Exercise You Should Be Doing: Slider Swimmers

Today's installment is for all you people out there with cranky or achy shoulders, or people who want to prevent cranky and achy shoulders... so pretty much everyone.

I'm trying to keep this post short, so the anatomical explanations are pretty cursory. More shoulder posts to follow I guess.

A few of the common causes for most people's shoulders to scream at them include:

1. Poor scapular (shoulder blade) movement: the shoulder blades do not upwardly rotate along the rib cage well as the arms go over head and thus pinching occurs at the shoulder joint. To put it another way, the scapulae do not glide well on the rib cage which is key to healthy overhead movements.
2. Poor muscular control: the muscles that surround the shoulder blade are either weak or not even turning on to control the movement of the scapulae- see point number 1. 
3. Poor muscular control Part 2: the muscles of the rotator cuff are unable to stabilize the head of the humerus (the upper arm bone) on the glenoid fossa (where the ball-in-socket aspect of the shoulder is. Though really it's more of a golf ball on a tee, but that's another post).

Enter the Slider Swimmers:

I stole this from Jen Sinkler's Lift Weights Faster program and I really, really like them. 

How to:

• Lay on your stomach with hand on sliders, obviously, with palms at your arm pits. Take note of your pelvic position, you shouldn't have your butt sticking up and your lower back overly arched. Squeeze you butt and tuck your hips under (you can see my adjust mine at the very beginning of the video) so that your lower back isn't overextended. If you can't get into a good position, place a small, rolled-up towel under your hips to put you in a neutral position. 
• Apply pressure throughout the whole movement through your hands as you slide your hands over your head. You should feel a little bit of tricep action going on (it's the long head of the tricep, if you're curious) as you slide upwards. This is 50% of the benefit of the drill: teaching proper scapular movement on the rib cage in an overhead motion.
• Keep the pressure steady as you bring your hands back to the starting position. In order to activate the small muscles around the shoulder blade and rotator cuff, think about pinching a pencil between your shoulder blades and gently driving your elbows into your rib cage. This is the other 50%: activating and strengthening the muscles that control the movement of the scapulae and humeral head. 

Why do I like this drill? 

It remedies the major issues mentioned at the beginning of the post: scapular movements, muscular control of the scapulae, and muscular control of the humeral head. This would be a great drill to put either in a warm-up or as a "filler" between sets of a main movement, like bench press. 

How to Write a Warm-Up Progression for Weight Lifting

In last week’s posts we went over general dynamic warm-ups and how to warm up for specific barbell movements, aka, the squat, bench, and deadlift.

Today’s post is even more nuanced: how to warm up once you’re under/over (if you’re deadlifting properly you should be over the bar…) the barbell.

If I had a dollar for every time I saw someone jump right into their working weight for a barbell movement, I could make it rain.

from giphy.com

As you intelligent readers know, skipping warm-ups can lead to physical injury. It can also lead to your pride receiving a good smack in the face too.

True story: while at a commercial gym, I watched a fellow saunter up to the bench, flap his arms around, and then throw on 225… he then was promptly stapled with the weight. Fortunately his lifting partner was there to help get him out, but still, he was pretty embarrassed because it was, apparently, a weight he could “normally do, but he was just sore…”

Moral of the story: don’t be a fool and skip your warm-up unless your goal is to entertain people around you by your failures.

I can almost guarantee that if he warmed up properly, he would have saved his injured pride. (Assuming of course that he can actually bench 225.)

Anyway, back to warming up.

WHY

• Prepare the specific muscles, joints, and tendons for work. As you warm-up, you increase blood flow to the muscles and stimulate the flow of synovial fluid in the joint (all kinds of flowing going on). The synovial fluid is there to reduce friction in the joint amongst the bones, ligaments, and articular cartilage- always a good thing- to reduce the tin-man-like grinding within the joint. This reduces the chance of injury to either the bone or cartilage (early onset arthritis anyone?).
• Fire up that CNS (central nervous system). Trying to train without a primed and ready-to-go CNS, which tells your muscles what to do and how quickly to do it, is like trying to write a blog post without turning on the computer; it’s is not only a waste of time but rather difficult to accomplish anything tangible outside of producing frustration.
• Mentally prepare you for your lift. Stress from the outside, be it work, school, family, lack of a new Harry Potter book, can easily crowd out the mental focus needed for executing the lift. Personally, warm-up sets build walls in my mind that block out anything that’s not related to that specific lift so I can focus entirely on all the thoughts that need to be thunk. The feeling of executing a near-flawless rep should be on everyone’s top ten most-satisfying-things-list.

All this needs to happen- key point here- without creating unnecessary fatigue. Which leads me to my next point...

COMMON MISHAPS

On one hand, there are those who skip warm-ups entirely- who have been chastised sufficiently up to this point- while on the other, there are people who warm up too much or make mistakes that render the warm-up about as useful as a poop-flavored lollipop. Here are a few of said pitfalls:

• Doing too many reps and/or sets. If you’re essentially doing a workout before you actually hit your working sets, you’ve overdone the warm-up thing. Performing 4 sets of 10 reps of increasingly heavier weight isn’t a warm-up, it’s a workout. Stop this nonsense.
• Taking enormous jumps in weight close to your working set weight. It’s one thing to make 20 or 30 pound jumps if you’re very early in your warm-up sequence, say, the second or third warm-up set, but doing so right before your working set is a poor decision my friend.
• Missing the opportunity that warm-up sets afford to “grease the groove” of the movement. Since the weight is lighter, these sets should be performed as perfectly as possible; again, I could make it rain with the number of times I’ve seen someone rush through warm-ups or are a sloppy mess with their form. Practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent so practice perfectly.

HOW?

The warm-up is dependent on several factors, so don’t take these as rules, but more like guidelines.

from giphy.com

Movement- complexity of movement i.e a squat versus a weighted pull up, the squat is more complex and has more moving parts.

Timing within the workout- movements earlier on will require more warm-up sets than subsequent ones.

Working weight- the higher the working weight, the more warm-ups needed

Age/Injuries- older people and/or people with prior injuries (not always the same thing) will need more time to warm-up than those who are neither of those categories. (however, if they want to stay out of the latter, they should warm-up sufficiently…)

Experience level- this is often co-dependent on the working weight. Less experienced trainees are generally training with lower weights and don’t need as many warm-ups, however, this isn’t always true, so it’s a less concrete factor.

All that said, what does this actually look like? I have a couple of examples and you can use these to extrapolate to your own training. In general, a couple of things to keep in mind:

As weight increases, the reps should decrease

• Big jumps are ok in the beginning, but they should decrease as you approach your working weight
• Try not to take a bigger jump than the prior set’s jump. By that I mean, don’t make a 20 pound jump if on the prior set you only increase by 10 pounds.  
• Usually, you can take bigger jumps for your lower body than upper body.

There are several charts out on the interwebs that provide percentages of your working weight and correlate it to the number of reps. This is totally fine if you’re a precise numbers person, but due to my personal detestation of doing complex math during training I usually choose my weights based on the most convenient plate additions. It’s called the “science of plate math according to Kelsey.”

Again, there are a several different ways to do this, and some coaches prescribe sets of 10 or 8 in the beginning, which I’m not opposed to at all. Choosing the number of reps per set depends on the movement. Here are some very general examples:

Note that these are assuming a working set of 5 reps.

Deadlift, working weight of 250

Set 1- 135 x 5

Set 2- 185 x 3

Set 3- 205 x 3

Set 4- 225 x 2

Set 5- 240 x 1

Start working sets

Bench, working weight of 185

Set 1- bar x 5-10

Set 2- 95 x 5

Set 3- 135 x 3-5

Set 4- 155 x 3

Set 5- 175 x 1

Start working sets

Squat, working weight of 200

Set 1- bar x 5-10

Set 2- 135 x 5

Set 3- 165 x 3

Set 4- 185 x 2

Set 5- 195 x 1

Start working sets

Those are pretty simple examples, but I think they illustrate the point of how to choose weights when warming up.

So, what are the key points to remember?

Don’t be a fool and skip your warm-up.

Utilize your warm-up sets judiciously but not excessively and don’t be a slob when doing them.

Warm-ups should energize you and prime your body and mind for lifting, not fatigue you. You should be chomping at the bit once you start your working sets.

Combine all that and you’re in for one fan-freakin’-tastic training session!

How to Warm-Up for Squat, Bench, and Deadlift

Last post outlined a framework for a general dynamic warm-up that, if you follow it, will give you a pretty decent bang-for-your-buck. If you perform a dynamic warm-up before you lifting sessions, you'll be ahead of the game and prepared to slam some weights around. However, we can tweak your warm-up to make it more specific to the Big 3 (squat, bench, and deadlift). 

Re-inventing the wheel is inefficient, and I loathe inefficiency, and so is re-writing a blog post. I wrote a piece for Breaking Muscle last year about how to warm-up for the Big 3 and you can read that HERE. 

How to Write a General Dynamic Warm-Up

Last week’s post was about the importance of warming up before a training or practice session. A quick review:

• Increase core temperature
• Unglue “sticky” joints
• Activate nervous system
• Prepare body for activity

Today’s video is about how to write a general dynamic warm up prior to training session. (Pardon the random pause I take about halfway through. I chalk it up to my mouth moving faster than my brain.)

Key Points:

Four main areas that I try to hit in every warm-up are: core activation, glute activation, T-spine (thoracic) mobility, and hip mobility.

If you have specific areas, i.e. tight ankles, that need either mobility or strength, you can add 1-2 drills for said area(s).

General movements such as skipping, light hops/jumps, or side shuffle are great to put at the end of a warm up to encourage blood flow, get your heart rate up a bit, and continue to ramp up your nervous system.

You want to start on the ground and work your way to standing/locomotion.

Examples of Drills

Core activation

Breathing drills are a great start to a warm up because not only do they help reset/train breathing patterns, they also activate the little-thought-of core muscles that are close to the spine. This can help prevent spinal mishaps in the weight room since those little guys are on and primed to protect.

90/90 Breathing Drill

For a little more of a challenge you can do a side plank (with deep breathing) or, if you have trouble with a full side plank, a short-levered side plank

Glute activation

Since your glutes are used in just about everything and are a prime mover in most athletic movements (squat, deadlift, sprints, jumps etc.) you want those guys firing efficiently.

Think about crushing a walnut between your cheeks as you perform the glute bridge.

Want two birds with one stone? Bird dogs are great for core and glute activation.

Hip Mobility

A lot of people have really gnarly adductors (inner thigh muscles) and Adductor Rockbacks are a great way to unglue those bad boys and loosen up your hips.

Bull Dogs are another double-dipper because they hit hip mobility (especially if you’re making decent sized circles) and glute activation from multiple angles.

T-Spine Mobility

We hunch over waaaaay too much (at work/school, driving, watching TV, surfing the interwebz…) and Bench T-Spine mobility will work on extending (un-hunching) your T-spine as well as stretch out the back of the triceps (which also get notoriously tight).

Adductor Rockbacks w/ Extension and Rotation are a two-for-one punch for hip and t-spine mobility.

Bonus drills to get all the things: Spiderman with Overhead Reach

General Movement

Skip, side shuffles, lateral hops, high knees, and butt kicks are great examples.

There you have it! It’s a pretty simple formula for creating an effective and quick warm-up. Hit main things: core and glute activation, hip and t-spine mobility, and throw in some general movements and you’re set!

Pump Up Dem Hamstrings!

I (Kelsey) like to regularly look back in time and remember where I was, what I was thinking, and also reflect on what I've learned/experienced since then. I will typically look back one year ago from the current day (or three, or eight, etc.). Today's post is from 5 years ago and it was written by Steve and it still applies today. We may not use band-assisted sissy hams (we now have a sweet GHR to use) but hamstring strength is crucial for both athletic performance, life performance, and picking heavy junk off the ground. You'll also see our old facility and a smooth-faced Steve. ;)

On a personal note, I chose 5 years ago because on this day, October 21st, 5 years ago, I was preparing to marry Steve the following day and was all a-flutter. Following our wedding we shot up to Boston to train at Cressey Performance in Boston (yes, we made CP the destination for our honeymoon), you can read about it here. It's been a pretty sweet five years since and I'm looking forward to what's next!

Confession: I have very weak hamstrings. As such, I've needed to ensure that my training includes exercises that will bring up the strength of those stubborn muscles on the back of my legs. In the process of solving this dilemma, I came up with an exercise that will also help athletes improve their performance via stronger hamstrings. Now, one of the last exercises we would have one of our (healthy) athletes perform to increase their hamstring strength is the leg curl. 

For most, they’re a terrible waste of time (yes, they certainly have a place in rehab settingsand with older/deconditioned individuals, and bodybuilders could make an argument for them). While the majority of people understand that hamstrings function to flex the knee - which is what the leg curl trains - they often neglect that the hamstrings play a CRITICAL role in hip extension. The hamstrings are the body’s second most powerful hip extensor – just behind the glute max! (pun fully intended) For athletes, strong hamstrings can be invaluable as they play crucial role: resisting (eccentrically) knee flexion during sprinting. Take home point: stronger hamstrings make you faster!

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Enter the Band-Assisted Sissy Ham (or “Russian Leg Curl”). I came up with this exercise as I was helping some of our athletes perform pullups with band assistance. I had an “ah-ha” moment and decided to find a way to give myself (and others) band assistance during the sissy ham. In the video below, the first half will show me performing the sissy ham without the band. Then, I perform it with the aid of a band (attached above me). Notice there is now no arm push needed to help on the concentric (the “up”) portion of the lift.

(Note: Yes, upon looking at this video in retrospect, my pelvis is slightly tilted anteriorly and there's a bit of excessive low back arch. If I could travel back in time a year I'd go kick my own arse. Comon' Stevo! Get it right. Geez....)

This is such a fantastic exercise as it trains, simultaneously, both functions of the hamstrings: knee flexion and hip extension (which is how our hamstrings are utilized in athletics, anyway). It also makes for a more tangible progression than the regular sissy ham/russian leg curl. As you get stronger, you can lessen the band tension (as opposed to subjectively measuring "how fast you fall" during the regular sissy ham).

If you don't have a power rack that makes it easy to set up something like this, you could either just have someone manually hold your ankles, or latch your ankles under the pads of a lat pulldown apparatus (your knees would be resting where your butt normally goes). Then all you need is a sturdy 1/2" or 1/4" resistance band, which can be purchased through companies like Iron Woody, Perform Better, or EliteFTS.

As strength coaches, our mission (behind keeping people healthy) is to improve movement quality, performance, and strength and power. We also have only, roughly, 150 minutes a week to do this. This being the case, you won't find us filling 10 of those 150 minutes wasting time on an isolated leg curl. I could think of a million things athletes would be better off spending their time doing (placing their hand on a heated frying pan being one of them). Even if you're not an athlete, this exercise will still be wayy more beneficial for developing your hamstrings than the leg curl. It will also work well for the long-distance runners in the crowd!

This exercise isn't appropriate for everyone, as it's EXTREMELY difficult, even though it may not appear so if you haven't tried it. I definitely recommend a healthy dose of glute walks, slider hamstring curl eccentrics, and hip thrusts before attempting something like this.

Why Should I Warm-Up? Warm-Ups are...

Really, really important. I know they are not exciting, they're not sexy, they're certainly not they topic that most people gravitate to when they're searching for work out information- which I believe is a disservice that our industry provides- but it's one of the essential components to a productive (and SAFE) work out. 

Today's video lists out the main purposes of a warm-up.

Key points:

Warm-ups reduce the risk of injury by...

1. Increase core body temperature

2. Unglue "sticky" joints

3. Activates nervous system

4. Prepares body for physical activity

Conveniently, those are also the same factors that play into making your work out more effective. So, not only do warm-ups help reduce the risk of injury, but now your work out is more likely to bring you that much closer to superhero status (or Jedi status, depending on your nerd-level)

Most people just take a wild stab at what they should do to warm-up, that is if they warm-up at all. Therefore, dear readers, subsequent posts will offer ways to a) create a general warm-up, b) how to warm-up specifically for the Big Three (bench, squat, and my fave, deadlift), and c) how to actually warm-up once you're under the bar for the aforementioned lifts, a common area of muddled thinking.