Contreras Hip Thrust: Strength or Activation Exercise?

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Strength vs Activation Exercise

• When does something change from an activation exercise to a strength exercise?
• Why do we do activation work with bodyweight only?
• If we add a 10 lb plate is that strength work then?
• What is the point of an activation exercise?

If it is to activate more tissue (muscle), we know the Henneman Size Principle (1) dictates that the heavier the load, the more muscle is activated.

Higher recruitment = stronger muscle contraction

Before the pubmed ninjas go crazy on me, I agree that rate coding can and an effect too, but will table that one for now.

So

More weight = more recruitment

If we agree on that, then why would you not add more weight to the exercise?

Progressive Overload

If you are always doing endless reps of a bodyweight glute bridge (a common activation exericse), what stimulus is there for your body to get stronger?

Um, there is none unless you are adding more body fat to your midsection.   You are getting worse at that point.

You can increase overload primarily by

1) Volume: the amount of work done (sets x reps)

2) Density: the amount of work done in a set period of time (volume / time)

3) Weight or % 1 rep max:  how much weight you are using

As my buddy Frankie says

“Adaptation has no off switch”

The stimulus provided by an exercise is very very key! Work to increase volume, density and weight to trigger positive adaptation

Movement

If an exercise makes you move better (better gait, increased range of motion before tension, etc), then it is good for your body and highly “corrective” at the same time.  You can stop doing all that crazy “corrective exercise” too

If hip thrusts (as shown in the video above) improve your movement and you can use them with more load, I would argue they are superior for your goals (better looking butt, more hip power, bigger deadlift,etc)

4 Steps to End All Activation Work

1) Measure active range of motion (as shown in the Grip and Rip DVD)

2) Perform an exercise to target the area you want to work

3) Measure active range of motion again.  If better, continue to add load until you reach your rep range

4) Stop sets at the first sign of altered breathing or increased tension

If you are looking for more glute activation, hip thrusts and perhaps kettlebell swings may be a good place to start

If you are looking for more upper back work to fix up your posture, test some inverted rows or pull ups.

Frequency

Here is a trick.  If you are looking to bring up your glutes, I say blast them every day.  I would test a hip thrust every day and if it tests well, go for it.  Maybe you add this as a finisher to your training sessions even 3-4 times a week.  If you want to make a faster change, you need to test it more often for greater frequency.   I think you will be amazing how often you can do an exercise.  I’ve done some exercises for many days in a row and still made progress.   Others have done much more than I have as I tend to follow a bit more of a windy path.  I think Adam at one point tested good for the kettlebell clean and jerk for months at a time.

Another tip.  Start VERY light.

When I started doing the Contreras Hip Thrusts, I just used bodyweight.  Then the next session I used a bar, then 95 lbs, then 135, etc.  Remember progressive overload?  This was a brand new exercise for me, so why try to blast my body into oblivion on rep 1?   In a perfect world, we would provide just enough stimulus to trigger adaptation and then no more.  While science has not shown exactly how much is needed yet, from my own experience and talking to others, it appears to only be about 5-10% MORE.

Constant, consistent progress is key.   As above–a bit more volume, a bit more density, a bit more weight.   Most ONLY focus on weight and that is a mistake.  They will plateau very fast.

Summary

More load = more muscle recruitment

More frequency = more stimulus for adaptation

Test your movement to ensure you are getting better

If you move better after the exercise, why not do that more often with more weight as compared to endless amount of bodyweight “activation” drills?

Plus, this is waaaaay more fun.  Screw the pink dumbbells.

Comments

What do you think? I want to hear your thoughts on this one for sure!

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

PS
The Crazy Professors Birthday Webinar Sale end tonight, Tuesday Aug 24, 2010 at midnight CST!  They go back into the vault then until who know when, so check out all the details below now!

Crazy Professors Birthday Webinar Sale Ends Soon!!

References

Henneman, E., Somjen, G. & Carpenter, D. O. (1965). Functional significance of cell size in spinal motoneurons. J. Neurophysiol. 28, 560-580.

Bret Contreras and his wonderful blog all about the hip thrust and glutes at http://bretcontreras.wordpress.com/

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The 4S Rule: Static Stretching Still Sucks

For the long time readers of this blog, you will know I am not a fan of static stretching.   While it will not kill you or make your patella fly across the room and knock someone out, I still put it at the bottom of my list of things to try.

Carson at Boddicker Performance had a great video awhile back about static stretching that got me thinking again about it.

I did a MS in Mechanical Engineering, so I am familiar with the whole mechanical properties and geek speak that goes with it as most of my classes were in biomechanics and solid mechanics.  Solid mechanics is the advance study of how crap breaks.    I do confess that I can’t remember all the little details (ok, most of the details) from my Advanced Mathematical Theory of Plasticity class other than it made my life hell at the time.

Why No Love For Static Stretching?

My biggest concerns are

1) Push Into the Stretch

Somebody pushing an athlete into a stretch with no regards for the response from their body (again, not saying the viewers here are doing that, just in general) is a very bad idea.   I see videos of this all time and I have to shake my head about the risk/reward of doing it.

This just seems like a bad idea

I am sure there are probably some cases where it helps, but I don’t think the average trainer is skilled enough to do it and there are much much better ways to get athletes to move better. Pushing their limbs into an end range of motion and holding them there for a magical 5 count seems nuts.

2) What are you really teaching the body by stretching?

I believe you are teaching it weakness at an end range of motion.

Take any limb, push it to an end range of motion and hold it there until it gets “weaker” (yes I understand the differences in stiffness, vs flexibility etc).

I don’t want my athletes (nor myself) to be WEAK at END ROM.

3) Static stretching before an event reduces power output.

We don’t need more studies on this (see references at the end), but I see more and more studies on this all the time. Enough with the friggin studies, go find some better questions to ask.

Yes I know waiting or a dynamic mobility routine will change this, but if it decreased power and something else made them better, why would we waste time on static stretching?

4) Stillness = Rigid tissue

Thanks to Frankie for this one.  Holding a stretch is stillness (no movement) at an end range of motion = more rigid tissue.

The body will adapt by increased the rigidity (stiffness) of the tissue.   This is not a good idea.  Scar tissue is more rigid and is a good work around, but not as good as the original tissue.

Everyone agrees that the hip flexors and especially the psoas are “short” and tight now in most athletes.  How did they get that way?   Probably from all that sitting on your butt you are doing (myself included in that one too).

It is just an adaptation to a shortened position (the hip flexors are shorter in a seated position).  The body is ALWAYS adapting.

So why is it such a stretch (hahahaha, I make bad joke) to think that the body will not adapt to an end position of a static stretch? I agree you may “lengthen” the tissue a bit, but at what cost?  What tissue properties have you altered?

Movement = more flexible “happy” tissue

Making flexibly tissue rigid is a very bad idea.

Big Can o’ Worms Opened Up- Bonus Item!

Isometrics are not much better either.

Long plank holds are teaching tissue to be rigid.  Yes I understand all the studies that look at this, but it is also not very specific.  When does an athlete ever stay in a plank position for 60 seconds at a time in a game?  Hmmmm, how about never.

I understand that it is hard for many athletes to do long plank holds and they may shake like a leaf in a tornado and there is evidence that it may be a SCREEN for low back pain (reference McGill), but I don’t think athlete should be TRAINING this way.

I doubt a long plank hold will do crap for a fast volleyball spike in regards to core force transfer or a baseball player hitting a home run.

Low load, long duration movement has a very low chance of positively transferring to a very high output, short, explosive movement (hitting a baseball, volleyball serve/spike, etc)

We want the CORRECT tissue for the CORRECT job.

So If You Don’t Use Static Stretching, What Do You Use?

As I pointed out in this post on corrective exercise, I actually use exercise to correct issues.  Go figure.  But I don’t use tons of “corrective exercise work”

I have the athlete test the exercise (as shown in the Grip n Rip DVD) via range of motion and if it is good, the athlete is moving in the right direction.  The exercise is then showing a positive adaptation (instead of a negative one where range of motion decreases).    Simple.

Sometimes I will use some joint mobility work, but only when needed.  I only get as fine as needed and start with gross movements first based on this post on Purposeful Joint Mobility

Correct exercise under load is a powerful stimulus.

Yikes, off my soap box I go.

Comments

What do you think?  Do you use static stretching?  Has it helped?   What have you found that works?

rock on

Mike T Nelson

PS

If you want to make the best progress of your life just like over 100 other people, pick up a copy of Grip n Rip today!

REFERENCES on static stretching

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

4 Stupid Fitness Things that Need To End

I have dream that the fitness world is under a revolution.   Time to stop living by all the rules of how to train based on their rules.

I WANNA LIVE IN A FEARLESS STATE
I WANNA LIVE WITHOUT THE HATE
I WANNA BE ABLE TO DECIDE MY FATE
I WANNA BREAK OUT OF THIS CAGE

LET’S TAKE IT BACK
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE

–Welcome to the Future by Left Spine Down

4 Stupid Fitness Things that Need To End

1) Seeking More Sensation During Training.

Trying to actively feel everything is a recipe for chronic pain.  I stole this idea from Frankie.   You don’t need to actively seek it.  If you screw up bad enough for your body, pain WILL find you.  Trust me on this.  I’ve done the experiments in my own lab.  If you don’t trust me, let me know if you find it not to be true.  I suggest you not test this one out.

Think of pain as an indicator light and your last line of defense.  If I don’t put oil in my car ever, and my Ford pinto burns oil like at the rate of sweat running off a fat man chasing a runaway M&M, I wil have damage.

You don’t listen to pain in your body, you too will have some damage.

When the oil light comes on, I better stop the car before I destroy it (unless someone hits me from behind and I blow up anyway)

No, I am still not convinced your body will lie to you.  If you can’t trust your own body, you are going to trust your body to someone else who does not trust their body either to tell you what is going on?  I am all for guidance and seeking help, but their goal is to help you interpret what is going on based on your feedback.

Ford Pinto: Source

2) Don’t Learn a New Exercise Until You Can Do It Correctly

Oh boy, don’t start those dangerous deadlifts since you may just suck at them since you have never done them.
Newsflash, of course you are going to suck, you have never done them!  With the exception of a few crazy athletes, you will NOT be very good at them on the first rep.

“The first rep is the worst rep!” -Frankie Faires

Did anyone not learn to play golf because they were afraid they were going to suck at it?   Or did you want to learn to play golf, took lessons, stuck with it and became pretty good (or at least better).

The first time I learned to kiteboard, I got my a$$ handed to me over and over and over, even during a lesson!  My buddy Rob had bruised his ribs earlier in the week and had to keep chasing the kite down as I floored it right into the ground.  After about 20 minutes of this I hear “You suck!”   The truth was I did suck, but over time, I got better.  I also got a free trip across the soccer fiedl on my butt, complete with sexy grass stains as the kite powered up.

If you want to learn to kiteboard, take a lesson, but don’t NOT try it.

Did I never start because I was afraid I would suck?  Nope.

Why would you not learn to do an exercise for fear you wil suck?  Stupid idea that has got to go the way of the DooDoo bird.

DooDoo bird: Source

For the new readers, I am NOT saying load a bar up to 400 lbs and go ape $hit crazy with it and send your spine across my gym.   I hate to clean up that kind of mess.

Test it, maybe you only do rack pulls. Maybe you can’t deadlift the standard way so you use a trap bar or even sumo style.  Work around it, test it (ala Grip n Rip) and get better.

My buddy Brad Nelson has the perfect line with new clients

Brad to client “Are you a perfectionist”
Client   “Yes”
Brad “Then today is not your day”

Love it.
Start today!

3) Perfect Nutrition 100% of the Time

How demotivating is that.  Sorry, you suck and you will have to eat chicken and broccoli the rest of your life, so start looking forward to that and please pay me more money so I can tell you how wonderful it is too.

I will then spend more time to tell you that broccoli has over 300 different phytonutritents and is really not the vile weed you think it is

Broccoli-A Vile Weed or Nutrient Powerhouse? Source

That is BS on a stick and you know it.

The goal of a long term program should be to eat as many “bad foods” as you can get away with WHILE keeping your body composition and health goals.

This gives the client some friggin hope.  Yes, it is going to suck for awhile as your metabolism changes, but we are working towards you enjoying food long term and not making anything off limits forever.

If 4 brownies on a Saturday afternoon destroys you for the rest of the week, there are some issues to fix.

Caveat.  I am not saying that you should mainline high fructose corn syrup, eat boxes of Twinkies for lunch and order more large slurpees with no ice from the 7-11 across the street that you rode your scooter to.

If your body composition and metabolism is a wreck, you have some work to do, but the body is amazingly adaptable and a vast majority of the time we can alters its ability to convert food into fuel with few “ill consequences”  Hint, you NEED to exercise.  This BS that exercise does not help obesity has got to stop also.    Studies has shown that with exercise we can change your metabolic flexibity in a rather short period of time (1), even those who are diabetic or borderline diabetic.

4) Isolated Exericse Cues

Why would I cue your lat muscle during a pressing movement?  Last time I checked, the lat pulls the humerous (upper arm) DOWN, which is the opposite of my goal to press the darn heavy weight up!  How about I cue you based on the movement I want you to do? Hmm, I see an experiment here.

Latissimus Dorsi Muscle: Source

Why can we cue isolated movement, but argue that compound movements are better?

This makes no sense.  Some rip on bodybuilders for doing “isolation work” (can we really isolate anything in the body?) and say compound movements are best; but in the same breath state that you need to work more on your VMO in your quads to stabilze your knee.

Or as above, you need to contract and pull your lat down while pressing.

How can you cue an isolated movement when you just stated isolation was bad?

How about we give ONE cue (yes ONE cue) at a time (no vomitting cues on them) on what movement we want the athlete to accomplish first.  Let’s start there and see how that goes.  Give their own brain a chance to fix it.  Their own brain is darn smart at running their own body (it has lots of reps).

How would you know the lat was the problem or maybe it was the lower trap since I just read an article that said the lower traps are really lazy bastards and don’t like to work.  Or maybe it is rhomboids, etc etc.  Or maybe we need more YTWLs and more corrective work.

If you are teaching better gross (large scale) movement, let’s start there by cueing gross movement.  Only get finer when needed.

Comments
What do you think on these?  Have I lost it completely?  Let me know either way!

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Refernces
1) Diabetes. 2010 Mar;59(3):572-9. Epub 2009 Dec 22.
Restoration of muscle mitochondrial function and metabolic flexibility in type 2 diabetes by exercise training is paralleled by increased myocellular fat storage and improved insulin sensitivity.

Meex RC, Schrauwen-Hinderling VB, Moonen-Kornips E, Schaart G, Mensink M, Phielix E, van de Weijer T, Sels JP, Schrauwen P, Hesselink MK.

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Mitochondrial dysfunction and fat accumulation in skeletal muscle (increased intramyocellular lipid [IMCL]) have been linked to development of type 2 diabetes. We examined whether exercise training could restore mitochondrial function and insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Eighteen male type 2 diabetic and 20 healthy male control subjects of comparable body weight, BMI, age, and VO2max participated in a 12-week combined progressive training program (three times per week and 45 min per session). In vivo mitochondrial function (assessed via magnetic resonance spectroscopy), insulin sensitivity (clamp), metabolic flexibility (indirect calorimetry), and IMCL content (histochemically) were measured before and after training. RESULTS: Mitochondrial function was lower in type 2 diabetic compared with control subjects (P = 0.03), improved by training in control subjects (28% increase; P = 0.02), and
restored to control values in type 2 diabetic subjects (48% increase; P < 0.01). Insulin sensitivity tended to improve in control subjects (delta Rd 8% increase; P = 0.08) and improved significantly in type 2 diabetic subjects (delta Rd 63% increase; P < 0.01). Suppression of insulin-stimulated endogenous glucose production improved in both groups (-64%; P < 0.01 in control subjects and -52% in diabetic subjects; P < 0.01). After training, metabolic flexibility in type 2 diabetic subjects was restored (delta respiratory exchange ratio 63% increase; P = 0.01) but was unchanged in control subjects (delta respiratory exchange ratio 7% increase; P = 0.22). Starting with comparable pretraining IMCL levels, training tended to increase IMCL content in type 2 diabetic subjects (27% increase; P = 0.10), especially in type 2 muscle fibers. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise training restored in vivo mitochondrial function in type 2 diabetic subjects. Insulin-mediated glucose
disposal and metabolic flexibility improved in type 2 diabetic subjects in the face of near-significantly increased IMCL content. This indicates that increased capacity to store IMCL and restoration of improved mitochondrial function contribute to improved muscle insulin sensitivity.

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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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A Unique Way to Assess Athletes and Clients: An Interview with Mike T Nelson

Just a quick heads up that Rick posted an interview I did with him about a unique way to assess athletes and clients.  A huge thanks to Rick for taking the time to do the interview and I am more than happy to help out.

Just a note that since the interview, I have changed my thoughts a bit too as I have learned more.  My current views are summed up in these two posts

Get off the Corrective Exercise Bandwagon

Bench Press and Shoulder Pain Solutions Part 3

It is still a snapshot in time that may help out, so check it at

Exercises for Injuries: A Unique Fitness Assessment: Interview with Mike T Nelson

Rock on

Mike  T Nelson

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Get Off the Corrective Exercise Bandwagon: The End of All Corrective Exercise

Hi, I am Mike’s Ego

This is based on some thoughts I’ve been having for years and was spurred by a great conversation with Adam T Glass and Frankie Faires a few weekends ago.   Scary that we all had similar thoughts.

Just like my “Get Off the Foam Roller” and “Get Off the Treadmill” posts, this one will probably not be popular either.

My goal is not to poke the hornet’s nest again, but to hopefully spark some good discussion and move the industry way ahead.  Just so we are clear, we are all adults and I can disagree with someone’s thoughts and that does not mean I hate them as a person or wish any ill will for them.  Everyone is doing the best they can at the point they are currently at.  My goal is discussion and further advancements in the field for everyone.

Feel free to throw me under the bus as my ego is becoming Gumby like,  but I am not the first person to have these thoughts, nor will I be the last.

“My biggest issue with the corrective exercise stuff, as all the bright folks who responded to the post also stated, is that any movement/exercise can be corrective. I think too many of the “experts” have been spewing too much pseudo rehabilitation stuff and now everyone is over-thinking/over-correcting symptoms and playing the role of therapist. I thought exercise in general was therapeutic and pro-active. What about true expert coaching of basics and allowing these basic gross movement patterns to do the correcting? “

–Aaron Schwenzfeier, Strength Coach

“Take a kid that can’t olympic lift well and see what his jumping abilities are. Corrective exercises ripped off from PT are just patch work reruns and tissue texture and great root training is far better than adding glute bridges”.

–Carl Valle, Sprint Coach, Elite Track

Corrective vs Functional Exericse

Send all hate mail to me, not the guys above since I reposted their thoughts, but I hear fitness professionals talk about the difference between “corrective’ vs “functional” exercise.

Heck, I just hear it again today!

What is the difference?  Is there one?  Are we really helping?  Are we physical therapists?

Stop humping a piece of foam!

Corrective Exercise Drills

Corrective drills they say are things like YTWLs (rotator cuff work), scap wall slides, glute bridges, long duration isometric holds, arm bars, Turkish Get Ups with lighter weight, etc that are needed to fix an issue using exercise.

What are YTWLs?

I like the idea of fixing stuff, so we are in agreement there.

Functional Exercise Drills

Functional work is more single leg work (since that is more functional than squats as we spend more time on one leg), push ups, lunges, bench press (or maybe not).  These drills make an athlete more “functional”.

If this guy ever shows up in my gym, he better watch out for flying kettlebells

Someone has to put an end to the madness

In all fairness, I am told the trend is moving away from the BOSU ball/balance on everything crap.  I would like to believe it, but every time I go into a standard gym I see trainer putting clients and athletes on these contraptions making them look like trained seals.  No, not Navy SEALS tough guy, the kind you see in animal shows.

Inbetween we have well intentioned ideas about HOW to do these functional things.  Make sure to tighten your glutes, really pack your shoulder in place, and so on (insert smacking my forehead Homer Simpson style)

At the same time, fitness gurus will say that exercise done well (even functional work?) is corrective.  I do like that part a bit better.

Anyone confused yet?

I study this stuff for a living and I shake my head in dismay as it is confusing!  Who is right?  Is there a right?

Hold on Tex

Before you fire off that email to me or post a comment below (I do love comments), note that I am not saying these things can’t work from time to time.  Physiology is really messy and lots of stuff may “work” but at what cost and how long does it take?  If something truly worked, why would you be doing the EXACT same corrective drills all the times?

Are you just putting a band aid over a bigger issue?

Here We Go, Hold On

Pop quiz time.  My students always hated when I would show up to class and say those dreaded three words.

• Should exercise make someone better?

I sure as heck hope so.

• Would you willingly do something that made you worse

I sure hope not.

We are in agreement for now that exercise should make you better.  Yes?  Nod your head.

If exercise makes you better, you should function better and be more “functional”, right?

Your posture,  performance in the gym and on the field, shoulder and back pains (especially low back) should improve over time also.

Do we need to deferentiate between “corrective” and “functional” if the CORRECT exercise for YOU does both by making you better?

If certain exercises are corrective are all the others not corrective?  If you are not doing corrective exercise work, are you doing bad exercise?

And Finally

If all exercise when tested, makes you better, is their really ANY functional/corrective exercise?

I don’t think so.

Everything should make you better.

If not, find something that will make you better.

If you are not sure, ask a better question.

As a side rant, I rarely ever use any of the standard corrective work at all.  I have not really used it for almost 2.5 years now.

I test exercise and see what the effect is.  If it is better, than we are on the right path.

If it is not better, we try something else.   I then show YOU how to test it yourself.

If you are not testing, how do YOU know an exercise is good for YOU?

Comments

It is a bit of a head trip and really takes an open mind to try to wrap your head around it, but I know the readers here are up to the task at hand.   Your effort will be rewarded.

Let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below!  Agree or not, let me kow.

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

PS

If you missed the post yesterday about Frank’s experience testing his exercises, you really need to give it a listen.

FREE 1 hour audio on how to gain more muscle with less pain in

record time

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