2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 73,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

A Chance to Train for Free in South Jersey

Hiring a personal trainer or improving athletic performance nowadays does not always come cheap.  As a result, Endeavor Sports Performance is providing 1 free trial session to see how we program for personal training clients and athletes.  For those who read this, you may be thinking that you have been lifting for years, know what you are doing, and have seen great results with the programs you have followed.   I commend you for engaging in fitness and being consistent with training, however, there are certain trends and methods that I think can be improved upon when it comes to individualizing training for anyone who desires it.  Most people who I’ve seen in commercial gyms follow cookie cutter programs out of magazines, videos from Youtube, a bodybuilder, or past experience.  Not that these are wrong, but they are not individualized for the athlete or the general client to meet specific goals. With that being said there are two offers which we currently started implementing.

#1 One Free Trial Session

• You can sign up to join in with one of our training groups to see how we teach and implement our programs.

#2 89$ trial 2x/month for the first month

• We started offering this for those who want a more in-depth experience with training at a first class facility.  We will assess to see if there is any left to ride side-asymmetries, mobility restrictions, and observe how you move as a whole. Basically, the assessment guides the program we create for you so that we don’t do anything that will hurt you in the long run.  It’s also a great way for beginner, intermediate, or advanced athletes and personal clients to improve their training methods and to make that time more efficient. It also provides instruction for how to warm-up properly, include corrective exercise if needed, and strategies to keep them from having nagging injuries which is sometimes (although it shouldn’t be) part of the training process.  We have had multiple people come to us for the trial simply to improve the effectiveness of their programs, nutrition program, or a way to get out of injury.  We also look at this time as a way to intensively coach people the right way.  These are all the various ways we are trying to help out our athletes and clients.

If you are interested or have any other questions feel free to contact me at my email MSiniscalchi@Endeavorfit.com, mattsiniscalchi@gmail.com or by my Facebook.  Our brand new website is endeavorfit.precisedev.com. Check it out to see all the information.  If you want to stop or just check out the facility we are located at 614 Lambs Road in Pitman, NJ (we are in the center of the TotalTurf facility)

Taking Baby Steps in the Athlete’s Nutrition

A few articles were written over the past few days regarding whether organic food contains more nutritional value than regularly grown food.  By regular I mean the farmers use chemicals, pesticides, or synthetic fertilizers (among others).  Making change in athletes whether physically or mentally, comes down to taking baby steps.  I truly believe in the “minimal effective dose” approach.  Quite simply, we provide enough of a stimulus to make change in order to get a result.  It is the complete opposite of the “all of nothing” mindset.  The all or nothing approach will work in the short-term but not in the long-term.  In my opinion, nutrition needs the same approach.  We could suggest organic foods in order to maximize their results but that may be too big of a step.  Instead, focus on switching from processed foods to whole food choices.  It can even be as simple as making one change at a time. It is a bit easier to switch from cereal to eggs and spinach in the morning.  Regardless if they are organic eggs, we just made a big change that’s simple and easy to implement.

 

Cereals, bagels, white bread, fast foods, frozen dinners, this is only the short list of processed garbage that is surrounding the household. Simple ways to implement whole food meals can go a long way.  Preventing injury, lessening inflammation, recovering from training will be enhanced if we can provide simple whole food choices (meals) to athletes and people who are willing to set out after their goals.  Later this week will be simple choices I have made or recommended to athletes (although I am never perfect) that can make a big difference.

Cheers,

Matt

Pullthroughs to Reinforce Hip Hinge Pattern (Youth Athletes)

    

     Currently, I have just starting working with a group of talented young soccer girls (ages 11-13).  In our Level1 training program for our youth athletes the primary hip dominant exercise is an SLDL.  However, like most young athletes, they tend to move from the lumbar spine and not the hips (or it looks more like a squat).  From my experience this is pretty common.  This is why we regress that exercise by using a dowel (stick) to keep the head, thoracic spine, and hips all in neutral while teaching movement from the hips.  This next video is what we want to see…

 

     I would say most of the group got the concept after a few sets.  However, this being the second week in the program, I was not sure if it was at the point where I liked the movement quality enough.  With some of them I had some of  them do cable pullthroughs to reinforce this similar pattern.  Cable pullthroughs are a hip dominant exercise that is great to use with beginners. It is also one exercise that can be used with athletes/clients with anterior knee pain, and low-back pain.  Reinforcing proper hip hinging is one of the greatest ways to avoid those past two nagging injuries. This is also a great glute/hamstring exercise because it can keep a good amount of time under tension on the glutes.

     Few cues:  In video, there is probably a little more knee bend that I would prefer just because I really do not want younger athletes turning it into a squatting motion at all, I want it exactly like the dowel stick video above.

• Feet shoulder width, slight knee bent (20-25 degrees)
• Keep chest up throughout (shoulder blades retracted)
• Packed Neck position (neutral alignment): just like dowel video above
• Drive through heels and squeeze glutes hard at the top 

     So far, so good with this exercise although some of the girls in the group need to keep grinding away with the dowel.  I think I have found if they are not getting it after one day that I need to be a little patient and find ways for each individual to be successful.  In the end though, the pullthrough could be a life saver for this movement pattern for some people.

Cheers,

Matt

 

 

The Boston Hockey Summit and Basshunter Music Go Hand-in-Hand

     In a few hours Kevin, David, and I will be leaving for the Boston Hockey Summit to listen and learn from the best therapists/strength coaches in the world and hopefully meet some great new people in the process.  I know that a lot of this information is flat-out beyond the scope of my current knowledge yet this is what it is all about to be a true athletic development coach.  It is to learn from those better than you and to apply it to the athletes that you work with.  Anybody who thinks they know a lot is usually wrong (your typical trainer) and if you are being paid by clients because they think you are a professional then you better believe you owe it to all of them to learn everyday, making a conscious effort to help them succeed.  With that in mind these are the speakers, aka any information that you look up on them, you should read. 

Me in the Front Row

“Thomas Myers studied directly with Drs. Ida Rolf, Moshe Feldenkrais, and Buckminster Fuller. He has also studied less extensively with movement teachers Judith Aston, Emilie Conrad, and in the martial arts. His work is influenced by cranial, visceral, and intrinsic movement studies he made with European schools of osteopathy. Author of Anatomy Trains(Elsevier 2001) and a set of supporting videos, Tom has also penned over 60 articles for trade magazines and journals on anatomy, soft tissue manipulation, and the social scourge of somatic alienation and loss of reliance on kinesthetic intelligence.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Dr. Sahrmann’s research interests are in development and validation of classification schemes for movement impairment syndromes as well as in exercise based interventions for these syndromes.  Her book, Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes describes the syndromes and methods of treatment. She maintains an active clinical practice specializing in patients with musculoskeletal pain syndromes.”

 

 

 

“Dr. Clare Frank-Her clinical career has been greatly influenced by Shirley Sahrmann PT, PhD, and the Prague School of Manual Medicine faculty, namely, the late Vladimir Janda MD, Karel Lewit MD, and Pavel Kolar PT, PhD. Dr. Frank practices at a private clinic in Los Angeles, California. She has been instrumental in setting up the Movement Science Fellowship at Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles and is one of the primary clinical instructors for the program. She is also a certified instructor for Bands, Balls & Balance, Janda’s Approach to Musculoskeletal Pain Syndromes and Kolar’s Approach to Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization.  Dr Frank also serves as an adjunct lecturer at Western University of Health Sciences and Azusa Pacific University. She has presented at both state and national conferences and has recently published a book on “Assessment and Treatment of Muscle Imbalances:  The Janda Approach” .  She currently teaches in the U.S. and internationally.”

 

“Dr. Charlie Weingroff (Green Latern himself)- Lead Physical Therapist for United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command, Former Strength and Conditioning Coach and Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Philadelphia 76ers.Through rehabbing patients, Charlie subscribes to a movement-based approach popularized by the works of Dr. Vladimir Janda, Stuart McGill, Shirley Sahrmann, Pavel Kolar, and Gray Cook.  In training athletes and clients, Charlie champions the principles of the Functional Movement Screen, Selective Functional Movement Asessment, and sound evidence-based training principles.  Aside from working with patients, athletes, and clients, Charlie is also under the bar himself.  In 2007, he achieved AAPF Elite status at a body weight of 206 pounds with a total of 1915 pounds.  His best powerlifting competition total is 800 squat, 510 bench press, and 605 dead lift.”

 

“Peter Viteritti is a Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians who maintains private practices in two multidisciplinary centers. As a sports chiropractic consultant to several collegiate athletic programs, he integrates patient centered, functional examinations and advanced manual procedures with traditional medical care. 

He has been privileged to serve on the sports medicine staff at various national and international sporting events.  In addition, he instructed on the post-graduate faculty of five chiropractic colleges throughout the country and has been a featured speaker at both national and international sports medicine symposiums.”

 

These are the keynote speakers, there is also going to be  2 different tracks with hockey and basketball strength coaches.  This is simply going to be hoss-some.  I hope on the way to Boston we are turning the windows down, grabbing a Monster, and fist pumping New Jersey style with this….

An Allegory For Everyone

Keeping things in perspective 

---

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2″ in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

 The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He then asked once more if the jar was full. This time the students were sure and they responded with a unanimous “YES!”

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar — effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children. Things that, if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.

The sand is everything else. The small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

“Take care of the rocks first — the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers.”

 

Setting Goals

     We have all had the chance to obtain goals in our lives whether it has pertained to school, work, sports, or any other personal endeavours that we may find important.  Personally, I am currently trying to  a few goals over the summer.  But why should we set goals?  Sometimes we try to set lofty ones, vague ones, or none at all and as a result we may fail at our opportunity, whatever it may be.  Setting a goal…

• can be extremely motivating & inspiring
• helps focus your energies on and devising ways to achieve it
• is something that every single person can do.  Ever notice how some of the wealthiest/successful people may not have the highest IQ’s yet are very successful?  Having a desire and setting goals is one of the way they do this.
• should be very specific.  Vague ideas are not the best.

Whatever your passionate for, dive head first and get after it!

      There are many stories, movies, and events of people achieving their goals.  Goals can be a realization if you put your mind to it.  I can vividly remember watching a season highlight video of Michigan’s 1998 football National Championship year.  The four years prior, they lost 3-4 games a season, not shabby by any means, but this was Michigan, the winningest football team in America.  In the video the players and the coaches discussed how disgusted they were with hearing how the block “M” had become mediocre.  Every day they were going to do something to work towards that ultimate goal.  Their goal?  Undefeated season, and a share of the national championship.  They set a lofty goal, and as a team, achieved it. 

These stories are not few and far between which illustrates the reality of actually reaching whatever goal you may have.  Some of my goals for this summer are to…

• Trap Bar-Deadlift anywhere from 475-500
• Read something related to strength and conditioning, athletic development, & personal development,  at least 1 hour/day.
• Be as positive and energetic for the athletes/clients I train because they are at working towards THEIR goals.  It is important to invest time in others!

Do you have any goals set?  If so, which ones?  I’d love to hear people’s input on what they are trying to achieve.

-Matt

WATCH OUT for Cookie Cutter Programs

Yeah, that is right, no more cookies!

     What am I specifically talking about? A cookie cutter program is a term that describes a “one-program fits all” mentality with the belief that any lifting program works for anyone.  Basically, if I go online and search for the greatest arm workout, whatever I find is king and will/should work.  We have all probably done this, especially me considering I was an avid believer in the college programs I had printed throughout the years. 

     I can remember during my first year of college buying Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding and thinking that I was going to be a shredded huge behemoth as a result of the so-called lifting regimens he put on there.  I did indeed pack on some muscle, mainly due  to dedication and consistency, both of which I never had done with any lifting program previously.  But did I have a bodybuilder body?  No.  Did I lift the correct way all the time?  Probably not.  Were the nagging injuries due to overuse and a lifting program that was not good for me as an individual? Yes.  I am not saying that all program suggestions are completely wrong because there are certainly a lot of guys out there that suggest great things, but these programs may not take into account some very important aspects to a training program.

 

                                                                               

              99.9 percent of the time you will not look like this if this guy gave you his whole workout program

 

Problems w/ Cookie Cutter Programs… (taken from Eric Cressey)

• Lack structural balance
• Forget to take into account the training age of the individual
• Do not take into account individual injury history
• What looks good on the paper can hurt in the real world

So when looking at programming (I for one need to keep working to improve this for myself and athletes) consider these things, it will significantly help you to prevent injuries, build muscle, lose fat, and improve performance.

Factors to Consider… (also provided by Eric Cressey)

• Goals
• Training and Chronological Age
• Injury History, Existing Imbalances, Structural balance
• Scheduling
• Equipment availability
• Deloading
• Training environment and partners
• Mobility, Soft-tissue, passive flexibilities, cardiovascular, and recovery work.

This could be one example of what some programs are telling people to do….SMH (this means shake my head right?)

 

Study-”The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Muscle Recovery and Performance in Athletes.”

Sleep can be one of the most overlooked aspects of training but the reality is sleep (or recovery) is one of the biggest components of seeing progress along with nutrition and training.  The nature of some sports today (hockey & soccer come to mind first) is that these athletes may have multiple games in a day (anywhere from 3-5 games in a 2-3/day period).  Consequently,  adequate recovery is essential to maintain healthy psychological, physiological, & performance qualities.  One great blog to read on this topic comes from Patrick Ward.  Rest, Recover, Regenerate Part 1: Overtraining Syndrome. 

Is sleep affecting your performance?

 One study I came across, describes the effects that a lack of sleep can have on athletes muscle recovery and performance.  It can be found here.  Some of the key points were.

• Athletes performed a graded exercise run (GXR) @ 60, 70, 80% of their VO2peak on a treadmill, followed by a 50 minute intermittent sprint exercise (ISE) that included 50 x 15m maximal sprints interspersed with by fast running, jogging, walking, and plyo bounds. (Sprints & bounds were maximal while the others methods were done at each individuals desired pace)–this was done over a 2 day period.
• The control (CON) group was allowed to leave after the first days training session, while the sleep deprivation group (SLDEP) had to remain in the laboratory after and were deprived of sleep that night.  So when the second training session started the SLDEP group had 32 hours since awakening from their last sleep.  Food was provided for all these individuals.
• No caffeine was allowed 24hr prior or during any of experimental trials

Results:

• Mean sprint time for intermittent sprint performance (ISP) = signficantly slower on day 2  compared to day 1 during both CON and SLDEP trials.
• Significant decrease in sprint performance and the distance covered during hard running on day 2 compared to day 1 for both CON and SLDEP.
• SLDEP group resulted in significant decrease in bounding distance and mean performance of the first 10 sprints during day 2.
• Muscle voluntary contraction (MVC) pre exercise on day 2 was significantly lower for SLDEP group compared to CON group.

 This was the conclusion that came straight from the study..

Conclusion

For the first time, we show that sleep deprivation has a negative effect on the day to day recovery of leg strength/power and sprint performance during simulated team-sports performance. Sleep deprivation also tended to have a negative effect on self-selected exercise intensities (pacing strategies). These differences in performance are not explained by differences in blood lactate, electrolytes, CK, heart rate or core temperature as these were similar between trials. However, we show that sleep loss retards the repletion of muscle glycogen and may be responsible for the greater decline in performance on the second day. Accordingly, the reduction in muscle glycogen and increased psychological strain prior to exercise may result in the reduction of voluntary muscle recruitment noted in MVC and thus be responsible for the slower pacing strategies and reduced performance noted following sleep loss. The current findings indicate that strategies should be used to ensure adequate sleep occurs between competitive events as this could affect some aspects of athletic performance and muscle recovery. Additioanlly, future research should also investigate possible nutritional or other complimentary strategies that may also aid in recovery from impaired sleep.

Do yourself a favor and get quality sleep!

 

 

 

Box Jumps-Quality over Quantity

Power is important for all sports.  Being able to generate force as quick as possible is paramount is players want to gain an edge.  One of the most often overlooked aspects of “plyometrics” is the landing.  It is an often forgotten part of a box jump or vertical jump, as people tend to think that height of the box is more important than performing it correctly.  Mainly because if you do not focus on the eccentric part of the jump (the landing) you will end up having faulty movement mechanics which can lead you to injury down the road. Remember that you cannot accelerate optimally if you do not learn how to decelerate properly. Some of problems encountered with box jumps are

• Knees caving in at the start of the jump and when landing (valgus force)
• Using too high of a box which ends up having people land with their chests by their knees (video below)

Valgus collapse of knees=ACL tears

When you perform a box jump and/or just vertical jumps, the start position  and landing position should be very similar. 

• Knees should be out over the toes
• Hips should be “high” when you land
• You want to land soft and absorb the landing

In reality, what we are really trying to develop is teaching athletes how to jump and land the correct way (and being explosive as well) so that they can develop enough eccentric strength so that further down the road they may be able to do traditional plyometrics.  Consequently, our athletes will develop power and prevent injury, this is what we truly want.  This along with an appropriate strength training program will get your athletes better while limiting their risk for preventable injuries.