CategoriesCorrective Exercise personal training

If You Want to Correct Shit You Need to Own Shit

I’ve used a similar slogan in other ways:

“If you want to fix shit you need to lift shit.”

“If you want to fix shit do shit right.”

“Shit, shit, shitty, shit.”

There’s a t-shirt in there somewhere…;o)

Needless to say: 1) I have a potty mouth (#sorrynotsorry) and 2) I’m a firm believer that strength training is not only a wonderful (and often overlooked) way to get people strong(er) – duh! – but also as a means to “correct” or address a perceived dysfunction/road block in movement.1

Copyright: lightfieldstudios / 123RF Stock Photo

Owning POSITION(s)

I work with a lot of individuals who complain of shoulder ouchies, especially as it relates to performing stuff overhead.

There are any number of factors to consider:

  • Tight lats.
  • Poor anterior core strength.
  • Tight pecs.
  • Wearing blue.

Who knows? Lots of things can run awry.

I think it behooves any coach/trainer to put on their detective’s hat, dig deep(er), and try to ascertain what could be the root cause for someone’s discomfort or pain.

SIDE NOTE: Too, I think it’s important to be careful of scope of practice and not DIAGNOSE anything. Nothing irritates me more – other than people who refer to themselves as an “entrepreneur” or “influencer” – than a personal trainer who thinks he or she is a physical therapist or doctor and attempts to diagnose their clients:

“Ah, yes, I see your left shoulder lacks internal rotation. I think it may be cancer.”

It’s within our wheelhouse to assess movement, of course, and to use that information to help guide programming. But outside of that I implore you to stay within your lane and not get into the habit of diagnosing anything.

Okay, end rant.

Back to why someone’s shoulder hurts.

All of what I mentioned above applies and can definitely be a part of the conversation.

One factor, however, that often gets glanced over is the congruency of the shoulder blades and rib cage.

I.e., Can a concave scapula play nicely together with a convex rib cage?

One way to accomplish this is to give the Serratus Anterior muscle waaaaaaay more attention than we typically give it. The Serratus is a “reaching” muscle and helps the shoulder blade move AROUND the rib cage.

For those who have been incessantly told to keep the shoulder blades “together & back” – which, to be fair, is important to lift heavy things – it can sometimes result in faulty mechanics where they’re more or less cemented in place.

And, shoulder blades that don’t move = no bueno.

Renowned physical therapist, Shirley Sahrmann, popularized the phrase “Scapular Downward Rotation Syndrome” in her book Diagnoses and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes.

Without getting into the wordplay too much, Downward Rotation Syndrome can be the result of a few things, but the main players at play are (generally) overactive/tight Rhomboids, levator scapula, and lats. Symptoms can range anywhere from subsequent glenohumeral compensatory joint motion (joint fraying to tears) and instability to neck pain, and, in extreme cases, thoracic outlet syndrome.

It sounds like some nefarious, end-of-days stuff (and it can be).

However, rest assured the “fix” can be quite accessible.

Anything which allows more reaching (protraction), in addition to better access to rib cage expansion (movement), can be MONEY for many people.

You can see both in action in what’s undoubtedly the most boring video on the internet.

 

1️⃣ As I press my hands forward I’m thinking about reaching as far out in front of me as possible (I’m not keeping the shoulder blades still).

Hello Serratus. Nice to meet you.

2️⃣ As I progress overhead I’m reaching upward towards the ceiling with my upper traps, staying careful not to cheat via my lower back. Ribs stay down.

Not coincidentally BOTH – Serratus & Upper Traps – play an integral role in scapular upward rotation.

The shoulder blades are designed to move!

If overhead activities hurt it could be because you’ve programmed yourself to keep them in place.

3️⃣ At the top I’m OWNING the position (very important) by adding a breath: INHALE through the nose expanding the rib cage all around. Then a FULL, accentuated, EXHALE to get the ribs down and promote a canister position (rib cage stacked over pelvis).
It’s harder than it looks.

4️⃣ Pants optional.

If you want to aid better overhead motion – or just help people’s shoulders feel better – it’s imperative to get the shoulder blades and ribcage to become BFFs and to OWN better position(s).

Less band external rotation drills and more Serratus activation in concert with positional breathing.

EDIT: Props to both Luke Worthington and Conor Harris for the idea.

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Serratus Punch

Got a cool exercise for you today: the Serratus Punch.

Copyright: antoniodiaz / 123RF Stock Photo

 

NOTE: Actual exercise not pictured. More power to you if you want to pull it off though. I mean, it does work the serratus…;O)

But First – A Rookie Parenting Mistake

It was a consortium of errors this past weekend. Lisa and I were supposed to head to Toronto for our Strong Body-Strong Mind workshop.

We were pumped to go, but what made the trip an even bigger of a deal was the fact it was going to be our first attempt at bringing our almost 5-month old, Julian, with us. On a plane. Did I mention on a plane?

On a plane.

With no where to go if he acted up.

You could say we were both a little nervous. But we took solace in that the plane ride from Boston to Toronto is a pretty short one and we had a kick-ass weekend a head of us hanging out with 25+ fitness professionals.

That is until we got to the airport, through security waiting at our gate, and were then informed Julian needed a passport.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?1

In the end we had to postpone our workshop, and head back home with our tail between our legs.

Sorry Toronto. We’ll see you later this year, I promise. The man can’t keep us down.

We have a tentative date planned in September, but will confirm shortly.

Lets get to the exercise….

Serratus Punch

 

Who Did I Steal It From: This is an exercise I’ve done for several years with clients off the floor. The addition of the stability ball, though, is something I snaked from Dr. Joel Seedman.

What Does It Do: The serratus anterior is the muscle located alongside the ribcage and plays a crucial role in shoulder health and performance. Specifically, it’s main role is to aid in upward rotation of the scapulae via protraction.2

It’s a relatively innocuous muscle, but I’d venture a guess the bulk of shoulder “issues” you come across as a personal trainer or strength coach can be remedied with a little more TLC given to it.

It’s a BIG deal.

It’s a big deal especially when we start discussing one’s ability to raise his or her’s arms overhead. In order to do so, safely, three actions need to happen with the shoulder blades:

  • Upward rotation
  • Posterior tilt
  • Protraction

I feel protraction is a lost movement. More and more we’re finding people “stuck” in an extension pattern which has a domino effect up and down the kinetic chain. With regards to upper extremity movement and mechanics we find people with a more depressed (low, not sad) shoulder girdle, excessive rib flair, and shoulder blades that tend to be more adducted/retracted and downwardly rotated.

In no small part the culprit can often be pointed to execution of common strength training movements. True, in order to lift BIG weight with the “big 3” it behooves anyone to “pack” the shoulder blades together and down when setting up to bench press, deadlift, or squat.

Getting and maintaining full-body tension requires “stuff” to be locked down tight.

That being said, it’s still important to be able to access movement. While we may coach people to clamp their shoulder blades down when bench pressing, as an example, to provide more stability to the joint, that doesn’t mean this should be the case 100% of the time.

Protraction or reaching is a vital component for shoulder health and performance.

And the serratus anterior is an often neglected muscle that can have profound effects on how one’s shoulder feels.

Also, not for nothing, this is also a solid core stability exercise.

Key Coaching Cues: Since the successful execution of this exercise is predicated on one’s ability to perform a plank position that doesn’t make me want to throw up a little, lets discuss that first:

  • TENSION! – everything should be firing. Your abs, your glutes, your quadricep muscle, your eyeballs, everything.
  • You should not be “hanging out” on your lower back.

Once you’ve got that down, from there the idea is to “punch” or push away from the stability ball making sure to stay fully engaged throughout.

NOTE: I’d start with performing these off a more solid surface – like the floor – if you’re new to this.

I like to add a full exhale as I push away which will help with keeping the ribs down (and serve as a kick-ass ab workout).

Under control, lower yourself back down by retracting the shoulder blades making sure not to poke your head forward. You should still be engaged here.

Don’t relax.

Repeat for a total of 8-12 repetitions.

CategoriesExercise Technique Exercises You Should Be Doing Rehab/Prehab

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Stationary Bear Crawl

Hope everyone enjoyed the game last night.

Congrats to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos on the win.

But screw the game. Did everyone see that new Jason Bourne teaser trailer?????

 

It took all the will power I could muster not to start dry humping the television screen. I knew a Bourne movie has been in the works for a while now – because I’m a nerd and read Entertainment Weekly and hang out on IMDB – and had been anticipating something epic in the coming months now that both (Matt) Damon and (Paul) Greengrass are back on board with the franchise.

But I was NOT expecting to see a sneak peak teaser last night. I caught me completely off-guard.

The only thing more manly would have been if it showed Bourne bare knuckle fighting a grizzly bear.

On an aside – and serving as the worst segue in history – I recently recorded a video “chat” with Ryan Ketchum for the Elite Training Mentorship titled Behind the Scenes: Tony Gentilcore on Program Design Made Simple.

As a whole, the Elite Training Mentorship gives you access to monthly “inner circle” content from the likes of Eric Cressey (and the entire coaching staff of Cressey Sports Performance), Mike Robertson (and the entire coaching staff of IFAST), in addition to Tyler English, Dave “the Band Man” Schmitz, and Steve Long and Jared Woolever of Smart Group Training.

For a very fair price ($29.95/month, $299.95/year) you gain access – past and current content – to the entire library.

HOWEVER, because this is my first solo addition to the service, you go HERE you can take advantage of a special trail rate of $4.95 for the first 30 days.

That’s pretty sick if you ask me.

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Stationary Bear Crawl

 

Who Did I Steal It From: I got this bad boy from Dr. Mark Cheng when I watched his excellent DVD, Prehab=Rehab 101. In particular the exercise stems from when he covered the topic of ground based training, transitioning from primitive patterns – rolling, sphinx pose, etc – to crawling patterns.

What Does It Do: crawling (and bear crawls especially) have grown in popularity in recent years…mostly in group training environments such as boot camps and/or CrossFit classes.

However I don’t think most people understand what advantages or uses the exercise provides other than “making people tired” and provoking a cacophony of groans whenever they’re placed into a WOD.

The “making people tired” approach makes me cringe because, well, that’s when bad shit starts to happen.

The real reason(s) bear crawls carry weight in a program are as follows:

1) When performed correctly – hips level with shoulders (no excessive arching or rounding of the spine) – they’re an excellent way to train lumbo-pelvic stability/control. More importantly, they help the trainee dissociate hip movement from lumbar movement.

I like to tell people to pretend as if a glass of water or wine is lying their back upright and the objective is to not allow one drop to spill.

2) There’s extensive motor learning (or motor remembering) involved here. I’ll purposely go out of my way to not coach someone on these at the start.

I’ll demonstrate and then point to the floor and say, “your turn.” I feel like a big a-hole in saying it, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a smidgeon of entertainment and comedic relief when watching some people try to perform a bear crawl.

It’s as if some are cemented to the floor. They don’t move.

But after awhile it’s just a matter of them figuring things out and reacquainting themselves with some simple motor patterning.

If you really want to be mean have people reverse the action, or go sideways.

2) Bear crawls are also an excellent anterior core exercise (due to the aforementioned focus on lumbo-pelvic control). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a client contact me the day after saying something to the effect of “WTF, Tony, my abs are on fire today.”

Weird how when you perform something right it becomes more challenging and “stuff” is engaged to a higher degree or turned on.

3) There’s also a fair amount of serratus activity involved, which is a great fit for those with excessively adducted and/or downwardly rotated scapulae. Another BIG mistake many people make with their bear crawls is “hanging” on their shoulder blades and allowing them to touch the entire time. This causes a lot of ramifications with glenohumeral issues. The scaps should more or less move around the rib cage.

4) And, too, I can’t deny the conditioning component to the exercise. There are innumerable ways to make people hate life here. Performing them for time, for distance, dragging a bulldozer behind, it’s endless.

All that being said, oftentimes people don’t have the luxury of having turf or open space to perform traditional bear crawls.

So why not do them in place?

Key Coaching Cues: Hands under shoulders, knees under hips. Depending on one’s ability and comfort level, how wide someone has to go – base of support – will vary.

Brace abs, chin tucked. From there I’ll say “lift opposite limbs a few inches off the ground, but prevent any teeter-tottering of the torso/hips.”

Of Note: the water/wine analogy from above works well here.

Another crucial cue is to make sure the trainee pushes him or herself AWAY from the floor. Basically, make sure those bad boys are moving AROUND the rib cage.

I’ll have someone perform these for “x” number of repetitions (usually 5-8/side) or for time (15-30s).

This is a great exercise for many populations. I’ve used it with clients/athletes with chronic low back issues, as well as with clients/athletes who need to be humbled….;O)

You can always regress the exercise and have someone focus on ONE limb at a time too. Also, I’ve had people perform this in clockwise/counter-clockwise fashion, lifting/lowering each limb in both directions.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.