So many people are
missing the boat.
I attended the
National Strength and Conditioning Association regional conference last month.
The NSCA is the premier fitness organization when it comes to training college
and professional athletes. You might think the focus of the conference would
have been on hoisting heavy weight and producing maximal power, an essential
element in football and many sports. Not so fast.
The recurring theme:
focus on corrective exercise, efficient movement and quality-based
not quantity-based protocols. Speed, strength and power might rule on the
playing field, but all of that is compromised if efficient movement isn’t
established first, coaches said. The Functional Movement Screen is replacing the
bench press, squat or power clean as a measure of athletes’ potential – and it’s
a viable indicator of future injury. If an athlete doesn’t demonstrate good
balance, flexibility and mobility in the seven dynamic assessments of the FMS, then
he or she is given a series of corrective exercises until they do, said Georgia
Tech strength coach Mike Bewley. Then, and only then, do they start lifting.
“If you can’t squat properly, why are you actually squatting
heavy?” NSCA regional director Gary Schofield asked the crowd at the two-day
conference in Atlanta.
So if these coaches of elite athletes are prioritizing movement
patterns (and stretching and yoga), don’t you think that maybe you should, too?
Look, 95% of you are not and were not D1 athletes. I’ll speculate that most of you
don’t move as well as they do. So what are you doing to address your deficiencies?
Do you have enough hip flexion in your squat? If you lack depth on your squat, is it due to
hip or ankle restriction or both? How’s your thoracic mobility? How do you
know? To continue lifting with movement impairments only reinforces a bad
pattern and increases the chances of injury.
An injured player, no
matter how strong he might be, is useless to his coach. That’s why Atlanta
Falcons strength coaches Jonas Beauchemin and A.J. Neibel talked more about “movement
efficiency,” emphasizing mobility and stability. “We want to make sure they’re
moving well,” Neibel said. “If they move better, they’ll avoid all the unnecessary
wear and tear and that gives them a chance for a long career.”
Schofield is steering
this movement boat. And he’s not afraid to rock it. The head strength and
conditioning coach at Greater Atlanta Christian, Schofield has always challenged
conventional thinking and methods. I’ve known Schofield for 10 years and there’s
no one in the industry that I respect more. His visionary style led to him
being chosen at the NSCA’s national high school coach of the year in 2012. High
honors.
Shannon Turley, Stanford
strength and conditioning coach, also is being recognized for similar training
techniques. His athletes don’t touch
a weight the first two weeks of the program. It’s all movement-based
exercise. Stanford football coaches initially questioned if Turley’s methods would
work in a sport that demands so much physicality and brute strength. Not only
has the football program thrived in the six years since Turley arrived, injuries
have been reduced by 87%, according to a New York Times article on his training
philosophy.
Jorge Bonnet thought heavy
Olympic lifts were the only way to go. Why wouldn’t he? They helped him become
a five-time Olympian in judo and bobsledding. Bonnet still has the look of a
fighter. But the 49-year old Puerto Rican battles back and neck pain, which he
attributed to the years of heavy lifting. “I love to load,” he said. “I just
don’t like the pain.”
As a young, competitive
athlete, Bonnet simply did what he was told. And what was accepted. Put as much
weight on the bar as you can and lift it. Then lift it again. It worked for
Bonnet, just as it works now for the growing legions of CrossFitters. But now older
and wiser, Bonnet questions that quantity-based approach. “Why sacrifice
long-term health for short-term success?” asked Bonnet, who created PurMotion,
a line of equipment that is more functional and less stressful on the joints
than Olympic lifting.
It was refreshing to hear so many strength coaches focusing
on efficient, quality movement. I’ve adopted that philosophy over the years,
which isn’t always popular. Some clients want to go hard and heavy even when
their movement patterns are poor. The problem is most people (including some
trainers, sadly) don’t know what a good movement pattern looks like because
they have no idea of anatomy, function, muscle recruitment, biomechanics, etc. Suffice
it to say, the speakers at the conference know a little something. These
coaches train athletes to perform at the highest level and must place a premium
on strength and power. But they’re recognizing it’s all about movement
first.
“Most people don’t get it,” said Trent Murphy, a Stanford
defensive end recently picked in the first round of the NFL draft.
Sooner or later, they will.
Spreading The Health,
Robert Haddocks, CSCS, CES, CPT.
