Where You Hurt is Not What Hurts:  Pain, Performance, and Corrective Exercise

Pain is not this simple!

My buddy Brian is back with another article for you.

Brian’s article is below and here is my intro/thoughts on it.

I still get many questions on Z-Health and Brian decided to answer them in an article for all of you  below.

Nobody will ever agree 100% with someone else.   If I agree with someone on most things, I constantly ask myself if I am just agreeing with them to make them (or myself) happy or would I reach the same conclusions?

Truth be told, I currently I actually do very little “classical” Z-Health per say.  I do help people with movement issues during one off sessions (most only see me about 1-2 a month, if that for movement issues).   My main goal is to help them transform their body and do things that they never thought they could do again –  lift weights with their kids (and do better than them), play tennis, kiteboard (oh ya!!), ski/snowboard, run marathons, etc.  Many times this includes getting them to move better (and thus reduce pain).

I find having people test their movements (ala Grip and Rip) is normally enough to accomplish this.  If their shoulder hurts when they press, having them not press and do what tests the best will “fix” their shoulder normally in a few weeks to months.   Many times there are specific exercises that can be done to allow them to press in a much shorter  period of time too.

The common Z-Health approach is to start with small movements (joint mobility). I like to have people start with large (gross motor) movements and then only get as fine (individual joint mobility) as needed.

I do agree that most times where they have pain is NOT the source for chronic issues and surgery for these issues rarely is a long term fix.  The body has an amazing ability to heal itself and each person has the responsibility to take their health, movement and performance into their own hands (and get help if
needed).

Z-Health does a good job of targeting the nervous system and while that is very important, we must also look at tissue restrictions.  Adding load to exercises causes the body to change tissue (break it down and rebuild it).  Doing exercises with load that test well will address BOTH the  nervous system (contract the muscles in a specific pattern aka coordination) and the tissue (muscle, connective tissue, bone).  I feel that BOTH need to be address for optimal performance and better movement.  Performance and function are related.  As I have pointed out before, if everything you do makes you better, that it is all corrective!

See these posts for more info

Bench Pressing and Shoulder Pain Solutions Part 3

Corrective Exercise is Dead

Pain Makes You Stupid: Purposeful Joint mobility by Frankie Faires

No matter what I believe, the end RESULT is the MOST important thing.  Clients pay professionals like myself and Brian for results, period.  I value this over methodologies any day.  Results matter.

That is my take (since this is my blog, hehehe) and here is Brian’s take.

Where You Hurt Is NOT What Hurts

By Brian Copeland

The title may sound like a strange way of putting this issue of pain but it rings true none-the-less.??In this article we will learn why the site of pain is rarely the cause of pain and also why conventional methods for dealing with pain fall short and what to do instead.

Why The Site of Pain is Rarely the Cause of Pain

Countless people undergo dangerous surgery every year to fix a knee, hip, shoulder, etc. that has unexplainable pain. What most doctors won’t tell you is that surgery rarely ever gets rid of the pain and basically never fixes the cause of the pain.

Imagine you keep a thick fat wallet in your right back pocket and every time you sit down it forces your hip to rotate up on the right and down on the left which causes the joints in your lower back to jam together on the right side. For short periods this is no big deal but done for long enough this can cause some wear and tear on the joints in your lumbar spine.

Now you go to your doctor with pain, quite possibly in the lower back, if you see a general practice doctor (who are not trained to deal with musculo-skeletal pain by the way) you leave with a prescription for pain killers and muscle relaxers. Well you may feel better for a while since you are getting high all of the time but we haven’t really fixed the problem have we?

You go back to your doc and are referred to a specialist, perhaps an Orthopedic Surgeon. An X-ray is taken and they see some unnatural lateral curvature of your lumbar spine, or they take an MRI and see that the cartilage is getting worn on the right side.

OH NO! You better get surgery!

Well hold on a moment there sports fans… what I want you to ask your doctor is what caused the spine to curve or the cartilage to get worn on one side more than the other…

They will not have the answer, if they tell you they do they are lying or fooling themselves. But a smart doctor will ask you questions about your lifestyle and perhaps even notice the wallet in your back hip pocket and ask you how long you have been wearing it that way. A wise doc would then tell you to put that wallet in a different pocket, wait a couple of months and see if things get better.

But that is very rare to get this sort of advice. Typically surgery is scheduled (that’s what pays the mortgage after all) and now you are about to undergo a forever life-altering modification that you can’t take back… are you sure you are ready for this? Have you exhausted every other possibility?

Why Movement Dysfunction In One Area Causes Pain In Another Area

I offer another explanation for the low back pain… Something that you are doing in your daily life is causing it. It is incredibly rare for pain to exist for no reason, there are some neurological disorders but aside from that most pain is self-caused. Not self-caused in the sense of intentionally smashing your thumb with a hammer, although if you did that then you already know why your thumb hurts… but you have a wallet in your hip pocket, or you wear crappy shoes which change your walking pattern and place excessive stress on your knees or you eat crappy food and don’t exercise and wonder why you are stiff, weak and in pain… Not that hard to figure out really, treat your car like crap and it will run like crap, do you think your body is any different?

Even for those that treat their body pretty well the wallet in the back pocket syndrome will still come-a-calling sooner or later. Bad movement patterns will cause certain joints to get excessive wear and tear while other joints are on vacation.

You can now see how surgery will not fix low back pain that is caused by a simple wallet. If our surgery-bound individual with the wallet gets his surgery, does his rehab work and now goes back to his daily routine and the wallet goes right back in this right back pocket guess what? You are correct, he will once again be jamming some joints together as his right hip elevates from the wallet yet again. But maybe this time his lower 3 vertebrae are fused together so they don’t move… but the joints above or below do.

Now this person gets pain in their mid back or in their sacroiliac joints (below the spine around the belt level… I know many of you have pain here).

I heard Physical Therapist Gray Cook once give the example of two employees at work. Employee A is off taking excessive smoke brakes and being lazy while employee B is pulling double the work trying to get both of their work loads done. Who do you think will complain to the boss first, employee A or B?

That’s right, employee A won’t complain, they have the sweet life, employee B will complain. When you feel pain this is exactly how you should be thinking. Why does my knee hurt? Who isn’t doing their job? Foot joints? Hip joints? Time for you to be a good manager, because the last time I checked you were in charge of your own body, not the surgeon, not your doctor and sure as heck not me.

“He who treats the site of pain is lost.” – Professor Karel Lewit, M.D., DSc

How to Become a Good Manager of Your Body

So first off we need agreement that if you feel pain in your knee (back, shoulder, etc.) then that pain is the symptom and not the cause in itself. I will make an exception to this rule. If you look at your knee and see a knife stuck in it then I think we can safely assume that the knife is the source of the pain and you should probably have someone who specializes in knife removal take a look at it… perhaps 9-1-1?

We also need to agree that the body can and does heal itself. Bone and soft tissue remodel over time (Wolff’s Law and Davis’s Law), cartilage can regrow if you remove the bad movement pattern that keeps wearing it away in the first place.

Next you contact a professional who can teach you to be a better manager of your body, I recommend a certified Z-Health Performance Specialist as there are very few other movement-based rehabilitation systems out there and I’ve never seen one that works better than Z-Health… if there was something that worked better than Z-Health then I promise I would be doing that instead. Find a Trainer here.

Your Z-Health Specialist should take an in-depth history of your injuries, exercise habits, and perform some movement tests/screens on you. They will also also take note of bad movement patterns you have and teach you how to begin fixing them with some simple movement patterns that you can do on your own at home. You should see some instant changes in terms of strength, flexibility and a decrease in pain during your first session. While it is not uncommon for the pain to completely go away in a single session, I would rather set you up with the expectation that you should expect to feel a 20% decrease in pain and then as you perform the homework drills given to you that over the next several weeks the pain will continue to diminish gradually until it finally goes away.

Personally, prior to Z-Health I had low back issues where if I moved into certain positions I would be in intense pain and fall down on my knees instantly. I also had several tennis elbow at the same time. I had been getting treated with Chiropractic and massage for years, been doing “core strengthening” drills, stretching, foam rolling, trigger point release, ultrasound, electro-stim therapy, you name it… But in a single session with a Z-Health Specialist my low back pain was gone and my tennis elbow decreased by about 90%! Now understand, I had had back pain for around 8 years! Tennis elbow for about 2 years! I couldn’t believe it!!!! How could these slow controlled movements fix me when all of the intense hard-core stuff I had been doing for years only provide temporary, if that, relief? Needless to say, this got me interested in Z-Health and I enrolled in the Z-Health education program and began my training.

Whether you seek out a qualified Z-Health Specialist or not you should begin a daily regimen of quality movement as part of your overall fitness program. The best place to start is with the R-Phase DVD and manual which is the Level 1 consumer product for beginners to start with.

The R-Phase contains dynamic joint mobility movements for every joint in your body from your fingers to your toes and everything in-between. Doing these joint movements with precision can help to retrain bad movement patterns, remodel scar tissue, mobilize jammed joints (anti-wallet movements), restore pain-free range of motion and improve strength, balance and athleticism as well.

The movements on the R-Phase are subtle and precise; they contain the smoothness of Tai Chi, the body control of Yoga, the coordination of dance and the laser-like precision of Chiropractic. Done on a regular basis will change your life and how your body performs for the better.

Z-Health believes so strongly in their R-Phase product that they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee and they have never had to use it.

Conclusion

You are the manager of your body and you own your pain. If you feel pain then you need to do something different. You most likely will need to seek out someone educated in helping you learn to manage your body, Z-Health is the best I’ve ever found and believe you me, I have seen darn near everything under the sun before Z-Health got rid of my low back pain.  —Brian Copeland

Brian
Brian Copeland, Z-Health Level 4, RKC, PFS, is an Aurora, CO Exercise Therapy Specialist, strength & conditioning coach, kettlebell fitness instructor and combatives instructor. Brian works with law enforcement, military, regular Joes and Janes and even the blind.   Check out his website HERE!

Thanks again Brian for the article and allowing me to voice my opinion also.

Comments

What do you think?  Let me know on this one by placing a comment below.  Comments make me all warm and fuzzy.  Who do you think is right?  Which approach has worked better for you and your clients (if you are a trainer).  Post away!!

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

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5 Questions from Leigh Peele for Mike T Nelson: Energy Drinks, Mobility, Static Stretching, and More

Leigh Peele in music mode

Below is an interview I did with Leigh Peele over at http://www.leighpeele.com/ about a year ago, so I have updated it a bit here and there but left the questions and most of it the same.

Notice that some of this is not the same way I exactly think currently.

Why publish “older” thoughts?  I debated about publishing it, but a friend made a good comment that he wanted to see how I have changed and evolved over time.  He noticed some trends as he went back and read the earlier posts I wrote (almost 3 years ago now).  So I decided to run it as it may resonate with where you are currently at right now.   If I can help you become just a bit better today than yesterday, I feel my job is done.

Sit back and enjoy and take it away Leigh!

Alright there Mike, I have been checking you out and I know all your dirty secrets. Let’s see if I can’t get you all Barbra Walters crying on me.

1-What the heck is Z-Health? Pretend I am a complete newb (no jokes there buddy) and explain to me in the simplest of terms.

The Short Answer

Z-Health is a way to elicit maximal gains in athletic performance in minimal time by targeting the nervous system. Why the nervous system? It is what actually CONTROLS movements. Muscles are dumb and only do what they are told to do by the brain and nervous system.

How does an athlete’s brain get information?

1) By proprioception (positional feedback from the joints, so if I get pulled over by a Smokey, I can still touch my nose with my eyes closed).

2) eyes–visual information (try to play your next soccer game with your eyes closed and get back to me)

3) vestibular or inner ear “balance” There are a series of 3 canals in the ear that determine head position and movement.

Z Health works to optimize EACH of these for higher performance.

The Long Answer

I find the science in this area amazing. Just a few years ago we thought that the brain would not change and now we know this is not true at all. The brain actually has an amazing ability to adapt and change (just like everything in human physiology). Most probably seen the PBS special “The Brain Fitness Program” which is fantastic.

The key to this idea is that learning new movements can have a huge effect on neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to “rewire” itself). While hardcore research studies in this area are a bit lacking currently, there is enough data to show that when we learn movements there are concrete changes in the brain. The keys to enhanced athletic performance are finding ways to harness this neuroplasticity since the brain and nervous system control movement. The flip side is also true, for optimal health, we need to learn more athletic movements and challenge the brain in new ways.

Survival vs. Performance

The human body is wired for survival instead of performance. This really bums me out personally, but once we realize this we can optimize it for survival and see an increase in performance! I have a whole presentation I did at the Z Health Master Trainer Eval in California recently on this topic. The short version is that we need to first look how we get information.

We get information to create movements primarily from:

1) Eyes (visual and eye muscle movements)

2) Vestibular (inner ear “balance”)

3) Proprioceptive (info from the joints)

In order to optimize the body for performance (and pain reduction), we need to optimize each one of these systems.  Z Health works to optimize each system and then combine them in a meaningful way. The result is superior athletic performance for virtually ANYONE. Everyone can learn to move more athletically and do things that they thought were not possible with the correct approach.

(Editor’s note, while I still believe this is true, we need to keep the big picture in mind also.  Getting someone to move better every time we see them is the goal.  Loading of the tissue in the gym in the correct orientation can NOT be forgotten.   A good way to determine what is best is to test your range of motion ala biofeedback with every movement).

2-Alright so lets hear it, static stretching dead? I’m not sold so sell it to me.

Static stretching is dead and sucks large moose balls. I can’t understand why you would put a muscle (and joints) at an extreme range of motion (ROM) and wait there for the muscles to get WEAKER. I don’t want to teach my body that!

I want to have STRENGTH at an END range of motion.

Remember, your body is uber smart and is CONSTANTLY adapting, so what do you want it to adapt to? The question to ask is “Why Should People Static Stretch?” I said “should” because the average gym rat does not do much for static stretching any way.

I think people still do static stretching to some degree because they have nothing else to replace it with.

Here is the big revelation

You can replace virtually all static stretching with precise joint mobility work and correct movement.

Even dynamic mobility drills are much better than static stretching. Remember that the brain is in charge and ALLOWS flexibility changes. For optimal changes we need to directly target the nervous system.

Efficient movement, strength and great mobility are the goals, but I don’t think static stretching is the most effect tool to achieve it.

For those that want to argue using research, here you go

Decreases muscle strength/power (1, 2, 5, 9-11, 13-17, 21, 27, 30, 32, 34, 35)

Dose dependent? (22)

May be speed specific (31)

Dynamic motion is better (15, 37)

It is not just me making this stuff up. Here are a few referneces for you. For the pubmed ninjas, these studies are mainly in reference to reductions in strength seen with standard passive stretching.

REFERENCES

1. Avela J., H. Kyrolainen, P. V. Komi. Altered reflex sensitivity after repeated and prolonged passive muscle stretching. J Appl Physiol. 86(4):1283-1291, 1999.

2. Behm D. G., D. C. Button, J. C. Butt. Factors affecting force loss with prolonged stretching. Can J Appl Physiol. 26(3):261-272, 2001.

5. Church J. B., M. S. Wiggins, F. M. Moode, R. Crist. Effect of warm-up and flexibility treatments on vertical jump performance. J Strength Cond Res. 15(3):332-336, 2001.

9. Cornwell A., A. G. Nelson, B. Sidaway. Acute effects of stretching on the neuromechanical properties of the triceps surae muscle complex. Eur J Appl Physiol. 86(5):428-434, 2002.

10. Cramer J. T., T. J. Housh, G. O. Johnson, J. M. Miller, J. W. Coburn, T. W. Beck. Acute effects of static stretching on peak torque in women. J Strength Cond Res. 18(2):236-241, 2004.

11. Cramer J. T., T. J. Housh, J. P. Weir, G. O. Johnson, J. W. Coburn, T. W. Beck. The acute effects of static stretching on peak torque, mean power output, electromyography, and mechanomyography. Eur J Appl Physiol. 93(5-6):530-539, 2005.

13. Evetovich T. K., N. J. Nauman, D. S. Conley, J. B. Todd. Effect of static stretching of the biceps brachii on torque, electromyography, and mechanomyography during concentric isokinetic muscle actions. J Strength Cond Res. 17(3):484-488, 2003.

14. Faigenbaum A. D., M. Bellucci, A. Bernieri, B. Bakker, K. Hoorens. Acute effects of different warm-up protocols on fitness performance in children. J Strength Cond Res. 19(2):376-381, 2005.

15. Fletcher I. M., R. Anness. The acute effects of combined static and dynamic stretch protocols on fifty-meter sprint performance in track-and-field athletes. J Strength Cond Res. 21(3):784-787, 2007.

16. Fletcher I. M., B. Jones. The effect of different warm-up stretch protocols on 20 meter sprint performance in trained rugby union players. J Strength Cond Res. 18(4):885-888, 2004.

17. Fowles J. R., D. G. Sale, J. D. MacDougall. Reduced strength after passive stretch of the human plantarflexors. J Appl Physiol. 89(3):1179-1188, 2000.

21. Knudson D., K. Bennett, R. Corn, D. Leick, C. Smith. Acute effects of stretching are not evident in the kinematics of the vertical jump. J Strength Cond Res. 15(1):98-101, 2001.

27. Marek S. M., J. T. Cramer, A. L. Fincher, et al. Acute Effects of Static and Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching on Muscle Strength and Power Output. J Athl Train. 40(2):94-103, 2005.

30. Nelson A. G., N. M. Driscoll, D. K. Landin, M. A. Young, I. C. Schexnayder. Acute effects of passive muscle stretching on sprint performance. J Sports Sci. 23(5):449-454, 2005.

31. Nelson A. G., I. K. Guillory, C. Cornwell, J. Kokkonen. Inhibition of maximal voluntary isokinetic torque production following stretching is velocity-specific. J Strength Cond Res. 15(2):241-246, 2001.

32. Power K., D. Behm, F. Cahill, M. Carroll, W. Young. An acute bout of static stretching: effects on force and jumping performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 36(8):1389-1396, 2004.

34. Wallmann H. W., J. A. Mercer, J. W. McWhorter. Surface electromyographic assessment of the effect of static stretching of the gastrocnemius on vertical jump performance. J Strength Cond Res. 19(3):684-688, 2005.

35. Weir D. E., J. Tingley, G. C. Elder. Acute passive stretching alters the mechanical properties of human plantar flexors and the optimal angle for maximal voluntary contraction. Eur J Appl Physiol. 93(5-6):614-623, 2005.g

3-What is with your obsession with Energy Drinks lately, what is that all about?

Red Bull!!!! Red Bull!!!! RED BULL!!!!!

I kid, I kid

I am actually conducting a research study now on Energy Drinks as part of my PhD dissertation (editor’s note, study is completed, but I am working on writing it up for publication).

The overall principle is the concept of Metabolic Flexibility. Simply put, as your body gets closer to a Metabolically INflexible state (e.g. diabetes) you have a much harder time process any food and turning it into a good fuel sources, especially carbohydrates. Keep in mind that fats and glucose in high amounts in the blood stream are TOXIC; and they can “muck up” lots of processes.

If you are on the other end of the spectrum and you are very Metabolically Flexible, your body and efficiently process virtually any fuel source (e.g. various foods). Now this is not an argument for going crazy and eating Ho Hos and Krispy Kremes, there are limits!

We are testing a new way to non-invasively (e.g. without subjecting them to IVs and sticks in the arm for hours at a time) quantify how metabolically efficient each person’s body is at that time.

We are also measuring Heart Rate Variability (a measure of heart health), Flow Mediated Dilation (measure of vessel health), changes in Respiratory Exchange Ratio (amount of carbs and fat burned during exercise) and if an energy drink is ergogenic (do the darn things even do what they say –enhance exercise performance? )

Since you asked about Energy Drinks I will crawl up on my soapbox and go off on a rant.

Soap Box Rant Ahead on Energy Drinks

On one hand we have a group do people in popular media that Red Bull will give you a stroke such as this Mercola article that Red Bull Will Give  You a Stroke and kids slamming back 2-3 CANS before a game or just for fun. Who is right? What are the risks?

Ok, articles like this one above by Dr. Mercola drive me absolutely nuts! I still can’t find the source of the article and the only thing I can find is the researcher was quoted in Reuters, but no study (in fairness to the researcher perhaps it is not published yet, editor’s note, I did find it as an abstract only).

Currently, data on Energy Drinks are sparse. Most will agree that you should not go out and slam back 3 of them in a row and believe that you are doing yourself a good thing; but how “bad” they are is also unknown.

After many many hours of searching, one of the only studies I could find that directly looked at safety (below) stated (1) , “Four documented case reports of caffeine-associated deaths were found, as well as four separate cases of seizures associated with the consumption of energy drinks. ” Keep in mind that this was primarily self reported data and not done in a controlled environment.

Recently a brand new study on energy drinks was published (2)

The study was done in 15 healthy people and there was not any significant ECG changes observed, HR increased 5-7 beats/min and SBP increased 10 mm Hg after energy drink consumption. Keep in mind that subject got 2 cans on the first day and then one every day after that.

The media (Fox news, cough cough) concluded

“Study: People With Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure Should Avoid Energy Drinks”

That is probably a good idea, but the study was in HEALTHY people and the conclusion is we do NOT know what happens in other populations!! No data doesn’t mean it is BAD or GOOD, it means we currently do NOT know either way.

Here is one of the studies you will see in reference to Red Bull (7)

“Postural tachycardia syndrome associated with a vasovagal reaction was recorded in a young volleyball player after an excess intake of Red Bull((R)) as a refreshing energy drink. Considering the widespread use of Red Bull((R)) among young people who are often unaware of the drink’s drug content, this case report suggest Red Bull((R)) be considered a possible cause of orthostatic intolerance.”

The effect of caffeine (the main ingredient in the drinks) in relation to blood pressure has more data (3-6), but we are still only talking about a handful of studies and does not guarantee that those with normal blood pressure will respond in the same way!

Energy Drink Summary

In summary, we can say more research is needed and I would agree with that; although energy drinks with the current available data do not seem as deadly as portrayed in the media although you will be hard pressed to say that you are low on your quota of caffeine and corn syrup and thus your body NEEDS an energy drink. Nobody has every shown up their doctor’s office suffering from an “Energy Drink” deficiency. Take 2 Red Bulls and call me in the AM.

REFERENCES

1)J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2008 May-Jun;48(3):e55-63;

Safety issues associated with commercially available energy drinks.

Clauson KA, Shields KM, McQueen CE, Persad N.

2) Ann.Pharmacother., Arpil 2009

Effect of “Energy Drink” Consumption on Hemodynamic and Electrocardiographic Parameters in Healthy Young Adults (April)

Steinke,L.; Lanfear,D.E.; Dhanapal,V.; Kalus,J.S.

Ann.Pharmacother., Arpil 2009

3) Am J Hypertens. 2000 May;13(5 Pt 1):475-81.L

Additive pressor effects of caffeine and stress in male medical students at risk for hypertension.

Shepard JD, al’Absi M, Whitsett TL, Passey RB, Lovallo WR.

4) Health Psychol. 1996 Jan;15(1):11-17

Caffeine and behavioral stress effects on blood pressure in borderline hypertensive Caucasian men.

Lovallo WR, al’Absi M, Pincomb GA, Everson SA, Sung BH, Passey RB, Wilson MF.

5) “Int J Behav Med. 1995;2(3):263-75.

Adrenocortical effects of caffeine at rest and during mental stress in borderline hypertensive men.

al’Absi M, Lovallo WR, Pincomb GA, Sung BH, Wilson MF.

6) Am J Cardiol. 1985] “Am J Cardiol. 1985 Jul 1;56(1):119-22.

Effects of caffeine on vascular resistance, cardiac output and myocardial contractility in young men.

Pincomb GA, Lovallo WR, Passey RB, Whitsett TL, Silverstein SM, Wilson MF.

7) Clin Auton Res. 2008 Aug;18(4):221-3. Epub 2008 Aug 5.

Reversible postural tachycardia syndrome due to inadvertent overuse of Red Bull((R)).

Terlizzi R, Rocchi C, Serra M, Solieri L, Cortelli P.

4-What are your future plans in regards to your profession?

For now, my main goal is to graduate and if all goes well I will be done later this summer (update note, I have completed the experimental side and working on writing up the 4 studies for submission). At that point I will have completed over 14 years of college full time (eeeek gads man), so I am going to sit around for a week while I drool, scratch myself and watch Oprah (which ironically spelled backwards is Harpo). Ok, maybe not Oprah, but perhaps Myth Busters on DVD. I do have a bottle of 1994 Warre’s Late Bottled Vintage port that I am going to crack open (I’ve been saving it for over 5 years now).

Actually my fiancee Jodie (editor’s note, now wife) and I are planning to spend 6 days Mexico for our honeymoon in late March and I am really working to be done by then so it can also be a “graduation celebration” Whooo ha!! (editor’s note, yes I am still in school! argh  honeymoon was awesome!)

I really want to teach in some capacity as I love teaching (editor’s note, sick of these yet? I do teach part time at Globe University now too) . I’ve done a few presentations locally and around the US and plan to do more that in the future.

My goal is to bridge the chasm between “research land” and “experience only matters” land. There are tons of things we can learn from both camps. Athletic performance enhancement is BOTH a science and an art. It takes BOTH to get optimal results.

I have a few products I am working on in my “free time” and I am looking forward to working with even more athletes since my schedule will free up quite a bit post graduation. I am looking forward to interacting with more fitness professionals and constantly improving my own craft.

Watch out, as I may call you up and show up on your door step in the future!

5-What is the last…

Book you read:

Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” I loved “Blink”

Album/Single you got:

I am a HUGE music nut. At last count I have over 1,200 CDs. Yes, I am old skoooool and buy music on the silver circular thingies. I listen to everything from Radiohead to Slayer but my taste tend to run on the metal side most of the time.

My last order to Century Media included

Lamb of God “Wrath”

Arch Enemy “Tyrants Rising Sun – Live in Japan”

God Forbid “Earthsblood”

Luna Mortis “The Absence”

Amon Amarth “With Oden on our side”

Strapping Young Lad “1994-2008 Chaos Years”

Nevermore “Year of the Voyager”

Lacuna Coil ” Visual Karma” DVD

Samael ” Eternal”

Diecast “Internal Revolution”

In Flames “Whoracle”

And a bunch more. The actual shipping cost of the order was over $17.

Film/Show you watched:

I have not seen many movies at all lately, not that I don’t enjoy movies but trying to carve out that much time at once is hard. I normally watch about 1 hour of TV a week, if even that. I do enjoy “CSI Vegas” and “Numb3rs” since any show that can make a math geek look cool I am all for! The last DVD I watched was Eric Talmant’s St Louis Seminar on Sheiko Training for powerlifters. Yikes, I am a geek. I do enjoy “Myth Busters” and “Dirty Jobs” on DVD since I don’t have cable.

Thanks again for giving me a chance to ramble on! Much appreciated.

–Mike T Nelson

COMMENTS

I had some requests to run this one, so anything you want updates on, just post a comment below and I will get back to you!

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

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Bench Pressing and Shoulder Pain Solutions Part 2

If you just joined in the conversation here, be sure to read the post from yesterday below

Trainer Mike T Nelson Testimonial: Shoulder Pain While Doing a Bench Press Gone!

The Solution

Note, this is what worked in this case for exercise and this does not automatically mean it will work for you since everyone is individual.   This not medical advice and if you have a medical issue, talk to your doc.  It if it painful, don’t do it!

Hopefully that will keep my attorney happy, so here we go.

Shoulder Issue, Check My Hip?

The body is a huge X.  I know it goes not look like one, but trust me on this one.
As you step with your right foot, the impact force is transmitted up the back of the leg, past the right knee, into the right hip where it then moves over to the LEFT side of the body (around the SI joint), up the left scapula where it starts to split into 1) left upper trap and left side of the face and 2) left shoulder and on out to the left elbow and eventually the left wrist/hand.

The formal name for this it the “Back Force Transmission Line” and I first learned of this from Dr. Cobb of Z-Health.

It makes sense that the force would have to shift to the opposite side in order to keep the body balanced in gait (walking movement).  Look at what you do with your opposite shoulder/arm when you run!    Hopefully you will see some opposite motion going on there.   If all the force were to stay on the right side when you plant your right foot, it would be very difficult!

Don’t believe me?  Test it!   Run how you would normally run and now try these 2 drills
1) Run without moving your arms.    Get a buddy to do this and video it.
2) Run by moving your arms in the WRONG directions.  Humans are so hard wired to walk that this is VERY hard to do.   If you can do it easily, that is not a good sign.

Efficiency Is Key

The body is so amazingly designed I love it.  Looking a bit deeper, we see that the tendons, fascia and soft tissue are designed to absorb and return force; thus making movement much more efficient.

We Are All One

Many of you are familiar with Thomas Meyer’s “Anatomy Trains” and the idea of biotensegrity from Dr. Stephen Levin at http://www.biotensegrity.com/ If so, you are on the right track.

Cadavers To the Rescue!

The body is highly highly connected.  If you ever get the chance to do any cadaver work I highly highly recommend it.  When you start, you will see nice clean lines and everything looks very clean.  This is because at the lower level cadaver work, someone else has already prosected (cut, chop, cut cut, chop)  the cadaver for you!   This is not bad, as there are tons of things to be learned from this method since having undergrads hacking away on cadavers is not only expensive, but impractical.

Note: I am not implying any disrespect to those that have donated their bodies to science for use as a cadaver model, just trying to not use too many techy words so people can understand what is involved in the process.

As you do more advanced cadaver work (and the lab fee goes up to over a grand just for one class; still working on paying back many lab fees myself yet), you will soon find fat and fascia EVERYWHERE.  Trust me, you want to pick a lean cadaver if you can.  Seriously.

Perhaps you got to see the bodies exhibit, which is amazing too!

So we now that the body is all connected, and it appears that the primary path is the back force transmission line.

Serape Effect: More Evidence

The serape effect is primarily referred to as a crisscrossed connection between the lower and upper body, most commonly (maybe not so commonly as I am a big geek) used in discussing the connection from the shoulder to the opposite hip (glute).   It was first mentioned by Logan, G., & McKinney, W. 1970 (1), so there are some evidence from multiple sources for a connection between the shoulder and the opposite hip.

Cross Body Connection Here?  Yes!

No, not here!

Enter the Nervous System

So far we have made the case for the mechanical structure of the body and how it is all connected from your little toe to your pinky finger.
The nervous system is entwined in the picture too since it is actually controlling and sensing movement of the entire body.

Cross-Body Nervous System Connection?

Great question!   There does appear to be a nervous system connection that works “cross-body”.  Again, this probably goes back to a gait (walking) type motion.

In an experiment done by Kline TL et al. (3),  in stroke patients they showed quote, “rectus femoris in the impaired leg was active during finger flexion of the impaired hand in the stroke survivors and all four tested muscles in the impaired arm were active during extension of the legs ”

Note, this was done in stroke patients and in a similar study done by Ellis MD et al. used non stroke patients (um, normal people) they did not show a pattern in them (4).

Any Evidence In Non Stroke Patients?

In a very cool study from  Huang HJ,  et al. (6) published recently stated,  “We found increased muscle activation in passive lower limbs during active upper limb effort compared with passive upper limb effort. Likewise, increased muscle activation in passive upper limbs occurred during active lower limb effort compared with passive lower limb effort, suggesting a bidirectional effect”

English Please

While these neurologically intact (read = normal) people did an upper body movement, they saw increased muscle activation in a NON MOVING lower limb.    Back to our running example, try to move your arms in the wrong direction and it is really really hard.  It looks like our wiring is set to faciliate moving the opposite limb!

Can We Alter It?

Cortis C et al. (5) showed that interlimb coordination was better in soccer players, quote,  ”Regardless of age, soccer players always showed better performances (handgrip: 383 +/- 140 N; CMJ: 28.3 +/- 8.7 cm; IP: 55.2 +/- 12.9 s; and AP: 31.8 +/- 25.0 s) than sedentary individuals (handgrip: 313 +/- 124 N; CMJ: 21.0 +/- 9.4 cm; IP: 46.7 +/- 20.2 s, and AP: 21.1 +/- 23.9 s).  ”

While this is not the exact same thing, it is similar and appears to be trainable.  I know I am reaching a bit with these data here, but there is not one perfect study to directly point to any of this yet.  I think in the next 2-3 years (so someone is doing it right now) we will have a more exact study.

Enough With the Science!  Solution!

Back to our friend Dave and his bench rising from the dead from painful with the bar to 270 lbs in one session.

Note: If you have any medical issues, see your doctor.  I am not claiming to cure or fix anything that you have currently going on.  Don’t move through pain and see a professional!

For the sake of entertainment, here is the process I used for Dave to get his shoulder pain reduced.

My goal was to get him to bench heavy again in a short period of time.  It just so happens that when you get someone to move better, many many times (with acute pain) there pain levels drop dramatically.  As my buddy Frankie says “the body really cares most about FUNCTION – what can you do.”

Step 1

Find out what movement is painful.

This may take a bit of work, but you want to isolate the painful movement.  In Dave’s case, it was primarily left arm external rotation with his elbow bent.

Step 2

Do the EXACT opposite motion with the opposite joint

The opposite joint to the left shoulder is the RIGHT hip.  Heck, they even look scary similar as both are a ball and socket joint.

We know that LEFT arm EXTERNAL rotation with his elbow bent created the pain.
What is the exact opposite of that movement?

Do you have it?

Are you sure?

Correct!  Right hip internal rotation with a straight (not bent) knee (knee is the opposite to the elbow).

Step 3

Perform a joint mobility drill in the new position

So with his right hip internally rotated, knee straight, laying down, we had him create a circle at the hip joint (joint mobility) very slow, with no pain.  He did 3-5 reps in each (clockwise and counter clockwise) directions.

Step 4

Walk around for about 20 seconds, retest the painful motion

Any difference?

If they stare at you like a 2 headed purple space alien, you are on the right track.  Then yell at them “Never doubt my VooDoo”  That always helps!

I learned this method from Dr. Cobb initially in R Phase, so thanks again!

I Left Something Out

Come on back tomorrow for part 3 as we are still missing something.

Can anyone guess what it is?

The hint is in the first part of the article.    What other exercise do you think we had Dave do for his homework?  No, you can’t ask Dave directly (nice try).

Put your guesses in the comments below, and the winner gets a free 30 minute phone consult with me (valued at about $50).

Comments must be posted by tomororw Friday March 12 at midnight CST to be eligible. You may only enter once, but you can leave multiple comments and the latest comment you left will be used for your answer.  I will do my best to scan my spam folder too, but I can’t promise that if your comment ends up in there that I will find it (getting over 100 spams a day now).  Once comments are in, I will post the answer and the final installment of part 3 (so Sat AM).

Summary

Today we went on a tour of the body to show that it is all connected by both mechanical links (muscles, soft tissue, tendons, etc) and the nervous system.     We provided data to explain how it all works together, gave some demos for you to test it yourself, and provided you a possible solution to try on your own.

Your homework is

1) If you have an issue, try it out first and see if it works for you.   Do this on your own risk and if you have an issue, go see a doc!

2) Figure out what component we did not address yet and place your comment below.  Closest one get a free 30 minute phone consult from me.

I am excited to see how gets it!  Don’t worry, even if you did Z-Health training, you can still enter below too for the missing component.  In the event of a tie, the first one posted (by time stamp) gets it.

Rock on!
Mike T Nelson

REFERENCES

1) Logan, G., & McKinney, W. 1970. The serape effect. In Anatomic Kinesiology (2nd Ed., pp. 154-561). New York: William C. Brown, Co.

2) Publications for Biotensegrity at http://www.biotensegrity.com/index.php

3) Kline TL, Schmit BD, Kamper DG. Exaggerated interlimb neural coupling following stroke. Brain. 2007 Jan;130(Pt 1):159-69.

4) Ellis MD, Acosta AM, Yao J, Dewald JP. Position-dependent torque coupling and associated muscle activation in the hemiparetic upper extremity. Exp Brain Res. 2007 Feb;176(4):594-602.

5)  Cortis C, Tessitore A, Perroni F, Lupo C, Pesce C, Ammendolia A, Capranica L.    Interlimb coordination, strength, and power in soccer players across the lifespan.  J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Dec;23(9):2458-66.

6) Huang HJ, Ferris DP.  Upper and lower limb muscle activation is bidirectionally and ipsilaterally coupled.  Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009 Sep;41(9):1778-89.

PS

Get those answers in the comment section now before the clock his midnight on tomorrow (Friday, March 11) for a chance to win a free 30 min phone consult with yours truly!

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