What I’ve Learned: Principles of Movement & FASTER Global – Part IV

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I’ve been discussing movement, exercise and how to make traditional exercises more applicable to real-life and athletic activities. I’ve discussed going from two feet to stepping.  From there we can progress to a variety of hops and jumps.

Progressions

  • 2 feet to 1 foot
  • stationary to stepping to jumping
  • jumping from two feet to two feet
  • jumping from two feet to one foot
  • jumping from one foot to one foot
  • stepping and jumping may occur in saggital, frontal or transverse planes
  • add weight

Other things to think about

We could focus on “sticking” the landing and maintaining perfect balance and control or we might focus on moving very quickly from one hop/jump to the next.

We might emphasize a very long or very high jump/hop or we might emphasize short and fast hops/jumps.

Here are some videos featuring tri-plane jumping and hopping with all sorts of arm driver activity. These are in no particular order and I’m not showing a progression. These are just a few combinations.

There is a nearly endless galaxy of these types of exercises. Any number of implements can be used (Core Momentum Trainer, dumbbells, sandbags, kettlebells, nothing at all). Trainees can either stay stationary or move in any direction.

I’m in the advanced stages of ACL rehabilitation and I’m using a lot of these types of exercises in my own workouts. I’m using them with a lot of my clients who are athletes as well as clients who don’t consider themselves athletes. These exercises can be a lot of fun, feel very challenging and are useful in stimulating the metabolism for those wanting to lose weight.

What I’ve Learned: Principles of Movement & FASTER Global – Part III – Lunge and Reach

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In the previous two posts, (here and here) I discussed what I’ve learned by going through the FASTER Global coursework. (If you’re a fitness professional who wants to truly become an expert at movement, then you need to do this course. This has been the most comprehensive movement education I’ve had in nearly 20 years of working in the fitness field.)

I believe I’ve made the case for why we should train with tri-plane movement. Further I believe that I’ve illustrated why traditional gym exercises like squats and deadlifts may not be the best way to develop all-around movement skills or strength.  (For the record, I’m not saying traditional squats and deadlifts are bad. I use them in my own workouts and with my clients. To be clear, I believe that there are infinite variations that can and should be used to condition people in the most comprehensive way.)

In the previous post I showed a bunch of lunge and squat variations. Here are some more lunge variations this time with arm reaches.

Lunging and reaching

While lunging, we can drive motion from the upper body by reaching up, down, across, overhead, etc. We can reach with one or both arms. The way in which the trainee steps drives motion from the upper body up through the rest of the body. As he or she reaches, motion is driven down through the body toward the ground. The reaching affects balance and creates a wide range of slightly different body positions which look a lot like any number of athletic activities, for example, look at the baseball pitcher and basketball players.

Lower body motion plus upper body motion.

Saggital plane anterior lunge with same-side posterior arm reach… Or something like that. Lots of stuff happening.

Kobe executes a type of lunge and reach down.

Kobe executes a type of lunge and reach down.

Resistance can be added to these in numerous ways: weight vest, dumbbell(s), sandbags, kettlebells, etc. Cables or tubing positioned at any number of angles can speed up or slow down the lunge.

Remember though, if someone can’t control these exercises then he or she should be regressed to something that is controllable, safe and manageable.

Here are a few examples of lunges combined with reaches in various directions. I’ve shown an anterior lunge and a lateral lunge but we could add any of these reaches to any type of lunge. The combinations are nearly infinite.

Next we can progress to jumps and hops, all done in any number of directions, all with feet and arms in any number of positions. I’ll show some of those in the next post.

What I’ve Learned: Principles of Movement & FASTER Global – Part II

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From gym work to “real life.”

Athletic endeavors and typical daily movements are rarely symmetrical. We’re often stepping from one foot to the other in any of several directions, swiveling and/or bending our bodies, reaching, moving with a load on one side of our body–all potentially at the same time. If we think of the SAID Principle (discussed very thoroughly here by Todd Hargrove of Better Movement) then it stands to reason that some of our training ought to resemble our chosen athletic or leisure activity, both in movement pattern and energy system usage.

A squat by any other name…sss1

Skiing-in-France-HD-Wallpaper-1280x800-3A lot of conventional exercises–squats and
deadlifts for instance–keep the feet planted against the ground in a symmetrical stance. Fine, but how much should we expect those exercises to translate to something like skiing? Yes skiing uses two legs and it sort of looks like a squat but there’s a lot more going on during a ski turn than just moving the body down and up.

We could say something similar about basketball where there’s a lot of jumping,

how-to-deadliftlanding and movement into positions which look a good bit like a deadlift–but clearly doesn’t look like the standard deadlift.

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Here’s a very interesting video on how to take a squat and add some flavor to it:

These are the types of movements that more closely resemble many sports and recreational activities. These can be used as part of a warm-up for a workout or they can be used as the workout itself.

Ground reaction forces

At some point we need to consider ground reaction forces. A foot or feet hitting the ground creates a whole different set of circumstances compared to planted feet. Enter the lunge.

A lunge creates a ground reaction force (GRF) as the foot hits the ground. A series of events should ideally take place in a certain sequence at the following joints: mid-tarsal joint, subtalar joint, talocrural joint, knee, hip and on up through the spine and even out to the shoulders and beyond!

(BTW, a lunge can be any distance or depth. If someone can’t lunge far and deep then it’s completely appropriate to simply take a step. I often ask my clients to go as far and/or deep as they can only so long as they can maintain control of the movement.)

There are a lot of variations on the lunge. We can step in any number of directions. Our world is a three-dimensional place so we can step forward or backwards, side to side, or in a circular or twisting type of motion.The purpose in doing this is to allow us to experience a wide range of joint angles and different ground impact scenarios. We can see if an athlete is able to move into his or her sport position. We might be able to expose a movement pattern that is unstable and which the athlete may want to improve for performance and safety.

Lunges for all occasions

Here are a collection of lunges done in an assortment of directions. Each type of lunge creates a different reaction throughout the limbs and joints.

Not pictured are lunges in which the trainee steps up or down off of a step. Any of these lunges can be done in this way. It’s a good way train for something like a hike (if for some reason a hike can’t be undertaken) or to simply add variety and new skills to the workout. Next you’ll see lunging in conjunction with reaching.

 

Techniques to Help You Run Pain Free

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I’ve used a few simple techniques to help a few of my clients with their running technique.  These ideas have also helped me overcome a long-term bout of heel and Achilles trouble.

My clients often hurt when they ran so if nothing else, I figured they needed to run differently somehow. There was no guarantee that what I would show them would solve their problems but clearly the way they were running wasn’t quite working.

The following are drills and cues that I’ve used.  Effective cueing can be challenging.  I have in my mind a movement a feeling and an experience that I’d like you to have.  I have to translate what I feel into English and transmit that message to you.  My words may hit the mark or you may have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about!

Hop up and down.

Hop up and down.  How do you land?  On your heels?  Most people land on their toes and to some degree their heels settle to the ground.  It happens naturally.  Your probably don’t need to think about it too much.  In this way, we effectively dissipate the impact forces and avoid too much jarring and banging into the ground.

Run in place.

Now run in place–quickly!  Again, how do you land?  I think most people land similar to the way described above.  It’s a light landing on the toes, not heels first.  This is pretty much one-footed hopping.

Where do your feet land?  Directly under your hips.  That’s about where we want the feet to land.  In contrast, what we don’t want is for your feet to fling out in front and slam into the ground.  To that point…

Quick Pace

Overstriding is a frequent issue in injured runners. By overstriding the foot lands out in front of the runner and he or she slams hard into the ground with every foot fall. This can cause lots of stress to various tissues and joints and it’s likely a cause of pain.

This is a good contrast in foot placement.  The guy in back is overstriding.

This is a good contrast in foot placement. The guy in back is overstriding.

By running at a quick(er) pace we facilitate the feet landing under us, not out in front.  We create shorter loading times of the bones and joints and thus reduce the stress that may be causing our pain.  It’s difficult to overstride with a quick cadence.

For a most runners this means consciously picking up the pace. This can feel awkward at first and may feel inefficient.  One way to start to adjust your cadence is by using a metronome when you run.  Start at your normal pace and sync the metronome to your pace.  From there you can up the beat and match your pace to the metronome.  This takes time and practice.  If it’s important then you’ll do it.

Again, this all may feel very strange–and it should.  After all, if our current chosen running technique is causing pain, then it stands to reason that a new and better running technique should feel weird.  As with any new skill, it won’t feel strange forever.

Lean forward from the ankles.

chi_postureLearning to lean from the ankles–not the hips!–is important.  By leaning from the ankles we sort of fall forward.  We keep the hips under us, not poked out behind.  When leaning from the ankles it’s difficult to overstride and slam the foot into the ground. Here’s a drill to learn how to lean from the ankles.

Run tall.  Keep eyes on the horizon.

The simple cue to “run tall” seems to work well for a lot of runners.  I’ll keep it simple and leave that phrase as is.

Keep your eyes on the horizon.  This works well to help keep you tall.  Your body tends to go where your eyes go.  If you stare at the ground then you’re likely to slump forward.  You won’t be running tall.  Learn to use your peripheral vision to see the ground. The guys below are running tall and gazing out.

These guys are RUNNING REALLY TALL!!  You should do it too!

These guys are RUNNING REALLY TALL!! You should try it!

Run lightly.  Quick pace.  Lean from the ankles.  Run tall. Eyes on the horizon.

Here’s a good graphic.

I’m not going to say a lot more other than I like the information presented here:

better-running

Skipping

Finally, here’s a skipping drill that may help you get a feel for running tall, running lightly and not pounding your heel into the ground. My hope is that this drill will transfer to your actual running. Skipping involves an exaggerated running gait and you don’t actually want to bound and prance to an extreme degree.

The Goblet Squat

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Nearly all of my clients squat. Sometimes instructing the squat can be a challenge. Though it’s essentially just sitting down, the squat can become complicated and difficult. It’s easy to over-coach the squat. That’s where the goblet squat comes in very handy.

Big-time strength coach Mike Boyle has done a great job telling us about the goblet squat. I find his instruction to be succinct and easy to follow. Here’s the video. Watch it and squat away!

ACL Rehab Update and the Latest Workout

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The last post I sent out was sort of screwed up. Something was wrong with the code. Here’s the new and improved version.

Thursday was a full week since my ACL reconstruction and it was the day of my first PT appointment. According to the PT, I’m weeks ahead of schedule in terms of strength, mobility and gait. This was fantastic news and I’m completely convinced that my pre-surgery workout routine was the key.

The current thinking on ACL reconstruction and recovery is to engage in what’s known as prehabilitation (as opposed to rehabilitation) prior to surgery. Surgery is a type of controlled injury. Though the overall goal of surgery is to improve function and “fix” an injury, the immediate outcome of surgery is pain, poor movement, weakness and maybe instability. The aim in prehab is to make the involved area as mobile, strong and highly functional as possible so as to minimize the impact of surgery.

My prehab consisted of lots of squats and single-leg work, deadlifts, walking, and bicycling as well as various stretches and plenty of upper body and trunk/core work. Most of my work consisted of sagittal plane (front/back) movement. This was the most stable plane of movement available to me. I also did some frontal plane (side-to-side) work but only a little work in the transverse (rotational/twisting) plane. A torn ACL typically results from way too much twisting so I was very careful not to twist and I used anti-rotation exercises in which I worked to resist forces trying to twist me.

On Friday I did my first workout.  Here’s what I did. Take note of the single-leg work. This was a big part of my prehab and will be a huge part of my rehab.

Super set 1

    • Barbell press: 65 lbs. x 5 reps – 75 lbs. x 5 reps – 85 lbs. x 5 reps – 95 lbs. x 5 reps – 105 lbs. x 5 reps – 115 lbs. x 5 reps – 120 lbs. x 5 reps – 120 lbs. x 5 reps – 70 lbs. x 12 reps
      • That last set was a back-off set. I’ll be employing back-off sets with various exercises and I’ll probably discuss back-off sets later.
    • 1-leg exercises: Watch the video for an explanation
    • Toe raises (aka heel raises or calf raises): 2-foot x 30 reps – 1-foot x 10 reps.  I alternated this pattern throughout the super set. I only used my body weight.

Super set 2

  • Leg lifts: 12 reps – 10 reps – 10 reps
    • Haven’t done these in forever.
    • I got sore and tired in the abdomen very quickly!
    • Might be sore tomorrow
  • Band walks:
    • Went to exertion in the hip abductors
    • I was very careful to keep my right knee from caving in, which is an example of working to avoid transverse plane movement as I mentioned above.

    Finally, I was able to just turn the cranks on a recumbent bike. I couldn’t generate much force with my leg but still, to get a full revolution was good news. I figure I’ll be on a real bike in maybe a week.

Great Technique Videos: Overhead Press & Pelvic Tilt

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I’m a big fan of the deadlift and the overhead press. Both exercises train movements that are vital for all of us who live on a planet with gravity.  With the deadlift we pick up something heavy off of the ground. The press has us putting something heavy overhead. Both exercises feature minimal equipment (typically a barbell), they train the whole body and they require all sorts of balance, stability, mobility and coordination. While we could argue all over the place about this, I tend to think these two exercises give the most bang for your workout buck. If I were condemned to an eternity of being able to do only two exercises, I’d pick these.

Sometimes these movements are performed in a less-than-optimal way. These two videos do a great job of showing how to correct problems with each exercise.

3/28/14 Workout

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Today I repeated the pull-up/push-up superset for 10 minutes.  Last time I did this for sets of 2 reps on each exercise and did as many as I could in 10 minutes.  I accumulated 40 reps. This time I did 3 reps on each for 10 minutes and I got 57 pull-ups and 54 push-ups. Then I did some other stuff. Here’s how it all went:

  • super set 1
    • pull-up x 3
    • push-up x 3
    • AMRAP (As many reps as possible) in 10 minutes
  • super set 2
    • anti-rotation cable press: 15 lbs. x 5 sec hold x 5 reps x 5 sets
    • Y-T-A-W shoulder patterns: 10 lbs x 5 reps x 5 sets
  • Reactive Neuromuscular Training (RNT) band split squat: to exertion (15-20 reps) x 2 sets
      • My right knee often wants to cave in since there’s no ACL to help stabilize it.
      • This exercise is done to help create more knee stability.
      • I use high reps (10-20) for endurance and pattern repetition rather than strength.
      • I try and do something like this every day, ideally throughout the day. I’m “practicing” more than I’m “working out.”
      • It looks like this, but instead of a person holding a band, I looped the band around a nearby support.

 

3/25/14 Workout

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The big news today is that I got out on the real bike, wheels and all. I wasn’t sure how the knee would feel clipping in and out of the pedals but all is well. I also lifted today. Here’s how it went.

  • Rower (first time on a rower since the knee): 1000m
  • Warm-up circuit x 3

    • Band walk
    • Halos in 1/2 kneeling position: 40 lbs. x 3 each direction; What’s a halo? Watch and learn.

    • variations on the anti-rotation cable press
    • Barbell press: 80 lbs. x 5 – 95 lbs. x 5 – 105 lbs. x 8
    • Good morning (video below): 105 lbs. x 15 – 115 lbs. x 15 – 135 lbs. x 12

  • Super-set x 3
    • 1-leg bench hip thrust x 10 each leg
    • hanging knee-ups x 10 each leg
  • Next week I’ll add reps (not weight) to the hip thrust, knee-ups and I’ll see if I can get 15 reps w/135 lbs. on the good morning.
  • Bike ride: 14 miles, about 1 hr.: VERY happy to be outdoors. Biking indoors is a slow death.

3/23/14 Workout

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I had another good workout today. My mobility continues to increase while my discomfort is on the decline. Here’s what I did:

    • Exercise bike: 5 minutes for about 1 mile at a 1 resistance.
      • Difficult to get started but feels better as I pedal.
      • Going to do this tomorrow morning for more time/distance.
    • Warm-up super set:
        • body weight squats to about 90 degrees x 10 reps x 2 sets
        • anti-rotation cable press (aka Pallof Press): 10 lbs x 10 reps w/5 sec hold x 2 sets

      • The Pallof press is my first attempt at challenging my transverse plane abilities since I tore my ACL. My ability to resist rotational forces is severely compromised without an ACL. Glad to see I could do this successfully.
    • Super set 1
      • Barbell press
        • Worked up to a 1RM of 135 lbs.
        • Did 95% (about 125) x 2 reps x 5 sets in a super set with
      • Split squats with the right leg fwd: 10 reps x 5 sets and pistol squats to a bench for the left leg x 6 reps x 5 sets
    • Super set 2
      • Deadlift: (My favorite exercise!) 95 x 5 – 105 x 5 – 135 x 5
        • Really happy to pull!
        • Tried a sumo deadlift with an unweighted bar and the knee wanted to collapse in. Won’t be doing sumos for a long while I’m guessing.
      • Bent Row: 95 x 10 – 105 x 10 – 135 x 6
    • Super set 3
      • Kettlebell 1-arm press: 16 kg x 10 reps x 2 sets
      • 1-leg RDL – right leg: no weight x 10 reps x 2 sets: Here’s a look at the 1-leg RDL:

I believe all this work I’m doing is helping me a lot. Psychologically I feel much better than I would if I were sitting around with this thing. Much of what I’m reading discusses the benefits of continuing to move and maintaining any and all strength and mobility. That’s what I’m doing.