PT Update: You Only See What You’re Looking For

I’m a pretty observant guy. You know, I see stop signs, I avoid cars when I’m on my bike, and I notice when people get haircuts. If that isn’t observation at its finest, I’m not sure what is. On the other hand, sometimes I feel like I only see or hear what I’m looking for. To an extent, I think we all do that:

 

In a profession where you’re constantly working with people, it’s important not to get so focused on one thing that you forget about the big picture: the patient. PTs are supposed to start making observations as soon as their patient walks in the door. How’s static and dynamic posture? How’s gait? Dysfunction? It’s easy to get caught up in the treatment process and forget to take a step back and make simple observations like, “this person doesn’t look like they are having the best day, maybe we should start slow” or even “they don’t seem like they want to be here today.” Bottom line, you can’t see the whole sky through a bamboo tube (Oh, I recently got a bamboo plant, it’s pretty neat). Don’t get tunnel vision. Start with a warm greeting and follow the golden rule. I’ve heard this a few times before, most recently by my Professor Mike, “Patients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Make observations. Show them you care about their well-being.

Along the same lines, my apartment was on the path of the NYC marathon about a week ago. Since I love feats of strength and am simply jealous that society views doing a marathon as the epitome of physical prowess and dedication, I went to make observations.

 At the risk of ruffling feathers, I used to think all marathoners looked malnourished, super skinny, and unhealthy -  I don’t think that anymore. At least, not all of them – the top ones do for sure. Regardless, it was amazing to me the varying shapes and sizes amongst all the runners coming through at mile 9. While there, I did make new observations:

1. Lack of full hip extension. The constant bent knee hip flexion below 90 degrees paired with eccentric ground reaction forces resisting knee flexion is primarily dominated by the rectus femoris, which can lead to a synergistic dominance relationship between the other 7 muscles that can contribute to hip flexion

Rectus Femoris

Because of the rectus femoris origin on the anterior inferior iliac spine and insertion on the tibial tuberosity via the patellar tendon, the muscle pulling in both directions can lead to anterior knee pain and a host of other knee problems, along with anterior pelvic tilt which results in approximation of lumbar spinous processes, which can lead to back pain.

2. No Butts about it. Along with the lack of hip extension came an observation that makes a lot of sense now: big calves, big thighs, no butts. Step by step (day by day) and never full hip extension leads to a serious imbalance on either side of the hip: overdeveloped rectus femoris (hip flexor) and vastus group, underdeveloped glutes.

Janda’s Lower Cross Syndrome

With the pelvis being set in anterior pelvic tilt and lumbar extension, this changes the mechanical advantage of the hip extensors: Gluteus maximus, hamstring group, and adductor magnus (Neumann). The hamstrings and adductor magnus can produce the same amount of torque in this position and more than the glutes can. Because of this, the hamstrings and magnus will take on the force that the gluteus maximus isn’t producing to get the job done. This leads to trigger point and adhesion development in the magnus due to overuse and, in essence, a flat behind due to gluteus maximus underuse. The glutes are big muscles. If they’re not doing their job, pain and movement dysfunction will definitely be the result.

 3. It’s not just a race. Sure, I can sit here and talk about reasons chronic long distance runners run into a firing squads worth of musculoskeletal problems, but I can understand why they put themselves through everything they do. Generally, the racers are sponsored, and are racing for someone. I saw loads of people that were running for a cause, two with artificial limbs, and one person missing an arm. Their dedication and altruism does not go unnoticed, even by jealous meatheads like me. I absolutely loved seeing the excitement on the streets. People yelling words of encouragement, “Brooklyn loves you!! Keep it up you got it!!!”. A local music band playing all day long. The sun shining on a beautiful day. It’s something to get excited for and to enjoy the atmosphere of an event greater than yourself and to witness that hard work and dedication can help you to achieve your goals. Congratulations to members of the LIU DPT program, Dan Renahan and Jason Lakritz, for competing and accomplishing such an amazing feat.

The true definition of an intellectual is someone that can hold conflicting ideas in their mind and see both sides of it. Will I ever run a marathon? No – my body is abnormal. I lose weight if I don’t train and eat McDonald’s. I think if I started training for a marathon, I would slowly waste away to dust. This isn’t about what’s better for your body necessarily, long distance running or weight training or sitting on the couch watching Animal Planet. This is about looking at something you’ve held believes about, then finding out new things within them that you didn’t expect. The only way to see things you’re not looking for is to keep trying new things, expose yourself to as many experiences as possible, and keep an open mind. Maybe one day I’ll actually be able to see that moonwalking bear.

What’s Your Bias? Either Way, Your Back Probably Hurts

A TON has happened since I actually finished writing this post. I wrote this back before I left for my first semester of PT school - A new update post is in the making. Until then, everyone’s back hurts sometimes and this topic is of particular interest to me.

If I haven’t mentioned it before, I was very fortunate to have been able to work at Comprehensive Physical Therapy with all of the great people and Physical Therapists it employs. Since it was in fact my last day yesterday (PT school starts in a week – time to get packin’), a topic inspired by PT Jackie would be the most appropriate. A huge thanks to Jackie for clarifying this topic for me. Jackie treats a lot of the back pain patients at Comprehensive and we had many discussions about lumbar bias. When I say bias, I mean which movement/posture do they move into/stand in most easily/often: Lumbar Extension (anterior pelvic tilt) or Lumbar Flexion (posterior pelvic tilt)?

Bias: Lumbar Extension vs. Lumbar Flexion

Anterior Pelvic Tilt results in Lumbar Extension. Posterior Pelvic Tilt results in Lumbar Flexion

A majority of the patients with back pain seen at Comprehensive were of the lumbar extension type. The key point in treating either case is to get them to move out of their bias. For example, if there was a patient who had a static posture of lumbar extension (APT) and their bias was to forward bend with a flat back and hinge from the hips, we would try and get them to go into lumbar flexion during a forward bend or a hip rock. On the opposite end, if they constantly move flexing at their spine and lumbar, we would want to teach them a forward bend with a proper hip hinge using a stick with three points of contact (back of the head, upper back, and tailbone), or hip rock in lumbar extension.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Ms. Lippy. The part of the Post that I don’t like, is the Lumbar Flexion. Doesn’t Lumbar Flexion = El Diablo = Fighting Chicken?

I used to think Lumbar Flexion was so bad, that I made sure to move with a flat back as much as possible in all of my Activities of Daily Living (ADL) for fear of my nucleus pulposus herniating (which can still happen in extension, just directed anteriorly), even though I am of the Lumbar Extension bias:

 

Aside from my esoteric attempts at humor, a person with lumbar extension tendencies (ie: me/other lower crossed individuals) would do better to move with a flexed lumbar so that the paraspinals can lengthen and still maintain the ability to flex at the spine; however, someone with lumbar flexion tendencies, might want to learn a proper hip hinge when greeting your own fluffy puppies and performing your other ADLs. Below is a table outlining the quantifiable range of motion an individual should possess between each spinal articulation. The longer the bar, the more range of motion should be maintained at that segment. The first column pertains to this post, being flexion and extension, the middle column is lateral bending, and the last column is rotation.

Kinematics of the Spine. In White AA, Panjabi MM, eds: Clinical Biomechanics of the Spine, 1990

Collectively, the most flexion and extension occurs in the lumbar and cervical spine. Going back to Sahrmann’s concept of movement occurs in the path of least resistance, it seems to make sense that the spinal segments with the most room for movement in the sagittal plane are the ones where we see the most problems: anterior pelvic tilt, posterior pelvic tilt, and lower cervical flexion paired with upper cervical extension, resulting in forward head. This only reinforces how to train the segments that have tendencies towards ancillary movement: to train stability in a neutral posture. So, concurrently pursue lumbar neutral in static and dynamic posture and torso stability with appendicular motion.

Keep in mind: The goal isn’t to transform a Lumbar Extension bias into a Lumbar Flexion bias. It is to bring the individual from one side of the spectrum more towards the middle (Normal/Neutral).

I purposely left out mechanical causes of APT such as tight/short hip flexors, tight/short hamstrings, and weak/long abdominals. Sure these can be addressed in the clinic by means of low load prolonged static stretching, PNF hamstring stretching, and plank variations. These strategies can definitely help take someone below symptom threshold; with that being said, I think the heart of the matter is addressing what movements are reinforced day in and day out. Educate the individual on how to perform purposeful movement during ADLs, not necessarily just the given exercise. An APT individual can get in an hour and a half at the clinic stretching their hip flexors like crazy and help allow the pelvis to return to a more neutral position; however, the following events most likely follow the visit: 

Sitting at their desk for 5 hours, sitting in the car, sitting at the dinner table, sitting in the bathroom, sitting on the couch for the rest of the evening, falling asleep, waking up to the newest episode of Real Housewifes of New Jersey, and then lie down in bed.

Of course there is movement from one place to the other; but the majority of time is spent sitting. This allows adaptive shortening to set in. If they aren’t sitting, they are most likely reinforcing flat backed movement patterns in ADLs, not to mention ambulating other times in the same APT posture. In this combined clinic/in vivo scenario, only the symptoms (tight/short/long muscles) will continue to be treated while the problem, poor movement patterns, will go by the wayside. Poor movement causes pathology, not vice versa. Correct the movement, and the mechanical shortening/lengthening should cease.

Again, we’re talkin’ ADL stuff, not weight room stuff.

The key is to have the ability to flex your lumbar, but not load it in flexion – which can result in being sidelined pretty quickly. Regardless of your lumbar bias, you always want to pick up something heavy, whether it a barbell, groceries, or a toddler, with a flat back, chalked up (toddlers love chalk), spreading the floor, big breath of air, neck packed, shoulders packed, and blaring your favorite Avenged Sevenfold album:

Avenged was the only thing missing when hitting 405 lbs last saturday. So, unloaded movement in lumbar flexion doesn’t necessarly equal the devil, or el diablo, or a fighting chicken, afterall.

Warm regards,

Eric Keene

The New, the Different, the Awesome: A Week of Firsts in PT School

 I’ve been in Downtown Brooklyn a little over 2 weeks now. I have to say, I’ve been pretty fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel to all sorts of different places around the globe and have seen some pretty cool things; although, I sometimes forget how many things there are to appreciate in your own backyard, so to speak.

The Flip takes decent pictures. Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge 7/10/11

I can’t say enough good things about my area and the school I’m attending. Along those lines, it has definitely been a couple weeks of firsts for me:

First 1: Flipping over a dead guy: Cadaver Anatomy

I’ve been looking forward to this since the beginning of my application process on PTCAS. Honestly, I can’t say that anatomy has always been my thing. This past thursday was our first cadaver dissection. We started with an incision on the anterior side just lateral to the sternum, staying very superficial to try and only detach the epidermis (I’m speaking like this because it sounds a little more gruesome otherwise), and moved along until we got to the bottom of the sternum and moved laterally.

Try this. Pinch the skin on your forearm. Doesn’t feel so tough right? That’s what I thought at first too. I’m not entirely sure if it’s due to the preserving fluid or if this is actually how it is, but the skin is so unbelievably tough that I could make a small hole with my scalpel big enough to fit my finger in and just pull as hard as I could and the skin wouldn’t rip. We had to pull hard as we used the scalpel to release all of the subcutaneous fat and epimysium (most superficial fascia) from the skin.

Eventually, we got down to the Pec Major, Pec Minor, and Serratus Anterior. Actually being able to see the origins, insertions, and nerves really drilled home the actions of these muscles for me. For example, I could really see how the pec minors origin on ribs 3, 4 and 5 to the coracoid process of the scapula could effect scapular anterior tilt, lead to subaccromial nerve impingement (along with other Upper Crossed pathologies), and rib flair of those ribs. Now because I haven’t worked in an emergency type care situation or a life of crime, I’ve never had to do what I had to do next until thursday: moving a dead guy. I’ll spare you from the details and say that it was definitely a team effort. We then moved to the superficial back muscles with the Trapezius, Lats, Quadrangular Space, most Rotator Cuff muscles (Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor, but not subscapularis – we didn’t get that deep anteriorly yet), and the Teres Major. This guys trapz were huge and thick. The lats, overall, although they cover a large distance, seemed very thin.

I’m sure you’ve seen this clown walking down the street: Puffed up chest, arms out wide, toolish, etc.

 

Sure my incredibly funny room mate Sly popped this picture of me while I wasn’t looking so I didn’t pose for this; however, it still doesn’t mean I’m a tool (I like to think). This has been coined, “Imaginary Lat Syndrome” in some circles. It can be easily noted clinically as the olecranon process (elbow) of the ulna facing outward and the palms facing posteriorly, along with taped up hair and a wife beater. Really what it is, is internal rotation of the shoulder. There are three muscles that insert to the intertubercular groove/sulcus of the humerus, and lead to strong internal rotation moments:

1. Pec Major

2. Latissiumus Dorsi

3. Teres Major

If any of these structures are short/stiff, it can lead to internal rotation of the shoulder, which can lead to movement dysfunction in all things glenohumeral – especially shoulder abduction due to the greater tubercle of the humerus rotating anteriorly, impinging on the subacromial arch. Just rotate your arm in, and try to raise it on your side overhead. You’ll feel it. If this is your passive posture, it will most likely be your dynamic posture in things like throwing and other overhead movements. Hence, clinical relevance for correction BEFORE injury occurs. Poor movements cause pathology.

We do have open hours in the lab monday - friday, along with scheduled lab time, for the next 6 months and I’m looking forward to getting down the basics cold; and hopefully try and see some Anatomy Trains. 

First 2: Running sprints on a roof top track

With my official retirement from the Inline Hockey scene (for the next 3 years), I recently fell in love with track sprint workouts. So when I heard that LIU not only had a track, but it was a roof top track, I couldn’t be more excited. I met a classmate in the weight room and we found our way up to the roof where the track was. If you’ve been to an indoor track, you know it’s smaller than outdoor tracks and are usually banked a bit more. The roof top track was outdoor, but it was not outdoor sized. It wasn’t even indoor sized. In order to run a mile on this track, you have to run around it 12 times.

Needless to say, I felt like a kid whose ice cream tumbled off his cone onto the ground. But, we made the best of it by stealing another kid’s ice cream. And by that I mean running shorter sprints. We ran ten 30 yard linear sprints, working from a low intensity dialing in form to 3 full on sprints. I eventually got over my disappointment and appreciated the fact that I was running sprints, on a roof, in NYC. Life could be worse, dude.

Afterwards we went down into the weight room and did 10 sets of 5 reps of Box Squats paired with Seated Psoas Lift. I worked up to 275 to a box slightly below parallel, vertical shin, spreading the floor, all that good stuff. I’m looking forward to more training sessions like these.

First 3: Finding a dead fly in your fresh spinach

Not much to elaborate on here. I love all of the fresh food I get here in Brooklyn. The only drawback is sometimes your food is so fresh, that you find bugs in it when you are super pumped to eat your awesome taco dinner you made. You know in some cultures, they only eat vomit, so I’m not complaining.

First 4: I <3 Parks: Studying/Observing Babies/Toddlers Movement Patterns

A combined one here. I’m not exactly studying this in school, yet. This is more like, I bring my anatomy notecards with me to the park to study, and get caught up watching cute kids playing with their parents on beautiful New York days.

World War II Memorial Park: Brooklyn Heights

Just as a little observation, I was watching a kid who was about 3 years old swing a plastic bat to hit a whiffle ball off the tee. First, he was pretty damn good. He showed that ball who was boss. Second, I’m not sure if it’s part of the primal movement patterns viewpoint, endochondrol bone growth development, or that he hasn’t been taught proper baseball swinging mechanics (nor should he at 3), but his bias was to twist his whole body, rather than internally rotate his lead leg, like in golf, hockey, or baseball, or twist at his spine (thoracic or lumbar). Picture a spinning top, that was this kid – and I’m sure everyone has witnessed this before. Whether this is structural, neural, or biomechanical I’m not sure. Probably a combination. As we try to establish these “Normal” or “Base Line” movement patterns we should strive for and seem to lose as we age, we have to ponder these real life scenarios and eventually form a better understanding of what normal really is, or if it even exists globally.

Firsts 5 and 6: Voluntarily getting up early AND doing steady state cardio

For those of you that really know me, I like to sleep in. I’ve been approached from both Sleepys and Tempurpedic to promote their products of how soundly one can sleep – I’m like the Michael Jordan of sleeping. Lately, I’ve been waking up a little bit easier. It’s probably the weather. But, I found myself having the urge to do things I’ve never wanted to before: get up early, and run steady state cardio. Again, those that know me, I can’t stand just going for runs – mostly because of all of the injuries related with long distance running, the somewhat emaciated looking individuals the sport produces (no offense), and the fact that society places these individuals at the top of the “most fit” category. I decided that I want to enjoy the weather and scenery New York has to offer, and steady state cardio seemed to be a good means of doing so. With that being said, I have to say one thing: there is definitely a spiritual type of feeling (for me) that I get when I exercise in the sun versus in the weight room. I can better understand what I think draws these people to continue running, even after injury after injury (along with they are probably type I muscle fiber dominant and most likely didn’t find their calling in strength and power sports).

So the opportunity presented itself. A classmate on the soccer team wanted to run the Brooklyn Bridge as her cardio day. So I joined her, well, kind of. Long story short, miscommunication, mostly on my part, lead to me doing a long run by myself. I’ve been lifting since 10th grade of high school. I’ve always loved lifting. I used to do 1 mile runs in high school only because I thought it would help me in hockey (as a side note I always wondered why I never had legs at the start of the season, even though I ran miles plenty of times – before I discovered interval and shuttle run type conditioning). I finished my run, and I feel sore already. Granted, I lifted 4 times this week and hit it pretty hard. It’s such a different sore feeling than I usually get. I was getting very quad dominant, eccentric braking type feelings during the run that I don’t get in the weight room – probably because that’s what jogging is, braking.

This experience drills home something I heard Mike Boyle say, and more recently, my Movement Analysis professor, Dr. Hagins, say recently: “People who are flexible loveee to stretch. People who are strong loveee to lift. Just get these people to switch.” Bottom line: we like to do what we are good at. Swallow your pride and try something new, because it may not be what you want, but it’s what you need.

First 6 TONIGHT: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2

The day has finally come! A break from studying for my Physiology Exam monday, Anatomy Quiz tuesday, and Movement Analysis quiz wednesday. I was amazed when a friend of mine living in Manhattan told me she actually met Emma Watson in NYC at her hotel room to sell her jewelry – she told me she put in a good word for me. One of the perks of this city I suppose. No I don’t own a I <3 NYC tee shirt.

If you liked anything I had to say, feel free to subscribe for updates above.

Take care,

Eric Keene

School House Rock was right – Knowledge IS Power! Cressey Performance, BSMPG, and Perform Better Providence

I think there’s a point in most young persons careers when they feel as if they have all the answers. But, as they learn more and more, they begin to realize they know less and less.

Written by a person with all of the right answers, classic.

Now I’m not entirely sure who this KnowLage character is, but the message still is pretty clear. I had the opportunity to attend both the Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group’s Hockey/Basketball/Sports Medicine Symposiumin and Perform Better Providence Seminar where I learned from some of the best minds in Physical Therapy, Athletic Training, Strength and Conditioning, and Manual Therapy. Luckily for me, I learned early that I do not and will never have all of the answers; hence, the life-long pursuit of learning. If attending conferences and being absolutely enamored by everyones cutting edge information is cool, consider me Miles Davis!

Sure the conferences were awesome, but the fun started way before we listened to our first lecture.

Friday started by picking up my good buddy Johnny Mac in New York. Thanks to my incredible boss and mentor Shon Grosse, Jmac and I were able to stop by one of the best strength and conditioning facilities in the country, Cressey Performance, on our way up to the Symposium. After talking shop for the whole trip, we finally arrived and met Shon outside. When we walked in, we instantly met a few of the keynote speakers that were going to be at the Symposium including Clare Frank and Charlie Weingroff, along with a great guy and great strength coach, Sam Leahy. Of course standing next to them was Eric Cressey, who couldn’t have been nicer. Aside from getting to hang out and observe in the facility, Shon called me over to their conversation and I was lucky/unlucky enough to be chosen as their guinea pig in looking at mobilizing the Thoracic Spine and its role in gaining more internal rotation at the shoulder. So, they layed me over some props, let me cook for 5 minutes, and then came back and found me. I had some of the most skilled therapists working on my shoulder for the next 10 minutes, and then some more after Clare Frank decided to take it upon herself to get more internal rotation to gain more motion in my terribly limited right shoulder (thank you year round baseball!). After that, Dr. Frank was nice enough to talk to Jmac and I – who knew aside from being a genius physical therapist that she was on the National Badmitton team! In 3 years after my DPT, I hope to learn the methods for treating movement dysfunctions from the Prague School, which is what Dr. Frank lectures for. We also got to talk a bit with Cressey Performance staff members Tony Gentilcore and Chris Howard, who gave us the rundown of how what it’s like to train at the facility. A HUGE thanks to Shon and EC for letting us stop by and hang out – it couldn’t have been better.

After picking up my other buddy Dustin from where he took the bus from the airport to Harvard’s campus (where they wouldn’t let him into any building because he wasn’t a Harvard student), we were primed and fueled with Qdoba to get our nerd on.

I could keep writing and writing; but, I’ll leave a few thoughts here from Shirley Sahrmann and Eric Cressey at both the BSMPG and the Perform Better Summit in Providence, RI that really hit home for me:

 1. A reoccuring theme that is here to stay: Femoracetabular Impingement, or FAI, HAS TO BE considered when looking at Squat depth. Very simply, if someone has a CAM (head of femur too large or neck of femur too short or thick) or Pincer (head of femur too small for acetabulum) Impingement, than you HAVE TO limit the depth of the Squat, otherwise compensatory patterns will ensue and, A: Injuries will result to the lumbar, or B: You’ll beat up your labrum and will eventually need surgery. Both Shirley Sahrmann and Eric Cressey spoke about this hip pathology that plagues more individuals (notably hockey and soccer players) than we know.

2. Assess assess assess. Acetabular Anteversion, where the posterior acetubular rim protrudes more than the anterior rim, and Acetabular Retroversion, where the anterior acetabular rim protrudes more than the posterior rim, also plays into FAI and movement restrictions. Again, if you/your athletes has this, don’t beat up your hips/lumbar by trying to squat below parallel! If you want to learn how to assess for these, check out David Lasnier’s post on the topic: http://davidlasnier.com/2011/assessing-for-femoroacetabluar-impingement

3. I’m obsessed with watching people move. Can that be read in a creepy way? Probably – well, yes it can; but, try to keep your mind here. When we were walking down the streets of Boston, I couldn’t help but notice what Shirley Sahrmann described as Lumbosacral Rotation Syndrome in a vast majority of people. Movement occurs at the path of least resistance. In Lumbosacral Rotation Syndrome, there is rotation at the lumbar spine during gait (walking/jogging/sprinting – and yes, if you have it in one, you most likely have it in the other) due to the lumbar spine being less stiff relative to the TFL – resulting in lack of hip extension, which creates rotation at the lumbar spine (excessive/repeated rotation/flexion at lumbar = the devil; some rotation/flexion is ok). Add sarcomeres in series to the TFL by prolonged low load static stretching and stiffen the lumbar spine to remedy this movement dysfunction.

4. Stiff muscles are better than flexible muscles (Sahrmann). Stiff means that you can still be flexible in certain patterns; it just means it requires more force to get into those patterns.

5. Poor Movement causes Pathology, not vice versa (Sahrmann).

More to come! I hope to make time for this conference again next year.

Thanks to everyone that made this such a memorable weekend! And one last time… “He’s an angry elf.”

Eric Keene

I want Sydney Crosbys’ Training Program!

This article was originally published on www.inlinehockeyperformance.com.

How many of you have seen in a Muscle and Fitness magazine something along the lines of, “Try out ‘Insert Famous Professional Sports Figure’s Name here’ Lifting Program to get a Rock Hard Body like his!”? Even better, how many of you have seen advertisements on TV for “Get Ripped Quick with ‘Insert Awesome Sounding Get Ripped Quick Product here’”? Although some of these articles and products can give you decent ideas and some fitness results, it is important to know that what may give great results for one athlete or person doesn’t always reciprocate for another. The goal of this article is to explain why it is VERY important to diagnose or test before we prescribe exercises in order to prevent injuries.

The Importance of Diagnosing before Prescribing:

One of the books I read recently is “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, by Stephen R. Covey, and I came across this example of a professional that fits great into todays topic. Imagine the following scenario: Your eyes have been bugging you when you read, so you go see an optometrist. When you get there, you explain your situation to the doctor; he listens briefly, and then removes the glasses from his face, hands them to you and says:

“Here, take my glasses. They have given me incredible results for years now and my eyes have never felt better. I have an extra pair at home so you can keep these.”

You take his glasses, put them on your face and everything is much worse. You exclaim, “This looks terrible!”

“Well what’s wrong?” he asks. “They work great for me, try a little harder.”

“I am trying my hardest,” you respond. “It’s not working!”

“What’s wrong with you?” he responds. “Maybe glasses don’t work for you, try laser eye surgery.”

 How would you feel about this doctor? Would you believe anything he said? Any good optometrist would know that each persons’ eyes are different and glasses should only be prescribed after proper screening, testing, and a diagnosis. You can’t just use what works for you for everyone, because everyone is different.

 I’m sure this concept makes sense to you when related to vision; but, a lot of people have trouble seeing the relation to exercise and training. How would it make any sense to find a program that has been working for one person and expect it to work for another when individuals’ body structures, body types, body composition, muscle composition, mobility, stability, compensation patterns, and neuromuscular patterns can vary so much? Sure we all have the same muscles and bones so there are some exercises/movements that we use to create optimal movement patterns; but, because of differences we possess in varying muscular weaknesses, we compensate at other joints to produce movements. For instance, for varying reasons hamstring extensibility can vary greatly between individuals leading to different muscle recruitment patterns during various movements. For example, Sydney Crosby and Mike Richards perform a Barbell Dead Lift from the floor. Richards has normal length hamstrings while Crosbys’ are short. Richards performs the lift from the floor without a problem. Because Crosbys’ hamstrings are short, he does not have the range of motion at his hamstrings to bend down and pick up the bar, so he compensates by curving his lumbar spine to further his range of motion and complete the movement. This compensation not only leads to lesser weights achieved than Richards and further shortening of the hamstrings, but it can also lead to lumbar disc degeneration if not corrected. If Crosby wants to continue a long and healthy hockey career, I suggest he elevates his starting point on blocks so that his lumbar spine is not rounded during the lift and gradually work down to the floor while strengthening and stretching his short hamstrings.

 Diagnosing:

 In the medical world, there are screenings and tests to diagnose most conditions. Some of these conditions include High Blood Pressure, Triglycerides, HDL and LDL Cholesterol levels, etc. If you measure “high” on 3 or more of these tests and/or have a known Cardiovascular Disease, you are considered “High Risk” for developing Heart Disease. After a proper diagnosis has been made, the Doctor is able to prescribe different medications to help treat the issue.

 In the strength and conditioning world, there are also screenings and tests to diagnose what are called movement impairment syndromes, or just the inability to produce certain movements correctly. Developed by Physical Therapists Gray Cook and Lee Burton, the Functional Movement Screen was developed to assess a baseline of movements at each joint and assess how well your joints can coordinate movements together. If you score below a 15 on the screening, you are considered at “High Risk” for incurring an injury.

 After this screen is administered and the scores are recorded, the Strength and Conditioning Professional is able to prescribe the appropriate exercises to address possible risk factors. You might be wondering, “What Risk Factors? Am I going to get a heart attack if I can’t coordinate my joints to move correctly?” Absolutely not; but, you may have risk factors for a serious injury which could lead to the possible termination of your hockey career.

 Prescribing:

 Now that we have covered diagnosis, we can now prescribe exercise. Here at Inline Hockey Performance, we have many free videos posted on YouTube. We use these videos with our clients that are not close enough to train with any of our IHP Performance Coaches to show them how to do the exercises correctly. Although we are not able to use the Functional Movement Screen on our online clients, we do assess them by having them fill out certain questionnaires that give us information about injuries, commonly tight or tweaked areas, and movements that currently hurt them, along with having them perform a few tests in the weight room so we can track progress. Although this isn’t the ideal situation, it is enough to effectively prescribe exercises to increase playing performance and decrease the risk of injury.

 Wrapping it up:

Although a high level of athleticism can be achieved without optimal movement patterns, it is important to not put performance on top of dysfunctional movement patterns because it can result in later injury, decreased playing career (let’s face it, we all would play the rest of our lives if we could), and decreased performance. Next time you see “Get your Chest Ripped!” or, “Z40XTreme DVD set”, remember that everyone is different and has different movement impairments to address in order to prevent injuries and increase performance. So, do you want someone elses’ glasses so you can walk around blind? Or do you want your own prescription?

 Questions? Shoot us an email at InlineHockeyPerformance@Gmail.com.

 Warm Regards,

Eric Keene

Rethinking the Push-up Progression

In my experience as a Strength and Conditioning Coach having worked with male and female athletes anywhere from the Collegiate NCAA D1 level all the way down to Elementary School, the ability to perform a pushup correctly is seldom found. There are a few reasons for this lack of ability in not only the athletic population but also the average society member:

1. Lack of education in correct pushup technique, and

2. Mere difficulty of the exercise

The key to learning how to do a correct pushup isn’t by doing 1000 terrible ones.

Those pushups may be perfect in whatever sport/competition he is a part of; but, I’d prefer not to give my athletes brain trauma.

The key is to follow a proper progression with correct technique. In the past, pushups have been made easier by playing with physics in a certain way. The old pushup progression gradually works the person from an upright position pushing against a wall, to an angled barbell in a squat rack, to a lower angle, until the person is able to perform a pushup from their toes and hands on the floor. Standing vertical is meant to lighten the force of gravity on the upper body and core and gradually work down to the floor where gravity is pushing directly down on the persons’ posterior. With this new pushup progression, we start the athlete down on the floor and play with physics in a different and more specific way.

Playing with Physics:

Mario isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but good for him. In the old pushup progression, exercise difficulty varies because of how gravity is acting on the body – whether it be pushing down directly on the whole part of your back or a portion of it. In the new pushup progression, gravity is always pushing down on the whole part of your back. What changes is the fulcrum or axis of rotation. The videos below will demonstrate how:

The above video is used as an instructional tool to a group or individual to understand the proper arm path in a correct pushup. Again, this is not part of the exercise progression; rather, an instructional tool to demonstrate the arm path. The correct arm path can be described as a 45 degree angle, noted in the posterior view of the picture below:

 The first exercise to start with is the BOSU Waist Pushup. Position your waist on the BOSU ball, curl your legs, and place your hands directly under your shoulders. Go down on a 2 count (by 2 you should be at the bottom of the range of motion) and then up in 1 second. Focus on proper arm motion/path, keeping the glutes and abs tight, and not letting the low back sink. You may be able to skip this progression depending upon the upper body and core strength of the athlete/client.

 The second exercise is the BOSU Thigh Pushup. Position your thighs on the BOSU ball, curl your legs, and place your hands directly under your shoulders. Go down on a 2 count and come up in 1 second. Again, focus on proper arm motion/path, keeping the glutes and abs tight, and not letting the low back sink.

 The third exercise is the BOSU Knee Pushup. Position your knees on the BOSU ball, curls your legs, and place your hands directly under your shoulders. All of the same exercise cues from above apply. Again, your athlete/client may be able to start at this exercise as the first progression as long as the full range of motion can be completed.

The fourth exercise is the BOSU Shin Pushup. Position your shins on the BOSU ball and place your hands directly under your shoulders. All of the same exercise cues from above apply.

Finally, the last exercise is what everyone knows as a Pushup. Position your toes together on the floor and place your hands directly under your shoulders. Keeping your core and glutes tight, lower yourself to the floor on a 2 count focusing on proper arm motion/path, and come up in 1.

 Take home message:

This new pushup progression is a more practical and specific way to teach or reteach an athlete or regular person how to perform a pushup correctly because, basically, it keeps the person on the ground and allows physics to act virtually the same way on the person each time. You might be saying to yourself, “But, Eric! I don’t own a BOSU ball! What do I do?!” Don’t fret. You can use many other things, like: Foam Rollers, Medicine Balls, or even a heavy pillow. You can use anything that allows a high enough pivot point so that your thighs or waist do not touch the ground.

 For those of you that are into the “Lift big weights, get big” concept, you can load the athlete by placing an Olympic plate (or 5) on the athletes back. In order to stack plates effectively on an athletes back, use plates that don’t slide (rubber) and elevate the athletes’ feet slightly so the weights load evenly.

 Although this isn’t a loading mechanism, you could also add unstable surfaces to the exercise using med balls, stability balls, or bosu balls.Whether these exercise variations actually activate the prime movers or core more is controversial; it just depends on whether you buy into the “The More Unstable Surfaces, The Better!” approach, or the “The More the Load, The Better!” approach. Myself, I like to think of myself of a hybrid of all sorts of training. I see a place for both of these approaches in a training progression depending upon my client.

 You might be saying to yourself “Ah, this is no big deal. If my athletes can’t do a pushup, I’ll just start them on DB Bench Press using a light load with the proper arm path until they are strong enough to perform a pushup correctly.” Ah, not a bad plan. My only argument would be that even the pushup progressions work your core and glutes more than this bench press variation; so, I would in this case suggest the exercise that works your core more. If you have a person/athlete with bad wrists, I may suggest the DB Bench Press instead of your conventional pushup (unless you use neutral handles). As always, it depends on your client.

Along with this, you may be thinking to yourself  “I really don’t care if my athlete can do a push-up or not, it isn’t important to my athlete’s sport.” Again, I can’t argue that depending upon if your athlete’s sport is more dependent on absolute strength as opposed to relative strength. Absolute strength is the amount of force you can exert on an object (ie: a person, an object). Relative strength is the amount of force you can exert in relation to your own body weight (ie: jumping, sprinting, push-ups, pull-ups). For example, if I had a 300 lb football lineman that couldn’t perform a push-up (or pull-up for that matter) but could bench press 450 lbs and squat 500 lbs, I wouldn’t be focusing on teaching him to perform a push up or pull up because football is a sport where absolute strength is more important than relative (well, at least for a lineman). On the other side of that, if I had a rock climber that couldn’t perform a push-up or pull-up, I would focus on his or her ability to perform that because rock climbing is a sport where relative strength is more important than absolute.

If you liked today’s article, send it along to interested parties. Also, sign up above for email alerts of new articles.

 Warm regards,

Eric Keene

Not a fan of Olympic Lifting? Here are some Exercises you may like.

Olympic lifting is a sport where athletes compete in 2 different lifts for personal bests and to beat out their opponents – sort of like a track event. Unlike track however, there are only two events/lifts: The the Clean and Jerk, and the Snatch. Like most sports, what makes one olympic lifting athlete better than another is his or her ability to exert power. Because these lifts require a high amount of power output to perform, Strength and Conditioning Professionals have included them in programs as a means to improve an athletes power. Although power is a huge contributer in how well an olympic lifting athlete performs, technique is also a huge contributer.

If you read my post, Power Reigns Supreme, then you know that Power is the most important component to improve in order to increase performance in court and ball games (aka Strength and Power Sports). In the Strength and Conditioning field, although Olympic Lifting has been proven to improve an athletes power output, it is still a highly debated method of power training.

Before I go on, if you have read any of my posts, you should know that I am not a fan of absolutes. I will never say anything like “Never Olympic Lift”, “Never use machines”,  or “Never Back Squat”; rather, if someone were to ask me, for instance, if machines were bad, my first question would be “for who?” A machine is not as beneficial to use for an athlete or an ordinary healthy member of soceity when compared to free weights for a lot of reasons; however, the guided range of motion and extra support at specific joints can be beneficial to an injured person in the rehab setting. This point is important for later.

With regard to Olympic Lifting, again, some Performance Coaches, although the literature clearly states they are a safe and beneficial means of improving power output, do not use Olympic Lifts in their training programs. Because you are well read in Strength and Conditioning and you know the benefits of Olympic Lifting, you may be asking yourself “The only coaches that don’t use Olympic Lifts are stupid ones and I would never listen to them.” Well, in some respects, you may be right; however, I’m not a fan of absolutes. In fact, some Performance Coaches have stated their rebuttal: “The benefits of these exercises do not outweigh the amount of time it takes to teach the athlete the correct way to do it. Along with that, the catch of the clean and snatch is the technical component of the lift and does not benefit athletes that are not olympic lifters.” In some respects, I agree. Take the Barbell Power or Hang Clean and the Barbell Power or Hang Snatch with catch in a Squat. For an athlete to properly learn these exercises for the first time, the athlete needs to be able to perform 3 – 4 difficult exercises for 2-3 weeks each – or longer if exercise mastery takes longer. Below is a table of the progressions to go through to learn the exercise best:

POWER CLEAN	POWER SNATCH
Deadlift	Deadlift
Power Shrug	Overhead Squat
Power High Pull	Hang Snatch
Power Clean	Power Snatch

 If you are trying to teach an athlete how to do these exercises properly and allot the proper amount of time to each exercise progression, it could be 8 weeks before you are actually performing the exercise that you sought out to do. If you are coaching an athlete that only has an 8 week off season, this may not be the best way to go about designing his or her training program. If there were Olympic Lift variations that were as beneficial or, arguably, even more beneficial than the Power Clean and Snatch, wouldn’t you want to know them? Well, now you can! These exercises are designed to improve power levels without having to learn the technical aspect of Olympic Lifting, which is what the catch aspect of the Clean and Snatch are. Below are videos and explanations of these videos:

Less Technical Olympic Lift Variations:

1 Leg Dumbbell Split Jerk

The 1 Leg Dumbbell Split Jerk is actually a further progression to the 2 Leg Dumbbell Split Jerk. This exercise has all of the power benefits, or arguably more with having to generate more force in a shorter distance (ie: the lesser amount of bending at the ankle, knee and hip) while still having to propel a potentially heavy load over head.

Barbell Power Split Snatch

The Barbell Power Split Snatch is a great alternative to the Barbell Power Snatch because it doesn’t involve the Overhead Squat catch, which is a difficult position for some athletes to learn. Catching in the lunge is not only sport specific due to the unilateral aspect (this doesn’t mean that a squat isn’t sports specific – what do you think an athletic position looks like?), but it is also easier to catch because latisimus dorsi and pec minor tightness isn’t as big an issue in performing this exercise correctly. Lat and pec minor tightness can be addressed with self myofascial release techniques – but that’s for another post.

1 Leg Dumbbell Hang Split Snatch

The 1 Leg Dumbbell Hang Split Snatch is the next progression following the 2 Leg Dumbbell Hang Split Snatch. You’ll notice that in the Hang variation that a 1 leg RDL can be used to propel the weight overhead. Whether the athlete bends more at the waist or knee doesn’t matter – as long as the weight is propelled overhead with a degree of hip extension. With this in mind, one could argue that a RDL is a progression to this exercise. Again, if the load is light, the progression may not be necessary.

Olympic Lift Progression for the Less Technical Exercise:

Even though these exercises are less technical, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t difficult. Here is an order of least difficult to most difficult based on what the athletes I’ve trained have been able to peform in the past:

JERK VARIATIONS PROGRESSIONS	SNATCH VARIATIONS PROGRESSIONS
Dumbbell Jerk	DB Hang Snatch
Barbell Jerk	Barbell Hang Split Snatch
Barbell Split Jerk	DB Hang Split Snatch
Dumbbell Split Jerk	Barbell Power Split Snatch
	DB Power Split Snatch
1 Leg Dumbbell Split Jerk
1 Leg Barbell Split Jerk	1 Leg DB Hang Split Snatch
	1 Leg DB Power Split Snatch

If you have any questions about what an exercise is exactly, just ask – EKSportPerformance@Gmail.com.  

Take Home Message: Coaches like Olympic Lifts because they involve moving a heavy load in an explosive manner – which is basically what defines a power movement. Some coaches don’t like Olympic Lifts because they take too long to teach and are too technical. These exercises can be used with any healthy athlete (depending on your definition of a “healthy” athlete) to improve explosiveness without having to spend a lot of time on progressions. You could argue that in order to do the jerk exercises correctly, that you should be able to do a Military Press and a Lunge. I agree with the Lunge; however, not the Military Press. This exercise involves getting the load overhead using your legs, not your shoulder. The role of the shoulder in this lift is to stabilize the weight overhead, not to necessarily propel the weight fully. If the athlete is a beginner to weight lifting, this exercise can, possibly, still be done – just with a lighter load in relation to strength and body weight. Since you are highly educated in the Strength and Conditioning field, I’m sure you thought to yourself that, “If the athlete is using a light load, then doesn’t it negate the power benefits based on the definition of applying maximal force as quickly as possible and a heavy load is necessary in order to apply maximal force?”. Well, you make a good point. My only argument is to say that it still teaches the athlete to move explosively and transfer power from the legs through the torso to the upper body (which is what happens A LOT in sports ie: pushing an opponent, taking a slap shot, throwing a ball, etc.) and that the intent is still to move explosively, which it usually is not in many strength training movements – making the movement more powerful.

The bottom line is Olympic Lift variations can be used in any scenario – even the 8 week long off season. Am I saying to stop using the Clean and Snatch completly? Of course not. There is room for every exercise (even back squats) not necessarily for the muscular benefits, but for the neural benefits – but that’s, once again, for another post. If an athlete comes to you and gives you a 32 week window, then programming the Clean and Snatch progressions may be a wise way to continue to change up the exercises. As always, everything is variable and there are no absolutes in the Strength and Conditioning field, you just have to ask the question – for who?

Warm regards,

Eric Keene

Think You’re Fast on Wheels? A Little Technique Can Make You Faster.

The other day, I finished up running an Inline Hockey Performance Clinic at the Marple Sports Arena. Thank you to the Marple Sports Arena and all of the players that helped to make the camp a success. There were 2 components to the camp: The In Shoes Portion and the In Skates Portion (people still call training out of skates “Dryland”, which makes no sense for inline hockey players – it’s all dry!). Along with a lot of training in shoes and skill work in skates, we also did video analysis of shooting and skating mechanics. This post today is going to focus on the linear skating  stride analysis and how you can become a faster and more explosive skater. The video analysis looked at the following 3 components: Stride Return, Chest Angle, and Arm Motion.

We all know why it is important to be fast and powerful: the ability to beat out your opponent to the puck, catch an opponent on a breakaway, breaking free out of the corner when you have an opponent on you, or wheeling out from behind the net to carry the puck. All of these real game scenarios are examples of speed and power. To review why power is so important to not just Inline Hockey but all sports, check out my article Power Reigns Supreme I wrote a few months back.

Stride Return:

Stride Return is the ability to bring your feet back together after each stride. In order to look at stride return, a posterior view was used. After you fully extend your ankle of your striding leg, you want to bring your striding legs’ foot all the way back to where the gliding foot is. As you can see in the video above of one of the players at my recent camp, he demonstrates the stride return pretty well.

Another component you can look at from this view is Stride Angle. Stride Angle is the direction in which a skater exerts the most amount of motion. Looking at this particular player, you can see that he strides backwards a little bit too much and would benefit more from pushing with all 4 wheels diagonally.

Chest Angle:

Chest Angle is the angle that your legs and chest form at your waist. We look at chest angle to see if the player is leaning forward too far or leaning backward too far. If the player were to lean forward too far during skating and got pushed from behind, he or she would fall forward. If the player were to lean backward too far during skating and got pushed from the front, he or she would fall backward. The optimal angle is a 120 degree angle at the waist  that looks pretty much like the video above. So to this skater, I say, nice job!

Arm Motion:

Arm Motion is the path in which your arms travel when skating.  During a linear skating path, you want your arms to move forwards and backwards and not side to side. Imagine it this way: there is an imaginary line that runs down your forehead, over your nose, through the middle of your chest and down the middle of your body splitting your body into right and left sides. Each arm should not cross that imaginary midline when skating forward; otherwise, you are only slowing yourself down. Looking at the video above, you’ll notice that his arm motion is not moving front to back; rather, it crosses the midline. Refer to the video below for the proper arm movement strategy:

Bottom line:

During stride return, the closer you bring your feet together, the longer and more efficient your strides will be. Your chest angle shouldn’t be too far backwards or too far forwards in order to promote balance during forward skating. Lastly, your arm motion should not cross the middle of your body and should move front to back.

If you follow these guidelines, you will become a faster and more efficient skater. You might be saying to yourself, “I’m already faster than everyone I play against! I don’t need to do this!” Well, you might be right. You may just be genetically gifted enough to get by without proper technique; however, imagine how much faster you could be with improved technique – and you never know which of your opponents is training hard and doing what they can to become faster than you. The same thing goes for not only practicing proper skating mechanics, but training on the rink and lifting weights. You may be able to get by as a great player without training hard; but, imagine how much better you would be if you trained, how much longer your playing career would be, and how much more fun you would have.

Along with proper technique, there is a simple formula that determines how fast you move:

SKATING VELOCITY = STRIDE LENGTH x STRIDE FREQUENCY

Simply put, by using proper form, you will improve your stride length. Seems easy enough. The tricky part is improving stride frequency, which is how quickly you can repeat the full stride motion. Stride frequency is improved by becoming stronger and more powerful, so that is why training is important for improving skating speed. When watching an inline or ice hockey game, you may notice that  there may be a player out there that looks really really fast because he moves his feet in a fast and choppy fashion; however, this individual is only taking advantage of one part of the equation above. The objective is to increase both variables (Stride Length and Stride Frequency) in the equation through skating with proper technique and training – which will lead to overall faster and more explosive skating.

Train hard, train smart!

If you want to know how to become more explosive, email me at EKSportPerformance@gmail.com . In the meantime, check out my exercise library on YouTube.

Warm regards,

Eric Keene

Biomechanical Aspects of Training for Lifting Heavier Loads and Preventing Injuries

With the West Chester University Ice Hockey team, one of the unilateral strength exercises we do for the posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, basically, the back of your body) is a Unilateral Barbell Romainian Dead Lift, also referred to as a 1 legged Barbell RDL. Here’s a video of that specific exercise using Dumbbells below from Performance Coach at Endeavor Fitness, Kevin Neeld:

Whenever I teach athletes how to do exercises that involve flexion at the ankles, knees, and hips with the bar or dumbbell in front of the body (ie: deadlift/deadlift variations, cleans and snatches, etc.), a cue I always use is to keep the bar/dumbbell as close to your body as possible. One of my athletes asked exactly why that was the case; hence, this post on Biomechanical Aspects of Training!

Understanding Moment Arms and Mechanical Advantages in Relation to the Body:

To start with, Biomechanics is basically just applying Physics and its theories to the human body and its movements. Let’s use a simple example – everyones’ favorite bicep exercise which is, arguably, no way applicable to hockey/any strength and power sport: The bicep curl.

Although I do not suggest doing bicep curls in the  squat rack (especially while nodding at yourself in a very toolish way), this lifter does demonstrate where you are at your weakest in the range of motion opposed to the strongest.

Individuals talk about weak points in a specific lift all the time – whether it’s a sticking point in a Bench Press or feeling stuck at the bottom of a Squat.  But why are we weaker at certain points than others? The reason is because, in physics terms, your muscle loses mechanical advantage due to the moment arm of resistances’ force getting longer while the moment arm of efforts’ force stays the same. The moment arm of resistance becomes longest when the external load is furthest from the fulcrum. That may or may not sound confusing, so this picture below should explain it better.

Let’s do it this way:

Let the Bicep = Moment Arm of Effort

Let the Hand+External Force (exercise band) = Moment Arm of Resistance

Let the Elbow (more specifically the Lateral Epicondyle) = The Fulcrum (axis at which movement takes place)

Simply, the exercise is hardest when the Moment arm of resistance is longest, which is when the external force is furthest from the fulcrum because gravity is pushing down in a straight line through the external force. As you move the external force in a curvilinear fashion (which is the motion of this specific exercise), either up or down, the straight line (gravity) acting down gets closer to the fulcrum, making the moment arm of effort start to gain mechanical advantage over the moment arm of resistance; hence, the exercise get’s easier.

Bottom line: The exercise is most difficult when the line acting down, gravity, is furthest from the fulcrum. The exercise is easiest when the line activing down, gravity, is closest to the fulcrum.

Relating Moment Arms to Compound Joint Movement Lifts for Increased Performance and Injury Prevention:

Now that we discussed that concept in regards to the bicep curl, let’s use this model to relate to the Dead Lift. Again, let’s do it this way:

Exercise: DeadLift

Let the Prime mover, aka Muscles working (Quads, hamstrings, hips, glutes, etc.) = Moment Arm of Effort

Let the weight = Moment arm of Resistance

Let the hips (bony landmark being Greater Trochanter) = The Fulcrum

If we held the barbell far away from the body, the external load would be further away from the fulcrum (increasing the length of the moment arm of resistance) than it has to be; therefore, making the exercise more difficult than it has to be AND causing negative stress on the low back! If we held the barbell closer to the body, that keeps the moment arm of resistance shorter and allows the muscles working to perform the lift more efficiently. Being more efficient in your form will allow you to lift more weight which will increase your training effect and help you to make more gains.

As a healthy lifestyle note for injury prevention, the common cue for lifting heavy objects – whether it’s a toilet for remodeling a bathroom or carrying a piano up the stairs – people always say to lift with your legs not your back to prevent injury. This is generally true; however, if you bend at the knees to pick up the object but don’t keep the object close to your body, this puts negative stress on your back and can lead to possible injury. So, whether you bend at the knees or hip – or both – is arbitrary. All that matters is that you keep the object as close to your body as possible to keep the negative stress off of your back. If you ever see on a heavy box, “Note: To minimize risk of injury, keep object close to body as possible!” You’ll know why and who suggested it.

Take home message:  It’s important for the athlete/exerciser/performance enhancement coach to know how to decrease the risk of injury and increase their/their athletes’ own performance. When doing a deadlift, clean, snatch, or any other exercise with the barbell or dumbbell in front of you, keep the bar as close to your body as possible. Am I fan of scraping your shins during barbell deadlifts? Ah, it’s not for me (although the moment arm of resistance is shorter doing it that way) because the #1 job of the strength and conditioning coach is to decrease the athletes’ risk of injury! I do not want my athletes leaving the weight room with bloody shins and then putting them in a dirty shin pad for a practice/game and getting some sort of infection; potentially, leading them to missing games. It may look tougher, but science and what works should outweigh what looks tough in the weight room; in fact, that will most likely be what my next post is about. Stay tuned.

Questions? Email me at EKSportPerformance@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

Warm regards,

Eric Keene

In Season vs. Off Season Training Programs

We finished both weight room and field pre-season testing with the WCU Ice Hockey guys last week and today we started the actual training program itself. After I gave the group a run through of how the sessions would be going for the semester, one of the players asked me why we are only in the weight room twice a week. I explained that because of our practice and game schedule, to do more would risk overtraining and that we would be in the weight room a lot more in the off season. In this post, I will talk about the differences in in season vs. off season training programs in a linear periodization model.

In order to understand the rest of the post, here are few terms to know:

Periodization is the planned changing of an exercise program. Linear Periodization refers to the planned changing of the inverse relationship of volume and intensity. Volume is the amount of repetitions, sets, and duration in the weight room. Intensity is how taxing the exercise is on your body (ie: a unilateral exercise is more intense than a bilateral exercise). Refer to the image below:

Linear Periodization Model

Let’s start with the X-axis from left to right. The Preparation Phase is the same thing as the off season and encompasses 3 phases: Hypertrophy Phase, Basic Strength Phase, and the Max Strength and Power Phase. The 1st Transition Phase is the time right before pre-season starts and it is a time variable upon the team/schedule to recover before the long season (usually lasts a week). Next is the Competition Phase which is the in season portion of the program. Last is the 2nd Transition Phase which is the time after the season ends to recover from the long season just played (the duration of that depends on the athlete. For well-trained athletes it can be a week or less, and for others it can be the whole summer. Or maybe that second one is laziness. Who knows). The Y-axis has volume and intensity on it. In the off season, volume is high and intensity is low. In season, volume is low and intensity is high. In the following paragraphs, I will talk about the differences between in season and off season training specifically with the WCU Ice Hockey team training.

In Season vs. Off Season Training

Generally speaking, the off season is the time to build General Physical Preparedness (GPP) the keyword being General. This just means to get as big and strong as possible by keeping volume (sets, reps, duration in weight room) high and keep intensity low by not focusing on the sport specific movements. The pre and in season are the times to focus on raising intensity and Special Physical Preparedness (SPP), which is the more sport specific things. The reason intensity is raised in the in season is to have the athlete peak in competition right around playoff time, which is, of course, where national championships are won and lost. If you do all of your intense work in the off season, you can peak at the wrong time. There is a periodization model known as Reverse Linear that is, essentially, the exact opposite of Linear; however, that model is shown to have less beneficial effects for athletes. Below is a list of differences between the in season and off season and ways to periodize training. These are not rules, rather focus points and guidelines. It is good to mix and match sometimes to keep things fresh and add progressions:

OFF SEASON	IN SEASON
- Barbell	- Dumbbell
- Bilateral	- Unilateral
- General/Basic	- Specific/More difficult
- High Volume	- Low Volume
- Low Intensity	- High Intensity
- Low % Power Exs.	- High % Power Exs.
- Short Rest Periods	- Long Rest Periods

A very important part in determining a team’s training program is to look at their schedule. WCU’s Ice Hockey team has practice every Tuesday and Thursday with most Wednesdays as well and games Friday and Saturday with the occasional Sunday in there. So, they are potentially on the ice 6 days out of the week and their season lasts from October to March. Now, does it seem appropriate to have these guys in the weight room 4 days a week throughout the season? Of course not. All that would do is produce overtraining symptoms (which is bad) and result in injury risk and poor performance. So after looking at the schedule, I decided that 2 days a week was a great way for the athletes to improve their power (refer to previous post “Power Reigns Supreme”) and strength while keeping and improving muscle mass.

We train on Mondays and Wednesdays. Mondays are lower body plyometrics and single leg strength with core strength, power, and stability exercises at the end. Wednesdays are full body power and upper body unilateral strength and we do Olympic Lift variations, then some unilateral upper body exercises, and more core/torso work.

Take home message: When designing programs, there is no right way for everyone. Everything is specific to the team/athlete you’re working with and many different ways may work. Linear Periodization is a great way to introduce progressions into phases and keep your workouts fresh (changing every 2-3 weeks) in order to keep making gains. Again, if you’re in the Hypertrophy phase, that doesn’t limit you to only doing hypertrophy sets; it only means that is the focus of the phase and that the larger percentage of exercises should be geared towards achieving that goal. The same thing goes for the Basic Strength Phase, and Max Strength and Power. As an example, you can put an olympic lift progression like a Power Shrug with Toe Extension  into the beginning of your hypertrophy or basic strength phases so that the athlete can learn the proper progression to learning a Power Clean so they are able to do it by the time the In Season roles around. So, keep changing up those workouts and if you’re In Season, maybe give that Barbell a rest and give your Central Nervous System some movements it has never tried before; but, keep your strength and power up with dumbbells too!

Train hard, but know why you’re doing it.

Questions? Email me at EKSportPerformance@gmail.com.

Warm Regards,

Eric Keene