IOL Strength and Conditioning

It’s been a couple of years since I purchased the PowerTec Leverage Squat machine and I’ve learned a few things in my pursuit of “squat.” Unfortunately, not everything that I learned was positive. (Click here for part one or here for part two.)

First thing I learned was that although machines can allow you to perform a reasonable semblance of a squat, they still fall short of the real thing.  No balance is involved and it can be easy to “cheat” the movement.  I mentioned these things in a prior blog and time has done little to change my opinion.

Second thing I learned was that since the machine forces you to conform to its movement path, it can set you up for injury.  That isn’t a startlingly new revelation but I learned its truth when I became injured using the PowerTec.  My knees started complaining and my shoulders also rebelled against the movement.  I “believe” that my knees hurt from the resulting tension and rigid positioning that occurred when my feet were solidly planted on the floor and the lever arm was firmly in place on my shoulders.  Neither “anchor point” allowed natural movement…and my knees were the recipient of some unnatural forces.  My shoulders hurt from the way that the pads pressed down on my trapezius and deltoids.  I “believe” that I irritated a nerve deep in my trapezius in the same manner.  The lever arm and the pads stayed in a fixed position, while I moved slightly underneath them as I squatted.  My left shoulder would become numb and tingly after a squat session.  When squatting with a barbell, the contact point on the shoulders comprises a much larger area and distributes the load somewhat.  With the leverage arm of the PowerTec, the load is concentrated on a reasonably small area of each shoulder/trapezius area.

I am unwilling to completely abandon the PowerTec, since using the angled foot platform changes the movement enough so that these “issues” aren’t as problematic.  (When using the angled foot platform, the movement becomes more like a leg press in function, stressing the glutes more heavily.)  However, for a short while I’ve stopped using the PowerTec machine and returned to using the hip belt squat.  Squatting while using the hip belt is kinder to the back, the shoulders aren’t stressed at all and it also allows for natural movement at the knees and hips.

The bottom line here is that I think I am too tall or otherwise physically unsuited to the consistent, hard use of this machine.  I guess it is still true – “One size doesn’t fit all.”
Live and learn, eh?

President Obama’s in the White House, perhaps sitting in the Oval Office looking around in wonder at this very moment. Smoking is banned there. Will this help him in his efforts to break the dreaded cigarette habit?

We can all agree it takes a tremendous amount of discipline to train most days of the week; it does regardless of the challenges of the job — we’re all busy. The current President trains six days a week (ditto the previous, as a matter of fact, and it’s a remarkable attribute to both men — I mean, seriously, can you imagine?!), and this includes a daily workout while on the campaign trail for much of the past two years.

So, here we have a guy, our new President, who’s devoted to his health and fitness, yet he smokes. He’s careful not to smoke in public where a photographer could grab a shot; even though he’s been upfront about the addiction, he obviously knows a picture of him smoking gives image to a weakness, a detriment to his strength and perhaps even his popularity. And still, with that awareness and with all his extraordinary discipline, he’s apparently been unable to quit smoking.

Now this certainly puts smokers in good company, doesn’t it?

Don’t feel alone, but don’t give up to weakness, either.

We have a couple of folks in the IronOnline forum who’ve had both drug and cigarette habits and have said it was easier to stop heroin and crack than it was to break the stranglehold of cigarettes. It’s both a chemical addiction as well as a habit, something you often do without thought, or that you do along with reading the newspaper or as you finish a meal. The physical and mental addictions combined make it a particularly difficult problem; still, it’s one millions of people have solved and you can, too.

In 1984, U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop launched his campaign for a smoke-free America by the year 2000. While he missed that goal by a long shot, according to the American Lung Association, cigarette smoking dropped from 30 percent of Americans to around 20 percent during the period 1985 to 2007. In the 20 years prior to his campaign, an earlier 12 percent quit the habit, so while it took over 40 years, it’s still a drop from 42 percent to 20. Getting there.

We’ve all seen the long list of health hits you’re taking with each inhalation of smoke, but did you know it’s messing with your muscle building? Big time! The list of people in the forum and at your gym who can confirm this is long.

If there are readers of the blog, newsletter or forum prepared to step forward with a Smoke-Free Challenge, we can put together a Facebook group and support you in your efforts if you’d like. Meanwhile, here are a few links to previous conversations we’ve had as others in our group have successfully kicked the cigarette habit.

Dave wrote on breaking the smoke habit twice, here and here.

And a number of IronOnline forum readers provide their success methods in this archive, where they discuss the patch or gum use, and show how quickly the benefits of quitting begin to occur.

Heck, at, what? $4.00 a pack, in this economy isn’t that enough to give you the final kick? When I was a kid and cigarettes were thirty cents a pack, my folks told us they’d stop when they hit a half-dollar. Sure enough, that’s what happened and that’s what they did. Four dollars a pack! Let’s get going on this one, folks.

What’s the next step in self-myofascial massage, the one after you’ve gotten the hang of using a foam roller? One good option is a six-inch dense EVA myofascial-release ball; that’s an implement I spend a serious amount of time rolling around on night after night.

Well, if one’s good, what happens when you bag up a bunch of four-inch balls? That’s what the Shiatusbag triggerpoint therapy’s designer came up with and, you know, it’s a bit goofy, but I like it.

At 3:30 look for a vocal explanation during which the product’s designer demonstrates other uses for the bag o’ balls involving different surfaces, and explains with this, “You don’t have the balance problems or support problems found with a foam roller or a self-myofascial release ball.”

Now I don’t happen to have a piano bench and haven’t tried that surface option, but I do have a floor… and a hassock… and a couch with a beefy armrest, and I’ve draped a Shiatsubag over them all to gauge the differences in surface density. Myself, I like it to really dig in, and was happy to find ways to intensify the action.

The product comes with ten firm EVA balls and five softer ones. I wrote to ask the manufacturer, Larry Herbert, for his thinking behind using two different type balls, and his response, “the larger four-inch softer balls mainly to act as supporting cushions, and it is the three-and-a-half-inch firm balls that provide the myofascial release,” made sense.

Continuing with his response, “Some of the feedback from users who are less physically active and prefer to experience a comfortable massage thought the balls were too firm and created some discomfort.  However, users who are physically active in programs such as weightlifting, Crossfit and running enjoy the deep penetration and myofascial therapy that the firmer balls provide.  Matt Ryan, M.A., ATC, LPTA & Athletic Training Supervisor at Santa Cruz Medical Clinic who endorses the product, believes the current balls are the proper hardness and will provide the most benefit for trigger point release and myofascial therapy.  It comes down to personal requirements; the Shiatsubag has an opening to change the quantity and type of balls to adapt to individual needs.”

Having spent a boatload of time trying to get more intensity from myofascial release, I tend to remove the softer balls in favor of a bag of similar-sized, denser ones. In fact, I went a step further and filled the bag with tennis balls, smaller yet from the EVA balls, to see if the massaging gained pressure. Then I swapped the tennis balls back out for the original mixed bag and practiced with it on the sofa arm for the back of the lower legs; later I took the larger balls out and finagled bunching the bag up for a clump of a neck massage.

At $39.95 for the Shiatsubag’s myofascial pain relief, about half the cost of a single hands-on massage, you’ll have at hand a way to reinforce full-body muscle relaxation in the evenings in front of the tv. I was thinking of suggesting you not watch the news while rolling around on the thing since that wouldn’t be very relaxing, but hey, why not? It’ll distract you so much you’ll barely hear the politics of whatever’s happening in Congress, and you’ll hardly notice the drone of the commentator’s nightly panel. I say go for it!

You can also buy the EVA myofascial pain relief balls separately to test out the bag-o-balls theory on the cheap.

Foam rolling is practically mainstream these days. Still, there may be readers who haven’t jumped on the wagon yet, and there are certainly many more who haven’t branched out to other rolling implements. One of our main educational guys, Mike Robertson, offers up this free 47-page ebook, Self MyoFascial Release: Purpose, Methods and Techniques, to explain the hows and whys of rolling around on dense round things.

For an extra giggle, there’s this: I’m sitting on a shitatu bag of balls atop my desk chair at this very moment.

We’re all readers or we wouldn’t be hanging out online, so let’s start with this assumption: Sitting here reading isn’t all bad. Online articles are terrific, and have contributed greatly to our understanding of training, nutrition and how the body works. Now blogs, those are a little different because we get a peek inside the writer’s head, see what he or she’s contemplating, informal stuff — what possibilities are simmering that aren’t developed enough to stand up to Article Status. Blog posts let us get down on the ground with the writer, where we find out if there are any lumps under the rug.

I’m a big blog reader. Maybe you’d like to see what’s popping up regularly in my feed reader.

Mike Robertson’s one of our go-to guys in the corrective exercise field. Week after week, he’ll give you something to try in the weight room that’ll surprise you in its simplicity.

Eric Cressey’s another — very helpful in clearing up those nagging, well-earned aches. Seems like a heck of a nice guy, too.

Rounding out that trio is actually the team’s leader, Bill Hartman. Unfortunately for us, he’s too busy fixing people in person to post much. Brilliant stuff when it pops up in the feeds, though.

In Shoulder Performance & Rehab we get regular updates on how the shoulder works, and specifically what causes it to not work and how to fix those issues. Very educational.

Scott Sonnon’s a guy who, in addition to being knowledgeable and willing to share, is just plain fun to watch. The best days are those that include a youtube link to some unbelievable action that he makes look easy.

Iron Tamer: Dave Whitley, a monstrously strong kettlebell and conditioning instructor who also happens to bend stuff that really doesn’t need bending.

Rambling along, Mike Nelson gives insight into Dr. Eric Cobb’s Z-Health program, as well as general joint mobility, kettlebell stuff and current research. He’s a friendly guy, and a sharp cookie, too.

Mike Boyle from  StrengthCoach.com is ramping up his blog presence, good for us since he’s got a whole lot of insight after decades in the trenches training athletes and general clients like you and me. This will be a good blog to monitor.

Over at John Izzo’s you’ll get a glimpse into the life of a personal trainer. The advanced questions he gets, you’ll get the answers; the beginning trainee instructions, you’ll get those, too. There are even the occasional rants, written for the personal trainers, but understandable by all.

At Scott Bird’s Straight to the Bar you’ll get a variety pack of the interesting, the unusual and the outstanding feats of strength, along with do-it-yourself instructionals and more. Here’s your catch-all spot, stuff to keep you occupied during a coffee break.

Boris Bachmann’s Squat RX – you remember Boris, our guy who does those terrific squat demonstration videos; in his blog you’ll get a look inside his brain, and you’ll find it’s all over the map.

Tom Furman’s Physical Strategies will usually give you a lift. Or get you to lift, more like.

Lyle McDonald’s Body Recomposition is where you want to be for the science of body comp. He’s the guy who wrote The Ketogenic Diet book that became everyone’s diet bible a half-dozen years ago; today he does the fine-tuning.

Dr. Mike Eades is the author of the Protein Power series of low-carb instruction. He covers a variety of topics, some so far over my head the third reading doesn’t even get it for me. If you have an interest in low carb eating and its position in medicine, this blog’s for you.

I’ve found Dr. Mike Jones to be the most assessable of the physical therapist blog writers – I usually make my way through his medical posts fairly successfully. And his instructional youtube videos, those are fabulous. There’s often an mp3 download to close out the entry. Great stuff for those trying to get a handle on injury prevention and rehab.

With the next two, we’re getting a little deeper into the physical therapy field, too deep for most of us. But I like to see what these guys are up to, and once in a while I get a clue, some buried treasure an uneducated novice like me can catch hold of. Here’s Mike Reinold’s sports medicine blog, and Jason Harris’s physical therapy documentation.

Heading slightly off topic, Steve Chandler’s iMindShift. He’ll get you thinking, and once in a while he’ll surprise you with a workout reference, probably at just the moment you’re thinking about bagging that day’s trip to the gym across town. He’s a motivational guy, so expect those timely kicks in the rear to work.

Leading contender of Blogs I’d Like to See: Byron Chandler, from the IronOnline forum. Each day I learn something new from his posts; a blog where he could write whatever he was pondering without needing someone to ask a question first, now that would be outstanding.

We have to add Dave to my blog wish list, of course, and Dan John, these two for motivation and for creativity in training. Gray Cook, can’t get enough of that guy. Tom Incledon because I’m always dying to know what he’s up to. Len Kravitz, he’s a guy whose blog would be intriguing, not to mention a riot. Bill Peel, from the IOL forum, for odd-lift instruction and for plenty of off-topic reading enjoyment. Keith Wassung, less prolific in his new job than before, when he had three of them.

I’ve got another list, stuff that’s a little farther out there and not as shareable, and there are others in my blog feed reader — some real favorites — that have unfortunately gone dormant. I’ll never delete them from the Newsgator, ‘cause you never know when they’ll be revived. Like when New Year’s comes along and the resolutions flow fast and furious. Updates, here we come!

Join our discussion to let us know who you’re reading, or to catch up on the choices of my forum mates.