Soccer Injury Prevention: Hamstring Assessment Part 2

 

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.

 

Cheers,

Matt

 

Paused 1-Leg DB/KB Stiff Legged Deadlift

The 1-leg hinge or 1-leg dumbbell/kettlebell stiff legged deadlift has become a staple in many of the programs I write.  Athletes learn how to produce strength, power, and stability of the hips in a unilateral pattern while also receiving contralateral shoulder stability (packed shoulder positioning). When an athlete lacks eccentric control or stability in the bottom position of the lifts (typically the hardest position to overcome), I have learned through time that learning movements with eccentrics or isometrics is a great way to improve any pattern. With a true beginner learning this movement, I would have them put the bell down, pause, reset (staying tight) in their bottom position (notice the 2-10lb plates on the ground) before pulling the next rep.  Everyone may have a different starting position because of mobility or stability deficits so don’t be afraid to pile up more than 2 plates. The “paused” or deadstop position can help teach the athlete/client to get stronger at their most vulnerable (weakest) part of the movement.  Here is a pretty good video of technique from one of our high school soccer athletes…

IMPORTANT: make sure you screen out their active straight leg raise from the FMS.  Here is a protocol to follow if their active straight leg is not between 70-90 degrees…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvv-Zs0bJYA

 

Try it out!

Cheers,
Matt

8 Training Tips Learned in 2012

It’s the eve of 2013 so here are some quick tips I have learned and/or known but worth sharing with everyone…

1. Get In and Get Out Training 

• For me personally, if time is limited or the previous night’s sleep wasn’t a success, it is perfectly OK to follow a very basic training template for that day.  Foam roll a few problem areas, hit 4 to 5 good mobility drills, and hit a few light sets of single leg work, squat/deadlift variation, push up, or rows seems to make me feel better after each session.  Hitting the main lifts and leaving a few reps in the tank, isn’t this good training anyway?  For me, yes.

2. Picking a new training program for the fun of it 

• Whatever goal one has (more power, strength, muscle mass, lose weight etc…), if we have obtained that goal try a random new program that is a change of pace.  Do this if you have been training for quite some time..not with your athletes.  These past few months the staff and I tried Dan Trink’s programs that he posted on T-Nation.  It was fun that we all enjoyed considering we don’t typically train with high volumes.

3.  If you have a goal, stick with it

• Common sense:  If you have a goal, then stick with it.  Speaking of Dan’s programs, the few months before that my training didn’t have much consistentcy.  After sticking with the planned program for 4 weeks I saw considerable gains in strength and size.   The same rings true for athletic development, fat loss, etc…

4. High rep squats suck and rock at the same time

• I have grown to love squatting for myself.  Loving something you hate to do in training is usually what holds people back from progress they so richly want.  Maybe it’s the reason the kid who wants to get bigger but never lifts heavy is having trouble?
  

5. If you haven’t seen the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings, please start.  

• Hobbits  love to eat, drink ale, sleep, and go on adventures….who doesn’t?!

6. If you’re a coach, read InsideOut coaching by Joe Ehrmann

• By far one of my favorite books and any coach in the field of sports or strength and conditioning will love this book.  Caring and realizing that 99.9% of the athletes you coach will someday have a family, job, kids, etc…You coach to set a good example for them so that they can see what character, integrity, honesty, and caring is.  Set an example.

7. Trends in the FMS

• The Functional Movement Screen is a screen we use with our athletes and there are similar trends that I’ve seen.  Males seem to be less mobile while females seem to be less stable.  Mobility restrictions will lead to compensations in stability patterns but check these out when assessing.

8.  Try light weight lifting as part of the warm-up

• After bodyweight movement exercises (i.e. wall quad mobilizations, inverted reaches, spiderman lunge with rotation, yoga push-up etc..) try going through a light circuit of goblet squats, push ups,  rows/face-pulls, and kettlebell swings to get the heart rate up and to practice the basics.  I love this.
• Note:  the weight should be very light!  I would stick with a set of 5-8 reps of each.  Performing this light circuit is also a great way to get anyone who doesn’t warm-up to practice form, get their heart rate up, and make good use of the 5 minutes they would rather spend on the treadmill.

 

Happy New Year,
Matt

What I learned from Michigan’s Head Strength Coach

Last Tuesday, at a nice 5am, I had the opportunity to talk with the head man in charge of the University of Michigan’s strength and conditioning program.  I was extremely thankful for the 30 minutes we spent (or me asking questions) and that he took the time to provide insight, experience, and knowledge of what typically entails his day and variout thoughts pertaining to training.  Being a Michigan fan my whole life, it was really neat to talk with someone who is passionate about the job and the well-being of his athletes.  It seems (and I would not know for sure) that college strength and conditioning has the reputation for simply trying to get guys big and strong without realizing that they could be doing more harm than good.  Here is a insightful article to read that Mike Boyle shared on his blog…Are College Football Players bodies Being Abused.  Here is some of what I came away with…

#1 How you can overtrain college athletes even when you don’t want to

• He was very passionate about holding the student-athletes accountable for everything they do.  Being on-time, conducting themselves in the weightroom, and on the field the right way, etc…They need to be disciplined, period.  It is one of the deciding factors behind winning and losing programs, are they disciplined enough to not allow stupid mistakes on and off the field.  He explained, how it is very important to give guys deload weeks with lifting and on-field sessions but explained that if players show up late or slack off, that deload week or session could be turned into a punishing workout because they need to learn what it is to be a team and to be accountable young men.  We all know overtraining is not beneficial for progress or injury prevention but if the team is not accountable, you cannot be successful on and off the field.  Be accountable.

#2 They FMS all their athletes and give them the correctives

• With having such a large team, its always impressive that coaches take the time to assess the athletes with something as awesome as this tool.  However, he was honest in saying he was not sure if this is what prevented injuries.  I can agree, you assess athletes and then create the program off of that. Do No Harm.  It is interesting that in this previous football season, they had significantly less injuries than the previous 3 years (they had different strength coach).  He was humble in saying that he may be praised for this year but that he wouldn’t take the credit because he would be the same guy that in the next year, if they had a lot of injuries, he would be the guy people are blaming.  The message: do the best you can to try to keep your athletes healthy!

#3 College program is completely different from the private setting

• His guys go from 4am til 6pm everyday, mostly 7x/week  (yes, everyday), and it is year round.  You have got to give it to these guys in the college setting, they are high energy high motor guys that have an absolute passion for what they do and the athletes they work with.  When I watch the Youtube vidoes from the strength coaches over at the Citadel,   I cannot help but get pumped even if it is 5am  - competitions

Again humble when coaches want to share knowledge and experience with young coaches such as myself.

Cheers,

Matt

1st Interview: Athletic Development Coach Kevin Carr

     I have always wanted to interview other strength coaches that are willing to share some of the knowledge and information they have gained from working at a different facility.  There is much to learn being a young strength coach and to get different perspectives on training.  I asked both Kevin Carr and Brendon Rearick to answer a few questions pertaining to the field and they were awesome enough to take some time out of their busy schedule to answer the questions.  I am very thankful that they did.  For those who do not know, these guys are coaches at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning located in Woburn, MA.  Their athletic development facility was voted the #1 gym in America by Men’s Health, and deservedly so. 

First up, Kevin Carr…

1) Kevin, I wanted to thank you for taking some time out of your day to do this interview.  Before we even start, introduce yourself to any readers who read this interview.  What is your training background, how did you get involved in the industry, and why do you love it?

 I am a strength and conditioning coach at Mike Boyle’s Strength and Conditioning in Woburn, Massachusetts. I have a bachelors in Kinesiology form UMass Amherst and I am currently enrolled in a massage therapy program at The Cortiva Institute. 

I grew up as a multi-sport athlete and like many in this field fell in love with the weight room in high school. I have evolved from a complete meathead to becoming a well-rounded strength and conditioning coach and personal trainer. My first real exposure to strength and conditioning was a summer internship with Mike Boyle’s Strength and Conditioning in 2008 the summer after my sophomore year in college. Ever since then I have been at MBSC coaching as much as possible and learning from anyone I can.

Currently, Brendon and myself function as co-internship coordinators at MBSC while also maintaining a full training schedule of personal training clients and athletic development groups. I have a clientele that varies from adults looking to lose weight to high school hockey players to Word-Class Olympians and Professional athletes.

2) Who has influenced you the most with regards to your training philosophy..and what is your training philosophy?

 Without a doubt Mike Boyle has been my biggest influence as a strength coach. He has been a great mentor to me. In addition to Mike, the coaches who were working at MBSC when I first started like Jaime Rodriguez, Nicole Rodriguez, Dan Gableman and Kyle Holland all taught me how to be a great coach.

 3) Considering we are the next generations of coaches, what is some of the advice you would give to interns and those interested in wanting to pursue a career in the field?

 Coach as much as possible. Hands on experience, learning what works, what doesn’t and how to communicate with your athletes is invaluable. Get brilliant at the basics and never stop learning. 

 4) What are your personal goals for the next few years (personal or professional, training, education-related)

 Professionally, I want to set Mike Boyle’s Strength and Conditioning apart from every other gym in the country. I plan on building this business and making it more successful each year I work here. For me, this means offering more training options, bringing in more athletes and clients and continuing to improve our staff.

 In addition to this I want to offer the best internship and mentorship programs available in the industry. I love talking about training and providing an educational resource for other coaches so that we can improve the quality of trainers in our field..

Educationally, I’ll always continue learning, reading, and coaching. I plan on completing my Massage Therapy program in the next year and becoming a Licensed Massage Therapist.

  5) If you had to create a top 5 recommended reading list, what would they be (could be training/non-training related)

 How To Win Friends And Influence People- Dale Carnegie

Advances In Functional Training – Mike Boyle

Practical Programming – Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

Today Matters – John Maxwell

Movement – Gray Cook

 6) DO NO HARM. This is the #1 rule of the strength coach. What do you think are the most effective strategies that people can do to make their training effective and efficient while decreasing their chance of injury substantially?

Screen all your clients. The FMS provides a perfect screen to tell you what you cannot do with someone.  In addition to this use common sense and demand technical proficiency. Coaches shouldn’t rely on “good enough.” I have never seen a perfect deadlift or bench that hurt someone, it’s always the ugly ones.

Again, I wanted to thank him for this interview and hopefully those that read realize the darn good information these guys put out.  To reach Kevin and see the great information he is providing, go to CoachKevCarr.com 

 

Getting a 14 on the FMS: Is It Enough?

Any reliable personal trainer, strength coach, or physical therapist has an assessment that they use (and more likely more than one) in order to understand people’s asymmetries, restrictions, and overall quality of movement.   Some of these assessments are based on strength (ie 5RM bench press), power (vertical jump), or agility (5-10-5).  The previous is more of a performance assessment while the one I will be going into detail is based on movement quality.  The one that provides the foundation for where we can build upon on all strength qualities (power, acceleration, deceleration, speed, etc..) most effectively is the Functional Movement Screen (FMS).  No matter what meathead juicer at Planet Fitness says, in order to pursue your goal most efficiently they need to move well first or limit the restrictions that can be found in something like the FMS.  Without seeing one’s movement quality is like shooting at a target blindfolded, you really just don’t know where to start in order to attain the goal you are looking for.  There are more in-depth assessments such as PRI, or the classic isolated joint range of motion tests that I am increasingly trying to learn but for me, the FMS is here to stay and something that ANY strength coach or personal trainer should know.

Those that do not know what the FMS is, take a quick read here

They cover the 7 basic human movements with a scoring sheet (each movement is scored either 0,1,2, or 3). 3 is perfect movement, 2 is with some kind of compensation, 1 is if you cannot perform the movement adequately at all and 0 is scored if it causes pain.  If it tests your left and right sides (hurdle step, rotary stability, active straight leg raise, in-line lunge, shoulder mobility) you score each side separately and then take the lowest score (ex: L shoulder=1, R shoulder=2 Total: 1) and add up all. It has been researched that a score of 13 or below could mean an increased chance of injury (best score you can get is 21).  Common sense comes into play as well, typically when our athletes or clients score that low it is glaringly evident that if it looks really bad, then as the coach we need to get it to a baseline level (2′s), similar to what we should be doing with training.  Case in point, I have had friends do the shoulder mobility portion of the screen and they cannot even get their hands over and behind their head without some compensation.  I think we can all agree that this is a major, major problem. I do want to say that I am not FMS certified and do not have the in-depth understanding that is needed to be a master-jedi but I do have a basic foundation of the movement screen and what we are looking for. I just wanted to shed some thought on the FMS and on the score which I found to be very interesting.  If anyone has ever FMS’ed anyone and they score a 14..is it good enough to simply get a 14?  What we do know is that there are many ways to get to 14.  The standard is get symmetrical 2′s across the board.  That is what we want to attain to clear them for training whatever we want.  However, from reading the forum post, it was cool to learn that you can have a perfect 21 and that that score  may not have any “added injury prevention benefits (Joe Heiler-the man by the way).”  With that said, there needs to be a baseline level of good movement (aka start learning about the FMS) and as strength coaches we should also strive for good movement in all the aspects of training we provide or athletes and clients.  If it looks like crap then we need find ways to fix it.

If anyone wants to chime in on the FMS please do.  I definitely need to learn more.

Cheers,

Matt

Lower Body Assessments from Smart Dudes

Since coaching at Endeavor Sports Performance, I have come to understand the importance of assessment and some of the basics that any strength coach, personal trainer, and physical therapist should know.  I am still far off in being 100% confident in knowing the whole gamut of assessments but if you want superior results while staying healthy understand that assessments play pivotal roles and the extra 10-20 minutes to carry out the assessments (even longer if need be) is essential.  Whatever your goal in training, fat loss, muscle mass, or performance, knowing where to start will be driven from the assessment which in turn drives the program created for the individual.  With that said, everyone at Endeavor is assessed in some way, whether FMS, PRI (something that in the future I need to know more about), or simple joint range of motion tests.  It is no secret that Endeavor has played an influential role in my continuing growth as a performance coach.  They in turn were influenced by other coaches, some of which we consider some of the best around. Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, BJ Gaddour, and Dave Schmitz are providing us with a FREE lower body assessment, similar to what we do at Endeavor.  This is a sneak peek into the website they will be launching soon that will provide just awesome content on program design, staff training sessions, and assessments.  Here is the free lower body assessment from these guys!

Elite Training Mentorship : Lower Body Assessment

and also a hip assessment from Kevin that he does with all his hockey athletes (this can apply to all athletes/clients)

The Role of the Strength Coach/ Joint By Joint Theory @ Rowan University

I recently finished up speaking around 45 minutes at Rowan University.  It was for their chapter in the National Wellness Institute (NWI) group where approximately 20 or so students showed up.  I was surprised at how well it went considering at the beginning I almost crapped myself (we could not log on to use the powerpoint slides so I was just going to have to wing it). The Powerpoint presentation I created was my opinion on information that I thought would apply some form of practical information for those possibly interested in strength &conditioning/athletic development etc… Basically, it was my opinion on what the role of the strength coach is and our philosophy (joint by joint approach).  I understand there are many overlapping systems that can be more thoroughly understood by reading Kevin’s blog on regional interdependence.  We actually were able to get the powerpoint fired up and it went better then expected.  This was something that I think needs to be understood from almost all trainers in whatever field and something that I have learned from reading the likes of Mike Boyle, Kevin, and other leading strength coaches in the field.

Besides the joint by joint approach which everyone can take a read at T-nation.com, our role of the strength coach is this and exactly in this order…

1. Do No Harm

• This starts with assessment, if you do not have one…find one (FMS, Assess and Correct, PRI)
• Do not train till technical failure
• Appropriate exercise selection (indicative of the assessment)
• If something hurts, stop, and find something else

2. Decrease the risk for injury in the weightroom and then on the field/ice/court etc…

• Weight room incidents should almost never happen
• There are exceptions like freak accidents but if you are allowing athletes to stand on a bosu ball and squat, or doing something inappropriate for the athletes/clients..it needs to stop
• Think common sense

3. Improve performance

• Is it odd that this is third?  I think not, if you cannot play because of injury then what is the point of off-season preparation?  Do things with a planned progression, allowing people to move well first before they move fast, hard, or strong is of utmost importance

Cheers,

Matt

Not Being Fooled by “Sport Specific Training Programs”

It may be a good way of marketing and appealing to certain sports populations but in reality programs that say they are specifically geared towards their sport may not be what good programming is about.  Certainly, there are some things in a program that may be appropriate than others but there are a few principles that apply to all sports and even the general clientele (weight loss, strength, etc..)  These principles should be the same throughout.  What are these principles?

• Move Better
• Move Stronger
• Move Faster
• Move Longer

**Big props go to Charlie Weingroff for these terms (not sure but it is where I heard it from first)

We mostly work in the GPP and more advanced would be SPP, but the higher up you go, the more it is the sport preparing you for that type of preparedness

Move Better: this is your assessment.  Knowing where to hit first is important and using a tool such as the FMS can help a coach see what needs to improve in order to remove any barriers that will limit the other principles.  You cannot just put the pedal to the metal from the get go without knowing where that person is.  This is one, in my opinion, why things like P90x or Crossfit style programs can be extremely dangerous (besides other parts of their programs) to 99% of the people using them.

The other principles are pretty self-explanatory with move longer being the conditioning part of the program.  The main goal is to understand that this is one main way at which we look at athletes with program design and helping them reach their goals so that they can reach their full-potential without any barriers that they may have

Cheers,

Matt

Sources:  SCWebinars.com presenter Charlie Weingroff: Program Thinking: The Design Behind the Program

Incorporating Breathing Patterns w/ Mobility Drills

Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of training one of our college athlete’s father.  He comes in 3-4x/week and has had continuous extension-related low back pain since coming in.  His back pain seems to always flare up when standing for long periods of time or if he runs.  The uphill battle is that he loves to run and sometimes his job requires him to stand for extended periods of time.  We typically incorporated our push, pull, knee dominant, hip dominant, anti-core movements in his programs and the pain would go away for periods of time if he would get away from the running.  One of the prominent findings, and a reason why assessment for every client is unbelievably important is that his shoulder mobility is severely restricted (1s on the FMS) and he has a huge bilateral rib flair. 

It did not click for me at first but now I have completely revamped his program which includes breathing with any mobility drill or stretching.  He is typically a high-stress person and that is definitely linked with the rib-flair (upper chest-breather).  Also because he is getting extension-related back pain that means that we will start back at the basics with core exercises lying in supine.  The ones that I am going to experiment are the dead-bug (other variations to this as well), baby pallof press.

Supine Baby Pallof Press for breaths  5-6 breaths (isoholds)

Dying Bug

Here are  t-spine extensions and supine wall slides that I have incorporated.  Cycle a full diaphragmatic breath before initiating any of the movements.  With all of these, it improves as he gets further into the set or does multiple sets.  These were the first sets.  If you have any suggestions on how to improve this please feel free.

Cheers,

Matt