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