Let’s start with the first and most commonly known thing about the plank and that is how to perform one. A standard plank is performed with arms shoulder-width apart and toes on the ground, raise your body until your body is in a line, from the top of your head to the top of your heels. If you are interested in learning more about the plank and its history and variations, continue reading below.

How Planks Became So Ubiquitous

It all started with Joseph Pilates. That’s right, the inventor of the massively popular Pilates system is said to “invent” the plank. In Pilates, he would perform an exercise known as leg pull front. This exercise would be performed for reps and as a strengthening exercise.

And while we see several of the movements from pilates come up, this one’s popularity is not just due to Pilates. It wasn’t really until 2005 when Brian MacKenzie came out with his 101 Evaluation Tests for athletes where the plank was used to determine core strength. We then saw other people jump into the fray.

First Ace Fitness began to jump in and talk about the benefits of the plank. Expressing that the sit-up should be replaced by the plank. Then in 2009, the International Association of Fire Fighters included the plank in their fitness evaluation. Today, the International Sports Science Association calls planks one of the most effective abdominal exercises one can do.

If you want to dig a little deeper, try The History of the Plank Exercise by Conor Heffernan.

Is the Plank an Accurate Marker for Abdominal Strength?

So, we move forward to today. While I agree that the plank is one of the simplest and easiest exercises to coach and perform there is, let’s look at what it is good for. It is no secret that the plank is an easy way to quantify the core stability and muscular endurance of your core.

However, if you look at the world record holder George Hood, who is a 62-year-old former Marine who has a record for holding a static-hold plank for 8 hours 15 minutes and 15 seconds. What in impressive feat!

So while impressive, common thought would illustrate that it is more of a specific adaptation rather than a universal marker of strength. If it were a universal marker of strength, we would see individuals between 20-40 years old peaking on this rather than a 62-year-old man.

We are in our peak performance age between 20-40 years old. So we are able to build our static sagittal core stability while performing this exercise, however, it’s expression as the be-all and end-all of abdominal strength is overstated.

The Limitations of Planking

The core is capable of doing a great many things. The first limiting factor is that it does not work or improve our rotational stability; this can be done with a side plank with a reach through.

By turning on your side and reaching one arm up to the sky and stretching as far as you can and returning to the starting position, you are improving the rotational core stability and strength.

We can also do a side plank manipulation where you touch your hip to the ground and elevate to work your obliques. Beyond this, for those of us obsessed with the rectus abdominis or the six-pack, you can do a low mountain climber to really work those muscles.

The myth of the plank working the glutes goes back to Pilates’ root exercise. When you plank your glutes are in their natural position thus you are not actually not fighting gravity thus this is the same as just squeezing the muscles.

An amazing variation of the plank is actually the reverse plank; this is much harder and has resistance in the glutes and scapular retractors. In the reverse plank, you will flip over facing the ceiling squeezing your back and glutes tight to elevate yourself.

Today you will not find a single abdominal routine that does not incorporate some variation of the plank. There are amazing devices out there to help you perform the plank. That will assist you in timing, positioning, as well as cushioning.

The plank is an activity that no exercise routine is complete without, however, we need to make sure that we do not overemphasize it. While it should be included it shouldn’t be over-promoted.

The post Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Plank but Were Afraid to Ask appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

No one would argue with any method that would allow you to increase muscle strength and size using less weight and volume of training. It’s called occlusion training, KAATSU training, or blood flow restriction training (BFR).

Antonio Squillante – The Pinnacle of Isolation Training

Occlusion training is probably one of the most effective ways to promote angiogenesis. This noisy, sophisticated word describes nothing but the physiological process of creating new blood vessels from pre-existing capillaries. For lack of better words, it is the process of increasing capillary density within a specific tissue, in this case, muscle.

Without going too much in depth digging through academic papers and peer-reviewed articles, angiogenesis is a process that normally takes place with training. It’s triggered by gene expression and it’s more likely to occur after endurance-based training. Blood flow restriction training, however, seems to trigger this process in a more specific, localized manner by means of resistance training. It’s, in essence, the pinnacle of isolation training for general endurance purposes.

More capillaries available means two things: more oxygen and less waste product during prolonged, aerobic training and/or between bursts of high-intensity anaerobic training. Over the long distance, this means more significant improvements in terms of VO2Max and/or more volume in terms of heavy strength training.

Better VO2Max and higher tonnage ultimately lead to better improvements in strength, power, and endurance. It’s an investment in the body’s physiological resources to create the foundation for a higher level of functional adaptation. As any other process involving tissue re-modeling, occlusion training takes quite a long time to create a long-lasting adaptation. It very well fit in a GPP program for athletes, being the main goal an overall improvement in work capacity. It can, also, be used to improve power endurance later on during the season as it creates a situation of intense acidosis, strategically pre-fatiguing the muscles.

Ted Sloan – BFR is Efficient and Healing

BFR has been proven through many years of trial and error and through recent scholarly studies to be a highly effective means of training the body and muscle. Although BFR can benefit hypertrophy, strength and fibrous tissue repair, a fairly new use has arisen.

Recent studies show BFR can also be highly useful in the ability to positively affect cardiovascular endurance. Through various studies, BFR has been shown to reduce stroke volume and increase heart rate in participants. A significant increase in blood pressure coincides with these previously mentioned factors to help positively affect the cardiovascular system and consequently increase cardiovascular endurance.

However, due to the increase in blood pressure, it is important to be cautious with the subjects exposed to this form of training. Someone with hypertension, would not be a good fit, for example. Obviously, with any form of training, there are many different modalities that can be used.

Studies have been performed on the effects of BFR use through walking and biking. Common protocols are 15 minutes of BFR use on either walking or biking for 2 to 4 times weekly. Just as with lifting weights, it is important to perform submaximal work.

In one study, subjects biked for 15 minute intervals 3 times a week for 8 weeks. This group increased their exercise time to exhaustion by 15.4% and their VO2Max by 6.4% with only a 3.9% increase in time to exhaustion in control groups and a minor decrease in VO2Max by controlled participants.

Muscle hypertrophy and strength gains were extremely minimal or non-existent in the control group, while the BFR group achieved a 5.4% muscle volume increase and a 7.7% increase in leg extension strength. Participants in the walking studies did not experience as much of a strength increase, however, also tended to experience an increase in hypertrophy.

If used properly, BFR can help to reduce the total work required by an athlete when entering the introductory stages of an off-season training program. Often times, the athlete has taken a period of time off from training and requires some basic cardiovascular work in order to return the resting heart rate back to a healthy acceptable level, on top of the oftentimes initial goal of rebuilding some muscle mass.

This simple protocol can be completed by the athlete on their own time with minimal effort. BFR has been proven to help heal the body much more efficiently than traditional strength training, increase hypertrophy more quickly than traditional strength training and also to simultaneously increase cardiovascular endurance when performed under the right conditions and circumstances. There are few protocols that can help to achieve all three of these tasks, especially during 15 minute intervals performed only a few times a week.

Giulio Palau – Adding Volume to Hypertrophy Programs

In an age where there are so many training methods and modalities to choose from, it can be hard to discern fact from fiction or rather, fad from fiction. If recent talk of BFR training has aroused your sense of skepticism I can’t blame you.

At first glance, it seems like another gimmick perpetuated by an industry of seemingly inexhaustible gimmicks and false pretenses. However, after taking a closer look at the literature, I was pleasantly surprised that BFR seems to be quite effective at inducing a variety of favorable training adaptations with low risk and little to no cost.

The basic premise is this: the metabolic stress caused by partially restricting blood flow to the limbs with an external cuff (6 or 7 tightness on a scale of 1-10) during sub-maximal (about 20-30% of 1RM), high volume (around 15-30 reps x 3-5 sets) strength training, can produce similar strength and hypertrophy adaptations as traditional, high-intensity loading.

This is theorized to be a result of the metabolic effect of the accumulation of lactate and the subsequent hypoxic environment created in the working tissues. One of the direct consequences of this type of metabolic stress is a spike in growth hormone or GH, which has been measured as high as 290x baseline after BFR training (as compared to 100x over baseline with traditional strength training).

Much of the hypertrophic effect has been attributed to this hormonal response. However, this doesn’t fully account for measured increases in strength after a period of BFR training (measured in squat and bench strength in one study). This may be explained by the high threshold of motor units recruited as a result of BFR. Typically, the nervous system recruits motor units in proportion to the amount of force required to overcome an external load.

However, the metabolic stress caused by high volume training in general, and BFR in particular training, can “trick” the nervous system into recruiting a high threshold of motor units in the working musculature. These effects have been measured in working tissues both proximal and distal to the external cuff. In other words, BFR training effects both the limbs and the torso.

The end result is a training modality that can produce measurable gains in both strength and size of muscles with low loading and therefore minimal mechanical and neural stress. This can be hugely useful in adding volume to a hypertrophy program without causing inflammation, or in rehabilitating post-op or post injury clients with poor motor recruitment patterns or a low tolerance for mechanical loading. It should be noted, however, that blood flow restriction training is not an alternative to traditional strength training, but rather a supplement to traditional high-intensity loading.

Adaptations of traditional high-intensity training such as neural drive and connective tissue conditioning are important and essential to being strong and healthy. However, BFR training seems to be an effective tool for metabolic and tissue conditioning in addition to strength training or in the special cases where high loads may not be tolerated.

If your sense of skepticism is still tingling consider this, blood flow restriction training has been around at least since 1966 when Yoshiaki Sato first developed a “blood flow moderation exercise” method which later became the Kaatsu Training society. Now that the mechanisms of BFR are well measured and understood we can begin to implement this tool effectively into a training program. I’m happy to say that there’s nothing here that needs to be taken on insufficient evidence… this time.

References:

1. Zachary Pope, et. al., “Exercise and Blood Flow Restriction,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 27(10), 2013.

2. Moore, Daniel R., Kirsten A. Burgomaster, Lee M. Schofield, Martin J. Gibala, Digby G. Sale, and Stuart M. Phillips. “Neuromuscular Adaptations in Human Muscle Following Low Intensity Resistance Training with Vascular Occlusion.” European Journal of Applied Physiology 92, no. 4–5 (August 2004): 399–406.

3. Takarada, Y., Y. Nakamura, S. Aruga, T. Onda, S. Miyazaki, and N. Ishii. “Rapid Increase in Plasma Growth Hormone after Low-Intensity Resistance Exercise with Vascular Occlusion.” Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md.: 1985) 88, no. 1 (January 2000): 61–65.

4. Abe, Takashi, Satoshi Fujita, Toshiaki Nakajima, Mikako Sakamaki, Hayao Ozaki, Riki Ogasawara, Masato Sugaya, et al. “Effects of Low-Intensity Cycle Training with Restricted Leg Blood Flow on Thigh Muscle Volume and VO2MAX in Young Men.” Journal of Sports Science & Medicine 9, no. 3 (September 1, 2010): 452–58.

5. P Renzi, Christopher, Hirofumi Tanaka, and Jun Sugawara. “Effects of Leg Blood Flow Restriction during Walking on Cardiovascular Function.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 42 (November 1, 2009): 726–32.

6. Bunevicius, Kestutis, Arturas Sujeta, Kristina Poderiene, Birute Zachariene, Viktoras Silinskas, Rimantas Minkevicius, and Jonas Poderys. “Cardiovascular Response to Bouts of Exercise with Blood Flow Restriction.” Journal of Physical Therapy Science 28, no. 12 (December 2016): 3288–92. https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.28.3288

The post A Blood Flow Restriction Training Primer appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

It’s shocking to think that we may not have a grasp of the most functions of our body. Something like breathing may seem automatic but a number of factors conspire to create bad habits. Therefore, it’s safe to say that good breathing is important. However, it isn’t just about breathing right. It’s also about understanding how the mechanics of breathing can brace us for exertion like the way we brace our trunk with a deep breath, held properly when we are performing a heavy squat. Breathing creates both flow and pressure and has to be applied correctly for optimal performance, no matter what the activity.

Ted Sloan – Developing Correct Breathing Technique

Proper breathing has become all the rage recently in the fitness world. Schools such as Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) have developed special protocols and arguments for why it is so important to educate your clientele on this often incorrectly performed “natural” activity. I have heard some coaches, books, and articles claim that a common cause of improper breathing technique can be attributed to the ever increasing time spent in seated postures; this, however, is not the case.

The ancient Chinese health practitioners of Qigong have described this same phenomenon in their written texts from thousands of years ago. As we progress from childhood to adulthood, our breathing is altered from deep diaphragmatic breaths through the belly, to upper lung respiration that causes the chest and shoulders to rise, creating stiff musculature in the sternocleidomastoids and upper trapezius among others, instead of using the diaphragm, internal obliques, transverse abdominals, and intercostals.

PRI teaches proper diaphragmatic breathing through a series of carefully designed protocols that reduce respiratory effort, allow for deep inhalation and exhalation, and allow users to access their sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems more easily. This, in turn, allows better recovery, sleep, and relaxation, while enhancing the effects of sympathetic activation, when the fight-or-flight system is required. When discussing the use of PRI protocols, it is important to note that their explanation of how and why these issues occur, is significantly more complex and important to grasp if you are interested in educating others on the subject.

For example, PRI explains that as humans, we carry natural asymmetries, such as our heart inhibiting our inspiration in our upper left thoracic cavity and a liver in our lower right abdominal cavity, which causes unwanted rotational aspects into our breathing patterns and eventually causes semi-permanent changes to occur.

If your goal is simply to learn to breathe properly or teach the basics of proper respiration, a simple book such as Belissa Vranch’s “Breathe” is a great place to begin. It is, however, important to note that changes in how the ribs position themselves above the pelvis, can in some cases negatively affect athletic performance in some aspects and PRI attempts to modify these unwanted changes. Depending on your goals, there are many amazing options to choose from!

Giulio Palau – Respiration for Strength and Stability

Respiration is unique in that it can be a conscious or unconscious process. Many physiological mechanisms are connected or associated with the breath. Therefore, breathing techniques can provide a useful lever on otherwise autonomic processes. This is the basic premise of Wim Hof’s forced breathing practice. Although some of Wim’s claims on the benefits of his program may border on hyperbole, there is evidence to suggest that his techniques are effective at reducing inflammation, suppressing the auto-immune response, and strengthening respiratory muscles.

His breathing exercises are relatively safe and easy to practice. Take 30 deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Begin the breaths at a comfortable pace and gradually increase the rate of each breath cycle while inhaling and exhaling fully. After 30 breaths hold on an exhale until you feel yourself gasping for breath.

Breathe in fully and hold for 10-15 seconds. Breathe normally. Recent studies suggest that this forced breathing exercise causes a release of epinephrine, which in turn stimulates an anti-inflammatory response and a dampening of pro-inflammatory hormone responses. Subjects of the experimental group who were intravenously injected with a bacterial endotoxin were able to significantly suppress inflammation and flu-like symptoms compared with the control group.

Although the exact mechanism is not known, it has been suggested that the production of adrenaline (epinephrine) spikes during forced breathing exercises, while cortisol remains relatively low. This could be a useful tool in mitigating chronic stress and inflammation. As a strength coach, forced breathing techniques are valuable because they strengthen the breathing muscles, many of which are important for stabilizing the spine and maintaining torso stiffness during exercise.

Studies have shown that forced breathing exercises performed 3 times per week over 6 weeks in populations suffering from low back pain resulted in improved results in stabilizing the spine, managing pain symptoms, and addressing lordotic posture.

Strengthening the respiratory musculature also allows for higher levels of intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) by increasing the contraction of the exhalation muscles while performing the Valsalva maneuver (exhalation against a closed airway). The skill of IAP is crucial to building maximal strength by stabilizing the torso. Another useful application of diaphragmatic breathing is in populations with shoulder and/or neck pain.

Chest breathing or shallow breathing can overwhelm secondary breathing muscles like the pec minor and upper trapezius resulting in elevation and protraction of the shoulders sometimes referred to as upper crossed syndrome. This posture can result in chronic tightness in the neck and shoulders and an increased cortisol response causing chronic inflammation. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is often useful in releasing tension in the cervical area and building stability in the torso.

Breathing with intention is an indispensable tool for building strength and stability and mitigating stress and inflammation, and may provide a way to consciously affect otherwise unconscious physiological processes. The importance of the breath should not be underestimated in strength training or in its role in health and well-being.

Antonio Squillante – Creating Support and Pressure With Your Breath

Breathing is more than just delivering oxygen and release carbon dioxide. By increasing intrabdominal pressure respiration comes into play as an auxiliary system to support the abdominal musculature as they brace the midsection. It becomes easier to understand the importance of breathing and intrabdominal pressure if we start from a basic example: is it easier to crash an empty, open can of soda or a full, closed one?

A full closed one we would all agree. Well, what creates tension within the can of soda is air, trapped between the walls of the cylinder and the fluid within it. If we do open the can – meaning, we release this “extra” pressure – the liquid itself won’t prevent us from crashing the container with minimal effort. Similar, an abdominal canister that is tightened from the outside in – via the isometric action of the core musculature – and from the inside out – by an increase in intraabdominal pressure via the active, forced inspiration – will always provide a more solid base of support for movements to occur.

Does that mean that we need to learn how to perform the Valsalva maneuver if we want to be able to perform better? By any means, no. It’s all about learning how to brace the core via the active, voluntary diaphragmatic respiration: it’s not about the amount of air we suck into our lungs, it’s rather about the amount of pressure we can generate via the diaphragm pressing against the abdominal cavity. It’s more than just “take a big breath and squat”.

No matter how forcefully we try to inspire, no air goes into our belly to support our core. It’s basic anatomy. The only way of increasing pressure within the abdominal cavity is by expanding the diaphragm so that its fibers can actively “push” from the top down against the abdominal wall. This mechanism is further support by the complementary respiratory muscles, those muscles that support forced inspiration and expiration during intense physical activity. These muscles belong to the core musculature, which again stresses the importance of core training in athletics.

The post Conscious Breathing Strategies in Strength Training and Recovery appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Sled training can trace its origins to Scandinavian loggers who developed powerful legs and lower backs from dragging downed trees out of forests all day but the popularity of fitness sleds are a relatively modern phenomenon. One of the first commercial sleds, the prowler, was specifically built to condition football linemen. Today, you will no doubt see sleds in most gyms being used for interval training, speed training, strongman training, fat-loss conditioning, and general cardiovascular conditioning. So, how effective is sled training and when should it be applied?

Giulio Palau – Sleds Are Versatile and Time Efficient Training Tools

The sled is an incredibly versatile and effective training tool. If used properly, the sled can be used for metabolic conditioning, strength training, and hypertrophy.

High intensity interval training has been shown to be much more effective for both anaerobic and aerobic metabolic conditioning than steady state, low intensity training. Because of the increased demand of high intensity training, anaerobic pathways are taxed heavily during exertion. However, research has shown that aerobic metabolism is also taxed heavily during recovery from exercise both between sets and after high intensity training sessions. This increased metabolic demand suggests that high intensity training is more effective for altering body mass composition, increasing VO2 max, and favorably affecting other metrics of fitness, including insulin sensitivity.

Using the sled as a tool for high intensity interval training has the added benefit of increasing strength and adding volume to training sessions without the risk of overtraining. Because sled exercises are typically concentric in nature, they cause less physiological stress on the body and therefore can safely be used with more volume and frequency than other training modalities. Also, sled pulling and pushing exercises mimic the lower body mechanics of sprinting and acceleration to build strength specific to those movements with much less impact on the body.

Because most sports require short and frequent high intensity exertion, sled training can be sports specific, however, the sled is also highly scalable for different populations because the exercises are not highly technical and load and other variables are easily adjusted. There is an intuitive element to sled movements that are self correcting. Inefficient movement is immediately apparent as the sled becomes much harder to move.

That being said, programming for different training goals will require some tweaking of the relevant variables: mainly intensity, rest intervals, time under tension, and distance. Intensity here should be measured relative to how far you can move the sled before reaching failure at the selected weight. Meaning your max load will be different at a 20 yard distance than a 40 yard distance.

Strength training will correlate to higher intensity and shorter distance with moderate rest intervals. Power training should utilize a high intensity with shorter distances and long rest intervals for maximum force output. Lower intensity and moderate distance can be applied to training for speed and acceleration. Endurance will obviously require low intensity with much longer duration. Time under tension can also be relevant in endurance training but should not be underestimated when training for hypertrophy.

While sled movements are mainly concentric, the advantage of adding volume to your workouts without too much stress to the body can be useful for hypertrophy. Overall, the sled is one of the most versatile and time efficient training tools. It’s hard to overstate the effectiveness of adding sled routines to a well programmed routine. It may be brutal but it’s more than worth it.

Ted Sloan – Sleds Benefit Linear Speed and Cutting Movements

Sleds are an amazing tool for many different purposes. They can be used in a regressed manner for less experienced athletes and they can be used by advanced athletes for more sport specific movements and they come in many sizes and shapes. I personally own a Havyk Sled and it is designed for many purposes, including heavy lifts, such as deadlifts, dragging, pushing, upper body movements such as dips and push-ups and so on.

Athletes come in all shapes and sizes as well and many aspects of the history of training and genetics will affect the current needs of the athlete, particularly strength and power. Methods have been developed to test the needs of an athlete, such as the discrepancy between an athlete’s countermovement jump and non-counter movement jump (if you haven’t researched this yet, I highly recommend doing so immediately!).

Just like many other tools, one can develop a base level of strength with specific movement patterns, such as top end speed strength as well as acceleratory strength, by performing slow, heavy, intentional movement; these can include lateral dragging, forward angular marching, tall marching with a heel strike and backwards dragging, among others. After Strength is developed, if needed in this specific order (one should assess their athletes in order to ascertain whether they would benefit more from power or strength development at a specific point in time), power can be applied by performing similar movement patterns in a rapid explosive manner, such as sled sprinting, or lateral explosive pushes.

These movements can benefit linear speed and cutting movements, such as those often performed by running backs in football, pushing off through the gait cycle used in hockey, or stealing a base and playing defense in the infield in baseball. Sleds can even be used on certain surfaces to develop quick, more fine angular cuts through changes of direction performed sporadically in a prowler push, such as those often performed in basketball, American football and soccer or traditional football.

When focusing on power development, with a sled, it is vital to use straps that give as little as possible, in order to create tension right off the bat. More exercises await to be discovered with the sled and prowler. These two extremely versatile pieces of equipment should be a staple in a coach’s repertoire and included in strength, power and conditioning protocols often.

Antonio Squillante – Train the Movement, Not the Muscle

I still remember the day I was accused of having my 20 years old football players bench pressing twice a week. “There ain’t no bench on the football field!” somebody claimed. That day I realized functional training was a double-edged sword.

Today, almost ten years later, I would like to ask “Well.. is there a sled on the football field? Or a tire to flip?” It’s a shame how the paradigm of sports specificity had been run down along the path of functionality. In what way is pushing a sled more “functional” than squatting, deadlifting, snatching or tossing a medicine ball?

Anyway, we have to create diversity in the way we train athletes is great, and that’s the reason why a lot of unconventional tools such a sleds, prowlers, tires and hammers find their place in the general physical preparation of an athlete. What makes a sled a better solution than, let’s say, a battle rope or a pair of sliders is the ability to use larger muscle groups in such a way that promotes synergy among different kinetic chains.

“Train the movement don’t train the muscles”, someday once said (Vern Gambetta) Is pushing a sled any more beneficial than squatting, running, or jumping? Not at all. Weight distribution in pushing and/or pulling a sled is diametrically different than weight distribution in any other athletic-like activity.

Where is the free falling idea behind running mechanics? Where is the ballistic component of power development? Pushing and pulling a sled is no better or worst than any other more conventional strength training exercise. It’s different, and in a world mysteriously afraid of thinking outside the box different is good.

The post Make Use of the Versatility and Time Efficiency of Sled Training appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In order to be able to execute complex movements with correct form and in a manner that delivers the best results during training, a breakdown of the movements has to occur so that the trainee can progress from basic to complex through engagement in variations of the ultimate movement. It’s like when you were a kid and started off by learning the alphabet before progressing to words, sentences, and eventually, being developed enough to read complex passages in a book or report. So, what is the true rule of progression and regression in programming workouts and training?

Ted Sloan – The Building Blocks of Athletic Development

Progressions and regressions are the building blocks of long term athletic development. It is vital for a coach to adjust the training protocol through exercise selection in order to allow the athlete to slowly and properly progress their abilities both in the strength room and on the field.

Progressions and regressions can help to develop balance, coordination, mobility and sport specific abilities. As an athlete develops their strength, in eccentric, isometric and concentric ranges of motion, balance and coordination will intrinsically be developed, especially when starting from easy to more challenging; such as progressing from a split squat, to a rear foot elevated split squat, to a dynamic lunge variation.

Once these abilities are developed, an athlete can be progressed from a more GPP (General Physical Preparedness) goal, to a more specialized SPP (Specific Physical Preparedness) goal. For younger athletes, many parents of athletes request that a coach train sport specific movements with their children, but they fail to understand that in order for sport-specific movements to benefit them, they require a base level of strength, power, mobility, and motor control.

If a coach attempts to teach and strength train movements that an athlete is unprepared for, the subsequent risk of injury increases exponentially. As a result, speed and specificity of movement should also be considered a form of progression and regression. Forms of power training should also be considered through this continuum.

Deceleration abilities in rapidly achieved positions, must be developed as well; these can include landing mechanics through depth drops, in which the athlete steps off of a high box an lands in as best of a position as possible, while teaching the athlete to land in ideal positions while developing the strength to decelerate the body from high landings.

When progressing the depth drop, the exercise can be moved to a depth jump, in which the athlete plyometrically rebounds into an explosive jump immediately following the landing. It is vital for every coach have a great tool box of exercises to alternate between in order to help their athletes incrementally progress their abilities. But, as can be seen, exercise selection is not the only variable that must be taken into consideration when it comes to progressing and regressing movement; all of these are vital to build a strong and resilient athletes.

Giulio Palau – The Flexibility to Scale the Demands of an Exercise

Proper exercise selection is key to designing an effective program. It is well known that the adaptations that occur from training are specific to the demands imposed. Therefore, exercises should be selected with careful consideration of the intended adaptation.

Progressions and regressions of exercises allow for the flexibility to scale the demands of an exercise to challenge the body without overwhelming it. We know that the demands of a program must be continually increased as the body adapts in order to continue progressing. However, we must be careful not to push past the margin of safety. The body will adapt to the stressors regardless, it is our job as coaches to ensure that the adaptation is constructive rather than destructive.

The key is to modify an exercise to create an overload with the least possible risk of injury. In theory, a proper exercise progression will continually increase work capacity and consequently increase the margin of safety. Perhaps most importantly, exercise regression will allow for proper motor patterning to efficiently execute movement. More often than not, the tissues may be capable of performing a task but the proper motor patterns haven’t been learned.

Once the proper movement patterns are understood, overload can be achieved by simply adding resistance or tweaking any other relevant variables. Proper postural positions are the most important part of learning to overcome external forces safely and efficiently. Regressions of an exercise will allow for optimal motor learning by simplifying the demands of a task. While progressions of an exercise will allow for the continual adaptation to increased stressors.

Let’s take core training as an example. It should not be controversial at this point to assert that the most effective way to train the core is isometrically. The most obvious way to progress an isometric hold is to increase the time under tension. However, static holds longer than 30 seconds have been shown to increase the likelihood of injury so it becomes more practical to change the lever length to change the difficulty.

For example, a plank can be regressed by elevating the torso or progressed by extending the arms further overhead, changing the moment arm and stabilization demand.

Core training is a good example of progressing and regressing an exercise because the relevant variable is most often how gravity is acting on the body. This is often the case with other progressions like the split squat to rear foot elevated split squat and ultimately walking lunge, where balance and dynamic stability are increasingly relevant.

Moving through space efficiently should be the ultimate goal of any progression. That applies to correcting posture, sport specific training, and everything in between. If an exercise has to be regressed to a prone or supine position to learn a proper movement pattern, that pattern should be integrated into a dynamic body weight movement, even if unloaded.

Selecting the proper progression or regression can be just as much art as science and the work capacity and tolerance of an individual can change from day to day. Each repetition is an opportunity to asses and adjust an exercise as needed.

Antonio Squillante – The Necessary Path to Acquiring Complex Motor Skills

Progression and regression are nothing but the necessary steps toward an inevitable escalation in complexity. They don’t have a positive-negative correlation like many people think, and sometimes they are both necessary in order to move from simple to complex skills. Motor skills, in our case.

Would you consider learning how to write words by straying with individual letters a regression? Well, if you already know how to spell a word, starting back from learning how to write the alphabet is “loss of time”. But the alphabet is necessary for you to put in words the sounds that you can now only pronounce with your voice. It is, in essence, a progression to a higher level of skill.

Similarities can be found between this basic example and motor learning: we all learn fundamental motor skills and as soon as we start to comprehend the magnificent world that surrounds us we want to combine them in many different ways possible to create complex movements.

However, we might not have the ability yet to put into “words” (movements) basic letters (motor patterns) that we just recently learned. Regression and progression are therefore necessary in learning new motor skills. First and foremost exercises need to move from movements to skills and vice versa. Similarly, skills need to move from simple to complex, and from discrete to serial.

The ultimate goal of any progression should be acquiring the necessary control over a new skill that allow to use what we have learned to acquire a new, totally different skills. It is a domino effect that physicologits call transfer of learning.

The starting point of every progression and regression in motor learning should aim to provide the tools (our letters, the most simple individual motor patterns) to create endless, fascinating motor performances (skills, the endless words in the alphabet of motricity)

The post Progressions and Regressions at the Heart of a Good Training Plan appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Antonio Squillante – A Great Tool for Upper Body Strength

Relativity has brought us to consider movement under a less predictable perspective. What we consider “up and down” or “left and right” is only acceptable within an inertial system that sees us as roaming around on our feet.

If we decided to go upside down and walk on our hands, our points of reference would suddenly change creating a good amount of instability in both our neuromuscular system and our cognition. We would have to create balance by adjusting our alignment with gravity relying on our arms and process information from the environment surrounding us in a very unconventional way. Isn’t this the kind of feeling we have when we perform handstands?

Well, in a world that has raised bipedal animals to a higher standard, it appears worthless, or at very least, superfluous to dedicate attention to such an “unnecessary” exercise. Despite the evolutionary theories in support of this argument, I would like to look at handstands under a different point of view: if I am working with athletes – animals that have mastered the art of standing on two feet to the point of using their own body to perform unbelievable moves – what can I do to challenge them and make them better athletes?

Let’s leave behind for a second all these evolutionary theories: handstands represent a great tool to develop shoulder stability and overall upper body strength in with a way that can hardly be achieved with any other traditional overhead moment. By creating a new inertial system for an athlete to adapt to, handstands also support the development of the vestibular system and its ability to preserve static and dynamic balance. They also challenge the cognitive and decision-making processes upgrading what would otherwise be a pretty simple skill – pushing weights overhead – to a higher level of cuteness complexity forcing atheists to learn how to adapt. A pivotal point in acquiring and mastering a wide variety of open-skills common in sports.

Learning different, and more difficult skills improves the ability to learn. Learning unconditional skills strengthen the weakness that consolidates through years spent executing conventional skills. If A equals B and B equals C then handstands are a great way to develop more complete and well-rounded athletes.

Ted Sloan – Handstands Develop Core Strength and Control

Handstands are an amazingly fun exercise to experiment with; they can be a cool party trick and can be a fun way to get the shoulders, core, wrists, and scapulae ready for training. Stability and mobility in the shoulder complex are often a limitation in many athletes and must be taken care of in order to reduce the likelihood of injury, especially in overhead sports.

Although mobility should be trained prior to attempting a position such as a handstand, once optimal or near optimal positioning is achieved, this exercise can help to create strength and stability at the end range of motion that the handstand puts an athlete in. This stability can significantly help with the catch in the snatch and thus can enable the athlete to progress their training to use the king of all power exercises.

The generation of power is also often limited by core stability and control. All movement is stabilized by the core, but if unwanted movement occurs due to lack of strength and control, then it reduces the amount of force that can be transferred across the body and into the floor.

The handstand can help to develop core strength and control through the forced contraction of the abdominal musculature in order to maintain tucked ribs, can help to create better movement control and proprioception. The added ability to perform power movements such as the snatch, and better core control can help to develop a faster, higher jumping and stronger athlete on the field of play. Have fun with the instructional videos below and build your handstand up progressively and safely.

Giulio – Dynamic Stability is Essential to Handstands

The handstand can be a particularly challenging exercise to master. However, if you follow a proper progression, it can be as rewarding as it is challenging. Overhead shoulder strength, dynamic core stability, flexible wrists, and an awareness of your body in space are among the list of prerequisites to execute a handstand.

Developing active flexibility at the shoulder should be your first priority. We discussed overhead shoulder mechanics in detail in several previous posts for reference. The main idea is to be able to reach overhead without compensating by arching the back and flaring the ribs out. This is hugely important as you’ll want your joints to be as “stacked” as possible in an inverted pose to avoid any unnecessary strain or risk of injury.

Remember that what is most efficient in movement is usually synonymous with what is safe. Our physiology has evolved to effectively overcome external forces with efficient movement. Preparing your joints for the handstand is particularly important because gravity will apply all the force of your weight at once when you kick up.

Your wrists will need to be flexible and strong at the end range of extension in order to support your weight safely. If your wrists can comfortably support a set of push-ups, you’re probably ready to begin a handstand progression. The yoga move “crow pose” is a fairly safe regression because it allows you the luxury of shifting your weight gradually onto the hands and adjusting your weight distribution as needed to find a balance point that’s comfortable.

Dynamic stability in the core is really the key to holding the handstand after the kick up. There are more than a few ways to train core stability. I prefer crawl variations to teach contralateral coordination while dynamically maintaining core stiffness. Crawl variations will also challenge the shoulders to support your body weight against gravity. Outside of the prescribed handstand progressions, the Turkish getup is an excellent exercise to teach global tension and dynamic stabilization with overhead strength.

The handstand is the apex of functional movement

I’ve discussed the getup several times in previous posts but it shouldn’t go unmentioned here because it’s so relevant to preparing the body for inversion. In a brief discussion on functional exercise, we three, as coaches, agreed that the key to functional exercise is overcoming gravity while moving through space. By this definition, the handstand is arguably the apex of functional movement. It should go without saying that it’s not an exercise to be underestimated. It may take time to prepare the joints and become comfortable in an inversion. Take your time and enjoy the process.

You might also like the Get Ready for Handstands Series.

The post The Functional Benefits of Being Upside Down appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Giulio Palau – The Development of Active Flexibility

A kettlebell is an excellent tool for developing dynamic stability of the shoulder complex, particularly in the overhead position. When positioned optimally on the wrist and forearm, the load is balanced directly over the shoulder joint, allowing for greater variability of movement, which allows you to train shoulder stability in a myriad of different positions.

The progression of isometric holds in the armbar and Turkish get up variations allow for the development of what I like to call “active flexibility”. Instead of passively stretching tissues to achieve greater range of motion, challenging the joint to stabilize properly under load can improve range of motion while simultaneously building strength and control in new positions.

The armbar is an effective way to develop active flexibility in extension of the shoulder, a position that is typically neglected by the anterior orientation of most lifestyles. The armbar is also effective in teaching how to generating torque at the shoulder by creating a moment of external rotation and depression of the shoulder joint (both movements that are necessary to building stability overhead).

Once you’ve mastered the armbar, the Turkish get up will be the next natural progression. Get ups will teach you to stabilize the shoulder through an even greater range of movement and positions, with the added benefit of dynamically challenging the core musculature. Get ups will help to integrate shoulder stability in global movements and generate force upward by staying connected to the ground.

Naturally, the next progression will be the overhead press. The overhead press will challenge the shoulder through a full concentric and eccentric movement (as opposed to the isometric holds of the armbar and get up). The press also has the added benefit of teaching stability throughout the body in order to press overhead safely and efficiently. Although this progression can be extremely effective at building functional strength, the exercises described above require a baseline of training experience in order to perform safely.

Please be cautious and try to perform these exercises unloaded before using weight. One approach I use to build a functional understanding of these movements is to perform them while balancing a slider on your closed fist. This will create a safe challenge to practice proper joint positions and dynamic control before loading the exercise.

Ted Sloan – Kettlebells Are Great but Just One Tool

Kettlebells can be a great tool for assisting in the development of power. The stability and strength that kettlebells can help to create can contribute to a better performance in other similar movements important to the development of maximal strength; the barbell military press for example.

The complementary nature of such opposing exercises as the military press and the chin-up are such that when antagonistic muscle groups are unbalanced, the strength of the stronger muscle becomes limited by the neurological system and risk of injury in athletics increases.

When attempting to build maximum strength and subsequently maximum power in an athlete’s throwing and swinging mechanics, the overhead strength can be a limiting factor. The ability to perform overhead movements in a neutral position can appeal to some for the belief in it reducing the risk of injury or overuse with overhead athletes.

Some exercises that can be performed with kettlebells can be great tools in the development of power as well. With the necessity to develop equal strength in atomistic muscle groups, the need for power in this range of motion can be seen as well. The push press is a decent substitute for the clean. Although it doesn’t quite do the same job as the clean, it helps to develop explosive strength through the legs and to a small extent the arms.

Fighters often avoid the use of the military press due to a fear of it slowing down their striking speed and strength; this can potentially be attributed to the rather isolated nature of the exercise, in that the legs are not very involved. Due to this fact, the use of a push press can partially substitute.

The kettlebell snatch can assist with upper body power and stability as well, although more challenging to maintain a neutral catch position. Kettlebells are an amazing tool, but in the end, only one of the many that should be included in your tool chest.

Antonio Squillante – Developing Strength in a Position of Mechanical Disadvantage

Kettlebells are a very interesting tool. They provide what I like to call “a strategic overload”. Because of their size and because of the way kettlebells can be held, it is possible to perform movements with a greater degree of freedom but, even more importantly, with a greater degree of synergy between agonist and antagonist muscles during the the concentric and the eccentric phase of each exercise.

Because of a relative small component of horizontal displacement – a “negative” aspect normally associated with the use of traditional barbells that more often than not results in lack of mechanical efficiency – kettlebells allows for a combination of fast-concentric, low-eccentric unilateral muscle actions, a pivotal point when it comes to create stability around the major joints.

No other joint calls for an overall need for stability more than the shoulder joint. The gleno-humeral joint is one of the more “mobile”, yet strong, joints in the human body. When people think about “shoulder stability” they tend to forget, however, about “shoulder strength”, a complementary aspect that needs to be addressed in order to promote optimal shoulder mechanics.

I like to look at the picture below of  Yuri Chechi, the Italian gymnast, holding a crucifix position at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the year he won the gold medal at the rings: isn’t that a great example of shoulder stability?

Kettlebells are a great form of overload when it comes to overhead movements and their progression toward a perfect verticality overhead. Because of their characteristics, they force you to create stability around the gleno-humeral joint by articulating movements that require optimal centration of the humeral head in the glena , a mechanical feature that involves a perfect combination of eccentric and concentric muscle action involving the entire musculature of the shoulder girdle. At the same time, overhead presses performed with kettlebells foster the development of muscular strength in a position of mechanical disadvantage, increasing active range of motion under load, the stereotypical definition of mobility when it comes to functional strength.

The post Kettlebells Are Just Another Tool but Use Them Wisely appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Should Women Be Doing It Differently?

Research has shown that the above issues are not purely rooted in raw strength. A Norwegian study of female handball athletes demonstrated that the use of “balance” training was a key component of enhancing neuromuscular control and reducing ACL injuries.²

Part of the challenge is defining what this type of balance strength training should look like. One hint comes from an Australian study, which found that “people with good performance on the single-leg squat will have better hip muscle function (earlier onset of gluteus medius activity and greater lateral trunk, hip abduction, and external rotation strength) than people with poor performance.”³

Renowned strength coach Mike Boyle believes that the one-leg squat is a superior exercise for strength development and injury prevention in athletes:

“If you’re looking for a great exercise for athletes, this is it. The one-leg squat demonstrates true single-leg strength, and our athletes are capable of using more than 100 pounds in this lift. I particularly love this for female athletes and ACL injury prevention.”

While the evidence points to the utility of single-leg work for women, integrating it into your training can be a challenge. Many women jump into single leg training and find it too challenging to do well. Instead of getting the benefits of single leg exercises, they end up with more problems in the knees and hips because they can’t achieve the correct movement patterns. Even lunges, as much as I love them, aren’t true single-leg exercises because both feet are in contact with the ground. How can we develop a better system for success?

The Sprinter Stance Squat

The “sprinter stance squat” is a useful technique to build the strength and stability needed to bridge the gap between double and single-leg squats. While visually similar to the a “b-squat,” there are some distinct differences. The sprinter stance takes the standard squat position and makes it a bit unstable, unlike the b-squat that brings the feet very close together. If you don’t have the right ankle, knee, and hip mobility, the b-squat drill can cause a lot of problems. The second difference is that some people perform the b-squat with a flat back foot, which causes rotation in the pelvis. To avoid this rotation in the sprinter stance, we always have the back heel elevated.

The sprinter stance squat is meant as a progressive technique toward true single-leg work. The goal is for the lead leg to assume about 60 percent of the work. When you jump into instability training without the proper foundation, your body can’t create force because it’s spending all its time trying not to fall over. The video below details the proper technique for performing a sprinter stance squat.

A Squat for the Real World

The unique training needs and injury risks of women require a substantially different approach to training. In particular, the elevated risk of knee injuries in women can be addressed by unilateral movements. The sprinter stance squat is an effective way for women to experience the benefits of one-legged strength work without the risks associated with more advanced exercises.

The sprinter stance squat opens the door for variety, progression, and greater purpose in your squatting exercises. It uses three planes of motion in your training, and can also challenge how the core integrates with the functions of the hip, lower leg, and foot. Your body uses natural chains, not individual muscles, to perform every day and sporting actions. Being able to train the body in the way it was designed provides an opportunity to identify your weak links.

Best of all, this movement creates a relationship with how we position ourselves when we want to be powerful and fast. Watch most athletes set up; they aren’t flat footed with both feet set in place. They are staggered, weight distribution varied, ready to react. Use the strategies of load position and body position as demonstrated in the sprinter stance squat to enhance strength, power, agility, reaction, and resilience.

References:

1. Arendt, Elizabeth, and Randall Dick. “Knee injury patterns among men and women in collegiate basketball and soccer NCAA data and review of literature.” The American Journal of Sports Medicine 23, no. 6 (1995): 694-701.

2. Myklebust, Grethe, Lars Engebretsen, Ingeborg Hoff Brækken, Arnhild Skjølberg, Odd-Egil Olsen, and Roald Bahr. “Prevention of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in female team handball players: a prospective intervention study over three seasons.” Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine 13, no. 2 (2003): 71-78.

3. Crossley, Kay M., Wan-Jing Zhang, Anthony G. Schache, Adam Bryant, and Sallie M. Cowan. “Performance on the single-leg squat task indicates hip abductor muscle function.” The American Journal of Sports Medicine 39, no. 4 (2011): 866-873.

The post Women: Protect Your Knees With the Sprinter Stance Squat appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Ted Sloan – Strength and Power Diminish at Different Rates

The degree to which a trainee can be set up for the highest potential for success is reliant on many factors. As with any trainee, time is of the essence and a great periodization program is only truly as good as the commitment and attention afforded by the athlete.

Young trainees require a significantly different form of exercise in order to perform to their maximum potential, and in theory are truly far from their potential. It’s important to ensure that the advanced trainee is as powerful and strong as possible going into the most important parts of the season and to an extent, this can be a goal or attempted with a younger trainee. Unfortunately, this can be a difficult task with many trainees in the private sector, considering most trainees will cease training as the season for the sport begins.

Trainees of under a year of training age will require significantly more attention to movement and reactive agility, while strength and power can often be increased at a rapid pace with minimal attention in these untrained groups. The ability to predict and react to an opponent can make a greater difference for these trainees than attempting to max out their squat and deadlift.

When working with a trainee who can commit at least 12 weeks, I will begin their training program by going through a grueling preparation phase, Then, I will have them perform a maximal strength phase that I’ll combine with some basic power exercises and culminate with a maximal power period. If my trainee can make it to the gym consistently, I would hope to finish this phase after 9 weeks and use 2 weeks to condition my trainee in a manner congruent with power and strength.

During our final week I like to taper my athletes down by performing high intensity movements with a significant drop in volume. If limited on time, and my athlete has an advanced training age, we will often be forced to combine training styles by either using Westside’s Conjugate Method or Contrast training, in which both strength and power are often combined back to back.

The taper will consist of only one week of lower volume, but continued use of high intensity in this situation. Different trained attributes such as strength and power diminish at different rates, with power declining most rapidly. As a result, power should always be a focus towards the end of a training period leading into a season, the playoffs or a championship game.

Giulio Palau – Focus and Determination are Finite and Exhaustible

Any well-designed periodization program will include phases of increased and decreased stress on the body to allow for proper breakdown and subsequent recovery, ultimately resulting in adaptation and increased performance.

One often overlooked aspect of periodization is the tapering of acute variables between phases of the program or before competition. If executed properly, tapering can allow for the subject to properly recover from an intense training phase without de-conditioning.

A tapering phase can last anywhere between 1-4 weeks. This brief period of calculated rest has been shown to increase performance by 2-5% in trained athletes, which can be a major advantage in high-level competition. The most important training variables to consider in tapering are: volume, frequency, and intensity.

Studies have shown that athletes tend to respond favorably to tapering of volume and frequency after a phase of high intensity training. However, significant reductions in intensity (as usually measured by % of 1RM) have been associated with a loss of overall strength and power. A phase of high intensity training before tapering is crucial to ensure that significant adaptations are occurring during the de-loading period.

A well rested athlete at the end of a proper tapering phase should be ready for peak performance, and tapering should be coordinated accordingly to rest and prepare for competition or another phase of high intensity training. Often overlooked are psychological factors that correlate with physical exertion and recovery.

Focus and determination should be considered as resources that are both finite and exhaustible. Just like the more concrete components of physiological stress, mental preparedness should correlate with the peak and tapering of physical exertion. A trainee can only be at peak performance very briefly, and the relevant acute variables should be adjusted strategically to ensure that peak performance is achieved when necessary.

The psychological state of a trainee is not only relevant to their performance, it is key. The strategy of manipulating stressors (exertion) to peak and taper for optimal performance and recovery is, therefore, key to any discipline, and should not be underestimated in the abstract forms of discipline, focus, and motivation.

Antonio Squillante – Peaking Happens for a Limited Time

Athletic performance is a beautiful combination of skills, strength, speed, and endurance. Cognitive and physical attributes need to be developed in order to improve athleticism, the ability to perform sport specific skills with the highest chances of success and the least amount of effort. This is, in its very essence, the definition of “talent” in sport – when it all comes down to a handful of fundamental motor skills – but also as in music, art, maths and any other form of intelligence. Therefore, ultimately, the condition sine qua non for improving performance in sport becomes a question of dedication and commitment.

With that being said, a great deal of time needs to be invested in training different aspects of athleticism:

A very complicated orchestra of physiological systems led by an absolute prima donna: the endocrine system, the kingmaker in the process of adaptation and supercompensation that leads to an overall improvement in work capacity. Peaking, tapering and even periodization itself are nothing but axioms (theories, to a certain extent) based on the fundament process of “stress management” also known as fight or flight response or GAS, general adaptation syndrome.

For each physiological system involved in the process of supercompensation that ultimately leads to an improvement in sports performance, there is a certain amount of stress (training) that needs to be provided for adaptation to occur. A process that is, by definition, reversible and therefore temporary and transient.

No matter how good a periodization system is, a trainee can only be at the very peak of his/her preparedness for a very limited amount of time. A consequence of a great deal of asynchronism between the physiological response of different systems, that makes challenging to time loading and unloading in such a way that positive transfer of training is maximized while deterring is minimized.

So many concepts to provide only one answer. What I feel comfortable saying is: trainees, no matter how advanced they might be, can only peak for a very limited amount of time (48-72 hours) and they can only peak for a limited amount of events per year (2 to 3). The question is then: “when is it really necessary to peak and when is it not?”

The post Managing Strength Training Stressors: Maximizing Peak Performance appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

We invited strength coach and powerlifter, Patrick McCormic, to join us on this conversation, and help us build a 360 degree view of all the considerations in training the hip hinge.

Patrick McCormic

Whether you’re training an athlete or an average gym goer, properly programming the hip hinge will increase your a trainee’s performance in and out of the gym as well as give them an attractive, developed backside. The hip hinge describes hip function as flexion followed by extension. In this broad sense, even though as a powerlifter it pains me to admit it, there are many more hinges than the deadlift. In fact, depending on a number of factors, including but not limited to your trainee’s training age, goals, past injuries etc, barbell deadlifts might not be the best option.

There are several things to consider when programming the hip hinge. Foremost, is the trainee population. Are you dealing with an athlete that needs to be strong and explosive on the court/field? Do you have a member of the general pop who wants to feel stronger? Or do you have someone who is recovering from an injury or has discomfort with traditional lifts? Each individual situation requires an individual solution.

For the coach of an athlete, performance on the field or court is of paramount importance. All effort and exercises in the gym should be geared towards making the athlete more proficient at their sport. To that end, proper programming of the hip hinge should be directed toward building two attributes; the first being absolute strength, or maximum force production with no time limit, and the second being power, or maximum force production per unit time. As these traits exist at opposite ends of the force-velocity curve, training.

For exercises directed at increasing absolute strength/max force output, the most effective hip hinge modality is the deadlift; conventional, sumo, strongman, trap bar, etc. The deadlift will add muscle mass and increase strength and performance. Caveats to programming the deadlift variations depend mostly on the training age and body type of the athlete. Athletes with a younger training age will usually require more frequency and higher volume to derive maximum benefit from the deadlift, whereas larger and more experienced athletes require less frequent sessions and lower volume.

Training an athlete for power will involve the use of submaximal weights, about 20-40% of max, at high velocities, as high as 1.5 m/s. Effective exercise selection will depend on the qualifications of the athlete with the most qualified athletes performing variations of the Olympic lifts, specifically power or hang/power variations of the clean and snatch. Less qualified athletes, those with less experience in weightlifting, may benefit more from specific weightlifting exercises like high pulls and snatch/panda pulls from different starting positions. kettlebell exercises, especially the swing and clean and snatch variations, are excellent substitutions for developing power.

Hip dominant exercises create some sort of armory between agonist and antagonist muscles (namely, a better H:Q ratio) helping to prevent injuries and to improve performance.

Antonio Squillante

Hip dominant movements such as the one described by Patrick are extremely important to strengthen the hamstrings, the glutes as well as the musculature of the core. They are helpful in developing the “powerhouse”,” – the hip extensor complex that connects the lower body with the torso representing- the anatomical linkage between lower and upper extremity, the “bridge” to transfer that helps to transfer force from the ground up in any athletic-like movement: a. A stronger “powerhouse” means more power and better movement efficiency. By pivoting around the coxo-femoral joint, hip hinge exercises combine active hip extension (- the concentric part of the movement)  –  together with the co-contraction of the abdominal wall, the “brace” needed to prevent excessive flexion of the spine (anti-flexion, a terminology that became pretty popular since Dr.McGill changed our perspective on core training).

Hip hinge exercises also play an important role in counterbalancing the excessive amount of quad-dominant, pushing-like movements commonly used to develop the musculature of the lower extremity. Hip dominant exercises create some sort of armory between agonist and antagonist muscles (namely, a better H:Q ratio) helping to prevent injuries and to improve performance. These movements are particularly efficient in developing overall strength and power as well as intramuscular coordination and balance between the agonist and the antagonist bi-articulate muscles acting around the coxo-femoral joint and the knee joint.

Despite the many benefits associated with hip hinge movements, lack of specificity – in the biomechanical sense of the word, according to the dynamic correspondence model propose by Verkhoshansky and Siff in 1999 (Supertraining) – makes these exercises particularly indicated during the off season, to develop overall strength and power as well as intramuscular coordination and balance between the agonist and the antagonist bi-articulate muscles acting around the coxo-femoral joint and the knee joint.

As the season approaches, however, sport specific exercise involving the unilateral and bilateral, explosive triple extension of ankles, knees, and hips in the three planes of motions should replace movements that tend to isolate one specific joint and/or one degree of freedom.

Exercises like back extensions, cable pull throughs, Kettlebell deadlifts, DB deadlifts etc effectively introduce the body to the hip hinge in the upright position.

Patrick McCormic

For a member of the general population, training presents different challenges. For most, the goal is simply to get stronger. Training such a trainee allows you more latitude for programming hip hinge variations as well as more progressions.

For the most inexperienced trainees hip hinging can begin on the floor and be as simple as a supine double hip bridge. Progression can be facilitated by simply increasing ROM, adding implements like sliders or a suspension trainer as well as single-leg or weighted exercises.

Once competence is established on the floor, or for more qualified trainees, programming can progress to standing variations. Exercises like back extensions, cable pull throughs, kettlebell deadlifts, DB deadlifts etc effectively introduce the body to the hip hinge in the upright position.

The most challenging hip hinge variations will be reserved for the most qualified trainees. Exercises like barbell deadlifts even the Olympic lifts and their derivatives can be programmed as strength and skill improve.

As a result of a stagnant lifestyle, even the simplest of traditional exercises such as the squat and deadlift can be too advanced to begin with.

Ted Sloan

It is important to implement progressions when dealing with any trainee, but especially with traditional personal training. Often times this category of trainee can come to you with little or no recent exercise history. As a result of a stagnant lifestyle, even the simplest of traditional exercises such as the squat and deadlift can be too advanced to begin with. When it comes to the hip hinge, this can be even more important; there are many factors that can affect this movement, especially considering it is one of the more challenging movements to teach some trainees. Hamstring length, hip flexor length, core stability, and proprioception, among others, all affect a person’s ability to get into a proper hip hinge position. These factors must be considered and easier variations on these exercises can be performed until proficiency and mobility increase.

Image courtesy of Bruce Klemens

I operate under the opinion that exercises should accomplish as many goals as possible (this can include strengthening, mobilizing and targeting multiple muscle groups) so exercises such as a Swiss ball hamstring curl can be an early regression that can help with two of these goals; strength and core stability.

If a trainee’s goals warrant the programming of advanced exercise variations such as the deadlift or Olympic lift movements, then once they are ready, these can be properly introduced; many coaches, such as Mike Boyle, however, hold the opinion that bilateral lifts such as these for populations outside of sport, are riskier than the benefit that they provide.

If the problem is failing posture then, an activation exercise may be the solution.

Patrick McCormic

The last population we’ll discuss are individuals rehabbing from an injury or those who are uncomfortable with typical hip hinges exercises. Under these circumstances, your goal as the coach is to find a variation of the hip hinge that challenges a trainee while minimizing discomfort. Sometimes it’s as easy as scaling down to more fundamental variations and building back up to but if you have a trainee that compensates or that can’t maintain position with regular hinges a more complex approach may be necessary.

For a trainee who presents with compensation, an asymmetrical hip hinge, like an offset RDL or Jefferson deadlift, may solve the problem. My personal go-to are weighted carries from different positions. Although not technically hip hinges, weighted carries can help to balance the hips and re/teach proper hip engagement.

If the problem is failing posture then, an activation exercise may be the solution. Knees caving in? try some banded monster walks or McGill side hip bridges. Back rounding? There are any number of deadbug variations to re/teach trunk stability.

Giulio Palau

Practicing the hip hinge after an injury can be challenging. If restoring proper movement at the hip joint is a priority, the problem most likely stemmed from improper movement or it is being exacerbated by the altered motor patterns caused by the injury. In either case, hinging at the hip is a primal human movement and should be trained in all populations. Unfortunately, it is also a movement that tends to be difficult for people to execute. Due to the anterior orientation of most modern lifestyles, people tend to stabilize with anterior muscles. In the case of the hip joint, that tends to lead to chronically tight hip flexors and overactive quads.

Training the hip hinge can restore the proper balance of the posterior and anterior musculature of the hip for a healthier joint and better movement. The hip hinge can be challenging if there is a lack of mobility at the hip or a lack of stability in the core. Because both of these structures are connected through the pelvis, restoring the pelvis to a neutral position should be the first priority. Chronic tightness in the hip flexors can result in an exaggerated anterior tilt in the pelvis. This can be a reliable indicator of someone who will have trouble hinging properly. As Patrick mentioned, asymmetrical hinges can be useful in helping to keep the pelvis and spine in a neutral position (due to the stabilizing torque of a split stance). The stability of the core can be trained with foundational exercises like the dead-bug or bird-dog. Both are great exercises that teach trunk stability with hip movement.

Crawling variations are also a staple in training the anterior core to stabilize the pelvis. Try balancing a small object like a slider or tennis ball on the low back to minimize any shift in the torso and hips. Once the pelvis is stable, you can begin to practice the hip hinge. An effective way to demonstrate the hinge is to stand with your back to a wall about 6-12 inches behind you. Push your hips back as you flex at the hips until you touch the wall with your backside. “Sitting back” is key to activating the posterior chain. I like to emphasize that movements in the lower body usually take place on a spectrum between a squat and hinge. More dorsiflexion at the ankle corresponds to more of a squat (knee dominant) movement.

Conversely, less dorsiflexion during hip flexion will naturally translate to more of a hinge (hip dominant) movement. Another queue for hinging is to “keep the shins vertical”. It’s important to understand that both the squat and hinge are both foundational movements and should be trained and practiced in all populations.

When it comes to training the hip hinge consider first the trainee population, then their goals and training age. Train smart, train for success.

The post The Hip Hinge: By Population, Goals and Training Age appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Antonio Squillante – Don’t Simplify Biomechancial Differences Between Men and Women

Biomechanics is a science, and like any other science, it is meant to provide answers. Quite a pragmatic approach, considering the complexity of Newtonian mechanics. Above and beyond sophisticated trigonometry functions that reduce tangible reality to a series of mathematical equations, the mechanics of the human body – as the prefix “bio” in biomechanics (“life” from the Greek “bios”) suggests – is much more than just angles and levers.

Anatomy of a healthy human male and female knee joint with Q angle between femur and tibia, anterior or front view of the leg

Sadly, when it comes to strength training, biomechanical differences between male and female athletes are often simplified in terms of different response of the lower extremities under load. A difference in Q angle, a geometrical feature that affects lower body mechanics resulting in a tendency for the knees to collapse medially. The Q angle is the angle defined by the femoral shaft and the lower extremity mechanical axis, the line connecting the geometrical center of the coxofemoral joint with the line of gravity passing vertically through the ankle. A diviance of approximately 10 degrees that affects the overall mechanics of the lower body in weight-bearing situations.

Based on the geometry of the hip complex in relationship with the femoral shaft, for any given degree of hip flexion under load corresponds a certain degree of medial deviation at the knee, a consequence of hip adduction and internal rotation, a situation know as dynamic knee valgus. The word dynamic, in this scenario, means “under load” namely “in movement” to distinguish it from a pathological situation  of knee valgus that represents a relatively common paramorphism.

It would be quite simplistic, however, to reduce movement to a geometrical combination of complementary angles. Kinetics and kinematic of the lower extremity corresponds to a specific pattern of muscle activation. Hip flexion/internal rotation is, in fact, necessary to recruit those muscles responsible for counteracting gravity,  such as the glut max and mid, and even more so the hamstrings.

With no “medial shift” of the lower extremity there would be no pre-activation of the posterior kinetic chain resulting in more force – both internal and external forces – applied upon ligaments and tendons surrounding the knee joint, ultimately resulting in a situation of stress that can lead to mechanical failure (failure equals injury, more likely than not involving the anterior cruciate ligament).

Despite the fact that female athletes display, on an average, a greater Q angle when compared with their male counterpart, this “geometrical” difference does not represent “per se” the source of potential differences in strength training. Lack of strength – eccentric strength, more than anything else – in the muscle responsible of limiting excessive dynamic knee valgus represents the most significant factor to take into consideration when designing strength training programs for female atheles.

Female athletes will display a moderate amount of knee valgus under load: this mechanical behavior is a consequence of a different geometry of the lower extremity and I can’t be “corrected”. It is necessary, therefore, to develop eccentric strength in the posterior kinetic chain so that movements can be safely and effectively performed while respecting  individual differences in lower body mechanics: glut max and mid eccentric strength, hamstring to quadriceps  strength ratio, and ultimately, proper movement mechanics are the three most important aspects that need to be addressed when working with female athletes.

Giulio Palau – Everyone Should Know How to Hinge

One of the most significant biomechanics differences between male and female populations is the Q angle. Q angle refers to the relative angle between the patella and the anterior superior iliac spine (the lateral bony edge of your hip). Women tend to have a greater Q angle due to the evolutionary adaptation of having wider hips. The functional consequence of this fact is a tendency for the knees to shift medially during hip flexion.

This will typically result in adduction and internal rotation of the femur during functional movements that require hip flexion (a fairly comprehensive category). The structural consequence of this biomechanical feature tends to manifest in what is referred to as “quad dominance“. This simply refers to a strategy of deriving strength and stability from the anterior structure of the hip as opposed to the posterior chain, further compounding the medial knee shift during movement. This is presumed to be the primary reason why ACL injuries are so much more common in female athletes.

Of course, the relative Q angle will vary with each individual, and many female athletes and clients will be able to move and stabilize using their posterior chain. But the phenomena of the Q angle is well documented and should be considered to prevent possible injuries and to move more efficiently. One simple way to mitigate these risks is to strengthen the core muscles. This applies universally. Q angle or not, healthy hips need a strong foundation.

In order for the hip muscles to generate force and apply it effectively, the core musculature must be able to stabilize the torso for the efficient transfer of forces. You must be able to dissociate movement of the spine from movement of the hips. More specifically, emphasizing the posterior chain to train positions of external rotation and more hinge based movements will take stress off the knees.

There is a continuum between squat and hinge patterns and each individual will have different positions where they are stronger. That being said, the posterior chain can be emphasized by minimizing dorsiflexion during hip flexion. This will translate the hips back during flexion and will result in loading more of the posterior musculature.

There’s nothing wrong with squatting and dorsiflexion, but everyone should also know how to hinge. Becoming more comfortable with the hinge and strengthening the posterior muscles will help mediate the structural risks of a greater Q angle. Again, Q angle or not, male or female, if you observe a medial knee shift under load, take some time to address some of these protocols. Injury prevention is a lot easier than injury rehabilitation.

Ted Sloan – Greater Mobility Can Mean Greater Risk of Injury in Strength Training

There are several aspects to training a female versus a male athlete that must be emphasized and others that change almost daily that must be taken into consideration. Female athletes tend to be naturally more flexible than men and especially at certain points during a monthly menstrual cycle, this can be affected to an even greater extent. As a result, when mobility is at its greatest, a female is often at their greatest potential risk for injury when strength training.

The most often mentioned aspect of these differences is the Q-angle. As mentioned by my colleagues, this angle opens up the alignment of the knees to the point that athletic activity can potentially become risky, if the athlete is not trained to jump and decelerate their bodies properly on the field.

This can be taught through strength, skills training and lots of practice. During strength training, understanding of the Q-angle and how to better control the translation of the knees into valgus can be practiced, however, with certain strength movements, valgus can be a necessary evil in order to help produce more strength through extra activation of hamstring and gluteal musculature.

The Q-angle manipulates the contribution of the posterior chain musculature to the point that the quadriceps can become the stronger and more dominant muscle group. As a result, teaching specific exercises, such as a hip hinge, can create a better understanding of jumping and lifting mechanics. Further care to create extra strength in the hamstrings, glutes (butt muscles) and lower back is vital.

Genu Valgum (knock-kneed) and Genu Varum (bow-legged)

Valgus prevention is an important attribute to focus on for both males and females, but the increased Q-angle can make it a more challenging task for a female athlete, especially when taking the potential for extreme mobility at certain times of the month.

The post The Difference Between Male and Female Biomechanics in Strength Training appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Your feet are the foundation of your body and your movement. What happens at the ground floor level has repercussions throughout your body. Force and balance all start from the feet.

If your feet are not strong enough or capable enough, the rest of your body has to compensate. So, essentially, your feet start the chain reaction for your movements and that chain reaction can be good, meaning strong, stable feet, or it can be not so good.

Knowing how important feet are, we want to address some of the protocols for assessing and strengthening the intrinsic foot musculature.

Antonio Squillante – Athleticism Starts From the Bottom of Your Feet

Would you throw an arrow with a broken bow? It might sound rhetoric but foot work – training the intrinsic musculature of the foot and the lower extremity but also improving first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint range of motion, tibiotalar and subtalar mobility and  overall eye-foot coordination (an aspect of human Motricity that is quite often forgotten) – is a critical component of a well-round program designed to improve performance in sport.

Quoting one of the most influential mentors in my career, coach Robert Takano “athleticism starts from the bottom of your feet, the way you move them eventually determine how good of an athlete you can be”.

The plantar fascia, a deep layer of connective tissue creating an arch between the heel bone with the toes, represents the very first link in any (ANY) kinetic muscle chain involved in locomotor activities: walking, running, sprinting, but also jumping and landing, throwing, kicking and, despite the common beliefs, lifting weights. It is the bow that needs to be put under tension to throw the arrow farther away.

This “fascia”, that can be pictured as the bow rope, it is supported by a complex system of intrinsic muscle – the bow itself – who help to create tension to store elastic energy during the stretch-shortening cycle involving dorsi flexion and plantar flexion.

The potential energy that can be used to promote greater power output as soon as the musculature of the lower extremity- tricep surae in primis but also its antagonist muscles such as the tibialis anterior – comes into play create the “push off” that begins every (every!!!) activity involving bipedal locomotion.

The most effective way to train the foot intrinsic musculature is to develop it through its functional range of motion and in connection with the other muscles involved in providing a ground reaction force.

Exercise involving the powerful triple extension of ankle, knees, and hips such as jumps, hops, leaps but also weight lifting exercises such as the snatch, the clean and the jerk and many other athletic-like movements can be very effective in training the intrinsic musculature of the foot: emphasis should be placed on full exertion of the MTP joint  (maximal heel raise while pushing off the ground) and quick coupling time between eccentric and concentric motion at the ankle.

Training in a situation of instability also provides a valuable resource to elicit that combination micro adjustment taking place almost instantaneously within the deeper muscle surrounding the planta fascia that is needed to correct the alignment of the foot with the lower extremity.

Take home message: a combination of power and balance training focus on proper ankle mechanics and full ROM is the best system to develop the foot intrinsic musculature.

Giulio Palau – Foot Stability Translates All the Way up the Kinetic Chain

The intrinsic foot muscles (muscles whose origin and insertion are both located in the foot and do not cross the ankle joint) are important for stability and control, and the structure of your feet will affect everything up the kinetic chain.

Many of us have weak or tight feet because we wear shoes the majority of the day, which can help compensate for a lack of stability in the foot, but also act as a major crutch.

The new trend in fitness is to train without shoes, but are your feet ready to shoulder the burden of barefoot training? Many lack the proper control of the intrinsic foot musculature to properly stabilize under load. Some may even suffer from high arches and an inflexible foot structure. In both cases, these deficiencies will be fairly self apparent to observe.

If the foot lacks stability, the arch will easily collapse (pronate) under the load of just your body weight. If the arch is high and tight, you will notice a lack of pronation during gait and you will probably feel some tightness and discomfort on the bottom of the foot, sometimes referred to as plantar fascists.

Both cases are two sides of the same coin, as a tight muscle is usually a weak muscle. In both cases I recommend you start with self myofascial release of the plantar fascia by rolling your foot over a lacrosse or tennis ball placed on the ground. Strengthening the foot musculature is more about activating the intrinsic muscles and building control in the relevant range of motion.

You can start by moving the toes in unison with flexion/extension and adduction/abduction exercises, before trying to control each toe individually (this may take a while, trust me). You may notice some cramping and fatigue in the arch of your foot as you exercise the toes. This will translate nicely into strengthening the arch of the foot, which can be easily done by performing toes curls with a towel on the ground.

As you get stronger, you can place a weight on the far side of the towel to add resistance. Also, try to develop some control in the arch during calf raises to integrate these principles into more compound movements. Think about trying to “shorten” the foot as you perform each calf raise.

Another tool to integrate your foot work into compound movements is to place a towel on the floor under your bare feet as you perform a multi joint exercise like the barbell squat. Try to grip the towel under your feet throughout the set to build stability.

Stability at the feet will translate all the way up the kinetic chain. Keep in mind that you should still wear shoes during demanding tasks while you are developing your arches. Once your feet are strong enough to maintain the integrity of the arch, then you can start to challenge yourself under load without shoes. Remember that the chain is only as strong as its weakest link!

Ted Sloan – Create Stability and Mobility in the Feet

I normally begin with having you perform your warm-ups for your training sessions without shoes on. I would have you progress to conducting nearly full strength sessions without shoes. When not training, it is important to practice controlling your toes and to be able to move them around in as many ways as possible.

Exercises such as toe raises, to train the anterior tibialis, can help to create more stability and mobility in the feet, especially once proper mobility is established.

The ankle joint, according to Mike Boyle, is intended to be mobile and should be able to achieve a dorsiflexed angle of 30-40 degrees. Using the toes to curl up a lengthened out towel while in a seated position can help to create strength in the muscles of the arch, can help to pull the arch up slightly for those with flat feet and can help to prevent plantar fasciitis.

The feet are the alpha of any movement; they are what initializes any intention and are also the area we spend the vast majority of our time using. We have a fascial line that connects to the bottom of our feet and links up to the top of her head. Any tightness or limitations created in the feet can consequently affect the entire chain.

Often times I will have you roll out your feet for as long as 5 minutes, multiple times a week, as homework. This can help to keep the feet and musculature connected, more limber and functional for greater periods of time. Soft tissue work, mobilization, and strength!

The post Train Your Feet: The Alpha of Every Movement appeared first on Breaking Muscle.