As I did last time for the kettlebell dvd and the time prior for the strength lecture, I pulled a couple of clips from the dvd to give you a taste of what went on during our time with Dan. First, let’s look at his take on pulling through the heels.

In this 80-minute DVD, Dan taught:

• Olympic lifting overview
• Snatch positions
• Push jerk
• Split jerk
• The Jerk
• Overhead squat
• Goblet squat
• Shoulder mobility
• Putting weights overhead
• Hamstring lengthening
• Romanian deadlift stretch
• Wrist flexibility

Now here’s one of value to everyone, even those without interest specifically in Olympic lifting: How to get wrist flexibility.

Having been at the event and as an adult with absolutely no Olympic lifting experience, I can tell you I left feeling fairly confident in my ability to snatch and jerk… a short piece of PVC pipe.

Seriously, it left me and the rest of the attendees with plenty of enthusiasm for learning the O lifts, and enough technique tips to give us a start on our own at home. Here’s where to get your copy of Dan’s Olympic Lifting for Beginners DVD, $29.95.

]]> http://davedraper.com/blog/2009/11/04/dan-john-on-olympic-lifting-technique/feed/ http://davedraper.com/blog/2009/10/28/training-when-your-knees-hurt/ http://davedraper.com/blog/2009/10/28/training-when-your-knees-hurt/#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:30:44 +0000 Nick Weight Training Rehab and Recovery http://davedraper.com/blog/2009/10/28/training-when-your-knees-hurt/ A guest blog post by Nick Tumminello, the guy who
produced those self-myofascial release and self-mobilization dvds I liked so much.
Thanks, Nick, you’ve got great timing because my knees hurt! Laree

Injuries are an unavoidable part of life and athletics. Talk to just about any athlete or exercise enthusiast over the age of 25 and he or she is almost guaranteed to have some sort of pain, injury or limitation. One of the more common areas of trouble are the knees.

Often, past or present knee issues limit or totally prevent folks from performing many of the traditional lower body exercises. Movements like squats, lunges and steps place significant force through the knee and demand the knee joint move through a large range of motion, exactly what individuals suffering from knee issues need to avoid. People with knee pain are left confused and frustrated in their desire to train and successfully make gains in the gym.

That is, until now…

This article will provide you with a concept that I call Joint Friendly Training or more specifically, Knee Friendly Training. Knee-friendly training exercises are exercises that maximize results in strength and muscle, but place minimal stress on the knee joint. In other words, these exercises will help you get bigger stronger legs without creating more pain or discomfort. I know these exercises work because I use them every day with my injured athletes. Every exercise protocol provided has been battle-tested and proven effective in my gym time and time again.

This is NOT Corrective Exercise!

Before I provide the specific exercise protocols. I want to make a very important point: The exercises below are designed to work around your pain, injury or limitations. They are NOT designed to be rehabilitation exercises or corrective training. That training is best left to a qualified physical therapist.

There are two very basic and very common sense rules when using the knee-friendly training exercises below.

Rule #1 – If it hurts, don’t do it!

If one of these exercises creates pain during or after training, skip it and move on to another variation.

Rule #2 – Change is okay!

Don’t be afraid to modify a movement to better accommodate your specific limitations. For instance, use a lighter weight, a shorter ROM, or a slower tempo.

The Exercises

After I provide the specific exercises, I will describe a sample program showing how to apply them in your program.

Knee Friendly Exercise #1 - The Single Leg ½ Squat, ½ Deadlift
This exercise is one of my favorite lower body exercises for both injured and uninjured athletes because it’s a very efficient way to train the entire lower body. It combines the benefits of unilateral training, and leverages the timing and rhythm of both the quads and hips working together.

People with bad knees usually have trouble bending their knees past a certain point. The half-squat, half-deadlift limits the knee bend and allows the posterior chain — glutes and hamstrings — to bear some of the load and therefore to de-load the knee joint a bit.

Watch the video below to learn the ½ Squat ½ Deadlift.

½ Squat ½ Deadlift - Program Design Tips

• This exercise can also be done bilaterally – on two legs — using a barbell or dumbbells.
• Add load to the 1 Leg ½ Sq/DL by wearing a weighted vest, holding dumbbells, a medicine ball or a barbell.
• Isometric holds for 3-5 seconds at the bottom position are also an effective training option.

Knee Friendly Exercise #2 – Anterior Lunges
Anterior lunges are based on the same principle as the ½ Squat/DL. This lunge variation is knee-friendly because it emphasizes more glute recruitment. By increasing glute recruitment, we automatically bring in more muscular help to the knee.

This exercise also makes a killer glute and athletic performance drill for uninjured athletes. I warn you, though, anterior lunges will make your butt very sore if you’ve never tried them before! Like any other new exercise, once your body adapts, that intense soreness goes away.

Here’s how to perform the anterior lunge.

Anterior Lunge - Program Design Tips

• Only go as heavy as you are able while still maintaining optimal spinal alignment, a proper lordodic curve.
• Alternate legs or do all reps on the same side, then switch.
• Shorten your stride or amount of lean relative to pain tolerance levels.

Knee Friendly Exercise #3 – Romanian Deadlifts
RDLs are a very commonly used exercise. Therefore, I don’t think it necessary to cover them in in depth. That said, RDLs are a very knee-friendly way to lift big weights and build more muscle and strength.

Knee Friendly Exercise #4 – Monster Walks
Monster walks are one of the most popular exercises I teach to my clients during training and when I present to fitness professionals at national conferences. This exercise is fun, easy to learn, and most importantly, it works!
As in the theme of this article, monster walks require little to no bending of the knee and therefore are very easy on the knee joint. Even my clients with very severe knee issues can use monster walks to strengthen the lower body without pain or irritation. All you need to perform monster walks is a heavy resistance band like the ones used in band-resisted bench presses and squats.

Monster Walk – Program Design and Coaching Tips

• Prevent the pelvis from rotating more than a few degrees.
• Walk while emphasizing movement from your hips via the glutes.
• Stay tall.
• Monster walks are best performed for time frames of 30-60 seconds.
• To increase load demand, use a heavier band or walk farther out.

Knee Friendly Exercise #5a & 5b – Single Leg Bench Hip Bridge
This is another one of those exercises that is simple to learn, works with anyone, and builds big-time muscular strength and size. It’s also a personal favorite of my lovely girlfriend, Alli McKee,  an experienced strength coach and competitive figure athlete. You can get all of Alli’s workouts here on her blog.

There are actually two ways to perform the single-leg hip lift. You can use a bent leg, as shown in the pictures of Alli below:

Single Leg Hip Bridge — finish position

Single Leg Hip Bridge with Straight Leg - finish position

When performing this exercise with a straight leg, be sure to keep your toes pointed straight toward the sky.

Here’s an example of the wrong foot position:

Single Leg Hip Bridge - wrong foot position

Here is the correct foot position:

Single Leg Hip Bridge - correct foot position

Single Leg Hip Bridge – Program Design and Coaching Tips

• Place the flat part of the weight plate on your shin. The plate should not be uncomfortable to hold.
• Lift hips as high as possible and pause for 1-2 seconds at the top.
• To create more balanced muscular development and add variety to your training, alternate bent leg and straight leg hip bridge variations every other workout.
• Use a larger plate or multiple stacked plates to increase the load.

Knee-Friendly Exercise #6a, 6b, and 6c - Sled Training
With sled training, you get a knee-friendly way to both improve your strength and improve your level of conditioning. In this section, I’m going to cover my three most effective knee-friendly training drills using a sled.

Sled Pushes

• Sled pushes, when done correctly, will crush even the fittest and strongest of athletes.
• Keep your back fairly straight, with your hips and shoulders close to level with one another.

Check out these two hard-working master figure competitors performing heavy sled pushes:

Sled Push – Coaching and Program Design Tips

• For strength and muscular gains, go as heavy as possible for 25-40 yards.
• For improvements in conditioning or for fat loss, use lighter loads for 50-100 yards.

Forward Sled Drag
This drill is a personal favorite of mine for building the legs, burning fat and developing long-lasting conditioning levels. Since this type of training has become more popular, there are multiple equipment options available depending on finances. On the high end, you can buy a Prowler. A cheaper option is to buy a weighted sled. Although I have both pieces of equipment, I still prefer the last option…a used oversized tire. The best part about getting a tire is the price…FREE from the junkyard!

Here, at Performance U in Baltimore, we perform our forward sled drag using a big tire.

Forward Sled Drag – Coaching and Program Design Tips

• Stronger athletes need a larger, heavier tire…DUH!!!
• Lean forward with a straight back.
• Take big strides.
• For improvements in strength, go 20-40 yards.
• For improvements in conditioning or fat loss, go 40-100 yards.
• For dynamic effort training, cover 15-25 yards as fast as possible.

Reverse Sled Drag
The reverse sled drag is a great knee-friendly way to create terminal knee extension and develop your quads. This exercise is no slouch in the fat loss and conditioning department either.

This exercise can also be performed with the Prowler, a weighted sled, or a giant tire. I like the tire because I can get outside and work on my tan while getting stronger.

Reverse Sled Drag – Coaching and Program Design Tips

• You can stand tall or drop into a partial squat while performing this exercise.
• Alternate each position every workout to create balance and add variety.
• For strength gains, go as heavy as possible for 20-40 yards.
• For fat loss or improved conditioning, go lighter for 40-80 yards.

Putting it All Together
Now that I’ve provided you with the specific exercises, here’s a sample-training program. This program demonstrates a sample two-day knee-friendly leg training split.

Sample Two-Day Knee Friendly Strength & Conditioning Program

Day 1
•    Romanian Deadlifts: 4 x 5-8
•    1 Leg Hip Bridge (Bent Leg): 3 x 8-12 paired with Reverse Sled Drag (low stance): 3 x 30-40 yds
•    Calves: 2 x 20-25
•    Forward Sled Drag (for conditioning): 100 yds x 2
Day 2
•    1 Leg ½ Squat 1/s DL: 4 x 10-15
•    1 Leg Hip Bridge (Straight Leg): 3 x 8-12 paired with Reverse Sled Drag (tall stance): 3 x 30-40 yds
•    Calves: 2 x 20-25
•    Sled Push (for conditioning): 50 yds x 4

Note: When pairing exercises, you should perform exercise a, followed by exercise b, and then repeat for the subscribed number of sets. For example in Day 1, the leg hip bridge paired with reverse sled drag should be performed as:

•    Leg Hip Bridge: 1 x 8-12
•    Reverse Sled Drag: 1 x 30-40 yds
•    Leg Hip Bridge: 1 x 8-12
•    Reverse Sled Drag: 1 x 30-40 yds
•    Leg Hip Bridge: 1 x 8-12
•    Reverse Sled Drag: 1 x 30-40 yds

Knee Friendly Cardio

All of the sled variations I provided above are excellent ways of improving cardiovascular endurance and metabolic conditioning. However, those exercises will gas you out fairly quickly. If you are looking for a knee friendly cardio option you can perform for extended periods of time, watch the video below:

Conclusion

So there you have it! I’ve given the specific exercises, shown you how to perform them safely and correctly, and provided a comprehensive training program. You now no longer have the option of using the “I have bad knees” excuse to not train, build muscle, and get stronger or lose fat. You have all the tools, so…get to the gym and get after it!

by Colin Sheard
Health and Strength, The Official NABBA Journal, January 1971
From the William Moore Collection

John Steinbeck should be writing this. I know of no other pen capable of doing justice to the essential Dave Draper. Between the two men is a fundamental affinity, a depth of feeling that even kinship couldn’t deepen. Here is a man after Steinbeck’s own heart; a subject worthy of his pen.

In Steinbeck’s book “Travels With Charley,” is a passage in which he describes the giant redwood trees. Moving, evocative, awe-inspiring, his love for the redwoods is consummately expressed. It communicates.

It is significant that Dave spoke to me of those trees. That his dearest wish is to go and live in the rugged beauty of their surroundings. He seeks peace and quiet, clean air to breathe and the space expressive of mental and physical freedom.

Says Steinbeck: “The vainest, most slap-happy and irreverent of men, in the presence of the redwoods, goes under a spell of wonder and respect. Respect — that’s the word.”

And that’s what I felt for Dave as I listened to him, as I sensed his claustrophobic need to stretch his spirit in such an environment.

So with apologies to them both, and feeling about as tall as I did when reading about the redwoods — I was on tiptoe peering over the grass — here’s what I learned about Dave.

His father was physically inclined. Football and basketball provided the outlets. Dave’s two brothers were mostly intellectually involved. His own need for physical expression came at the age of 12, and for four years, in and out of school, it was expressed mostly in gymnastics. From then on he devoted more time to developing his physique, not with any aspirations to physique titles, but as a means of self-fulfillment. He always trained alone. “I have no love for ball games or team events. I’m a lone man.”

He likes to use heavy weights and move fast. But his training is spontaneous.

“The regimented counting of sets and reps interferes with instinct. I like to tinker about for a while. Until something takes place, an involvement and rhythm, a flowing thing. It doesn’t always happen that way, but when it does I’m in rapport with the weights. The physical exultation lifts me out of myself.”

The outcome in terms of development?

“Hard quality. Balance of the smaller muscles; intercostals, serratus, rear deltoid. Larger muscles are often fully developed but lacking in finer points. Details come through care.”

This love of physical involvement is Dave’s sole reason for training. “Contests came because it seemed the thing to do, and because it seemed favorable to enter for financial reasons.”

There hasn’t been many. The first one came at 19, when he won the Mr. New Jersey title: “Not a strong contest,” commented Dave.

In 1965, he became Mr. America and in 1966, he won the IFBB Mr. Universe. But…”I have no lust for contests. When committed to one, I have a premise which distracts me. I have a tendency to doubt, to rely less on instinct. I am depressed, exultant, at odds with myself and everything. I feel out of step, make mistakes which I know are my own fault and I feel a sense of shame.”

The favorableness of the financial reasons was realized when his successes brought offers from films and TV.

“Don’t Make Waves,” starring Tony Curtis, brought Dave a role which he described as “sympathetic to the bodybuilder.” He also took part in a hillbilly series on TV. But there were offers to which he wasn’t attracted, roles in which he was to appear intimidating, or subjected to ridicule.

“Rather that prostitute the feeling I have for physical culture, I wouldn’t film.”

His financial resources come mainly from a half share in Gide’s Health Company, Long Beach. Named Food of Life, this company distributes supplement products throughout America. Exhibitions and demonstrations are arranged in which biochemists give talks on health and ecology. Dave handles exercise and demonstrates its vial importance in achieving health and all-round fitness.

But he is never happier than when working with his hands, and his creative skill augments his income in the making of distressed furniture… furniture skillfully beaten with a chain, and judiciously burned to achieve the effect of centuries of use, simulating furniture used in the castles of 200-300 years ago.

“I had an itch to make something. So I made a table. It turned out poor and I broke it up. But I’d found my medium; I love working in wood, and sometimes iron. I made more things and they turned out pretty good. A friend asked me to make something for him, then another, and another.”

Word got around, carried by the quality of his craftsmanship. Restaurant owners sought his skill to enhance their interior decorating. He now has a shop in his house, and his work goes far and wide.

Was he taught woodwork at school, or did he receive tuition elsewhere?

“I taught myself; if you’re school trained or trained at all, it’s not instinctive, not creative. They’re not your own ideas.”

His own ideas! Instinctive! Creative! Dave said he is a lone man. He is also his won man; seeking expression in the things he does best, in his own way, without help. Self reliant, confident in his own strength and ability.

As he talked, I watched the hands with which he loves to work. He used them occasionally to express a point. The tools of a craftsman; large, able, skillful, descending from forearms bulging with a strength that can be tempered to a delicacy of touch that transforms wood — and iron — into shapes and patterns of his own creative instinct.

In 1969 Dave went to South Africa, where he did about a dozen shows for Reg Park. It was a turning point. A widening of horizons in more sense than one. The itch to travel, to widen his interests, was upon him.

However…”The world makes it difficult to determine any kind of future. I don’t think much in terms of what’s ahead. The increased temp and acceleration, the pollution, industrial and political disputes… the whole scheme of things, including self, is difficult to resolve. The development of society is so dynamic, no subject is free. Life is momentary. Security! Insecurity! I hope the food supplement company does well enough to allow me freedom to travel. I’d like to come back to Europe for about a year. To move freely, in a camper, make direct contact and feeling with people.” Readers of “Travels With Charley” will catch a glimpse in that last statement of the affinity I mentioned, between its author and Dave.

“Then the redwood country. It’s freedom I want, not material things.”

What of the bodybuilding scene in America?

“There is an increase in attention to bodybuilding and fitness. In the years 1967-69, it was dying out. The attitude was negative. People were not physically inclined. I had, in fact, questioned it myself. But incentive has been rekindled. There is a big movement, new feeling, more positive attitude in current thinking and life style. Don Howorth has had much to do with its revival.”

It would be heresy for any bodybuilder to admit he hadn’t seen a magazine picture of Dave Draper. But what conclusions are drawn? How does the “man” come through in any physique shot?

“People are impressed by pictures. Training shots are all right, but candid shots impress more. They reveal more, set an intimacy. In this way, those who look toward the physique man for something, get to know him better.”

The truth of that statement is best shown in the paradox of the physique shot, in itself; in the varying misinterpretations it evokes from those who, so often, look for the wrong things. Dave’s feeling that the candid shot reveals more is well founded.

But no shot of Dave, and I’ve seen many, is capable of revealing his real character. There is a clean, wholesome quality about the man. His wants are simple. His longing to achieve them stated with engaging frankness. In a word, “candid” describes him. That’s why he prefers the camera, within its limitations, to show him as he is. But it would need a wide screen to project him. He is a truly big man, in every sense of the word.

I was told I’d get little out of him; that he wouldn’t say much. How little are they who told me that.

He is one of the most articulate men I’ve ever met. And he was in spate. As he spoke of certain things, he lit up. The planes of his face shaded off into softer lines, toned to varying depths of emotional response.

He is renowned for his physique. Ranked among the world’s best. His coming was eagerly anticipated, has been for several years. How then, does he measure up? How tall, what weight, what chest and biceps measurements? It never occurred to me to ask. I wasn’t interested anyhow. When gold is pouring into your lap, you don’t stand up and risk it falling away. I was caught up in the current of his words, carried along most willingly to whereever he wanted to take me.

We went back to his childhood, his youth, brief candles that soon threw out lengthening shadows of responsibility. Whatever he may have lost in the early years, Dave has found much that eludes the majority of men. And his deeper sense of values is most seen in the simplicity of his requirements.

Dave deviated from his rule of training alone and joined Frank Zane and Arnold Schwarzenegger in their training for the Universe.

“It was good. Exciting! I found a new surge of energy.”

Coming when he did, Dave entered NABBA’s Pro Contest at its most fiercely contested. If he took back little to show for his effort, he left much behind of what he brought, of himself. This “candid picture” will, I hope, bring a little of his greatness to those denied the chance of meeting him.

I hope he makes the redwood country. It’s where he belongs. Like the redwood themselves, he engenders respect. And not a little awe!

At this year’s IDEA conference a presenter, Sue Hitzmann, did a long session on fascia, the connective tissue that gives our bodies form. She’s a massage therapist who studied the new science of neurofascial anatomy, and in teaching her practice to others, developed a self-treatment method she calls MELT. I’ll prepare an overview of her presentation later, but for now I want to focus on her foot treatment.

Her technique for the feet takes our simple tennis or golf ball foot rolling a step further, using a game plan rather than the all-purpose, all-direction roll we did before. She uses a ball nearer the size of a golf ball, and begins with a softer ball to introduce the action to the fascial system, and later moving to the harder round after the fascia begins to loosen.

Rather than rolling, Hitzmann suggests position point pressing, moving the ball around the foot in a systematic way — mid-arch, along each of the metatarsal knuckles, back to the insole, out to the outside of the foot and down to the base of the heel — each time pressing down, holding but not rolling.

Next, she instructs what she calls shearing, in which the ball is used as a prop to hold the foot at an angle, waiting as the fascia begins its release.

Finally, the ball is rolled underfoot, side to side under the knuckles and up and down the length of the foot, only instead of rolling with pressure as we’ve been doing, this technique is called “rinse and friction” and is done faster and with less pressure.

You’ll find this fascinating as you play with it, especially using the smaller ball and applying directed pressure under the metatarsal knuckles, where you’re likely hear or feel the joints shifting.

One day on my pass by the triggerpoint ball, I stumbled upon a fascial release magic trick, a combination of techniques that sort of cuts the corner between joint mobility and soft tissue work.

In addition to rolling a ball underfoot, ankle mobility is my second daily must-do. Well, this day, I was in a hurry and sort of jumbled the two together. (I wonder if this is how most new training ideas are unearthed; we think these are brilliant folks figuring out how to accomplish specific tasks, but instead they’re just busy folks in a hurry.)

The triggerpoint therapy ball I use is about the size of a tennis ball, slightly larger, a little more dense, with density that shifts during use. With the ball stable under my forefoot, I started a little ankle rocking, a joint mobility drill to drive movement into the ankle joint. The action looks a lot like this Mike Boyle ankle mobility drill, only instead of having the toes propped on the edge of the platform, the foot is on top of a tennis ball.

As I began to experiment with various ways of applying pressure, I noticed the subtleties: Rolling, friction and steady pressure are all different than rocking, and rocking with a semi-stiff knee versus a bent knee is quite dissimilar, too.

When you think of the fascial lines, remember to consider length. The long stretches of connective tissue are how a knot in one place can cause pain a distance away. If you’re attentive as you rock your ankle with a ball under the metatarsal knuckles with a straight knee, you feel the pressure moving up the back of your leg and behind the glute, and you may even catch a hint of it higher up your back.

Play around with this tomorrow and I think you’ll be convinced it’s one for the daily to-do list.

Another quick tip in closing: It involves the tennis ball peanut gizmo we got from Mike Boyle (who, I’m told, originally got it from Sue Falsone — Mike’s big on crediting sources, and now that I know where he got it, I have to go back and make some fixes on this one).  Turns out the taped-up peanut works really, really well on the lats, up the side of the underarm and down the top of the triceps. A regular ball rolls out from under, whereas the ball peanut stays steady. I think you’re going to like this one. Well, both actually.

One of the highlights were his thoughts on why we lose joint range of motion. This is a primary problem as we get a little older, and we need to know what’s causing this decline in joint mobility so we can fend it off. Sure, sitting at this desk is a factor, but there are others reasons, and one I’ll bet you never thought of.

Evan Osar, IDEA World Conference, Anaheim, August 2009

The second big reason we lose range of motion is injury. These can be caused by a traumatic impact event, but at least as often a new injury is caused by a previous one. An injury often shuts down movement near the affected joint, causing less motion in that extremity than in the non-injured side. With asymmetries in range of motion, the larger the difference between the two sides, the greater the potential for injury.

We also have a problem with learned behaviors like lousy walking habits, standing in a hip strut or faulty cardio exercise style — think Stairmaster, hands on the rails, shoulders jammed up toward the ears, hips shifting side to side instead of long, forward-moving walking strides, all of which contribute to a stuck thorax with a lumbar area moving way too much.

When we talk about hip mobility, we’re concerned with movement — range of easy motion. The second and equally important aspect of joint action is stability: Is the surrounding musculature able to hold the joint in the center of the socket. This is called joint centration, the optimal access of rotation of the joint. Bad centration equals bad rotation, and vice versa.

Habitually holding a position causes the body to lose the ability to center the joint, sometimes due to tightness or weakness, and sometimes due to poor neuromuscular control, the brain sending faulty signals.

When we boil it all down, it comes to this: We need to create better centration of our joints. If the pelvis is stuck in anterior or posterior tilt (Osar, in opposition to many writers in this industry, believes most people are in posterior tilt), the hips are unable to center in the sockets.

One of his examples is overactivation of the glutes, a sort of always-on squeezing at the back of the hip socket. To quote Evan:

“This over-activation drives the head of the femur forward in the socket and generally leads to increased activation of the external hip rotators. In turn, this leads to decreases in internal rotation requiring compensatory changes in the knee, spine, and/or ankle. Focusing on releasing the posterior hip through fundamental patterns will often improve ROM without doing any other release techniques.”

In another example, as we lose internal rotation at the glenohumeral joint, the shoulder moves out of centration. You can see how this works if you stop reading, close your eyes and picture the joint pulled off-center in the socket.

Without joint centration, range of motion begins to decrease. Limited range of motion and weakness go together. Joints lock down to provide stability when the brain senses weakness.

We get pain because of too much uncontrolled motion; we’ve got to be strong enough, and maintain enough neurological control over the muscles surrounding the joints to provide stability of joint on top of joint.

This uncontrolled motion — this instability — is also why we lose balance.

I’ll decipher my notes on his baby-boomer balance improvement session another time. As I expected, it was also an exceptional talk in which he developed the ideas of stability and, surprising to me, spent a great deal of time on breathing patterns. I’ll flesh out my memories and post his bullet points later this month; in the meantime, go over to Evan’s website and sign up for his newsletter for a glimpse at his monthly insight into learning how your physical body truly functions.

As I think about the new Dan John kettlebell dvd, part two of his four-part weekend seminar series DVD we’re expecting from the replicator late in a few days, I again realize how much information he packed into the weekend. When you’re in the thick of things, it’s hard to comprehend the quantity of new information, or the value we get when guys like he and Dave simplify things to the core. That’s what happened during our weekend in June, bullet by bullet Dan hit the target for our group of IronOnline attendees.

And as you know, we got it all on film.

Here’s a look at Dan using professional snowboarder Josh Vert to demonstrate the bottom of the Kalos Stenos Turkish getup.

And in this clip, Dan explains Mark Cheng’s theory of the four knots of the shoulders and hips, and expands on it to include his thinking about the chain-link core.

One thing that will surprise most viewers is the true explosiveness of the ketttlebell swing. It’s much more violent than what most will expect, and as it turns out… Dan was right, and it’s a good thing. I liked my trusty, lazy old form of swings, and had no back pain experience to cause me to search for a new technique. Less than a half-hour into the workshop, I was convinced.

If you need some convincing yourself, you can order the new Dan John kettlebell dvd today, and we’ll ship it the day it arrives in inventory.

This is a guest blog post from Boris Bachmann, the creator of the terrific Squat RX video series.

As the Squat RX guy, I get a lot of questions from people struggling to bring their squat up to the level of their deadlifts. Many of them are pretty strong guys frustrated at their relatively paltry squat numbers. Understandably, they have a tough time stomaching the idea that squatting half of their deadlift is a herculean effort.

I have no secret technique or protocol that will magically transform your squat numbers, but I do have some observations that may put you on the path to some degree of parity for your squat and deadlift. If you are a “deadlift stud, squatting dud,” perhaps one of the following tips help you.
#1) You may be built to deadlift

Have long arms and a relatively short torso? You’re probably built to deadlift. Your deadlift is always going to run ahead of your squat. This is not something to get upset about, however — when you come from behind to destroy the competition in a powerlifting event with your stellar deadlift, you’ll be glad you have the build you have.

Nature just doesn’t deal us what we want sometimes. Tall and lanky might not be ideal for squatting, but take it from someone who’s short and stocky: Long arms are nice when you are lifting big and heavy things off the floor.

Okay. Great. That’s constructive… your build is great for deadlifting, so are you stuck with a bad squat? No, of course not, but there’s no sense in losing sleep over something that can be looked at as a positive.

#2) You haven’t given the squat enough time to develop

Beginners typically have much better deadlift numbers compared to their squat.

The extreme hip angle the squat puts you in is a position most people aren’t used to loading. As a result, it’s not uncommon for a beginner’s squat to lag behind his deadlift by one or two hundred pounds. With time, the numbers tend to even themselves out. If you haven’t been training consistently for a couple of years,  give your squat time and effort to catch up. And, if you are a powerlifter and use supportive equipment such as wraps and a squat suit, which assist the lifter in those extreme positions, it is very likely your squat numbers will soon far exceed your deadlift.

#3) You need to prioritize your squat

Almost every time someone asks me how to bring up his squat, he’s surprised when I suggest he isn’t squatting often enough. If squatting is a skill that has not been developed, practice is what is needed. Every training session does not have to be a high-intensity, high-volume Smolov hell, but more frequent sessions with greater focus on technique and tension can’t hurt.

For most beginner and intermediate lifters, it is a truism that squat training will help their deadlift numbers. The converse of this is not true, however; most people will NOT experience a commensurate rise in their squat numbers as their deadlift improves. I’m not saying anyone should slack in their deadlift training, but you have to work your weaknesses harder than your strengths if you want your weaknesses to become strengths.

If you are doing both the squat and deadlift in the same session, do your squats first. If you are doing both squat and deadlift work during the week, make sure squats come early in the week and before deadlifts. Prioritize your squat by doing squats and assistance exercises and drills early in the week. I call this ‘front-loading’ your work week; by putting your ‘money sets’ in early and getting them over with, you avoid the tendency to slack off as the week marches on.

#4) You may need to work on your set-up

Except for lining up too far away from the bar, most people know how to set up for a deadlift. “Grip and Rip” seems to be almost instinctual. Setting up for a heavy squat requires more direct instruction for many, and if there was one secret to squatting that seems to be lost on most lifters, it is that without a superb set-up, you are leaving a lot of potential pounds in the squat rack. A good set-up means setting the starting bar height in the racks appropriately, taking as few steps as possible out of the rack, and being as tight as possible before initiating the descent.

Proper bar positioning is essential to a strong squat. If the bar is not securely anchored to your back, injury to yourself and others is a very real possibility. As you position yourself under the bar, drive the head backward and stick the chest out — be proud. The Bigger, Faster, Stronger program uses the cue spread the chest, and it’s a good one — a sunken chest will quickly put you into a compromised position.

At the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) instructor certification, there was a short discussion about neural potentiators; key areas that, when active, serve to rev up the central nervous system. The grip is one of these neural potentiators.

My father was always fond of talking about research showing high correlation between an Olympic weightlifter’s grip strength shown on a dynometer and his success or failure on the platform a short time later. When the grip is weak or inactive, performance can suffer.

With deadlifts, the grip is active… squatting, not so much. So, what can a squatter do to maximize this? Grip the bar tightly. Even though it is not directly applying force to the bar in a way that seems meaningful, it is priming the central nervous system for heavy lifting and activating synergists to stabilize and assist the prime movers.

#5) You may need to learn how to build tension as you descend into the hole

When I was much younger, I believed that a full range of motion was advantageous, even when it came at the expense of muscle tension. I relaxed at extreme positions, placing loads squarely on the joints and connective tissues. It’s a wonder I didn’t suffer greater injuries than I did, but as you might expect, I suffered from more than a few lumbar and shoulder issues from my squat and bench press training.

A common cause of injuries and unnecessary aches and pains associated with squatting is failure to maintain proper tension as you descend into and rise out of the hole. I see kids all the time squatting who go loosey-goosey at the bottom of their squat to get another inch or two of depth. This is probably because they were told squatting ass-to-grass was the only way to squat, or some such nonsense.

In this photo, notice how the entire structure is leaking power through the lumbar, knees, and ankles.

The bottom line (pun intended) is if you are sacrificing tension for depth, you are asking for trouble.

Conduct the following experiment: With no weight, relax into as deep a bodyweight squat as you can manage; use a dowel or pvc to mimic a barbell back squat. While in the bottom position, shift gravity to your heels, tighten up your upper back and abs, externally rotate the legs at the hip by shoving the knees outward and engage the glutes and hamstrings. If you do this properly, you should involuntarily rise out of your deepest position by an inch or two. This is the depth you should strive for with your squats, and no deeper.

Notice how tension has spread the load, shifting stress away from the lumbar, knees, and ankles to the musculature of the hips, hamstrings, and the entire posterior chain and synergists.

There should be no loss of tension as a competent squatter descends into the hole. In fact, tension should be building throughout the torso and posterior chain. Dan John uses the bow analogy and I think it is very appropriate for squatters. Visualize your body as a bow with the string being pulled back to fire an arrow as you descend into the bottom of your squat. When you reach depth, release the string and fire booster rockets to escape gravity’s pull and don’t let up until the bar is securely back in the racks.

Excessive thoracic kyphosis – too much bend in the upper spine – goes hand in hand with forward head posture. Regaining thoracic mobility greatly contributes to fixing that, and subsequently eliminating neck pain.

For tips on how to do this, let’s go back to Anthony Carey, the guy who designed the Core-Tex reviewed a couple of weeks ago. Anthony presented his session, Advanced Strategies for Correcting Kyphosis, at this year’s IDEA conference, and guess what… I took notes.

A huge percentage of adults have excessive bowing in the upper back; in some, it’s a congenital structural issue and in others, usually the elderly, it’s a result of increasing osteoporosis and weakening bones unable to support the torso. But in most of us (you can guess what’s coming next), it’s postural… plain old bad habits.

Take a look at this image:

When the upper spine bends into kyphosis, it creates an excessive stress above in the cervical spine. Over time, that’s going to hurt. It’s also going to begin to move less, as will the thoracic spine; there will be less rotation and it will be harder to turn the head and shoulders. That’s probably the top reason older drivers back into things: They can’t rotate very well.

With the upper spine bent in that position and decreasing in mobility, it’s going to put more stress on the shoulder joint. Most people with shoulder issues have a t-spine mobility problem, and since a lot of us have both, what’s next?

One point Anthony made in his presentation and one I’ve heard whispered occasionally is about excessive foam rolling. When we start rolling over dense foam, most of us really respond to rolling the t-spine region, and because we like it so much, we go back to it often, perhaps too often. If we continually move the same spot by rolling, we may be creating hyperextension of certain areas over time. Segments above and below may be less mobile, and he suggests we not use foam rolling as our sole corrective strategy.

My favorite t-spine mobility exercise – the one I started with and regularly return to – is segmental mobility gained by working over a pair of taped tennis balls. I picked this one up from Mike Boyle a couple years ago; two used tennis balls and a roll of athletic tape and you’re making progress in about ten minutes.

Here’s what it looks like in action:

As you begin to loosen the upper spine, regaining youthful mobility, you’ll want to bring in a bit of rotation. Watch Mike working on thoracic rotation.

Here’s another example of t-spine rotation, this time in quadraped position from strength coach, Dewey Nielsen. Notice how his athlete is sitting deep in the hips; this is to keep the lower back from taking the rotation.

Anthony’s corrective exercises are a step above those basics, are a little harder to explain and aren’t available online as far as I’ve seen. So I again (yes, again… I think this must be the tenth time) refer you to his book, The Pain-Free Program, where you’ll find these unusual exercises described, with photos, plus a revolutionary way for laymen at home to sort out their personal postural issues. Can’t recommend it highly enough.

If you’ve worked your way through the neck pain ideas from last week and this week’s upper back suggestions, but your real concern is low back pain, click on over to Function First for Anthony’s tips, 25 Things You Must Know About Lower Back Pain.

If you work on those two or three moves five minutes a day for the next two weeks, I guarantee your back and neck will feel better. Not much time for a huge payoff! Add some aggressive pec stretching and you’ll be truly amazed at how much younger your upper body will feel.

I keep harping on this stuff because for me it’s made the difference between able and… well… unable. There’s no way I’d still be publishing books or dvds had I not taken the time to address mobility. No possible way.

You want your head in a position that requires the minimum work, one where the neck barely works at all. When the head moves forward of the spine, the neck muscles go to work to fight gravity, a job for which the whole body foundation is much better suited.

In healthy posture, the head sits in the middle of the shoulder girdle. It just rests there, and there’s no stress at all in the neck. One way to lighten the weight of the head is to put your attention to your chest: In sitting, simply focus your attention to the top of your sternum and off your neck. Try it right now and see if you can feel it.

If your head is excessively forward, you probably won’t be able to move the pressure from neck to chest. It’s going to take some time to loosen up your thoracic spine and stretch the chest and lats enough to get your head back into its proper position. I wish there was some magic; it’s not magic, but it works pretty fast if you put your attention toward the corrective work to fix it.

The other major neck issue is a pain on one side. This is caused by something else; three main culprits come to mind.

First and easiest: Look in the mirror. Is your head tilted to one side? Look again, and again. It’s sometimes hard to spot because you’ve been seeing it for so long or perhaps, like me, you don’t really observe anything when you’re using a mirror.

If you see it is, realize that tilt is pulling on the muscles on the side of your neck. You should be able to fix it naturally once you’ve discovered it. It’s just a habit that came from somewhere and stuck around, and it’s up to you to ditch it.

Beyond that, neck pain only felt on one side usually comes from either the clavicle or the scapula not working properly. When either of those don’t move right, they pull on the muscles above, causing pain in the levator scapula along the back of the neck, or the scalenes in the front. Of course, it can come of a list of causes ranging from arthritis in the neck to diaphragmatic problems during exercise, but for our simplistic purposes here – what we can check at home with limited knowledge — these are the two main causes.

Your clavicle is kind of a strut that attaches your upper arm to your sternum in front and the shoulder blade in back. When checking its motion, you’ll be looking for movement to the front and to the back, up toward your ear and down toward the floor, and rotation, turning like a key in a lock, with the lock being the point of connection at the sternum.

Put the palm of your hand on the opposite clavicle so you can feel the length of it move…. either side, because you’ll want to check both. The clavicles should move easily up and down, in and out and around. Then, raise the arm on the side you’re testing so you can rotate it; when you lift and turn your arm, is the clavicle rotating? Check both sides. Is the painful side not moving so well? Does moving it cause pain?

When a joint is not moving optimally, it causes trouble, either pulling on the surrounding soft tissue bringing on tightness and pain, or perhaps launching a trigger point that radiates pain. Maybe the faulty movement uses nearby muscles to get the job done, but because that’s not their purpose, other problems arise.

In the case of the clavicle not working well, the most common pain problems would be an aching shoulder, elbow or a pain in the neck.

On the backside, the culprit is most likely the shoulder blade. The scapulae are flat triangular-shaped bones that sort of float in position on both sides of the upper back. When one or both of the scapulae aren’t working properly, either due to a neurological issue – the brain forgot how to use it well – or attached muscles that are either stronger or weaker or shorter or longer than they’re supposed to be, the levator scapula, a long muscle that runs from the shoulder blade up the neck, gets tight. And that hurts, a dull ache that seems like it’s going to last forever and that’ll drive you to drink.

A neurological failing in the scapula is surprisingly easy to fix if you know what you’re looking for. Still, without someone to show you, it’s going to take some attentive imagining on your part.

What the heck, let’s give it a try. Sitting there at your desk, bend forward at the hip in such a way that you can move your arm up to shoulder height, parallel with the floor. Move your arm up and down, toward your ear and back, not toward the ceiling and floor, very slowly so you can pay attention to the shoulder blade movement. Try it even slower; you want to find out if there are any hitches or jerkiness in the motion. Then move your arm in and out — toward the spine and back out, again looking for smooth, floating movement.

Next, you’re going to be drawing circles with your arm to discover if you can draw a smooth circle in each direction. Test both sides.

This is a case where the test is also the prescription. When you find a spot where it’s not silky and easy, stop there. Slow down, make the movement smaller and slower until it gets effortless and the frustration eases. This may be kind of sickening at first. You may not be able to do this well, and as the brain is remembering the action, it can sometimes make you a little nauseous. Stick with it as long as you can, gently and relaxed, and the motion will get easy pretty quickly, within a couple of minutes usually. If you can’t tolerate it, do a little and come back to it later.

When we talk about muscles being weak or tight or strong or short, we’re heading toward corrective exercise – doing some activity to reverse the problem we’ve found. It gets complicated, but with the scapulae there are two things fairly likely to give you some success.

The first is to stretch the heck out of your pectoral group — group, meaning don’t just do the doorway stretch; change the angle and go again. Get the arm overhead and angled to make sure you get to the pec minor. Stretch a good, long time — this is one area where long duration stretches make a difference. As long as your hanging out there, massage the area at the same time. Really dig deep.

From the strengthening aspect, horizontal pulling will really help. We all know chins, but how many people around the gym are lying under the Smith bar, feet elevated on a bench or stability ball, pulling from the floor to the bar? Heck, there are some people reading who can’t do a single one. Now doesn’t that sound silly? Yeah, go try it, and as long as you’re there, do a set of ten.

Take note of what we did there: We stretched the muscles in front that pull the scapulae forward, and we strengthened the muscles along the sides and back that pull the scaps down and hold them in position. It isn’t magic, but it kinda works like it.

Any of the above problems will cause trigger points, and working on these will absolutely provide some relief. But the thing is, the cycle will begin again unless you work your way to the underlying cause. I also like chiropractic, but again, if the underlying cause isn’t fixed, the problem is likely to return.

One more quick thing. Lack of good head turning, even if it’s not painful, is troublesome, mostly in things like driving. A stiffness in head turning could easily be a simple mobility problem, like you’ve gotten accustomed to turning your head to one direction and over time stopped turning to the other. To start… to see if there’s some success — turn the head while lying supine.

Do it very slowly, very gently, making the movement as light as possible, making the weight of the head very small. If you give yourself a little private time when you can close your eyes and let the world go on without you, with experimentation you’ll find a pain-free path. Then, change from just rolling your head to rolling with an arc, more like tilting, where you bring your ear to your shoulder.

If you spend maybe ten minutes at this a few times a day, really gently, just exploring the territory, you’ll get better mobility in a matter of days. This is joint mobility at its core. Later, you might want to work on other directions, more speed and greater range of motion, but at the outset, just give yourself time to explore. You’ll learn a lot, and will enjoy the feeling of movement.

Over time, you may even begin to notice the movement growing. Turning or tilting your head might originate from the opposite hip, and when you feel those changes, your spine has become more integrated with your extremities, sorta like it was when you were a kid.

Another thing to look at with neck pain is simple overuse.  As the years pass, we start using the neck to do the job of the entire spine, and start getting neckaches. You want to retrain yourself to use the full length of the spine to move your head, or to hold it up during sitting or standing.

First step: Lie face down on the floor, hands folded in front of your face so you can rest your forehead on the back of the top hand.

Lift your head a few times to look at the floor or wall in front of you. Notice what muscles you use to lift your head.

Then rest your head on your hands, close your eyes and think about the length of the spine, neck to tail. Practice raising your head a few times, then resting and trying again, each time starting the movement just a little farther down the spine. Eventually you want to get just a hint of movement from the tail as you begin to lift your head.

This is an example of part of a Feldenkrais lesson, retraining more muscles to carry the load. An entire lesson takes between 45 minutes up to an hour and a half, and at the end of it, the entire spine is moving.

You can later practice this leaning against the kitchen counter where your legs at bent at the hips, spine extended toward the counter, practicing raising the head without using the neck much.

Do all this stuff with eyes closed. That helps zero the attention in — You really can’t get it at all with eyes open, too many distractions.
I’m living proof neck pain can be relieved. It took awhile to sort out since I had all three issues — forward head, neither clavicle nor scapula moving well — but today if I notice any straining in the neck, I know how to fix it. Shifting the base of support from the tiny neck muscles to the torso fixes the problem instantly. Happy daze, man! Pain-free movement.

My first introduction to Anthony was his book, The Pain-Free Program, which I bought a couple months into this corrective exercise side-trip that started nearly two years ago. Floundering a bit, heading off in the wrong direction by guessing wrong a couple of times, the book brought me back to the path, and I became intrigued as his techniques quickly began to work.

About six months later, IDEA 2008 rolled around, and I was excited to see him on the schedule teaching What the Hips Lack Hurts the Back. My bullet-point notes from the session are here, and cover the connections between hips and low back pain.

By this time, you know I’d become a fan and was an avid reader of his blog, so when I saw he had invented a new core training device, I was eager to try it. It looks like a blast, but would it be more than just a few minutes of fun, sort of fake surfing for landlubbers?

I knew Anthony was teaching at this year’s IDEA, because I was scheduled to hear him present Advanced Strategies for Correcting Kyphosis, which I’ll discuss next week. And I knew he was planning to show the Core-Tex, but several runs through the Expo hall left me still on dry land. I figured I was out of luck this trip, until on the last Expo visit (a quick jaunt through after Paul Chek’s session on posture to discover his recommended back strengthening book was actually a $250 seven-hour dvd correspondence course), heading toward the door, I see Anthony shifting around on a big red disk. I’m going to get to try it after all!

I shoved him off and gingerly climbed aboard, holding the handrail with all ten fingers. I’d like to tell you I jumped on and surfed away, but… no, that’s not how it went.

Still, it was AMAZING, and truly fun. The disk moves in all planes of motion, often at the same time. There’s technical information about translation versus a fixed axis, but you’ll have to read this page for those details, since physics makes my head hurt.

(This isn’t me; I’m not that young, not that thin, nor did I get that good on the Core-Tex.)

While sliding from fore to aft and round about, I asked Anthony if I’d get better at it, and if so, how long would that be expected to take. When he said ten minutes instead of the six weeks I was expecting, I released one of my gripping hands from the guide bar to make a move toward hands-free. A minute or so later, the second hand came off and it was pretty comfortable to go with the flow.

As I gained a little confidence, I got a little bolder; I began heading off for a full 360… and stumbled off in short order. Luckily, Anthony’s quick on his feet – or maybe he was just watching and saw the signs– and grabbed me before I took out a line of people shopping medicine balls at the Perform Better booth where the Core-Tex was on display.

Later, I got to wondering about the falling-off part, and how that related to neural reprogramming, because I’d been thinking the Core-Tex was mostly to wake up dormant or low-functioning muscles. I wrote to ask if my thinking was correct, if so, would my nervous system remember the new pathways, or would it only remember the falling-off part.

Anthony wrote back, “When standing on the Core-Tex, there is certainly an incredible amount of neural activity going on because the motions are so new and dynamic.  Because there are so many combinations of movements available as the dish moves, it’s not likely any reprogramming is actually happening.  This is because you may never repeat exactly the same combination of movement and muscle activity the entire time you are on it.

“Instead, the goal is to improve the user’s reactions. In other words, how quickly and efficiently does your nervous system react to the shift(s) in your base and communicate that to your our musculoskeletal system to act so that you don’t fall? That is why we encourage the user to keep moving with the Core-Tex and “pitch and catch” with it.  Just standing still on it, as is done with so many other pieces of equipment, doesn’t require the same continual up-regulation of new information from the proprioceptors.

“Positions other than standing on it certainly place a very unique musculoskeletal demand on the body.  The need to control the motion of the dish as you do, say, a push-up, fires additional stabilizers because the body is unable to predict how the dish will move next. It adds a lot of variety and fun to the workout.  That’s why we take so many exercises that are done on the floor and put them on the Core-Tex.”

In the following clip, you’ll seen some of the many ways the Core-Tex can be used in a personal training or coaching setting. Pretty much anything you can do on the floor can be done on the disc, feet on, hands on..  standing, kneeling… half-kneeling… planking… with or without the handle guide, and with or without training tools such as medicine balls and tubing. In another clip, Anthony uses a pair of ski pools to demonstrate pre-season ski training, which I guess would start right about now, wouldn’t it?

One of the clips on the Core-Tex website shows Gary Gray, certainly one of the primary forces behind today’s study of functional movement, discussing balance and stability while using the unit. When Gary Gray says something really makes a difference, personal trainers and coaches should stop and listen.

I’ve been around people who’ve designed new inventions and brought them to market, and what’s even more remarkable than the initial idea is the perseverance it takes to get a prototype made, make the changes and find a suitable manufacturer. And this unit, because of the infinite variety of movements, must have been a real bear to figure out. That someone was able to stick to the project from start to finish is truly impressive, quite hard to fathom, really.

I’ll tell you one more thing: In addition to adding a fun variety to your personal training studio or athletic training facility, this gem will make your clients and athletes perform better, and isn’t that the bottom line?

Facility owners and mobile trainers, get one of these in your winter budget, $499-575. You know it would be on my list if I trained clients. Hey! I wonder if it’s a suitable anniversary present.