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
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…
Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” I loved “Blink”
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.
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
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
If you just joined in the conversation here, be sure to read the post from yesterday below
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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”
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!
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.
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.”
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.
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).
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.
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!
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).
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).
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.
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
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.
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I did a very cool interview with Brad Pilon of Eat Stop Eat in yesterday’s post. I know everyone is super busy and the interview is a whole hour long, but I want to give you an incentive to check out the post by having another contest.
Starting now until this Friday Jan 15, 2010 at midnight central time, I am going to give away a free copy of my lectures on protein, fat and carbs. They will take you through all the basics and distill YEARS of info into about 4 hours. You will get them on MP3 so you can listen to them anywhere. I will have this product out for sale (at some point soon, silly dissertation work) so you will be getting it WAY in advance.
No matter what your goal, you need to know about how protein, carbs and fat affect your performance; from recovery to fat loss. Now you can take time to read all the websites, all the latest research and sift through all the information out there or you can just sit back and listen to a lecture on each one. Nevermind that most of the information out there is conflicting and you will probably end up confused!
The lectures are from an Advanced 12 Week Nutrition online course I did this past summer; so you get to hear live questions being answered. The sound quality is good, but nothing stellar as I did not initially planned to release it; but after getting numerous questions about are fats evil, too many carbs will make my fat, too much protein will destroy my kidneys; I decided to release them and clear up some massive confusion.
Here is some feedback from the overall course that each person paid $300 for a full 12 week course (you are just getting the first 3 weeks)
All you have to do is read the post and make a comment on the blog. Make sure to enter your email address when you place your comment so that I can reach you.
After all comments are placed by midnight this Friday, I will then randomly pick one person as the winner and email them the product for free!
For a few minutes of your time to learn about some cool stuff you may win a free product. Go to the post right now by clicking below, leave a comment, and you may win! Feel free to pass it around to all your friends.
If you don’t win and still want to buy a copy, email me by clicking HERE.
As you know I am a huge neuroscience geek and am convinced that the concept of brain neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to undergo physical changes) will have HUGE impacts to fitness, sports performance and overall health.
Dr. Bryan Walsh over at Precision Nutrition had a great article on Preventing Neurodegeneration that just came out, so check it out below.
Take a moment and think about an elderly person you know.
* How well do they taste or smell their food?
* How good is their memory?
* How well can they balance or walk?
* How healthy is their digestion?
If they haven’t aged gracefully, chances are they can’t do any of those things very well. And you can thank their brain function for these symptoms of degeneration.
Anti-Aging Gone Wrong
The degree to which the elderly can perform normal daily activities is directly related to the amount of brain degeneration they’re experiencing in their twilight years. In fact, the anti-aging movement has it completely wrong. It’s not about hormones. It is about brain function.
When your brain stops functioning, your body stops functioning. And conversely, the healthier your brain, the healthier your digestion, your response to stress, your hormones and your response to exercise.
In this article, we’ll provide a broad overview of a very complex system in the body, the brain. Plus, we’ll share some ways of nutritionally improving your brain function today.
Your Brain – The Basics
Your brain is a vital organ that helps run every other system in our body. For example, 90% of the brain stem’s output goes into something called the pontomedulary reticular formation, which stimulates the vagus nerve.
Uh, what?
Well, that’s just a fancy way of saying that 90% of your brain’s output directly impacts activities such as digestion, gastrointestinal motility, enzyme production and salivation, and other parasympathetic activities.
read this rest at Precision Nutrition by clicking HERE.
Rock on
Ever seen something that you were pretty sure was true and all the evidence was pointing in that direction, but you still felt a large chunk of the data was missing?
I always feel like that trying to explain some concepts in Z Health and how your brain is in control of your performance in the gym and on the field. Optimize your brain and your body HAS to follow.
How does the brain get information?
Optimize each one of these and you are set. This will also allow you to add strength and not degrade your movement performance when done correctly.
If you come to me as an athlete that wants to be a D1 football player and coach says you need to get stronger. Let’s say I add 100 lbs to your squat in 6 months, but in the process you move like you are dragging your right leg. Did I make you stronger? Yes! Did I make you a better football player? No! Will coach (and you) be happy? No! What you are really saying is that you want to be a better football player and you and your coach think that strength is the ONLY way.
Strength is great and a huge component to athletics, but it should NOT come at the cost of movement efficiency. How can we get an increase in performance without making you walk like Ethel? THAT is the key and we need to look at the brain.
Watch the slide show below. It is a bit crazy, but hang in there
If you only get one thing, here is the take away
I would even go as far to say that they will instead of may (but we need more data of course). If your brain is the key to performance, than maybe there is something to this body image thing. The brain can actually change over time, so it is not fixed even if you are an older adult (concept of neuroplasticity).
Not that type of body image there Fabio! Body image is referring to the map that your body generates of yourself. When I busted up my ankle several years ago, I had a horrible map of my right ankle at the time. It just felt like a big lump and very “dumb.” It was not uncommon that I would bump it against things in my home (which does not help the healing process). My body image (map) of my right ankle was horrible. How do you think my ankle performance was at the time? Horrible! I could barely move it at all due to the injury.
To a lesser extent, this happens to all athletes. If your wrist wrist does not have 100% mobility, the body map is fuzzy because of it.
How do we fix it? For most, starting on the joints is key since they take a fair amount of abuse from desk jockeys with mousie right hand to elite athletes with crazy shoulders from throwing 90+mph fast balls to football players hitting each other at mach 2. Daily living takes its toll and getting all the joints to move through a full range of motion to clean up the body image (map) and allow more performance.
Less than optimal joint mobility is breaking your current performance. I like the Z Health R Phase for mobility work since it targets the joints, but just plain movement is a great start.
We have evidence now that your body image will affect your performance. Fix your body image (movement map) by first starting off on some joint mobility and watch your performance sky rocket.
Rock on
Mike T Nelson
PS
Leave any comments below and tweet the heck out of this one! Much appreciate all the help!
REFERENCES
Full paper at
Interdependence of movement and anatomy persists when amputees learn a physiologically impossible movement of their phantom limb
References below taken from
Physiologically impossible movement of phantom limbs explained
1. Damasio A (2000) The feeling of what happens: body and emotion in the making of consciousness. (Vintage, London).
2. Churchland PS (2002) Self-representation in nervous systems Science 296, 308-310.
3. Ramachandran VS (1998) Consciousness and body image: lessons from phantom limbs, Capgras syndrome and pain asymbolia Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London – Series B: Biological Sciences 353, 1851-1859.
4. Price EH (2006) A critical review of congenital phantom limb cases and a developmental theory for the basis of body image Consciousness and Cognition 15, 310-322.
5. Moseley GL, Olthof N, Venema A, Don S, Wijers M, Gallace A, & Spence C (2008) Psychologically induced cooling of a specific body part caused by the illusory ownership of an artificial counterpart Proc Natl Acad Sci 105, 13169-13173.
6. Moseley GL, Parsons TJ, & Spence C (2008) Visual distortion of a limb modulates the pain and swelling evoked by movement. Curr Biol 18, R1047-R1048.
7. Parsons LM (2001) Integrating cognitive psychology, neurology and neuroimaging Acta Psychol. (Amst). 107, 155-181.
Great question Chris.
I think the bigger question is “What can’t you do?”
Now this may be a problem for various reasons and scar tissue may be one of them.
Most of the time on a first session, joint mobiity work is enough. Guy came in a while back and his shoulder did not go all the way when moving it out in front. Joint mobility work (Z-Health) on the same side wrist, opposite hip, opposite foot/ankle got his arm almost all the way up (was only at about 70% before).
If joint mobility work is not having a good response, I will test their eye reflexes (PREP, taught in Z Health I Phase). PREP=postural reaction to eye position. If they were not normal, they do drills with an eye position and joint mobility.
A female athlete came in a while back with an ankle issue. In order to get her hip muscles to fire better, she had to move her eyes up and while holding them up, do some ankle joint mobility work. Hip muscles (glute med, psoas and RF) fired up and her gait (along with her ankle) was much better.
If eyes + mobility don’t work I will add in vestibular work, using PNRT (postural neck reflex test). A recent athlete came in post ACL replacement and post Physical Therapy and on his first visit the joint mobility was not working, so I tested his eyes and they were normal (PREP test only), but his PNRT was positive (not normal) for his head rotated right. So his drill was an ankle mobility drill with his head turned right. Moved much better, knee was much better. (note I find it is rare to find ONLY vestibular issues)
Some times it is a combination of all 3
This is hold the brain gets information to execute movements too (joints + vision + vestibular). We are reverse engineering better movement by fixing the “bad” signals!
If that still does not work, I will check the tissue by just moving it in specific orientations at 3 different layers 1)skin 2) fascial 3) deep. Note, most of the time I am not FORCING the tissue to move, I am holding it in a specific orientation and then using joint info, visual (ocular motor too) and inner ear (vestibular) work to ALLOW it to release. I am working to find the correct combination to the safe via spinning the dial, vs trying to blow up the safe.
Awhile back a powerlifter came in and her left hamstring would not fire up to 100% and gait could be better. At the time she was deadlifting about 3xs body weight. Went through the testing above, using a gait assessment after each drill.
On a manual muscle test, the left hamstring was still weak and gait was off. Ending up doing a right elbow circle (neuro reflex to the opposite knee/hamstring aka probably interlimb coupling), with her head rotated right (vestibular input), with her eyes open and in the up position (looking up), while I held deep (not remotely painful) pressure on the whole hamstring (all 3) in a position to the “right.”
As she rotated her head and did the elbow circle, I could feel the hamstring tension to the right melt and it moved easily. Had her walk and gait was much better, left hamstring fired up great. Later I heard her DL went up, but hard to say what I did was directly related to it; but moving better is always a good adaptation.
I hope that helps a bit.
Basic joint mobility work is Z-Health R Phase, eye and head movements (vestibular) is Z Health I Phase, hands on work (holding tissue) is Z-Health T Phase (level 4) work. Minimal amount to get the job done = less collateral damage to fix later (although I don’t see them again as much which is my goal, but is a crappy business model–hahaha)
Most don’t need direct tissue work right away, but that is not to say it can’t work. Physiology is messy and many things can work.
If anyone has comments/questions on this one, post away in the comments! Comments make me feel all warm and fuzzy and it is getting colder here in Minnesota now.
Rock on
PS
If you want any info on the Z Health certs, let me know and drop me an email or give them a call and tell them I sent ya. I am NOT an employee of Z-Health, but I do make a few bucks off of cert referrals. Again, I would never recommend something that I don’t use myself or feel that works great.
I know it sounds like a concept from the movie The Matrix, but it is a newer (ok, not really that new, but not overly well accepted) theory about pain. Pain lives in the brain. Pain is needed for survival. There is actually a condition where some don’t feel pain, and they have horrible problems with doing all sorts of nasty stuff to themselves since they don’t get the signal that “Hey, what is that I smell, oh, I left my hand on the hot stove!” Duh!
The pain in the brain can go awry though and start to cause other issues. According to the Neuromatrix of Pain, you have 2 areas to work on
1) Signals – alter the signals coming in to the brain. Movement can do this, as can other things
2) Interpretation - how the brain translates that signal.
By working on both of these, many times pain can be reduced or eliminated. Now it is not always that easy, but greater than 50% of the time with acute pain (chronic pain is a whole different can o’ worms) it can be altered in 1 session! Pretty crazy. It still amazes me to this day when just a few of the correct joint mobility (or sometimes eye or head movements) get man athlete to move much better. When they move much better, a vast majority of time their pain drops dramatically.
I’ve seen this myself to date about 90 times (conservative estimate). I know it sounds crazy, but it is true.
What you thought you knew about pain is most likely out dated! Pain is a multi focal event. If you are in pain, you are NOT performing at an optimal level. Period. You need to get OUT of pain ASAP for extreme human performance.
I have a few other articles that discuss this, so check them out below
Rock on
Mike T Nelson
Behind the curtains of the Z-Health Athletic Performance system rolls on. Only 1 more left after today. If you missed the last one, see below
Last time we learned what the enemies of efficiency were, so today we are going to learn how to move efficiently. Watch Usain Bolt shatter a World Record. What do you see?
9.58 Usain Bolt 100 M World Record Berlin 2009 – The best free videos are right here
1)Perfect Form
2)Dynamic Postural Alignment (tall spine)
3)Synchronized Respiration
4)Balanced Tension/Relaxation
Most only stop an exercise when their form breaks down, so this is after too much tension (there goes #4), their breathing is out of whack (#3) and their spine is not tall and long (#2) and hopefully they stop now as their form is degrading. This is the path of INefficiency.
In Z-Health, it is recommended to stop once there is EXCESSIVE tension and this takes care of the others. Does all that tension and “sour puss face” when you are bench pressing really help you lift more weight? Go back and look at the Soviets in the 70s and 80s and note their expressions. They did not have excess tension, heck some hit PRs (personal records) and they looked like they were going to fall asleep! They learned that EXCESSIVE tension was not efficient. Again, this does not mean tension is bad; but excessive tension is not ideal.
Do you see any excessive tension here?
Vasily Alexeev – 230kg. (507lb.) Clean & Press
There are 2 general types of breathing
1) anatomical match
2) biomechanical match.
If you are teaching efficiency, anatomical match is what you want as you will breath out when the lung field is in a collapsed position and inhale when it expands.
Kettlebell Press: breath in on the way up (expanding) and breath out on the way down (arm pushing in on the lung area).
Squat: exhale on the way down, and inhale on the way up
Bench press: exhale as the bar is pulled down and inhale on the way up.
Biomechanical match is just the opposite of this and is inefficient.
Without opening a whole can of worms, there are times you want to make exercise inefficient, but for a vast majority of yoru work you want to make it efficient.
Many have no idea which method they are using or why, so awareness is a great start.
Make it LOOK easy. Most violate all the elements of efficiency in the gym. Watch elite athletes, do they make it look easy? Yes! You get what you practice.
Thoughts? Be sure to leave a comment below. I love comments!
Rock on
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