Anatomy Lesson: The Knee

Time for another installment of Anatomy Lessons.  Last week we went over the Foot/Ankle, now we're moving up the chain to the knee.  When you think about the knee in sports, the first thing that pops into most heads is injury; and not just a little ding but season ending injuries.

The knee is susceptible to injury because of the nature of certain sports, and the because the knee is often left helplessly to follow the hip and/or left to compensate for the foot/ankle.  The knee is stuck between two joints who often leave crap behind, and the knee is forced to take much of that crap. 

"The knee is a dumb joint, the foot/ankle and hip dictate not only the position of the knee, but what it's capable of doing as well". - Mike Robertson

So while the knee is often the joint that gets injured, it's usually a result of problems seen elsewhere in the body.  But for now let's find out the nitty gritty of the knee!

Bones: Four bones make up the knee joint.

• Tibia - Shin bone
• Fibula - Smaller lower leg bone running parallel to the tibia
• Femur - Thigh bone
• Patella - Knee cap

Muscles: 

• Quadriceps - The quads are the group of muscles on the front side of your thigh.  The quad group is made up of 4 muscles - rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius. The quads work to extend the knee joint as well as provide stabilization.  
• Hamstrings - The hamstrings are the group of muscles on the backside of your thigh.  The hammy group is comprised of 3 muscles, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus.  The hamstrings work to flex the knee joint as well as provide stabalization.
• Popliteus - This muscle runs on the backside of the knee joint.  It is often thought to unlock the knee from extension during walking/running.  The popliteus assists in flexion, but also provides a rotational component to the knee.  It will rotate the tibia and femur inward during certain situations or positions. 
• Lower Leg - We're bunching these all into 1 group for simplicity sake.  The calves (gastrocnemius and soleus) and tibialis anterior also have some influence on the knee.  Aiding in flexion and extension respectively, but far far less in comparison to the quads and hammies. 

Ligaments: Ligaments connect bone to bone. They are key in stabilization of the knee

• Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) - The MCL runs on the inside (medial) aspect knee attaching to the femur and tibia.  It prevents excessive inward movements or valgus forces.  A typical injury to the MCL will be caused by a force acting on the outside of the knee, forcing the knee inward.
• Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL) - The LCL runs on the outside (lateral) aspect knee attaching to the femur and fibula.  It prevents excessive outward movements or varus forces.  A typical injury to the LCL occurs when a force occurs on the inside of the knee, forcing the knee outward.
• Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) - The PCL is the strongest ligament in the knee, and is deep inside the knee joint behind the ACL.  Cruciate ligaments cross in the middle of the knee joint, and the PCL travels from the posterior surface of the tibia to the anterior surface of the femur.  It prevents backward motion of the knee.
• Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) - The most well known, and "infamous" knee joint.  The ACL runs from the anterior surface of the tibia, to the posterior surface of the femur.  It prevents the tibia of moving forward.  Injury to the ACL is severe and can cause a recovery period of 9-15 months. 

Cartilage/Tendons: Cartilage is a connective tissue that cover the ends of the knee joint bones to help bones more freely against each other.  Tendons attach muscle to bone.

• Menisci - The lateral and medial menisci attach to the tibia on the respective outside or inside portions of the knee.  These menisci act as shock absorbers and help distribute forces evenly through the knee.  Menisci also aid in keeping the knee stable.
• Articular Cartilage (AC) - Articular cartilage is on the ends of all bones, in any joint.  So in the knee joint, AC covers the ends of the femur, tibia, and back of the patella.  AC is lubricated by synovial fluid, synovial fluid and AC create a slippery, lubricant that is 3 times more slippery than ice and even more impressive, 5 times more slippery than the road runner is to the coyote.  This combination allows the bones to move against each other freely and without pain or resistance. 
• Quadriceps Tendon - Connects the quad muscle to the patella.  It helps assist in knee extension and provides stability of the patella. 
• Patella Tendon/Ligament - The patella tendon connects the patella to the tibia, so in reality it is a ligament, but most people know it at as the patella tendon.  The patella tendon assists in knee extension and works to keep the patella stable

Common Issues

Stability + Mobility - In the joint-by-joint theory it is stated that the knee joint prefers and needs stability.  The knee is often thought as a hinge joint, with only flexion and extension movement, but the knee does have rotational components.  So while the knee does lean towards needing stability, it also needs adequate mobility. 
We definitely want to see full extension from the knee joint - a quick easy test for this is to sit on the ground with your legs extended flat.  From there, extend your knee and see if you can get your heel to come off the ground - without flexing your hip!  Essentially seeing if you can go beyond 180 degrees of extension or not.  If you can't then you A. lack knee extension ROM and/or B. lack some quad/extension strength.  Both are very important for knee health.

Stuck in the Middle - The knee is between the hip and ankle joints, and often receives the brunt of bad news if these two joints are not working optimally.  The knee often just follows suit with what occurs up at the hips.  The knee is in a position that forces it to just follow the path set by the hips and pelvis.  So while the knee may be perfectly happy and healthy, it can get pulled down by problems at the hip or ankle.

Ligament Injuries - We all know the horrible effects that a ACL or some other kind of ligament injury can have.  During a surveillance study on 100 high school from 2005-2001

• 15% of all athletic injuries were knee injuries
• Half of these knee injuries were ligamentous
• MCL was the most common injury
• Over 21% of all knee injuries were treated with injury
• Occurrence rate were higher for games than practice
• Occurrence rate for females was higher than male

Many of these are contact type injuries, where avoidance is hard to prevent.  On the other hand, we also see many non-contact ligament injuries, and these can be prevented.  Many will say these occur from an "un-stable" knee, but this is far to simplistic. The occurrence of a knee actually being "un-stable" or lax is not very common. This "un-stableness" is more likely a result of weakness or lack of mobility at the hip, ankle, or surrounding muscles. Training or continuing to allow poor knee mechanics, even if they are rooted elsewhere, is a major No-No. 

Valgus Knee Collapse - Valgus knee collapse is the term given the knees "buckle" inwards.  This collapse is a break in proper knee mechanics and puts a ton of stress on the knee joint and has been associated with MCL and ACL injuries, patellofemoral pain, IT band pain, and tibial stress fractures.  This is seen in so many athletes, and work to correct valgus knee collapse needs to be essential in injury prevention and sport performance programs.

Fixes

Hip/Pelvis Strength - Like we touched upon, the knee is often helpless to the actions and control of the hip/pelvis.  If the hip and pelvis is strong and stable and gives a good path, the knee will follow.  But if the they are weak and present a poor path, the knees can't really help but follow.  This is when bad things occur.  The knee often will see great benefits from better strength and control of the pelvis/hip and work targeted to the glute max, glute medius, diaphragm, core, hip rotators, psoas, and QL.

Ankle Mobility - Like we touched upon in the Foot/Ankle Anatomy Lesson, problems in ROM at the foot/ankle will often lead to compensations at the knee.  This might contribute to a valgus knee, or a tibial torsion, or some other compensations at the knee.

Strengthen the Quads and Hamstrings - Adequate strength and balance between the quads and hamstrings help influence stability, control, and distribution of forces among the knee.  Weakness or an imbalance between the quads and hams can alter the stability and control of the knee in certain directions or actions.  This can increase the stress seen in certain parts of the knee and over time this can add up, and lead to injury or altered mechanics.

Motor Control - Proper knee mechanics and tracking need to be taught.  Often times valgus or other compensations occur because the person is lazy or just developed poor motor control.  With young people, often just telling them to correct their mechanics is all that is needed.  They just need to know the proper technique. 

When looking at the knee from the side view, you should see the hip, knee, and ankle in a single line.  Next view from the front, it should show a relatively stacked position of the hip, knee, and ankle as well.  Depending on body types (more the case with females) you might have a natural medial alignment of the knee in comparison to the hip, but ideally the closer to stacked the better. This alignment is a great start in improving knee function and health. 

Knee ROM - Despite the tendency for the knee to be stable, we also need to make sure it has adequate ROM.  In flexion, you should be able to get your heel to your butt.  If you cannot then you are leaving performance potential on the table, as many track and field coaches have stated that if one cannot cycle their leg through close to thier butt, they will not run at their full potential.
Along with knee flexion, we need to see full extension, past 180 degrees.  Lack of extension is a major cause of concern for future dysfunction.  Check these out by KStarr and get it fixed!

Conclusion

If you take away one thing from this today, it's that problems at the knee are usually rooted elsewhere.  Whether that be the hips or ankle or pelvis or spine.  Don't always think a knee injury or problem is directly caused by the knee, mostly it's rooted elsewhere.  The knee is a conformist, it just follows what other body parts are doing.  Fix them and make them all cool and dandy, and the knee will follow suit and become part of the cool crowd. 

Well that's all we got for you today.  Hope you enjoyed, if you did be sure to sign-up for BBA updates to keep up with us here at BBA.  Until next time Go Get 'Em!


Related
Anatomy Lession: Foot/Ankle

Weekly Recap - 4/21/13

Hey, Hey BBA Nation!  Another Sunday means another Weekly Recap.  Have a lot of great stuff for you today, so settle in a enjoy!  Also be sure to check out this weeks post

Anatomy Lesson - Foot and Ankle

Also check-out the article we had posted at Tabata Times - Early Specialization?  Think Again!

Ok, enjoy!

If I Knew Then What I Know Now: Middle of the Road - Harry Selkow

A Lion In Iron: What Are You Afraid Of - Alexander Cortes

The Individualization of Team Training - James Smith

Conditioning: You're Doing It Wrong - Molly Galbraith

Considerations of Olympic Style Training on Athletic Performance - Rob Panariello

Anterior Pelvic Tilt and Lumbosacral Pain As It Relates To The Hip Thrust and Glute Bridge - Dr. Conrad Stalheim

Not Your Average BS Core Training - Ben Bruno

Fascinating Facts About Sleeping - TC

Your Job Makes You Sit? Fix It With MobilityWod

Strongkid.com - Great site for youth athletes.  Run by researcher Dr. Avery Faigenbaum, he provides great info on how youth athletes should be trained and progressed.  Check it out!

Safegaurd Your Shoulders - Keith Scott

10 Things to Stop Saying to Your Kids - Tessa Miller

10 Eating Styles Explained - Ashley Fleming

The Three H's - Morrill Performance

Knowledge and Nonsense: Food Like and Dislikes - Jamie Hale

Zero Drop: Think Before You Drop - Gait Guys

37 Ways to be a Badass - Chris McCombs

Bridging the Gap Between Yoga and Movement - Amanda Patti

Book of the Week - How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie - Many of you have probably heard of this book, as it is one of the all-time best sellers in literature history.  Written over 70 years ago by Dale Carnegie, it is essentially the first book on success and the information in this book still rings true today.  In a nutshell it goes over
   - 3 ways to handle people
   - 6 way to make people like you
   - 12 ways to win people into your way of thinking
   - 9 ways to be a great leader
Simply this book is a must for anybody who is in the business of working with people.  It will help you influence and impact your career in a number of ways.  Check it out!

Video of the Week - Try Something New For 30 Days - Matt Cutts

Alright have a great weekend and be sure to sign-up for BBA Updates!  As always Go Get 'Em!

Anatomy Lesson: The Foot and Ankle

What do Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or the ever awesome Scary Movie's (hint of sarcasm) have in common?  They're all series', so if you like that kind of stuff, you should like this. 

We are going to do a series of Anatomy lessons for you, so you can get a better understanding of the human body.  We are going to go joint by joint through the body, and point out some keys structures, movements, and jobs of each joint.  Then probably go over some common problems we see, and how to fix them.  Maybe some more info, but I don't know if we'll have enough time, we have a lot of busy days at the Home Debot planned ahead.

So were starting from the ground up, with the foot and ankle.  Your tootsies (as it's known in the playground) bear a huge brunt of your everyday activity, but do you ever really pay attention to them?  Doubt it.  These poor pups get used and abused, and never get shown any love.  Well that changes today, time to give the foot and ankle some much deserved TLC.   

So enjoy!

Bones - The foot and ankle contain 28 bones (including the tibia and fibula).  All together the foot and ankle contain over 25% of the total bones in the human body!  That's right, these two little structure that don't even take up 10% of your bodies area or weight, contain over 25% of the total bones.  Why again do we never show the feet any love?  Hmmm

Ankle

• Tibia and Fibula - Two lower leg bones.  Tibia is the "shin" bone, it is much larger than the fibula, which runs laterally to the tibia.
• Calcaneous - Heel Bone
• Talus - Joins the foot to the shin.  Sits on top of the calcaneous

Foot

• Cuneiforms - Medial, Intermediate, Lateral - Articulate with the 1st-3rd metatarsals
• Cuboid - Articulates with the calcaneous and the 4th-5th metatarsals
• Navicular - Between the talus and cuneiforms
• Metatarsals - 1st-5th
• Phalanges - 5 proximal, 4 middle (2nd-4th toes), 5 distal

(photo:visual.merriam-webster.com)

Muscles - The foot and ankle contain over 100 muscles, mostly small in length and cross-sectional area, but many very important.  The main functions of these muscles are to dorsiflex, plantar flex, evert, invert, extend the toes, and flex the of toes, as well as pronate and supinate the foot.

Ankle

• Gastrocnemius - Aka your calve aka your baby cows.  Action - Plantarflexion
• Tibialis Anterior - Aka your shin muscle aka where most will feel it when they get shin splints. Actions - Dorsiflexion, inversion (supination)
• Tibialis posterior - inversion (supination)
• Peroneals - Run down the lateral aspect of the ankle/foot - eversion

Foot

• Flexor Hallucis Brevis - Flexion of great toe
• Flexor Digitorum Brevis - Flexion of 2nd-4th toes
• Flexor Hallucis Longus - Flexion of great toe, plantar flexion
• Flexor Digitorum Longus - Flexion of 2nd-5th toes
• Extensor Digitorum Brevis - Extension of 2nd-4th toes
• Extensor Hallucis Brevis - Extension of great toe
• Extensor Digitorum Longus - Extension of 2nd-5th toes, dorsiflexion, inversion
• Extensor Hallucis Longus - Extension of great toe, dorsiflexion, eversion, inversion

(photo: angelopodiatry.com)

Joints/ Tendons/ Ligaments - The foot also has 33 joints, and hundreds of tendons and ligaments.  Not to mention huge amounts of proprioception receptions in these joints, tissues, and skin to give feedback to the body.
          (remember proprioception refers to awareness of ones position, orientation, activation, and movements.  Like your hands, the foot is filled with sensory feedback receptors to communicate tons of information with the CNS about what it is feeling and sensing, and what potential actions to take)


Common Issues

Ankle Sprain - The ankle sprain is the most common lower leg injury, and if you participate in sports, you'll more than likely suffer from an ankle sprain at one point in time.  There are many different types of ankle sprains and different levels of severity.  Know that a sprain refers to injury to a ligament, and there are typically 3 grades.

   Grade 1 - Least severe.  Refers to a small tear in the ligament
   Grade 2 - Refers to a moderate amount of tear in the ligament
   Grade 3 - Most severe.  Refers to a complete tear in the ligament

Lateral Ankle Sprain - The most common type of ankle sprain, this occurs when the foot inverts (gets twisted inwards) and results in spraining of the lateral ligaments.  The most common ligaments sprain during lateral ankle sprains are the anterior talofibular, calcaneofibular, and posterior talofibular ligaments.

Medial Ankle Sprain - The medial ankle sprain is seen when the foot gets everted (twisted outward) beyond it's ROM.  The deltoid (no not the shoulder) ligament bears the burden from medial ankle sprains.

High Ankle Sprain - High ankle sprains occur to the syndesmotic ligaments that connect the tibia and fibula to the lower leg, and hence is often referred to as syndesmosis.  High ankle sprains most typically occur from a combination of excessive external rotation, eversion, and dorsiflexion of the foot and ankle.

(photo: mkillustrations.com)

Plantar Fasciitis - Plantar Fasciitis (great hangman word) is inflammation in the connective tissues of the arch or sole of the foot.  This part of your foot is heavily influenced by connective tissues such as fascia, ligaments, and tendons.  These all work together to support your foot and give it stability through your everyday movements.  Problems occur when the arch becomes weak, strained, over-worked, tight, or inhibited. 

Turf Toe - Turf toes refers to a sprain of the connective tissues of the 1st metatarsophalangeal joint (big toe).  This occurs when the big toes dorsiflexes (pulled upward) too far and the ligaments of the metatarsophalangeal tear.  This is an excruciating injury and doesn't allow the individual to roll up on to their big toe.  Obviously this will greatly impair gait as the big toe is where we want to finish our gait cycle as it is the biggest, strongest, and has the most tendon, fascia, elastic components. 

Varus - Varus basically refers to a body part turned inward or towards the midline.  In the foot, two common dysfunctions are forefoot and rearfoot varus

   Forefoot Varus - this occurs when the forefoot is turned inwards compared to the rearfoot.  This leads to contact during walking/running on the lateral aspect of the foot.  This forces the foot to go a further distance to reach the big toe for toe off, and because of this further distance, it leads to increased pronation and increased knee collapse.  Both of these resultants are not optimal for energy transfer and can increase risk of injury.

   Rearfoot Varus - this occurs when the rearfoot is turned inwards compared to the tibia/fibula.  This is by far the most prominent dysfunction seen in the foot.  This again results in a more lateral landing of the foot, and again more distance for the forefoot to travel to reach the big toe.  This causes an increase in the speed to pronation, which will put a lot of stress on the arch or cause the forefoot to adapt a more valgus position.  Because this varus is seen in the rarefoot, it will often be accompanied with a bow legged knee position. 

Valgus - Opposite of varus, valgus refers to a body part turned outward or away from the midline

   Forefoot Valgus - this occurs when the forefoot is turned slightly outward compared to the rearfoot. Like with touched on, this is often paired with rearfoot varus, as a compensation to better use the forefoot and big toe.  People with forefoot valgus are have higher arches and a more rigid arch.

Usable Information

So we've covered a bunch of anatomical information, which might sound like a bunch of mumbo jumbo, so let's take this info and give you use applicable info.

Fascial Work - Of all the areas of the body, in our opinion, the foot responds the best to fascial work or message.  Hopefully you're not on your ass all day, and get in some quality movement time.  This means your foot will be doing a lot of work and often times it gets beat up.  Take a PVC pipe, tennis ball, lacrosse ball, or golf ball and spend 3-5 quality minutes rolling the bottom of your feet each day.  This will greatly help with the health, quality, and proprioception of your feet.  This is also great for plantar fasciitis.  Just think, your foot has 33 joints, over 100 muscles, and numerous more connective tissues in your size 10 feet.  That's a lot of business going on in a small space, give it some love and roll those puppies out.  

Plus rolling out the bottom of your feet can lead to positive changes up the chain.  If you spend some quality time working on your feet, we can almost guarantee when you pop off you'll have increased hamstring flexibility, which may lead to decreased back pain or poor pelvic alignment.  The role off fascia is fascinating and it's potential influences throughout the body are pretty cool, so while research hasn't made any definite conclusions about myofascial release, we like to keep our feet happy. 

Take your shoes off - Take your shoes off more!  It's so easy.  Get your foot butt naked, and give them the experience of walking on different surfaces and let them breath.  While some might argue the efficacy of barefoot training to improving performance; they cannot deny the benefits of enhanced proprioception, increased sensory stimuli, and a chance for greater movements and ranges of motions of the foot when it isn't confined to a strict shoe. 

Learn Tri-Pod - Foot tri-pod refers to the position your foot is most stable and most desires.  It's contact with your heel, the head of your big toe, and the head of your pinky toe.  These 3 points form a tri-pod of optimal stability and position for your foot. 

Feel this position by lifting your toes off the ground and adjusting your foot to feel those 3-points of contact.  Notice how when you lift your toes, your arch become stiff and stable, this is called the windlass mechanism.  Lower your toes back to the ground, but maintain the arch position.  This is an ideal position for your foot.  Try feeling this tri-pod and windlass mechanism position when performing squats, deadlifts, or single leg movements.  This will strengthen your arch and teach your foot how to maintain a stable base and not collapse or become weak when performing dynamic movements.  

 

Ankle Mobility - Walking requires between 4-10 degrees (past 90) of ankle dorsiflexion, while running can need 10-20 degrees (past 90) of dorsiflexion, yet many cannot even achieve 90 degrees of ankle dorsiflexion.  If we do not have the appropriate range of dorsiflexion, the body will compensate in other areas.  This might mean the foot will develop a varus or valgus position, the arch will collapse, the knees will collapse, the tibia might develop excessive internal rotation, the hip might compensate, the back might compensate, etc.  It's hard to keep a stable foot position if ankle mobility is lost.  Work on improving your ankle mobility and you could potentially see problems in your foot, knees, hip, and back improve, as well as your performance. 

Joint-by-Joint -  The JBJ has been popularized by Mike Boyle and Gray Cook.  It basically states that joints in the body alternate between leaning towards stability or mobility.  In the JBJ, the first metatarsophalangeal joint leans towards mobility, the foot leans towards stability, and the ankle mobility.  While the JBJ does have exceptions and is a little simplistic, it does provide a good guideline for what each joint would prefer and how to structure training to each joint.  So like the above tips touched upon, work on creating a mobile big toe, a stable foot/arch, and a mobile ankle joint.  

     (a note of exception - also work on foot mobility.  Get back some ROM from those stiff connective tissues and open those feet up.  This makes it much easier and beneficial for the proceeding stability work)

Conclusion

Your foot and ankle are often times neglected for whatever reasons.  But in just about all movements, your ankle and feet have the final say about what goes into the ground.  You can have the strongest hips in the world, but if your feet cannot transfer that force, then all is lost.  Your feet take a pounding, so take the time to understand they need to be taken care of and strengthened like the rest of your body. 

So we hope you enjoyed and learned a little something about those things you call your feet.  Until next time 

Go Get 'Em!



Also be sure to sign-up for BBA updates.  By doing so you'll receive 2 Free Ebooks -
   10 Tips to Improve Your Vertical
   10 Tips to Improve Your Acceleration and Sprinting Speed  


Resources
The Gait Guys - Go here for all things gait and feet.  The best resource out there!

http://www.eorthopod.com/content/ankle-anatomy

Physio Blogger - Has a ton of articles of foot functions

Weekly Recap - 4/12/13

Posting this Week's Recap a little earlier than usual, because we have a busy weekend.  So get prepped for the weekend with this list of great reads. 

Spring weather is turning around, suns starting to pop out, oh it's a great time of the year!  So get some vitamin D and get some knowledge with these links below and be sure to check out our 2 articles from this week

Interview with Paul Fabritz
11 Random Knowledge Bombs

Also be sure to subscribe to BBA updates, so you're always up to date with the happenings here at BBA. 
Plus you get 2-free Ebooks
     - 10 Tips to Improve Your Vertical Jump
     - 10 Tips to Improve Your Acceleration and Sprinting Speed

Ok let's kick it off!  Enjoy!

Derby City Crossfit - I've talked about Derby Crossfit before, but thought I should bring them up once again.  If you haven't been to their site, then go NOW!  DCC is quickly becoming a site I go to everyday, I always need to check out the 4-6 articles they link; they always cover diverse topics and articles from sources I would never find on my own.  Not only that they put together daily WOD's, with appropriate scales or progressions for the varying levels of the athlete.  I have never been to their gym to see how it runs first hand, but I can tell you if I lived in the Louisville, Kentucky area I would make sure to head over to their gym.

Yoga and Fitness Classes For Girls - Girls on Target - Want to change a young girls life?  Then watch this video on how Girls on Target is slowly changing the scope on youth girls fitness.  Spread this message, and build a generation of strong, fit, united women.

Conditioning: Are You Doing It Wrong - Molly Galbraith - Awesome overview of conditioning and energy systems.  If you are an athlete, this is a must.

The FMS and It's Relevance in Sports Performance - XL Athlete

How to Stay Consistent - Scrawny to Brawny

Girls Who Play Sports Are More Successful - Natasha Hawkins

Why Breakfast Is Nothing But A Scam - Dangerously Hardcore

Reflections on Reflections: Mirrors - Frank Forencich

13 Harsh Reasons Why You Aren't Succeeding - Joel

10 Articles for Expecting Moms: How to Exercise During Pregnancy - Breaking Muscle

Surprising and Substantial Effects of Peppermint on Exercise - Breaking Muscle

Hamstring Mechanics During Sprinting: Insights - Breaking Muscle

10 Nutrition Tips You Should Be Following: Part 1 - Molly Galbraith

Considerations in Olympic Style Weightlifting - Rob Panariello

Quick and Easy Ways to Move Better - Greg Robins

How to Build an Awesome Gym Culture - Mark Fisher

11 Random Knowledge Bombs

1.  70% of the Immune System is in your gut

That's right 70%, that a whole heck of a lot.  If you want to stay healthy, then keep your gut healthy.

How?

Consider taking a pro or prebiotic or start adding more probiotic rich foods.  Probiotics are bacteria aka "good bacteria".  You have roughly 100 TRILLION living bacteria in that old dumpster you call your stomach, and the more good bacteria you have the better your health.

So consider eating more foods such as greek yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut or other fermented foods, and dark chocolate (were talking 80% cocoa plus).  When I lived in Austria, it presented me with the opportunity to eat a lot of 'Kraut (as it's known in the ghetto), and I freekin love that stuff.  If you've only ever had 'Kraut on a brat or hotdog, you're missing out, that stuff is good with any meat and is also good to throw on eggs, pizza, or just as a side dish.

2.  20% of energy expenditure during exercise is spent on brain activity

This means, do things that challenge yourself and in return you will challenge your brain.  Challenge your position, your movements, your speeds, your proprioception, your asymmetries.  Your brain is learning about itself during exercise, so teach it something!

While on this topic, please read this article on the importance of Physical Education and Physical Activity in Schools.  If you're in the fitness field/ PE educator, work with youth kids, or are a parent, then this topic is important, and this information needs to be spread.

3.  We are naturally asymmetrical

Everybody and their mother talks about how we need to balance out asymmetries, but we are naturally asymmetrical beings

     - We have a heart in our left upper chest cavity but nothing on the right
     - We have three lobes on our right lung and only two on the left
     - Our right diaphragm is 2/3's larger than the left and is supported by the liver.
     - Speaking of the liver, I don't believe there is one on our left side :)
     - Each hemisphere of the brain is responsible for different functions, and they are not identical
     - Most of us are left or right side (hand, foot, brain) dominant, not ambidextrous 
     - My left bicep is 14.31456 inches and my right is 14.52301 - OMG! I need to fix this NOW!!!

(photo: happehtheory.com)

Many programs are set on finding and curing our asymmetries, but they never take a second to consider that some asymmetries are good and needed.  We must understand we will never be perfectly symmetrical and many of our asymmetries are necessary for athletic success and actually help us in sports.

So while it may important to close the gap between major asymmetries, we need to look and consider why some of the smaller asymmetries developed.  Most likely it's do to an adaptation to a sport, and that small asymmetry is benefiting performance, and you might do more harm than good in trying to correct that 3% difference between sides.

4.  Breathing is Important

Breathing is becoming a prominent training tool, and a point of attention to evaluate.  Diaphragmatic breathing is so important because of all it's connections and implications elsewhere in the body.  If the diaphragm doesn't do it's job properly the thoracic, lumbo-pelvic, cervical, so on and so forth will bear a brunt of the abuse from this loss in function.

In fact, we take between 20,000-22,000 breaths each day.  That's 20,000+ reps each day, and each rep plays a role in how the rest of our body functions and moves.  Imagine doing 20,000+ reps of squats!  You better believe the squat pattern is going to get engrained and how difficult breaking a poor squat pattern would be, plus your legs would be like sequoia tree trunks.  The same goes for your breath, you need to consciously think about activating the diaphragm and using your pelvic floor to get a full, deep belly breath.

Here are just a few ways breathing effects the body, and believe me, trying to wrap my brain around just how powerful proper breathing can be, is extremely difficult and I still don't understand it all.  Gonna need to take a PRI course and really learn more

• If you’re locked into thoracic flexion, the odds of your breathing being affected is pretty high
• If you don’t open your lungs adequately, your ability to extend your thoracic spine will be inhibited, which will affect scapular mechanics, shoulder mechanics, neck mechanics, and probably lead to some form of an upper body injury or another.
• If your diaphragm isn’t working properly, it can affect your entire core stability, which could lead to low back injuries.  This lack of diaphragm function that doesn't allow your core to work optimally may not allow your hips to fire properly and thus limiting your strength/power (NOOO!!!)
• Clavicular breathing is related and can actually increase stress.  It can also lead to tightness and inhibition of your neck, scalenes, and cervical spine.
• If you can't breath right, who won't move right - I'm really sorry not being able to remember who I heard this from, but it hits the nail of the head

5.  80/20 Rule

Twenty percent of the things you do, account for 80 percent of the results.  Don't forget that!  Stick the the basics and be great at them.  This applies to in the weight room, nutrition, and life; save the gimics for the wannabe's.

6.  Play Multiple Sports

Kids need to play multiple sports.  I was going to go into greater detail about this, but decided to keep it simple.  Don't specialize before high school (and truly don't specialize in High School either), and play as many different sports as you can.  There is a whole bunch of research showing specialization at younger ages is leading to injury, overuse, burnout, decreased performance with age, and a higher percentage of drop-out.

7.  De-Clutter

This hits home for me right now, living in a foreign country with about 5 pairs of clothing, 3 pairs of shoes, no TV, no car, no couch, no living room, no desk, no smart phone, no microwave, no oven, limited language comprehension, and no junk.  Everything I'm living with fit into one suitcase and a small backpack, that's it.

You'd be amazed at how little you really need.  Here are two challenges for you

   1.  Go through your clothes and turn all your hangers the opposite direction (so the open end is facing you).  When you use a piece of clothing, put it back on the hanger but turn the hanger the normal way now (open end facing away from you).  After 6 months, take all the clothes on the hangers that haven't been switched and give them away or sell them. 

   2.  One day a week go without facebook, twitter, TV, email, or your phone (can keep it on you just in case of emergency).  You'll probably learn you are addicted to that stuff.  What can you do instead - read, go to a museum, explore the city you live in, exercise, write, play a board game, etc.  Get out and see the world a little bit, all that other stuff will still be there don't worry.

Here's a neat little TED video, oh by the way TED is awesome, start watching them!

8.  Daily Stress is Equivalent to Smoking 5 Cigarettes a Day

You need to find ways to reduce and relieve stress.  Everybody is different, so experiment with different approaches.  Movies, meditation, spend time with family, friends, be around young people, be around old people, exercise, walk your dog, do yoga, learn how to breath, cook, go to the gun range and get all Bruce Willis on that targets ass, etc.  These are all simple thing you can do to lower your stress.

9. Sitting Might Be Slowly Killing You

More and more research is starting to confirm what many coaches have preached for years, sitting is really bad for you. How about this little factoid
On average in the United States, people are sitting 9.3 hours a day as compared to sleeping only 7.7!

Some studies have shown that after 1 hour of sitting, enzymes that burn fat are reduced by 90%.  Prolonged sitting is being correlated with many health risks and shortend life span.  Basically what it boils down to is that sitting is an indication of exercise.  The more you sit, the less likely you are exercising; the less you exercise, the increased risk of health problems, and on and on.

Check out this Sitting Visual

So what can you do, MOVE!  Try kneeling instead of sitting, maybe get a stand-up desk, or a great tip from Dan John is to sit on the floor more.  By sitting on the floor you will naturally take up different positions and move more often.  Also research is showing that the ability to get off the ground is a key indication of life expectancy.  Sitting on the floor forces you to get off the ground to stand up instead of just off the couch.  And as you know, getting up off the ground from a seated or lying position is a great strength, core, mobility, and stability exercise  As Kelly Starrett has said, "Your butt is NOT a weight bearing muscle!"

Go Get 'Em!

Interview with Paul Fabritz

So how did everyone's bracket turnout?  For the first time in my life, I actually won my bracket pool! Now there were only 11 people involved, but don't steal my thunder!  

Some of you still probably have something riding on tomorrows game, and with the National Championship rolling around tomorrow night, it only makes sense to take a look at how basketball players train.  For that, we brought you an interview with Paul Fabritz, of PJF Performance in Tempe, Arizona.  Paul is a sports performance coach with an emphasis on training basketball athletes.

He knows the ins and outs of working with basketball athletes, and has taken a lot of players to the next level with his training.  So sit back and enjoy Paul giving you some knowledge!

1.   Hey Paul thanks for doing this interview for us!  First can you give us a little background on yourself, what you're doing, and any other areas of specific interest.

Hey Michael, first let me start by saying, you run a hell of a blog! Quality information on a consistent basis, couldn’t ask for anything more as a reader! 

 
Anyways, I’m a Performance Enhancement Coach based in Tempe, AZ. My business is called PJF Performance LLC, and my main focus is basketball specific strength and conditioning. I’ve always been passionate about exercise and basketball so I figured why not combine the two and make a career out of it! I have college basketball experience at the JC level and also one year of D1 experience at Northern Arizona University. Unfortunately, my basketball career didn’t go as planned due to breaking 5 bones in 4 years. Who would have thought Vitamin D is critical for calcium absorption!? 

 
I think my misfortunes actually helped me in the long run, because while I was injured I started training my teammates and worked towards certifications. I began burying my face in books related to training and became a strength and conditioning nerd. 

 
In the last 5 years I’ve worked as a trainer at commercial gyms, private gyms, and spent some time as a basketball strength coach at the high school level before I decided to open my own business in 2012.

2.   Awesome Stuff!  You keep enjoying that warm weather, while here in the Midwest we can't catch a break from this cold stuff.  What are the main type of clients you deal with?

 
I’ve worked with athletes of all sports, but my main clientele is basketball players. I also work with general population through online program design, group classes, and semi-private sessions. Even though my biggest passion is training athletes, I hope that general fitness is always a part of my business because there’s nothing more rewarding than helping transform someone’s life!

 

3.   What are some of the common dysfunctions, asymmetries, mobility, stability issues you see in clients?  (I know this could turn into a paper itself, so just pick your top 2-3)

 
One asymmetry that I often see with basketball players is right/left shoulder differences. Basketball players are unique in the sense that they are “half way” overhead athletes. If a player is putting up 300+ shots a day (which they should be), their shooting arm is constantly overhead, while the shoulder of the guide hand doesn’t travel above 90 degrees. In addition to figuring out the mobility/stability issues going on, sometimes I have to train them like “normal” overhead athletes and limit shoulder presses, pull-ups, etc. 
 

The other one that I see is a bit more obvious, but basketball players always have right/left leg asymmetries due to favoring their dominant jumping leg. Playing for hours every day and constantly jumping off their dominant leg leads to major strength/balance differences between the two legs. I’ve seen players really struggle with bilateral lower body exercises when beginning training after a long season because of the right/left asymmetry. I’ve found that unilateral lower body exercises can be far more beneficial for these athletes so that we can equal out the legs a bit. 

 

4.   You put out some great info on improving jumping ability.  What are some key factors to improving ones vertical for sports?
 

• Genetics- tendon/muscle insertion site, muscle composition, etc. 
• Speed- I’ve never seen a fast person with a bad vertical unless it’s due to poor jumping mechanics. If you know how to move fast you can get off the floor fast, which I believe is the most important component of VJ. Fast athletes use the benefits of the stretch shortening cycle while slow people live in the amortization phase.
• Strength- while powerlifters may not have huge verts, strength is important because the stronger you are the higher your power potential becomes. “Natural jumpers” aka the 130 pound kid who has never trained a day in his life but throws down 360 windmills will usually max out their jumping potential at an early age because they never improve strength. They could do all the plyo’s in the world but their power potential is too low unless they suck it up and get in the weight room.
• Elasticity- I like how Mark Verstegen describes elasticity (I will mess this quote up pretty bad, oh well) “put your hand down on a table, keep 4 fingers firmly on the table and raise your middle finger as high as you can, now slam the middle finger down as hard as you can. Probably not much force, right? Now, do the same thing but instead of lifting your middle finger off the table with muscular force, relax the finger and pull it up as high as you can with your off hand, release the middle finger and notice how hard it comes down on the table. A lot more force. You just experienced the different between muscle contraction and elasticity."  If you can improve elasticity you will jump higher and make each explosive movement with less energy.

The most sure-fire way to improve VJ- improving relative strength. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or advanced athlete, if you improve relative strength you will jump higher. When it comes to improving VJ you either need to put more force into the floor or you need to get off the floor faster. Problem is, sometimes advanced athletes fall victim to the law of diminishing returns and have a hard time putting more force into the ground or getting off the floor faster. For these advanced athletes, the only guaranteed way of jumping higher is by losing a few lbs while maintaining strength OR maintaining body weight while slightly improving strength.

5.  Depth jumps are always a hot topic when it comes to elite performance, especially in jumping events.  How do you use DJ's, what heights, set/rep schemes, rest periods, when on the training calender, important factors, etc?

 
I believe that a higher drop is NOT always better for DJ’s. It really depends on the athletes training status and phase of program but we usually won’t go above 24 inch boxes. The only time I use high boxes is for drop jump sticks. We don’t use more than 5 reps per set because you’re not trying to build hypertrophy or endurance, just power. Usually no more than 4 sets, and a lot of times we will stop at 2 or 3 sets if the athlete is decreasing jump height or not displaying quick reaction off the floor. I usually don’t program DJ’s any more than 1 day per week. I’ve seen athletes develop stress fractures from using DJ’s with too high of frequency. I think coaches often underestimate the intensity of DJ’s and program too high of volume. I wouldn’t use DJ’s too often in-season because of the CNS fatigue and the high eccentric component can create a good amount of soreness.

6.  If you could pick out one area that most athletes need to spend more time on, what would it be?

 
Probably mobility. I don’t know many athletes who go in the gym by themselves and do a planned mobility circuit. If they work on mobility, it’s probably a few minutes during warm-up or cool down. I think programs should include active rest days where the athlete goes in and only does mobility for 30 minutes. If athletes understood how important mobility is for their game, they would treat it like they do every other aspect of their training program.

 
 

Speed Round!

7.  How's your bracket looking so far?  Who'd you pick to win it all?

Bracket = horrible. As always I went into march madness feeling over confident and left defeated! I had Indiana winning it all. I thought it was the year of the Big 10 so I had 4 of their teams in the final 4 and 6 big 10 teams in the elite 8. Oops 

8.   Best dunker of all-time?

 
In game I’d go Jordan. Dunk contest I’d probably give it to Vince Carter. However, if there were more footage on the street legend Earl Manigault my answer would probably change. He was a guard and could grab a quarter off the top of the backboard! 

Earl Manigault
(Photo: nbareligion.altervista.org)

9.   Squats or Deadlifts?

 
If I could only do one exercise for the rest of my life it would be deadlifts because of the full body strengthening effects. But I must say that my preference is squats.

10.  Olympics lifts or other forms of power production?

 
For 80% of athletes I like other forms of power production. Olympic lifts a great for power production if your form is good, but I think most athletes only have decent form on the oly lifts. 

 

11.   Lebron James or Kevin Durant?  

 
LBJ because he’s the player that we all created on NBA 2k, except he’s a better passer.

 

12.   What are you looking forward to in the future for your work and for this S&C world?

 
I’m excited to witness the evolution of athleticism. I heard the commentators of march madness saying that this years players are more athletic than they’ve ever seen. This shows that all of the strength and conditioning research that comes out every month is being put to use! I’m excited to see how the development of our athletes will change as more and more research is coming out.

 

Thanks to Paul for taking the time to give us such a great interview.  Remember to check out PJF Performance, and if you're in the Tempe area, get in contact with Paul and become a better player today!  

 

Also be sure to sign-up for BBA updates so you never miss a thing going on here.  Until next time Go Get 'Em!