A fitness Rant

Ok, just had a ‘conversation’ with a long time client of mine. Recently another trainer on my staff has been working with this person. When I left them a few months ago the client was pain free and well on their way to achieving their goals. Recently we have been dealing with a resurgence of shoulder and neck issues (this is what the client originally came in for) After a good bit of the ‘the blame game’ I determined a few things.

1) The client does not stretch herself, does not use the foam roll for self massage or the ’stick’ for self massage. The client also neglects to come in for a maintenance massage as recommended.

2) The client has re-entered what is called an ‘upper crossed syndrome’ which is essentially a forward head posture, tight anterior neck, tight pects and traps and weak mid-back and shoulder blades.

3) The client has lost the ability to fire her scapular (shoulder blade) stabilizers and because of this simple movements are causing pain.

SO, what have we learned? Be responsible for yourself, stretch daily. Use your foam roll and ’stick’ a few days a week with out fail. As a practitioner or participant never assume that you will not loose what you worked to gain….use it or loose it. If something that used to feel good now causes pain there is most likely either a tight muscle or body part or your technique/application of that particular exercise is flawed.

The abdominal brace

Folks, per numerous request, here is the intro page from the Book.

Lower abdominal training is the place to start because it’s the foundation or the “core” of the body. Training the lower abdominal wall with proper abdominal firing places less stress on the vertebral discs and effectively activates the outer unit musculature (movement system). This allows proper muscle activation at the right times, with proper movement patterns and less stress to tissues and greater muscular and mechanical efficiency as the end result.

Core training involves proper lower abdominal contraction or Abdominal Bracing. This involves coordinated firing of the abdominal wall while deactivating the hip flexors and keeping the upper body and legs relaxed. Learning this concept and the concept of spine stabilization with neutral spine will naturally lead to learning how to find, maintain and work within the parameters of coordinated spinal mechanics

Control of movement is the key to re-educating the lower abdominal wall and allowing the deep pelvic stabilizers to fire efficiently. This progression begins with mastering the abdominal contraction or ‘bracing’. The key is isolating the muscles of the abdominal wall. Pay strict attention to NOT allowing the use of the legs, hip flexors or glutes. Typically the body will want to compensate (a.k.a. cheat) to achieve these movements; you must be diligent to not let this happen.

In the past we were all taught to DRAW IN (pull belly button to the spine). This has been proven ineffective at contracting all of the abdominal wall muscles. If we have a weak back and continue to draw in the abdominals we are essentially making our ab’s and back weaker and less efficient at supporting your activities.

To begin the progression lay on your back with the knees bent and feet flat on the floor, place your hands behind your head. Take a breath in and while slowly exhaling begin to push your belly button down toward your hips.

Imagine flexing your bicep, this is the same pattern as flexing your abs. Another way to perform the contraction is to imagine pushing your obliques (love handles) out. The contraction is very slow to develop and never forceful so the legs do not help. Continue the contraction until the lower back is in slight contact with the floor and you can breathe while not straining or feeling tension in the neck, chest, shoulders or legs. For most people this is not easy. This progression should take you time to work through, each level will take around 2-3 days master.

Book Review in the Strength and Conditioning Journal

Hey, Like a complete slacker, we got reviewed by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. This is a members only scientific journal, I pasted the excerpt below. Not bad for our first professional peer reviewed review!

BACK TO FEELING GREAT

Bryan Fass and Bill Scibetta.

Precision Fitness-Personal Fitness Inc., Cornelius, NC; ISBN-10: 0-9791553-1-2; softcover, 108 pages.

The authors have penned a guidebook to proactively address common low back pain and stiffness. The book is written for the layperson, with copious photos and good descriptions of standard back stretching and strengthening exercises. Sections on self screening and myofascial release are also well done.

The book is broken down into various sections that run from 2 to 9 pages in length. Besides sections related to the back and hip, there are sections addressing posture, nutrition, and cardiovascular training. Most of the material, although fairly rudimentary, is well done and aimed at a target audience of laypeople and entry-level trainers. I especially like the progressions in the spine program that takes the trainee from level 1 (very basic) to level 6 in difficulty. The references are mostly secondary, with one requiring a bit more information to follow. However, this work is not an advanced scientific one but one that the laypersonor trainer can use to guide him or her through an organized program of low back/hip care and maintenance.

Understanding Postural Fatigue

OK, here goes a difficult and mostly misunderstood concept, POSTURAL FATIGUE. When exercising, assuming that you have achieved the ability to maintain 'normal' posture, there is a point you may/should reach that your body simply says 'no more'. This 'no more' threshold is much easier to reach when rehabilitating an injury or beginning a fitness regimen, the more fit you become the longer it takes to reach. The fatigue point is reached when you loose control, and I don't mean emotionally. When you can no longer maintain proper technique, hold your breath, shake, twist or lean...you are done. Let's take a common spine/AB exercise an an example, the plank. When your head falls, you shrug your shoulders, back drops, glutes relax you have reached fatigue and need to stop. This premise holds true for all exercises, there is a threshold that you body will reach and anything past that point merely transfers strain to the joints and supporting soft tissue structures. Try performing just about any exercise in a mirror, can you maintain neutral, do you sway or round/arch your back?
A basic rule I teach is that when you can no longer maintain your postural check points (chin tucked-ab's braced-neutral posture) try to re-find it, if you are unable to re-establish Neutral than stop. The is no benefit in training past the point of postural fatigue.
As you can tell this can go on and on, I will elaborate further later...stay tuned.

Stabilize before you Strengthen

I got my hands on another post rehabilitation client today and after a thorough assessment I taught them some simple stabilization exercises. After going through the stabs. it became immediately apparent that this concept was never re-enforced to them. We basically went through the beginning program in the book (Back to Feeling Great) and thoroughly learned to Brace, Bridge, Segmentally Stabilize and Side leg raise (hip abduction). It never ceases to amaze me that when taught with total control these 4 exercises will safely make you stronger, but they unachieved it from the inside out...stability before strength.

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Simple fix to Back Pain

No matter how many times I see it, nor how many times I teach it, I continue to be amazed by how powerful 4 simple exercises can be at helping to correct spinal issues and back pain. In my book Back to Feeling Great is a protocol I developed over the years that just keeps on proving to me and my clients that it works. I had 2 new clients recently, on is 48 yrs. old, has a bulging disk with pain down the leg, he also smokes but is an avid cyclist and rides a desk for a living. The other is a 30 something with disk/vertebral degeneration, she has had numerous injections, and surgery with the next step being fusion. Both have similar but different issues and both have had a significant reduction in pain and consequent increase in activity levels. No matter what we did the same 4 simple exercises to re-educate the ab's, gluteals, lateral hip and spine segmental stabilizers. This protocol works and if done correctly will help you get better. By the way both of the examples above were referred in by spine surgeons who will send to us a last resort before surgery. Go team.