N=1

I know I used a blog post with this same title in the past, but I think some of the concepts need to be reiterated.

N=1 proves very little. When I say N=1, I'm talking about a sample size of one - this could be you, your cousin Vinny, your sister's boyfriend's aunt, or just about anyone else.

In research, N=1 is a case study. Unfortunately (as we were discussing the other day at I-FAST), a case study can prove damn near anything. And since it's not applied to a larger sample size, the researched modality or method could even be determined to work or not work off the results of the case study alone!

In the real world, the same thing happens. Someone who only coaches one athlete, one client, etc. gets results doing things a certain way and assumes that everyone out there should be doing the same thing. In contrast, when you work with a large number of clients/athletes, all with different backgrounds, goals, injuries, etc., you have a much better perspective on what things work, as well as what doesn't. The goal of programming is always to provide optimal stimulation while attempting to shed away the "fluff."

When applying information to your own training or coaching, do your best to reference the people that are working with (or who have worked with) a wide variety of clients. No two clients are ever the same; two baseball players may have their sport in common, but everything else could be totally different. You should strive to apply the basic biomechanical principles, while simultaneously accounting for their individual tendencies. Doing so will give you the best chance for success, regardless of who it is you're working with.

Stay strong
MR

The Angry Biomechanist, Part I

Since I've been slacking on the blog this week, I figured I better write something halfway decent today ;)

One thing that's starting to become annoying are the pundits who feel the need to go against the grain, just for the sake of doing so. To be totally frank, if you want to call out a respected expert in the field of biomechanics, you better bring your A+ game to the table. (Please note I am not espousing myself as one, but others who are performing research and writing textbooks themselves.)

Now don't get me wrong here, I'm all for critical thinking - I firmly believe you should not only read textbooks by the experts, but the original studies they cite as well. This is going to take your knowledge and understanding to the next level. Finally, think about how it all comes together - who are they testing? What are the methods? What are the biases of the researchers? Take everything into account.

One topic that is always hotly debated is the idea of spinal rotation, specifically at the lumbar spine. Stuart McGill, Shirley Sahrmann and others have discussed this at length. To summarize, they state how little rotary capacity the lumbar spine has, especially when compared to the thoracic spine.

In an effort to strawman the argument, many will state that if there wasn't supposed to be movement at the lumbar spine it wouldn't be a joint at all! While I see where they're going with the argument, no one said that there shouldn't be ANY rotation at the lumbar spine. However, when you contrast the rotary capacity at the lumbar spine (which typically allows for ~2 degrees of rotation per segment), it pales in comparison to that of the thoracic spine (which allows for 7-9 degrees of rotation at the uppermost segments). In essence, all they're saying is that most people already have maxed out their rotary capacity at the lumbar spine and instead should focus their rotary training on the thoracic spine instead.

To take it a step further, I recently finished reading Bogduk's Clinical Anatomy of the Lumbar Spine. I don't have the exact page in front of me, but Bogduk states that with as little as 3 degrees of rotation at the lumbar spine, you start to see microfailure of the lumbar disc!

Look, everyone is free to believe what they want and to train their clients/athletes in any manner they deem suitable. The bottom line is results - if you get them, then stick with what you're doing. I've seen nothing but positive results since I've focused more of my training (and that of my clients) on getting rotary capacity at the thoracic spine and hips, while stabilizing the lumbar spine.

So until someone proves to me that this thinking is inherently flawed, this is one of those "big rocks" I'll be keeping in my jar.

Stay strong

MR

Testimonial: Bulletproof Knees

Back in town and back in action next week. For now, here's a testimonial I received the other day.

Mike,

Thanks to your BPK program along with some serious ART, I'm happy to inform you that I've avoided meniscus surgery and my knee is at least 70-80% better! My ART practitioner freed up some of the scar tissue that I had on the front of my knee and behind it, bringing me close to pre-pain levels. While there is still some pain, I'm going to resume my ART treatments in a few months to really hammer away at the remainder of the problem, but in the mean time I will continue foam rolling and mobility work outlined in your BPK manual and M2 DVD.

Seriously Mike - thank you. I thought my dreams of being a competitive athlete were over before they even got started, but now that I'm relatively pain free I'm going to continue pushing towards my goals.

All the best,
Roger Lawson

Old School Article of the Week

In this edition of the Old-School Article of the Week, I've rehashed an article for T-Nation titled "Designer Athletes".

This was written several years ago as an off-season program to help guys transition back into strength work in the off-season. My goal wasn't to include plyos, running, etc.; rather, I just wanted to lay a foundation with strength work before getting into multi-faceted training down the line.

Enjoy!

Designer Athletes

Stay strong
MR

Who is this guy?

When looking to get with a potential trainer or coach, this is a great question to ask. Now that we're firmly planted in the Internet age, virtually anyone can proclaim themselves an expert or world-class coach. I'm the first to admit that my status in the industry has been highly elevated due to the fact that I've written for sites like T-nation for quite some time. If I'm actually worthy of that status or not is up to you as a consumer to determine!

So how do you cut through the BS and really determine if someone is good? Here are a few options you can employ:

- If they have a website, thoroughly review it. Do they have articles, blogs, and/or other informational materials that help demonstrate their competence? Keep in mind there's more to sounding smart than bashing others! What techniques do they use to achieve success? What are their philosophies on training/coaching? This will give you a better idea of how they train and if their thoughts/philosophies mesh with your own.

- What is their current status as a trainer/coach? Are they actually training people themselves? Don't be surprised to find out that many internet personalities actually train very few people!

At I-FAST we offer a 14-day trial membership - anyone can come in off the street and get assessed, get an individualized program produced, and train for free to determine if they like the program and us as coaches.

- Finally, and possibly most importantly, ask the other clients/athletes that train with this coach/trainer. Are they delivering results? Do they educate them? Are they achieving their goals? You can talk a big game, but the bottom line is if you deliver to your clients. I'm confident that anyone who works with Bill, myself or any of our future employees will be able to vouch for our competence.

If you're interested in hiring a trainer or coach, doing a little research can go a long way to helping you achieve your goals. Good luck!

Stay strong
MR

New Stuff from MR

I've got a ton of programs to write today, so I'm going to keep this brief. Here's some new material from moi that you might not have seen yet.

Bulletproof Your Knees - An Interview with Inga Yandell (located on pages 66 and 67)

This interview is geared toward a more lay population, with an emphasis on women's knee health.

Foundational Fat Loss - Published at FigureAthlete.com

A bare-bones, stripped down fat loss article. Don't expect anything revolutionary, just some of the basic rules and principles that need to be applied to get the ball rolling.

I hope everyone is having a great week. Enjoy!

Stay strong
MR

Q&A: Knee issues

Mike-

I've written you before, but this time I'm nervous and need some advice. I have an MRI scheduled for Monday, and have been told I most likely have a torn meniscus (left knee, medial meniscus) and possibly a partial tear of the ACL.

I know the exact moment I noticed a problem, but there was no trauma or pain to speak of. I was playing a volleyball tournament on 9/28, had played 3 matches and was finishing my dynamic warmup for the 4th match. The only thing I did different was a hamstring stretch with my foot elevated on a wall (slightly above hip height) - kind of dumb and pointless, but in any case...I went to walk onto the court and my left foot was almost being pulled out to the side as I brought it forward in my gait. I was reticent to do hitting lines because I felt like I would collapse after a jump. The feeling subsided and I played the rest of the match, having absolutely no problems. Later that night into the next day, my knee was swollen and stiff.

I finally was able to be seen by the orthopedist last Thursday. He did the test (I forget the name) for the ACL, and found a great deal of laxity in both knees, but the left did not "lock" at the end range of motion. He was surprised that I had never injured or had surgery on my knee - I think he didn't believe me. Of course, I broke my elbow and had a doctor twist it all over the place and tell me it was fine, so I'm not sure what my pain tolerance is.

My questions are two-fold (and I'm going to buy Bulletproof Knees right away, to be sure!!) - any advice on questions to ask the orthopedist about my ACL/meniscus to ensure I'm getting the whole story, and is it possible to forgo ACL surgery (if it's indeed torn) and just work on strengthening the leg? The degree of laxity in both knees (which I think I've had all my life) has opened up the possiblity that my ACL wasn't doing a whole heck of a lot - and the right one still isn't. My main sport is volleyball, playing competitively once a week and a couple tournaments a month, attending nationals and playing beach doubles in the summer.

Any other advice or suggestions you could give me would be much appreciated. If Bulletproof Knees would have most of what I'm looking for, I'll start there.

Thanks for your time - and counsel!

First off, thanks for your question!

When going to your ortho, here are the following questions I would want to know:

- What's the degree of the ACL tear? A full-thickeness tear (Grade 3) would need surgery; anything below (1 or 2) can be treated conservatively in most cases.

- What is the location and size of the meniscus tear? I would then ask you, is there any feeling of locking and/or giving way? Does it cause pain or a decrease in function?

Here are some thoughts, FWIW.

If you don't have a Grade 3 tear, then you'll most likely be able to avoid an ACL reconstruction. That, in and of itself, is good news. I would definitely be taking some time off from volleyball, though, and when you return you may want to wear a brace for a period of time until you're comfortable again with explosive tri-planar movements. As you may remember, this is what Dallas Clark did for the Colts a few years ago - they thought he had torn his ACL, when it fact it wasn't a full-thickness tear. A few weeks of conservative therapy and he was back on the field.

Now I'm all for conservative therapy, but if you DO have a Grade 3 tear surgery is probably your best option. Those that go without a reconstruction are more likely to have rapid onset of osteoarthritis, so even though surgery/rehab would suck, it should give you a better long-term outcome.

What you do with the meniscus tear will then be contigent upon the severity of the ACL tear. If the meniscus tear is asymptomatic and you don't need ACL surgery, you can probably leave it alone - more and more docs are trying to leave these kinds of tears as is. If it is causing you issues though (whether it's pain or mechanical) you may need to get it scoped. I've discussed the difference between partial meniscectomies and meniscus repairs before on the blog, so be sure to check it out here.

I hope that gives you a little ammo when meeting with your ortho this week. Keep in mind that my bias is always to stray away from surgery if at all possible, but in some cases it is warranted and will provide the best outcome.

Good luck and keep me posted!

Stay strong
MR

Tone Down the Protein Please

I was going to write something profound today, but then I read the following article and blog post and had to re-post it here today.

This was written by ExSci student and I-FAST gym member Lance Goyke. Guys like Lance are the future of the industry, and it's pretty bad when you write something so poor that a 19 year old can poke holes all throughout your article!

Have a great weekend!
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MSN is the leader of health, right?

Ehh, I'm not so sure.

I'll a attempt to dissect this article in order.

Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., has just told us that we eat too much protein. Not we as my friends in the bodybuilding community, but we as in the population. If we want specifics, the third paragraph is what set me off. She says that working out puts us in an anabolic state overnight. Night time is synonymous with catabolism! Some hardcores who don't care about sleep will wake up in the middle of the night to drink a shake or take some BCAAs to stop the muscle eating! Hell, even working out alone puts you in a catabolic state if you don't have proper post-workout nutrition (which, thankfully, she discusses later).

She mentions a study by Peter Lemon that suggests this is true. After a quick search of PubMed.com, a site that consists of fitness and nutrition studies, I've found that this professor does a lot of research work with world-renown Dr. John Berardi. Not a surprise seeing as they're both Canucks. For the record, I never actually determined what study she was referring to. I really wish she had cited the information!

"More protein can lead to more body fat"

No shit. Excess calories need to go somewhere, and if you eat too much of something, it will be stored as fat. However, protein, out of all the macronutrients, is the least likely to be stored as fat because of it's inability to make for a good energy source. She fails to mention that protein is harder to digest, and in turn burns more calories. She used a great tactic that is used when talking about statistics a lot. A journalistic lie if you will (much like what every processed food manufacturer does). It's kind of like if I were to say that only a small percentage of my body gets erect when I see things like Isla Fisher.

Sure it's true, but it's very misleading.



Ohhh, Isla...

She wants us to consume less than a a gram per kilogram of bodyweight. I am "overweight and I'm less than 80 kg. She says 65 grams a day for me.

You have got to be fucking kidding?

For the record, a cup of chopped broccoli is usually a lot more than somebody will eat in a day. Much greater than a serving that the beloved Department of Agriculture makes so popular. And she thinks the average American consumes 100 grams of protein! 100 grams!? If you look on a nutrition label you can easily find out that they base those off of 50 grams of protein a day. I would venture to guess that most people don't get that unless they have a figure in their life that enjoys cooking.

"Timing your muscle fueling efforts"

This paragraph actually baffled me. How can she read great work like that of Nutrient Timing by Dr. John Ivy and still think all of this other stuff? I do think that 4:1 on carbs:protein is a little excessive on the carbohydrate side, but I would say that you want at least 2:1.

Last line:Peanut butter on bread.

Nothing about the peanut butter being natural. Nothing about the bread being 100% whole grain. Don't even worry about the fact that there's roughly no healthy loaf of bread that you can find in a grocery store. Just throw those fats onto those carbohydrates and get a lovely, gigantic insulin spike! Speed up the fat gain, Mommy! I'm taking up sumo wrestling!

Mike's Day

We'll divert from our usual blog format to give you guys a little insight as to what an average day looks like for me. Ok, maybe it's not average but it's what I've done today.

Today is a pretty light day w/regards to clients; I've founded our busiest days are M-W-F-Sa. Typically I get a session in on Thursday mornings, but I was up late last night and wanted some people to train with, so I'll get today's session in tomorrow morning.

Instead, I headed in to the gym early to get to work. I'm currently working on refining our systems, and making sure everything is in order as I-FAST is continuing to steadily grow. It's not nearly as sexy as helping someone get healthy or squat 5 bills, but it's something that needs to be done to ensure the business runs as smoothly as possible, both now and in the future. Bill and I are also working on finishing up our 2nd big marketing campaign, so that will be sent to the printer later this afternoon.

Today has also been a huge day for writing. I'm getting to the point now where if I outline something beforehand, my brain basically writes before I ever sit at a computer! This is making me much more efficient, and today I typed up an 5 page article (~2000 words) in 50 minutes.

After a quick lunch and coffeebreak I returned to work on my big project. Yes, it's big. No, I won't tell you much about it. Needless to say I would consider it 25-30% done and it's already 90 pages worth of content. And just to piss off the pundits everything is single-spaced, 12 point font, etc. I want this to be the resource of its kind. I can guarantee it won't be perfect, but I'm going to do my damndest(?) to put something special together. I hope you'll enjoy it when the time comes.

My bridal boot camp couple is coming in later this evening, and I'll be up in the early AM to get a pulling session in tomorrow. I haven't updated the training blog much lately, but things are actually going pretty well. If I weren't sitting so much lately I would like to think that I'm about the most healthy, and strongest, I've been in quite some time. I need to continue on this path and see where it takes me.

Stay strong
MR

Old School Article of the Week

Push-ups, Face Pulls and Shrugs for Healthy Shoulders

When Bill and I came together to write this article, I had no idea how well it would be received. Instead of following the old-school dogma of mindlessly pairing a horizontal press with a horizontal pull, we've tried to explain why scapular movement is more important than the plane of movement when trying to create muscular and joint balance.

If you haven't read this article before, be sure to check it out now - at the very least, you'll get some cool new exercise ideas!!!

All the best

MR

Bill Hartman Guest Blog: Stiffness vs. Shortness

Today we have a guest blog from my business partner and physical therapist extraordinaire Bill Hartman. This is a key concept when it comes to designing more effective training programs and getting the intended response.

Enjoy!
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I think it’s important to distinguish between whether a muscle is short or if it is stiff when determining a corrective plan. Treat each case the same and only half of your clients will improve.

A short muscle lacks length. It may be that the muscle is positioned in a shortened position frequently and the muscle fibers have dropped sarcomeres in series or the connective tissues have adaptively shortened.

If you actively and/or passively stabilize the proximal attachment of the muscle and move the joint into a position to stretch the muscle, the proximal attachment will move well before reaching the end range of motion of the joint.

A stiff muscle has greater resistance to stretch. This may be due to hypertrophy or a greater quantity of connective tissues. Think of two rubber bands made of the same material, but one rubber band is wider than the other. The materials would have equal extensibility but because one has greater width, it take more force to stretch it the same length as a thinner band.

In the case of a stiff muscle, if you actively and/or passively stabilize the proximal attachment and move the joint into a position to stretch the muscle, The joint will move through it’s full range of motion without movement at the proximal attachment assuming enough force is applied to stretch the muscle.

Short muscles require repetitive, prolonged stretching to encourage creep of connective tissues and the addition of sarcomeres in series to add length.

Stiff muscles can be corrected by balancing the stiffness across a joint by strengthening their antagonists and by holding the antagonists in a shortened position as they may have been adaptively lengthened over time.

Bill
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If you'd like to learn more about the differences between stiffness and shortness, as well as ways to address each, be sure to check out the Indy Seminar DVD's. And if you need NSCA CEU's, be sure to use the "NSCA" coupon code to get 10% off your order!

Stay strong
MR

FitCast Insider on Sale!

All -

Just a quick note - FitCast creator Kevin Larrabee just let me know that the FitCast Insider is one sale now. There's over 1 GB worth of information, including three interviews with moi.

Here's the line-up:

Dr. John Berardi- G-Flux Simplified

Bill Hartman- Building a Better Body

Tony Gentilcore- 5 Exercises That You Should be Doing But Aren't

Cassandra Forsythe- How to Get the Bikini Ready Body

Mike Robertson- The #1 Injury in the Top Six Sports and How to Prevent Them

Robert (Dos) Remedios- Increasing Vert and Speed (With downloadable spreadsheet)

Alwyn Cosgrove- Fat Loss Program Design and What Works

Mike Robertson- A Joint by Joint Approach (2-Parts)

Tony Gentilcore- Bulking and Program Design (2-Parts, and it includes a downloadable example

spreadsheet from Tony)

Dan John- The Extremely Popular Dan John Squat Video (600MB High quality 640x480 resolution download)

Jim Labadie- Fitness Sales, Publicity, and Mindset

Cassandra Forsythe- Ketogenic Diets and Beta-Alanine (How easy it is to implement a ketogenic diet and who should be taking beta-alanine)

Tony Gentilcore- Top 5 Program Mistakes and How to Fix Them (2-Parts)

Jimmy Smith- The Importance of Ankles

Jimmy Smith- Extreme Fat-Loss

Jim (Smitty) Smith- Grip, Program Design, Gait Analysis (Including how to analyze gait with $5 worth of materials)

Carl Valle- Regeneration

Carl Valle- Med Ball Circuits, Plyos, and Much More (seriously, it's two hours long)

Mike Boyle- CNS Intensive Training

If you're interested in picking up all these great interviews, just follow the link below.

FitCast Insider

Stay strong

MR

The Random Weekend Post

Well it's not really a "weekend" post since I'm typing in on Thursday, but you get the drift. Not as many people read blogs on weekends (yes, I've tracked this and it's a fact) so I figure if you're bored I will do my best to entertain you for a few minutes.

Here are some random things I've thought about this week:

- If I only got to listen to ONE Bob Seger song the rest of my life (which would totally suck!) it would have to be this one:



"Sometimes at night, I see their faces
I feel the traces they've left on my soul.

And those are the memories, that make me a wealthy soul."

AMAZING lyrics and it's an awesome transition between Travelin' Man and Beautiful Loser.

- A few things that have pissed me off at the gym this week:
* The Prowler thief is still on my mind - I want it back!
* Solicitors! Don't you have anything better to do during the day? No, I don't want to buy your chocolates, upgrade my phone plan, or contribute to any damn funds
* Junk plates. I won't mention where we purchased these from because I really like the people who work there, but our plates suck. They're too wide, and there are some serious discrepancies between the weights listed and what they actually weigh. That's a problem.

- Colts vs. Baltimore this weekend at home. We plan on doing some grillin' since the weather is supposed to be perfect, but I'd be lying if I said I was thrilled about this match-up. Can we get a cupcake? Please? Or at the very least a team that DOESN'T play smash-mouth football? The O-line is still beat up without Lilja and Ugoh, Sanders won't be back for a few more weeks, and now Hayden is out at least a week with a knee injury as well. Isn't it time for the forgotten Tyjuan Hagler to get off the PUP list yet?

I think that's it - if you're reading this on Saturday or Sunday, put the computer down and enjoy yourself a bit. I'll still be here on Monday ;)

Stay strong and have a great weekend!

MR

Old School Article of the Week

I had started this a while back, but after vacation and the gym opening I lost my rhythm a little bit. Now that I'm back in the blogging saddle, expect an old-school article of the week.

And the selection this week is (cue drum roll please....)

10 Tips for Flawless Squattin'

I wrote this article several years ago when I was going full-steam ahead with powerlifting. Whether your goal is to get big, get strong, or just get a huge squat, be sure to check this article out!

Stay strong
MR

Do work son!

Ok, the title has absolutely nothing to do with the post, but that's what happens when you spend too much time in your gym!

Here are 5 knee health tips I gave to Eric Cressey for his recent newsletter. If you aren't signed up, why not? My man is wicked smart and he's always got great content in his newsletter. Enjoy!

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5 Keys to Bulletproofing Your Knees

1. VMO specific work is currently poo-poo in the strength and conditioning industry. While I agree that we need to focus on strengthening the hip abductors/external rotators (especially glute max and posterior glute med), current literature leads us to believe that there’s more to the VMO than we might have expected.

Several studies in the past two years have indicated that there is a definite change in fiber pennation between the vastus medialis longus (VML) and the vastus medialis obliquus (VMO). Beyond that, while your other quad muscles like rectus femoris and vastus lateralis only have one motor point, the entire vastus medialis actually has THREE motor points!

We may not totally understand the VMO yet, but I’m not willing to write off its importance with regards to knee health.

2. When looking at the body as a functional unit, we can’t overlook the core with regards to knee health. More specifically, we know the rectus abdominus and external obliques work to keep us in pelvic neutral and out of anterior pelvic tilt. Lack of strength in these core muscles increases anterior pelvic tilt, which drives internal rotation of the hip and valgus of the knee. Getting and keeping these muscles strong could go a long way to preventing knee injuries, especially in female athletes.

3. Are accelerated ACL rehab programs what we need? I’m not so sure, and I think making young athletes follow the accelerated programs the pros use may do more harm than good.

Unlike the pros that are getting paid to play, we need to focus on the long-term outcomes of our young athletes, not simply getting them back on the field ASAP. Many have done an excellent job of rehabbing patients and getting them back on the field quickly, and quantifying strength and power production/absorption is critical.

Many of the leading PT’s and orthos, however, are moving back to a slightly more conservative approach to allow the graft itself more time to heal. The properties of a tendon graft slowly take on the properties of a ligament over time; this is called ligamentization. However, ligamentous changes can still be seen as late as 12-18 months post-surgery.

[Note from EC: so, if you have a patellar tendon graft for a new ACL, you might not really have what you want until 1-1.5 years post-surgery. Tendons and ligaments have different qualities.]

4. To piggy-back on the previous point, another factor that isn’t examined as often as it should is long-term outcomes of ACL rehabbed clients. Sure it’s great to get them back on the field in 6, 9 or 12 months, but what are the long-term ramifications?

We know that females who have suffered ACL tears are much more likely to develop early osteoarthritis. If we can improve long-term outcomes by keeping them out a little longer, isn’t that worth it? As a PT or strength coach, it’s our job to help clients/athletes make the best decision for their long-term health, especially if they are too young to understand the long-term repercussions of their decision.

5. When an athlete tears their ACL, proprioceptive deficits are seen as quickly as 24 hours post-injury. What’s really intriguing, however, is that we often see this same deficit carried over to the healthy knee as well! Even after reconstruction this deficit can be seen for up to six years.

To counteract this, don’t forget to include basic proprioceptive training (barefoot warm-ups, single-leg stance work, etc.), and train that “off” leg in the interim.

If you like this tips and want more, be sure to check out my Bulletproof Knees manual.

Stay strong

MR

The "strained" right knee?

Lots of knee related content this week. My good buddy Eric Cressey sent me the following link today regarding a knee injury to Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison. Please observe:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=281007006&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

While I don't expect pro-level teams to divulge what's going on with all their athletes, let's be clear that there's a significant difference between a strain and a sprain.

From the Mayo Clinic website:

Sprain - A sprain is a stretching or tearing of ligaments. Ligaments are tough bands of fibrous tissue that connect one bone to another. Common locations for sprains are your ankles and knees.

Strain - A strain is a stretching or tearing of muscle or tendon. People commonly call strains "pulled" muscles. Hamstring and back injuries are among the most common strains.

Now I don't know about you, but when I see someone's knee buckle like that, it's pretty rare that it's a simple "strain." The exception would be if someone blew their quad tendon, which he doesn't appear to have done.

Instead, when buckling occurs it typically occurs due to ligament damage - possibly a torn ACL, MCL, etc. I'm no sports medicine doc, but I'd be surprised if this was a simple muscle pull and that he's out a week or so. (For his sake, however, I hope I'm wrong - he's a helluva player.)

So as I stated up front I don't expect teams to divulge all their insider secrets, but at the very least the reporting of injuries leaves a lot to be desired for an anatomy geek such as myself.

Stay strong

MR

If you want to learn more about knee injures and how to prevent them, check out my knee manual.

Motivated Clients

While I normally train first thing on Tuesday mornings, I had a consult with a potential new client this morning at I-FAST. Over the course of the conversation, we got to talking about my various experiences in the field (rehab, personal training, strength coaching, etc.) and he asked me which I liked best.

It took me a moment to process, but then it dawned on me: I like all of them! They all present different challenges. Most importantly, the real key here is the people you are working with. In the past I've almost always had a fair amount of people who were unmotivated; in all honesty, achieving their goals just wasn't their top priority. Now keep in mind not everyone was like that, but I always had a few.

Today, every member of I-FAST is 100% dedicated to achieving their goals. I can say with complete confidence that there's not one single client that I don't enjoy training. Why? They are dedicated and serious about achieving their goals. When you have dialed in clients, it makes everything you do as a trainer, coach, or therapist that much easier.

If you live in or around the Indianapolis area and you aren't gettin the results you want, please e-mail us so we can get you on the right track.

If you're a trainer, coach or therapist, do your best to align yourself with positive, dedicated and hard-working clients and athletes. You'll have better outcomes and you'll enjoy your work that much more in the long run.

Stay strong
MR

A great weekend with EC

As many of you know, I spent the past weekend in Boston with my boy Eric Cressey. Even though I was smoked by the time I got in Friday night, hanging out with EC is a sure-fire way to get the juices flowing. As soon as we got to his apartment we got down to business planning some future projects and discussing business in general.

Saturday morning we were up by 6 am to attend a seminar in Andover, MA. The primary presenters on this day were Kevin Wilk and Bob Mangine, and the entire day was spent talking about knee injuries, rehab and training. Needless to say, I was in heaven! If you haven't heard these guys speak before and you're serious about your continuing ed, you owe it to yourself to hear them speak. This day alone was well worth the cash I shelled out to attend.

While I have no plans on doing PT any time soon, it really helps to understand what PT's go through on a daily basis. If nothing else, you'll refine your knowledge of functional anatomy and how it applies to the training you're doing. Taking it a step further, if you are good at what you do and have a great network, you can brand yourself as the post-rehab guy in your area - the one that takes them AFTER rehab and gets them back to 110%. Not a bad niche if you ask me.

After the seminar EC and I decided we had sat all day, we needed to train. We got a quick and dirty session in, and I got beasted by a bar only known as El Gordo. This bar is friggin' thick, and it was definitely a shock to the system. I hit 3x5 there, 3 sets of chest-supported rows superset with alternating DB bench, some face pulls, some ab work, and called it a night. I'm still sore two days later.

Later that evening we caught up with the one and only Tony Gentilcore, and Cressey Performance's newest coach Brian. It was a great meal (turkey tips rule!), but the combination of tryptophan and two Miller Lites and I was ready for bed.

The next morning started with Kevin Wilk dropping repeated knowledge bombs on us regarding shoulder health and function. Did I mention this guy is ridiculously smart? And oh yeah, his patient lists reads like a Who's Who of the NBA, NFL and MLB. I was pleasantly suprised on this day, though, that nothing he said went too far over my head. While my primary focus is on knees, I want to learn as much as possible about every joint, and I've been working hard to get my shoulder info up to snuff. It doesn't hurt when you have EC and Bill in your corner, so I don't have any excuses to lack knowledge in that regard.

The day finished up with my Colts stealing a victory from the Texans, and my alma mater Ball State has broken into the college football Top 25 for the first time ever! As I stated, it was a great weekend.

Unfortunately all good times must come to an end, and a bumpy flight home paired with a pre-6 am morning and I'm back to reality. As the saying goes, though, "You can sleep when you're dead."

In the interim, it's time to kick ass and take names. Have a great week!

MR

Download the FREE SMR E-MANUAL

In case you missed it a while back, I released a 100% free e-manual on self-myofascial release. It covers why you should do it, how to do it, and throws in some functional anatomy and other miscellaneous knowledge bombs along the way.

Did I mention it's totally free?

Here's the link; just right-click, "Save As," and enjoy!

http://www.robertsontrainingsystems.com/smr1.html

Stay strong

MR

R.I.P. - Remembering our Prowler

It's a sad day today at Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training.

Many of our clients have one goal: To lose body fat and kick some ass. Yes, I realize that's two goals. Whatever. We take great pride in pushing our clients to the limits, and in the end helping them break through perceived limitations when it comes to their body/physique.

While every component of our fat loss programming is somewhat metabolic in nature, we love finishing people off with energy system work at the end. As many of you know we aren't huge fans of overpriced treadmills and recumbent bikes; they take up too much space and cost too damn much. We much prefer alternative methods like med ball or body weight circuits, kettlebells, Airdyne sprints and everyone's favorite, the Prowler. They're more fun, and our clients really enjoy the workouts.

As we were training clients today, Bill turned to me and asked "Where's the Prowler?" We have a great strip out back where our clients pay their body comp dues, so we immediately walked back there to find it. Unfortunately, the shady dumpster people got the best of us today and stole our Prowler. We had been training out there numerous times when the following discussion had gone down:

Shady Dumpster guy, leering at our Prowler - "Is that scrap?"

Us - "No!"

So to whomever decided that our $500 Prowler would make a nice piece of $25 scrap metal, thank you. We appreciate your willingness to steal our stuff to make a quick buck.

RIP Prowler #1 - you will be sorely missed.

MR