Rotational Sequencing and Power - Part 2

If you missed part 1

Continuing on from part 1, we're now going to focus on the steps to develop correct rotational sequencing and power.

Jason Glass puts it perfectly when he says, "You have to earn the right to rotate".

Dynmaic rotational movements are highly coordinated and technical movements, and they require great deals of strength, stability, mobility, and coordination.

You would never take a new athlete and throw them in the squat rack with 2x their body weight. 

Instead you'd progress them and groove the squat pattern until they show proper mechanics, strength, mobility, and stability.

Just as so, an athlete needs to exhibit proper stability and mobility before they can move on to dynamic rotational movements. 

If you do not have the proper stabilization and strength in a static position, than performing dynamic rotational movements will just lead to dysfunction, improper sequencing, and increased risk of injury.   

The same goes for adequate mobility.  Rotational movements require a great deal of mobility especially in the thoracic spine, internal/external hip rotators, and ankles. 

Just like having limited stability can create issues; a lack of mobility will not allow the athlete to reach their maximum power, sequencing, and again will increased risk of injury. 

So to earn the right to rotate, it is important that we as coaches make sure we evaluate our athletes to ensure they possess adequate levels of stability and mobility.

Mobility

When testing and evaluating mobility, it is important to make sure there are no major limitations or differences between sides of the body.  The athlete should exhibit adequate levels of ROM in the major joints, and through total body movements. 

If there is a lack of mobility or ROM in a certain joint or side of the body, you know you must plan to attack that area with proper mobility drills.

Thoracic Spine - Athletes need to have adequate rotation and extension in the thoracic spine.  When looking at ROM, the T-spine should be able to get 30 degrees or more of rotation, and the athlete should be able to get proper extension from the T-spine without stealing it from the lumbar spine.

Make sure to use mobility movements that keep the lumbar spine fixed, so selecting an exercise that "locks" the lumbar spine down ensures it will not be involved with thoracic spine movements.

Hips - The hips are a very mobile joint, so you must evaluate it in many different movements and angles.  Flexion (120+ degress), extension (15+ degrees), adduction, and abduction are important, but even more important for rotational athletes is internal and external rotation. 

With rotation occuring in the transverse plane, internal and external mobility and strength become very important.  Here is an article on hip internal rotation, and here is one on glute medius mobility (largely external rotation).

As an athlete loads during rotational movements, the rear hip goes through internal rotation and front hip external rotation.  As the athlete starts to un-coil the rear hip now goes through powerful external rotation and the front hip absorbs into internal rotation.  If there are extreme limitations or restrictions into either of these movements you will see compensation patterns arise, spinal rotation instead of hip rotation, and loss of power.

Also, just as in overhead throwing, if the tissues surrounding the hip aren't kept healthy and happy, they can get beat up from these movements.  So, if we have a rotational athlete, ensuring we are getting adequate time spent on soft-tissue and mobility of the internal and external rotators is extremely important.

Ankles- The ankles are just like the hips, a very mobile joint.  The ankles require a great deal of dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, inversion, and eversion. 

Kneel next to a wall, with one foot 4 inches away from ithe wall.  Keeping the heel on the ground, press the knee towards the wall.  If the athlete cannot touch the wall, the athlete lacks dorsiflexion (A large percentage of people lack dorsiflexion).  They are probably compensating linear movements because of this lack of dorsiflexion and are not getting proper foot and ankle function.

The athlete should also have atleast 20 degrees of inversion and 5 degrees of eversion.  As we will go into later, many rotational movements (and most movements overall) require movement around the ankle joint to help transfer force or transfer rotatation to allow better positions.   

Many great improvements are seen when athletes take off their shoes.  I'm not recommending going straight in to a barefoot badass, I'm hinting at do warm-ups and select exercises barefoot to help improve the function on you feet and ankles.

Stability

The athlete also needs to show proper stability and strength in not only the transverse plane, but also the frontal and sagittal planes.  Here are some exercises athletes need to show proper stability before they should progress to higher velocities or resistance of rotational movements.

Bird-Dog - This is actually a test from the FMS, called rotary stability (see rotary = rotation! You need this).  You are looking to see if the athlete can maintain correct posture and stability while performing this exercise. 

If they consistantly wobble, sway, or lose position, then they need work on improving their bodies stability.  This opposite arm-leg movement stresses the fascia lines of our body in a very rotational way.  Test both sides, and note any differences.



Push-Up w/ Arm Reach - Like the Bird-Dog, except now the athlete has smaller areas of contact with the ground, thus stressing more need for stability. 

From side or behind views we should not see a major shift in body position.  They athlete should look the same as they do in the starting position.  Again test both sides and note any differences.



Inverted Bridge w/ Arm Reach - The previous two tests assessed anterior stability and the anterior muscle slings.  The Inverted Bridge w/ Arm Reach will test posterior stability and the posterior muscle sling.

Set up a bar or rings about 4.5 to 5 feet in the air.  Grab the bar and assume a lifted bridge position, so that your stomach is flat like a table.  Make sure the athletes takes a shoulder width apart grip, and sets their body, core tight - glutes squeezed - shoulders pulled back, for the movement. 

Remove one hand from the bar, and reach towards the opposite shoulder, just as you did in the push-up.  The athlete should be able to maintain position without major shifts or swings.  Test both sides and note any differences.



Glute March - The Glute March will also test the posterior components of the body, with more emphasis through the glutes.  We need this stability and strength throught our glutes because the glutes are the engine that fuel our powerful hip movements. 

The athlete starts in a glute bridge position, the athlete then "marches" in place, alternating between lifting legs.  This will show any weaknesses throughout the glutes and lumbopelvic-hip complex.  Notice any differences between sides as usual.

Cable Chops and Lifts  - Finally we move to Cable/Band Chops and Lifts.  This is a great way to move from static stabilization to more of a dynamic stabilization.  The core and hip stability are challenged to transfer the weight thoughout this movement.  Use both tall kneeling and half kneeling variations to challenge unilateral stability and strength.

Stay tall throughout this whole movement; think about not becoming "shorter".  Also keep your hips and pelvis square, and let your shoulders and arms move the weight throughout the range of motion.  Keeping your torso square allows the force to be transfered through your core and hips onto your arms.






Like we touched on at the beginning, athletes need to master these stabilization and mobility exercises before we throw them into dynamics and loaded rotational movements.

If they do not possess these qualitites before starting dynamic rotational movements, then we are setting them up to added dysfunction on improper movement patterns, injury, lessend performance, and oh did I mention injury! 

It never pays to rush into exercises because they are cool and fun.  Take the proper progression and steps to set your athletes up for the long run.



Part 3 will dive into adding speed to rotation, really the meat and potatoes of what we think of when improving rotational abilities.  


Until then Go Get 'Em!

Rotational Sequencing and Power - Part 1

We watch many different athletes, sports, and activities and don't always realized the connections many of these have to each other. Take a look at these athletes and see what they have in common.

 

Not only do these athletes make these movements look so smooth and effortless, but their movements are very similar despite the major differences in their sport. 

So what is it do they have in common?

Rotation!  Rotational movements occur in just about every sport we play.  Except for just plane old linear movements like sprinting or jogging, every other sport we participate in requires a great deal of roational sequencing and power. 

Say you're playing football, it's 3rd and 3, late in the 4th quarter and you're on defense.  The offense runs an outside zone play and you take an angle to cut off the running back at the 1st down marker. 

You collison the running back with your head in behind of him (come one, get your head in front!), just shy of the 1st down marker.  He has momentum and so do you, but who's gonna win?  Well it comes down to a number of things, but a big one being your rotational strength and power. 

Who's gonna win this battle!?

The one with more rotational power! 

See when you collide, the running backs momentum creates a high force in the transverse plane of your body.  You must counter this force with high rotational force opposite of where he is going. 

Unless you have adequate rotational strength and power, the offense will move the sticks and win the game.  But if your training regime exposes you to proper rotational training, you'll make the tackle, save the day, and get asked out by the best looking girl in school!

So to make sure you get asked out my the hottest girl in school, you need to make sure you get to working on your rotational power.  I mean it's been studied that if you have lots of roational strength, you get asked out by better looking girls...it's science. 

What is Rotational Movement

Rotational movements take place in the transverse plane.  The transverse plane involves movements around a fixed axis.  For most movements this fixed axis is our spine, and we rotate and move around the spine to create a rotational force. 

Rotational movements involve a specific series of movements and motions that allow us to transfer the highest amount of forces.  This proper sequencing is very critical in high performance. 

In fact a study was done by the Titleist Performance Institute showed that the biggest difference between professional golfers from amateur golfers was their ability to develop roational speed and proper sequencing. 

The development of higher rotational speeds is a pretty obvious difference as higher rotational speeds = further distance on shot.  This is would be similar to the main difference between NFL receivers and non-NFL receivers is speed. 

But the sequencing is a little surprising.  The professional golfer showed a smooth, efficient sequence from muscle group to group throughout their swing, while the amateurs showed a sloppy, incorrect pattern of sequencing. 

Many would think that the rotational sequence of hitting a golf ball would pretty consistant among all people, but that's not the case.  Just like many other techniques, correct rotation patterns needs to be taught and learned. Rotational sequencing is an important skill to be learned and is essential for increasing ones rotational speed and power. 

How Rotational Movement Works

Thomas Meyer's book Anatomy Trains has been a huge influence in the development of myofascial understanding and training.  It is a must for anybody studying kinesiology.  In it Thomas shows how the body is intertwined with connective tissues, and these tissues cross over the two halves of the body to create a crossed connection, very useful for rotational movements. 

As you can see from the picture below your myofascial lines cross over the body to create significant connections from opposite sides of the body.  Just one of the many outcomes from these findings is many times problems in a shoulder are caused or could be improved by focusing on the opposite hip or ankle.

Not only that, but we something called Muscle Slings, that also cross over the body.  Jason Glass is in the forefront of rotational biomechanics and training.  He has discussed how we have posterior and anterior muscle slings. 

The posterior sling run from the lats (and really starts up at the posterior shoulder) - thoracolumbar fascia - glutes

The anterior sling run from the external obliques - internal obliques - adductor complex. 

Muscle slings play a key role in developing and transfering rotational forces.  They help to load and unwind forces and because of their design and attachment points, they are perfect for rotational movements.

           Anterior Muscle Sling                                                         Posterior Muscle Sling

These slings are also responsible for specific actions and movements during rotational exercises.  Here they can be seen 

The Anterior Sling - Flexion and Rotation

The Posterior Sling - Extension and Rotation 

To go along with this, each sling as a particular role in loading and unwinding forces.  The majority of loading falls upon the extension patterns, so the posterior sling.  The majority of unwinding falls upon the flexion patterns, so the anterior sling. 

Picture a golf swing.  The backswing is the loading portion, and the posterior muscle sling loads up the body for the downswing.  Then during the downswing, the anterior sling takes over and unwinds the force built up by the posterior sling to bring the club through the ball.

Not only that, these slings are also involved in decelerating rotational movements.  So when you're slowing down and stopping say a pitch, swing, or discus throw, your muscle slings will work to decelerate these motions safely.

Now that you know what goes into rotational movements, we also need to know a proper progression on how to create this rotation and the requirements/skills athletes need before starting an intense rotational program. 

In the next part of this series we will go into the stability and mobility requirements/progressions needed to safely and effectively perform high speed and high load rotational movements.  Until then Go Get 'Em!

Like, Dislike, Agree, Disagree, WORLD CHANGING, or a big turd; whatever you feel, leave a comment below and let me know!

Weekly Recap - Women's Edition

For this week's recap I'm doing something a little different.  I've done a nutrition edition and now I'm going to do a women's edition!  My girlfriend has been asking for info, websites, articles specifically catered to women by women, so I took the time to round-up the best I knew. 

I have two sisters, both were outstanding athletes and both went into the coaching, fitness, and athletics career field.  They are strong, independent, intelligent women who lead many by example.  My mom and dad provided great leadership and guidance for my sisters, but many young girls out there need more positive role models and women to look up to.  Sometimes they need more than just their parents, they need real, down to earth role models to guide them; not most of these wrinkly, dinkly models who could get knocked over by a stiff breeze.

I also had the privelage of working under Sara Wiley at the University of Minnesota.  Sara was named the NSCA National Strength Coach of the year in 2007-08.  She is an extremely smart and innovative coach, plus you won't find better prepared athletes than hers, and the results show.  She can also squat more than 90% of the guys I know, so she can kick some ass too!

Here is a great list of role models, sources, and information for any woman out there.  And this is not just for women, I reference many of these women for information week in and week out.  Truly a great list for ya today.

Websites

Girls on Target - Saree Zweifel.  I might be a little biased here because she is my sister, but screw it.  Saree runs her own business called Girls On Target in San Diego.  It's a program for girls (high school and younger) to develop fitness, confidence, healthy friendships, empowerment, and motivation.  She impacts young girls lives each and everyday in a profoundly positive way.  You should see the energy and passion she exudes, it's contagious. 

Girls Gone Strong - My girlfriend loves this website and the message it uses.  She prides herself on being a girl gone strong, and trust me when she punches me I feel it! 

Five x3 - Emily Socolinsky - Another great website that promotes strength and intensity for women.

Liz Dialto - Liz stives to changes peoples lifestyles, and create a life of self-improvement and happiness with yourself.

Sirena Bernal - Great website for nutrition tips, recipes, and workout ideas.

Eat, Lift, and Be Happy - Neghar Fonooni.  Preaches to enjoy life, and everything in moderation.  Don't need to restrict or limit yourself in anything.

Survival of the Fittest - Jen Sinkler big on natural movements and being in touch with the nature.

Julia Ladweski - A mom who is also a world class powerlifter.  Gives great advice in becoming as strong as you can be, and not being afraid to move heavy weights.  You'll be amazed how strong you can be.  She was also a college strength coach for years, and now directs Parisi's youth speed school.

Molly Galbraith -  Co-Owns J&M Strength and Conditioning.  Amazing resource, continually puts out great, fun info.  Truly a source I look to week in and week out.

Nia Shanks - Her sites called lift like a girl, great info and she has a program called the Beautiful Badass that promotes you can be strong and powerful, while not giving up your beauty.

Loving Fit - Tatianna is an ex-professional figure skater.  She focus' on something she calls Unit Training, basically creative full-body workouts.

Cassandra Forsythe - Cassandra is a expert in nutrition and female fitness.  She has her doctorate in exercise science and is a registered dietician.

Articles

Jennifer Petrosino Interview - Elite FTS

Get Your Period Back - Cassandra Forsythe

Strength Through Female Eye - Lauren Brooks - How strong are you?  Here are some standards to compare just how strong you are.

Tales of a Fit Mom - Julia Ladweski

Why Women Should Lift Heavy - Nia Shanks

5 Strong, Smart, and Sexy Female Fitness Phenoms - John Romaniello

Being a Woman is Not a Disabilty - Amy Wattles

What Women Should Never Do When Getting In Shape (Part 1 of 6) - Juliet Deane

Somebody Doesn't Belong

Go Get 'Em!

Breakfast Scrambler

The Culprits

3oz - Turkey, Lean Ham, Turkey Bacon
1/2 - Onion
1/2 - Bell Pepper
3 - Eggs
1/4  Cup - Salsa
Coconut Oil

Optional but Recommended
1/4 Cup - Mushrooms
1/2 Cup - Broccoli
1/4 Cup - Guacamole
4-6 - Asparagus Heads
2oz - Cheese - Mozzarella or Hard Cheddar

1. Start by putting a little coconut oil in a frying pan.  Then add in your choice of meat and vegetables.  I typically put in about 3oz of meat, 1/2 an onion, 1/2 green pepper, and if I have any mushrooms and broccoli.  Cook those up until they get a good crisp (~2min).

2. Now is a good time to throw in your spices and herbs.  I always toss in a couple shakes of cinnamon, garlic, cheyenne pepper, and italian herbs.  NOTE: If your using a fatty meat, you don't need to use a lot of coconut oil.  If your using chicken, turkey, or ham then use more coconut oil.

3. After the meat and veggies look good, crack in some eggs.  I typically use between 3 whole eggs, yes the whole egg, EAT THOSE YOLKS!  At this point you can cook your eggs however you like: sunnyside up, over easy, an omelet, scrambled, etc.  I do scrambled, but will spice it up sometimes with something different.

See the  Face! It's hard not to

smile when making this

4. If you are using cheese, now is the time to add it.  Add the cheese at the same time as you add the eggs

5. Cook until the eggs are done how you like it, and plop onto a big ole plate.

5. Now is the time to top this monster with homemade guacamole (definitely recommended) and salsa.

I highly recommend you play around with ingredients and mix things up.  Easy things like cheese, different meats and veggies are easy things to mix around and add some variety to your taste buds.

Pose Running. Is it for you?

Pose Running

The pose running method was developed by Dr. Nikoloas Romanov as a safer more efficient way to run.  The idea behind Pose is that we as humans do not run correctly, and this leads to less efficient running and more running related injuries.

Humans need to be taught how to run properly, and Pose believes their method is the ideal way to run. 

Every other skill is taught proper technique such as swimming, throwing, shooting, etc, but not running.

Why not?

This is the question Dr. Romanov asked himself when he first developed this running method. 

Pose running is characterized by 3 phases - pose, fall, pull.  These are the ques that Pose will engrave in all it's runners.

Pose

This is the posture Pose runners need to adapt to. It is characterized by a forward body lean in which the ankle, hips, and shoulders are all in a straight line.

The support leg knee is slightly bent and you'll hear Dr. Romanov say how he wants to see a S-shape between the legs and torso.

Fall

Because of the forward lean in the pose position, the body is pulled forward by gravitational force.  So basically the runner starts to fall forwards and downwards and the support leg will naturally come off the ground and the lead leg will naturally leave the ground to prevent from falling on ones face.

Because of the lean and allowing the cycle leg to just drop to the ground, it will land directly under the center of mass of the runner and on the ball of the foot.  So the foot will not be out in front causing a braking action, this allows for gravity to "pull" you forward and takes slack of the muscular system.

Pull

The pull teaches the runner to actively pull their foot up under their butt after their support leg leaves the ground.  This eliminates backside mechanics and less time spent on the ground.

Overall the Pose running method is characterized by

• Pose, Fall, Pull
• Foot landings under the center of mass and on the balls of the feet
• Shorter stride lengths
• Higher stride cadence
• Less stress put on the knee joint due to the slight bend in the knee and foot contact underneath the center of mass

Here's a video of Dr. Romanov teaching the pose, fall, and you can see the pull.

Benefits

Pose has been a big component of altering and looking at running mechanics in a magnified light.  Dr. Romanov deserves some acknowledgement for looking for a better way to run and coming up with a method he believes is a better way to run.

Most of us out there could use some improvements in our running technique, and the fact that running is natural to everyone isn't exactly true.  Learning how to run properly can help with speed, efficiency, and decreased chance on injury.

I think that the Pose method is on the right track when talking about landing underneath the center of mass.  Landing underneath your center of mass eliminates braking forces that would regularly occur when you land out in front of your body.

Braking forces, as the name applies, cause very slight and quick "stops" in your running in which you need to expend a little more energy to overcome.  Landing underneath your center of mass also allows for a cleaner and quicker transition because the runner spends less time on the ground during this touchdown to toe-off stage.

Pose makes it so you land on the ball of your foot.  Landing on the ball of your foot again allows for a cleaner transition and less braking forces, and maximized the use of stored elastic energy or the lower leg.  It also takes stress off the knees because landing heal first sends a lot of force up through the legs.  Finally landing on the ball of your foot vs your heal allows a quicker stance phase and can potentially allow for less energy leaks.

Concerns

While at first glance Pose might seem like a better way to run, I have some severe concerns.

First and foremost, I feel it is more designed for distance running than sprinting.  Everyone they work with is triathletes and distant runners, and not acceleration/sprinting types of activities.  I'm much more interested in acceleration and max velocity speed athletes and the pose method falls WELL short in terms of application for acceleration and max velocity.  In fact Pose even claims that Usain Bolt runs with Pose technique, but here is an article debunking that.

I also feel they don't quite understand what actually makes us run faster.  And that is force production.

The more force we apply into the ground, in the correct direction, and in the shortest amount of time is what allows one to run faster.

It's Newton's 3rd Law, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.  Now there is plenty of debate on what forces vertical (Peter Weyand, Mike Young) or horizontal (JB Morin, Dr. Yessis) are more important to speed, but it is accepted that the more force we can apply and in the shorter amount of time, the faster we will run.

Pose instead says that gravity just pulls the leg to the ground and the leg is basically there to be a point of support before falling over to the next stride becoming the next point of support.

So really running just becomes a transition of your legs becoming alternating points of support, not the runner putting forces into the ground.  Pose claims gravity, causing the body to fall, is where ground force application comes from.

This is debunked by science and it can't hold up to scrutiny.  Maybe it helps preserve energy in long ass races like a marathon, but like I said I'm not interested in that, I'm interested in sprinting, and in no form or fashion could this be beneficial.

The pull portion of the pose method is also not scientifically correct.  One does not actively pull their foot up to their butt when running, this is very common knowledge.

We talked about Newton's 3rd Law of Action/Reaction, and this is what is happening the the cycle foot.  The foot cycles up towards the butt as a reaction to the force and the direction of that force being applied to the ground.

Basically like a bouncy ball bouncing back up after hitting the ground, your foot bounces upwards after it's action with the ground.  The hamstring muscles are not active during this phase, look at any EMG of sprinting.

If you want less backside mechanics, then apply more force, in the correct direction with great posture.

Pose also promotes that this type of running takes a lot of stress of the knee joint and can allow runners to run without that hinderence.  What they don't tell you is that the forces taken off the knee have to go somewhere.

And where do they go? 

Your lower leg!

Because Pose lands with a bend and on the balls of your feet, it takes that stress from the knees to your achillis tendon, gastrocs, and foot.  Like I said before Pose is pushed more towards distance running, and if you take a runner and all of a sudden have him/her landing on the balls of their feet for miles at a time there will be consequences.  I said before landing on the ball of your feet are beneficial, but again if you're a sprinter running distances 400m or less, not running 26 miles.  So all they did was take pain away from the knee and put it on the lower leg. 

In fact, the study Pose always falls back onto when promoting itself is a study done in 2002 in Cape Town.  The studies results showed that after a week of being taught Pose running techniques, runners experienced

• Shorter stride lengths
• Higher Stride Frequency
• Less vertical displacements
• Lower rate of loading of he vertical impact force
• Lower knee power absorption and eccentric work
• Increased ankle power absorption and eccentric work

So of course all the benefits of this study were put to light, but the forces being transfered to the ankle were not.  In fact, this study was done with 20 participants, and 2 weeks after the initial results were posted 14 of the 20 participants broke down with either calf problems, achilles tendon sprains, or foot issues.  That's 70% of the participants experienced new pain from this technique!

Now what Dr. Romanov and other Pose instructors will say is that they were doing the technique wrong.  But in this study the participants were taught by Dr. Romanov himself and they went through a week of intensive coaching (here is a link to Ross Tucker and Jonathan Dugas article.  They were 2 of the participants in the study and are both sport scientists, very smart dudes).

Now if one cannot learn the technique from the creator himself after a week of intensive coaching, who can learn this technique.  Is it really worth it to try and alter mechanics, if it is this hard to learn, and can lead to other problems?

Finally there was another study done on Pose that took 8 triathletes through 12 weeks of Pose technique training, while another 8 kept their normal training.

Before and after the study each group were tested for stride length, stride frequency, vertical oscillation, and running economy at two different speeds (4:00min/km and 4:40min/km)

The results showed that for the Pose group, the subjects showed a decreased stride length (which was expected), decreased vertical oscillation, and reduced running economy.

What!

That's exactly the opposite that Pose running is supposed to do.  Pose running in this study actually increased the oxygen cost of running (def. of running economy).  When running for distance this is not a good thing.  Also this study was done for 12 weeks!  That's a lot of time to develop the correct techniques and become comfortable with the techniques of Pose.

But Pose seemed like it was really on to something?

Maybe it still is, but from what we just looked at, it doesn't look like it.  Maybe if it is developed at an early age and more instilled into the runner, it may be a better way to run.  But the previous study showed that 12 weeks of using the Pose method resulted in poor results. That's 3 months!  For many coaches out there that is more time than we'll ever have with an athlete for a straight period of time.

So Is It Worth It?

For me personally I would say no.

• First I have no interest right now in teaching/coaching distance running.
• This technique, I feel, would not be beneficial to acclerlation/top-end speed; which all the sports I would coach.
• This technique seems very hard to coach and to perfect. I am all for taking the time to coach proper technique, progressions, and overall just not being lazy; but when you only have a limited amount of time with athletes, Pose just doesn't fit in.
• Overall if I was into distance running I would look further and more detailed into the Pose running method, as well as others (chi, barefoot, kenyan)

So I hope you now know a little bit more about Pose running and what it exactly is.  If your interested in learning more, research deeper into Pose for yourself, or ask me and I'll give you some links to help lead you the way.  


Go Get 'Em!





http://bretcontreras.com/category/interviews/page/2/
http://www.elitetrack.com/article_files/longjumpemg.pdf
http://jn.physiology.org/content/95/6/3426.full
http://www.posetech.com/
http://canute1.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/problems-with-pose/
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/10/pose-running-reduces-running-economythe.html
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/09/running-technique-part-ii-scientific.html

 

Weekly Recap: Nutrition Edition- 10/20/12

Nutrition Edition

Like that ring?!  Nutrition Edition, I'm a real life rhyming machine.  No, but wanted to mix up this weeks recap with an emphasis on diet and nutrition.  Found quite a few new articles this week that I think you'll enjoy. 

Also be sure to check out Peanut Butter Protein Balls!  I'm telling you, you'll love these puppies.  So get your nutrition learnin' on.  Enjoy!

20 Food Facts – Mike Geary

The Healthiest Condiments – Mike Geary

Top 10 Spices to add to your foods – Catherine Ebeling

Truth About Saturated Fat – Mary Enig and Sally Fallon

Low Carb For Muscle Growth  – Mike T Nelson

Fat Loss Playbook – Nate Miyaki

Carbs Make You Lose Your Mind? – Conditioning Research

What Happens to Your Body After You Drink a Coke - Nutrition Researchers

7 Good Supplements For Your Health - Born Fitness

Geeky Fridays - Bojan Kostevski

Hockey Nutrition – Kevin Neeld

The Death of Sports Drinks – Kevin Neeld

Advocare - If your interested in nutrition, take a look into advocare.  It is a leading nutritional supplementation company, that is backed by research and science.  They offer everything from sports performance to weight loss to overall health/wellness to nutrition for children.  Check out their site and just look around.

That's all I got for ya this week.  Have a good weekend and Go Get 'Em!



5 Favorite Lower Body Posterior Chain Exercises

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Unless you've been under a stone for the past decade, you've heard of the posterior chain.  Posterior means back and chain basically links, more specifically links of muscles.  So posterior chain means the muscles that make up the backside of the body.  For the lower body this would mean your gastrocnemius, hamstring complex, and glutes. 

If you've ever heard from power lifters or olympic lifters, they'll often tell you they are most afraid of someone with a well developed backside not someone with a well developed front side.  Big, developed muscles of the posterior chain is associated with strength, power, and athleticism.  Look at any sprinter, field athlete, or really any athlete in a power/explosive sport and you will likely see well developed glutes and hamstrings. 

As many strength coaches will tell you, if you want to get faster, jump higher, and become more athletic start hitting these muscles.  And hit them in different vectors, angles, tempo's, intensities, and rep/set schemes.  The a strong posterior chain will accomplish all of these

The muscles of the posterior chain propel us forward during sprinting, give us explosive hip extension for jumping, tackling, blocking, etc, aid in quicker lateral/agility movements, give us better posture and a more appealing look to the opposite sex ;), and stabalize the legs during all of the movements to minimize energy leaks

During sprinting the hamstrings act not only as knee flexors and extensors, but also very important hip extensors.  The glutes work primarily as hip extensors and hip hyperextensors, but they are also very important in hip abduction/external rotation and hip stability. The gastrocnemius works as plantar flexors and a great deal of this is done isometrically. These same basic priciples hold true for most movements, and it is important to train these muscles in all these ways. 

It is very important to work these muscles in conjunction, and not so in isolation.  During sport and athletics these muscles work in unison with each other and it is very important to have great co-contractions and correct motor firing patterns.  Many different muscles are used in hip extension/hyperextension and the extensor recruitment varies depending on the load vector, knee action, hip angle, and other factors.  For example the 3 different hamstring muscles (biceps femoris, semitendinosis, semimembranosis) are more active/involved at different times during hip extension along with the adductor muscles playing a role and of course the glutes are also heavily involved..

Many times injuries occure to the Hamstring complex because the glutes aren't firing correctly or in the correct pattern.  You must develop this muscle coordination and timing throught the correct exercises and then starting overloading this pattern for greater results.

The first thing I would suggest before doing lower body posterior exercise is stretch the hip flexor.  The hip flexors tend to be shortened in most people due to our lifestyles.  Tight hip flexors inhibit the ability of the glutes/hamstrings to fire at their true potential because they cause the pelvis to tilted at a dis-advantaged angle. So statically stretching them opens up the hips and allows the backside to be more effective.  So here are my 5 favorite ways to strengthen your P-Chain.

Hip Thrust

First on the list is the hip thrust.  The hip thrust is an exercise made popular by Bret Contreras (Check out the interview we did with him HERE)  Basically what Bret did was say hey, a ton of programs use body weight glute bridges to activate the glutes before working out, so why not load these bridges and make them a main lift, and the hip thrust was born. 

Bret has done a ton of great work with EMG (elecomyography) to study the amount of muscle activation in the glutes, hamstrings, etc and the hip thrust is the king of glute exercises!  What I like about the hip thrust is the different angle/vector load it puts on the glutes.  We spend most of our lower body work moving vertically, moving weights up-and-down (ie squat, deadlift).  The hip thrust however loads yours hips horizontally and you move the weight from back-to-front.

When you do hip thrusts for the first time, you will feel the difference in this exercise from anything you've done before.  Hip thrusts work hip extension and hyperextension or basically the end range of motion of the glutes like nothing else.  You will definitely feel these bad boys, and will for sure add them as a staple to your program.

I recommend getting some sort of pad for your hips, because as you increase the weight on the bar, it can be uncomfortable on your hip crease, and despite what it looks like, it won't crush your junk.

Key technique is to squeeze your butt at the top of the movement, basically posteriorly tilting your pelvis (ducking it under).  Try and keep your lower back relaxed and let the glutes control the exercise.  Lower back pain can often be caused by weak glutes and many find adding this exercise into their routine eliminates their back pain.

Back Squat

Yup the back squat makes the list.  Many consider the back squat the king of lower body lifts, and they have a damn good reason for that.

The squat is hits just about all of the major lower body muscles, and if done correctly can really hit the glutes.  The key to the squat is to make sure you sit back, spread your knees apart (try spreading the floor with your feet) and get to parallel or beyond.  All of these ques will help you activate your glutes.

The squat allows you to really load the lower body, and this allows you to built some mass and strength.  It is also a great mobility exercise for your ankles, T-Spine, and Hips.  The wider stance you take the more posterior chain you'll hit, while vise versa, narrow stances will hit the quads more.

Deficit, Snatch Grip Deadlift

Take the deadlift, now twist it, mold it, and make it evil, and you have the deficit, snatch grip deadlift.

This is a deadlift that basically puts you in a harder position in order to put even more stress on your whole lower and upper posterior chain.

First step you add a block, box, or plate to stand on.  I choose anywhere from 1-3" depending on what's available.  So now the bar is lower on your shins, and then to compound that you take a snatch grip.

Essentially you're making yourself bend down even lower to grab the bar, and making your hips set higher, thus putting your hamstrings and glutes in a bigger stretch and harder angle.  Your backside really has to take over in this lift, as the angle takes your quads out of the exercise.  Another big reason I like this is because it is not quite so hard on the CNS as regular deadlifts are, mostly due to the lighter weight you'll have to use.

The wide grib forces you to really squeeze your back tight, and is great for your lats and overall back strength.  The deadlift is possibly the best lower body lift you can do, but it is just so hard on the body and nervous system, that I find this version more effective and can impliment it more frequently.

Valslide Leg Curls

Valslide leg curls are the same thing as stability ball leg curls except it is my opinion better to use a stable object rather than a stability ball.

The use of the valslides allow us to focus on the movement we want to achieve rather than limiting load, muscle actions, stability, and angle that you get with the stability ball.  The valslide leg curls are great because you get simultaneous hip extension and knee flexion.  This type of exercise trains the hamstrings through both extension and flexion, while also isometrically training the glutes in extension.

With your heels on the valslide, begin by squeezing your glutes and extending your hips into a bridge position. Do not extend your lower back, try and keep it neutral and relaxed.  Then slide your feet in, keeping your hips up the whole time.

When bodyweight becomes too easy, you can progress to attaching bands to your feet, or my favorite way is single leg (S/L).  The videos below show each variation.  Please start adding this exercise, it the BEST way to train simultaneous hip extension and knee flexion of the hamstrings while also training glute extension, and these actions are the how the P-Chain work together during athletic movements. 

Sprinting

Sprinting might be the overall best exercise/movement you can perform, and maybe the most under used or utilized aspect of training for some.  Sprinting in itself is the basis or a key quality of most athletics and really a basic fundamental movement of our species.

While most sports do rely more heavily on acceleration rather than top speed, it is still a very important quality to train, especially with the benefits it has.  EMG studies show that the hamstrings are the most active during forward propulsion muscle during sprinting as they contribute the majority of the terminal swing hip extension and knee flexion torques, while the glutes contribute most to the stance phase hip extension.

If you think about this, the hamstrings and glutes are working eccentrically to extend the leg to touchdown, and after touchdown, the glutes work isometically to keep transfering this force until take-off.  Just like the the valslide leg curls, this is an extremely important quality to train and improve.

Honorable Mention

It's very tough to choose only 5, so I'm making an honorable mention, heck theres an honorable mention for everything now, so why not this.  As you can see from above, I picked mostly big/compound lifts.  These are great for developing the correct motor firing patterns, overloading and progressing, carryover into athletic movements.  But I had to throw in these 4 honorable mention because these are always in my programming somewhere and I feel are very important to athleticism. Not don't get me wrong, some of these could be considered a main lift, but for me they are usually an assistant lift or activation lift.  But without these would subtract results and greater progression from my athletes.

Eccentric Natural Glute/Ham

The Eccentric Glute/Ham is great for working the eccentric strength of the hamstings, and is really a killer.  It works again knee flexion and hip extension in an eccentric fashion.  This exercise is a real tester to see how strong your hamstrings really are.  If you can perform a perfect Ecc. Glute/Ham, you have some strong hammies.  Also recent studies have shown that training the eccentric action of the hamstrings helps prevent hamstring pulls and recover faster from a hamstring pull. 

Single Leg RDL

The Single Leg RDL, is a great exercise because it works the P-Chain in a straight legged position.  If you watch the leg that's on the ground during the exercise it is very close to the same angle as a plant leg would be in during sprinting.

The single leg RDL, more than a traditional RDL, works the glute medius because it must prevent abduction of the hip due to being on one leg.  This is also a great exercise because it works the end range of motion of the hamstrings, or bascially it works the hamstrings at a stretch.

When performing any sort of RDL movement, you should think about pushing your hips/butt back and pull your chest forward.  I like to think that there is a rope tied around my waist and someone is pulling back on that rope.  There is also a rope around my upper back, and someone is pulling that rope forward.  These forces are happening at the same time, and you are getting a big vertical separation of your hips and upper back and the same tempo.  Kind of hard to explain, but you'll feel it when you do it.

DB/KB Swings

The dumbell or kettlebell swing is quickly becoming a favorite exercise for many coaches.  For some it is replacing Olympic lifts, due to it's simplicity.  If you really look at the movement, it is just a dynamic RDL.  You get a big hip hinge, with a flat back, hips pressed back, and the glutes/hamstrings pull the weight out of the hole and swing it out and up.

As you can see, swings get great hip extension, and for some this exercise comes naturally, but for others it must be taught more thoroughly.  First off the head must stay neutral.  There is a tendency for the head to look up when the weight swing between the legs.  You should strive for a straight line from the back of the head to the back of your butt in that position.  Then when coming out of that position really stress to change the direction of the weight by actively extending your hip, not by extending your back!  This is a great exercise that can be used in so many different way.  It's versatility definitely makes this an exercise a must for all.

Reverse Hypers

And finally rounding it all off is the reverse hyper.  The reverse hyper is a great exercise to target hip extension in the horizontal plane.  Just like the hip thrust it differs from most lower body exercises because it's not bottom to top, but front to back.  I love this exercise as a great activation and learning tool.  You can really feel how you must activate your glutes in this exercise, and not your lower back.  The only negative about this exercise is that it is an open chain movement, meaning nothing is in contact with the ground, and not many athletic activites work in this manner.  Also if you do not have a reverse hyper machine, it can be difficult to load.  You can use dumbells between the legs or bands, but it can be a pain depending on your situation.

References

http://www.elitetrack.com/articles/read/2341/

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/dispelling_the_glute_myth

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/fantastic_hamstring_movements&cr

http://www.elitetrack.com/articles/read/2166/

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/the_lost_art_of_hamstring_training;jsessionid=FBBFD739F6FC6E17ABB3DC9C3E072B89-mcd02.hydra

Lactic Acid: What's the Deal?

Lactic Acid: Urban Legend?

Imagine your running a 400m dash, you hit the home stretch with a lead, but then the awful happens. 

You tighten up, your legs feel like bricks, and you can't exert any force into the track. 

What's happened? 

It's the boogyman of sport, Lactic Acid! 

Everybody and their mother is quick to blaim lactic acid accumulation for muscle fatigue, loss of muscular force/power, and that hitting the wall feeling. 

You hear this from coaches, parents, and just about every couch coach there is. 

I was watching the Olympics the other day when Ryan Lochte finished a race and hurried to the "warm-down" pool.  The announcer then proceeded to explain the reason for doing so was because of lactic acid build up.

Gotta hit the the warm-down pool, hop in an ice bath, do a cool down, or stretch so that lactic acid doesn't build up and stay in your body long and ruin another workout.  But the reality is this could not be the case, and this whole lactic acid being the ultimate bad guy is false.

Must Be Lactic Acid, Right???

Intracellular acidosis due mainly to lactic acid accumulation has been regarded as the most important cause of skeletal muscle fatigue (Allen DG, Lännergren J, Westerblad H).

Let's say you partake in intense anaerobic exercise, this will lead to an intracellular accumulation of lactic acid.  Since lactic acid is a strong acid, it breaks down into lactate and H+.  The increase in H+ leads to reduced pH or acidosis and is the classic cause of skeletal muscle fatigue (Håkan Westerblad, David G. Allen, and Jan Lännergren). 

Decreased pH levels and acidosis caused by lactic acid have been found in fatigued muscles by source of skinned muscle fibers (muscle cells where the surface membrane has been chemically or physically removed).  Studies like skinned muscle fiber are on single muscle fibers and this provides the most direct way to address cellular mechanisms of fatigue  (Håkan Westerblad, David G. Allen, and Jan Lännergren).

The presence of lowered pH and acidosis are the main reasons lactic acid is believed to cause muscle fatigue, pain, and "heaviness" during intense exercise. Another substance often found in fatigued muscle samples in high concentrations is K+ (Ole B. Nielsen, Frank de Paoli, Kristian Overgaard).

Recent studies on mammalian muscle, however, show little direct effect of acidosis on muscle function at physiological temperatures (Håkan Westerblad, David G. Allen, and Jan Lännergren).

In fact, it has been shown when muscle forces are depressed by high concentrations K+, acidification by lactic acid actually produced a recovery of force.

As stated before, intense exercise is associated with an increase of K+, acidosis, and decreased pH, but this might indicates that acidosis may protect against fatigue rather than being a cause of fatigue (Juel, C., Pilegaard, H., Nielsen, J. J. & Bangsbo, J.). 

This relationship of acidosis actually improving muscular fatigue and power is getting more and more recognition of being the true case in muscles.  So, now the focus has been shifted to more on lowered pH levels and high K+ concentrations, as multiple studies have recently looked into this. (Links at the Bottom)

Don't Let This Happen To You



     

Recently the role of reduced pH as an important cause of fatigue is now being challenged, and several recent studies (Posterino GS, Dutka TL, and Lamb GD) show that reduced pH may have little effect on contraction in mammalian muscle at physiological temperatures.

Phsysiological temperatures mean temperatures similar to that which would be seen in muscles during exercise.  Many previous studies have based the idea of pH causing fatigue on studies of muscles at colder temperatures (less than 15 degrees C), however recent studies looking at muscles at around 30 degrees C and more (physiological temperatures of muscle), have found that the muscle fatigue and reduced muscle force are not present at these temperatures despite lowered pH's (Renaud JM and Light P). 

Another key finding has been when looking at muscle fatigue and recovery, it has been found that muscle force and fatigue recovers faster than pH levels after a strenuous workout (Sahlin, K and Ren, JM). This means that non-fatigued muscles have at times reduced pH levels, which obviously contradicts the idea of pH causing muscle fatigue.

  
This leaves the accumulation of K+ ions in the interstitial fluid as being a key cause of fatigue, by inhibiting the propagation of action potentials along the cell membrane.

This K+ accumulation depolarizes the fiber, preventing Na+ recovery, which causes a reduction of action potentials and reduction in force production (Bandschapp, Soule, Iaizzo). 

In a recent study done by Bandschapp, Soule, & Iaizzo, they wanted to test findings to see if they found similar results.  So they did a test on muscle biopsy on live pigs (muscle very similar to humans).  They first added K+ to these muscle biopsy's and then added lactic acid to test the findings.

The researchers found that when K+ was added to the muscle solution, muscle force/power decreased, but when lactic acid was then added, muscle force/power was restored.  The exact reason for this is not completely known, but a possibility explanation is that lactic acid helps in decreasing the permeability of chloride ions, which restores the excitability of the cell membrane (Bandschapp, Soule and Iaizzo).
    
The exact cause of muscular fatigue and loss of power due to intense exercise is unknown.  There are many factors that contribute, like metabolic factors, genetics, nutrition, peripheral muscular factors, central nervous system, temperature, oxidative factors, elevation, sleep, etc.

But it is becoming more and more evident that lactic acid is not a major cause of fatigue, loss of force, and might actually have the opposite effect on muscles (Pedersen TH, Nielsen OB, Lamb GD, and Stephenson DG). 

More research has to be done, but it looks like K+ is a big cause of fatigue, loss of power, and we might need to shift focus on how to reduce the accumulation of K+ and how to recover from this accumulation. 

Exercise Science is always shifting and what was thought as being a truth yesterday could be proven wrong tomorrow.  I don't know if this research will hold up, or if future studies will confirm or deny some of the work done by these scientist.  But I do know that the further we look at lactic acid, the less and less we are seeing it have the effects that most think of. 

I can't say for certain what goes on in a fatigued muscle, and really no knows for exact certain what causes that fatigued, hit the wall feeling.  But I think these studies need to be held up to brighter light, as lactic acid is about as big a "myth" out there as anything. 

And as always hope you enjoyed and Go Get 'Em!

References

            Sahlin K and Ren JM. Relationship of contraction capacity to metabolic changes during recovery from a fatiguing contraction. J Appl Physiolgy 67:648-654, 1989.

            Allen DG, Lännergren J, Westerblad H. Muscle cell function during prolonged activity: cellular mechanisms of fatigue. Exp Physiol 80: 497–527, 1995

             Posterino GS, Dutka TL, and Lamb GD. L(+)-lactate does not affect twitch and tetanic responses in mechanically skinned mammalian muscle fibres. Pflügers Arch 442: 197–203, 2001

           Bandschapp, Soule and Iaizzo.  Lactic acid restores skeletal muscle force in an in vitro fatigue model: are voltage--‐gated chloride channels involved? American Journal of Physiology –Cell Physiology, 2012

            Posterino GS and Lamb GD. Effect of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ content on action potential-induced Ca2+ release in rat skeletal muscle fibres. J Physiol 551: 219–237, 2003.

Abstract/FREE Full Text

             Renaud JM and Light P. Effects of K+ on the twitch and tetanic contraction in the sartorius muscle of the frog, Rana pipiens. Implication for fatigue in vivo. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 70: 1236–1246, 1992.

            Sejersted OM and Sjögaard G. Dynamics and consequences of potassium shifts in skeletal muscle and heart during exercise. Physiol Rev 80: 1411–1481, 2000.

Abstract/FREE Full Text

            Nielsen OB, de Paoli F, and Overgaard K. Protective effects of lactic acid on force production in rat skeletal muscle. J Physiol 536: 161–166, 2001.

Abstract/FREE Full Text

            Pedersen TH, Nielsen OB, Lamb GD, and Stephenson DG. Intracellular acidosis enhances the excitability of working muscle. Science 305: 1144–1147, 2004.

Abstract/FREE Full Text

            Posterino GS, Dutka TL, and Lamb GD. L(+)-lactate does not affect twitch and tetanic responses in mechanically skinned mammalian muscle fibres. Pflügers Arch 442: 197–203, 2001.

            Spangenburg EE, Ward CW, and Williams JH. Effects of lactate on force production by mouse EDL muscle: implications for the development of fatigue. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 76: 642–648, 1998.

               Juel, C., Pilegaard, H., Nielsen, J.J. & Bandsbo, J. (2000). Interstitial K+ in human skeletal muscle during and after dynamic graded exercise determined by microdialysis. American Journal of Phusiology 278, R400-406, PubMed         

Links

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/jphysiol.2004.078014/full,  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7793.2001.t01-1-00161.x/full,  http://www.aleixo.com/biblioteca/MUSCULA/Topicos2e3/Revis%E3o%20fadiga%20muscular.pdf