New Exercises For Better Performance and Less Pain for Office Workers

Time to find out what your best exercises are for all the crazy office workers.

I unfortunately have been spending too much time lately behind the keyboard with blog writings, guest posts, an academic book chapter on “Protein Metabolism: Athlete Cases Studies”, dissertation writing on Monster Energy Drink, etc, so I know what you are going through.

• Do you have pain in your elbows, wrists, fingers?
• Are you afraid of carpal tunnel syndrome, low back pain and shoulder pain too?
• Do you spend lots of time at a desk or in front of a computer?

I find that the wrists do not want to go into extension very well (think of making a stop sign with your hand) from it adapting to being on a keyboard or draped over a mouse all day.

Is your hands starting to look like a computer mouse?

The thumbs of office workers tend to be weaker and they suffer from “dumb thumb.”   Getting the thumb strong and back up to par will pay off for lifting in the gym too as the thumb is the opposite of the 5 fingers in many grip positions.    For more on all things grip, see the Grip Series with Adam T Glass HERE

Is your thumb dumb?

Here are some suggestions to try.

This is not going to solve everyone’s issue, but I have found these 2 exercises to be quite effective. Test them and find out for yourself.

1) Plate Press from a split stance

How To Perform

• Hold a plate like a pizza or large tray and press it up
• It works to reverse the standard position your hands are in all day, especially you mouse hand
• Shout out to Adam Glass for this suggestion

Variations To Test

• Left side vs right side
• Split (lunge) stance. Play with right leg or left leg in front
• Torso Rotation: From a standard stance or split stance, rotate left or right

2) Plate Pinch

How To Perform

• Grab 2 plates and pinch them together
• A good starting point for most is two 10 lb plates or even two 5 lb plates
• Put the numbers and letters facing in, so the smooth sides are facing out
• Pinch them together and raise them up past your knees

Variations To Test

• Left hand vs right hand
• Different stances: deadlift position, split stance position

Movement and Mood

I am a happy dog!

How do you know when fido is sick?

Does fido talk to you or bark at you in morse code?
No, fido moves poorly; so you infer that fido feels bad.

How do you feel when you are sick and/or injuried and move worse?   Bad

So we know that movement and mood are related.

Move better and you will feel better.

Work on movement quality with tested movements (as shown in the video above and the Grip n Rip DVDs)

Summary

Two simple to try exercises that you can do with common gym equipment.

It is now your turn to try them out!

Comments

Try them out and let me know how they worked out for you.  Leave me some comment love on your thoughts on this one!

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

PS
The copies of the Grip n Rip DVD are going fast and only a few copies are left as of this posting. Check out the link below for 7 bonus items too, but act fast as I expect them to be gone by some time tomorrow (Saturday July 17) in the morning, if even that long!  Go to this link now

Move, Feel and Perform Better Today: Grip and Rip DVD Special Limited Time Offer

Stop Making Exercise So Complicated

“Start by doing the necessary, then the possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible” -St. Francis of Assisi

I smell a rant coming on.  You are warned.  The last time this happened the carnage was great.   I am sure there are certain people that are convinced I am nuts as they shake their head and mutter “he just does not get it”

Truth be told I am not concerned.   I am not out to personally attack anyone, but I can’t control how others interpret things.  I love open discussion and that is the main reason for this blog as I love the interaction.  The more we discuss and test things out, the more progress ALL of us make.

Here is my premise.

We are making things WAAAAY too complicated in regards to exercise.

If I move this fast enough, I think I can fly!!

Everything is funnier with a British accent!

History

Trust me,  I am not exempt from this myself.  I’ve spent many years convinced that I needed to learn more.  Learning more is never a bad idea in and of itself, but ACTION must be applied.  I think this is where many college programs go awry.  Tons of data, but very little application. I should know a few things about college from being in for over 15 years, teaching classes and running labs too.

I’ve spent time learning about all sorts in the fitness area that I rarely, if ever, use today.

I’ve learned about nerve glides (nerve flossing), motor point work, soft tissue/ hands on work (again, done in proper context), occulomotor work (eye movements), joint mobility, vision work like supression, tracking, peripherial work, esophoria and exophoria, blah blah blah.  I did pass on the Body Blade course though.

There may be a few cases where it is needed, but for the most part it is not needed.

I would bin static stretching, isometrics, foam rollers, painful soft tissue work, and treadmills at the bottom of the list of things I would rarely ever do or have performed on athletes.    Not entirely worthless in my experience, but very close.

But I Do Those Things and I Get Results!

Can any of the above get a result?  Sure!  You can do almost anything (especially in regards to pain) to get a change.   If you look into pain studies, the variance you find is massive. Even in training studies, the response is across the board most times when you look at the actual data, not just the averages.

Anyone that has done real research will tell you that most data never looks close to perfect.

Example Time: Painful Soft Tissue Work

If you come in to see me and complain about a left shoulder being painful when you raise your arm out to the side.  I could then take my cow brander, get it all nice and hot (we need to make sure it is sterile), and brand XHP (self promotion) on your right arm.  I can gaurantee that your LEFT arm will not hurt as bad.

Did I do anything to make your left arm?  Nope?   Did I drammatically alter the pain signal in your brain?  Yep!

I think at a base level, painful soft tissue work modifies the signal in the brain.    Creating pain somewhere else to decrease pain seems like a really bad idea.

Yes, I understand the proposed mechanism(s) involved in painful soft tissue work and no I don’t do lots of hands on work, but the whole concept just sounds bad.    Wait, I have an idea.  Let’s get an instrument and use that to do more damage.  Brillant!

Graston Tools or Works of the Devil?

I paid someone a ton of money to do ART on my psoas when I ripped it years ago. For those who don’t know where the psoas muscle is, its deep in the inner hip (inguinal) area. To get to it, he had to press through lots of other tissue to pin the psoas as I extended my hip.

Wow, that hurt like all hell. I was sweating like like a cat in a Korean deli.

Did I think that it helped? Yep! Why? The pain was different and he told me this was a “good pain” plus I paid him a crap ton of money for 10 minutes work and everyone else told me ART was the bomb.

Would I do it now? Heck no. I am not paying someone to put me into pain, when I am trying to get OUT of pain.

Back on Track

So lots of stuff can “work” for various reasons.

My proposed solution from Adam T Glass when he was describing his training methods:

“Simply move where I can, pursue what tests best, and continue to train a variety of movements with a variety of tools.”

We will come back to this very soon.

More Tools!

I hear that “we need more tools in the ole toolbox”

“If you have a square peg and try to put it into a round hole, it will not work.”

“Sometimes it is a screw and you need a screwdriver and not a hammer”

The solution must be in here somewhere

Some (my hand is up for doing this in the past for sure) look to create a big a$$ toolbox thinking that it is the solution to their problems.

If you have 56 tools in there, how good are you going to be be with ALL of them?

Even if you do this 40-80 hours a week, I would argue that their are tools you will still not be very good at due to lack of practice.

The solution is to learn more (add tools) and spend even more time practicing. At some point, this is completely unsaleable.

What If There Was a Universal Tool?

Active Range of Motion

It follows that good movement allows good movement.
If you watch bench press Billy really cranking on that last rep as his face turns bright red, blows a vessel in his left eye as his arms shake when he really puts in that huge amount of effort (because effort makes you strong, right?) to make that last rep.

How good will his movement be after that? Correct, piss poor.

So the opposite is true. Nice fluid movement that is correct for YOUR body should allow better movement (as measured by a range of motion test in Grip n Rip DVDs).

Back to Adam’s quote. Test your movement for profound changes

When I was talking to Frankie on the phone the other day,  he mentioned that the range of motion test is the leatherman of the fitness industry.

It Is All Connected

Can testing movement result in improvement in other systems of the body?

Yes!

I’ve made more visual improvements by focusing on good movement (testing well) and then slowly adding in visual components (KB juggling) than any past visual work I have ever done.

Just one simple example for those that thing it is all unrelated. Movement is a highly orchestrated event, BUT that does NOT mean we need to TRAIN that way to see amazing benefits.

My Droid phone is complex, but just hit an icon and it does crazy stuff. The INTERFACE is simple. I just punched an icon.

The exercise INTERFACE is simple–test it, do what tests well within your limits moving towards your goals.

Summary

I think most fitness professionals (and myself in the past) are making the whole exercise thing waaaaay too complex. Start simple and only get as complex as needed. Most times, you don’t need to get too complicated

What to do
1) Baseline range of motion test
2) Perform an exercise
3) Re-test range of motion
4) Better? Good, do that one
5) Worse? Skip it for today and test another one

If you keep working exercises that test well with lower amounts of tension, you will see MASSIVE changes.

Comments?

Thoughts? Let me know!

Rock on
Mike T Nelson
PS
If you want to hear first hand how this is possible, listen to Frank’s story below for FREE!

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Update on Kettlebell Juggling, Personal Records, and Vision

It is me going from an open palm to swing

I sent this out to my newsletter last night and the response was so crazy I just had to post it here for those who are not on my newsletter.    You can sign up to my newsletter at the link below and get some free gifts too!

Extreme Human Performance Insider Newsletter

Part 2 of my powerlifting journey (the How To part) will be up soon, so stay tuned for that.

Here we go!

Just wanted to share a short story with you.

I already shared it with my wonderful wife Jodie, but I just have to tell you
about it too!

I was at work today (editor’s note, it was actually yesterday) and I had a blinding headache. This is very rare for me as I am fortunate that I don’t get head aches very often at all.

I could feel tension creeping up the back of my neck and around to my left eye even.

I felt like my head was in a vice and it was just getting worse and it was only 11am.

I got some more coffee and no change. Crap.

I felt like I could just fall asleep too. I had zero energy.

At lunch I wondered down to the gym and tested my movement
(as shown in the Grip n Rip DVD) and it was horrible!

No surprise there as anyone watching me move could see that. I walked like I just crawled out a cave from hibernation.

I did some mobility work, curls with my left leg in front and rotated to the left and I started to feel much better.

Re-tested my movement and much better.
My headache was almost gone at this point too! Total time was 10 minutes!

How did I know which positions to work on?

I have tested my exercise before and started with ones that normally work well for me. They may work for you or they may not; you will just have to try and see.

I felt great and went outside to see the sun at the local volleyball court for some kettlebell fun.

I’ve been working on kettlebell juggling or also known as kettlebell hand to hand work.

In short, you are sort of throwing the kettlebells (KBs) around from one hand to the next in different configurations and spins.

Why? Because it is different and FUN!

Today was awesome as I just set a HUGE PR (personal record) for KB juggling–two 16kg KBs (one in each hand) and did a hand switch of BOTH at the same time, moving left to right and right to left with one going over the top and the other passed underneath in front.

The best part was that I nailed it on my first full attempt too. I could see both of them moving through the air also.

Why is this so huge?

Since about age 4 I have been diagnosed as “stereoblind” meaning I don’t see in 3D as most people do.

Now I am drive a car and play sports (which both took a fair amount of work), I still operate like I have one eye closed all the times.

In High School I was a complete detriment to any team. If their option was to play with me on their time or one man down, they would take one less person if allowed vs. have me on the team. Sad but true.

I could not track a fast moving object (like a ball) if my life depended on it.

I’ve been to multiple docs and everyone has told me flat out I will be stereoblind the rest of my life.

One actually refused to do further work with me since nothing was working.
I was left to figure it out myself with the help of some other really smart people like Frankie Faires, Dr. Cobb, The Movement Doctor and Adam T Glass.

So, to the docs I say a polite “screw you”

I am not seeing in full 3D YET, but I am better each day.

And one day I will wake up seeing in 3D and it is going to be AMAZING.

I am already saving money from Grip n Rip sales to do more full visual work once I finish my PhD.

Summary

Nothing is impossible

YOU decide what to do

If you want to move better with less pain, you must start testing your exercises (as in the Grip n Rip DVD)

KB Juggling is FUN!

Comments?

Post them below!  Let me know what goals you are working on to overcome!

Rock on
Mike N
PS
If you want to learn more about KB juggling, you have to see Logan doing some crazy stuff here
It is a great DVD with awesome tips too!

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15 Random Thoughts

Here we go again, a tip inside my brain as to what is rattling around in there.  Trust me, you have been warned!

1) Mushroomhead is a highly underrated metal band

Adam T Glass just found them and was blown away. Great stuff. I prefer their earlier work with J Mann, but the new upcoming CD still sounds pretty cool. Awesome live shows if you ever get the chance to see them–go!

2) One of my favorite quotes of all time

“The iron never lies to you..the iron will always kick you the real deal. The iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go, but two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.” – Henry Rollins

3) Axial loading is key for muscle hypertrophy

It seems that loading the body axially like squats and overhead pressing seems to have a greater trigger for muscle hypertrophy (bigger muscles).

There is not any direct research that I have seen on this looking at similar loads (volume), but adding squats and kettlebell clean and jerks into your routine can pack on some mass quite fast.

I added about 3-4 lbs in the past month by adding these in. I also increased my calories again and my stress level was a bit lower too. Make sure those movement test well though (ala Grip n Rip).

4) Corrective exercise

I think we are making it entirely too complicated. An exercise/movement either makes you better or worse. If it makes you worse, you are not doing it correctly for YOUR body, or it is not good for you at THAT time. We are either getting better or worse.  Is corrective exercise any more complicated than that?

5) Bad foods

We need to stop putting foods into categories as “good” or “bad.” Very few foods are really bad.  If something is really bad it will kill you fast.   That is bad.  A poorly prepared puffer fish will kill you very fast.  I say avoid it, but even eating twinkies for a week straight will probably not kill you.  You may look similar to a twinkie by the end of the week though.

Twinkies in their natural state

6) The goal of health

Along those lines our goal of health is backwards. People think they need to eat “clean” 100% of the time. Even the most strict, pre-competition bodybuilder types don’t need to do that 100% of the time and even then the pre contest period is short compared to the rest of their life.

Having people try to get to a goal of 100% is not realistic and will set them up for massive failure.

The goal should be to eat as “BAD” as possible WHILE maintaining health (blood tests) and body composition goals.

If you can do this at a 70% compliance vs a 90% compliance, 70% is better!

The ability to take in virtually any food item and convert it into fuel (termed Metabolic Flexibility) is key to health.

Do you want to have more freedom with your diet and eat the foods you love, or feel like you are boxed in and “never good enough”?

7) PhD programs are long, really friggin’ long

I knew when I start this, that it would be a long road.  I had other warn me about it.  I thought they were nuts.  No way I was going to be in school for another 5-7 years after the 11 years I had already done.  Screw that.

Well, fast forward to many years later and I am still plugging away at it.  Very few things have I started that I have though long and hard about quitting and this is at the top of the list.  The good part is that I am fully determined to finish, no matter how long it takes.  I have decided it will not rule my life and as long as each day I am making progress, the end will come.    And I can’t wait for that day.  Wow.  Once I graduate, all hell is going to break loose as my ability to output will go through the roof.  You have been warned.

8 ) Poor exercise form

Adam mentioned this on a conference call and some are now sooooo scared of not doing an exercise correctly that they will not even TRY.

How can you get better at say a kettlebell clean and press, without ever doing one? The answer is you CAN’T.

The first rep is always the worst rep.

I am NOT recommending that you go load up the bar with a max load and do your first deadlift attempt ever with it. That is just stupid. But starting with the bar and doing a few reps and measuring your range of motion (biofeedback) to see if it is good is an excellent start. Then work to make it better every time.  Not starting will not help you.  To get better, you can video your movements and keep testing or find a local qualified coach to help determine what is best for YOUR body; not what looks picture perfect.  The goal is better, not initial perfection.

9) I still love the TRX

Very fun to use and easy to travel with too!

10) You should train for falling and ill movements

I believe that if you may fall in life (which is all of us), you need to train for falling. Special thanks to Frankie for pointing this out and covering it in the Movement Certification.
Great discuss on this at Charlie Weingrofts blog.

11) Joint mobility is just one movement

Joint mobility,while it can have its place and does work, is only a handful of movement the human body can do.  Plus, we learn by performing large (gross) movements first and then work to refine them over time.   Why would we start with the smallest movements FIRST?

If you want to learn how to squat, I want to see you friggin squat first!  I don’t give a crap at that point about your ankle dorsiflexion or the ability of you to active control your pinky finger.   I don’t care.  If I can’t correct your squat movement, I will then start to go to more fine and fin movements.   I may end up with ankle work or even thumb mobility work, but I would not START there.

You must read this post on Joint Mobility from Frankie below.  It is a MUST read.

Pain Makes You Stupid:  Purposeful Joint Mobility

12) What I learned last year

I have changed how I look at things this year once again.  Here are the top things I learned in 2009 below.  Can you see how I do things differently now?  If so, place a comment below

The Top 15 Things I Learned in 2009: A Review

13) B-Stance Deadlifts are one of the most underrated versions

If you have a weakness in one leg (most of use do) and you want to bring up your deadlift, doing a B-Stance deadlift where once foot is closer to the bar than the other (think of a very mild or shallow lunge where one leg is about 4 inches back from the bar in an asymmetric stance).    Check it out at

Raising the Dead:  Deadlift Training and B Stance work

14) Modern shoes still suck

I am still not happy with modern shoes and we would all be better off training in a pair of Vibrams, flat shoes, or no shoes at all.

15) Joint Pain

I love GLC 2000 for joint issues.  I have been using it for several months now and it is great.  Others that recommended it to have tried it love it too.  I have tried similar supplements like it in the past and they did nothing for me.

While I don’t have many joint issues, they did get a bit achy after many weeks of increased volume.    I even tried to push it a bit more and still had no issues.   I stopped taking it and within a few days to weeks, they got a bit touchy again.

GLC 2000 has a very high form of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, which are natural substances found in and around the cells of cartilage (joints). Glucosamine is an amino sugar that the body produces and distributes in cartilage and other connective tissue, and chondroitin sulfate is a complex carbohydrate that helps cartilage retain water.

I have some other theories that this should help connective tissue health, which then should help maximal strength.

If you go to the link below, you can pick up 2 for the price of 1 from Carl at Super Human Radio (which you MUST listen to).

Super Human Radio GLC 2000 Special Offer

Not sure how long the offer lasts though, so it may be gone by the time you read this.

I get paid NOTHING to promote their product.

They did not ask me to mention it at all, but I feel that if I find something that works really well I need to share it with all of you.

Try it out and let me know how it goes for you.  If my theory is right, over a couple months you should see a nice strength increase too.

Summary

So there you have 10 things that have been running around in my head lately.  Let me know what you think by posting a comment below

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

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Lessons Learned From Untimely Deaths Part 2: Sprint Coach Charlie Francis and Dio

Charlie Francis (October 13, 1948 – May 12, 2010)

If you do know know how Charlie Francis is, you probably heard of him as the coach of sprinter Ben Johnson, the first competitor to be stripped of an Olympic gold medal for using banned drugs.

He also trained many other sprinters including Angella Issajenko, Mark McKoy, and Desai Williams.

Francis himself was a great athlete want went on to become the Canadian 100 metres sprint champion in 1970, 1971, and 1973 and barely missed the Olympics in 1972

Francis started coaching Johnson at the age of 15.  So much for the use of drugs only to get results.

I remember first hearing about him from his first book “Speed Trap” and later “Training for Speed.”

This was my first realy introduction into athletic training and I remember being just blown away reading it.
It was the fist time I heard of concepts like the SAID principle and transfer.

The question that stood out to me was (paraphrasing here) “How do we get athletes to run faster, if they have never actually ran faster?”
How could you get someone to run faster, without the specific practice of actually running faster?

Francis did not advocate any running of sprints in the 75-95% of ones best time. His thoughts were that this was too slow to help improve the athlete’s time and would just make them slower of time.
Slower work below 75% of one’s best time was different enough to not transfer to top end speed.

I remember hearing about how he would listen to the athlete’s impact to determine how they were doing.
Above all he emphasized QUALITY work, not just adding more quantity.  Every small detail had to be accounted for at the highest level.

In 2005 he was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma and passed away Wednesday May 12, 2010 after a five-year battle with the disease.

I feel sad that I was never able to see him present in person.

Lessons I Learned

1) SAID Principle and Transfer
This was the first time I had heard of them outside of Physiology 101.

2) Quality over Quantity
Before this, I always thought that if you could do more, it was better. I learned that quality was much more important than quantity, although it took me several years to really incorporate that into my training

RIP Charlie.  Your work will carry on and you are missed by many.

Ronnie James Dio ((July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010)

Ronnie James Dio was a heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed in 5 different bands over his career including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and of course, Dio.
He had a voice that was unmistakeable and regarded as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal.
Rumor has it, he is know for for popularizing the “devil’s horns” hand gesture in metal culture.

Dio Throwing the Horns

Dio died of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010.

Lesson I Learned

1) Leverage your strengths
Dio had an iconic voice and he always leveraged that in every band. You could listen for just a few seconds and know it was Dio on vocals. I learned that working on your weakness is good, don’t forget to leverage your strengths.

RIP Dio, as the world has lost one of the greatest metal singers of all time

Comments!

What lessons have you learned? Please share them in the comments below
Rock on
Mike N

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Everyone Stop Dying!

Lessons Learned From Untimely Deaths Part 1

I just heard last night that Paul Gray, the bass player for one of my favorite bands, Slipknot, passed away at the age of 38.

Autopsy results are expected soon, but cause of death is currently unknown.

The Mechanized Wheels of Steel

I used to work at a radio station, WMTU 91.9 in Houghton MI where I was doing post grad and Masters work in Mechanical Engineering.

I remember touring Mich Tech there (MTU) and seeing that they had a private weight room next to a radio station in addition to a ski hill only a couple miles from campus. Add to this one of the top Mechanical Engineering programs in the country, and it was a no brainer. It was almost all guys though, but at the time I figured it was only a few years out of my life and there was always summer break.

I started working as a DJ at the radio station and soon was the Music Director for Loud Rock. I made nothing doing the job, but I loved it. I got to talk to all the people in the music industry and received all the new CDs before they were released. I would screen them and them put them out for other DJs to play.

I remember getting in the promo copy of Slipknot’s first CD, back almost 11 years ago now. They did not have names at the time and went only by numbers, 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. I could not believe their were 9 people in a metal band, what the heck?

I put in their CD that I just got from Roadrunner records and was blown away. Wow. I had listened to a ton of metal CDs, but this one grabbed me right away.

I later saw them outside at Ozzfest and even got see them from backstage playing a small club, The Quest, here in Minnesota. I knew the opening band The Step Kings and was on the guest list for them at the show.

We were hanging out back stage and Slipknot hit the stage. Their live show was insane! 9 people running around a moderate sized stage and it really looked like they were going to kill each other, all wearing prison-like jump suits, each with their own number on it.

From the floor, you could not see what was going behind all the drum kits, but from backstage it was a sight I will never forget.

A live clip of “Wait and Bleed’ from 2000 can be found HERE. It was true organized chaos and it was awesome!

Dead Memories

Lessons Learned

1) Never give up and you can change the world

I can’t imagine many people seeing Slipknot perform in Iowa would have ever thought they would go on to become one of the biggest metal bands ever, playing in front of sold out stadiums to millions of people over many years and even winning a Grammy award.
I know some in the record industry at that time publicly stated that if this was the future of music, they wanted no part on it.

2) It only takes 1

Roadrunner Records believed in them and signed them to their first official record deal. From there, they went on to sell 14 million records world wide. It only takes 1 to believe in you initially, to be the first follower, and where you go from there is unlimited. Only those who “get it” count, not those who do not get it.

RIP Paul Gray (April 8, 1972 – May 24, 2010)

You will be missed by many

Peter Steele of Type O Negative

Peter died of complications due to heart failure recently.

Here is one of their early videos

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

Album: Bloody kisses (1993)

From their website

Posted: April 15, 2010, 06:19:19 PM by admin in .

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Type O Negative front man, bassist, and our band mate, Peter Steele passed away last night of what appears to be heart failure.

Ironically Peter had been enjoying a long period of sobriety and improved health and was imminently due to begin writing and recording new music for our follow up to “Dead Again” released in 2007.

The official cause of death has yet to be determined pending autopsy results. The funeral services will be private and memorial services will be announced at a future date. We’d like to share our thoughts and those of Peter’s family below.
We are truly saddened to lose our friend and appreciate the tremendous outpouring today from around the world.

Sincerely,

Josh, Kenny and Johnny  source: http://www.typeonegative.net/index.php

About a month earlier, I heard that Peter Steele of the band Type O Negative had passed away due to complications of heart failure. My uncle died of heart failure and I also work part time for a medical device company that makes implantable devices to treat it. It is not any fun at all.

I remember buying my first Type O Negative CD “Bloody Kisses” when it was re-released in the digipack version. This was around Finals week and I always bought myself a CD that week so that I would have new music to study to during that stressful week. I walked into the Best Buy in Duluth Minnesota and picked it up for $16.99. Keep in mind this is around early 1994, before the MP3 had even been invented and you could not hop on the interwebz and get music.

I walked out of the store having $1.23 to my name and wondering what I just did. The good part in college was that your room and board was already paid for, so you did not need much money to live on. I was worried that it was going to suck though and then I was going to be really pissed.

Was it going to be any good? Turns out it was an awesome CD that I listened to about 20 times that week alone.

Peter Steele on the Jerry Springer Show

Never thought I would have a clip of the Jerry Springer show on here, but Peter has some great advice at the 5:41 point

Fast forward a few years later and I was working at the radio station at WMTU and got the chance to see Type O Negative in Minnesota. Awesome!

I did not have a car at the time, so I convinced Troy (a guy from my dorm floor) and Andy that we needed to go to this show. We piled in his pinto like car and off we went. It was winter and along the way he put the car in a small snow bank, but we would not be deterred.

8 hours later we were in St. Cloud Minnesota. Before I left I negotiated interviews with all the bands playing. It was a great bill with Drain STH (an all female band from Sweden) and the Industrial band Sister Machine Gun. I was so stoked.

The Big Show

We arrived there and they said we were going to talk to Kenny the guitar player. We were really hoping to at least meet Peter, but hey, the guitar player was awesome. The tour manager brought us back to the tour bus and as we got on their was Peter Steele sitting there eating cookies.

“Hey guys, how is it going?’ he said.

I stood there a bit dumb founded since I never pictured big rock stars eating cookies. Not sure why, but that mental image never came up.

Kenny decided he did not want to talk (but was very pleasant) so he got Peter to do the interview for us. For the next 20 minutes I proceeded to ask the standard “rock interview questions” that I am sure he had heard 1,000 time before

How is the tour going?

What is it like to be on tour?

How was the last show? ad nausea

I remember asking him about what type of music he listens to currently. His answer surprised me and took me several years to finally unpack it completely.

“I like whatever is passionate. I don’t have a particular type in mind, but anything that is very passionate I am a fan of” (paraphrased)

Wow, I was expecting the standard type answer about this or that band or this type of music.

I realized later that this applied more to life and not just music.

We bid our farewell after some autographs, station liners, and pictures.

All of us were giddy like school girls.

My signed copy of October Rust

And yes we did interview the band Drain STH who were great and very nice. They were trying to completely figure out the English to Metric conversion since it was their first time to the States. We interviewed Chris Randall from Sister Machine Gun who was very very cool. We even gave Peter’s bass tech a ride to the mall to buy a winter coat since he did not have one at the time.

Overall it was an amazing night that I will remember forever.

Yes, Peter Steele is VERY tall. I am 6′ 3″ and he is 5 inches taller than me, so it was pretty weird to have to look up to him.

The world will miss Peter and the music he made.

He was an amazing musician that had a very dark outlook, but never took it too serious.

Musically, one of my favorite Type O songs is “I Don’t Wanna Be Me”

Peter had never been a stranger to controversy ranging from time in jail to substance abuse, but their live shows were always amazing.

Here is one of the last interviews that Peter did HERE (not don’t watch it if you are easily offended)

n April 2007, Steele revealed that he began identifying himself as Roman Catholic in recent years, after decades of self-professed atheism. In an interview with Decibel magazine, Steele explained:

“There are no atheists in foxholes, they say, and I was a foxhole atheist for a long time. But after going through a midlife crisis and having many things change very quickly, it made me realize my mortality. And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what’s after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it’s a frightening thought to go nowhere. I also can’t believe that people like Stalinand Hitler are gonna go to the same place as Mother Teresa.”^[14]

Lessons Learned

1) Passion counts

Since I spent a good portion of my life crunching numbers, and steeped in logic; I realized that this is only part of the equation.

As I got older, I valued passion much more.
I get really worried about people that are not passionate about anything. I have much more admiration for those that are passionate, even if I don’t agree at all with what they are saying or doing, but atleast they are passionate about it and working to do their best.

Thanks again Peter for pointing this out to me years ago.

RIP Peter (January 4, 1962 – April 14, 2010)

You are missed, whether you like that or not.

Part II coming soon

Comments?

Place a comment below on an important lesson you have learned recently.  I think it would be great if we can all learn from each other

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

PS

For a very up close and personal lesson that I learned from a close friend’s death, see this post

The Time is Now!

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Testimonial for Minnesota Trainer Mike T Nelson :Knee Pain and Post ACL Recovery

Mike T Nelson here again.  I’ve injured more things on my body than I care to recount.  Everything from a busted up right ankle (snowboarding), completely tore up right shoulder (broomball), separated left shoulder (mountain biking), pulled hip flexors/groins (deadlifts and being dumb in the gym), sprained wrists multiple times (snowboarding, windsurfing), and other sprains, strains, etc.  Being injured sucks large moose balls.

Other thins I learned that suck about being injured include

• having other drive your lame butt around since your right ankle is in a cast sucks
• crutches suck, period
• crawling up the stairs in your house sucks
• buying a backpack to move things around in your own home since you are on crutches sucks
• not being able to roll over in bed at night without waking up in pain sucks
• pedaling your bike 150+ miles over 2 days with 2 pulled hip flexors and groin stupid and suck

The good thing is that I have learned a ton from each incident, but it was painful and I don’t recommend that path to you!

One of the most important things I learned is that when you injury something, do everything possible to get it back to 100%.

Not 95%, not 90%, 100%

If you don’t, the odds are you will not being the sports you love to play and may injury yourself somewhere else.

ACLs, Knee Pain and Repairs

If you have had an ACL replace and completed physical therapy, odds are you are at about 70-90%.

I am not trying to piss off all my physical therapy friends, but the reality is that most of the time your rehab is dictated by your insurance.

I busted up my ankle really good from a snowboarding incident about 5 years ago and getting back the last 10-5% of function is a bugger.   Knowing what I know now, I would be able to do it in much much less time.

You need to get back to 100% to reduce your risk of injury, especially to another part of your body as it works to compensate around your knee that you don’t quite trust 100% yet.

Your body knows what is going on, so you need to get it up to par as soon as possible post therapy.

Below is a recent testimonial from an athlete that had an ACL replaced.

Testimonial for Minnesota Trainer Mike T Nelson : Knee Pain and Post ACL Recovery

I have had surgery on both of my knees over the past 18 months.  The right knee required surgery to reconstruct a torn anterior cruciate ligament and the left knee required surgery to address some bone spurs and to repair a torn lateral meniscus.

I had the benefit of the greatest physicians I could ever imagine and very knowledgeable and caring physical therapists.

I will also pat myself on the back and say I was probably one of the most compliant patients these physicians and therapists ever saw in that I diligently followed their instruction at every step with the right attitude.

Nonetheless, after the trauma of injury and surgery, I could tell that I was not recruiting all of my muscles in not only exercising but in daily life.  My therapists did recognize this but continued to have me do exercises that they thought would get things “firing” but still did not work despite my best attempts.

I contacted Mike and we set up a session.  I would categorize myself as being cautious about what I read prior to our first session. I wouldn’t say I was skeptical but how much could Mike do that my therapists couldn’t?

He immediately identified some things such as glute recruitment and over tensing my arms and body in the belief I was exerting myself but I should relax and recruit the necessary muscles to complete the activity and not everything else.  He recognized I was limiting range of motion in an attempt to protect, in particular, my left knee.  He also recognized that I was wearing highly supportive and restrictive training and running shoes and this resulted in a complete lack of foot and ankle control and, particularly, my left foot was slapping around instead of moving in a coordinated, supported, and refined manner.

Finally, I had bizarre back of the left knee tightness that actually hampered me quite a bit.  It probably wasn’t actually in the knee but was probably in the hamstring due to overuse of the hamstring and inadequate use of the quadriceps and other stabilizers.

So, here I am only 4 sessions in.

The exercises Mike has had me do have improved my gait and my exercise routine.

I have much more range of motion and functionality.  I have much better foot control and stabilization and feel more natural and fluid when I walk.  The tightness in the back of my left knee is completely gone.

I have new shoes for working out and daily life and I never thought I would have bought into this “minimalist” shoe philosophy but it flat out works.

Mike has helped me out greatly and I look forward to continuing to work with him!

–Shantanu

Engineer, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Action Time!

What are you waiting for?  Do you have an old injury that is not up to 100%?

Email me by clicking HERE today to get started on moving, feeling and performing better!  Click HERE now!

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

PS

If you still need to be convinced, check out all the testimonials from people just like yourself below
Extreme Human Performance Testimonials

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Bench Pressing and Shoulder Pain Solutions Part 3

If you just joined in the conversation here, be sure to read the posts from the start of this series below

Shoulder Pain While Doing a Bench Press Gone Part 1

Bench Pressing and Shoulder Pain Solutions Part 2

The Solution So Far

In part 1 we discused Dave coming into the Extreme Human Performance Center here in Minnesota with pain while doing a bench press without any weight on the bar (so 45 lbs) and awhile later in the same session working up to 270 lbs without any pain!

In part 2 we discussed a solution that you can try yourself and what I did to get Dave back to benching pain free in a short amount of time.

The key in part 2 was the nervous system and looking at some opposite joints.  Dave’s LEFT shoulder was the issue, so we did some very specific mobility work for his RIGHT hip.

Now in Part 3, we will discuss the other key factor to keep you moving in the right direction, setting personal records (PRs) and increasing your athletic performance both on the field and in the gym!

Biomechanics

Most of you are probably surprised that I am now discussing more biomechanics.  When I first started learning more about exercise, I was convinced that the biomechanical path had all of the answers   Heck, I even did a MS in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech (say what up to the Yooopers) with a concentration in Biomechanics.  I spent years looking at the stuff and read even more for fun.  I will save you the discussion about the mathematical theory of plasticity and other fun stuff; so stick with me.

When I started doing Z-Health about 3.5 years ago, I fully realized the power of the nervous system since it was actually controlling the muscles and of course your movements. WOW!  Seems so obvious I know.
If your nervous system is out of whack, your performance is not ideal!

Most of my blog posts here are about how to deal with the nervous system and get the most out of it, primarily because

1) it works

2) almost nobody is talking about it

3) it works really fast

It will probably be a surprise to some of you that I am now talking about biomechanics again!  The reality is that optimal lifting technique is always important and almost everyone agrees on that.

Integration

The key is how to integrate the nervous system into the biomechanical model.  Many fitness experts are way too focus on biomechanics ONLY.  Do we truly know if your right glute is not working and that is your issue? Maybe, maybe not.  Is it ONLY your psoas?  What about all of the other muscles around that area?  Whatever your answer, we need to stay focused on the END RESULT.  That is what matters.

Are you lifting more weight while having less pain and becoming a better athlete?

“The Answer”

The approach that I use now is simply addressing 1) the nervous system and 2) the mechanical system (soft tissue, muscle, etc).

The nervous system answer was in part 1.

The mechanical answer is that we need to change the function of the tissue to work better.

In Dave’s case, we found that he had a very hard time with right hip internal rotation with his knee straight.  After doing that, the pain dropped dramatically.

I suspect that there is some tissue in his right hip that needs better function.   How do we get better function and then a tissue change to that area?  Exercise!  Load ‘em up.

Corrective Exercise

Truth be told, I have not done any standard “corrective exercise” work for about 3 years now.  I used to do a crap ton of it and while it worked to some degree, but I was never happy with the results.

The solution In Dave’s case he ended up doing a forward lunge to 45 degrees on the right leg with internal rotation at the hip.

How?

“Test the parts then test the whole” -Frankie Faires

We tested a forward lunge – good
Next tested a forward lunge to 45 degree – better
Then a forward lunge to 45 degree with internal hip rotation – best!

The testing was a range of motion test as discussed in the Gym Movements DVD and in the new upcoming Grip n Rip DVD (which has tons of amazing info on it, coming soon, so stay tuned here).

Car Talk

Ever listen to the Car Talk guys Click and Clack?  I have only listened to them a few times and I loved that they were so excited about cars.  I get the same way about exercise and human performance – how to get you to bust even more PRs!

If your car pulls to the right going down the road, what do you do?  You turn the steering wheel a bit to the left to get the car to go straight.

Think of this steering as changing the effects on the nervous system.  Each time you do a mobility drill targeted at the nervous system, you are turning the wheel a bit to the left.    The downside is that the car now go straight (increased performance, less pain), but you need to keep providing input by turning it a bit left.

You bring the car in and find that you had a bent tie rod (or some mechanical issue) that was causing the car to pull to the right all the time.   They drop a new one in (for way more money than you expected) and hours later your car now goes in a straight line, without you having to steer it left a bit.  Nice!

Your Body As a Car

Tissue is constantly changing, and by doing this particular lunge, it is like replacing the tie rod in your car; over time the tissue will adapt to a new and better function!  The results is more performance and less pain PERMANENTLY.    The shorter the issue, the shorter this process.

Summary

For long term change to have you hitting PRs like a crazy person in less pain, you need to
1) Address the nervous system via joint mobility work (some times eye movements too, but that is another topic)
2) Address the mechanics of the tissue via “corrective” exercise

Without addressing both of these, your results may be more short term.

I know this was something that I did NOT do for quite some time.  Athletes would come in, I would address the nervous system and get them out of pain and moving better; but long term they would have other issues or the same one would crop up again.   I knew they still had some “movement issues” but once they were out of pain it was hard to get them to come back again.

Now I incorporate some type of loading into their “homework” to get them moving in the right direction in case I don’t see them again.    I also emphasize that they need to have their lifting form evaluated to make sure it is correct and good for their body!   A perfect squat may NOT be the best exercise for them.

Don’t repeat my mistakes and be sure to address both the nervous system and the mechanical system with a customized approach.

Comments?

What do you think?  Let me know below!  I look forward to your comments as always.

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

PS
For more information on how to set up your own training program to have you hitting PRs in the gym all with less pain, you will need to pick up the new Grip n Rip DVD once it is out.   As soon as it is released, I will have the info here.  Not sure what the final price will be as Adam Glass,  Brad Nelson and friends are handling it; but I know it will not be cheap.   If you are good, you are not cheap.

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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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Joint Mobility for a Shoulder Issue, Which Joints Help the Most?

Common wisdom would say that you need to work on the shoulder.  Perhaps

Further done the chain they say scapular mobility.  Perhaps

Now thoracic spine mobility is the in thing.  Does that help?  Perhaps

What about opposite hip function since we know they are connected via the serape effect?  Perhpas

Opposite foot and ankle?  Same side wrist?

The key question is “How do you know”

Test it

Everyone is different, so you will need a custom approach with each athlete.

In general, for shoulder issues I find the following to work really well

• Same side wrist
• Thoracic Spine
• Opposite Hip
• Opposite foot/ankle

Does this work all the time?  No, but most of the time is does for acute/chronic movement issues.

If you get rid of the pain, is the athlete good to go?

No, you need to make sure they can play their sport at the same level as before.  Performance must be evaluated.  If there is still a decrease in performance, they are not 100%, despite passing whatever wizz bang test of the week they ace.

Comments?

What do you think?  What works for you?  Let me know in the comments section!  I love comments!!

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

PS

Thanks to Jodie for letting me film her in the video as an example.  Only 3 more weeks until the big wedding date for us!

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