Corrective exercise, Cross-Fit or a combination - which is best for you?

The average person doesn’t think much about “corrective exercise.” From couch potatoes to Cross-Fitters, most people don’t think they need it, despite having occasional, if not chronic, aches and pains. No, they just work around them, strategically avoiding routine movements that now, inexplicably to them, cause pain. Back pain, knee pain, shoulder restrictions, plantar fasciitis, some type of surgery. If you’re over 30, you’ve probably experienced at least one of those. Even if you haven’t, you’re finding that you’ve lost the power you had 10 or 15 years ago. You don’t move like you used to. Your gait is kind of funky now. Your upper back is getting a little hunched. And, when you look in the mirror, you’re starting to see glimpses of, GASP, your parents!

 

 So, if you’re suffering from any of the above, what are you doing to correct it? How can you treat a symptom if you don’t know the cause?

 

I just celebrated my 48^th birthday, which might be old to a couple of you out there, but I feel better than I did at 28. I firmly believe age is just a number. I often come across people 5 or 10 years younger than me that claim they can’t do something because they’re “old.” Say that enough, believe it and it will be so. It’s a self-fulfilling prophesy. An old mindset oftentimes precedes an old body.

 

What’s sparked this age-related post? No, not my birthday so much. It’s what I’ve been reading. I’m studying for another certification, the Corrective Exercise Specialist. Most certifications touch upon the material in this National Academy of Sports Medicine textbook, but the CES goes in-depth into postural alignment, joint mobility, muscular imbalances, pain, injury and overall dysfunction. To most people - even a lot of trainers - it’s boring stuff. But I love it. It breaks down movement to its most basic elements and takes a real diagnostic look at the body; how it functions, how it malfunctions and how to restore it. I’ll spare you most of the wordy, technical jargon, but here’s a quote that I think sums up the rationale for corrective training.       

 

“If one component in the human movement system is out of alignment, it creates predictable patterns of tissue overload and dysfunction, which leads to decreased neuromuscular control and microtrauma, and initiates the cumulative injury cycle. The cumulative injury cycle causes decreased performance, myofascial adhesions (which further alter length-tension relationships and joint arthrokinematics) and eventually injury,” the textbook says. Got that?

 

So all of that is just a fancy way of saying when your movement is altered or restricted in any way (due to muscle tightness, muscle weakness, joint restriction, scar tissue from surgery, etc.), the body will compensate and it’s going to result in a domino effect of imbalance, discomfort, pain and injury. The body and all of its muscles and joints are interconnected. Let me put that textbook quote in more relatable terms using a couple of different analogies. Think of your body as a quilt. Any pull in the yarn is going to cause a ripple throughout and with each successive pull on that loose string, the fabric bunches up, loses its shape and becomes more distorted.

 

Or think of the body and the kinetic chain, as just that, a chain. Remember when that chain on your bicycle got a kink in that link? Didn’t make for a smooth ride, did it? You had to fix it. Or, imagine your body as a car. Your tires need a balance and alignment. But you ignore that and keep riding. What happens? Your car subtly starts to veer. Your tires start to wear unevenly causing greater misalignment. At higher speeds, you’re clutching your vibrating steering wheel as it shimmies in your hands. It’s a rough ride. But you just keep riding…

 

The body is no different. Keep riding on that bad ankle, knee or hip without intervention. Keep lifting that weight overhead with limited shoulder mobility leading you into excessive lumbar extension and compression of the discs. Keep squatting with too much spinal flexion due to tight hamstrings.  Keep on with those movement impairments and I guarantee you, you’ll end up in the breakdown lane in need of a HERO. (Call me. I’ll be right there to help!)

 

Simple avoidance or the common “patch and go” approach is not the answer. You’ve got to correct it. Yes, you want to strengthen a weak muscle, but trying to strengthen an area that is dysfunctional (e.g. limited joint motion, synergistic dominance: when one muscle picks up the load for a weak muscle) is only going to compound the problem. That’s the classic case of building a house on a faulty foundation, another favorite analogy of mine. Fix it.

 

If you’re still reading, I’m guessing I haven’t bored you. A lot of people don’t have much interest in these fundamentals, I know. It’s not what sells. But those people fail to realize that many forms of corrective exercise will lead to better athletic performance and improved strength. Much of corrective training focuses on improving flexibility and range of motion, addressing imbalances and strengthening stabilizing muscles throughout the body, thereby making it more efficient. If you build that network of stabilizers, which assist your prime movers, well guess what, you’re going to get stronger. Improve your flexibility, you’re going to be capable of producing more power. Don’t become obsessed with building the superficial mirror muscles or boosting your max lifts without addressing imbalances and dysfunction.  That is the biggest gripe that I have with Cross-Fit or any type of high-intensity training. Cross-Fit is all the rage right now and I understand that. The vast majority of the exercises are proven sound and effective, and it’s done in a fun, competitive environment. But, in my opinion, too many people doing it aren’t ready for such demanding, technical lifts. As my favorite author and trainer Gray Cook says: take a fit, functional person and put them on a Cross-Fit routine and you’ll turn him into Tarzan. Take a deconditioned person and put them on Cross-Fit and you’ll turn him into a patient.

 

And hey, I want to be Tarzan, too; swinging from a vine or maybe climbing a Cross-Fit rope. I like to get after it as much as the next guy - and I do.  So for me, I try to strike a balance. Because I recognize that corrective exercise, while challenging, is not necessarily dynamic and fun. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to work with a trainer who is so technical, methodical, so textbook. Booooooring. So, I throw in the slower tempo corrective before or between the high-intensity, more fun stuff and, eventually, have the client perform corrective exercises on their own. But first things first - you’ve got to fix it. Fix them, make them functional - and then make them fit!

 

Spreading the Health!

 

Robert Haddocks is a certified personal trainer through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the National Academy of Sports Medicine; and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach (NSCA). Send any questions or comments to robhadd@hotmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cross over to the HAMSTRING BRIDGE....

What’s one of the best exercises you can do in the gym or at home with a $20 piece of equipment?  

 Hamstring bridges on the Stability Ball. Yes, they’re pretty basic, I know, but most people just don’t realize how important they are. Here’s why you should incorporate this simple but super effective exercise.

First, let’s break down the mechanics of the bridge. What primarily is happening here? Hip flexion and hip extension with simultaneous contraction of the hamstrings. Now, what do you need to walk? Hip flexion and extension. To sit and stand? Hip flexion and extension. To run and jump? You get the idea. Hamstring bridges are one of what I like to call my “foundational exercises,” ones that I emphasize early in the client’s program to train the body how to move and function properly. Because if you can’t flex and extend your hips, you shouldn’t be squatting, deadlifting or doing any explosive type movement. Someone who can’t flex or hinge their hips (pushing them back) is not going to be able to properly load their glutes. And as you squat, if those glutes aren’t absorbing force, your back and knees will. You know you don’t want that.

 

Secondly, we’re quad dominant people; we rely too much on the quadriceps, which comes at the expense of the neglected posterior chain. This creates an undesirable imbalance, which increases the likelihood of injury. Function and injury prevention aside, I hear lots of you ladies talk about picking up a droopy backside. Bridges are going to work that posterior chain and will do so in a very safe manner - without loading the spine, as is done with a deadlift. Don’t get me wrong; deadlifts are great. They’re one of the best exercises anyone can do. However, if form and function are lacking, it’s easy to get hurt doing them. Bridges, I feel, are a great primer for deadlifts. I often cue my clients during a set of deadlifts to visualize going through a hamstring bridge. The movement pattern is very similar. Think of moving through the hips and glutes. Push ‘em back. Pull ‘em through. Push ‘em back. Pull ‘em through. The hips should be your pivot point, your driving force in almost all that you do.

Another reason I like hamstring bridges? Unlike a hamstring curl on a machine, they’re an integrated movement. Sure, hamstring curls will build the muscle, but they do so in a purely isolated fashion. Your hips remain stationary, totally out of the movement. Also, hamstring curls are an open-chain exercise, meaning your feet are not planted. It also means that the exercise isn’t really transferrable to athletic movement. Almost never will there be a time in everyday activity or sport where your hamstring or any muscle works in isolation. With a bridge on the ball, your feet are up on an unstable surface and the stabilizers in your lower legs and calves will be engaged. Occasionally I’ll have my clients do hamstring curls or other isolated moves to strengthen a muscle or to bring out some definition. Hey, we all want to look better. But looks without function, in my opinion, is just a façade. We call it “All Show, No Go.” You might look the part, but when it gets down to getting after it, you come up short!

A few footnotes here. Putting the feet up on a Stability Ball places more emphasis on the hamstrings rather than the glutes. It also allows for more range of motion through the hips. You can do the same exercise on the floor, but there you should be recruiting more from your glutes. Also, slow down the movement. By going too fast, you’re likely to substitute momentum and lumbar extension in place of hip extension. For a greater challenge and more intense contraction, perform the bridge on one leg on a Medicine Ball (ideally one with a rubbery, sticky surface). Similarly, progress to one leg when doing them on the floor, Stability Ball or Bosu. For variety (and to eliminate the chance of using momentum), also do them statically, holding for a minute or more at the top of the bridge as you isometrically contract your hams and glutes.

So you want more bang for your buck? Want to improve your overall function and move with greater ease? Tighten up your backside? Strengthen your posterior chain and ultimately squat and deadlift more weight?  Bridges alone won’t get your hamstrings popping out of your skinny jeans, but they’ll lay the groundwork for the heavy lifting that’s necessary to do that. And, for those of you that claim you don’t have time to get to the gym, you can do these right at home.

 

That’s much more than I intended for this simple exercise. But again, it’s that important. It’s a favorite and a staple of mine. I often hear that my style of training is so different and unique. I sometimes chuckle at that because I’m not sure exactly what it is that I do. But if anything is different about my style, I’d would say it’s that I employ a lot of “common sense” exercises, training the body as it’s supposed to move, which really is the definition of functional training. So if you’re not doing hamstring bridges, it’s time you cross that bridge. It’s only common sense.

 

Do 2-3 sets of 15 to 20 reps. Be sure to squeeze the hamstrings and glutes and pause at the top of movement, and then resist with the hamstrings as you come down. For progressions, make them part of a superset, pairing them with air squats, lunges, plyometric jumps or other exercises; advance to single leg.

Robert Haddocks, CPT, CSCS is a personal trainer at Lifetime Fitness in Woodstock. Questions and comments are welcome at robhadd@hotmail.com or 404-317-4666.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put flexibility FIRST in your fitness routine

 

It is the most overlooked aspect of a fitness program. I’m continually amazed by how many people walk into the gym and go right into their weightlifting routine. There’s no warm-up to increase the body’s core temperature, no type of stretching or dynamic movement to prepare the body for the upcoming activities.

 

People, listen to me: YOU NEED TO STRETCH DAILY. It is crucial for so many reasons. Flexibility training will: A) improve postural alignment. B) Increase movement efficiency and athletic performance. C) Improve power. D) Relax muscles. E) Reduce chances of injury.  F) Enhance recovery. Is any one of those not appealing to you? Then ask yourself, why aren’t you doing it? You should stretch 15 minutes a day at a MINIMUM.  And, guys in particular, get out of your comfort/ignorant zone and take a yoga class.

Sometime around age 30, muscles begin to lose their elasticity. Range of motion through joints begins to decrease. But you can prevent and even reverse that unwanted aging process. I always tell my clients to think of their body as a rubber band. The more it can stretch, the more power it can produce. If your muscles and tendons, which essentially are like bands, cannot expand, you’re being robbed of power, even in something as routine as walking.

 

 Let me explain. As you walk, the hip flexor (at the very top of the quad) on your trail leg needs to lengthen. If that ability is compromised, a few things will happen. First, your body will migrate into an anterior pelvic tilt, which leads to lordosis and increased pressure on lumbar spine. You will compensate for this movement deficiency by shortening your gait (picture the typical old person shuffling along). Also, with your reduced range, your back foot now comes off the ground sooner than it should, so you’re no longer pushing off as efficiently or forcefully as you should. And that’s just the beginning of your troubles.

 

What happens when you run? The hip flexor’s main function there is to lift the knee toward the chest. But again, if that band of muscles is tight, you won’t have the knee lift you need to be an explosive runner. Furthermore, due to the tightness, you’re expending more energy with each and every stride because your muscle is working that much harder to get your thigh up to 90 degrees. So that lack of flexibility will lead to not only loss of power, but it will erode your endurance.

 

Another example of the debilitating effects: I have an older client who’s extremely tight though his chest. As a result of those restricted muscles pulling him forward, his shoulders and back are hunched and he can’t raise his hands anywhere near to straight over his head. If a robber told him “stick ‘em up,” this guy is in trouble! So what does he do to get his hands overhead? He compensates by jerking his arms up - using momentum instead of muscle - and by thrusting his hips forward and going into excessive lumbar extension. That’s a faulty movement pattern and, like many, it’s one that puts the body at high risk for injury.

 

Although I had no idea at the time, my back injury years ago was a direct result of tightness through my hips and hamstrings. Once I fixed that, not only did my back pain disappear  (despite an orthopedist telling me I was going  to need surgery), I literally got faster at 40. If I knew decades ago what I know now, I might have challenged my homeboy and sprint champ Kippy Andrade in the 100 back in high school! Not to toot my own horn, but I do a lot of things now that I couldn’t do 20 years ago and I attribute most of that to greater flexibility/mobility and gaining an understanding of how the body truly works - and then training it in that fashion. So it’s good to see fellow trainers like Mitchel Black and Michael Raymond regularly incorporate mobility drills as part of their workout and group classes. I’m going to say it again: it’s CRUCIAL.

So stretch before and after working out. It’s actually more important to stretch AFTER a good long run or bike. Before activity, focus more on dynamic stretches (with multi-planar movement with a brief hold of only a couple of seconds). Post-workout is when you want more static stretches (holding for at least 20 seconds). And don’t think a couple of pre-workout toe touches and arm swings is sufficient. That’s barely a start. Stretch your quads, hips, groin, obliques, chest and more. Move to get ankles, shoulders, wrists, etc… more mobile. Incorporate integrated stretches that hit multiple body parts at once. Running, cycling, lifting or whatever you might be doing for exercise is great. But if you want to be lithe and limber – and explosive - you’ve got to stretch. Otherwise, your body is slowly becoming less efficient and less elastic, well on its way to becoming more elderly, with all the accompanying aches and pains.  You want that? Then get to stretching!  If stretching helped me stave off surgery, think what it could do for you.

P.S. And for the record, I will dust that Kippy Andrade today! J

 

SPREADING THE HEALTH!!!

 

ROBERT HADDOCKS CPT, CSCS is a personal trainer at Lifetime Fitness in Woodstock. Send any questions or comments to robhadd@hotmail.com

 

 

It's YOUR butt - use it or lose it!

 I’m known as a trainer that places a lot of emphasis on the glutes. A member wanted to tighten up her drooping backside. My boss placed her with me. My focus on the glutes is an ongoing joke among colleagues. They know I'm all about "activating the glutes." A client calls me the “Butt Blaster.” That might be funny, but your butt is no laughing matter. Allow me to share this cautionary tale.

Cindy was scheduled to have her right knee replaced.  She was dealing with some pain in her left knee, but the right knee was grinding, bone on bone. Excruciating and debilitating.  For a quick assessment, I had Cindy perform a single leg reach (standing on one leg and SLOWLY reaching a few feet in front of her with the opposite arm).  I often use this to test a client’s balance, looking at stability of the ankle, knee and hip joint. Cindy started standing on her left leg, with the “good” knee. She wobbled as she reached down toward the floor, struggling to maintain her balance. She was unsteady in several repetitions. Then – with some trepidation – Cindy stood on her right leg.  She started cautiously but gained confidence with each rep, banging out 10 without the slightest bit of wobble. Rock solid. Cindy was stunned. Why, she asked, was she so much better on the leg that needed an artificial knee?  Any guesses? Think about it.

The answer was simple. It reinforced what I teach, what I preach to all of my clients. In Cindy’s case, unfortunately, it was too late. The damage had been done. But in order to avoid the unbearable pain she experienced in daily activities, Cindy had learned to shift her weight back into her glutes  - and away from her knee. She self-corrected a common faulty movement pattern of squatting and allowing the knees to go forward, making them absorb forces that the glutes primarily should handle. If your knees are extending beyond your toes in a squat, you’re putting an undue amount of stress on that joint. ALWAYS start a squat by pushing the butt back – hip flexion – not knee flexion.  Your knees might move forward as you go deeper in the squat, but in the first half of the movement there should be minimal knee flexion. Look at your form in a mirror. Turn to the side and watch your knees as you squat. How far do they travel? What are you bending first, your hips or your knees? A lot of people struggle with initiating the squat with hip flexion (or a hip hinge) and, not surprisingly, many of them suffer with knee or back pain.

I’ve touched upon this many times in this blog because the problem is so prevalent. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: you need to think of your glutes as shock absorbers. That is what they’re designed to do. And if they’re not doing it, your back and knees will absorb those additional forces when you walk, run, squat, jump. I’m convinced, the majority of people that claim they have a bad back or bad knees really don’t. Not initially.  What they have are bad, underperforming glutes. In Cindy’s example, and anytime you bend over, the glutes should contract eccentrically to decelerate spinal flexion, one of their many functions. They’re brakes in that sense. That, by default, was happening on her right side, but the years of improperly loading that knee had destroyed it. I’ve read that hips and glutes are the culprits in back pain up to 80 percent of the time. I wouldn’t put it quite that high, but it’s at least 60 percent.

Don’t wait until you’re in pain and hobbling around to address weakness in your glutes or the inability to flex your hips. If you have knee or back pain, the root could be the glute. Perform some glute bridges on a stability ball. Do band walks or side-lying hip abduction to strengthen the glute medius. Practice hinging at the hip and training the glutes to absorb force instead of the knee. Be patient. It takes time to re-train and reinforce the proper movement pattern. I’ll also recommend a book, Foundation, which was written by the chiropractor and the trainer of Lance Armstrong (despite his tarnished legacy, it’s a great, instructional book that will improve your posture and movement). It also will give you a better understanding of how the body truly works and make you re-think some of the exercises that you currently might be doing. I hope I’ve done the same.

 

The explosive movements, e.g. plyometrics, heavy weights, Cross-Fit and other high-intensity routines are all well and good. But first, you better make sure your movement patterns are clean and that starts with proper hip and glute function. Next to your quads, your glutes are your strongest muscles. Use them. Or lose them. And if you wait too long, you might lose a knee, too.

 

SPREADING THE HEALTH!

Robert Haddocks, NASM and NSCA Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. He works at Lifetime Fitness in Woodstock, GA. Send any questions or comments to robhadd@hotmail.com