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An injury doesn’t have to cancel your workout! Use these exercises to work around sensitive spots and still make gains!

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This article offers a Performance University guide to exercising through an injury by making these simple swaps.

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One of the exercises demonstrated in my Men’s Health article is not performed in the video as I’d like to see it done. Perform the Anterior Reaching Lunge in the way demonstrated in the video below over the way demonstrated in the Men’s Health video.

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Are there any injuries you’re currently trying to workout around? Did you find these exercises helpful? Post your comments!

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Today, (as promised in my last post) I’m going to discuss the negative side of looking at the spine the way displayed in  Mark Young’s videos. But, before I do so – I would like to first congratulated Mark for his fantastic video idea.

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Secondly, I’d like to apologize for the delay in this Blog response. Last week was very hectic as I traveled to Arlington Va, to present at the 2010 IDEA Personal Trainer Institute convention. This was a sold out event and I was honored to be a part of it along with such names a Gary Gray, Todd Durkin and Bill Sonnemaker.

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Both of my classes, Secrets of Joint Mobility and Dynamic Warm Up – New Concepts & Techniques, were filled to capacity with best and brightest fitness professionals in the area. I had a blast teaching at this event and I wanted to thank IDEA for again, having me as a presenter and THANK YOU to everyone who attended – You ALL made this event a fun and memorable part of my life!

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Now, lets talk more about the Spine and Spinal research!

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In Mark’s videos, he used Pig spines to show us an inside look at what commonly used exercises may be risky for the back. Using pig spines for research is fairly standard at Universities as is by world renowned back specialist, Stuart McGill who also uses pig spines in his research which can found all over the internet and his two amazing books – Low Back Disorders and Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance.

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Now, the problem with looking at pig spines is that sometimes we end up hitting the bullseye of the wrong target. As my good friend, mentor and world famous PT, Mark Comerford says “Pig spines are great to look at physiology, but not biomechanics – Pigs don’t have upright spines”

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What Comerford says is an obvious truth that I’m still astounded has been missed by some incredibly smart people! With no disrespect to Stuart McGill – who cares how many flexion cycles it takes to buckle a dead pig spine!

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First off, upright flexion is not normal pig function. The only time a pig stands upright (on two legs) is when it’s trying to hump another pig.

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Secondly, pigs don’t have any functional movement similarities to humans what so ever. This goes back to what Comerford said above.

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And, third – this is dead spine with no muscles to control force and no regenerative qualities that a living creature would have. I could get into all the science here. But, instead I’ll give you this analogy:

You take a frog out of the swamp and place it into a glass box with a few plants, some water and artificial light. You still will never find out how it lives in the swamp. All you will know is what a frog does in a glass box. And in this case, we are placing a spider in a glass case to find out what a frog does in the wild. It makes no sense! – This is why I said that we’ve gotten good at hitting the bullseye of the wrong target!

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So, in short – it’s important that we do not confuse physiology with movement biomechanics. Animal spines are great for looking at general structure, some animals over others as explained in this scientific comparison. But, when it comes to human biomechanics – Well, thats a whole different animal – Pun intended!

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Coming Soon!

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Many folks were also upset about what Mark said in this post about the dangers of squatting. I have some thoughts in regards to that as well. I will talk about these thoughts in an upcoming post.

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Meanwhile, lets here your comments on today’s post!

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My good friend and colleague, Mark Young, has provided us some incredible videos about the anatomy of the spine and why specific exercises like Crunches, Squats and Russian Twists may be more risky than others.

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The value of the information Mark’s videos provide us is priceless! – And, you get them here absolutely FREE!

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NOTE – the views displayed in the videos below do not necessarily coincide with the Performance U approach to Strength & Conditioning.

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I always pride myself on being a neutral, non-biased educator. So, in my next post, I will talk about the negative side of looking at the spine in the manner in which Mark provided above. You absolutely don’t want to miss it. So, stay tuned!

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Get bigger legs when you can’t squat. Build muscle when you can’t even hold on to weights. Get leaner when cardio stops working. Nick T. shows you how.

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Continue Reading…

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In this post, I’m going to provide with with an informative video that reveals a major missing piece to the core training spectrum. And, in the video, I show you a simple, very effective way to fill the gap and make your rotary / anti-roation core training more complete.

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So, if you want to discover a quick and easy way to improve your core training and create workouts that are safer and more effective, watch the video below now!

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I can honestly say that what I just taught you in the video above is one of the most important, yet often overlooked, aspects of an effective core training exercise program!

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Post your comments and let us know some of your favorite, “go to” Rotary and/or Ant-Rotation exercises!

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My Lost Fitcast Interview

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Back during the Thanksgiving Holiday, I did my second interview with the Fitcast. It was a great interview that covered:

- Functional Movement Screening

- Fat Loss Training

- Training with a Herniated Disc(s)

And plenty more!

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For some strange reason, I never sent out an email or Blog post notifying anyone of this free interview. So, better late than never!

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Go here to listen my FREE Fitcast Interview!

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Cool Workout Tunes!

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Occasionally, I like to talk about some of the music on the Performance U playlist. These are songs and bands we like to jam to when getting after it in the gym. I try to only talk about lesser known bands that rock!

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The Band – RA

Favorite Album by RA – Duality

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Favorite Songs by RA – Rectifier, I Lost Everything Today, Everything Little She Does is Magic (cover)

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5 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Your Body Was Hiding From You

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This is a very interesting, insightful and humorous article  found on Cracked.com.

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Those motivational speakers are right: You are capable of amazing things. You wouldn’t know it, because 99 percent of the time your body or brain hides these superpowers from you.

Sure, they say there’s a good reason, but we’re not sure we’re buying it. Dammit, we want our…

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Go here to Continue Reading…

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One of the best books I’ve ever come across in regards to low back pain and research on low back pain is - Medical Management of Acute and Chronic Low Back Pain: Pain Research and Clinical Management Series, Volume 13 – By Nikolai Bogduk BSc(Med) MB BS MD PhD DSc DipAnat Dip PainMed FAFRM(RACP) FAFMM FFFPM(ANZCA).

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If you don’t know? – Nikolai Bogduk is the worlds number one Functional anatomist and has been since the early 90’s. You can view a list of all Bogduks books and research publications here at BioMedExperts.com.

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This book is unlike any book I’ve ever read and really is responsible for my current approach to training and my overall philosophies about science in general.

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In this book, Bogduk analyzes and compares 100s of research studies on low back pain. What he concludes with shocked me and will shock you too!

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In the first part of the book, Bogduk systematically invalidates and rules out many  highly quoted research studies for one reason or the other. He then compares the findings of the “valid” research studies left to find commonalities in the findings about what causes low back pain, what are the best treatments for low back pain and what we should do to prevent low back pain.

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By the way, Bogduk defines back pain as pain arising from the tissues of the axial skeleton or body wall, “perceived in an area not more than a hand’s breadth either side of the lumbosacral vertebral column.” (Medical Journal of Australia, 3 Feb. 1992.)

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Interestingly enough, after over 250 pages of some seriously scientific bedtime reading, the Worlds #1 Anatomist concludes that because most of the current research on low back pain has drastically inconsistent findings – We really don’t know a damn thing about what causes low back pain or how to prevent it!

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Now, this book was published in 2002 so many may say it’s out of date. But, even after the eights years since his book was published, Bogduk still conveys the same message that much of what we believe about what causes and prevents Back pain is not trully evidence based.

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This is why I don’t just follow one researcher or the other. Nor do I ever just throw out stuff that I know works because one study says it maybe no good. Because another study will come out saying something completely different. This is what Bogduk found when he wrote this book and is still finding to this day – One researcher says this. But the other researcher says that! The science almost always conflicts itself. You read the research, you know what I’m talking about…

Some folks who have herniated discs get pain, but others do not! So, does a herniated disc cause back pain? Maybe? – Maybe not!

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Some folks with degenerative disc(s) have pain, but other do not! Does degenerative disc(s) cause back pain? Maybe? – Maybe not!

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Some folks with Spondy get pain, some have spondy and fell nothing! So, does having Spondy cause back pain? Maybe? – Maybe not!

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Some folks have tight hips flexors and get pain, others test tight but have zero pain. Do tight hip flexors cause low back pain? Sometimes yes and sometime no!

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Some folks who exercise get back pain but others who don’t regularly exercise get low back pain. So, is back pain caused by activity of lack there of?

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I could go on but I think you get my point! The truth is, after reading this book, it changed my outlook on everything  thought I ‘knew”. I realized that I really had no right to argue or look down on anyone who does things different than me because everything I “knew” was really based on nothing more than my personal experiences, opinions and my own interpretation of research.

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My approach now is simple – I have a system that works for me. Sometimes I don’t know why it works, but I don’t really care because it works!

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Regardless of what you call it, I think its a great exercise. But, like any other exercise, it can be performed safely and effectively or it can performed in a less optimal manner.
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That said, I often see this exercise performed in manner that can be risky for you lower back.
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Check out this video to see what I’m talking about and discover a smarter, more back freindly version of the exercise!

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No, I don’t think its a bad exercise and still use it. I just use far less often than I once did. I will get into the specifics as to why I have changed my mind on squatting in a future post.

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That said, its nice to know that other, well respected coaches feel that same way as I do.

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Coach Mike Boyle, just released a video called “Death of Squatting”.

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Go here to watch this eye opening video.

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It just goes to show that regardless of your experience and knowledge, there is always time to rethink what you think you know and try to make your training safer and more effective.

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And, that exactly what Mike Boyle is talking about in this video.

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Go here to watch this video now!… It just may change your entire view of squatting forever!

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However, many coaches and trainers have different approaches when it comes to the assessment, correction and prevention of muscle balances. Many of these approaches require a multitude of complex postural and movement assessments as well as an encyclopedia of corrective exercises.

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Although many “hard cases” do require an in-depth knowledge  of assessment and corrective protocols. Most cases can be handled in a much simpler, straight forward manner.

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The goal of this 3 part post series to is to provide you with first, an understanding of some lesser considered points on muscle imbalances and second, to give you  the simplest and most powerful ways to alleviate current muscle imbalances and design and more comprehensive program that will promote muscle balance.

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Now, before we can properly deal with real muscle imbalances that lead to dysfunction, We must understand a few aspects of imbalances are not bad. In fact, are quite natural and part of how we as humans function.

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Muscle Balance is Misunderstood

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Before I get into a few specific training concepts in a later post in this series, I wanted clarify a myth about muscle balance in general.

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Many professionals have a misunderstanding that each, opposing muscle should have equal strength. In other words, some folks think the flexors of joint A, should posses the same strength as the extenders of Joint A.

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This is simply FALSE!

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To understand why this belief is just plain false and simply unrealistic, we can look at the flexors and extendors of the ankle joint.

I won’t beat around the bush on this one. There is no way that the much smaller muscles on the front of the shin area can possibly create as much force during ankle doris-flexion as the muscle of the calf that create ankle plantar-flexion.

The funny thing is that we all already know this is impossible because we would never ask an athlete  use the same amount of weight while doing an ankle dorsi-flexion exercise  like this…

Over an ankle planter-flexion (calf raise) exercise like this…

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So why then are we trying to make our flexors an extendors equally strong when we already know its no possible nor remotely realistic?

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With this above example in mind, its easy to see why the human body keeps functional balance by maintaining certain strength imbalances.

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Now, heres the real important question. What do you think will happen to optimal function when you attempt to balance a necessary imbalance like the one at the ankle complex?

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The answer is simple. You get less than optimal function and increased risk of injury!

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Final Thoughts

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This goes to show something that all us coaches and fitness professionals need to realize. It shows us that no matter how much we read and educate ourselves, we will never be smarter than the human body.

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It also goes to show that just because something seems to make scientific sense doesn’t mean it makes common sense. And, if it doesn’t make both scientific and common sense, it usually means it’s nonsense!

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Next time…

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If you liked what you learned in this post, I’ve got plenty more coming at you on the next time around. This is just part 1 or a 3 part series so stay tuned and don’t forget to comment!

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