michael reid

Girls and Knees

FACT: females are up to 8x more likely then males to injure their knees, particularly ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tear.

FACT: females have a wider pelvis when compared to males which creates a larger Q-angle (angle of the thigh bone in relation to the hip and knee) and predisposes them to exhibit valgus knee tracking when cutting on one leg, jumping or landing from a jump.  This is also seen in the weightlifting room with poorly trained female athletes when they do squats, lunges and other single leg exercises.  Valgus = when the knees come closer together or caving inward which equals big problems for the knee!

FACT: There is over 3000 scientific research articles on the subject of females and knee injuries.

FACT: females are much weaker in the hamstrings relative to the quadriceps.  The hamstrings work in conjunction with the ACL to stabilize the knee.

FACT: you are at increased risk of a knee injury if you play a sport that requires jumping and cutting (e.g. basketball, football, volleyball, handball).

Coming up in the next post will be some of my favorite exercises to improve knee tracking and hamstring strength.

Please leave your comments.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Barefoot Training

Here is a very simple way to improve your training ... train barefoot!   

At the basketball club I currently work for all the athletes do the majority of their weightlifting barefoot.  This is not some wacky novel idea, many athletes have been doing this for hundreds of years, like the martial arts for example.  What tipped me off to this was some work I have read by Pavel Tsatsouline, where he talked about training barefoot when weightlifting.  So, I started to experiment with my own training by doing heavy squats and dead lifts and progressed to jumping exercises and even the Olympic lifts barefoot.  It took a few sessions to get used to it but I really believe that there are some great benefits to training barefoot.

Here are some of the main reasons:

• 26 & 33 - that is the number of bones and joints in the feet.  Having a shoe on restricts the movement and activation of the joints and muscles in the foot and ankle which can create what many experts call a "lazy foot".  If you don't use it, you lose it!
  
• Flexibility - most shoes have a raised heel which has a dramatic affect on the flexibility needed at the ankle joint.  The stiffer the ankle, the more knee problems you will probably have.  Training barefoot challenges your flexibility to a greater degree.
• Landing Mechanics - you cannot have sloppy landing technique when doing even simple jumping drills barefoot.  The landings need to be very precise and are learned very quickly when barefoot.
• Stability - when barefoot, you don't have the passive support of your shoes, therefore the muscles and joints get a greater stimulus from the training.
• Reduced Impact Forces - there is actually some research that shows there is reduced impact forces when running barefoot!

Before you go off and start training barefoot please use some common sense.  Feet sweat, so the surface you train on is very important, rubber floors are good.  The surface needs to be clean and free of any sharp objects that may damage your feet, even a small pebble can puncture the foot.   If you have any  open sores , cuts or injuries to the foot then you should wait till they heal before training barefoot.

With respect to training, start slowly, I usually spend the first 1-2 weeks doing only the weightlifting warm up barefoot, I then progress by having the athlete do the rest of their program barefoot with the exception of the Olympic lifts which I give the athletes the choice of barefoot or shoes.  Also, I require the athlete to wear shoes when doing exercises like walking lunges where there is an aggressive foot strike.

One of my most enjoyable training is being outside in the summer exercising and lifting weights in the sun, barefoot.  This past summer, I was back in Canada and did most of my own training at my brothers summer house with my kettlebells, it was great!

The photo to the left is of David Rigert, one of the greatest athletes in weightlifting history with 130kg overhead in either the catch phase of a snatch or overhead squat; take notice of the feet.

Enjoy your training and try it barefoot next time.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

references

Divert, C., Mernieux, G., Baur, H., Mayer, F., Belli, A. Mechanical comparison of barefoot and shod running. Int J Sports Med. 2005 Sep;26(7):593-8.

"A strength overused becomes a weakness"

Are you only doing things that you are strong at or are you working on areas that actually need work?

You have the most room for improvement in your weakest areas.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Scientific Basketball Training - part III

In Part II of Scientific Basketball Training, I discussed in more detail the finer points of the research and concluded with a sample conditioning test you can use with your players.  As a reminder, below is a summary of part II.

Summary

• train dominantly with anaerobic exercises and drills. 
• to get better at your sport, train the sport!
• ditch the long runs in the woods!
• design your training programs with intervals using a work:rest ratio of 1:1 to 1:3.
• Keep most of your high intensity training segments to under 30s in length before there is a rest.

So, what do we do next?  How do you implement these ideas into your teams practice drills?  You can get a stop watch and time the work and rest periods of your practice but there is a more simpler way to do it. 

Simply use the number of players you have in a drill to roughly calculate the work:rest ratio of a given drill.  For example, the drills below have a work:rest ratio of ...?       

So, all you need to do now is have an idea how long it takes to complete one repetition of the drill.  Most individual skills drills are very short 2-5s.  Even a full court lay up drill, only takes 4-10s and if you do it there and back you are looking at 10-20s of total work.  This would fit right in with what the research is saying.

So, it is pretty simple to design drills that fits the science of basketball training.  You are probably already doing it with out even knowing it!

I have a question though, when might you want to use a work:rest ratio of 1:5-10?  How about 4-5:1

Leave a comment with your answer.

In Part IV, I will discuss strength training and some foundational movements you should have mastered before you even enter the weight room.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

ps the 1st drill has a work:rest ratio of approximately 1:5 while the 2nd drill is 1:3.

flax/Linfrö Seed

Flax Seed, in Swedish it is called Linfrö, is a real super food that everyone should be including in their diet.  Just listen to some of the benefits of Flax Seed.

Excellent source of fibre - contains soluble and insoluble fibre. Soluble fibre can lower blood cholesterol levels, while insoluble fibre can have a very positive affect on the health of you colon.  1 cup of ground flax has ~36g of fibre!  That is about a whole days worth.

Omega-3 Fats - alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).  Our modern, western diets are high in omega-6 fats and eating more flax is a great way to balance out this ratio (other benefits of omega-3 fats).

Very Low Glycemic Load (GL) - The Glycemic Load is similar to the glycemic Index but it takes into account not only the kind of carbohydrate in the food but also the amount.  A GL of 20 or more is high, a GL of 11 to     19 is medium, and a GL of 10 or less is low.  GL of Flax = 0!!!!  This is a great food for diabetics, weight loss diets and other conditions where controlling blood sugar is important.

It should be noted that the omega-3 fats found in Flax Seed is different from omega-3 fats found in fish oil, which is DHA and EPA.  There has been great debate of which kind of omega-3 fats is most important.  Both fish and flax have positive attributes so I say take both.

Also, choose flax meal (ground) instead of whole seeds, unless you will be grinding them yourself.  To get the nutrients of flax it needs to be ground.  The human digestive tract cannot digest the outer hull of the seed so it will just pass right through you.

Two of my favorite ways to use Flax:

• Add to meat balls or patties.  A simple recipe is to use an egg with ~500g of ground meat of your choice plus 1/2 cup of flax meal (ground) and spices of your choice.  The egg and flax meal will act as the glue to hold the mixture together.  No Wheat or Potato flower needed.

• Eat as a hot cereal.  Use 1/2 - 1 cup of flax meal (ground) + 1/4-1/2 cup shredded coconut + 1-4 tbsp sunflower seeds + 1/2 - 1 cup fruit + hot water.                                                              

Flax can be hard on the digestive system if you eat to much at once.  So if you add it to your diet start in small amounts (~1/4 - 1/2 cup per day).

Be Well,
Mike Reid

references:
Flax Council of Canada

Scientific Basketball Training - part II

In the first part of Scientific Basketball Training I gave a brief summary of the research.  In part II, I am going to discuss the key points in further detail.

1. Basketball is an Anaerobic Sport – power, strength, quickness, agility dominate the sport (1).        
For a moment think of some of the greatest athletes to play the game?  What characteristics are common among many of the best to ever play? 

I personally think of Michael Jordan and his jumping ability, quickness, balance and agility, these are all anaerobic characteristics.

2. Aerobic Capacity has little effect on Anaerobic recovery (1) & low-intensity endurance training may even impair recover from high intensity exercise like Basketball (2).
This statement refers to a physiological law called the law of specificity or the SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands).   Your body will adapt to what you impose on it.  So, for example if you do lots of long, slow runs (e.g. 5-10km) your body will become efficient at running long and slow. Run sprints and you will become faster.  This is not something you need a PhD. in physiology to understand.  It is pretty common sense.   

On another note isn't there a training "theory" or should I say myth that says doing lots of aerobic work will help you recovery faster from high intensity exercise like basketball?  You know, in the pre-season do lots of long, slow runs to build up an aerobic base.  While this is a good idea for endurance sports, the research shows the complete opposite, it may even make your recovery processes worse!  Remember the SAID principle, your body adapts to what you impose on it.  Internally in your cells there is a very different set of chemical reactions and processes going on when you do something like run 10km as opposed to playing basketball or doing high intensity intervals.  Not only that, with repeat exposures, your cells become more efficient at producing the chemicals and other structures it needs to perform under the imposed conditions.  I ask you then, when do those long track sessions and runs in the woods come into play for conditioning a basketball athlete?  Do they have any beneficial role to play?

Based on the research and basic science I would say there is very little if any need to do this kind of training.

3. Work:Rest Ratio is 1:1 to 1:3 & with High Intensity components lasting up to 30s (3).
When training for any sport the work to rest ratio is very important.  It literally tells you what to do.  In the case for basketball, every single unit of work you do, should be followed by 1-3x as long rest.  Basketball is a discontinuous sport; there are starts, stops, sprints, easy jogs, walking, change direction ...  This is very different from a continuous sport like running 10km or cycling.

Knowing the work:rest ratio is one thing, but how long is each work session in a basketball game?  For 
the high intensity portions of the game (e.g. jumping & sprinting) the work is only on average about 15s long with some other research showing closer to 20-30s!  Now, this does not mean all training programs should have 15s or less of work intervals but it does give further evidence of the importance of training more on anaerobic endurance and power as opposed to aerobic training.    

4. Distance Traveled for Pro Basketball = ~3000m, excluding walking and Shuffling (4).
I think this is pretty self explanatory.  This was also for professional men's basketball, so it would be even lower for youth athletes.

5. Inverse relationship between aerobic capacity/training & power/strength (5-7).
The more you train the Aerobic system the lower potential you have for power, strength & lean body mass improvements. Simply look at any top marathon or even 10km runner.  Do they have the body of an elite basketball player?  What about an Olympic weightlifter or 100-200m runner?  To be successful in basketball at the higher levels requires a very good base of strength and power.  Lots of aerobic training simply dampens all the training you do to become quicker, stronger and more powerful.

6. Interval Training: improve aerobic & anaerobic capacity at the same time (8, 9)         
For those of you that are still worried about not having an aerobic base to work from because all you do is lots of intervals, well don't worry.  High intensity intervals will do the trick.

How do you do these for Basketball? 

1. Use a work:rest of 1:1 to 1:3
2. work portion is no longer then 30s
3. repeat 5-20 times   
4. change directions at least every 30m.
5. the work portion should be done at a very high intensity.

e.g. 10 x 1 line drill (suicide run) on 60s interval

I actually use this as a conditioning test for basketball players.  For men, a good time is 30s or less on each run.  If the athlete does 30s, he will be using a work to rest ratio of 1:1.  I would consider this a long interval for basketball players.  If you can do this drill under 30s per run you will be a beast on the court and will be able to run all day.

Summary

• train dominantly with anaerobic exercises and drills. 
• to get better at your sport, train the sport!
• ditch the long runs in the woods!
• design your training programs with intervals using a work:rest ratio of 1:1 to 1:3.
• Keep most of your high intensity training segments to under 30s in length before there is a rest.

In part III I will give more examples of training programs you can use with your athletes.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment.

Be Well,
Mike Ried

 

references

1. Hoffman, J.R., S. Epstein, M. Einbinder and Y. Weinstein.   The influence of aerobic capacity on anaerobic performance and recovery indices in basketball payers. J. Strength Cond. Res. 13(4): 407–411. 1999

2. Plisk, P. Speed, agility, and speed-endurance development.  In: Essential Principles of Strength and Conditioning (2nd ed.). T. Baechle and R. Earle eds. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2000. pp. 487.

3. MCINNES, S.E., J.S. CARLSON, C.J. JONES, AND M.J. MCKENNA.  The physiological load imposed on basketball players during competition. J. Sports Sci. 13:387–397. 1995.

4. McClay, I.R., J.R. Robinson, T.P. Andriacchi, E.C. Frederick, T. Gross, P. Martin, G. Valiant, KR. Williams, and P.R Cavanagh.   A profile of ground reaction forces in professional basketball.  J. Appl. Biomech. 10:222–236. 1994.

5. Dudley, G.A., and R. Djamil. Incompatibility of endurance & strength training modes of exercise. J. Appl. Physiol. 59:1446–1451. 1985.

6. Dudley, G.A., and S.J. Fleck. Strength & endurance training: are they mutually exclusive? Sports Med. 4:79–85. 1987.

7. Hickson, R.C. Interference of strength development by simultaneously training for strength and endurance. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 56:255–263. 1980.

8. Tabata, I., K. Nishimura, et al. The effects of moderateintensity endurance and high intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and V˙O2max. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 28(10):1327–1330. 1996.

9. Tabata, I., K. Nishimura, et al. Metabolic profile of highintensity intermittent exercises. Med. Sci. Sport Exerc. 29(3):390–395. 1997.