Band Geeks Need Strength Too!!
This past weekend I went to watch my brother, a tuba player in the Marching Virginians at Virginia Tech, play in the halftime show at football games (let's be honest, anyone who has met me quickly realizes that the band is the ONLY reason I go to football games. Blasphemous Hokie am I!) And if you're unfamiliar with the MVs and how AWESOME the tuba line is, here's a little sample:
(My brother is the one on the end closest to the camera.) Aren't they awesome? That's my bro-pod! Anyway, being the geek that I am (both a Band Geek and a Strength Geek...yup, I was in band all through high school and a bit in college!) as I watched the MVs perform I started thinking that they could really use some strength training. Not just the tuba's either! The WHOLE band would benefit from lifting heavy things that don't make music!
The MAIN point of this post (besides offering this piece of advice to my fellow band geeks: LIFT WEIGHTS!!) is that EVERYONE needs to be stronger no matter if you're an "athlete" or not. Read that again: EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE STRONGER!
Ahem, excuse me, I got a little carried away. Moving on, here are some exercises that I thought of while watching the MVs perform (and thinking back to my own marching days):
KB Swings:
Admit it, you knew I was going to say this. But seriously, this would be perfect for the tuba players doing the hokie pokie and sticking their heads in and out and shaking it all about. Check out the hip hinge (or rather, lack of) that tuba players need from the video above. Wouldn't a strong posterior chain make that easier? (especially on the 5th rendition of the Hokie Pokey)...
And then the swing:
Not only would this help make lugging the 25-45 pound tuba (technically sousaphone) up and down easier, it would prevent lower back injuries for over-enthusiastic hokie pokie-ing. Besides, swings improve cardiovascular fitness and who needs to be able to produce a lot of air without passing out more than a tuba player? (and the floutist. Fun fact: tuba players and flute players pass out more often from lack of air than any other instruments.) Every band member should swing; it'll improve their ability to make through the loooong Game Day of pre-game practice, marching and playing throughout the game. ANNND (one more thing) swings improve upper back strength and band members have to stand up straight throughout their performance, hence the need for a strong upper back.
Rows/Pullups/Chinups:
Speaking of strong upper backs, let's take a look at what the drum line has sitting on their chests:
I used to play drums and I can tell you, those instruments are NOT light! Rows, chins and pullups would be ideal to strengthen those muscles. By doing so, it will take the strain off the lower back because the upper back will be able to support the weight much more easily. (Cymbal players, I'm looking at you too! Those suckers are heavy, row/chins will also improve bicep strength which is needed in holding/clashing cymbals repeatedly.) Which leads me to my next exercise...
Planks/Anti-rotation presses/Anterior Core:
In junction with a strong upper back, a strong anterior (front side) core is CRUCIAL to preventing lower back injuries or aches while standing for long periods of time. This post highlights some exercises. I really like the landmine as there's a lot of dancing around in the bandstand so being able to resist rotation of the spine during wild cheering would be awesome!
And more anti-rotation:
Having a strong core is very, very (VERY! I'm not kidding!) important to band members who want to have a pain-free marching season.
Farmer Carrys:
This one should be obvious. Practice walking around with heavy things. Here's a post I wrote a while back about. Band geeks, read it!
And last but not least:
KB or Band-Resisted Dorsiflexion:
My high school band director used to say (or rather, shout): "I want to see 'HI MOM' written on the bottom of your shoes!!' meaning we had to march with our toes straight up to the sky (it looks nice...). Therefore, band geeks need super strong tibialis anteriors!
There are many more exercises I could list off (Pretty much everything in here) but I'll cut it here as I know band practice takes ALL of one's free time. However, I would encourage band geeks to squeeze in at least 30 minutes to improve there strength levels. And if a band geek can fit in time to get strong, then anyone can!
LET'S GO HOKIES!
Cold Water Immersion for Immediate Recovery
Through a recent conversation with a coworker I was reminded of a technique my JV Volleyball coach once told our team: when you're feeling overheated and/or exhausted run the inside of your wrists under cold water as it will help you cool off. At the time it seemed like it would fall into the too-good-to-be-true category, but you know what? I tried it at a match at Danville High School in VA when we were playing inside their un-airconditioned gym for a match early in the season. Side note: The fact that I remember the exact moment I used this technique is significant and gives you a little context to the effectiveness.
So, getting back to the conversation, after she jogged my memory in talking about the technique she's trying with an athlete, I was prompted to dig up actual research to see if there is anything besides my own anecdotal evidence to support my experience.
Here's what I found from the British Journal of Sports Medicine article "Effect of a 5-min cold-water immersion recovery on exercise performance in the heat.":
Background: This study examined the effect of a 5-min cold-water immersion (14 degrees C) recovery intervention on repeated cycling performance in the heat. Methods 10 male cyclists performed two bouts of a 25-min constant-paced (254 (22) W) cycling session followed by a 4-km time trial in hot conditions (35 degrees C, 40% relative humidity). The two bouts were separated by either 15 min of seated recovery in the heat (control) or the same condition with 5-min cold-water immersion(5th-10th minute), using a counterbalanced cross-over design (CP(1)TT(1) --> CWI or CON --> CP(2)TT(2)). Rectal temperature was measured immediately before and after both the constant-paced sessions and 4-km timed trials. Cycling economy and Vo(2) were measured during the constant-paced sessions, and the average power output and completion times were recorded for each time trial. Results Compared with control, rectal temperature was significantly lower (0.5 (0.4) degrees C) in cold-water immersion before CP(2) until the end of the second 4-km timed trial. However, the increase in rectal temperature (0.5 (0.2) degrees C) during CP(2) was not significantly different between conditions. During the second 4-km timed trial, power output was significantly greater in cold-water immersion (327.9 (55.7) W) compared with control (288.0 (58.8) W), leading to a faster completion time in cold-water immersion (6.1 (0.3) min) compared with control (6.4 (0.5) min).Economy and Vo(2) were not influenced by the cold-water immersion recovery intervention. Conclusion 5-min cold-water immersion recovery significantly lowered rectal temperature and maintained endurance performance during subsequent high-intensity exercise. These data indicate that repeated exercise performance in heat may be improved when a short period of cold-water immersion is applied during the recovery period.
As you can see there is good evidence to support the use of cold-water immersion to improve recovery between intense bouts of exercise.
Application:
Consider the full 5-minute immersion of your forearms (not hands) for applications like recovery periods between maximum effort lift attempts, large breaks in a competitive match (soccer, basketball, lax, etc).
If you're short on time, experiment with even just :30 of cold running water on the wrists (like from a water fountain). Personally, I've found this effective.
Regardless, of which variation you choose, you will notice your entire body seems to be operating at a cooler temperature and you actually feel refreshed despite the intense workload you are trying to recover from.
Description vs. Evaluation
Last week I was in Atlanta at the 2012 AASP (Association for Applied Sport Psychology) Conference. At the conference a presenter talked about the difference between description and evaluation. In sport, we often confuse descriptions with evaluations, which can impact where we direct our attention. Let me explain.
A basketball hoop can be described as being 10 feet tall, with a white net, and an orange rim. That’s what it is. It’s a clear description. Factual. When we describe we speak with certainty of what we see, but not necessarily how we feel.
An evaluation is based more on feelings. We evaluate and create opinions of how we think things will go in the future, or how they went in the past. Evaluations are opinions that lead to rankings, predictions, and analysis, but those aren’t facts. For example, I used to have an NBA draft website where I evaluated how prospects would transition to the NBA. Those evaluations were solely based on opinions, and trust me, I was wrong plenty with my evaluations.
Sports have become extremely evaluation based. Everyone wants to know which team is the favorite, who is the #1 seed, and who is the next great athlete. But, those aren’t facts, they’re simply how people evaluate the current situation. If sports were played simply based on evaluation they wouldn’t need to be played at all.
It’s important to be able to describe who you are. Be you and be that well. Even more importantly, as a team, make sure to direct attention to descriptions and leave the evaluations to the pundits.
SMR: Self-Myofacial Release, Magic Without a Wand
For us Muggles, a foam roller is more effective than a wand.
Yes, SMR is more important than a wand is to Harry Potter. Why? The short answer is we have a lot of gunky junk in our muscles that are impeding movements and causing aches and pains. And who wants to feel like a bag of junk?
Those in the fitness-know-how have probably heard of self-myofacial release (SMR) or at least have seen foam rollers lying around a lot of gyms (or, if you're us, lying around the house). A little rolling here and there does magical things for the body! One can instantly feel the difference even after only one time on that foam roller. What is this witchcraft? Let us delve into the magical world of SMR.
What SMR does NOT do:
- Lengthen tissue/muscle- you'll hear this occasionally and SMR does NOT lengthen the tissues because a) the joint position doesn't change b) the SMR modality (aka foam roller) applies compression at a 90 degree angle to the muscle. Unless force is applied more along the length of the muscle, no lengthening will occur.
- Allow more fluid to the muscle- what? SMR is not open a flood gate of fluid to rush into the muscle.
SMR does not equal flood of Isengard
What SMR DOES do:
- Releases tension in the muscles. How does it do that? Let's say there is a knot in the muscle (ball of fail, junk, gunk... pick you favorite term) and you sit on a foam roller or lacrosse ball and apply pressure to the knot.This provokes the ball-of-fail enough to cause it to release the tension. Kinda like a pesky little brother, he pokes you in the shoulder (SMR modality) until you finally explode out of annoyance (release tension).
How does that happen?
Our muscles are encapsulated in a tissued called fascia (there are SO many trails and tangents I could go on regarding fascia, but we'll stick with this for now). The fascia has little receptors (rufini corpuscles and pacini receptors for those who want to know stuff like that, they sound like Italian food.) that generate and relieve tension in a slow, deliberate pace.
*Side note* Our muscles also have similar receptors, the golgi tendon apparatus and muscle spindles, that react much more quickly to changes in length and tension in the muscle. For example, when the doc tests your reflexes by tapping on your knee, what he's doing is stretching the tendon quickly, which causes the muscle spindles in the quad to react, a signal is sent to the brain and the quad contracts (thus extending the knee a bit). It's actually really cool.
Anyway, these slower receptors also have neural components that govern them. What foam rolling does is short-circuit the neural components and the fascia-imbedded receptors (usually) freak out, shut down and take the tension with them.
Since they're slow-acting receptors then we need to foam roll/use a lax ball s-l-o-w-l-y. Hang out on those junky spots and you should feel them release a bit, then you can move one. Check back on Friday for Part 2 and I'll have some videos of how to roll the various body parts.
Until then, just sit on a lacrosse ball. Your glutes will thank me.
Our New Coach & The Double Knee Bend
Our New Coach
I'm pleased to welcome SAPT's newest coach, Tadashi, to our staff! Tadashi interned with us last spring, then went on to the University of Maryland for another internship, and is now on our staff permanently!
From the word "Go," Tadashi established himself as a coach with an excellent eye for detail and a passion for the field. Please help us welcome him to the blog and the training floor over the next several weeks!
The Double Knee Bend
Have you ever wondered about the elusive double knee bend in the clean? Well, if you want to see what it is, check out my video below. I've attempted to breakdown the footage to illustrate how the legs straighten, then re-bend right before the second phase of the pull. (Bear with me on the video... I just got this program and I'm not super smooth with it yet.)
Some people say the double knee bend cannot be taught... that you either have it or you don't. I can't say I necessarily agree with that, as I was taught to execute it in this fashion. Regardless, this technical point is so fine and specific that it is a PRIMARY reason why some strength coaches (like those of us at SAPT) choose to explore other variations of triple extension and speed/power work well before we would implement a clean or any of its variations.
And, please, if we have any champion internet coaches reading this post... I know my form is not picture perfect, you don't need to tell me!
Nature vs. Nurture
Darwin’s nature vs. nurture debate has long been discussed in regard to our educational system. But the concept is also relevant to performance and more specifically, athletic performance. Recently, it seems as if nurture has become all the rage. Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers helped make Anders Ericsson’s 10,000 hour rule popular which suggests: the key to expertise in any field lies with a person practicing a specific task for a total of 10,000 hours.
When working with clients I always encourage them to lean on their preparation and work ethic. Our preparation is directly linked to our confidence, which is directly liked to our performance. Preparation and work ethic certainly breeds competence. It’s a simple and easy concept that allows people to improve. Golfers need to work on their swing, college students need to study their “major”, and guitarists need to practice their tunes. I tackled this concept previous in my first “Mental Monday” article.
But, what about nature? How do we explain the “lazy” athlete who still makes it to the professional level, the Ivy League scholar who rarely has to study, or the rocker who is more interested in drugs than practicing with the band? Eric Jaffe did a terrific job looking at the pieces that lead to excellent performance. The article sites research, which suggests practice alone can’t account for individual success. Jaffe quotes David Hambrick’s research, which found that general cognitive skills that greatly lead to achievement are largely innate. Hambrick is quoted as saying, “In my opinion, the deliberate practice view has gone about as far as it can go, but it seems clear to me that there’s something else.”
Certainly this debate will go on. Much has been made of the genetics of superstars like LeBron James, Usain Bolt, and RG3. However, all of them will go back to their work ethic and ability to prepare as the reason for their success. There’s no denying that genetics play a role, but there’s also no denying that putting in the work will give you, the athlete, the best opportunity for success.
So whether you are 5’5” or 6’5”, direct your attention to the process of fulfilling YOUR potential, rather than sulking about what you don’t have. For every LeBron James there is Spud Webb, for every Usain Bolt there is Oscar Pistorius, and for every RG3 there is Drew Brees. Nurture your ability and give yourself the best opportunity to be successful.
