercises into an already jam packed session of foam rolling, mobilizations, and strength exercises?

The few things I’ve been experimenting with on my own along with coaching at CP are using these correctives after foam rolling, and before a dynamic warm-up, and also between sets of heavy compound lifts.

Note from TG:  For those who feel it a bit strange to use a balloon, you can also use a standard straw for this exercise.  Just be sure that when you inhale, you do so through the nose (which means you’ll have to block/pinch the tip of the straw in with your tongue against the roof of your mouth).

And for those who feel it’s a bit weird or “funky” to do this exercise in your gym, it’s no stranger than the moron who’s performing one-legged squats on an inverted BOSU ball while curling pink dumbbells.

Further, we have even gone on to emphasize with our athletes the importance of fixing our posture when we are standing during games, during our travels, and even at rest – sleeping and sitting. If your commute to work is long, making a conscious effort at shifting your posture can go a long way towards reducing overall symptoms.

What can we expect after appreciating these factors?

Whether you call it diaphragmatic breathing or the zone of apposition, we need to be mindful of how we position ourselves not only during exercise, but during our “resting” posture, and most importantly during our respiration.

With these things under our belt (or diaphragm!), I recommend watching the diaphragmatic video one more time to “see” how the above factors can affect our ultimate goal of performance and getting out of The Pattern.

Author’s Bio

Miguel Aragoncillo, CSCS, graduated from Temple University with a B.S. in Kinesiology. His focus as a trainer is getting people to move better and lift heavy things. Miguel is currently interning at Cressey Performance, and openly enjoys Techno Tuesdays, breakdancing, and powerlifting. Check out his writing at www.miguelaragoncillo.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter @MAragoncillo1.

References:

-1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2971640/ – The value of blowing up a balloon

CategoriesUncategorized

Talking Shop on The FitCast

So I had just finished doing all of my Sunday morning errands yesterday (laundry, grocery shopping, crushing bacon, what have you) and finally sat down to try to figure out what I wanted to accomplish for the rest of the day. I had a few things on tap.  For starters, I had to catch up on some writing. I also had a handful of  programs that needed to be completed, fine tuned, and sent out to clients so that they could start them today.

And, as is the case with every Sunday, I had to figure out which matinee I was going to go see. Frankly, once I had my “work” done for the day, I really had no set agenda other than to watch a movie (I ended up seeing Take This Waltz), maybe catch a little of the Olympics, touch base with Lisa on Skype (she’s off exploring in Europe for a month), and then spend the rest of the day vegging out.

I flipped open my laptop to check my emails really quick and noticed I had a message from Kevin Larrabee.

“Want to join Fass, Leigh and I for some podcasting at 6pm for like 25 minutes?

Like, whoa. I can’t even remember the last time I was on The Fitcast. I think Lost was still on the air, Paula was still a judge on American Idol, and Tebowing didn’t even exist.

Yeah, it had been a while.

So anyways, what was supposed to be a quick “25 minute” recording turned into an over two hour reunion of catching up, debauchery, and shenanigans.  Don’t worry the episode isn’t two hours long, and we also happened to squeeze in some health and fitness content too.

Among a few things we touched on:

– Breathing Patterns

– Internet Gurus

– Cressey Performance expansion

– My cat

– The Dark Knight Rises (relax, no spoilers).

The episode is so chock full of awesome info and nuggets, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this happened:

Episode 240: Return of the Jedi

***This marks the first time I have ever been referred to as a Jedi.  This should happen more often.

It was great to be back!  Hope all of you enjoy it as well.

 

CategoriesRehab/Prehab

Balls In Your Pants and Breathing Patterns

BOO-YAH – how’s that for an introduction!

For many the topic of breathing patterns can be about as exciting as doing your taxes, so I figured I’d push the envelop a bit and use a catchy title to entice people to click on the link.

And, it worked!  I win!!

Don’t worry. Despite the risque title, the topic below is completely PG.

So, now that you’re here and I have your attention, lets watch this video by the Miami Dolphin cheerleaders:

Okay, so, um, yeah……breathing patterns.  It’s a topic that’s gained a lot of momentum (in the mainstream fitness media anyways) in the past year or so, due in no small part to the brilliant life-long work of Dr. Pavel Kolar and the “way smarter than the rest of us” team at The Prague School.

Taken right from their homepage:

The nervous system establishes programs that control human locomotion, which is comprised of posture and movement. This ‘motor control’ is largely established during the first critical years of life. Therefore, the “Prague School” emphasizes neurodevelopmental aspects of motor control in order to assess and restore dysfunction of the locomotor system and associated syndromes.

It’s some deep and innovative stuff for sure, and it’s something that I myself have only just scratched the surface of.

Thankfully there are other fitness professionals out there like Bill Hartman, Charlie Weingroff, Jim Laird, and Dr. Jeff Cubos (to name a few), who have are doing a wonderful job of spreading the knowledge, “dumbing” it down, and exposing people to the why’s/what’s/and how’s of assessing and fixing breathing patterns.

As it happens, one of the major themes that resonated this past weekend at the Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar (of which I was a part of) was the concept of breathing patterns and how there’s a significant interplay between aberrant patterns and how they effect not only performance but everything from posture to dealing with chronic back pain, neck pain, shoulder, or lower extremity issues as well.

As it happens, one of the major themes that resonated this past weekend at the Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar (of which I was a part of) was the concept of breathing patterns and how there’s a significant interplay between aberrant patterns and how they effect not only performance, but everything from posture to dealing with chronic back pain, neck pain, shoulder, or lower extremity issues as well.

In my talk, titled Spine and Core Training: From Assessment to Badass, I dove into some of the general “drills” we’ve been implementing at Cressey Performance to help teach people more appropriate breathing patterns.

You see, most people tend to be chest breathers and completely leave their diaphragm and the other “inner” core muscles out to dry.

It’s kind of like the playground when we were kids:  one group of muscles bullies the other, says their dad can kick the other dad’s ass any day of the week, someone gets called a big, fat, poop face, punches get thrown, the moms then get involved, and everything becomes one massive ball of breathing dysfunction.

The key, then, is to get everyone to play nice, and work synergistcally.  Ideally, we’d like to see the smaller, inner core muscles – diaphragm, mulitifidi, etc – to work properly, so that the larger, more global muscles can do their job as well and not have to work overtime.

 

To do so we need to take more of a 360 degree approach to breathing.  Meaning, instead of solely focusing on the anterior core (pushing the belly out: which still isn’t a bad place to start for most people), we need to take into consideration the lateral and posterior components as well.

Before we can do that, however, we need to actually learn how to breath into our bellies.

To start, here are some simple drills you can use:

1.  3-Month Pose

This is a drill I snaked from Mike Robertson, and the idea is to lie supine and focus on breathing into the belly and NOT allowing the rib cage to flair out too much.  You’ll notice how I keep my fingers at my sides to ensure that I’m not only pushing my belly out, but also expanding the sides (and back, into the floor) as well.  Be sure to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.

Of note:  a regression would be to start with the feet on the ground, and then once that’s mastered, elevate the feet in the air.

2. Prone/Alligator Breathing

Lying prone on your stomach, the objective here (again) is to breath into the belly and try to get the lower back to rise.  Make sure to inhale through the nose, push the belly into the ground, and exhale through the mouth.

For many, those two drills alone will be a fantastic starting point.

Now, for years (YEARS I tell you!) I’ve always been engrained to “push the belly out” or to “make myself fat” when getting ready to lift big weights – particularly when wearing a weight belt.  Bill Hartman had a fantastic post on this very topic not too long ago, and he noted that when people push out they do so at the expense of going into excessive anterior pelvic tilt which can be a lower back killer.

Below is a longer video where I go into a bit more detail on how we can go about re-grooving these patterns using a weight belt (correctly) and/or regular ole tennis balls (which was an ingenious idea that Jeff Cubos brought up this past weekend). Moreover, it isn’t JUST about anterior expansion. Rather we want to start grooving more of a 360 degree expansion to help increase stability.

A Few Things to Note:

1.  Yes, I’m wearing a gray t-shirt with gray sweat pants.  Whatever.  I’m bringing gray on gray back, baby.  Recognize!

2.  Clearly this is something that Rob – my demonstrator – can work on. Not to throw Rob under the bus or anything (although I kinda am…..sorry Rob), but this would be a fantastic drill for him to utilize more frequently. If for nothing else to give his body the kinesthetic feedback it needs to learn how to breath properly.  Ie:  through his belly and NOT his chest.

I purposely chose him for the video because it allowed me to demonstrate how most people look when you tell them to take a deep breath.  With a little practice, I think he’ll be able to get it down.

3.  As far as when and where to implement these drills.  I’ve been doing more of them at the start of a training session, as part of an extended warm-up.  I may lie down for a good 2-5 minutes and just focus on my breathing. Hell, maybe pop in a little Norah Jones and just chillax.

It’s a bit “voo-doo’ish,” but it works, and I’m willing to bet if you take the time to implement these drills into your repertoire, you’ll feel a marked difference in how you feel.  Try them out today, and let me know what you think!

UPDATE:  for those interested, HERE is the video done by Bill Hartman I referenced above (where he discusses belly breathing and APT).  As you’ll undoubtedly realize – if you watch it – Bill is kinda smart.