Female athlete stretching her hamstringCategoriesAssessment coaching Corrective Exercise

The Difference Between Good and Bad Stiffness

Get your mind out of the gutter, I’m talking about muscles here…;o)

Female athlete stretching her hamstring

The Difference Between Good & Bad Stiffness

Having “tight” or “stiff” muscles is often viewed as a bad thing. Not losing a match of Squid Game bad, but bad nonetheless.

When someone presents with a (true) muscular length limitation there are increased risks of injury involved – strains, tears, explosive diarrhea1 – not to mention an increased likelihood of faulty movement patterns up and down the kinetic chain.

But injury isn’t always omnipresent.

Take any NBA basketball player through the FMS (Functional Movement Screen) – specifically the Active Straight Leg screen – and you’re bound to open up a can of epic fail.

NOTE: I personally don’t use the FMS currently when assessing/screening new clients. I took both modules several years ago and gained a lot of insight and knowledge. But in the years since I have gradually weened away from the FMS for myriad reasons. I know a lot of fitness professionals who still utilize it though and feel it’s a relevant talking point in the context of this post.

Many would be lucky to score a “2” (which is an average score), and many would showcase a right/left asymmetry, which, as we all know, means a baby seal dies.2

As a result, we’re quick to go into corrective exercise overdrive and implement every strategy under the sun that’ll increase hamstring length.

Ironically, it’s “tight hamstrings” that allow many NBA players the ability to do what they do so well. Namely, jump through the roof.

In this case stiffness is a good thing. We don’t have to fix it.

Of Note: the ASLR screen isn’t necessarily a hamstring length screen to begin with. Sure, offhand, it can be a way to ascertain hamstring length…but what we’re really looking at is the ability to both flex and extend the hip.

Stiff hamstrings can affect the ability to do so. However, more importantly, the ASLR is about teaching people to get into better positions – improving stiffness in other areas – to “trick” the CNS into turning off the emergency breaks.

Get people into more optimal positions (nudge them into better alignment), and what presented as “tight” or stiff is no longer the case.

Core Engaged Active Straight Leg Raise

 

Here we engage the anterior core – increase stiffness – to promote more posterior pelvic tilt (decrease “bad” stiffness in lumbar spine) in order to improve ROM, in addition to getting movement from the right areas (in this case the hips).

Likewise we can throw the hip flexors underneath the bus. I think we all know someone who’s been stretching their “tight” hip flexors since 1997.

Newsflash: If you’re someone who’s been mindlessly stretching your hip flexors for that long, with no improvement, what the hell?

I’d garner a guess the reason they feel tight/stiff is due to protective tension (and not actual tightness).

The stretch you’re doing – what I like to call the BS Hip Flexor Stretch – is doing nothing more than increasing “bad” stiffness in the:

  • Lumbar spine.
  • Anterior hip capsule.
  • My eyes.

It exacerbates and feeds what’s causing the issues in the first place.

Instead, perform a REAL Hip Flexor Stretch by increasing (good) stiffness in the appropriate areas – the anterior core and glutes – and actually get at the crux of the issue.

 

Another prime example would be the lats.

Stiff lats can be a bad and a good thing.

When Shit Hits the Fan (I.e., Bad)

In mine and Dean Somerset’s Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint, we spend a large portion of time speaking about the lats and how, in the overhead athlete population (as well as in the general population), they’re often stiff/short and overactive.

As a result: Overactive/stiff lats will drive more shoulder depression, downward rotation, adduction, as well as lumbar extension in general.

Anyone familiar with PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) and their thought process and methodologies will recognize this “Scissor Posture,” where the pelvis is pointing in one direction (tilted forward in Anterior Pelvic Tilt) and the diaphragm pointing in another direction (due to an excessive rib flair and lumbar extension).

This is not only an unstable position to be in, but also keeps the nervous system “on” at all times, driving more sympathetic activity.

What’s more, with regards to shoulder health, overactive lats will make it much less likely someone will be able to elevate their arms overhead, as well as “accessing” their lower traps (which share a similar fiber orientation as the lats @ 135 degrees), which, in concert with the upper trap and serratus, aid scapular upward rotation, posterior tilt, and protraction.

Taking the time to coach someone to turn off (or down-regulate) their lats in order to flex, externally rotate, and abduct their shoulder works wonders.

Bench T-Spine Mobilization

 

Wall Lat Stretch w/ T-Spine Extension & Lift Off

When Lats Can Increase Your Overall Level of Badassery (I.e., Good Stiffness)

And now it’s time to turn those fuckers on!

Your lats are a MAJOR player when it comes to performance in the weight room and lifting heavy things.

It also behooves you to turn them on in order to improve your technique in the “big 3.”

With the deadlift in particular there are some significant advantages:

 

Another trick I like to use to help people learn to use their lats during a deadlift is to attach a band to the bar and a stationary object.

 

Trainees will learn very quickly what it means to “pull the bar towards you” and to keep the lats engaged throughout the duration of a set.

You can also peruse a few more options in this IG post from a few weeks ago:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore)

In this light, stiffness isn’t such a bad thing.

So, you see…

…it’s not always end of days or something that requires going into DEFCON 1 corrective exercise purgatory mode. Whether or not stiffness/tightness is bad or good depends on the context.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work: 6/17/16

As this post goes live I’m in route to Austin, TX with my wife Lisa to take part in our inaugural Strong Body-Strong Mind Workshop.

We’re excited because we both feel this is an underserved “niche” within the fitness community. The stuff I’ll be speaking about is nothing new – program design, breaking down squat and deadlift technique, why Darth Maul is the best Sith Lord ever, you know the important stuff.

While I feel I offer a unique perspective on all of those things and feel I have expertise, they’re all topics that are covered by many other coaches.

However, it’s the stuff the two of us will be speaking about in tandem – The Art of Coaching & Behavior Change, how to increase motivation and autonomy with your clients, how to assess your client’s willingness to change – that’ll be the real treat to the attendees attending.

Well there’s that, and the 0.01% chance they all witness a marriage crumbling before their eyes. This is mine and Lisa’s first attempt at working with one another.

Either the weekend ends as a glorious success, complete with high-fives and a ticker-tape parade, or we’ll be hiring divorce lawyers and fighting over custody of the cat.

And who gets the VitaMix.3

The 6 Biggest Lies About Eating Meat – Mike Sheridan

I always appreciate articles like this.

Coincidentally, best read while eating a steak….;o)

How to Reduce Your Risk of Injury – Ann Wendel

Girls Gone Strong resident physical therapist, Ann Wendel, chimes in with some sage advice on what “functional training” really means.

Optimizing Movement – Eric Cressey & Mike Reinold

With their 4th installment in the Functional Stability Training series, Eric and Mike break down “movement,” from the assessment process to the gym floor.

The sale price ($30 off) only lasts until the end of this weekend, so act quickly while you can to take advantage.

How to Test Overhead Mobility – Me

In my latest article for Men’s Health I break down one of the easiest ways to “screen” for overhead mobility, and what you can do to improve it.

Epic beard not included.

CategoriesAssessment Corrective Exercise

Tendinitis vs. Tendinosis: Yes, There’s a Difference

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the filming of Eric Cressey and  Mike Reinold’s next phase in their Functional Stability Training series, Functional Stability Training – Upper Body.

As an FYI:  the first two modalities, Functional Stability Training – Core, and Functional Stability Training – Lower Body, can be accessed HERE.

Think of the whole shebang as on par with The Dark Knight trilogy.  All stand alone pieces are equally badass in their own right, but as a whole……can be considered mindblowing.

Yesterday entailed the filming of the “hands-on” or lab portion, and Cressnold (as I like to call them) took volunteers from the audience and placed them through a few shoulder screens/assessments to demonstrate that not all shoulders are created equal.

More importantly, they took it as an opportunity to demonstrate to everyone that how “we” approach treating and addressing certain dysfunctions can drastically change from one shoulder to the next.

And, as it happened, I ended up being one of their guinea pigs, as seen below in a “behind the scenes” shot.

Basically, it went down like this:

Mike:  would anyone be willing to take their shirt off?

[dead sprint from my seat]

Me:  Can The Rock smell what’s cookin?  Does a bear shit in the woods?  Does Dolly Parton sleep on her back?  YOU WANT MY PANTS OFF TOO????

I suspect that my 20 minute shirtless cameo will be a huge selling point for Eric and Mike when they finally release this module.

Learn the secrets behind an effective shoulder screen/assessment.  

Find out how both Mike and Eric choose what treatment and corrective exercise progressions come into play based off a thorough shoulder assessment.

Watch Tony squeeze his pecs and turn a piece of coal into a diamond!

Okay, all facetiousness aside, it was a FANTASTIC event and it should come as no surprise that Mike and Eric helped make a lot of people a heckuva lot smarter.

One key point that I want to discuss today which Mike hit on briefly during one of his talks, is the notion of tendinitis and tendinosis.

Many people think the two are one in the same and that both should be lumped together (like Star Wars and Star Trek.  You know, cause both take place in space) with regards to how we go about assessing and addressing each.

This is wrong, and here’s why.

– itis = is the Greek suffix for inflammation.

– osis = is the Greek suffix which denotes actions, conditions, or states. In the context of this conversation it refers to degeneration.

Someone with acute elbow pain or discomfort for example has tendinITIS.  You can palpate the area, the person will say “ow,” tell them to apply ice, take some ibuprofen for a few days, lay low on things that exacerbate symptoms, and they should be fine within a few weeks, if not days.

Conversely, someone with a more chronic, insidious condition has tendinOSIS.  You can palpate the area, the person will probably want to punch you in the face (but it could just as easily be more acute discomfort like the example above), but in this case, despite icing, popping NSAIDS, and rest, the condition, even after six months hasn’t gotten any better.

The problem here is actual degeneration of the joint, and it’s in this scenario we need to look more outside the box.

In keeping with the elbow example, someone with tendinitis will typically – not always – respond well with dedicated manual therapy on the problem area itself alongside your standard ice/rest protocol.

If the issue doesn’t resolve and it continues for months on end (tendinosis), and as Mike pointed out, sometimes you need to look elsewhere along the kinetic chain to see what’s the TRUE culprit.

It’s something he’s routinely referred to as The Kinetic Chain Ripple Effect.

When dealing with a more chronic issue, you still need to look at the affected area (in this case the elbow), but you also need to look at other factors elsewhere.

You can treat the elbow all you want with manual therapy and corrective exercise, but if someone has atrocious T-spine mobility, is overly kyphotic, and has forward head posture, wouldn’t it make sense to address those “red flags?”

Interestingly, Mike worked with someone yesterday during his presentation who had elbow pain, and one of the first things he did was test her grip strength bilaterally.  It should come as no surprise that she was weaker on the side which hurt to squeeze.

After coaching her on her posture – getting the shoulders back and posteriorly tilted, learning to brace the abs and posteriorly tilt the pelvis, and to tuck the chin – he retested her grip and she immediately saw a 16% increase (and it was less painful!).

And all he did was place her into better alignment!

There’s no doubt that she would still need soft tissue work to address her elbow, but many of her symptoms were corrected by taking a closer look at her shoulder and head position!

All of this to say:  if you’re a personal trainer or strength coach and have a client with a nagging injury that hasn’t gotten better with traditional ice, rest, and NSAIDS, it’s a safe bet that it’s not just a simple case of tendinitis, and you’re dealing with something more chronic like a tendinosis (or, actual degeneration of a joint).

Step one would be to refer out to your network and have him or her work with a manual therapist.

Step two, and something which you can take more of the reigns on, would be to keep an eye out for other factors such as posture or any movement dysfunctions who may notice.

More often than we think an “elbow issue” isn’t just something that’s wrong with the elbow. Likewise, a “knee issue” could be something fishy going on elsewhere. We can’t assume it’s solely the knee.

I like to put all the blame on CrossFit….;o)  Just kidding.  Kinda.

What are you thoughts?  Agree?  Disagree?  Tomato? Tomahto?  I’d like to hear everyone else’s thoughts on the matter.

CategoriesUncategorized

Functional Stability Training for the Core

When I imagine some of the more popular pairings in our pop culture, those pairings that, when I think of one I automatically think of the other, a few instantly come to mind:

 

 

 

Peanut butter and jelly

Scorsese and DeNiro

Ross and Rachel

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

Jersey Shore and vomiting in my mouth

Of course, that’s just a short list and by no means exhaustive…..but you get the idea.

In much the same way, with regards to the fitness industry, we can come up with a few similar pairings: Westside Barbell and powerlifting; Pavel and kettlebells; Mondays and bench press; and lastly, Satan and Tracy Anderson.

All kidding aside, when I think of one of the more “dynamic” duos in the industry – not to mention two guys who put out a TON of quality content – it’s hard not to think of Eric Cressey and Mike Reinold.

Coincidentally enough, earlier this week the two of them released their latest product together, Functional Stability Training for the Core, which is the first module in an on-going “system” that I feel is really going to change the game and raise the bar in the industry.

Now, I know what some of you may be thinking:  the industry needs another core product like we need another Kardashian spin-off.  To that I say….touche!

But today, rather than just say “hey buy this!”(which you totally should), I’d like to shed a little more light on why I feel this product is worth a look.  I was there when it was filmed, and I’d like to showcase some major take away points I walked away with.

What separates this product from the masses?  Read on, and find out.

1.  I guess the most obvious starting point would be to define what the term Functional Stability Training actually is.  Are we talking about BOSU ball hell here?  Um, no.  Not even close.  In fact, you’re getting a 10-minute time out for even thinking that would be case!

In simplest terms (using Mike’s own words) Functional Stability Training is the integration of physical therapy and performance enhancement training, the integration of exercises and manual techniques, and the integration between mobility, strengthening, and dynamic stabilization.

In short: it’s an attempt to bridge the gap between the manual therapy side of things and the strength and conditioning side of things.  Both are separate entities, of course. But it’s important to note they DO work synergistically to (hopefully) reach the same goal, and it behooves many fitness professionals not to recognize that.  We’re all on the same team here, people!

2. Low back injuries suck (no surprise there), and contrary to popular belief, we typically can’t link one specific incident (lifting a box), but rather a history of excessive loading as a culprit. The lumbar spine will buckle at 20 pounds with no muscular contribution.  Hence, to prevent this, it’s crucial to increase spinal stiffness – 360 degrees – through muscular contraction.

As Reinold puts it:

  • De-emphasize lumbar mobility
  • Increase muscular stiffness to protect the spine
  • EMPHASIZE NEUTRAL SPINE
  • Emphasize endurance, and not strength

3. Think you’re doing your birddogs and deadbugs correctly?

Chances are, you’re not. You’re actually butchering them. No, really.  Stop it.  Just stop.

Mike made it abundantly clear that one of the best ways to “progress” people is through addition by subtraction.

In case you weren’t picking up what I was putting down above, it’s imperative to TRAIN NEUTRAL SPINE.  Like, all the time.

Learn to train abdominal bracing, and to teach the proper muscle firing patterns when coaching the birddog, deadbug, etc. As an example, many trainees will compensate lumbar extension for hip extension, and it’s important to stop any aberrant motor patterns before they start.

Mike goes through a plethora of  cool progressions with the birddog, deadbug, front plank, chop and lift, as well as many others.

In addition, he also dives into lateral chain progressions (side plank, anti-sidebending holds), as well as rotary chain progressions.

4.  Eric made an awesome analogy and referred to spondylolysis as the new ACL epidemic. For those wondering what the hell “spondy” is – it’s essentially a fracture in the pars interarticularis. A spinal “ouchie” using the non-technical term.

I can tell you first hand that we’re seeing more and more younger athletes walk into our facility (Cressey Performance) with “spondy”, and it’s rather disconcerting to say the least.  As Eric noted (citing a study from Soler and Colderon 2000):

  • high prevalence in extension rotation sports:  baseball, track and field throws, etc.
  • L5 is most common (84%) followed by L4 (12%)
  • Bilteral 78% of the time.
  • Only 50-60% of those diagnosed actually reported low back pain

Like whoa! Think about that for a second. Flipping the numbers, that means 40-50% of those with spondy report NO pain and are asymptomatic!  Just because a new client walks in with no discernible “issues,” and says they’re pain free, doesn’t mean squat!

In a way, it stands to reason that you kinda have to assume that everyone you work with is walking in with some sort of back shenanigans going on. Chances are, you’re already working with plenty of clients around disc injuries in the first place.

Well, maybe that’s a little drastic – but you DO need to be aware of the statistics and how they may play into how you go about initiating your clients into strength training. Just sayin….

That said, when you KNOW you’re dealing with a case of spondy, are you prepared? Do you know what red flags to look for during an assessment?  How will you go about structuring a training program?  More specifically, now that back bracing is standard procedure, how would you go about developing a program with an athlete or client who has to wear for weeks (even months) on end?

HINT:  you’ll want to avoid pronounced axial loading (trap bar is an excellent choice here), there should be no rotational training for the duration of the bracing; all plyos and med ball work should be linear, you’ll stress anti-rotation training.

5.  The question, then, becomes:  if “x” number of people are walking around with backs that look like they’ve been through a meat grinder, how do we prevent disc issues from becoming symptomatic in the first place?

For the short course, Eric notes:

  • Avoid lumbar flexion, especially with rotation and compression by increasing ankle mobility, increasing thoracic mobility, increasing hip mobility.

  • Stabilize the lumbar spine within a ROM it already has.  Meaning, don’t be an a-hole trainer and think that EVERYONE has to squat “ass to grass.”  Some people just don’t have the mobility (yet) to get there, so if that means utilizing box squats, so be it.  The important thing to remember is to squat in ROM where they’re successful and work from there.
  • Deload the spine.
  • HAMMER NEUTRAL SPINE!!!!!!!!!
  • Be careful with early morning training.

And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg to be honest.  Mike and Eric leave no stone unturned with this product – other topics covered include:

– how to handle and deal with sports hernias

– the dealo behind “anterior knee pain”

– how to handle EXTENSION in athletes

– how to assess core movement quality (in this section, Mike offers a TON of progressions)

This would be a SOLID addition to any fitness professional’s library.

Functional Stability Training for the Core is on sale for the introductory price of $77 from now (4/19) until this Sunday (4/22). After that, the price increases to the regular price of $97.  Even then, considering the over SIX hours of content you’re getting, it’s still a steal.

====> Functional Stability Training <====