Great Warm-up Movement You've Never Tried

MB Push + StartWhat is it? A great warm-up tool for getting the CNS firing and reminding the body how to produce a lot of force against the ground. The movement approximates the start for a sprint event. You can’t get as low as you do in the blocks, but it helps teach and reinforce how to produce great amounts of force as you are falling forward.

Why use it? See above, plus it’s fun!

Who should use it? Any athlete that is concerned about a “quick first step.”

If I were to coach myself based on my demonstration in the video, I clearly need to work on allowing myself to fall a fraction of a second longer and spend another fraction of a second extending through and taking advantage of the triple extension moment.

Overall, not too bad for a woman who had a baby exactly one-year ago tomorrow!

7 Ways to Help Your Golf Swing

Recently, I was speaking with a colleague about the elusive "magic bullet" golfers are always trying to find. This behavior pattern is similar to the overweight person who refuses to buckle down and do actual work to lose the extra inches and pounds. They would rather spend money on ineffective supplements and As-Seen-on-TV merchandise that promises a quick fix to 5 years of poor eating and exercise habits. Somehow it never quite works out the way the box says it will. Golfers tend to have a similar disorder driven by products on the Golf Channel that point them towards virtually everything except the only proven method to improving golf specific performance: integrated weight lifting and flexibility training. There’s nothing new or sexy about the following notes, but if you are dedicated to seeing your accuracy and distance improve, then give these tips a try:

1. A thorough dynamic warm-up will dramatically improve static and dynamic flexibility. Spend about 15-25 minutes to get a sufficient warm-up prior to weight training. Standard dynamic movements for the SAPT golfer include: prisoner squats, over speed good mornings, knee hugs, Frankenstein kicks, walking lunge with twist, lying reach-backs, hip bridge, bent knee twist, active “t” stretch, plus many, many more.
2. Prehab everyday to keep the pain away. Prehabilitation exercises are special movements designed to help prevent injury in specific high-risk muscles or joints. Terminal knee extensions, rotator cuff movements, and grip strength/mobility movements are great places to start.
3. Golf, like most power sports, relies heavily on the strength of the posterior chain. Your posterior is comprised of all the muscles on your backside, so get these areas as strong as possible. You will see improvement in drive length and golf posture.
4. Instead of traditional supersets, take an integrated approach to flexibility training by coupling a strength exercise with a dynamic flexibility exercise. For example, couple a squat with a movement geared towards improving T-spine mobility (like lying reachbacks). This approach increases workout efficiency, allows for rest between sets, and places a greater priority on active flexibility training.
5. Stance is best trained through traditional strength movements: squat variations, good mornings, rows, hang clean, etc. Powerful hip rotation is driven by a strong posterior.
6. Backswing, downswing, and follow-through are best trained through a series of special exercises and flexibility movements. If you are a right-handed player, part of the goal here is to help achieve greater stance specific strength in left arm abduction and right arm adduction (if you swing left-handed the goal is left arm adduction and right arm abduction strength).
7. Be smart and train all aspects of muscular contraction: concentric, isometric, and eccentric. Examine all parts of the swing and stance to determine what types of strength are needed throughout. For example, a great deal of isometric strength is needed in the adductors and lower back to maintain proper golf posture.

Make It Effective

Understand that there is a right and wrong way to do everything and everyone will have a different starting point. Because serious golfers have a heightened ability to perceive changes in their body, they are extremely sensitive to any new demands imposed on their bodies. Be conservative in your approach to starting a strength training program – remember we’re after long-term consistency. To improve new program effectiveness, several factors need to be taken into consideration:

• Training age
• Chronological age (this is important as golf is one of the few sports where it is possible for a 57 year old to consistently beat a 20 year old)
• Stance
• Backswing
• Downswing
• Follow-through
• Flexibility through all stages of swing and standard flexibility

Look at each of these variables independently to identify strengths and weaknesses. Then take a step back and look at the whole picture to determine training priority. For example, if you have a difficult time maintaining a flexed and stable posture during the downswing, then there may be a problem with calf flexibility – notes like this will help inform exercise priority.

A carefully planned and consistent program that includes weight training and flexibility will provide huge returns and lower scores.

Hello Sensei, Please Improve my Running Technique

I've written in the past how roughly 60-70% of runners will suffer a serious injury in a given year. This is primarily due to two critical variables: poor general movement quality, and less-than-optimal running specific technique. The terrible movement quality that most runners possess is a byproduct of musculoskeletal weakness, mobility restrictions (in key areas), and lack of stability (in key locations). When you take all of those deficiencies and utilize them to perform roughly 1,500 plyometric repetitions per mile, it’s no surprise that most runners end up injured in one form or another. When it comes down to running technique, most people don’t think twice about hiring a coach to help them. They just hop on the road and get after it. Let me ask you:

• If you had never been shown how to swim, would you jump in the deep end for a casual dive?
• If you had never been taught how to spar, would you enter a cage for a mixed martial arts fight?
• If you had never been instructed on how to drive, would you just hop in the car and speed off on the highway? Well, maybe some of you would, but I digress.

Yet most of us, when we want to run, just go out and do it. Interesting, huh?

I’ve previously discussed how hiring a coach is extremely important if you’re serious about reaching a particular goal. This may be a business coach, a martial arts coach, or a strength coach (wink wink). It’s a no brainer that if we genuinely want to reach our goals as efficiently and effectively as possible, then we should hire an expert to guide us to a desired outcome.

Well, this past weekend was an opportunity for me to put my money where my mouth is. As I’m increasingly falling in love with obstacle course races, and would like to pursue this endeavor for quite a long time (and thus need to keep myself free of chronic injury), I decided to meet with a running instructor (and fellow strength colleague) John, to help me “fix my stuff.” In fact, Kelsey (my fiancée, and also a CSCS) joined in, too, so it created something fun/relaxing to do as a couple in the midst of wedding preparation.

It was an incredible learning experience for both Kelsey and I, and also a fantastic reminder for what it’s like to be on the other side of a coaching session. Given that both of us spend the majority of our week helping others with movement-related exercises/improvements, it was definitely cool to be the ones receiving the coaching cues for a change. It was also a great reminder to experience what it feels like to try something new, and go through the step-by-step process of learning a new skill.

Here is a video that John took of me running before any instruction. He just told me to run as if I was going on a nice Summer jaunt. I slowed down the video so you can see what’s actually happening.

You can see that I reach WAY out in front of me, landing on my heel and keeping my center of mass well behind my foot strike. There’s a host of other problems (that John pointed out to me), but I’ll keep it simple for now.

After John filmed Kelsey and me running in our “natural” form, he took us inside for about 75-minutes of instruction and practice. We performed drills on a wall, partner-assisted exercises, and various progressions to help us learn proper running technique. It was pretty cool and John did an excellent job of teaching us to “crawl” before we run. It reminded me of how, at SAPT, we teach someone to goblet squat well before placing them under a barbell.

Now, look at my running form after John worked with us. Obviously it is still far from perfect (you can only perfect so much in 75-minutes), but I was still amazed at the improvement in such short a time span:

You can see that I now land on the ball of the foot, keeping my center of mass over my foot strike (thus significantly reducing the impact force on my body). Again, there were MANY other improvements that John helped us with (slightly leaning forward to take advantage of gravity’s assistance, “pulling” with the rear leg, maintaining a neutral pelvic tilt, landing softly, etc.), but I’ll spare the detail for now.

I still have a LOT to work on, and the greatest challenge for me will be to resist the urge on performing 800-meter repeats (or even 200 meters) with a different running form than I'm used to. Just like we SAPT coaches won't put someone under a barbell until they've proved they're ready for it, I need to "cook myself slow" in order to set myself up for success in long haul. Rome wasn't built in a day, ya know?

Anyway, I guess the point of this post was to:

A) Give a gentle reminder that, no matter who you are, you're never above receiving instruction from someone else. It would have done me no good to stubbornly insist that I don't need help with something exercise-related because I'm a performance coach. We can ALWAYS improve on something, even if it's within the same general sphere as our "expertise."

B) Bring home the point that we need to be PROactive in our modalities for treating dysfunction, not REactive. Most runners (and lifters) tend to treat their problems only after they arrive (surgery, ice, NSAIDs, etc.) instead of taking measures to prevent an issue before it even arrives. In this case, for me, it was learning how run more efficiently (reduce ground impact forces upon landing, expend as little energy as possible on each step, etc.), in hope that I can enjoy something I love for a longer period of time with minimal interruptions.

C) There is no C, but I wanted three points, so there we go.

The Perfect Pushup: Diagnosing the Pushup

Pushups are probably looked down upon so often because they're the first exercise most people learned in grade school during gym class. They're often viewed as elementary and "too easy" for most, likely because they're not seen as sexy as another popular exercise: the bench press.

The funny thing is, the pushup seems to be one of the most frequently butchered exercises I see on a regular basis. When I walk around most gyms , I cringe at the form I see people using it's honestly very difficult to stop myself from running around like a Form Nazi in order to keep people from injuring themselves.

Today, I'm going to give the most common technique flaws I see take place during the everyday pushup, and some corrections on how to get much more "bang for your buck" from this exercise. The pushup is an AWESOME tool in your training arsenal, but the problem is it frequently isn't executed in a manner that will give people the results they're seeking.

I'll be giving video demonstrations of how NOT to do them, and then a video of what a real, perfect pushup looks like. All this on top of showing a few other pushup variations you can toy with once you master the perfect pushup. Aren't I a nice guy? You can buy me a cup of coffee later, no worries.

Anyway, let's get the geeky side of things out of the way. Here's where I'll be explaining the "why" behind pushups.

Why Perform Pushups?

* They teach you to control your body from head to toe. When performed correctly, they engage countless muscles in the pelvis, abdominals/low back, upper back, and then of course the chest, shoulders, and triceps. The nerdy way to describe the stabilization required during pushups is "lumbo-pelvic stability" which teaches you to control your core in a functional manner, leading to benefits both in and out of the weight room (I'll let you use your imagination here).

* It effectively trains movement of the scapulae (shoulder blades), giving you healthy shoulders for the long haul. Unlike the bench press, a pushup allows the shoulder blades to glide freely. When pushups are performed correctly (i.e. "pulling" yourself to the floor, and pressing yourself all the way up so your shoulder blades protract at the top) you engage the serratus anterior, a key player in shoulder health and function. The serratus, along with the lower trapezius, are two muscles that are pervasively dormant in our population. These two muscles work synergistically with the upper trapezius to upwardly rotate the scapula when your arm moves overhead (think: throwing a ball, or performing an overhead press). In fact, when I worked in the physical therapy clinic, the most common denominator in the patients with shoulder problems was weakness in both the serratus and the lower traps.

* They're a closed chain exercise, essentially making them more shoulder-friendly than the bench press (an open-chain exercise). * When done properly, they'll help boost your bench press, squat and deadlift numbers. Not to mention: aid you in your quest to achieve the look and function of a physical specimen. Hah! Now you're listening.

Anyway, below are videos of me performing various incorrect pushups. The technical flaws may evade you initially, but look closer, and you'll see them. You'll probably see some pushups that you weren't aware were even considered erroneous!

Note: The following 6 videos demonstrate INCORRECT form.

Error #1: Forward Head Posture

This is the most common error that people are unaware of, I believe. You'll see that my head juts forward, hitting the ground before my chest makes contact (the chest should touch the ground FIRST in a perfect pushup).

Error #2: No Scapular Retraction (aka "loose upper back")

Another common flaw most people are unaware of. You'll notice in the video that I "fall" to the ground, instead of intentionally "pulling" myself to the floor. The upper back is loose, there's no scapular retraction (think: pinching a pencil between your shoulder blades), and I'm essentially just letting gravity drop me to the floor.

Error #3: Excessive Elbow Flare

You'll see the elbows make a 90 degree angle with my torso (they should be tucked at roughly 45 degrees).

Error #4: Hip Sag

This is where the person lacks the "anterior-posterior" engagement of the core and the hips/low back sag to the floor (the body should form a completely straight line from head to toe, remaining stiff as a board).

Error #5: Elevated Hips

This is where the butt sticks up in the air. It's another compensation pattern (similar to #4) people slip into when they lack the core strength to effectively resist the pull of gravity throughout their entire body.

Error #6: Looking Straight Ahead/Looking "Up" (no video shown).

This is where people tilt their head up and look straight ahead as they perform pushups. It seems every sports coach tells their kids to do this! Look straight down at the floor when you do your pushups (unless you desire cervical problems down the road...be my guest).

So, what does a Perfect Pushup look like?

Here (at last!) is the correct version:

Key Coaching Cues:

* Hands just be just outside shoulder width, and the elbows tucked at 45 degrees (or less) to the torso. Don't listen to people who tell you that placing your hands wider will give you better chest development! All that will do is fast-track you to shoulder pain and a subsequent physical therapy appointment. * "Pull" yourself down to the ground, actively engaging the scapular retractors and essentially the entire upper-back musculature. * Keep your chin tucked (think: give yourself a "double chin") so you don't "reach for the ground" with your head. * The chest should touch the floor first (i.e. not your hips or your head) * Squeeze your abs and glutes tight throughout the entire movement * Entire body should be perfect alignment, and you should remain as tight as if someone were about to come along and try to knock you over.

Once you master the basic perfect pushup (it will take longer than you think: you should be able to do at least 20 before progressing further), there are a number of ways to increase difficulty. One way is wrap a sturdy resistance band around you, so that the movement will become harder as you reach the top portion of the pushup (as the band tension increases). You can elevate the feet as well.

Both versions are combined and shown in the video, here:

There are a million different variations you can use (in truth, you really don't need many, but it's always nice to spice things up from time to time). You can do walkover pushups, as shown here (much harder than they look!):

Or tempo pushups, in which you perform both the eccentric and concentric slowly:

Or suspended pushups, as Kelsey (my lovely fiancee) is demonstrating here:

The list goes on, but this is more than enough to get you started!

Take home message: you'll receive far greater benefit from performing 5 perfect pushups then you will from performing 20 incorrect pushups. - Steve

The Most Important Lession I've Learned

Everyone wants to succeed.

Regardless of what you may perceive as lackluster performance in someone, when it comes down to it, everyone has a deep desire to be successful. Once I identified and accepted this as a true principle in my life, it dramatically changed virtually all of my professional and personal interactions.

Here are a couple guidelines I use regularly to extract high levels of production from my athletes and, even, my employees:

1. What makes a person tick? Figure this out - it is a foundational key!
2. How can I help this person see the end goal (the success) for the process we’re currently going through? This can be applied to individual workouts, practices, and professional work projects.
3. Describe expectations. How can you expect someone to be successful if they don’t clearly understand the expectations of the event, team, work environment, etc.?
4. Finally, don’t let people down! For example, if you’re a coach and you’ve managed to get total buy-in from your players, don’t let them down by not putting together the best game plan of which you’re capable. Their success depends a great deal on what you’re doing, planning, producing, reading, writing… it depends a LOT on you.

This isn’t my sneaky way of getting people to work really hard. It’s my straightforward way of helping to guide people towards what it is that they really want to achieve. And it doesn’t matter if it’s running a faster 100-m dash or earning a higher paycheck or even building and maintaining a happy marriage, accepting that "everyone wants to be successful" will help you in working towards virtually any goal!

- Sarah