Things are starting to pick up at Endeavor so I wanted to share quick quality information.
1. Nutritional Guide for Soccer Players
My colleague and Dutch friend Guido has released a free nutritional guide for soccer athletes that everyone should take a look at. He breaks down pre and post match meal ideas and how much you should consume. He has interned under a few Dutch clubs (Roda & Ajax) and just recently finished interning with Tranmere Rovers in England. Click on the link below to be directed to his nutritional guides
Thought provoking video on how excessive running can cause more harm than good in the heart. It sure caught my attention and it’s only 18 minutes long.
In Part 1, I briefly explained the anatomy of the hamstring musculature and how pelvic position can affect it’s function. I would highly recommend reviewing part one here before part 2. For part 2, I wanted to take the time to provide a few assessments that you can use with your soccer athlete’s to see a variety of important issues.
#1 Active Straight Leg Raise Assessment
As far as I know, the active straight leg raise assessment (ASLR) started with the Functional Movement Screen (FMS). The ASLR is more than a hamstring length test. It also looks at…
Timing of the Inner Core Subsystem (core stability)
Leg separation (hip flexion on up leg/hip extension on down leg)
Superficial Back Line extensiblility
connected muscle tissue from foot to skull
Not making sense? Watch this video
The standard or goal for ASLR is symmetrical 2′s. If the athlete has this we should be good to go with training. Often times, we see an asymmetry from left to ride sides even when the scores are 2′s. In the FMS this is fine as long as it is within range of the screen. Taking the PRI courses allowed us to dig deeper down the rabbit hole to see why this may occur. The right ASLR will have more than the left because of the position of the pelvis in a Left AIC pattern (left hemi-pelvis situated in a state of anterior tilt and forward rotation to the right). Simply, because the pelvis on the right is oriented in a state of posterior pelvic tilt (the opposite of the left side), it allows the right leg to go farther up.
What’s the big deal?
After we have done the two basic assessments (adduction drop & extension drop test) and know they are in a L AIC pattern (if you are not familiar, just realize that we SHOULD see a higher right ASLR compared to left). A major issue arises when the left side is longer. This indicates (if in a L AIC pattern) that an already stretched out left hamstring is even more lengthened than it should and one of the reason we can see many hamstring pulls or issues higher up on the left.
Wait till part 3 where there will be a video of the adduction drop and extension drop tests as well as re-positioning exercises to facilitate the left hamstring (if needed) and bring the pelvis back to neutrality.
I’ve heard my fair share of hamstring stories from athletes and people in general who believe they have “tight” hamstrings. In order to gain an appreciation and understanding of the muscle group let’s look at where these group of muscles attach.
There are 3 hamstring muscles: the semitendinosis, semimembranosis, and biceps femoris. The group of muscles attach to your pelvis (ischial tuberosity), run down the back of your leg and attach to your lower leg past the knee. More simply, the “semis” run down the medial aspect while the biceps femoris runs down the lateral portion (both attaching on the lower leg). Because the hamstrings have different attachment points on the lower leg, they serve multiple functions such as knee flexion and hip extension. Another vital but often overlooked function of the hamstrings is their stabilizing role on the pelvis. Since they attach on the ischial tuberosities, they try to prevent (stabilize) the pelvis from forwardly “tipping” (anterior pelvic tilt). When we see athletes coming in with forwardly tipped pelvis’ the one thing we want avoid is constant hamstring stretches. The picture below shows how the hamstring have lost their stabilizing function on the pelvis.
The hamstrings become lengthened as a result of pelvic position so while someone may “feel” tight in their hamstrings, they aren’t. What the hamstrings are doing is holding on for dear life to prevent the pelvis from tilting forward any more. Why would you stretch a muscle that is already in a lengthened position? It can be extremely frustrating to see people performing endless stretches or pushing through a hamstring stretch when it may be the last thing they need. In the next few days, I will go over strategies in which to improve the faulty pelvic position that we see with many of our athletes.
Quadriceps (front thigh) strains occur from a variety of factors primarily postural position (pelvic alignment), poor soft tissue quality of the area, muscle extensibility, improper recovery, or imbalances between synergistic muscles. Previous thought was that if a muscle strains it is simply weak but as Shirley Sahrmann has pointed out, it could be also be due to poor synergistic muscle activity. In this case of a quad strain, the culprit it usually the rectus femoris. Since there are multiple muscles that can flex the hip (think: knee to chest action), one that is particularly active above 90 degrees of hip flexion is the psoas. Rarely do we see maximal sprints in soccer that allow for full hip flexion which can cause an imbalance of the anterior hip musculature. The rectus femoris is the only hip flexor that crosses the knee and hip joint. As a result, it’s put under significant eccentric stress during the lay back position (hip extension, knee flexion) before the ball is kicked (See 2nd picture)
R Hip Extension, R Knee Flexion
Besides the action of the kick and sprinting stride, pelvic position (altered core control), muscle tissue extensibility, and synergistic activity play a pivotal role.
Pelvic Position
Long in-seasons with short (or little) off-seasons lends itself to overuse issues at the pelvis. Mentioned above, the rectus femoris gets a ton of repetition due to the amount of yards covered in a game with minimal maximum hip flexion (psoas contribution). If the off-seasons are short, we try to hammer home the importance of proper pelvic positioning by using breathing techniques (PRI) to re-position the pelvis, reinforce proper rib positioning (exhalation), followed by reinforcing that position in the core stability drills we do. Since most of our soccer athletes live in gross-extension patterns, it makes sense to get them back to a more neutral pelvic position so that there can be optimal core and pelvic function.
Tissue Quality/Mobility
With year long soccer becoming increasing popular, overuse tends to become the norm. Soft-tissue work is absolutely necessary in order to help maintain quality of the muscle and help it recover (seeing a manual therapist would be better). Everyone is the soccer community should invest in a 10$ roller that will last them years and only help prevent tissue injuries.
This is my favorite mobility drill for the rectus femoris (**do not due if it causes pain after a strain)
Mentioned earlier, the psoas is minimally active as a hip flexor when hip flexion does not reach above 90 degrees. As a result, it may be important to pick a few exercises to help bring the pendulum back to the middle in order to decrease the contribution of the other hip flexors.
Here are a few things to incorporate as part of the warm-up. 2×3 sets of 10-12 reps will be a good place to start. The progressions to use would follow this order….
Psoas Isoholds : longer holds with less reps –> 3 x 10sec holds/side
Dynamic Psoas Holds: more reps for shorter duration –> 8x2sec holds/side
Lying Miniband Psoas (knee must get above 90 degree without compensation at the spine)
Progression or Alternative: If the team does not have minibands, they could also use a hand to apply resistance downward
I had the opportunity to help assess one of the women’s soccer teams in the newly formed National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) on Wednesday. The players were humble, hard working, and I appreciate their willingness to cooperate with a some guy (aka myself) coming in to do a few basic assessments with them. With the help of their assistant coach Kris Ward (who gave me the opportunity to help out), I was able to learn a bit more about soccer drills, conditioning, organization, and movement patterns of the game. I encourage everyone that is a soccer enthusiast to check out a game if you in an area that has a club and hopefully there will be more opportunities to help them out!
In particular, viewing the dynamic warm-up provided me with a few ideas for plyometric power progressions for the soccer athlete. Once the pace of the warm-up is sped up, the activities becomes more multi-directional. In other words, besides linear (jogs, sprints, forward skips, back pedals, backward runs) and lateral movements (side shuffle, cariocas), the emphasis is more on multiple changes of direction and pace. A simple example would be a side shuffle into a 10 yard forward sprint. One of the most important aspects in change of direction drills is making sure the athlete “loads” or shifts weight quickly and efficiently on whichever leg is going to accelerate them forward. Loading the hips allows for proper deceleration in order to efficiently accelerate towards the next target (wherever that may be). We typically start most athletes off with linear hurdle hops (double or single leg) and 1-leg lateral/medial hurdle hops (left to right–and vice versa). It it with these basic progressions that we can coach the athletes how to start, load, and change direction safely and quickly.
Linear
Lateral/Medial
After they have mastered these we can then progress to more difficult versions such as a rotational bound
With any change of direction work (plyometric or speed) we encourage our soccer athletes to first, lead with the eyes in the direction they are going to more efficiently turn their bodies. Second, we make sure they start and land in a low position with the hips back while preventing the knee from caving in. The rotational bound was an idea I first learned from Endeavor while training our hockey goalies. That same movement pattern can be seen with warm-up drills (what I saw in the warm-up with the girl’s team) where various changes in direction are needed. Here is one that I saw in the warm-up (notice I load on the left leg, get my eyes around quickly, and accelerate)…
Besides the more advanced variation I’ve shown here, linear and lateral variations are a great way to start off many athletes.
Here is a basic soccer dynamic warm-up that I filmed while also having my beloved beard (I miss it terribly). The idea behind the order of the movements is quite simple.
Slow and controlled movements moving towards more dynamic quicker movements.
Juventus : “The Old Lady”
The warm-up is often an overlooked aspect of sport that I have presented to a few soccer coaches in community to give them a sense of how athletes can incorporate more single leg strength/stability, motor control, hip and thoracic spine mobility, the dissociation of hips and spine, ankle mobility (which is not in the video), and a host of movements for coordination that is typically lacking in many players (besides overall strength).
The video is only one variation and there are many ways to get a desired effect. Especially if certain athletes having glaring mobility or stability deficits, we can individually address these with specific mobility/stability drills or correctives.
Partial ROM can get a bad rap in the training community. However, two main reasons partial ROM may be a good idea are to (1) teach certain movements when there a lot of clients (or beginners) or (2) someone who presents with pain in the bottom range of a particular lift.
What comes to mind first??
Pressing Variations
Many athletes, particular overhead ones tend to have anterior instability of the shoulder. Shoulder instability could be due to the nature of the sport (throwing in particular), weak scapular stability, poor posture, shoulder impingement symptoms, or even an unawareness of how to do the lift properly. DB Floor Press or board pressing can be a great substitute because the limited range of motion prevents the end range of shoulder extension (which is where the pain usually kicks in). Besides the safety factor, these two types of pressing can encourage the eccentric portion of the lift because the athlete knows that coming down fast on the floor will not feel good on the elbows!
Push Up
Since push ups are a closed chain exercises (the scapula moves freely on the ribcage), I tend to prefer them for beginners and most of our soccer athletes who may present with shoulder and/or core stability weakness. One way to use partial ROM with this exercise is to put a 10lb plate on the floor directly underneath the chest to ensure a pain-free depth and in order to be consistent with the eccentric portion of the movement. Sometimes full ROM (chest to floor) may become a bit problematic due to the poor core control or excessive thoracic kyphosis.
The picture above in just one illustration of a few weak pelvis/core control (hip sag, forward head posture) and can be one major reason why we it can aggravate a shoulder even if it is a closed-chain shoulder friendly exercise. Remember, excessive kyphosis (rounded upper back) + poor core control = anteriorly tilted scapula = poor inefficient push up form.
Next post will look at a few more considerations with partial range of motion for the lower body
The side plank is an important beginner stabilization pattern that teaches our soccer athletes how to stabilize the pelvis and torso on one side. What often gets overlooked is the position of the shoulder which may or may not cause irritation to this vulnerable joint complex. On occasion athletes or clients may complain of shoulder irritation (painful) during the exercise but is typically due to the lack of engagement of the shoulder to create stability in conjunction with the lateral core (obliques and QL). When they are taught how to engage the shoulder this irritation typically goes away. Lateral core stabilization is also significantly important in single leg stance activities (jumping, cutting, running, walking, jogging, ) and helps provide more efficient force production when a soccer athlete needs to strike the ball.
Stable pelvis/torso on left side in order for the right to drive the ball to the net
A helpful tip to help athletes understand where we want the shoulder is to help them think of either…
pushing their body away from the floor with the forearm and hand
keep the shoulder away from the ear
This video clip can also give the athlete feedback on where there shoulder is and where it should be.
Once the position of the shoulder and entire stabilization pattern is mastered we will go on to more dynamic lateral core movements such as 1-arm farmer carries and side plank rows. More on that in the future…
Some people ask me what I do for those that have the goal of fat loss. Here is something I put together for a new client who is a bit older. She presented with a limited toe touch (6 inches from toes), poor active straight leg raise (both 1′s), and shoulder mobility. Typically, I’ll address the weaknesses in the beginning of the training session (correctives) as well as in the warm-up itself. For phase 1, the goal is to learn the basic movements and then decrease the time between sets as the weeks go along. The conditioning will be kept light in this phase as she will have some conditioning to do on off-days (more along the lines of 30-40 minutes of general aerobic work) as well. The pdf is the training session itself (she will also have foam rolling and a specific warm-up as well)
