Slider Side Lunge Most of what we do in the weight room occurs in the astral plane sagittal plane. These are forward/ back ward movements like squats, lunges, bench press, pullups etc. This makes sense. Much of life occurs in this plane too. Most, not all. A LOT of life occurs in the other planes too. Transverse and Frontal and the truth of truths is that MOST things actually occur in a combination of ALL these planes of movement. Muscles coordinate actions across joints to control the movement creating the desired outcome. Well, anyone who has done literally ANYTHING even mildly athletic knows.... NOT Allowing Movement is Just As Important as … [Read more...]
You Should DO This: Skater Lunge Slider Iso Holds
April 16, 2020 by
Really good athletes generally have some things in common. Excellent Power Output: They generate high force quickly. "the ability to produce high amounts of power output is what separates truly elite athletes from merely good ones. This has been evidenced in explosive activities, such as sprint running, cycling, and combat sports." - Optimal Balance Between Force and Velocity Differs Among World-Class Athletes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsGGCflGDgE Excellent Force Absorption: They tend to have high levels of eccentric strength and "stiffness" at high speed or loads. "During CoD (change of direction) tasks, two distinct forms of muscle actions are required to … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Kettlebell Swing
January 15, 2020 by
"If you could only do one exercise what would it be?" I seriously HATE that question. It instantly tells me that whoever is asking it is SUPER lazy. Why? Because why would you only do one exercise when you can do ANY and ALL of them? BUT If there was only one exercise I could do it might, MIGHT be the kettlebell swing. Why? Mostly cause it's boss as all hell. Other than that, it's probably the best example of highly user friendly, easily applicable, total body, explosive strength. "Strength and conditioning professionals may use both kettlebell swings and explosive deadlifts to increase deadlift strength and vertical jump power." - Effects of … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Band Hip Flexion
October 14, 2019 by
I talk a LOT about hip extension. ie butts. But(t) what about hip flexion? Well, it's SUPER important too. Don't We Get Enough Hip Flexion Already? Yes and No. Yes, we do live in a flexion heavy "culture". But(t) if you really think about it, there isn't a ton of true hip flexion that occurs. It's usually FAKE hip flexion. What's Fake Hip Flexion Look Like? Lumbar Flexion + Anterior Pelvic Tilt and usually combined with excessive knee flexion. It's not uncommon for someone to actually LACK hip flexion and substitute a rounding of the low back (bringing the belt buckle/ pelvis to the chin) instead of hip flexion. the shot on the left is … [Read more...]
Winter is Coming: Get Ready to Ski.
September 19, 2019 by
I Have NEVER Skied. Fun Fact: I train a whole bunch of skiers. More Fun(er) Fact: They don't need "Ski Specific" training to improve. People that sell you "sport specific" are often charlatans who don't actually know what sports specific means. And NO sport specific DOES NOT mean the movement kinda sorta LOOKS like the sporting movement. Sport Specific: For an exercise to be classified as "sport specific" it MUST, in the same motor regime, accurately replicate similar joint angle velocities as the sporting movement its self. Most Fun Fact: In my experience, the "training" most skiers (and weekend warriors as a whole) do, isn't training at all. It's … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: X- Band Walks
July 5, 2019 by
Gym Class Warm Up, Circa 1995: "Ok Guys, we're gonna warm up with some of these, some of those, a couple stretches and get the balls out and shoot some hoops" That's right a "warm up" used to be run a couple laps, then stretch and you were not impervious to injury. I'm gonna lay some real sciency shit on you, That's Not Really How "Injury Prevention" Works. In fact, that approach might actually be WORSE, than doing nothing. But, as far as warmups go, the "sum a deese, sum a dats" approach is probably neutral at best. Dynamic Warmups By about 2002-03(ish) it pretty much industry standard that a "dynamic warmup", one where you were do "dynamic"/ … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: 90/90 Hip Stretch
December 24, 2018 by
Back Pain is an Epidemic But it's not the back who is to blame. It's often the thoracic spine and/ or the hips. In general, people with bad backs, have strong backs with too much motion occurring at the lumbar region "those who have more motion in their backs have a greater risk of having future back troubles people with troubled backs use their backs more. Generally, they walk, sit, stand and lift using mechanics that increase back loads. Many of them have stronger backs but are less endurable than matched asymptomatic controls (McGill et al, 2003). They tend to have more motion in their backs and less motion and load in their hips." - Designing Back Exercise: … [Read more...]
“I Overpronate”: No, You COLLAPSE
December 21, 2017 by
Some people hate feet. Some people like feet. Some people REALLY love feet. And (for the most part) we all have feet. That's really cool, cause they're REALLY important. Whats So Great About Feet? In the way-way back time, before shoes, feet are how we interacted with the world around us. Feet were the INSTANT feedback mechanism. Changes in terrain, slope, pitch, textures etc. ALL that information was taken in via the feet. But alas, we f-cked up. As we became desk bound and lazy we looked for comfort over function and stuck these pillows on our feet and subsequently F-ed one of our PRIMARY sensory input mechanisms. Thanks Nike Athletic … [Read more...]
