Blog PostsBlog Postshttp://betterhealthpro.com/blog/2012-08-18T01:07:36ZSquarespaceNo Machines Neededhttp://betterhealthpro.com/blog/2012/8/17/no-machines-needed.htmlDave Poland2012-08-18T01:06:56Z2012-08-18T01:06:56Z

What type of workouts are best for increasing strength, coordination, and performance? Workouts that center around exercises that focus on one major muscle group (i.e. quads, biceps, etc.) at a time, like seated leg extensions for stronger quads. Or workouts that focus on large gross muscle movement that target many groups of muscles such as the quads, glutes, calf, erector spinae, and abdominals?

Essentially this question, which has been posed and tested by many coaches, exercise physiologists, Physical Therapists, and Athletic Trainers, is looking to compare what is termed open kinetic chain (OKC) exercises versus closed kinetic chain (CKC) exercises. OKC is when a limb (arm or leg) moves against a force and the distal (end) portion of the limb moves through space (ie. seated leg extensions or bicep curl). CKC is when the distal portion of the limb is fixed and does not move but the rest of the body moves away from the distal portion of the limb (ie squatting: the feet do not move and body and resistance moves up). Okay, that said which group of exercise are best for increasing strength, coordination, and performance and why?

According to the litany of research on this topic and proven improvements in athletic performance by athletes who utilize workouts that are primarily composed of CKC exercises, the answer is pretty clear. CKC exercises have been shown to be much more superior in increasing increasing strength, coordination, and performance. But why? If a seated leg extension machines have the ability to generate more tension on the quads than squats why would that not lead to greater muscle strength and performance? The answer boils down to specificity of motion and the carry over effect1-3. No one will argue that stronger quads will lend to more force production in jumping but if the quads have not been trained to do the jumping motion with resistance it will not carry over to significantly higher jumps for example.

For example, when a person does a squat there is an enormous amount important neural activity happening. Within muscle, tendons, and joints there is an huge array of complexed nerve endings that are constantly feeding the central nervous system (CNS) with information. Depending on their location, diameter, amount of myelination (fatty tissue around the nerve that increases rate at which messages are sent along the axon) and sensitivity, each one of these nerve endings determines what type of information is being sent to the CNS3 . This information, which in summation is referred to as proprioception, if repeated time and time again develop coordination in controlling tension and rate of force production from a muscle on ligaments, tendons, and joints. This increased learned pattern of movement results in increased skilled movement. Increased skilled movement results in increased athletic performance3.

Therefore, a workout routine that works to maximize the benefits of increased proprioception will result in a workout routine that increases the athletes performance. Lower body and to a good extent upper body workouts that contain high amounts of CKC exercises result in the maximum amount of proprioceptive feedback. This in turn results in maximum skilled performance increases. But why do CKC exercise result in more proprioceptive feedback versus OKC exercises? The one word answer is compression.

When a joint is compressed, such as the knees and hips in standing or shoulders in push ups, all those proprioceptors sense the pressure and fire off the muscles needed to either effectively keep your balance in standing or stabilize the shoulder to allow for a push up to be performed4. In OKC movements this is generally not the case. Since OKC movements are not able to generate those similar proprioceptive returns less skilled movements are developed and therefore do little in carrying over to increased athletic performance. Now this is not to say that all OKC exercises are pointless and should be avoided. What this means is that workouts should be designed to increase functional performance, whether it be for everyday activity or for increased performance in an athletic event. And with that goal a heavy but not complete focus of a workout program should be CKC. It is still import to have strong biceps, shoulders, lats, and etc. and some of the best exercises to do that through resistive OKC exercises. But for increases in gross strength, coordination, and performance CKC exercises are the best bet.



Work Cited


  1. Bunton, E. E. . Pitney, W.A.. Kane, A.W.. Cappaert, T.A.. (1998). The role of limb torque, muscle action and proprioception during closed kinetic chain rehabilitation of the lower extremity. Journal of athletic training. , 28(1), 10-20.
  2. Augustsson, J.. Esko, Anders. Thomee, Roland. Svantesson, Ulla. (1998). Weight training of the thigh muscles using closed vs. Open kinetic chain exercises: a comparison of performance enhancement . Journal of Orthopedic Sport Physical Therapy. , 27(1), 3-8.
  3. Nyland, J.. Brosky, T. Currier, D. Nitz, A. Carborn, D. . (1994). Review of the afferent neural system of the knee and its contributions to motor learning. Journal of Orthopedic Sport Physical Therapy. , 19(1), 2-10.
  4. Mcmullen, J.. Uhl, T.L.. (2000). A kinetic chain approach for shoulder rehabilitation .Journal of athletic training. , 35(3), 329-336.

]]>Getting to the Core of the Issuehttp://betterhealthpro.com/blog/2012/8/3/getting-to-the-core-of-the-issue.htmlDave Poland2012-08-04T00:42:14Z2012-08-04T00:42:14Z

Pick up any fitness magazine on the shelves and I guarantee that you will find articles devoted to the ‘“new core shredding workout” or “the ten minute abs.” If you didn’t know any better you might conclude that the core is the most important group of muscles to work. But how important is the core when it comes to developing strength training and performance programs for athletes and average gym warriors like you and me? The research on how much time you should dedicate to the core and its resulting effect on athletic performance may surprise you.

 

Now I do have to say I was surprised by the trend of the results from the research on this topic. I have rarely seen such an overwhelming agreement in opinions of authors and results on a subject. Of all the research on this topic it was made very clear that programs that focus heavily on core strengthening do little to nothing to help increase the performance of athletes and average gym warriors. Now the research is not saying don’t bother with core training. As a therapist and trainer I know firsthand that a strong functional core is necessary for proper posture, which decreases the likelihood of injury. What the research is saying, however, is there is a point where the benefits of extensive and elaborate core training reaps little to no reward.

 
So, what does this mean for training programs, personal trainers and coaches that insist on spending long hours on core training and, as a result, less time on power and skills? It means that if the athlete or client is able to hold proper posture throughout the event or program, it would be more beneficial to the athlete to spend time on skill training and power training. Since workouts should be designed to grow from base strength/skills to power to performance, programs that spend more time on periodization of those three principles will result in stronger, faster, and more skillful athletes/clients as opposed to being bogged down in rudimentary base workouts.

Throughout the different training stages core workouts should be done by everyone, but in the workout stages when more skilled programs are being performed, the core should be part of the warm up routine. This way the neuromuscular pathways that have been developed in the first stages along with the high fatigue resistant muscle fibers do not become ignored and weakened.
Young, W.B.# uses the analogy of a fine tuned sports car when describing how to best build power in sprinters.

First you have to increase the engine capacity—increased cross sectional area of muscle fibers through squats, etc. Next, increase the power output by optimal timing of cylinders—increase intramuscular coordination by getting all muscle fibers to fire together and hard. Lastly, increase conversion of power from engine to road via an effective transmission—increased intermuscular coordination by increased activation of synergist and decreased activation of cocontraction of antagonists (i.e. getting the hamstrings to relax while the quads fire).
 

In this analogy you can see that the core plays a minimal role and as long as the client or athlete can hold good posture throughout the event that is all that is needed. Use the warm up time to work on the core, and focus more on power and skill. So, the next time you are waiting to get your haircut or on a long car ride to the South Coast and you pick up the latest fitness or health magazine with the latest ‘core shredding’ workout you can skim past it with the knowledge that it is most likely all fluff and no guts.





Example of workout program progression through different stages of performance development.

Week 1 - 6 General Conditioning Training: Increase Body Tolerance to Activity
3 sets x 8 - 12 Reps Moderate Load Moderate Intensity
Jumping Jacks - High knees - Burpees
Squats - Push Ups - Crunches
Lunges - Pull -ups - Planks
Dumbbell Press - Hamstring Curls - Physio Ball Back Extensions
Bicep Curls - DB Rows - Cable Twists
Tricep Dips - Lateral Raises - Superman’s  
Jogging x 20 - 30 min.

Week 7 -12 Strength and Hypertrophy Training:
3 Sets x 6 - 8 reps - High Load - High Intensity
Jumping Jacks - High knees - Burpees
Crunches - Supermans - Cable Twists - Planks
Squats - High kicks - High knees
Deadlifts - Reverse ball Crunches - Jumping jacks
Chest press - Ball tosses - Bicep curls
Flies - push ups - Dips
Rows - reverse fly - Ball Planks
Lat pull down - Shoulder press - crunch slams

Week 12 - 18 Power “BANG”
3 Sets x 3 - 6  Reps - Moderate Load - High Intensity
Jumping Jacks - High knees - Burpees
Crunches - Supermans - Cable Twists - Planks
Jump Squats - Jogging x 1- 2 min
Cleans - Jumping jacks
Snatches - Ball Tosses
Jogging x 5 min
Broad Jumps - Push ups
Box jumps - High Kicks
Sand Bag Toss - slow jog

*This Program is loosely based on the principles of:
Rhea MR, Ball SD, Phillips WT, Burkett LN., A comparison of linear and daily undulating periodized programs with equated volume and intensity for strength. J Strength Cond Res. 2002 May;16(2):250-5.
and Overreaching and Tapering.

For any questions about this article or others contact Dave@BetterHealthPro.com.

References:

  1. The Relationship Between Core Strength and Performance in Division I Female Soccer Players. Nesser, T.W; Lee, W. Journal of Exercise Physiologyonline Vol 12 Number 2 April 2009.
  2. The effects of short-term swiss ball training on core stability and running economy.  Stanton, R., Reaburn P.R., Humphries, B. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2004, 18(3), 522-528.
  3. Transfer of strength and power training to sports performance: Young, B.W., International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2006; 1:74-83.

 

]]>Which comes first: the stretch or the workout?http://betterhealthpro.com/blog/2012/7/24/which-comes-first-the-stretch-or-the-workout.htmlDave Poland2012-07-24T23:00:22Z2012-07-24T23:00:22ZEveryone knows that no workout can properly begin without a good stretching session. We all have been told that we should stretch before and after workouts both to decrease the risk of injuries and to perform stronger and faster. This is just common sense right? Well according to a litany of research this is not the case. Actually, stretching before a workout can actually make you slower and decrease your potential to generate power#.

What!! That is just heresy. But the fact of the matter is that stretching prior to a workout, especially one that involves a lot of jumping, sprinting, squatting, and agility drills, can slow you down and reduce your overall performance#. Why have we been told for years from coaches, therapists, trainers, and that big dude grunting like a gorilla while he squats a 1000 lbs that stretching is a must before a workout? The answer can be found by explaining how muscles work, what stretching does (and its benefits), and finally, by determining when it is truly appropriate.

Traditional stretching is traditionally referred to by clinicians as “static stretching.” The way static stretching works is by convincing the individual muscles that they don’t need to have so much tone (the constant non-valitionary nerve pulse to a muscle that maintains a steady level of tension). The muscles decrease tone when they get a signal from the “Golgi Tendon Organ” or GTO signaling that the force being applied to the muscle fibers is not enough to harm the muscle. When tone is decreased the muscle is allowed to be put in a more lengthened position and becomes more pliable#. This new lack of tone is great when you have finished an event, trying to fix posture brought on by tight muscles#, or elevate nagging muscle aches but is bad when you are about to need the maximum amount of tone your body can generate (i.e., sprinting, squatting, jumping, and etc.).  

Researchers have found that if an athlete warms up prior to training or an event with sport specific calisthenic like exercise, going from simple to more aggressive, that the athlete will perform statistically significantly better than if the athlete did the same warm up followed by static stretching2. These results are explained by Nelson, EG and by our current understanding of how muscles work that static stretching reduces muscle tone and that tone is what is needed for maximum performance.

Now, this is not to say static stretching is not important4. Static stretching is extremely important and a necessary portion of any workout routine. Instead, this show that workouts should be thought-out and not just slapped together. So, if you want the most out of each workout and maximum performance then workouts should start with sport/event/activity specific calisthenics or warm-ups and then finished with a cool down followed by a good session of static stretching. Work out smarter - not harder!

Here is an example of what the research shows would be the best way to incorporate a warm up into your pre-workout routine followed by a static post workout stretching routine.

Warm up:
  • Slow jog for about ¼ - ½ mile
  • High kicks crossing x 1 min
  • Jumping Jacks x 1 min
  • Walking lunges 2 x 50 - 75 feet
  • Ball slams 2 x 45’
  • Jump Squats 2 x 15 - 30 seconds
Workout
Cool Down:
  • ½ jog
Static Stretching:
  • Quad Stretch: 3 x 30’
  • Calf Stretch: 3 x 30’
  • Hamstring Stretch: 3 x 30’
  • Piriformis Stretch: 3 x 30’
  • Pectoral Stretch: 3 x 30’
  • Neck Stretch: 3 x 30’

If you have any question about this or any blog post feel free to e-mail Dave@betterhealthpro.com for more information.   






References:
  1. Acute effects of passive muscle stretching on sprint performance; Journal of Sports Science, May 2005; 23(5): 449 - 454
  2. Does stretching improve performance?: A systematic and critical review of the literature; Clin J Sports Med, Vol. 14 Number 5 September 2004: Shrier, Ian MD
  3. Static Stretching Impairs Sprint Performance in Collegiate Track and Field Athletes: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Vol 22 Number 1 January 2008: Winchester, JB
  4. Effects of global posture reeducation and of static stretching on pain, range of motion, and quality of life in women with chronic neck pain: a randomized clinical trial. Clinics 2008;63(6):763-70

]]>Running Stronghttp://betterhealthpro.com/blog/2012/7/16/running-strong.htmlDave Poland2012-07-17T01:59:58Z2012-07-17T01:59:58ZIt is well known by anyone who has been running for a short or long period of time that there comes a time when your speed seems to plateau. That no matter how many miles you put on your favorite pair of running shoes your speed never increases and the only thing that seems to be increasing is nagging injuries. If there was only a way to increase your speed without increasing your likelihood of injuring yourself. Welp, there is! and it does not include running more sprints (though I do for some sadistic reason enjoy a good set of 8x800). The answer is resistance training!

Yes, hitting the iron helps enormously when it comes to increasing your overall speed and it does not require any more time training. You can also hit the iron during your season with no worry of over training. It is actually is a great way to keep the strength in your legs, core, and chest while you taper your milage. Study after study show that with proper strength training, beginner runners to advanced jackrabbits decrease times and increase mean speeds and decrease need for higher volume of running.

In a 1999 study of 22 elite male cross country runners# researchers split the runners into two separate groups. They were able to show that even though one training group replaced 38% of their postseason actual work-out with explosive training, they had significantly greater improvements in overall running economy and mean speeds.  This is not the only research to show such significant improvements to runners performance with substituting pounding the pavement with pounding the iron. A University of New Hampshire study showed very similar results with similar training techniques#.

The UNH study followed 12 female distance runners split into 2 groups of 6 typical running programs and 6 higher volume/dosing strength training programs. The researchers came up with the same conclusion as many other articles—programs with higher volume of strength training regimens incorporated into their workouts results in athletes with better running economy.

The important underlying theme to these and many other studies is the increase in what is termed running economy. Running economy is defined as the efficiency in which one generates the power to run. Think of it as trying to drive fast on the highway in your car. If you try to drive 90 mph in a car with tires that are flat, emergency brake partially on, clogged air filter, and poor wheel alignment the likelihood that you will able to maintain 90 mph without the car fizzling out after about ten minutes is slim to none. Now imagine you in the same car that just spent 12 weeks getting tuned up. The tires are full of air, brake is off, new air filter, perfect wheel alignment, plus faster electrical system. Going 90 mph on the highway will be a breeze on your trip to Rhode Island’s greatest beaches!

This essentially is what researchers found when they incorporated more resistance training to runners’ programs. The runners who performed resistance training were able to more efficiently generate more power, hold good posture during the run, and have faster and stronger reflex muscle contractions in each stride. This all leads to a more efficient generating of force that is able to be sustained for long periods of running. Training programs all differ from research article to article but they all focus on exercise that are specific to the sport and with loads that are no greater than 40% of the athletes one repetition max 1,2,3. For a good reference for a typical beginner strength training program check out a University of Exeter article on this subject. These programs won’t and should not replace sprints and hill work but should replace some of the high volume of running on the streets. If you have questions or want to develop a personalized strength training program, email me at dave@betterhealthpro.com. Happy running!

]]>Getting Beyond Week 5 on The Couch to 5khttp://betterhealthpro.com/blog/2012/4/4/getting-beyond-week-5-on-the-couch-to-5k.htmlDave Poland2012-04-04T19:51:04Z2012-04-04T19:51:04ZThe couch to 5K is one of the best beginner runner programs out there. It gently and smartly alternates walking and running  together until you are running for 30 minutes straight. But a lot of clients that have never been runners before come up to me and tell me that at around week five they are hitting a wall. After a lot of tweaking with the program I found an easy solution to help break beyond that 5 week wall. 

What I have my clients do is when they get to week five, or any week that just becomes a problem is to switch out the running portion of the workouts for steep incline walking. This allows an increase in heart rate and force production through hills without having to break stride. The problem most of my clients are facing is that they just don't have the muscular strength combined with the muscular endurance to run yet. This substitution method works very well and has help a lot of people. 

 

]]>Never Too Old: You Are Not Roger Murtaughhttp://betterhealthpro.com/blog/2011/12/27/never-too-old-you-are-not-roger-murtaugh.htmlDave Poland2011-12-27T23:27:00Z2011-12-27T23:27:00Z 

Many times I run into people who want to start working out and living a healthier more active lifestyle but they tell me "I am to old for this!"

Well I have news for them: you are never to old to start living a more active lifestyle. For example, I have been working with a man who just recently decided to start walking more and playing tennis. He has been playing tennis 3 times a week and walking several miles a week with friends for the past five years and says he has not felt this good in years. This man just celebrated his 92nd Birthday last week! It is never too late. Just train sensibly and eat smart. 


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