I hope you had a great weekend. We're getting back on an every Monday schedule with this recommended reading. Before I get to it, just a quick reminder that I just announced a new date for my one-day shoulder course. It'll be taking place near Dallas, TX on January 27. You can learn more HERE.
How Rib Cage Positioning Impacts the Pitching Delivery - CSP-MA pitching coordinator Christian Wonders wrote this up last year, and in light of a recent conversation on pitching mechanics, I wanted to bring it back to the forefront.
The 7 Keys to Longevity with Dr. Jonny Bowden - Jason Ferruggia interviewed Dr. Bowden on his up-to-date thoughts on a variety of topics: nutrition, sleep, stress, and several other factors.
Top Tweet of the Week
Ulnar deviation w/the steel club. If you’re looking for forearm drills for pitchers, here’s a good complement to the pronation/supination exercises I’ve posted in the past. Flexor carpi ulnaris protects the ulnar collateral ligament against valgus stress; this targets it. pic.twitter.com/7Ru1mfDA2C
Thanks for CP coach Greg Robins, here are this week's list of tips to fine-tune your nutrition and strength and conditioning programs.
1. Use old wrist wraps to rig up chains.
While there are some very solid products out there to rig up chains for deadlifts, sometimes you just don’t want to spend the cash. In my case it is especially true when you only need them once every four months or so. Some people may get by just fine draping the chains over a bar, but I find they tend to move around and fall off too often when using them for reps.
There is one very simple solution. You can use an old set of wrist wraps (or new ones, if you prefer), to hold the chains in place. It works out great, and is as easy as just tying the wrap around the top of the chains. If you find yourself having a similar issue getting the chains to stay in place, give this a try next time you pull against chains!
2. Avoid elbow hyperextension on pressing exercises.
Many people, especially females, have significant joint laxity. When a joint has the ability to reach undesired ranges of motion, you will often find that folks use this end range as the preferred method of getting “stable.” Instead of actively holding positions, they will continue to move until they run out of room, and rely on a les than ideal positioning. As an example, check out this picture of one of our boot camp clients on her first day doing push ups.
Without assessing for this, or keeping an eye out for it, you will find many clients performing push-ups and other pressing exercises like this. Now that you are aware of it, fix it! If you notice them hyperextending the elbows, coach them to stop at neutral!
3. Consider these tips to make Turkish get-ups less tedious.
I like the Turkish get-up. It’s a great exercise, and it makes its way, in some form or another, into most of my programs. The only issue I have with it is that it can be very tedious. While the mind numbing length of doing multiple reps per side is one turn off, there is also another issue. Due to its drawn-out nature, many of our athletes will hit one rep with great technique and then rush through the next 2 or 3. While keeping an eye on every rep and ensuring proper technique is one solution, it isn’t always feasible, especially in a semi-private setting. Instead, consider these alternatives:
a. Program a single repetition per side: I like working the get up with only one rep at a time. It allows you to go heavier, which has the benefit of forcing you to be strict with your positioning. If you go heavy enough a single rep can easily last over 30-45sec. That length has a similar time under tension to other, more common, rep schemes. When you consider there are fourteen steps to a complete get up, doing one rep is actually a lot more involved than it may seem.
b. Litter the get-up within other exercises: One thing I love to do is start and end other exercises with a Turkish get up. Some examples include doing the first half of the exercise and continuing into an overhead carry. When you reach your desired carry length you can perform the other half. Another option is to perform a certain amount of overhead presses in the standing position, half kneeling position, or floor presses in the supine position.
4. Eat more raisins.
Raisins are chalked up to be a “kid snack.” However, they are a pretty darn good option for the active population as well, especially athletes who may be looking to bulk up with a convenient, calorically dense option. Raisins provide a great source of readily usable energy for intense training sessions. Furthermore, they are an excellent source of anti-oxidants. Furthermore, they are high in calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and potassium. Not to mention they provide a decent amount of fiber as well.
As noted in Jonny Bowden’s book The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth, the grapes raisins originate as are often highly saturated in pesticides. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to look for organic varieties. Next time you are looking for a good source of fast acting carbohydrates, consider eating a handful or two of raisins!
5. Stay basic and specific when you’re unsure how long you have an athlete.
With all the information available today, it’s easy for us to jump ahead to more complex training protocols. There is no shortage of excellent programming out there, formulated by some of the brightest minds in strength and conditioning. However, many of these programs are not the right choice for the majority of the population.
While these methods have evidence to support their effectiveness, they are often used with highly trained individuals, and carried out over an extended/known period of time. In the private sector of S&C you aren’t always sure how long you’ll have an athlete.
Before you hop into contrast training, tempo training, or any other complex method, consider tapping out your potential with a more basic approach first. In many cases your end goal will be most greatly improved with a more basic approach that is specific to your desired outcome.
Take this recent study, for example. The School of Health Sciences, at The University of Ballarat in Australia studied “The Acute Effects of Conventional, Complex and Contrast Protocols on Lower Body Power.” The study looked at three different approaches to improving peak power output. The traditional approach included only counter-movement jumping. The other two included a mix of jumping and resistance training. The result favored the traditional approach for an acute improvement of peak power. This isn’t to say the other approaches wouldn’t be superior long term, but as I stated before, often times you will not have an athlete long enough to make changes with a more complex approach.
The take away is that you need to identify what you want to give an athlete by training with you. When he or she is only under your guidance for a short period of time, make that item a priority, do it often and do it well. That item may not be very specific to their sport, but the training needs to be specific to that item. In order to get an acute change in a certain quality your best bet is to give that quality the most attention.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!
Here's this week's list of recommended strength and conditioning reading:
4 Things That Will Kill You Way Before Cholesterol - This was an excellent post by Dr. Jonny Bowden. As an interesting aside, he references the book Blue Zones (about the longest living folks in the world) in this post. I actually got to spend an entire day with the author, Dan Buettner (of National Geographic), in Costa Rica. Purely by coincidence, my wife and I were on the same snorkeling trip as his family while we were on our honeymoon. It was fascinating to chat with him (he'd been on "Oprah" the week before, so I joked that hanging me was obviously the next step in career advancement!).
Outmuscling Major Depression with Creatine - Here's a cool Science Daily report on recent research that shows creatine may have merit in combating depression. It's nice to see that people are realizing that creatine isn't just safe, but actually has far more benefits than we previously thought.
Why President Obama Throws Like a Girl - I just realized that with the upcoming election, there's an outside chance that I might not be able to refer back to this old post because we might have a new president. So, I figure I ought to milk it for all it's worth now.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!
Compliments of Cressey Performance coach Greg Robins, here are this week's tips to make you just a little more awesome.
1. Consider assigning rest intervals, or using "active rest" to better facilitate the desired training effect.
Assigning rest intervals is a topic of hot debate. Many coaches are against it, some are strong advocates for it, and many don't pay much attention to it at all. My stance, as it tends to be with so many strength and conditioning topics, is "situationally dependent."
For many athletes (particularly younger or less experienced ones), assigning rest intervals simply adds an unnecessary variable. Why? It's largely because the primary goal with these athletes is developing strength and muscle mass. These goals are pretty easily achieved in novice populations. They have little to no training experience and moving weight is going to cause these adaptations, generally regardless of the amount of rest they take between sets.
In more experienced athletes, though, different strength qualities must be trained in order to further advance the transfer of training to sport improvement. In these cases, the amount of rest can definitely alter the training effect, even when moving loads of the same intensity. In his text, Special Strength Training Manual For Coaches, Yuri Verkhoshansky outlines a few basic parameters in regards to this philosophy.
Consider an example: moving a load of 70-90% of one-rep max for as many as 3-10 total repetitions over 4-8 sets, with rest intervals of 3-4 minutes, yields a training effect geared more towards explosive strength development.
Moving a similar load (70-80%) for 6-12 total repetitions over the course of 3-6 sets, with rest intervals of 1-2 minutes, yields a training effect more geared towards maximal strength and muscular hypertrophy. In both cases, the load and set/rep scheme is basically the same. However, by giving the athlete time to recover (3-4 min), we allow them to apply a near maximal output against the resistance every set. This greatly alters the result of the training.
Verkoshansky goes on to provide a number of examples where rest is the most altered variable differentiating between working on explosive capabilities rather than maximal strength, hypertrophy, or localized muscular endurance. Keep this in mind when you utilize exercises in an effort to develop explosive strength, such as jumps or throws. If your goal is to make athletes more explosive, you need to make them rest. At Cressey Performance, we do this by pairing exercises such as med ball throws with mobility drills, which forces an athlete to take more time between sets. This approach has commonly been referred to as "active" rest.
2.Teach people how to be coached.
Does this sound familiar? Your client or athlete is in the middle of a set. He or she is on rep 2 of 5 and you call out a coaching cue: "chest up!" All of a sudden, they turn their head - right in the middle of the repetition - and ask, "what?"
Needless to say, this isn't a great situation. Luckily, it is one that is easily avoided if you take the time to coach the "little" things right from the get-go. Some of you might be reading this and saying: "Duh, Greg." Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens ALL THE TIME. In fact, I bet the majority of you don't touch on the nuances of lifting and getting coached with your clients until an event like this takes place. Do everyone involved a favor: before you teach them anything concerning technique, teach them how to be coached. Make sure they understand that at no point during a lift should they turn their head, talk, or stop midway through, unless instructed to do so. A mentor of mine used to start every new client by getting them in a mock squat position and moving to various spots around them, asking if they could hear him. It was meant to prove that in order to be coached, they didn't need to move their head. Again, it seems rudimentary, but it's very important.
3. Roll your adductors on an elevated surface.
Many of you already roll out your adductors (inner thighs). However, in most cases, it is primarily done on the ground. While doing so on the ground is definitely beneficial, you will find the position to be somewhat awkward. Additionally, it is tough to apply enough pressure on the ground to actually get a good effect. Check out this video to see how we utilize an elevated surface to get into a better position; you can also utilize a med ball instead of a foam roller to improve the training effect.
I realize many gyms don't have this luxury, but you will find that using a weight bench also works, but might feel somewhat awkward. Instead of placing the opposite foot on the ground, just place the opposite knee on the ground instead to make up for the lack of surface height.
4. Go ahead, eat some chocolate!
Who doesn't like to indulge in some chocolate, and a good cry? Okay, well at least the chocolate, right? In his popular book, The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth, Dr. Jonny Bowden makes a point to include dark chocolate. Thank goodness, because that stuff is delicious! The best part is that consuming the right kind of chocolate is actually great for our health as well. For starters, cocoa is rich in flavonoids. These are compounds found in plants that help protect the organism from various toxins. When we consume the plant, we also receive the benefits of these compounds.
It is interesting to note that the flavonoids found in cocoa help synthesize nitric oxide. Every meathead knows that nitric oxide helps increase blood flow, that's why they crush NO workout products like nobody's business. Well, that and they think they're going to make them hyooooge. Seriously, though, the flavonoids ability to modulate nitric oxide has a great effect on decreasing cardiovascular issues (such as high blood pressure) and can help to improve insulin sensitivity. Seek out real chocolate bars, not the kind you find in a mini mart. Make sure it's at least 60% cocoa or more to get these benefits. Furthermore, while the fat content in real dark chocolate is primarily good fat, it does contain a fair amount of "bad" fat, so it is best consumed in moderation.
5. Volunteer or donate to charity.
This blog has never been about politics, nor will it ever be. However, with the recent releases of tax returns from both candidates in the presidential race, it's pretty awesome to see both Romney and Obama donating approximately 20% of their income in 2011 to charity. I figured this could be the first blog to highlight something that's not negative about either candidate! Hopefully more Americans will follow their lead on this front - or at least volunteer their time if they don't have the resources to contribute financially. Remember, these tips are about ways to feel better - and that includes the psychological benefit you'll receive from helping others.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!
Here's a list of recommended reading for the week:
Exercises You Should Be Doing: Half-Kneeling Band Overhead Shrug - Here, Tony Gentilcore highlights an exercise we use quite a bit at Cressey Performance with some of our athletes who are stuck in scapular downward rotation. It's a big hit with those guys with low shoulders (especially right-handed pitchers). As an aside, I actually prefer the tall kneeling version over the half-kneeling variation, but that's minutia.
An Interview with Dr. Stuart McGill: Part 1 and Part 2 - This two-part interview by Chad Waterbury with Dr. McGill was fantastic. All of McGill's work is must-read material if you're in the fields of health and human performance.
The Red Meat Scare: What Do We Make of It? - Jonny Bowden does a great job of discussing the flaws in the way some folks have interpreted some recent research on red meat consumption and its relationship to mortality.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!
As you read this, I'm probably in a post-wedding stupor somewhere in Maine - but luckily, I had the foresight to take care of blog posts for Mon-Wed before I departed for the big weekend. With that said, check out today's list of recommended reading:
Troubleshooting the Scapular Push-up - Here's a video-based blog that goes over a common technical mistake on this population scapular stabilization exercise. It also leads right into another great blog: A Quick Fix for Painful Push-ups.
Consumer Reports on Dangerous Supplements - Here's a great blog by Dr. Jonny Bowden that talks about Consumer Reports' September issue, which highlighted the most dangerous supplements - and those that it recommended.
An Interview with Dr. Charlie Weingroff - This is an excellent interview that focuses on the foot, and Charlie doesn't disappoint; he is a machine when it comes to kicking out great content.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter:
Here's this week's list of recommended reading:
When I Was Young - In this newsletter of mine from a while back, I discuss why I think young athletes are getting injured at such alarming rates nowadays. It draws quite a bit on my own experience as a young athlete "back in the day."
Dirty Nutrition, Volume 2 - This is the latest installment in Dr. Jonny Bowden's nutrition Q&A. The stuff on high-fructose alone is fantastic.
Lastly, Joel Marion's got some sweet new bonuses going on a big promo he's running at TransformationDomination.com. It's worth checking out; Joel knows transformations...
