CategoriesAssessment Corrective Exercise Program Design

Is Corrective Exercise Overrated?

We got a doctor in the house!

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Dr. Evan Osar, a Chicago based chiropractic physician and coach, and someone I’ve been a huge fan of since reading his first two books Form and Function and Corrective Exercise Approach to Common Hip and Shoulder Dysfunction.

His latest resource (a course, really), The Integrative Corrective Exercise Approach, is available starting today and is something I believe will add a ton of value to any fitness professional looking to take his or her’s assessment and programming skills to a higher, dare I say, Jedi’esque level.1

Is Corrective Exercise Overrated?

These days it’s hard to read an article or view a video about exercise without the mention of corrective exercise. Like many things in our industry, corrective exercise has its fair share of proponents as well as detractors. And there are plenty of facts and fictions about how to define corrective exercise and actually what it is.

FYI: Despite what Google says, this isn’t corrective exercise

In this article I am going to explain our concept of corrective exercise and dispel one of the biggest myths surrounding it.

I will also share with you how to integrate corrective exercise to improve the success you are already having with your general population clients. Because when you understand what corrective exercise is – as well as what it isn’t – you can create dramatic changes in your client results by implementing some very simple principles and key concepts into your programs.

Lets Do This

The first thing we need to discuss prior to covering the most common myth is to define the term corrective exercise. While it may seem like an issue of semantics, similar to other industry terms like ‘functional training’ and ‘core training’, corrective exercise takes on a variety of different meanings depending upon whom you speak with.

It’s important to recognize that our clients have developed their own unique and individual strategy for posture and movement. This strategy has been influenced and driven by many factors including but not limited to:

  • Things they have learned throughout their life such as adopting posture and exercise cues from their parents, therapists, and/or fitness professionals.
  • Compensations they have developed as a result of previous injuries, traumas, and surgeries.
  • Their lifestyle – sitting at a desk, the types of exercises they do and/or have done, how active they are or aren’t.
  • How they have been taught to exercise (for example many individuals have been taught to over-brace or grip as their primary stabilization strategy).
  • Their emotions or how they generally feel about themselves or their situation in life

These factors directly contribute to your client’s habits, which then dictate their current postural and movement strategy.

These habits are how your clients will perform most things in their life.

They will generally use this habitual postural and movement strategy when they sit, stand, walk, do their job, and exercise. It is these habits – actually their non-optimal habits – that lead so many individuals to develop chronic tightness, muscle imbalances that inhibit optimal performance in many of their activities, and which eventually lead to pain syndromes.

Because they become so engrained into their nervous system, most individuals are not even aware of these habits. This is why it is becomes so challenging to alter chronic posture and movement habits – they have been imprinted into their nervous system.

This is where we believe corrective exercise can play a vital role as part of an overall training system.

In our paradigm, we view corrective exercise as a strategy that consists of a thorough assessment so that you can:

  1. Identify the key factors contributing to an individual’s current postural and movement strategy.
  2. Utilize specific release and/or activation techniques to address the individual’s primary issues that are driving their chronic problems or loss of performance.
  3. Incorporate the principles of the Integrative Movement System™ – alignment, breathing, and control – into the fundamental movement patterns of squatting, lunging, bending, rotating, pushing, pulling, and gait so the individual can accomplish their health and fitness goals.

In other words, we view corrective exercise as a strategy – rather than a series of exercises – to help individuals develop and maintain a more optimal postural and movement strategy so that they can accomplish their health and fitness goal whether they be to exercise at a more intense level, develop a strategy for dealing with their chronic muscle tightness, or simply to live life with greater ease and less discomfort.

With an understanding of what corrective exercise is, it is also important to understand what corrective exercise is not.

Corrective Exercise Is Not:

  • A ‘fix’ for your client’s postural dysfunction, muscle imbalances, and/or pain.

  • A method for making individuals do their exercises in a ‘perfect’ way.

  • A group of remedial exercises that a client performs to undo the effects of performing inappropriate exercise (allowing clients to perform exercises in which they can’t maintain their alignment, breathing, and control).

  • A diagnosis or substitute for a thorough evaluation by a qualified health care professional.

  • A substitute for a well-designed integrative strength training program.

Note From TG: I really like that last point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTY8bE6C1bs

 

Now that I have defined what it is and what it is not, here is the most common myth I hear surrounding the concept of corrective exercise:

Corrective Exercise ‘Fixes’ Postural Dysfunction and Muscle Imbalances

This is by far the biggest myth surrounding corrective exercise and the statement that its detractors most often bring up. This myth commonly stems from within the health and fitness industry because we like to make BOLD claims and then promise equally BOLD results.

We often claim things like:

1. ‘Everyone has a tight, short psoas’ from sitting too much so do this stretch and strengthening exercise (insert the novel stretch and strengthening exercise here) and you’ll fix everyone’s back pain.

2. ‘Everyone has forward shoulders from working on the computer so have your clients stretch out their pecs and strengthen their rhomboids and lower trapezius with some Y’s, T’s, and W’s and you’ll solve all your client’s shoulder problems’.

3. ‘Here’s the ‘best’ movement screen so you’ll know exactly what’s causing your client’s problems’ and here’s the corrective exercises to ‘fix’ those problems.

Making BOLD statements and promising BOLD results gets people to open the most recent blog or video post.

Making BOLD statements and promising BOLD results gets people excited that they have discovered ‘the answer’ to their clients issues.

However making BOLD statements and promising BOLD results also makes people lazy about performing their own assessments and determining the best exercises for the individual that they are working with.

Because the Truth Is:

  • Yes, some people have a tight psoas and weak glutes… and many do not. And for those individuals in the latter group, stretching their psoas and strengthening their glutes actually perpetuates the very problem causing their low back pain.
  • And yes, many individuals have forward shoulders and inhibited rhomboids and lower trapezius…and many do not. Doing Y’s, T’s, and W’s for example however do not even address the most common cause of the forward shoulder so again, these exercises will perpetuate and/or create an entirely new issue in your clients.

 

  • Finally, there is no magic screen or assessment that will tell you all you need to know about your client. You need to perform a series of assessments, combine them with your client’s intake and functional goals, and then determine where you would start with them. Then you must find the exercises that work best for your clients that help them address their biggest issues and how to incorporate these components into a well-designed program.

Conclusion

Corrective exercise is not a series of exercises designed to diagnose or identify the ‘fix’ for your client’s issues.

It is a strategy for implementing a thorough assessment, implementing the appropriate releases and/or activation sequences so that your client can achieve optimal alignment, breathing, and control, and then integrate these principles into the fundamental movement patterns and/or your client’s functional goals.

Used judiciously, corrective exercise is a part of an overall training strategy designed to look at your client as an individual and provide them with a viable option for successfully addressing their issues while working towards their functional goals.

Corrective exercise should enhance and not deter from developing greater strength, mobility, endurance, or other objective outcome. When you understand and integrate a successful corrective exercise strategy, you will help so many clients who have been struggling with chronic issues, safely and effectively accomplish their individual health and fitness goals.

About the Author

Audiences around the world have seen Dr. Evan Osar’s dynamic and original presentations.  His passion for improving human movement and helping fitness professionals think bigger about their role can be witnessed in his writing and experienced in every course he teaches.

His 20-year background in the fitness industry and experience as a chiropractic physician provide a unique perspective on corrective exercise and fundamental training principles for the health and fitness professional that works with the pre and post-rehabilitation, pre and post-natal, baby boomer and senior populations.

Dr. Osar has become known for taking challenging information and putting it into useable information the health and fitness professional can apply immediately with their clientele. He is the creator of over a dozen resources including the highly acclaimed Corrective Exercise Approach to Common Hip and Shoulder Dysfunction and the Integrative Corrective Exercise Approach™.

CategoriesCorrective Exercise

Everything You Know About Corrective Exercise Is Wrong

Raise your hand if the mere sight of the term “corrective exercise” makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up or results in having to resist the urge to jump through a pane glassed window.

[Raises hand]

Corrective exercise can mean different things to different fitness professionals. For some, like physical therapists, it can mean any number of things including implementing unstable surface training with an injured client coming off a nasty ankle sprain. For others, like personal trainers, it can mean pretty much the same thing, having a healthy client perform all sorts of unstable surface training in the name of optimal core engagement! (whatever that means), and because it helps to separate themselves from the masses and it looks super neato.

WEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Yes, I’m being a bit sensationalistic here. And yes, I’m going out of my way to use extreme examples. Hey, you’re still reading right?

Corrective exercise IS a thing, it DOES have a time and place, and MANY (not all) trainers and coaches need a slight slap upside the head (just a tap!) to help remind them what it is and what it isn’t.

In my latest article on BodyBuilding.com I give some insight on what corrective exercise means to me. Try not too take it too seriously though…I had some fun with it. 2

Everything You Know About Corrective Exercise Is Wrong

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.

CategoriesAssessment Corrective Exercise

How to Hip Hinge Like a Boss

Or, in other words:  Learn how to groove the hip hinge and then be able to train like a boss.

Quick question/observation:  Have you ever wondered why, among other things – like why women tend to make that funny face when applying make-up –  when it comes to American cars, or “Western” cars, the driver’s side is on the left side of the car and not the right (as is the case in the rest of the world)?

It’s something I’ve pondered in the past and up until recently I just kinda shrugged it off as one of those things which had no legitimate rationale other than us Americans are a bunch of pompous a-holes that like to do everything differently than everyone else – analogous to us being the only country not to adopt the metric system of measurement.

As it turns out – there is a reason why the steering wheel is on the left hand side and not the right. And it’s something that makes complete sense.

In the book I’m currently reading, One Summer: America, 1927, author Bill Bryson spends a whole section going into detail about Henry Ford and the Model T car.

Up until the Model T came to fruition every car that was produced in America had the steering wheel on the right hand side so that the driver would have easy access to the side curb, side-walk, or grassy area to easily step out of the car.

Ford then decided that this was a convenience that should be afforded to the “lady of the house,” and thus the Model T was designed to have the steering wheel placed on the left hand side.

So there you go.

Fascinating, right?

Another nugget that blew my mind – albeit in the strength and conditioning realm – was an article I read recently by personal trainer Joy Victoria titled Twerk Your Way to Stronger Lifts, Stronger Abs and Pain-Free Movement in which she offered this train of thought:

“Load is not weight. Load is how your body adapts to carrying the weight. So someone with good alignment can squat 100 lbs and experience an adaptation in their butt and legs, and another person can squat 100lbs and experience an adaptation in their hip flexors and low back muscles (very simplistic example). This is because of how we load our body! You want to load the muscles and joints properly to develop the qualities of strength, power, speed, mobility etc. A lot of pain and what “dysfunctional” movement can be a result of improper loading for your body and structure.”

This summary served as one of a few reasons why I wrote THIS article for T-Nation on why I feel learning to brace and not relying on over-arching or over-extending the lumbar spine (in other words: maintaining ALIGNMENT) is paramount with regards to lifting heavy things. Not only in the context of improved performance in the weight-room, but also as a way to play the house in your favor with relation to long-term health – especially spine health.

Taking this concept a step further, though, and since this is a fitness blog, lets roll with the talking point of alignment and load and delve into something a bit more practical and relevant to just about everyone reading:

The Hip Hinge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw

For those unfamiliar and stealing some insight from renowned strength coach Dan John – who’s a mega fan of the hip hinge (and rightfully so), we can introduce the hip hinge as follows:

“It’s the hip snap, the hip slam and all of the various inappropriate terms coaches have used to teach young virgin ninth graders to tackle like NFL linebackers. Just learning the move right can open up hamstring flexibility. Doing it slowly with a massive load can impress your friends for generations. Learning to have symmetry in the movement can jumpstart you to an injury-free career.

And, to do it fast? It’s the one-stop shop to fat loss, power and improved athletic ability. Swings, the top of the food chain in hinge movements, are the most under-appreciated move in life, in sport and in the gym.”

 

In more rudimentary terms the hip hinge involves any flexion/extension originating at the hips that involves a posterior weight shift.

And if we wanted to be super-duper simplistic, and separate ourselves from the notion that a hip hinge is the same thing as a squat pattern – WHICH IT ISN’T! – we can break things down like this:

Hip Hinge = maximal hip bend, minimal knee bend.

Squat = maximal hip bend, maximal knee bend.

*Smoke bomb, smoke bomb, exit stage right*

Moreover, taking the swing out of the equation altogether, I’d argue that nothing has quite as a profound effect on one’s performance in the gym, overall movement quality, addressing pain (especially low back pain), as well as shortening one’s “learning curve” when introducing new exercises than the hip hinge.

About the only thing a properly patterned hip hinge doesn’t help fix is a bad hair day and Justin Bieber’s general level of douchebaggery.

1o points awarded to me for a Biebs burn!

So the question then becomes:  How can we go about grooving a proper hip hinge?

More to the point – when working with athletes or clients who either A) have an extensive injury history, have engrained an aberrant motor pattern, and hence like to “squat” everything or B) are otherwise healthy and still like to “squat” everything……how can we groove the hip hinge pattern we’re looking for and start to teach people how to load their body properly?

Well, I’m glad you asked!

At the lowest level two of the easiest (and effective) ways to begin to pattern the hip hinge are:

1.  The Wall Tap Hip Hinge

The objective here is pretty self-explanatory.  Brace the abs, ensure spinal alignment (move through the hips and NOT the lumbar spine) and then focus on tapping your derriere to the wall.

One cue I like to use is to tell people to chop or “fold” their hips with their hands (you’ll see me do this on like the third or fourth rep).

I’ll start people as close to wall as I need to in order to ensure they’re doing it correctly, and as they become more proficient I’ll move them further and further away.

2.  Dowel Rod Hip Hinge

This too is fairly self-explanatory, so I’ll try not to belabor anything.  I love this variation because it gives the trainee some kinesthetic feedback on spinal positioning.

In short:  there should be three points of contact with the dowel rod – the sacrum, in between the shoulder blades, as well as directly behind the head.  If at any point the dowel rod loses contact with any of those points – whether because the chin isn’t staying tucked or they’re squatting with too much knee bend – that should be considered a fault and corrected immediately.

Upping the ante a bit, here are some more drills that I like to implement.

3.  Rip Trainer Hip Hinge

Taking the dowel rod hip hinge to the next level is the TRX Rip Trainer Hip Hinge, which very much plays into a lot of Gray Cook’s work on loading the hip hinge.

It’s a subtle load – you don’t need to be too aggressive here – but it’s amazing how much technique cleans up when you cue someone to “pull” themselves into the hinge pattern (here the trainee literally has to pull into the hinge).

Much like with the wall tap drill, I’ll tell people to visualize “folding” their hips and to sit back.

4. Sternum Hip Hinge

Place a kettlebell (you could use a plate or DB here) flush against the sternum and try to visualize driving it through your chest.

I can’t really explain why it works so well – most likely because of the anterior load – but it just does, so just do it!  GOSH!

5.  Behind the Head Hip Hinge

Pigging back off the sternum hip hinge is the behind the head hip hinge, which places the load posteriorly behind the head.  This offers a bit more of a unique challenge in that you have to make sure that you’re bracing your abs HARD so that you don’t compensate and hinge through the lumbar spine.

6.  Band Resisted Hip Hinge

Lastly, the band resisted hip hinge drill is great because it teaches people “terminal hip extension,” to the point where they must finish the movement with their glutes in order to finish the drill.  Moreover, because the band is pulling them back they really have to be more cognizant of bracing their abs, maintaining alignment, and controlling the movement.

What Now?

If or when those drills are mastered THEN it’s time to add appreciable load.  One of my go to exercises is the pull-through.  I find that this is a fantastic exercise to introduce people to loaded hip hinging because, well, I said so!

And because it hammers the posterior chain with minimal spinal loading.

Of course deadlifts and squats will come into the picture, but not until I feel confident that the person I’m working with (especially for those with a vast injury history) can hip hinge properly and disperse the load accordingly.

I can usually coach someone up and get them deadlifting and/or squatting with a good hip hinge pattern within a short amount of time – typically in one session – but not without utilizing some of the drills mentioned above.

CategoriesUncategorized

Reviewing the Cressey Performance Fall Seminar – Part One

You know the feeling you get when you demolish an ice-cream sundae so fast that you end up with one of those annoying “brain freezes” which makes you crumble to your knees in agony and forces you to make one of those weird, contorted faces that’s about as unattractive as unattractive can get?

No?

Well, maybe a better analogy would be actor Gary Busey.

Take his face (seen to the left) which is essentially what he looks like 100% of the time, and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

Okay, now that you have an ample visual:  that was me this past weekend during the Cressey Performance Fall Seminar. Not to suggest, of course, that I was swimming in a cocktail of vodka and bat-shit crazy, which is more than likely a typical breakfast for Mr. Busey.

Oh snap!  No I didn’t! That’s a Busey burn!

But rather just to suggest that 1) my brain hurt so much from all the quality information thrown my way that I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that’s how I looked and 2) that I needed a day away from blogging in order to decompress, digest, and assimilate all the information.

All told we had roughly 150-175 people make the trek out to CP to hang out, network, and listen to several pretty smart dudes discuss everything from CrossFit to corrective exercise to coaching types to twerking.

Maybe not that last one (next year?), but needless to say there was A LOT of stuff that was covered.  In lieu of all the glowing comments and reviews that followed via Facebook and Twitter, there were a number of people who asked if we filmed the seminar.

Sadly we did not.  But I’m going to take the opportunity today to try to highlight a few points and insights from each presentation.

Today I’ll cover what Eric Cressey, Brian St. Pierre, and Mike Reinold discussed.

Cracking the CrossFit Code – Eric Cressey

Starting the morning off with a bang, Eric decided to address one of the more hotly debated topics in the fitness community: CrossFit.

Contrary to popular belief Eric (as well as myself) aren’t adamant CrossFit “hater” protagonists.

We both see a lot or redeeming qualities in it, but we’re also not dowsing ourselves in the Kool-Aid.  Nevertheless, here’s some points Eric hit on.

1. Interestingly, Eric started off his talk discussing how history is loaded with selective retention.

I’m not going to spoil the surprise (as I know Eric DID film his presentation and have to assume he’s going to offer it as product), but lets just say there’s a reference to Adolf Hitler and CrossFit.

HOLD ON:  before people get all Twitter happy and say that Eric Cressey equated CrossFit to Hitler, HE DID NOT DO THIS!!!!!

But he did make a fair point that Hitler was responsible for things like improving highway infrastructure, airplane travel, and a bunch of other things.  CrossFit, too, for as much as it’s poo-pooed on by the masses, does have a lot to offer.

2. Such as:

Insane camaraderie.
Unparalleled social experience.
Brand recognition.
Interval training preferred over aerobic training.
Variety.
Stresses compound exercises.

3.  But there are also a fair number of caveats or “bad” points to consider as well. Such as:

Low barrier to entry.
Lack of assessment (this is affiliate dependent, but it’s fair to say that many DO NOT offer a keen assessment).
One-size fits all programs.
Prioritizes technically advanced exercises (for high reps, no less).

4.  One must (and should) be able to dominate the sagittal plane if he or she is going to be succeed in a traditional CrossFit program.

5.  There’s no bones about it:  untrained individuals (of which are what CrossFit attracts) move like poop, and its imperative that appropriate progressions AND regressions are in place – especially if you’re going to use a “one-size-fits-all” format.

Insulin: The Hormone, The Myth, The Legend – Brian St. Pierre

It’s always a treat when Brian makes it back to his old stomping grounds at CP.  Not many people realize this (or remember), but Brian was actually our very first employee.

But then he had to go get married, buy a house, advance his career with Precision Nutrition, have kids and stuff, and move to Maine.  What a jerk!

It’s been a pleasure to see Brian grow as a professional and he’s undoubtedly one of my “go to” guys when it comes to anything nutrition related. In his presentation he tackled the often quoted, yet often woefully misunderstood hormone insulin.

1. Insulin is ONE of MANY hormones involved in fat storage. It increases the activity of lipoprotein lipase, decreases the activity of hormone-sensitive lipase, which together leads to an increase of fat into fat cells. Insulin enhances this process, but NOT necessarily for it.

Key Concept: Insulin permits fat storage, it does not regulate it.

** For the nerds out there: The hypothalamus does.

You can gain fat with or WITHOUT elevated insulin levels.  So for all the anti-carb aficionados out there who deem them more evil than Mordor:  nah nah nah nahhhhhhhhh.

2. Hypoglycemia is incredibly rare.

3. The amount of insulin from protein rich food is positively correlated with satiety levels from that food.  So, put another way:  insulin CAN be considered a satiety hormone.

How’s this for a mindf@&k: Potatoes, which are generally regarded as one of the highest insulinogenic foods on Earth, are also reported as having one of the best satiety effects.

4. Nutrient partitioning is real phenomenon, and when used to your advantage, can help to increase recovery and adaptation to training load.

5. No news here:  (purposful) exercise creates a physiological environment where carbs are even more beneficial.

Ie:  carbs have their place.

Integrating Corrective Exercise With Performance Enhancement – Mike Reinold

Before I dive into Mike’s talk, let me just say that he’s an absolute Jedi when it comes to PowerPoint.  Some of the graphics and tricks he uses are unreal.  I’m half expecting one day for Mike to pull a rabbit out of his Macbook or go all “Prestige” on us and clone himself.

Plus, you know, he’s a brilliant therapist on the side.

1.  Mike noted that if you Google “corrective exercise”  in almost every picture there’s a physio ball or someone coaching the shit out of something completely innocuous, like this:

Apparently the message is this:  if you’re not incorporating the use of a physio ball, you’re just pretending…..;o)

2.  The term corrective exercise is a garbage term and is something that’s thrown out there in an effort for people to make themselves sound smart.  There’s no shortage of long-winded definitions out there, but Mike gave one that was about as succinct and to-the-point as they come:

“Corrective exercise are exercises designed to enhance how well you move.”

3.  Why corrective exercises sometimes may not work:

You didn’t assess well, or worked beyond your scope.
You picked the wrong correctives.
You are only addressing part of the problem.
You jumped straight to motor control/stability (you still need to get people stronger and emphasize strength).
Person is in pain.

*** If your correctives aren’t working, don’t work harder.

4. Components of Corrective Exercise:

Alignment (if you strengthen in misalignment you’ll create an imbalance, if you stretch in misalignment you’ll create instability).
Mobility
Stability
Postural Balance

5. Integrating correctives:

Pre-Training: work on alignment (PRI breathing drills), mobility, activation, motor control.

Within the Program: A2, B2, C2 (assist the “1” lifts)

As an example:

A1.  Goblet Squat 3×8
A2.  Lying Deadbugs – 3×6/side

Post-Training:  repeat foam rolling, work on breathing drills (up-regulate parasympathetic system), etc.

And that’s going to be all for today. I told you there was a ton of information covered!  Tomorrow I’ll highlight the presentations from Eric Schoenberg, Greg Robins, Chris Howard, and myself.

CategoriesCorrective Exercise Strength Training

Recapping Dean and Tony’s Boston Workshop (Includes Best T-Shirt Ever Made)

Now that I’ve had a good 24-36 hours to decompress my brain, I wanted to take a few moments and share some of the shenanigans that went down last weekend at Cressey Performance.

As many of you know, my good friend and brotha from another motha, Dean Somerset, came to town for a few days along with roughly 20-25 personal trainers, strength coaches, chiropractors, and general fitness enthusiasts for our Boston Workshop that he and I hosted at Cressey Performance.

Stealing a line from Dean’s synopsis of the weekend over on his own blog, “it was without a doubt one of the best, most switched on groups I’ve ever had the chance to speak in front of, and everyone was really engaged, quick to volunteer, laugh, get their hands dirty, and make it a great experience for everyone.”

On Friday for all the attendees who came in a day early and had nothing better to do than sit at their hotel room watching re-runs of Games of Thrones on HBO we had the one and only Eric Cressey (THE Cressey behind Cressey Performance) come in and speak to the group on “Elbow Shizzle.”  His title not mine.

One of the main take home points was that when it comes to the elbow, especially with regards to the UCL, you have to take into consideration what’s going on up the kinetic chain – specifically the brachial plexus – in order to make any drastic progress with regards to tissue quality and eliminating pain.  The ulnar nerve starts up near C5-T1 and is often impinged in that area.

In many ways, an “elbow snafu” might not have anything to do with the elbow in the first place!  It’s imperative to look up (and down) the kinetic chain to rule other possibilities out.

Too, it’s important to take into consideration congenital laxity – especially in the baseball population – to dictate treatment and how one’s strength and conditioning program will flow.  The LAST thing you want to do is to excessively stretch someone who scores high on the Beighton Laxity score.

Afterwards, for those who wanted to stay, move around a bit, and play with all the toys in the facility, we had “open gym” where people could get a workout in and break a sweat. I may or may not have played Tiesto.

I played Tiesto.

Because I was at the facility playing host Lisa, my girlfriend, was kind enough to pick Dean up at the airport along with Guillermo who flew in all the way from Mexico to attend the event.  No sooner than everyone walked through the door and dropped their bags did we hightail out of there to walk down to my neighborhood bar and grill to get our grub on.

The best part of the night was that after the fact, when we left the restaurant, walked outside, and waited to cross the street, some dude drove by with all his windows rolled down BLARING the theme music from Star Wars.  It was pretty much the most baller thing I’ve ever witnessed, and I couldn’t help but think to myself, “that dude’s got his shit together.”

Dean and I were up early Saturday morning and I want to say that he pwned roughly 600 mg of caffeine before we even got to the facility.  A tip of the hat to you kind sir!

After a few house warming words and greetings, Dean started things off with discussing the big rocks of assessment. What an assessment actually means, what to look for, and what kind of assessment should be done.

Do we just stand there creepily like a Mr. Smithers and stare?  Is there any place for a movement based assessment?  Are all assessment created equal?

At the end of the day, it’s about gathering as much information as you can to better ascertain what YOU as the fitness professional will do to get your client the most efficient (and safest) results possible.

I followed suit by breaking down the CP assessment.  I was adamant that what we do at CP isn’t necessarily what I feel everyone should be doing, but that they kind of should (hint, hint).

I divided the assessment process into three parts:  static (posture, single vs, bilateral stance), isolative (hip ROM, shoulder ROM, Thomas Test, adductor length, 1,2,3,4 I challenge you to a thumb war, stuff like that), and integrated (movement based:  squat pattern, lunge pattern, push-up pattern, etc).

The entire afternoon was then spent going back and forth with the attendees demonstrating the different assessment that Dean and I utilize and then allowing them to practice on one another to get a better feel for everything.

And, I managed to do all of this without taking my shirt off, which is saying something.

Saturday night a bunch of us met up for an all-you-can-eat meat fest at Fire and Ice in downtown Boston.  Ben Bruno even made a cameo appearance!

Here’s a pic that I Tweeted as a frame of reference of how glorious this place is:

Sunday was lined up in much the same way at Saturday was.  Things kicked off relatively early – 9 AM – with me discussing “corrective exercise,” and what the even means.

I broke down the Law of Repetitive Motion and spoke to how that equation helps set the stage for how we can go about addressing any imbalances, weaknesses, and even pain.

The main point I hit home, however, and something I feel serves as the “umbrella” for ALL corrective exercise was this:

Correct movement is corrective!

Sure we can do the song and dance where we wrap eight different bands around someone, have them stand on a BOSU ball, and juggle a bunch of oranges………but what are we really accomplishing here?

And this isn’t to downplay things like spending time coaching people on how to engage their core or working on glute medius activation.  That stuff certainly needs to be addressed sometimes.

But while I’m admittedly biased – I am a strength coach – I think there’s a lot to be said about grooving more efficient patterns (squat, hip hinge, lunge, push-up) and getting people strong(er).

Getting people stronger can be corrective.

After a quick lunch break Dean took over with some brand spankin new material and covered a topic he titled VooDoo: Hacking Anatomy for Immediate Results.

Again, stealing for Dean’s own review of the weekend: “My talk came up at the end, all about how reactive core training can improve flexibility without taking joints through a range of motion (aptly titled “Voodoo”). We discussed the importance of breathing for upper body and lower body limitations, and went through how to get reactive stabilization from breathing drills and specific core training directives to help improve specific limitations.”

To cap things off we had an expert panel Q and A which, along with Dean and I, also included Ben Bruno, Jim “Smitty” Smith (of Diesel Strength), and Mark Fisher (of unicorns, ninjas, and Mark Fisher Fitness).

On Monday Dean and I took a few attendees through a small group training session that started with a “flow” warm-up, and then we proceeded to deadlift their faces with a bunch of angry my-mother-never-loved-me-and-I-punch-kittens-in-the-face-for fun music blaring in the background.

Three guys broke PRs HERE, HERE, and HERE (this one includes one of the best celebratory fist pumps ever).

Afterwards Dean hung out at CP to observe the madness and wore what’s arguably the most epic t-shirt ever made.

For those having a hard time seeing the fine print, here’s a screen shot:

And since that’s pretty much the most absurd and funniest note to end on, I’ll stop there.

It was an amazing weekend, filled with amazing people.  And I’m truly honored that so many people took time out of their busy schedules to come hang out and (hopefully) get better.

Dean and I will most likely be doing this shindig again.  Maybe we should do a worldwide tour!

CategoriesUncategorized

5 Reasons Your Shoulder Is Jacked-Up and Not Jacked – Part II

Welcome back!

For those who missed it, yesterday I posted PART ONE (Newsflash: you’re reading part II) of some of the reasons why your shoulder is most likely jacked-up and not jacked.

If you’re too lazy to click the link above, here’s the dealsky:

1.  Your technique on just about everything is, for lack of a better terms, is god-awful.

2.  The program you’re following, while written with good intentions and attention to detail, may in fact be feeding into your issues and causing more harm than good.

And that’s all I’m gonna say on that front. If you want to dive in and a get a litte more detail you’re just going to have to click on the link and read part one.

Hint: You should read part one.

Moving things along, lets go a head and get the most obvious one out of the way first.  And while it’s the most obvious, I’d argue that it’s still something that many people disregard altogether and shove into some back room like a red-headed stepchild.

Not Addressing Tissue Quality

Much like taking your car in to get its oil changed, or going to dentist every six months for a cleaning, or clipping your nose hairs before a big date, addressing tissue quality should be considered preventative maintenance.  Or, at the very least – especially with regards to the latter – set you up for long-term success.  Maybe even second base if you play your cards right!

Either way, it still dumbfounds me that people (especially those in pain) refuse to put two and two together and aren’t more proactive on this front.

It’s not a sexy topic, which is probably why so many people turn their backs on it.  But watering things waaaaay down:  when you palpate tissue, it shouldn’t hurt.  Conversely, if you palpate your pec (and if you’re really talented, your pec minor) and it makes you jump off your chair, then that should tell you something.

Almost always, the pec (and by association, the pec minor) is going to enter the equation when the discussion of shoulder pain comes up.  Think about what I mentioned yesterday and how most programs are aligned:  there’s a heavy emphasis towards pushing movements compared to pulling.  As such, it’s not uncommon to observe many people with rounded, abducted shoulders – kind of like this poor guy here who I found on Google images:

Putting my Captain Obvious hat on for a second, it stands to reason that this said random guy should become BFFs with a foam roller, and spend a lot of time rolling his upper/mid back, as well as his lats (which is an area that many people neglect).

But that’s just half the equation. Anteriorly speaking, what do you think is pulling is scapulae into a more abducted position?

His pecs!

Taking the time to perform some dedicated self myofascial release on the pecs, and as a result working to get into a more optimal alignment, can pay huge dividends when you’re dealing with a cranky shoulder.

Doing your part to help release built up scar tissue, adhesions, and trigger points is a step in the right direction, but you also need to understand that it’s just as important to lengthen that tissue after the fact and then “cement” that new length with proper strength training.

Stealing a popular phrase from physical therapist, Charlie Weingroff, we need to “get long, and get strong.”

You can’t make the mistake of JUST foam rolling or whatever and then just going about your business.  You also need to lengthen that tissue and strengthen it within that new length.

It’s actually a profound litmus test if you’re someone who’s going to a physical therapist or manual therapist.  Are they just treating the symptoms with whatever modality they prefer (Graston, ART, dry needling, deer antler spray, Unicorn tears) and kicking you out the door, or are they following treatment with appropriate stretching and strength training?

If the former, I’d be reticent to continue with said therapist.

Doing Too Much Band Work

I’ve mentioned this in the past, but it bears repeating.

If I were to ask you what is the function of the rotator cuff, what would you say? If I were a betting man, I’d garner that the vast majority of people reading would say one of three things:

  • External/Internal rotation of the arm (glenohumeral joint).
  • Elevates the arm in the scapular plane.
  • Where the hell’s the rotator cuff? Isn’t this the part of the post where you post a picture of a scantily clad hot chic

If you mentioned either of the two former options- congratulations you’ve obviously read an anatomy book within the past 25 years. And, while you’re technically not wrong, you’re not entirely correct either.

With regards to the latter option, I’d would post a picture of the rotator cuff to help clear the air but THIS is actually the point where I post a picture of a scantily clad hot chick.

For the record, her rotator cuff would be approximately 2 o’clock from her cleavage. How that’s for functional anatomy….;o)

Okay back on track: While the rotator cuff does invariably play a significant role in external/internal rotation, as well as elevation of the arm, you’d be remiss not to recognize that it’s main function is to simply center the humeral head within the glenoid fossa.

Unfortunately, if you were to take a peek into what most people’s shoulder “rehab” programs look like it would most likely resemble a hodge-podge collection of rotator cuff band exercises done ad nauseam.

Now I’m NOT suggesting that band exercises are a waste of time or that dedicated RC exercises like the side lying external rotation shouldn’t be performed.

Far from it.  In fact, side lying external rotations (with the arm abducted slightly) have been shown to have the greatest EMG activation of the rotator cuff – when done correctly.

I think my main beef – especially when it comes to band work – is that people are under the assumption that more is better.

The above couldn’t be further from the truth. Training the rotator cuff to fatigue increases superior humeral head migration, and makes about as much sense as making another Sex in the City movie.

Put another way, when the rotator cuff is fatigued, the humeral head will shift superiorly towards the acromion process, effectively increasing the likelihood of shoulder impingement.

So, contrary to popular belief, all of those 50-100 rep sets of band or side lying DB external rotations you’re doing to keep your shoulder “healthy” isn’t doing your shoulder any favors.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to do them.  I just think it’s wrong to do them until you’re blue in the face.

Your Shoulder Probably Isn’t Even the Issue!

Let me clarify before I proceed, because I know I’m getting some people scratching their heads at that last comment.

Looking directly at the shoulder does make sense – especially if 80-90% of your clientele make their living throwing a baseball.

As an example if we get a pitcher walking through our doors who complains of shoulder pain, it only makes sense to look at the shoulder and check out things like total ROM (glenohumeral internal + external rotation), upward/downward rotation, so on and so forth.

But when working with the general population, it’s often advantageous to dig a little deeper.

This isn’t to say that the shoulder ISN’T the problem, it very well could be.  But it’s been my experience that it’s usually not.

I just find it comical whenever I read a random article or blog where someone starts throwing out things like “check for big toe dorsiflexion” or “can they recite the alphabet backwards in less than 17 seconds?” as if any of that really matters.

Sure, I guess we could make a valid (albiet far reaching) case that limited big toe dorsiflexion can effect things up the kinetic chain, but more often than not I just feel people start throwing out that kind of verbiage as a way to make themselves sound smarter than they really are.

Nevertheless, there are a multitude of factors that we have to take into consideration as to why someone’s shoulder is flipping them the bird that may or may not have anything to do with the shoulder.

At CP we take the following into consideration that may have nothing to do with the shoulder:

– Overuse

– Scapular instability

– Poor glenohumeral ROM

– Rotator cuff weakness

– Soft tissue restrictions

– Poor thoracic spine mobility

– Acromion type

– Poor exercise technique (seriously, read yesterday’s post)

– Poor cervical spine function

– Poor programming balance

– Faulty breathing patterns

– And yes, opposite hip/ankle restriction

A handful or maybe all factors above may need some attention and have their share of the limelight, but the real take home message is that you need to think outside the box.  Just because your shoulder hurts doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a shoulder issue.

And that’s that!  Hopefully I was able to shed some light on an often murky and confusing topic.  If you liked this, please do me a favor and “Like” it, as well as share on as many social media outlets as possible.  I’ll give you a hug if you do.

CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

Does Everyone Need to Squat (Deep)

In a word: No!

In my latest T-Nation article I tackle the often controversial topic of squatting.  Why it’s controversial I really have no idea.  Squatting is a basic human movement pattern that I feel provides a gulf of benefits – everything from improved performance on the playing field to helping to offset many of the postural imbalances that we get from sitting on our rumps all day long.

The rub is that most people have the movement quality if C3PO on a good day. LOL – see what I just did there?  You see, C3PO is a robot and he doesn’t move well and……

…..okay, never mind.

Essentially, when loaded squats start to enter the picture and we start to debate safety, well, that’s just a different conversation altogether.

Moreover, squat depth is a rarely discussed topic.  Well, I take that back.  People are always arguing over squat depth.  On one end of the spectrum you have those who feel if you’re not squatting ass to calves (ass to grass in BroSpeak), you should just go home and watch The Notebook.

At the other end, you have those who have no idea what proper (or even “safe”) squat depth is.  Here, I’m referring to all the world renowned squatters on the internet who “claim” to squat 500 lbs.  For reps.

With a two inch range of motion.

All kidding aside, all squats aren’t created equal.  Likewise, squat depth is going to be a highly individual component depending on one’s training experience, pertinent injury history, so on and so forth.

In this article I discuss why I looooooove squats, but more importantly how to “screen” appropriate squat depth.

Check it out HERE.

Also, just a reminder that the GINORMOUS sale – 60% off – on the Muscle Imbalances Revealed series ends TONIGHT (12/28) at midnight. I don’t want to brag or anything (since I am affiliated with the product), but I feel this is a must have resource for any trainers or coaches looking to take their skill set to the next level.  You’d be learning from some of the best in business:  Bill Hartman, Mike Robertson, Rick Kaselj, Dean Somerset, Dr. Jeff Cubos and many more!

Check it out HERE.

 

 

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.

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.