Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 7/18/11

Written on July 18, 2011 at 5:37 am, by Eric Cressey

It’s time to kick off the week with some recommended reading:

Meet the Real John Berardi – Dr. John Berardi is a guy I really admire for the way he’s built up a successful business (Precision Nutrition) and large following the right way: with fantastic information and and awesome “way” of getting through to people.  As I read this, it makes me appreciate that I could learn a lot from the good doctor on managing my personal time effectively, too!

Men’s Health: Coffee and Alzheimer’s Disease – I stumbled onto this Men’s Health blog by accident, but was very intrigued.  My grandfather passed away last fall after a long battle with Alzheimer’s, and he absolutely loved coffee.  In the past, I’ve read stories about how the body seems to know how to self-medicate, and reading this blog about the association between coffee consumption and reduced Alzheimer’s symptoms makes me wonder if Gramp knew something we didn’t.

Two Red Sox Prospects and Former Ivy League Rivals Find Common Ground – This ESPN Boston story features Cressey Performance athlete Matt Kramer, who has made the switch from catching to pitching in the middle of his pro career.

Last, but certainly not least, don’t miss out on Everything Elbow, the staff in-service I filmed last week.

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Dean Somerset Interviews Me – Part 1

Written on March 14, 2011 at 6:34 am, by Eric Cressey

I recently was interviewed by Dean Somerset, and thought that interview might be of interest to all of you.  He asked some great questions that deviated from the hackneyed “tell us about yourself” and “what’s your philosophy?”  Check it out below.

DS: You have a very busy facility that trains pretty much every baseball player in the eastern seaboard, you write a daily blog, and write for T-Nation, Men’s Health, etc, etc, etc. On top of that, you train like a demon and have a wife and puppy that need the occasional quality time. Have you found some rip in the space-time continuum or managed to clone yourself in order to get all this done?? What’s your secret for time management and productivity?

EC: I inherited my late grandfather’s love of coffee and managed to find a wife who is quite understanding (although she thinks I am a crazy workaholic as well).

Kidding aside, while I have picked up on some good time management strategies over the years, the truth is that I am still very much a work in progress.  The main problem is that when things are going well, it’s tough to cut back – so instead, you keep pushing the bar higher.

When I’m tired and overworked, I usually just remind myself that this is how it’s supposed to be when you start a business.  While I’ve been writing articles since I was 20, the truth is that Cressey Performance is just 3.5 years old.  Read any entrepreneurship textbook and it’ll tell you that the first five years are the most challenging and include the longest hours.  Things have definitely gotten better since 2006-2007, which was undoubtedly the most hours I’ve ever worked, but I’m not ready to rest on my laurels and pat myself on the back.

As for strategies on how to get things done, loving what you do is the most important thing.  If you don’t enjoy it, the hours go by very slowly.

I actually outlined a few strategies in this blog post as well: How Do You Find Time for Everything?

Lastly, I’m very lucky to have an excellent staff that does an awesome job.  When you have good people working all around you, time management is a lot easier – as you don’t have to waste time second-guessing everything they do.

DS: I bumped into you waiting for a sandwich at the NSCA conference in Las Vegas last year and joked about how you were easy to pick out as you and your whole crew were wearing Cressey Performance T-shirts and other paraphernalia. For trainers looking to create an image or brand and increase their exposure, what should they do besides printing off kick-ass T-shirts and setting up Facebook pages to increase their drawing power?

EC: Treat people right, overdeliver on all your promises, and focus on results.  I’ve had quite a few people tell me that I’m a good marketer over the years – but they are remarkably surprised when I tell them that we haven’t spent a penny on advertising since we opened Cressey Performance.  The truth is that we have grown 100% by word of mouth; our clients are our marketers.

If we make a t-shirt, it’s to give our athletes a sense of ownership in Cressey Performance and help them feel at home.  If we create a Facebook page, it’s to build camaraderie among our clients, disseminate information to make their lives easier, educate them, and help connect them.  If we write blogs about our athletes, it’s because we’re proud of them and want to recognize their achievements.  If we write blogs about our area of focus, it’s because we feel like we have valuable information to share that can really help people.

In other words, the client experience – both in terms of enjoyment and results – is at the center of everything we do.  You don’t get exposure and build a brand unless you get results and make people happy.

DS: The sacroiliac (SI) joint is a tricky bugger, it’s not the low back and it’s not technically the mobile part of the hip. What do you do with any suspected sacroiliac dysfunction issues to get them moving and reduce pain?

EC: Well, I think that the first step is determining whether whatever is going on is clinically within my scope of practice, and if not, who the right referral is for them.  Two minds are always going to be better than one in solving a problem, and there are specific interventions (e.g., manual therapy) that I can’t offer that would expedite their recovery.  So, the first step is appreciating that I’d likely be working hand-in-hand with someone else to make sure that we’re covering all the important things.  It’s not feasible from a time or skill-set standpoint for me to handle everything, nor would it guarantee the best outcomes (even if that individual did wind up symptom free).

That said, I think that one problem we run into nowadays with respect to this particular issue is that everyone just wants to call one-sided back pain “sacroiliac dysfunction.”  It’s almost become a “shin splint” or “impingement” garbage diagnosis that really doesn’t tell us a whole lot about how someone moves.  Many of the folks we’ve seen come through our doors over the years with “sacroiliac dysfunction” have actually been those with previous soft tissue injuries in the area, or even folks with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) that has just led to chronic spasming in the area because they couldn’t flex or internally rotate the hip sufficiently (particularly in closed chain).  They don’t necessarily have sacroiliac dysfunction; they just have pain on one side that happens to be somewhat near the SI joint.

The truth is that in 85% of cases, lower back pain has no definitive diagnosis.  Even still, over 80% of people have disc bulges or herniations that they don’t even know are there; they’re completely asymptomatic. So, even if we could diagnosis what was structurally wrong in all the cases, we’d never know that it’s exactly what’s causing the pain.  So, we have to look to movement – and here’s what I’ve most commonly seen:

1. Left AIC/Right BC patterning – If you look at the Postural Restoration Institute philosophy, they talk extensively about how many people (especially right handed individuals) are “stuck” in right stance: right hip adduction, internal rotation, and posterior rotation.  Not surprisingly, you see more hip surgeries (labral repairs, sport hernia surgeries, and FAI cases) on the right side – but you also see a lot more sacral injections on that side.  Get people out of right stance – even if you just yell at them every time you see them sinking back into the right hip in standing – can make a big difference.  The PRI folks also have a myriad of corrective drills – from breathing patterning to muscle re-education – to bring people back to center (even if true symmetry isn’t a reality).

2. Poor Motor Control and Strength of the Glutes – We spend a lot of time on our butts – so much, in fact, that they shut down.  The gluteus maximus is active in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes, so it’s a big player in hip stability and femoral control. If you don’t use your glutes in the sagittal plane, you’ll hyperextend at the lumbar spine as a compensation (and increase your risk of excessive anterior glide of the femoral head secondary to hamstrings dominance in hip extension).  If you don’t control the femur in the transverse and frontal planes, you’ll end up in excessive adduction and internal rotation – which is “no bueno,” as I described in the previous example.

3. Poor Hip Rotation (and mobility in general) – This works hand-in-hand with the previous two factors, but warrants mention on its own. Vad et al. found that lead hip internal rotation correlated with a history of back pain in golfers, but the problem extends further than just rotational sport athletes.  You need a fair amount of hip internal rotation to squat, so if you’re lacking it – yet including squatting or athletic activity that requires it – it’s not unreasonable to assume that the lumbar spine (or sacroiliac joint) will get a big angry at you eventually.  Likewise, if you have a structural hip issue (like the aforementioned FAI), the lower back is often the first place where people become symptomatic.

4. Poor Thoracic Spine Mobility – Charlie Weingroff made a great point that the thoracic spine is an even bigger player in the joint-by-joint approach than just about any other segment, as it interacts directly with the scapulae, rib cage (respiratory system), lumbar spine, and cervical spine.  Just about everyone is stiff in the T-spine, aside from some of the pitchers I see with freaky mobility.  Asymmetrical t-spine mobility is a centerpiece of the PRI philosophy in light of their heavy focus on respiratory function.  The area I see this being a big player the most is in rotational sport athletes, as the thoracic spine allows for continued creation of elastic energy when hip range-of-motion is maxed out – and it’s also essential for creating a longer deceleration arc – whether we’re talking about throwing or swinging/shooting.

5. Poor Core Stability – Here’s my turn to use a garbage term, but let’s be honest: most of the 25% of Americans in low back pain at any given point are the ones who don’t do anything that even closely resembles exercise.  Then they go out to shovel snow, play catch with their kids, or just put on their socks – and their backs go.  They don’t need to be absolute physical specimens to get through life pain free; they just need enough stability to buttress against shear stress and create enough multi-directional stability to handle compression.

6. Soft Tissue Quality – This one is a bit of an X factor and not the answer for everyone, but I won’t lie: I have seen people with years of back pain who get immediate and lasting relief from symptoms following more aggressive soft tissue treatments like Graston and Active Release.  If you use (or overuse) muscles, they can get fibrotic over time.  This tends to work more commonly in a trained population than an untrained population because they’ve accumulated more wear and tear over the years.  The point is simply that you can’t overlook tissue health, especially if there is a previous history of strain.

Check back soon for the second half of this interview.

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Everything You Need to Know About Assess and Correct

Written on January 18, 2011 at 5:33 am, by Eric Cressey

We sometimes get questions about how our products differ from one another, so Mike Robertson stepped up and created the following webinar to describe a bit about one of our most popular products, Assess and Correct.  If you’re on the fence about purchasing, this should help with your decision.

“Assess and Correct may be the most comprehensive corrective exercise product on the market.  I feel this DVD is a must have for anyone looking to make positive changes in their athletes’ bodies – or their own.

The assessment section provides simple and detailed information for tests that can help anyone become more aware of their body’s limitations while the correction progressions offer forward thinking solutions that guarantee optimal performance.

Eric, Bill and Mike have done it again!”

Mike Irr
Head Strength & Conditioning Coach, Charlotte Bobcats

“Assess and Correct is the most useful physical evaluation tool I’ve ever seen. It’s like having instant access to the knowledge that Hartman, Robertson, and Cressey have gained through years of experience studying anatomy and human movement, and working with real people.

“But most important, it’s presented in a way that you can put it to use immediately. In fact, the design of the manual is genius because you’re given a series of simple tests to identify postural and movement problems, followed by smart exercise progressions–which you can tailor to a client’s ability—to correct any issues. So it’s a powerful tool that will help any coach create more effective training plans, customized to an individual’s true NEEDS. The upshot: Assess and Correct will make any fitness professional better at what he or she does.

“One other note: Because I’m a fitness journalist, the authors offered me a free manual for review (common in the industry), but I had already purchased it. When they tried to refund my money, I requested that they not. The reason: I found the material to be so valuable that I felt like I SHOULD paid for it. I’m not sure there’s any testimonial I could give that’s better than that.”

Adam Campbell
Fitness Director, Men’s Health

Click here to purchase Assess and Correcting: Breaking Barriers to Unlock Performance!

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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Random Monday Thoughts: 9/13/10

Written on September 13, 2010 at 3:09 am, by Eric Cressey

1. In today’s big news, I simply want to tell you to be on the lookout for a HUGE week here at EricCressey.com.

First, we’re going to be having some awesome content in conjunction with the launch of my new product, Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better.

Expect some awesome video content and more details about the product over the next week – but if you want to see it, you need to make sure that you are signed up for my newsletter.  If you haven’t already done so, you can subscribe using the following opt-in form (which will also get you access to a sweet deadlifting tutorial):

Along these same lines, the new and improved EricCressey.com will be debuting alongside the launch of Show and Go on the 20th.  It will blow our current set-up out of the water.

2. I’m going to be relatively brief today, as I’m headed down to Reebok’s corporate headquarters in Canton, MA this morning to film some videos on the needs and benefits of strength and conditioning.  I’ve been down there a few times with some of our pro guys who have endorsement deals when they’ve shopped in the athlete/employee store, and the entire “campus” is pretty darn impressive:

3. The good folks at Men’s Health tracked me down for an on-the-fly video tutorial in the lobby at Perform Better in Providence back in June, and the video is now available online. It goes through a few example of thoracic and glenohumeral joint mobility drills we use with our athletes. A special thanks goes out to CP intern Dave Rak for his help in demonstrating this while I was coaching it.

You can find more drills like these (and the rationale for them) on our Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set.

4. While this article isn’t as shocking to those of us in the fitness industry who are appalled at the ridiculously low standards our industry has set for allowing someone to become a personal trainer, I’m sure it was to the general public who read it.  And, it’s very well written.  Check it out: For a Price, Area Firm Certifies the Novice as a Fitness Expert.  Sad, but true.

5. My fiancee and I have a minor league pitcher staying with us for a week while he’s in town to get evaluated and do some training on a post-rehab stint.  He’ll head back to his hometown through the end of the year, and then come back to train with us for the nine weeks leading up to spring training.

On Thursday night, we were watching the NFL season opening in my living room – and I was writing programs on my laptop.  He commented something along the lines of “Damn, you really do work all day, don’t you?”  As I thought about it, I guess I really do.  I’m usually up at 6AM to make breakfast and see my fiancee before she heads off to work, and then I go right to writing/consulting work up through about 10:15AM, when I head over to the facility, get in my lift, and then coach from 12PM to 6PM or so.  Then, it’s back home – often to do more programming, answer emails, and – right now – finish up this new project.

He asked me what my ultimate career goal was, and I told him that it essentially amounted to doing my writing in the morning, and then coaching my pro/college guys during the day, and then 1-2 hours of high school guys right after school.  He looks at me and goes, “That’s still a nine-hour day, man!”

As you can probably tell, I’m not particularly good about shutting things down.  The reason is really simple: I love what I do.  I still need to get better at turning it off more often, though!

6. On a related note, our pro baseball off-season is in full swing now.  I did one evaluation on Wednesday and three on Thursday – on top of the guys who have already started up (or are working off some of our programs elsewhere in the country before they come up).  It should be a great crew of guys getting after it, and we’re all really excited about what the next six months has in store for us.  Thus far, the most entertaining moment has been Royals’ prospect Tim Collins’ triumphant return to Cressey Performance – where he walked around the gym and high-fived all 20 or so clients (even the ones he didn’t know) who were in the facility at the time.

7. Our boy is back – and the offer to train for free at CP still stands for him!

Random Tuesday Thoughts: 7/27/10

Written on July 27, 2010 at 6:00 am, by Eric Cressey

1. I haven’t done a “Random Friday Thoughts” blog in a while, so in the spirit of randomness, I thought I’d throw you a curveball and kick off the week with some Tuesday random thoughts.

2. Last week, I booked two plane tickets to Halifax, Nova Scotia for my fiancee and I.  She’s a bridesmaid in a wedding up there in a few weeks, so I’ll be making the trip as well.  As part of being what amounts to a “third wheel” for the weekend (the only people I know other than Anna in the entire wedding are the bride and groom), I’ll have quite a bit of downtime while in the area.  Any readers out there have any suggestions for what to do in Halifax?  It’s not hockey season, and I don’t drink Molson, so I’m at a bit of a loss…

Also, just out of curiosity, when did one have to sell off all his/her internal organs in order to afford a flight to Halifax?  Roundtrip airfare was over $1,500, and Air Canada followed up with an email that said, “We also mandate that you name your first child after us.”

3. I wrote a guest blog for Men’s Health last week; check it out: A Quick Fix for Stiff Shoulders.

4. Also on the writing note, I’ve written a few guest chapters lately.  The first was a strength and conditioning chapter for an upcoming pitching book for young baseball players and their parents.  The second (which is still a work in progress) is a chapter for a new IYCA project.  So far, it’s coming along really well – and I’m really honored to be on-board for this with a group of really talented guys who are trying to do something very special.

5. Tonight (Tuesday), Boston Red Sox Head Athletic Trainer (and Optimal Shoulder Performance co-creator) Mike Reinold is hosting a free webinar: “What’s New for 2010.”  Click here for more information.

6. Speaking of Mike, he had a great post last week about Epicondylitis and Cervical Radiculopathy.  It’s a great adjunct to my “Understanding Elbow Pain” series from back in May.  If you missed it, here’s a link to the sixth (final) installment (and you can link back to the previous five).

7. I realized the other day that there is one big thing I’ve always considered in our training programs for pitchers, but failed to mention on this blog: they need both open- and closed-chain hip mobility, as the right and left hips must rotate independently of one another during the stride to the plate. Here’s a good example:

You can see that Beckett is just short of stride foot contact here – which means that he’s at just about maximal hip external rotation on the lead leg…in open chain motion.  The femur is rotating on the acetabulum.

Meanwhile, he’s riding out his trailing leg…in closed chain motion.  The acetabulum is rotating on the femur.

As such, adequate mobility training for pitchers should include a combination of both open- and closed-chain drills, although I’d say that the majority should be closed-chain.

8. Today’s Mike Robertson’s birthday; head over to RobertsonTrainingSystems.com and show him a little love.

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Stuff You Should Read: 3/2/10

Written on March 2, 2010 at 10:13 am, by Eric Cressey

Here are a few recommendations for this week:

East Coast Muscle – Recently, Men’s Health Fitness Editor Adam Bornstein traveled all along the East Coast to check out several training facilities – one of which was Cressey Performance.  This blog post details his experiences and features a picture of one dead sexy guy named Cressey lifting heavy stuff.

Five Resistance Training Myths in the Running World – This is one of my most popular articles of all-time, and with the number of crazy endurance folks getting ready for the Boston Marathon in 10-degree weather, it seemed like a fitting time to bring this piece to the forefront once again.

Made to Stick – Someone mentioned this in conversation the other day, and it reminded me that it was one of my favorite books of the past five years.  It’s a great read – whether you’re a teacher, trainer, parent, or any of a number of other things!

The Latest Assess & Correct Review

Written on February 21, 2010 at 9:48 am, by Eric Cressey

We just got this feedback the other day from Adam Campbell of Men’s Health:

“Assess and Correct is the most useful physical evaluation tool I’ve ever seen. It’s like having instant access to the knowledge that Hartman, Robertson, and Cressey have gained through years of experience studying anatomy and human movement, and working with real people.

“But most important, it’s presented in a way that you can put it to use immediately. In fact, the design of the manual is genius because you’re given a series of simple tests to identify postural and movement problems, followed by smart exercise progressions-which you can tailor to a client’s ability-to correct any issues. So it’s a powerful tool that will help any coach create more effective training plans, customized to an individual’s true NEEDS. The upshot: Assess and Correct will make any fitness professional better at what he or she does.

“One other note: Because I’m a fitness journalist, the authors offered me a free manual for review (common in the industry), but I had already purchased it. When they tried to refund my money, I requested that they not. The reason: I found the material to be so valuable that I felt like I SHOULD paid for it. I’m not sure there’s any testimonial I could give that’s better than that.”

Adam Campbell
Fitness Director, Men’s Health

Click here to check out Assess & Correct for yourself.