Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, Get Strong: Eric Cressey’s Best Articles of 2010

Written on December 31, 2010 at 4:46 am, by Eric Cressey

Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better – This was obviously my biggest project of 2010.  I actually began writing the strength and conditioning programs and filming the exercise demonstration videos in 2009, and put all the “guinea pigs” through the four-month program beginning in February.  When they completed it as the start of the summer rolled around, I made some modifications based on their feedback and then got cracking on writing up all the tag along resources.  Finally, in September, Show and Go was ready to roll.  So, in effect, it took 10-11 months to take this product from start to finish – a lot of hard work, to say the least.  My reward has been well worth it, though, as the feedback has been awesome.  Thanks so much to everyone who has picked up a copy.

Optimal Shoulder Performance – This was a seminar that Mike Reinold and I filmed in November of 2009, and our goal was to create a resource that brought together concepts from both the shoulder rehabilitation and shoulder performance training fields to effectively bridge the gap for those looking to prevent and/or treat shoulder pain.  In the process, I learned a lot from Mike, and I think that together, we brought rehabilitation specialists and fitness professionals closer to being on the same page.

Why President Obama Throws Like a Girl – A lot of people took this as a political commentary, but to be honest, it was really just me talking about the concept of retroversion as it applies to a throwing shoulder – with a little humor thrown in, of course!

Overbearing Dads and Kids Who Throw Cheddar – This one was remarkably easy to write because I’ve received a lot of emails from overbearing Dads asking about increasing throwing velocity in their kids.

What I Learned in 2009 – I wrote this article for T-Nation back at the beginning of the year, and always enjoy these yearly pieces.  In fact, I’m working on my 2010 one for them now!

What a Stressed Out Bride Can Teach You About Training Success – I wrote this less than a month out from my wedding, so you could say that I had a good frame of reference.

Baseball Showcases: A Great Way to Waste Money and Get Injured – In case the title didn’t tip you off, I’m not much of a fan of baseball showcases.

Cueing: Just One Piece of Semi-Private Training Success – Part 1 and Part 2 - These articles were featured at fitbusinessinsider.com.  I enjoy writing about not only the training side of things, but some of the things we’ve done well to build up our business.

Three Years of Cressey Performance: The Right Reasons and the Right Way – This might have been the top post of the year, in my eyes. My job is very cool.

How to Attack Continuing Education in the Fitness Industry – Here’s another fitness business post.

Want to Be a Personal Trainer or Strength Coach?  Start Here. – And another!

The Skinny on Strasburg’s Injury – I hate to make blog content out of someone else’s misfortune, but it was a good opportunity to make some points that I think are very valid to the discussion of not only Stephen Strasburg’s elbow injury, but a lot of the pitching injuries we see in youth baseball.

Surely, there are many more to list, but I don’t want this to run too long!  Have a safe and happy new year, and keep an eye out for the first content of 2011, which is coming very soon!

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Weight Training For Baseball: Best Videos of 2010

Written on December 30, 2010 at 4:55 am, by Eric Cressey

I made an effort to get more videos up on the site this year, as I know a lot of folks are visual learners and/or just enjoy being able to listen to a blog, as opposed to reading it.  Here are some highlights from the past year:

The Absolute Speed to Absolute Strength Continuum – Regardless of your sport, there are valuable take-home messages.  I just used throwing velocity in baseball pitchers as an example, as it’s my frame of reference.

Should Pitchers Overhead Press? - This was an excerpt from Mike Reinold and my Optimal Shoulder Performance seminar (which became a popular DVD set for the year).

Shoulder Impingement vs. Rotator Cuff Tears – Speaking of Mike, here’s a bit from the man himself from that seminar DVD set.

Thoracic and Glenohumeral Joint Mobility Drills – The folks at Men’s Health tracked me down in the lobby at Perform Better in Providence and asked if I could take them through a few shoulder mobility drills we commonly use – and this was the result.

Cressey West – This kicks off the funny videos from the past year. A few pro baseball players that I program for in a distance-based format created this spoof video as a way of saying thank you.

Tank Nap – My puppy taking a nap in a provocative position.  What’s more cute?

Matt Blake Draft Tracker – CP’s resident court jester and pitching instructor airs his frustrations on draft day.

1RM Cable Horizontal Abduction – More from the man, the myth, the legend.

You can find a lot more videos on my YouTube page HERE and the Cressey Performance YouTube page HERE.

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Weight Training for Baseball: Featured Articles

Written on December 29, 2010 at 7:24 am, by Eric Cressey

I really enjoy writing multi-part features here at EricCressey.com because it really affords me more time to dig deep into a topic of interest to both my readers and me.  In many ways, it’s like writing a book.  Here were three noteworthy features I published in 2010:

Understanding Elbow Pain - Whether you were a baseball pitcher trying to prevent a Tommy John surgery or recreational weightlifter with “tennis elbow,” this series had something for you.

Part 1: Functional Anatomy
Part 2: Pathology
Part 3: Throwing Injuries
Part 4: Protecting Pitchers
Part 5: The Truth About Tennis Elbow
Part 6: Elbow Pain in Lifters

Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture – This series was published more recently, and was extremely well received.  It’s a combination of both quick programming tips and long-term modifications you can use to eliminate poor posture.

Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture: Part 1
Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture: Part 2
Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture: Part 3
Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture: Part 4

A New Paradigm for Performance Testing – This two-part feature was actually an interview with Bioletic founder, Dr. Rick Cohen.  In it, we discuss the importance of testing athletes for deficiencies and strategically correcting them.  We’ve begun to use Bioletics more and more with our athletes, and I highly recommend their thorough and forward thinking services.

A New Paradigm for Performance Testing: Part 1
A New Paradigm for Performance Testing: Part 2

I already have a few series planned for 2011, so keep an eye out for them!  In the meantime, we have two more “Best of 2010″ features in store before Friday at midnight.

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Tiny Tim No More

Written on December 25, 2009 at 6:03 pm, by Eric Cressey

I hope everyone had a great holiday. I am out of town visiting family, but in my absence, I thought you might be interested in checking out this article about Tim Collins and his training at Cressey Performance.  Tim was recently named Toronto Blue Jays organizational Pitcher of the Year on MLB.com.

Tiny Tim No More

Have a great weekend!

Stuff You Should Read: 12/23/09

Written on December 23, 2009 at 9:38 am, by Eric Cressey

I’m a bit tied up with holiday preparation stuff on top of the regular CP goings-on, so I thought I’d use today to throw out some recommended reading for the week:

Cardio Strength Training – I just got my copy of Robert dos Remedios’ new book in the mail.  I was honored to have contributed to it, and it’s an awesome resource with a ton of protocols and exercises that you can implement to make conditioning a lot more interesting.  For those of you looking to drop some fat in the new year, this is a must-have.

Only One Body – This is an excellent post from Mike Boyle that really helps to put things in perspective.  Quick read; check it out!

Medicine Ball Madness – This old newsletter talks a bit about how we attack medicine ball training with our baseball guys.  In 2010, I’ll be presenting on this concept in a lot more detail at my Perform Better appearances.

Weighted Baseballs: Safe and Effective, or Stupid and Dangerous?

Written on December 15, 2009 at 7:43 am, by Eric Cressey

I get asked relatively frequently whether we use weighted baseballs with our pitchers, and if so, how they are incorporated.  I figured it’d be worth a post to outline my thoughts.  To answer these questions:

Do you use weighted baseballs?

Yes, with some of our pitchers.  The asterisk that follows this statement is that they’re only implemented with those who have built a decent foundation of strength and mastered the fundamental mechanics of throwing a regular (5oz) baseball.  So, the athletes we have that may be utilizing weighted baseballs are some of our pro guys, college guys, and more advanced high school guys.  It is NOT something I think coaches should just implement on a gross scale with unprepared 13-year-old kids.

But aren’t weighted baseballs dangerous?

The first response that comes to mind is “Who decided a baseball should be 50z?”  It’s actually a very arbitrary number.

Quarterbacks throw 14-16oz footballs (140z is the dry weight; balls actually become heavier as they’re used more).  And, you could say that a lot of quarterbacks throw every day – and potentially even more than pitchers throw.  Yet, they have far fewer elbow and shoulder problems than pitchers – and usually far less coaching on the mechanics of throwing than pitchers.

Granted, there are differences in the way that footballs are thrown, as compared to baseballs, but you have to consider that tripling the weight of the ball would increase arm stress, right?  Wrong!

If you increase the weight of the implement, you slow down the arm action.  In other words, you move further to the right on the absolute speed>>>>absolute strength continuum.  In other words, weighted baseballs comprise a medium between traditional throwing drills (bullpens, long toss, flat ground drills) and what one encounters with medicine ball work and resistance training.  If you slow down the arm action a bit, the deceleration demands drop – and it appears to be more arm-friendly.

How are weighted baseballs incorporated?

First, let me make two things abundantly clear:

1. You should never throw a weighted baseball off a mound (arm stress is higher when elevated) or with long-toss.  We do all our weighted ball drills into a tarp/net from about 6-8 feet away.

2. You don’t play catch with weighted baseballs.  Someone will get hurt if you try.  Throw the ball, then walk to pick it up.

We don’t start throwing weighted baseballs until we’ve built guys up on their long tossing and the arm is 100% ready.  In other words, weighted ball work starts up right around the time that bullpens start.  As an example, most of our guys start throwing right after Thanksgiving, and pick up bullpens around January 10 after about 5-6 weeks of long-tossing and flat-ground drill work with the 5oz ball.  The entire throwing program for them encompasses about 14 weeks (sometimes a bit longer or shorter, depending on the individual).

As an example, as I wrote previously, we used weighted balls with Oakland A’s minor league prospect Shawn Haviland last off-season, and he made a nice velocity jump from 87-88 to 90-94 in a single off-season.  Looking back at Shawn’s program, his first session with weighted baseballs was January 11, and his last one was February 18th – so it wasn’t something he was doing year-round or in-season.

We have, however, had scenarios where guys have used weighted baseballs to get ready for fall throwing appearances (for example, the World Wood Bat Tournament in Jupiter, FL every October).  These guys push their winter throwing programs back because they accumulated mileage on their arms in the fall (one reason I don’t love fall baseball, but it’s part of the game as it’s played nowadays).

When the time comes to implement the weighted baseball drills, they are either done as after long toss, after a bullpen, or as a stand-alone training session.  They are never done before a bullpen, which comprises complete specificity with which you don’t want to interfere.

All of our weighted baseball drills generally take place in the 7-11oz range.  I do, however, know some very bright minds in the field who will go heavier.

We always bring the athlete back to the normal 5oz ball at the end of each set.  So, it might be three throws at 7oz, three throws at 9oz, and then three throws at 5oz, then rest.  Other coaches may build all the way up (five at 7oz, five at 9oz, and five at 11oz) and then work their way back down to 5oz at the end of the session.  Personally, I prefer to keep the learning loop short and keep the athlete cognizant of the 5oz feel with repeated sets as opposed to one big one.

Matching the drill to the weight of the ball is absolutely imperative, too.  As a general rule of thumb, I do not go above 8oz for any drill that has a considerable lay-back (as pictured below) component, as the stress on the elbow is already pretty high in this position.

We can go considerably heavier with drills that are more focused on what’s happening out in front of the body, though.

Which weighted baseballs do you use?

We use this set from BaseballExpress.com; it includes 7-12oz balls, which is sufficient for most individuals.

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The Truth About Strength Training for Kids

Written on December 7, 2009 at 7:00 am, by Eric Cressey

A while back, I attended a seminar in Houston, and while the primary topic was how to improve pitching performance, one of my biggest takeaways was with respect to adolescent physiological development.  Long-time Phillies rehabilitation consultant Phil Donley presented some excellent data on when bones actually become skeletally mature.  The next day, another speaker made a what was, in my opinion, an uninformed comment about how kids shouldn’t strength train at young ages because it would stunt their growth.

Let’s start with Donley’s very intriguing numbers (which have actually been available in the literature for over two decades now); we’ll stick with the shoulder girdle just to keep things to-the-point.  In a baseball population, the epiphysial plate most commonly injured from throwing at the shoulder is located at the proximal humerus (Little League Shoulder); this physis (growth plate) accounts for about 80% of humeral growth, and matures by age 19 in most folks.

We’ve seen a lot of kids come through our door with this issue because of throwing (internal rotation of the humerus during throwing is the fastest motion in sports) and even some traumatic falls – but I can honestly say that I’ve NEVER seen one from strength training.  So, anecdotal evidence for me shows that strength training for kids is far from what could be considered “dangerous” for developing bones.

Now, here’s where it gets more interesting: bone maturation isn’t uniform across the body.  While the proximal humeral growth plate might mature at 19, the distal (down by the elbow) physis is finished between ages 10 and 16.  The proximal and distal radius plates might mature anywhere between 14 and 23.  Meanwhile, the clavicle matures at ages 22-25, and the scapula generally matures by age 22.  How many of you have ever heard of a college football being held out of weight training for all four years of his participation because all that bench pressing might stunt the growth of his clavicles and scapulae?  It just doesn’t happen!  In reality, we know that the strength training benefits of increased muscle size and strength actually protect him from injury on the field.

In other words, violent (throwing) and traumatic (falling) events far exceed any stress on a young athlete’s bones that we could possibly apply in a strength training setting, where the environment is controlled and overload is gradually and systematically increased over time as the athlete becomes more comfortable with it.  I’d make the argument that a young athlete should start resistance training as early as his/her attention span allows for it; the emphasis, of course, would be on body weight exercises, technical improvement, and – most importantly – keeping things fun.

If you really think about it, an athlete is placing a ton of stress (4-6 times body weight in ground reaction forces, depending on who you ask) each time he/she strides during the sprinting motion.  Kids jump out of trees all the time.  They lug around insanely heavy backpacks relative to their body mass.  Performance, general health, and self-esteem benefits aside, it’s only right to give them a fighting chance in trying to avoid injury.

Also, another great point Phil made (although it was on an unrelated topic, it pertains to us) was that as an adolescent athlete grows, his center of gravity moves further up from the ground.  This is a big part of the “lapse” in coordination we see in kids during their growth spurts.  A little bit of strength goes a long way with respect to maintaining the center of gravity within the base of support, and makes an athlete more comfortable “playing low” (hip and knee flexion) to bring that center of gravity closer to the base of support.

All that said, appropriate resistance training is not only safe for kids; it’s also tremendously beneficial.  In a review just published by Faigenbaum and Myer, the authors concluded:

Current research indicates that resistance training can be a safe, effective and worthwhile activity for children and adolescents provided that qualified professionals supervise all training sessions and provide age-appropriate instruction on proper lifting procedures and safe training guidelines. Regular participation in a multifaceted resistance training program that begins during the preseason and includes instruction on movement biomechanics may reduce the risk of sports-related injuries in young athletes.

Dr. Avery Faigenbaum has actually published a ton of great research (including position stands for numerous organizations) on the topic of strength training for kids in recent years; you can find all of it by searching for his last name at www.pubmed.com.

In the meantime, I hope this blog can help to eliminate the gross misconception in the general population that resistance training can’t be beneficial for children.  When performed correctly and made fun, it is safe and provides tremendous benefits to kids in both the pre-adolescent and adolescent stages.

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Band Work after Pitching?

Written on December 4, 2009 at 6:15 am, by Eric Cressey

As you read this, I’m presenting at the Ultimate Pitching Coaches Bootcamp in Houston, TX.  As such, it seems fitting to devote today’s blog to some pitching content.

A question I get pretty often is what I think of light band work for pitchers the day after pitching.  The truth is that I’m pretty apathetic about the use of bands, but I am adamant about the inclusion of post-throwing stretching to regain lost flexibility.  Research from Reinold et al. demonstrated that pitchers lose both elbow extension and shoulder internal rotation range of motion (ROM) over the course of a competitive season, and it’s no surprise, given the huge eccentric (deceleration) stress those arms encounter during the throwing motion.  Anecdotally, my experience has been that they also lose hip internal rotation and knee flexion on the front leg.  So, you don’t just want to take care of shoulder range of motion; you also want to attend to hip ROM.

Here’s the side-lying cross-body stretch, one of my favorite self-stretches for improving shoulder internal rotation.  I tend to use it more than the sleeper stretch nowadays because it’s generally a lot tougher to butcher the form.  It’s important to stabilize the scapula down and back before the cross-body pull.  This should not be an aggressive stretch!  If you are gentle but consistent with it, the ROM will come around in time.

You can find more ways to both identify and address shoulder and hip rotational imbalances in Assess & Correct.

So, flexibility is a must, but light band work may have a place as well.  There’s a lot of muscular damage, and some very light bloodflow work may assist in rotator cuff recovery, as it tends to have a poor blood supply.  I go into more detail on how we train our pitchers after an outing in A New Model for Training Between Starts: Part 2.

For more information, check out Optimal Shoulder Performance.

Click here to purchase the most comprehensive shoulder resource available today: Optimal Shoulder Performance – From Rehabilitation to High Performance.

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Developing Young Pitchers the Safe Way

Written on December 2, 2009 at 9:42 am, by Eric Cressey

This is another excellent guest post from Matt Blake.

Now that fall sports are beginning to wrap up and the winter training season is upon us, I thought it might be timely to contribute some more information for the youth baseball development community.

Recently, I have been running some pitching clinics on the weekends for the 9-12 year old age group – and it got me thinking a lot about the importance of proper development for the youth baseball player.  This is especially true in what has been traditionally considered a “dead period” or off-season for baseball players in the Northeast.

For better or worse, I believe this mentality is beginning to change a lot, as the greater population is forcing players to become more and more specialized at earlier ages. This may not be true across the board, but there are definitely some undertones driving this movement, such as showcases during the December/January months, where players are expected to show up to a workout and light-up a radar gun in order to impress college coaches or scouts. This thought alone might send shivers down Eric’s spine and will probably hold its own as a blog topic in the near future.

To give you an idea, one study published by Olsen et al (2006) at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, AL actually documented that injured baseball players (requiring elbow or shoulder surgery) went to four times as many showcases as those who were in the healthy control group!

Now, I certainly can’t say I think specialization at a young age is a healthy thing with regard to developing baseball players, as there are tremendous demands placed on the body in the act of throwing a baseball overhead.  But at the same time, if players and parents decide that is what they would like to do and it is in the best interest of the kid, there needs to be a safe way to approach development during this time period for this population.

When I say this population, I’m speaking to the baseball population as a whole, but when I say a “safe approach,” there obviously needs to be some clarification on the intended goals and ambitions of the particular player.

Some of the major concerns that I believe need to be addressed before engaging a player in a throwing session include:

-How much has this player thrown over the last day/week/month/year? Has he taken any breaks in his development to rest his arm for at least three weeks (at the very minimum)?

- Has he complained of arm pain during practice or competition during this period? If so, where was the pain? How often did it occur and to what degree?

These are just a few of the important signs and indicators that need to be tracked throughout the year, specialized winter training or not.  The study referenced above by Olsen et al identifies a host of other variables found in the injured population and should be a must read for anyone who is working with amateur baseball players.

Now there are obviously a lot of different ways to look at this, so I’ll try to explain what I think “proper development” means for players depending on their age range, and the level of performance they desire to reach.

This winter alone, I will be aiding the development of pitchers ranging from the professional and collegiate baseball players taking part in Eric’s Elite Baseball Development Program all the way down to the 9-12 year old population, where players are trying to figure out how to throw a baseball in the right direction.

Obviously, the pro players are extremely specialized and probably have been for awhile. A lot of their development has already occurred and their windows for adaptation are a lot smaller, so we’re working more towards preparing them to handle the stress of a 140+ games than we are skill refinement.

On the other end of the spectrum, the 9-12 year olds one might be dealing with are incredibly raw and undeveloped with huge windows of adaptation ahead of them from pure maturation of their bodies to the development of their motor patterns. This time period is huge for kids to begin ironing out the proper motor patterns that they will use to refine their athletic skills in their teen years of development.

With this in mind, a substantial amount of throwing might not be in their best interest and maybe getting more athletic in general would be more beneficial in the long term. How can you expect a player to repeat his mechanics with any sense of consistency if he doesn’t understand how his body even works? One way that I like to spend time with this type of player is to extend the warm-up and movement training portion of these clinics to really drive home the importance of being in good physical shape.  We also use more group oriented video analysis sessions for the players and parents to point out what common mechanical faults look like in this age group, and what verbal cues the parent might be able to use to help correct when playing catch on their own.

I actually find this portion of the clinic to be the most beneficial for all involved, because when you think about it, you only get about 3 to 4 hours with these players in a clinic setting. In order to get the information to settle in for these players, it needs to be constantly reinforced as their mind and bodies continue to develop. This is where mom or dad need to be informed, because they are the ones who will do much of the reinforcing, whether or not they are qualified to teach their son to throw a baseball. The more information they can have at their disposal and the more teaching tools you can give them, the better off they will be at aiding their child’s development in the backyard.

This is the main reason why Eric and I are holding a FREE clinic this coming Tuesday, Dec 8^th at 7pm for parents and coaches in the area, who are interested in learning more about how to prepare and protect the amateur baseball player.  We’ll be discussing the current injury epidemic in youth baseball, how it stems from overuse in competition, and what some of the major developmental needs are for the youth baseball player. If you’re interested in attending, please RSVP to CresseyPerformance@gmail.com.  Hopefully we’ll see some of you there!

Matt Blake can be reached at mablak07@gmail.com.

Click here to purchase the most comprehensive shoulder resource available today: Optimal Shoulder Performance – From Rehabilitation to High Performance.

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Random Friday Thoughts: 10/9/09

Written on October 9, 2009 at 8:10 am, by Eric Cressey

1. Okay, first and foremost, keep an eye out for Monday’s blog, where Mike Reinold and I will officially open registration for our one-day, limited enrollment seminar.  I’ll have a special discount code in place for my readers to get $30 off the cost of registration for the first week only – but to be very honest, with the small size of the event, I can’t imagine that it’ll be a full week before it fills up.  Keep an eye on this blog EARLY on Monday morning if you want to reserve your spot.

2.Here’s another little teaser for you on the shoulder .  I remember hearing in a seminar last year with Kevin Wilk that scapular retraction increases subacromial space by up to 200%.  Those of you familiar with this stuff should know that the size of the subacromial space is a darn good predictor of shoulder pathology (check out my impingement series, part 1 and part 2 for details).  It’s not a large space in the first place, but if you have factors – including bone spurring, a type 3 acromion, or just terrible scapular positioning – you’ll run into problems pretty quickly, particularly with overhead movements.

Now, think about the cornerstone of most traditional shoulder rehabilitation programs: rotator cuff strengthening.  Now, while cuff strengthening is obviously super important, it really is only half (at most) of the equation.  The cuff will help to preserve the subacromial space reasonably well because it (when healthy and strong) stabilizes the humeral head (shoulder “ball”) in the glenoid fossa (shoulder “socket”).  However, if the scapula is excessively protracted, that glenoid fossa won’t be in the right place.

What puts the scapula in a good position?  Loads of work for the lower trapezius and serratus anterior – and, further down the chain, improving thoracic spine mobility, core stability, and hip mobility.  The cuff is just the tip of what is a very big iceberg…and that’s why we’re doing an entire seminar!

3. I’m writing about three blogs early this week because Cressey Performance’s Brian St. Pierre is getting married on Saturday.  Those of you who may be in attendance will be able to easily recognize Tony Gentilcore and I thanks to our keen fashion sense:

Kidding aside, Brian is a huge asset to our business, as he brings a unique skill-set to our methodology and is a big hit with all our clients.  We’re all really happy for him and his fiancee.  Head on over to his blog and give him some love.

4. On Thursday, I put in some work to update the Baseball Content section of the website.  It basically just compiles all the baseball-related writing I’ve done in one place.  Check it out!

5. It’s playoff time, so you know what that means: time for the wheels to come off for the Yankees (the commentary on this is great).

Have a great weekend!