Thursday, February 26, 2009

Interesting Commentary on Single Leg Movements

In this post from Ground Up Strength, we get a great breakdown on some common misconceptions regarding our current topic of conversation: Single leg work. His other points are well taken as well.

Train smart; eat right.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Forward Lunge (corrected version)

NOTE: Due to technical difficulties (read: I'm a newbie and a techtard) this post was originally published in a significantly truncated version. Here's the whole shebang.

The forward lunge is the most basic of all of the single leg movements. It is also the easiest place to start for single leg movements, because while it does begin to activate the glute, it is still a quad dominant movement, thereby playing to most people's strengths, while working on their weaknesses.

It has many variations, including, walking, goblet, traveling, overhead and spiderman. Any of these can be weighted, to increase the level of difficulty. Each of them places different demands on the body, while increasing performance. Depending on loading, each of them is also a top performer for increasing strength or mobility: your choice.

Let's start with the most basic, the walking lunge. From a standing position, take one large step forward. Pressing your weight through the heel, come down by bending the front leg until the knee is bent to a 90 degree angle and the back knee touches the floor. Keeping your weight through the heel, drive back up to a standing position, so that you've taken one step forward. Repeat with the opposite leg. That's one rep. This will test:

  • Balance - did you wobble?
  • Glute strength - did you have to add a little extra movement in the upper body to get the momentum to get back up?
  • Hip mobility - was it difficult to get all the way down because of a stretch in the front of your back hip?
The traveling lunge is just a slight variation, in that the lead leg remains the lead leg until the prescribed number of reps are completed, then switch. The benefit here is that it allows you to place more stress on each leg by reducing the rest time between reps. When doing traveling lunges, I recommend that you perform with your non-dominant leg first. This will keep you from wearing yourself out on the dominant leg, and not having the energy to complete your reps with the non-dominant leg.

The goblet lunge is a weighted variation that allows you to work the legs harder without placing too much stress on the upper body. Simply hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your chest, close to your body. Focus on keeping your chest high so that you don't bend forward and over-stress the low back muscles.

The overhead lunge can be performed weighted or unweighted. As an unweighted movement, it challenges hip flexibility and low back stability. Simply raise your hands straight up, with the palms facing in. Now perform a walking lunge. Resist the temptation to allow the upper body to fold forward. If you add weights, in the form of dumbbells, a barbell or a keg, you will add a shoulder stability component to the movement. You will also place an excellent stress on the entire core (the girdle as it is often referred to when talking about engaging all of the muscles in a wrap-around fashion.)

Finally, the spiderman lunge is a great mobility movement, challenging range of motion in the front of the hip. It is performed unweighted, similar thot he walking lunge. The difference here is that instead of having the arms down at your sides, you put them in front of you, so that at the bottom of the movement you can touch the ground with both hands. This forces you to focus on getting low in the front in order to be able to reach the ground.

Start adding these variations into your routine to see great improvements in strength, mobility and athleticism.

Train smart; eat right.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Single Leg Work

I find that a common misconception among guys in the gym is that single leg work is somehow not manly. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe it's because we have images from the covers of yoga magazines of women in leotards doing single leg deadlifts with 3 lb. pink dumbbells.

Thankfully, this is changing. As the training industry makes a shift to more functionally based, athletic type movements, lunges and the other single leg lifts in all of their glorious variety are making a return to training programs everywhere. If you've never done any single leg training, you've been missing out on a great way to:

  • Expose left/right imbalances.
  • Activate and strengthen weak glutes, improving posture and reducing back pain.
  • Improve your hip range of motion.
  • Strengthen your ankles and improve balance.
  • Eliminate front/back muscle imbalances, one of the leading predictors of muscular and joint injuries
  • Boost your training poundage on the two leg squat and deadlift.

If that list doesn't convince you, then clearly training to improve health, lifestyle and athleticism is not on your list of goals. I recommend that you go back to reading Muscular Development for your training advice. Have fun making gains on that 5 day split at 2 hours a day. I'm sure your back will be bigger than Dorian's by this time next year you hypertrophy freak.

One of the beauties of these movements is that they follow a nice progression in difficulty level. With each new level you reach, you will improve mobility, strength and balance. They are also fantastic for anyone who is rehabbing from a back injury, in that with many of them, there is no need to load the spine, as bodyweight is sufficient.

Over the next few posts, I will review the finer points of and coaching cues for the following single leg movements, along with their corresponding progressions and variations:

  • Forward Lunge
  • Reverse Lunge
  • Bulgarian Split Squat
  • Single Leg Deadlift
  • Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
  • Pistol

Until then - Train Smart; Eat Right

Monday, February 23, 2009

The Forward Lunge

The forward lunge is the most basic of all of the single leg movements. It is also the easiest place to start for single leg movements, because while it does begin to activate the glute, it is still a quad dominant movement, thereby playing to most people's strengths, while working on their weaknesses.

It has many variations, including, walking, goblet, traveling, overhead and spiderman. Any of these can be weighted, to increase the level of difficulty. Each of them places different demands on the body, while increasing performance. Depending on loading, each of them is also a top performer for increasing strength or mobility: your choice.

Let's start with the most basic, the walking lunge. From a standing position, take one large step forward. Pressing your weight through the heel, come down by bending the front leg until the knee is bent to a 90 degree angle and the back knee touches the floor. Keeping your weight through the heel, drive back up to a standing position, so that you've taken one step forward. Repeat with the opposite leg. That's one rep. This will test:
  • Balance - did you wobble?
  • Glute strength - did you have to add a little extra movement in the upper body to get the momentum to get back up?
  • Hip mobility - was it difficult to get all the way down because of a stretch in the front of your back hip?
The traveling lunge is just a slight variation, in that the lead leg remains the lead leg until the prescribed number of reps are completed, then switch. The benefit here is that it allows you to place more stress on each leg by reducing the rest time between reps. When doing traveling lunges, I recommend that you perform with your non-dominant leg first. This will keep you from wearing yourself out on the dominant leg, and not having the energy to complete your reps with the non-dominant leg.

The goblet lunge is a weighted variation that allows you to work the legs harder without placing too much stress on the upper body. Simply hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your chest, close to your body. Focus on keeping your chest high so that you don't bend forward and over-stress the low back muscles.

The overhead lunge can be performed weighted or unweighted. As an unweighted movement, it challenges hip flexibility and low back stability. Simply raise your hands straight up, with the palms facing in. Now perform a walking lunge. Resist the temptation to allow the upper body to fold forward. If you add weights, in the form of dumbbells, a barbell or a keg, you will add a shoulder stability component to the movement. You will also place an excellent stress on the entire core (the girdle as it is often referred to when talking about engaging all of the muscles in a wrap-around fashion.)

Finally, the spiderman lunge is a great mobility movement, challenging range of motion in the front of the hip. It is performed unweighted, similar thot he walking lunge. The difference here is that instead of having the arms down at your sides, you put them in front of you, so that at the bottom of the movement you can touch the ground with both hands. This forces you to focus on getting low in the front in order to be able to reach the ground.

Start adding these variations into your routine to see great improvements in strength, mobility and athleticism.

Train smart; eat right.

Friday, February 20, 2009

It's Simple, Not Easy

So I was talking with a client about her weight loss progress recently, and we got to talking about the head games we all tend to play with ourselves when trying to overcome old negative thought patterns about food, our weight and our current progress towards our goals.

She mentioned that she had been watching The Biggest Loser recently and had heard trainer Bob Harper saying that weight loss is simple:  Calories in - Calories out = weight loss or weight gain.  She was then lamenting that it didn't seem so simple to her.  Now, while we could easily go down the rabbit trail of quality calories, versus the crap in many of our cupboards, I think Bob's point is by and large valid.

Those of you who are currently struggling with this are thinking, "What?  Yeah, I get the equation, but it's not that simple!  Weight loss is hard."  Yes, you are right.  Weight loss is hard, but you're missing Bob's point.  He didn't say it was easy.  He said it was simple!

Here's an example:

Simple = you know if you don't pack your own lunch, along with some healthy snacks every day, you will give in to negative, but easier behaviors like getting something from the vending machine at work, or grabbing McDonald's for lunch.

Hard = actually disciplining yourself to pack your lunch and snacks each day.

Many of us have a lifetime of negative thought patterns regarding food that we need to overcome.  They range from being members of the "Clean Plate Club" (my mom's favorite), to being wasteful (Here's a good thought on wasting food from my good friend Chuck Gianotti.  "If I eat too much food, and it becomes fat on my belly, didn't I waste it anyway?)  Overcoming these thoughts is one of the keys to a healthy lifestyle.  It is also one of the things that makes weight loss hard.

What are some of the negative thoughts you have about food that are currently holding you back?

Train smart; eat right!

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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Garlic Stuck Pork Loin

Here's another great simple recipe that is quick and easy to prepare, while bringing plenty of flavor.

Ingredients:

Pork Tenderloin (or a full pork loin if you're feeding the whole football team)

5 cloves of garlic

5 carrots

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of pepper

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees

Slice each clove of garlic lengthwise into 5 or 6 pieces.

Stab garlic into pork loin like you're the witch doctor and it's the new missionary on the island.  (Descriptive enough for ya?)

Braise pork loin in frying pan until outside is browned (3 minutes per side), adding salt as it cooks.

Peel carrots and slice diagonally into 2 inch pieces.

Remove pork loin from frying pan and place in 9 x 13 baking dish.

Add carrots and pepper.

Place in oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until internal temperature of pork loin reaches 170 degrees.

The last time I made this, I added some sliced plantains to the pan for the final 15 minutes, giving it a nice Caribbean flavor.

Nutritional info (assuming a 5 oz. piece of the pork) courtesy of Fitday:

Calories: 450

Fat: 29

Carbohydrate: 5

Protein: 41

Add a salad, and you're all set for the night!

Train smart; Eat right!

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Monday, February 16, 2009

3 Reasons I Love the Kettlebell

You've all heard the old adage about the 3 most important things to consider when purchasing real estate:  "Location, location, location."  I always thought it would be fun to own a copying or printing center, because then I could tell you about the 3 most important things in that business:  "Collation, collation, collation."  See how it rhymes???

Anyway, on to the kettlebell.  My top 3 reasons I love the kettlebell, in no particular order are:

  1. Hip power.
  2. HIP POWER!
  3. HIP POWER!!!

STRONG, POWERFUL HIPS = LONG LIFE

If you're wondering why I care so much about hip power, think of a frail aging 90 year-old.  Why are they bent over?  Tight hip flexors, weak glutes and low back.  What are they afraid of?  Falling.  Why do they often fall?  Lack of coordination and balance at the hip joint.  Why are they unable to recover and catch themselves when they start to fall?  Slow, weak hips.  Solution to all of the above?  Develop strong, powerful hips at a young age.  They will not forget you when you are old.

HERE'S HOW YOU GET THEM

The kettlebell swing is phenomenal for developing fast, powerful hips.  There are some great movements out there for getting strong in the hip region.  There's the squat, the deadlift, and dozens of variations of each.  The problem with each of these is that they are by nature slow movements, which if not taught carefully often end with muted hip extension (to borrow a term from Crossfit co-founder and performance coach extraodinaire Greg Glassman.)  Because of the tight hip flexors and low backs mentioned in the past few posts, we often substitute lumbar spine extension for proper hip extension in the heavy barbell lifts.  This leaves are hip flexors and glutes under-trained, weak and slow.

When we add kettlebell swings to our repertoire, we are forced to open up the hips at the top of the movement.  There is no way around this.  If we try to pull the same kind of nonsense we've been doing in our squats and deadlifts, and hyperextend the lumbar spine, we will be flat out on the couch with low back pain after the first session.

Another key factor here is that with most movements, form often deteriorates as the weight goes up.  Don't believe me?  Check out youtube videos of elite level powerlifters deadlifting or squatting during competition.  Their form is atrocious.  I'd never let a client lift like that.

With the kettlebell swing on the other hand, the need for proper form increases as the weight goes up.  If you try to perform a 5 rep max kettlebell swing with improper form, their is no way you will lift your max weight.  Full hip extension at a high rate of speed is key to getting that weight up.  And that's where your hip power development is going to come from. 

Power = Work / Time

This means that when we increase the speed with which we move a weight through a range of motion, we have increased the power output.  Once we reach a maximum speed with a given weight, we continue to increase power output by increasing the weight.

For some great, free instruction on the kettlebell swing, check out the videos by Jeff Martone on this page.

Here's to powerful hips and a long life!

Train smart; Eat right.

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Friday, February 13, 2009

Improving Your Squat

Following is a checklist of some of the most common problems with an individual's squat.

  • Leans too far forward with the upper body
  • Knees cave in as you descend
  • Can't get into the bottom position (below parallel)

Now let's look at how to correct each of these.

Leans too far forward

Commonly, this is associated with a lack of mobility at the hip joint.  As the hips descend, overly tight hip flexor muscles pull the torso forward, rather than allowing it to remain upright.  This can be fixed by dynamically stretching the hip flexors and quads.  In your pre-workout warm-up, begin to perform Rocking Hip Flexor mobilizations.  To do this, stand in a split stance, with one foot out in front of the other, as if you were about to perform a lunge.  Push your weight forward over your front foot, placing a stretch on the muscles at the front of the back hip.  Hold that position for a one-count, and rock back onto your back foot.  Perform 8 repetitions per side.

Knees cave in as you descend

This problem is generally caused by over-active adductors (the muscles on the inside of your thighs) and weak, or under-active, abductor muscles.  It is very common in women.  A nice little trick that I learned from Mike Robertson's blog is to take a piece of rubber tubing or exercise band and tie it around your knees as you squat.  By putting this little bit of pressure on the outsides of the knees, you cue the abductor muscles to keep the knees in proper alignment.

Can't get into the bottom position

This is generally a problem associated with the tight hip flexors.  If you've fixed those and are still having problems getting all the way down, then a few coaching cues might help.

  • Hips back - as you begin your descent, make sure that you are pushing your hips back first.  (As opposed to bending the knees first.)  Some coaches will cue you to think about closing the car door when you have two arms full of groceries.
  • Keep your weight through your heels.  In the squat, your weight should never be on your toes, or the balls of your feet.  You should be able to wiggle your toes through the entire range of motion.
  • Practice, practice, practice!!!

Good luck taking that squat form to the next level!

Train smart; eat right!

Pete

Monday, February 9, 2009

Quality Movement - The Squat

The squat has long been heralded as one of the best movements for mass gain, leg strength and core strength.  Arnold called it "The King of All Exercises."  It's one of the three lifts used in powerlifting.  You can't do the olympic lifts without it.  It's even been immortalized in poetry.  (Nods at snooty literature majors in the audience.)  Okay, let's call it a rhyme instead.

But, before we look at the squat as an exercise, we have to look at it as a movement pattern.  Why you ask?  Because if you can't do one properly with just your bodyweight, you have no business loading up your back with 6 big wheels and going for reps!

So what does a good squat look like?  Again, think of what a four-year-old looks like when they squat down to play in the water, but don't want to get their bottom wet.  The key points to notice are:

  • Weight is through the heels, they are not up on the balls of their feet.
  • The spine is neutral.  The proper "S" curve is maintained.
  • The shoulders are behind the knees.

Here's a great test that Gray Cook, designer of The Functional Movement Screen and author of Athletic Body in Balance recommends for checking your squat form:

While standing sideways in a doorway, holding a broom handle overhead in a locked out position, squat down as deep as possible.

You pass the test and may continue squatting as part of your exercise routine, if you meet all of the following:

  1. The heels remain on the floor.
  2. The feet do not slide or rotate.
  3. The knees are aligned over the feet.
  4. The hips are below the knees.
  5. The broomstick does not touch the wall.

You fail the test if any of the above are not met.

Some common reasons for not being able to squat properly include tight hip flexors, inability to activate glutes, lack of ankle mobility and lack of core stability.  Over the next few posts, we will look at teach of these issues and some corrective exercises for each.  In the meantime, one of the best ways to improve your squat form is to squat.

Here's a great method for correcting improper form:  Stand 6 or 8 inches away from the wall and squat as deep as you can without touching the wall.  Practice this a few times a day, until you can get your hips below your knees without touching the wall.  Once you are capable of this, move in 2 inches, until you can do it with only 4 inches between you and the wall.  If you can do it from a distance of 4 inches, your squat form is pretty solid.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Quality Movement

When looking at movement quality, it is generally agreed upon by physical therapists, strength coaches and other movement specialists that gross motor patterns, as they apply to exercise, can be broken down into a few basic movement patterns:

  1. Squat
  2. Lunge
  3. Vertical Push
  4. Horizontal Push
  5. Vertical Pull
  6. Horizontal Pull

It is also generally agreed that there are several inhibitions we place on our ability to perform many of these patterns by living a 21st century lifestyle.  These inhibitions are generally related to the amount of time we spend sitting.

At its worst, sitting will inhibit the glutes and hamstrings, tighten the hips, cause distorted arching of upper and lower spine, and creating a stiffness in the lower back.  Think about how you used to squat when you were a little kid, or how a member of a primitive culture is able to squat down and sit back "on their haunches."  When was the last time you were able to do this.  The reason that you can't is that you spend so much time sitting in a chair, that you have developed many of the issues mentioned above.

If you are an endurance athlete or weightlifter, who is not currently performing a mobility routine, it is likely that these problems are even worse for you.  The reason being that not only have you developed improper movement patterns, but you are reinforcing them on a constant basis, under load.  Thereby further ingraining them in your central nervous system, the place where all of our movement patterns are stored.

At age 20, these problems are minor inconveniences for everyone except the highest performing athletes.  In our 30's and 40's, the stiffness starts to set in, and begins to inhibit our lifestyles (getting on the floor and playing with the kids becomes uncomfortable, shoveling the driveway leaves us stiff for a couple of days.)  By our 50's and 60's it's no longer "It's not comfortable to do that", it becomes "I can't do that."  By our 70's and 80's, these same inhibitions are what lead to many of the issues that lead to helath problems, including slipping and falling. It is also a large part of what leads to the inability to perform daily tasks, and the accompanying need for additional support from family or professionals.

The good news is that regardless of age, we can all make significant improvements to our movement patterns through a simple stretching and mobility program.

Over the next few posts, I will discuss each of these problem areas and give you some tips to help you improve them.