Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 12/7/11

Written on December 7, 2011 at 8:28 pm, by Eric Cressey

Here’s this week’s list of recommended strength and conditioning reading:

The Effects of Stable versus Unstable Surface Training on Performance of Division II Female Soccer Players – I was psyched to see this presented in the most recent Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, as these researchers verified the findings of my master’s thesis.  Essentially, we found that even a small dosage of unstable surface training interferes with the development of strength, power, and aerobic capacity.  For more information, I’d encourage you to check out The Truth About Unstable Surface Training, which summarizes our findings, rationale, and practical applications.

The President’s Cancer Panel Report – I thought Brian St. Pierre did a great job of presenting this valuable information very succinctly; it’s all stuff that we should know.

The Contreras Files: Volume 1 – I love reading Bret Contreras’ stuff because he is constantly working to add to the body of knowledge, whether it’s in doing research of his own, or translating research into usable formats for coaches, trainers, and lifters.  This is a great example.

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Upcoming Reinold and Cressey Seminar

Written on October 3, 2011 at 5:07 am, by Eric Cressey

I thrilled to announce that I’ll be collaborating with Mike Reinold once again – this time on a seminar, Functional Stability Training, to take place on Sunday, November 20, 2011 at Cressey Performance in Hudson, MA.

Here’s the agenda for the day:

• Functional Stability Training – An integrated approach to rehabilitation and performance training – Reinold
• Recent Advances in Core Performance - Understand the concept of Functional Stability Training for the Core, true function of the spine, and how this impacts injuries, rehab, and training – Reinold
• Maintaining a Training Effect in Spite of Common Lumbar Spine and Lower Extremity Injuries – Outlines the causes and symptoms of several common injuries encountered in the lower extremity, and how to train around these issues to keep clients/athletes fit during rehabilitation – Cressey
• Understanding and Controlling Extension in Athletes – Looks into the causes of and problems with excessive lumbar extension, anterior pelvic tilt, and rib flairs in athletes – Cressey
• Lunch (Provided)
• LAB – Assessing Core Movement Quality:  Understanding where to begin with Functional Stability Training exercises for the core – Reinold
• LAB – A Dynamic Progression of Core Performance Exercises  - Progression from simple core control to advanced rehab and training techniques – Reinold
• LAB – Understanding and Controlling Extension in Athletes – Progresses on the previous lecture with specific technique and coaching cues for exercises aimed toward those with these common issues – Cressey
• LAB – Advanced Stability: Training Power Outside the Sagittal Plane – Traditional power training programs are predominantly focused on the sagittal plane, but in most athletic endeavors – especially rotational sports – power must be displayed in other planes of motion – Cressey

It’s our goal to optimize the learning environment and have lots of interaction with all of those in attendance, so to that end, we’ll be keeping the seminar to 50 people or less.  Given that our Optimal Shoulder Performance seminar in 2009 sold out in under a week, this one is sure to do the same – so don’t delay in registering, if this is of interest.

For more information, or to sign up, check out www.FunctionalStability.com.

Here’s what some of our previous seminar attendees have had to say about their experiences seeing us live:

Related Posts

13 Fun Facts About Optimal Shoulder Performance
Weight Training Programs: Assess, Don’t Assume

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Kicking off ‘Stache Bash 2010

Written on November 23, 2010 at 7:20 am, by Eric Cressey

Retail stores have “Black Friday” and online retailers have “Cyber Monday” for their holiday sales at this time of the year – but I’ve never been one to go with tradition – or party for just a day when I can party for an entire week.  So, I created my own week-long sales event that will help to wrap up “No Shave November.”

I’m calling it ‘Stache Bash 2010 – because I’ll soon be rocking a mustache to round out the week (and drive the ladies wild).  As of right now, I’m just rocking the Circle Beard (moutee) – and while it’s not a hit with my wife, our puppy doesn’t seem to mind, as evidenced by his nap on the couch with me during football on Sunday afternoon!

Here’s how it’ll work…

• Each day, I’ll rock a new facial hair with a new one of my products on sale at a hefty discount.
• With each day, I’ll also provide some new content to go along with these sales promos.
• My products will go on sale Tu (today), We, Th, Fr, Mo, and next Tu – which means that the weekend is open.  With that in mind, I’ve reached out to a few friends to see if they’d make their top-notch products available to my list at solid discounts on Sa and Su – so don’t forget to check back in over the weekend.
• I’ve sequenced all of this so that if you do opt to purchase multiple products, they’ll ship in the most convenient and affordable way possible (i.e., Building the Efficient Athlete, Magnificent Mobility, and Assess & Correct will all be on sale together).
• I’ll leave each item on sale for 48 hours, as I know a lot of folks are in different time zones and may read this blog a day or two late.
• The month will wrap up with me turning in my man card to be clean shaven once again on November 30.

So, without further ado, let’s kick this sucker off with a 30% off deal on The Truth About Unstable Surface Training. This e-book has helped to clarify the role of instability training for a lot of folks in our industry, but what many people don’t realize is that it goes into great depth with respect to strength exercise progressions for training enthusiasts who may be outside the fitness profession.  You can click HERE to purchase directly or click HERE for more information.  Just enter the coupon code STACHE to apply the discount at checkout.

“I used to advise trainers and other strength professionals that they must always continue to develop themselves and continue their education by reading every book and article and attending every seminar – but I was wrong. My advice now is to be very selective with the resources you seek out and the research and products you obtain. There is so much misinformation in the fitness industry and so much junk on the internet that it’s easy to be misguided.

“So what is the right information? Without hesitation, I can say anything from Eric Cressey. His e-book, The Truth About Unstable Surface Training, is no exception. Learn how unstable surface training originated in a rehabilitative setting and led to one of the biggest controversies in the fitness industry today. I was honored to get a first look at this resources. It was not just the literature review, studies, strength exercise demonstrations and progressions that were eye-opening; it was the practical applications. As always, Eric provides a thorough explanation of complex ideas.

“If you’ve ever found yourself – or come across someone – using the term “functional training,” you absolutely must buy The Truth About Unstable Surface Training right now!“

Jim Smith, CSCS
Author, Combat Core: Advanced Torso Training

Again, that coupon code is STACHE and is good through tomorrow (Wednesday) at midnight.

Unstable Ankles: It Ain’t Just the Sneakers

Written on October 27, 2010 at 6:24 am, by Eric Cressey

I got the following questions from a Show and Go customer this morning and thought I’d turn it into a quick Q&A:

Do high-top basketball shoes provide any significant stability and safety advantages over low-tops that would make me NOT want to buy low-tops? When I played hoops in high school my ankles rolled over at least once every few months, so it feels obvious that there’s a lot more to the stability equation than the height of the ankle on the shoe.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I sent him to these two articles:

Nike Shox and High Heels
The Importance of Ankle Mobility

Then, I gave him the following advice: “I would never put one of my athletes in high-tops. The introduction of the high top and the addition of big heel lifts in sneakers is, in my eyes, the cause of the epidemic of anterior knee pain and the emergence of high ankle sprains. And, you’re right that there is more to the stability equation than the height of the shoe: the muscles and tendons of the lower leg (particularly the peroneals) actually have to do some work to prevent ankle sprains. Put yourself in a concrete block of a shoe and tape your ankles and you are just asking all those muscles to shut down.”

For more information on truly functional stability training for the lower leg and core, check out my e-book, The Truth About Unstable Surface Training.

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Stuff You Should Read: 8/24/10

Written on August 24, 2010 at 6:31 am, by Eric Cressey

Here’s a look back to some featured posts that might interest you:

Deloading in Maximum Strength – While The Art of the Deload goes into a ton of detail on a variety of deloading strategies, several folks have asked me how it specifically applies to the Maximum Strength program.  This clears things up.

Lower Back Savers Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 – This three-part series at T-Nation are among my most popular articles there.

Unstable Ground or Destabilizing Torques – This blog will make you think about what you see when you watch sports on TV – and, more specifically, how athletes prepare themselves for those demands.

Spring Training Sale!

Written on February 19, 2010 at 1:35 am, by Eric Cressey

If you read this blog with any sort of regularity, it should come as no surprise to you that I’m really pumped up for the upcoming Major League Baseball season, as we saw over 30 professional baseball players from 21 different major league organizations this off-season at Cressey Performance.  My excitement hit another level earlier this week when I spent some time down in Ft. Myers, FL in the thick of things prior to pitchers and catchers officially reporting yesterday.

In honor of this big date in the baseball world, I thought it’d be as good a time as ever to announce a sale on a few of my products.  From today through midnight on Thursday, February 25, you can get 30% off on The Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual, The Truth About Unstable Surface Training, and The Art of the Deload by entering the coupon code FEB2010 at checkout from the Products Page.

This is actually the first time that The Truth About Unstable Surface Training has ever gone on sale since its release, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to pick up some first-of-its-kind research and the practical applications associated with it.

Again, just head HERE and enter the coupon code FEB2010 to get 30% off your order.

Go Red Sox!

The Best of 2009: Stuff that was Fun to Write

Written on January 8, 2010 at 12:11 pm, by Eric Cressey

Thus far this week, we’ve covered the top articles, product reviews, videos, and guest submissions of the year.  Today, I just wanted to cover the stuff that was fun for me to write (or film) – and it isn’t just exclusive to EricCressey.com.

Birthday Blogging: 28 Years, 28 Favorites – I just remember that this thing rolled off my fingertips as I wrote it on my 28th birthday.

What Folks are Saying about the Cressey Performance Majestic Fleece – I just remember that we had to film this about 47 times because none of us could stop laughing.

The Opportunity Cost of Your Time – I don’t know why this one was fun to write, but it was.  I suppose it might have something to do with the fact that I started out at business school, and then moved over to the exercise science world to complete my undergraduate degree.

The Truth About Unstable Surface Training – This was actually introduced at the end of 2008 (and written in sections between 2005 and 2008), but deserves mention in light of its first full year of availability.  I’m most proud of this work because it took a ton of time to compile both the literature and our original research, which was the first of its kind.  Nobody had looked at how a long-term training lower-body unstable surface training intervention would affect healthy, trained athletes’ performance.  This book presents not only those results, but a series of practical application recommendations that are of value to any strength coach, personal trainer, or other fitness professional.

Lower Back Savers Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 – Featured at T-Muscle, these were really fun to write because I had a chance to be dorky and practical at the same time, blending research with what we’ve anecdotally seen in those with lower back issues.  Honestly, I still have enough content to write a part 4, and that may come around in the next few months.

Wobble Boards and Warm Milk

Written on October 29, 2009 at 7:50 am, by Eric Cressey

This week’s list of recommended reading:

Build Your Balance – This article at Experience Life Magazine is based on a series of interviews with me in light of my research on unstable surface training.  For the more in-depth background and practical applications, you’ll want to check out my e-book, The Truth About Unstable Surface Training.

Pasteurization: Awesome or Complete Garbage? – This blog post from Brian St. Pierre is very well research and presented.  Let’s just say you won’t ever want to drink warm milk again after reading this.

Assess and Correct – Uh, duh.  We introduced it earlier this week.  What are you waiting for?

“My Coach Says I Shouldn’t Lift…”

Written on September 21, 2009 at 4:36 am, by Eric Cressey

I got this question in person from the parent of a new athlete the other day and thought I’d turn it into a blog post, as I’ve received the email before on many occasions.

Q: I read with great interest your blog on Crossfit for Baseball, but my question would be what your response would be to a coach that insists that baseball players shouldn’t lift weights PERIOD?  My son’s baseball coach is completely against it.

A:  This is definitely going to be one of those “where to even begin” responses, but I’ll do my best.  Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ll start with a quote directly from my e-book, The Truth About Unstable Surface Training:

“…resistance training exercises performed on stable surfaces have been demonstrated effective in numerous research studies with respect to improving a variety of athletic qualities, including:

• muscular strength (5)

• power (5)

• aerobic endurance (53)

• running efficiency (54)

• anaerobic endurance (5)

• rate of force development (66,90)

• hypertrophy (5)

• reactive strength (66,90)

• agility (47)

These qualities transfer to improved performance in a variety of sporting tasks, including vertical jump (74), throwing velocity (79), sprinting speed (22), and running economy (53).”

(FYI, these numbers are references from the e-book, so if any of you would like the exact studies, please just request them in the comments section)

Now, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that your coach IS NOT looking to field a team that lacks agility, sprinting speed, jumping prowess, throwing velocity, rate of force development (think of a catcher’s pop time).  In fact, even those who are clinging to a worthless training initiative like long-distance running for pitchers can get closer to their chosen training effect (as silly as it is) from lifting!

Taking this a step further, we know that resistance training can enhance immune and endocrine function, so players will get sick less often and feel better when game time rolls around.

And, just as importantly, remember that resistance training is one of the foundations of modern physical therapy.  Would your coach tell a physical therapist that resistance training as part of a rehabilitation program was inappropriate? Of course not!  How in the world it is within his scope of practice to tell a kid that lifting is bad for him – either in terms of increasing injury potential or decreasing performance – is completely beyond me.  Throwing a baseball is the single-fastest motion in sports; you simply don’t decelerate 7,500 degrees/second of humeral internal rotation without at least a bit of muscular contribution.

And, let’s not forget that an ideal strength and conditioning program encompasses a lot more than just strength exercises. It includes good self massage work (foam rollers, etc), mobility training, sprinting/agility/plyos, and much, much more.  It begins with a detailed assessment to determine what mobility or stability deficits may lead to injury down the road.  It may also be the only avenue through which an athlete learns proper nutrition.

The fundamental problem is that many baseball coaches think of garbage like this when they hear the words “lifting weights:”

Can someone please tell me how my “biceps will develop” with this?  Only at “Expert Village” does the biceps EXTEND the elbow.  Yikes.

Ouch.

The take-home message is that a lot of coaches think that lifting programs are either a) a waste of time or b) flat-out dangerous.  Sadly, as the videos above demonstrate, in many cases, they’re right. However, completely contraindicating lifting can really stunt the development of players and predispose them to injuries.  Throwing is dangerous when done incorrectly, and so are sprinting, fielding ground balls, and taking batting practice.  We don’t contraindicate those, though, do we?  We educate athletes on how to participate in these training initiatives properly.

I can tell you that at Cressey Performance, each one of our pro baseball players lifts four times a week, throws the medicine ball 2-3 times a week, and does supplemental movement training 2-3 days per week during the off-season – and they continue lifting during the season (at a lower frequency and volume).  This is true of both position players and pitchers.

Our high school guys get after it as well; I don’t know of many other private sector facilities in the country who have eight high school guys throwing 90mph+ before the age of 18 (with several more right on the cusp of this milestone).  Something is working.

And, beyond just the direct training benefits of this system, there is something to be said for the camaraderie strength and conditioning does for teammates on top of regular practices.  The fact that kids actually requested this says volumes!

Hopefully, blogs like this – and bright coaches who are “in the know” – will help to spread the word about what safe, effective training is – and where to get it.

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used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!

Random Friday Thoughts: 8/28/09

Written on August 28, 2009 at 7:01 am, by Eric Cressey

1. Just got this email from a satisfied customer of The Truth About Unstable Surface Training:

“Just wanted to drop a quick note to say outstanding work on ‘TAUST!’  It was truly comprehensive and head and shoulders above anything else written on the topic.  The evidence was very well presented and you did a bang-up job on analyzing the available data and making a very evenhanded thesis.”

Mike Howard
Vancouver, British Columbia

2. Here is yet ANOTHER study supporting the huge role of Vitamin D.  Vitamin D is very important in processing cholesterol, and in the absence of it, more is stored in blood vessels.

3. I’ve been getting quite a few emails asking me when the new product from Bill, Mike, and I will be ready.  Well, I can tell you that we’ve spent the week reviewing footage and making some adjustments, so we are, in fact, getting close!  It will definitely be September; I can promise you that.  Keep an eye out for an announcement in this blog and my newsletter.

4. In last week’s random thoughts, I mentioned that I’d been getting multiple daily invites to join a Facebook group about fat loss for the general population – and I’d ignored each one.  Well, I got five more invitations this week, bringing the total to 15 invites in 13 days.  This guy really doesn’t take “NO” for an answer, huh?  Or, maybe I’m just a popular guy…

5. In case you missed this week’s newsletter, check it out HERE.  There are several videos and a rotator cuff stregthening progression that I frequently use.  And, if you aren’t subscribed already, you ought to be!  The sign-up for the free weekly newsletter can be found to the top right of this screen.

6. Thanks to everyone who voted in yesterday’s poll.  I’m pretty sure our boy (or girl?) got the message that strength coaches don’t wear capris…