www.MichaelReid.ca

FARMER'S WALK: my new quick morning work out

This is something I have started doing over the past few months and I can't believe it has taken me this long to actually do it.

Well, I do know why it has taken me a while to figure it out because what I do is so simple yet so hard.

.... the Farmer's Walk.

 

Note: not a picture of me; gloves are not needed.

Traditionally, the Farmer's Walk is an event you would see in a strongman contest.

I am certainly not the first person to praise the farmers walk. It is just so simple and sinister.

What is a "farmer's walk"?

Take a heavy weight in each hand and go for a walk.

For me, I do this at home with the two heaviest weights I have which are a 32kg and 24kg Kettlebell.

I take one in each hand and walk BUT I have a secret method.

I live on the top floor in my building, it's 80 steps down.

I take the Kettlebells, walk down the stairs, out the door and do one lap around the block which is ~300m, then back up the stairs. Once I start there is no wimping out, no elevator to take and no short cuts.

The whole thing takes me around 9-10 minutes to complete. Every time I need to put the weights down I switch around the Kettlebells.

Why do the Farmer's Walk?

- Easy to do it right; it requires a fairly low movement IQ. Can you walk? If yes, then you can farmers walk.

- Grip strength; if your forearms are not burning by the end then pick a heavier weight or go for a longer walk.

- Upper Back; it gets fried.

- Trunk Strength (see research article below)

I like doing these first thing in the morning. I am usually not a morning exercise person. My body is just to stiff for any serious movement but not stiff enough for the farmers walk.

It is a great way to start the day and if I just do this I get a little blast to my metabolism with still enough reserves left to continue training either right after the walk or later in the day.

To be honest the first time I did this I was totally fried the whole day!

The farmers walk is also a very shoulder friendly exercise, so it is great for Water Polo players, swimmers and other over head throwing athletes like Baseball or Handball.

You can also do this by holding the weight in different positions.

For example: overhead; carry only one weight; 1 overhead + 1 suitcase style; front squat/rack position; Zercher/bear hug the load; and so on.

It gets better! Here is some research.

McGill, SM, McDermott, A, and Fenwick, CMJ. Comparison of different strongman events: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness. J Strength Cond Res 23(4): 1148–1161, 2009

ABSTRACT

Strongman events are attracting more interest as training exercises because of their unique demands. Further, strongman competitors sustain specific injuries, particularly to the back. Muscle electromyographic data from various torso and hip muscles, together with kinematic measures, were input to an anatomically detailed model of the torso to estimate back load, low-back stiffness, and hip torque. Events included the farmer’s walk, super yoke, Atlas stone lift, suitcase carry, keg walk, tire flip, and log lift. The results document the unique demands of these whole-body events and, in particular, the demands on the back and torso. For example, the very large moments required at the hip for abduction when performing a yoke walk exceed the strength capability of the hip. Here, muscles such as quadratus lumborum made up for the strength deficit by generating frontal plane torque to support the torso/ pelvis. In this way, the stiffened torso acts as a source of strength to allow joints with insufficient strength to be buttressed, resulting in successful performance. Timing of muscle activation patterns in events such as the Atlas stone lift demonstrated the need to integrate the hip extensors before the back extensors. Even so, because of the awkward shape of the stone, the protective neutral spine posture was impossible to achieve, resulting in substantial loading on the back that is placed in a weakened posture. Unexpectedly, the super yoke carry resulted in the highest loads on the spine. This was attributed to the weight of the yoke coupled with the massive torso muscle co-contraction, which produced torso stiffness to ensure spine stability together with buttressing the abduction strength insufficiency of the hips. Strongman events clearly challenge the strength of the body linkage, together with the stabilizing system, in a different way than traditional approaches. The carrying events challenged different abilities than the lifting events, suggesting that loaded carrying would enhance traditional lifting-based strength programs. This analysis also documented the technique components of successful, joint sparing, strongman event strategies.

Basically, the research shows that with the Farmer's Walk, as well as other traditional strongman events, the trunk musculature is highly challenged. It also demonstrates that a stiffer trunk can enhance the strength output of the hips. I think this would also be the case for the shoulder joint complex and all the way down the upper and lower appendages.

I also look at this as more reason to do full body lifting exercises. For example, with the Farmer's Walk, the load is in the hands but the legs are the prime movers, everything in between the hands and the feet are being worked. If they weren't, your would not be able to maintain an upright posture.

I also learned a new term from reading this research article.

Do you know the meaning of "buttressed"?

I didn't till I looked it up, this research article was actually the first time I have seen this word. I found out it is usually used in the context of buildings and other similar structures.

but·tress  (btrs)

n.

1. A structure, usually brick or stone, built against a wall for support or reinforcement.

2. Something resembling a buttress, as:

a. The flared base of certain tree trunks.

b. A horny growth on the heel of a horse's hoof.

3. Something that serves to support, prop, or reinforce: "The law is by its very nature a buttress of the status quo" (J. William Fulbright).

tr.v. but·tressed, but·tress·ing, but·tress·es

1. To support or reinforce with a buttress.

2. To sustain, prop, or bolster: "The author buttresses her analysis with lengthy dissections of several of Moore's poems" (Warren Woessner).

source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/buttressed

Enjoy and Be Well,

Michael Reid, B.HE. CSCS, RKC

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Oxygen Cost of Kettlebell Swings - latest research

This is a study that has just been published:

Farrar, Ryan E; Mayhew, Jerry L; Koch, Alexander J.  Oxygen Cost of Kettlebell Swings. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 24(4):1034-1036, April 2010.

The short version of this study: Kettlebell swings are an excellent exercise for improving  your conditioning, especially when performed as a "US Department of Energy Man-Maker".

This protocol is quite simple, perform as many swings as you can in 12 minutes. The program comes from one of the best Kettlebell training books on the market today, "Enter the Kettlebell".

In the book, "Enter the Kettlebell", the author Pavel Tsatsouline outlines a simple and effective plan of training with kettlebells. One of the programs outlined in the book is the exact same program used in this research.

Abstract (from the above research)

In recent years, kettlebells have re-emerged as a popular training modality for the conditioning of athletes. We sought to quantify the aerobic challenge of one popularly recommended kettlebell workout. Ten college-aged men (age = 20.8 6 1.1 years, height = 179 6 3 cm, body mass = 77.3 6 7.7 kg, _VO2max = 52.78 6 6.22 ml
kg21
min21) completed a graded exercise test to exhaustion for the determination of _ VO2max. Two to 7 days later, subjects completed a kettlebell exercise routine consisting of as many 2-handed swings as could be completed in 12 minutes using a 16-kg kettlebell. During this exercise bout, subjects’ expired gases were collected and analyzed for the determination of _VO2, and heart rate (HR) was continuously measured. Percent HRmax and %_ VO2max achieved during the kettlebell exercise were compared with each other using a paired t-test. Subjects completed 265 6 68 swings during the 12 minutes and achieved an average _VO2 of 34.31 6 5.67 ml
kg21
min21 and an average HR of 165 6 13 b
min21. The average %HRmax (86.8 6 6.0%) during kettlebell exercise was significantly higher (p , 0.001) than the average %_VO2max (65.3 6 9.8%) that was achieved. Continuous kettlebell swings can impart a metabolic challenge of sufficient intensity to increase _VO2max. Heart rate was substantially higher than _VO2 during kettlebell swings. Kettlebells provide a useful tool with which coaches may improve the cardiorespiratory fitness of their athletes. However, HRs achieved during continuous kettlebell exercise are significantly higher than actual _ VO2.

Where to get the best Kettlebells?

I know that lately I have been writing a lot about this kettlebell thing but it is the real deal BUT only when used correctly and intelligently.

Application of this research is really wide spread to many sports and simply just active people who have limited time for lots of physical training.

For example, take any sport that requires lots of running and where chronic knee pain is highly prevalent (e.g. basketball, volleyball, handball, football, soccer, ...). The kettlebell swing performed as a "US Department of Energy Man-Maker" can be a very time-efficient way to condition the athlete while at the same time saving their knees in the process. So, instead of doing extra running for conditioning, just do Kettlebell Swings a few times per week.

The Kettlebell Swing also has the benefit of extensively training the posterior chain (back side), which is usually very underdeveloped in many athletes who have chronic knee pain (e.g. conditions like jumpers knee). Just playing the sport overdevelops the anterior aspect of the thigh so the Kettlebell Swing becomes not only great for conditioning but can also be used for therapeutic purposes.

Enjoy and Be Well,

Michael Reid, B.HE. CSCS, RKC

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

References:

"Enter the Kettlebell" - the book that outlines the exact same program used in the above research and the most safe and effective technique of using kettlebells.

"Enter the Kettlebell - DVD" - a detailed video outlining how to properly perform the kettlebell swing and all the other exercises outlined in the book of the same name.

Only 2 Exercises - that's all you need

Very simply the Turkish Get Up and the Kettlebell Swing. You can cover a lot of ground with just these 2 exercises.

Not sure what these are? or Why they are good for you?

Then you need to come to the Kettlebell Clinic on March 28 with all proceeds going to charity in support of Chile and Haiti.

Benefits of The Turkish Get Up

• shoulder health - great for building resilient shoulder
• hip mobility - really though it is more like total body flexibility training all in one exercise
• trunk strength and coordination

Benefits of the Kettlebell Swing

• Leg strength and power
• Bullet proof back - say good bye to low back pain
• Fat loss - rev up your metabolism in just a few minutes

This is only some of the benefits of these 2 exercises.

Experience the Kettlebell first hand on March 28  in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In the meantime you can practice the Naked Get Up in the privacy of your own home.

Thank you and be well,

Michael Reid, B.HE. CSCS, RKC

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Naked Get Up

This is an exercise that is a prerequisite for the Turkish Get Up.

The Turkish/Naked Get Up is a great exercise for improving the durability, strength and flexibility of the entire body, not to mention building bullet proof and resilient shoulders in the process.

When you can do the Naked Get Up with very good technique then try it using a very light Kettlebell (8-12kg).

SUMMARY

• Start with just just a shoe or sandal.

• The implement you use doesn't really matter but it should not be heavy and if it falls off your fist it should in no way harm the athlete or anyone around them (i.e. it must be light).

• Work up to performing 5 x 1 reps/side, alternating each side with each rep.

• This will typically take anywhere from 5-15 minutes to complete.

• Even though it is just a “shoe”, the Naked Get Up is much harder then it looks and can be very taxing. Build up volume and frequency gradually. Ultimately you could do the Naked GU almost everyday of the week.

• When first learning the exercise, breaking it up into smaller segments is a very good idea. See the reference below titled: “Kettlebells from the Ground Up ...” for more information on how to exactly do this.

• Be patient and practice, practice and practice some more. If you are a coach, please learn the Naked Get Up yourself before you implement it into your athletes program. You will be surprised by what you find out about your own body.

• Finally, enjoy the process of moving your body in ways that you may have never done before. It's a wonderful journey and you are NEVER to old to start.

Enjoy and be well,

Mike Reid

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Hørsholm 79ers Basketball - update

In my last post I mentioned that I was going to do a physical training session with the Hørsholm 79ers Women's Basketball team.

This is a quick recap of what I did with the team for the 45 minutes I had with them.

But first, please let me try to explain the a bit of the thought process that I go through when doing something like this. What I mean by "this" is that I am only going out for one 45 minute session; I am the guest coach for the day.

Now, "this" may turn into a regular training session with this team but for now it is only a one time thing.

One of the things I have learned as a coach is to keep it simple. I have seen to many high level professional athletes fail miserably at what many would call basic or simple exercises.

Strength Coach Dan John from Utah, USA calls this the KISS principle (keep it simple stupid).

You can watch a short clip of Dan John here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn1NUoLi0Hg

I have learned this lesson the hard way many times, but maybe just maybe I have it figured out now. The KISS principle ends up being the driving force behind this session. It is also important to keep it simple when not knowing anything about these players other then they play Basketball in the highest division in Denmark.

Here is a summary of the training session I did with the Hørsholm 79ers with some other bits of my thought process about coaching this kind of training session.

- I start by giving the girls a bit of a shocker as I tell them "no shoes, no socks". They all kind of give me a weird look but comply with my instructions. If you are wondering why no shoes, then you can read some of my earlier posts:

Barefoot Training

Olympic Weightlifting Barefoot

Barefoot Running Improves Running Performance

- Brief introduction of myself and some of the things we will be doing. After talking to the coach a few days before, we decided that I should focus on body weight exercises with a focus on the trunk and lower body. Considering these are basketball players, where the knee is one of the most injured joints this is certainly not a bad idea. Learning some proper movement mechanics of the lower body is always good and is usually lacking in many athletes.

- During the introduction I give them my 1st rule; "if hurts you must stop and let me know". I have no idea what the current medical history is of any of these players. The last thing I want to do is hurt someone by pushing them into a drill or exercise that is not appropriate for that individual at this time.

- With introduction over we get down on the floor on our stomachs, resting on our forearms for a minute or so then go directly into side-lying rotations which is thoracic spine mobility drill.

- Z-Health drills from R-Phase; lateral & medial ankle tilts, closed chain knee circles and hip pendulums.

- Split Squats (2 x 5 reps/side) & Body Weight Squats (3 x 5 reps) emphasizing movement quality.

- Now since I have had a chance to observe them move a bit we go into what I believe may very well be one of the best exercises, when performed properly, for knee health ... the single leg squat.

- I decided to teach them the Single Leg Box Squat, which is going up and down from a chair, box or bench.

- This is a much harder exercises then you think but these girls really pulled it off quite nicely.

- I also demonstrated the Single Leg Squat from standing on a bench. See video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdWX_In2A1U

- Next I coached them through 2 exercises that really focus on the back side, mainly Hamstrings & Glutes.

- Research has shown that in people with knee pain, the Hamstrings are relatively much weaker then the quadriceps (muscles on the front of the thigh). So, to prevent knee pain and also aid in performance doing lots of work on the back side is very important.

- The 2 exercises I taught were the Single Leg Deadlift and Sliding Leg Curls on the floor.

Single Leg Deadlift

Sliding Leg Curls video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmsTFCQ3Qig

- At this point I was out of time and we had to stop. I didn't get a chance to really talk about programming so I will include a sample program in my next post.

Be Well,

Michael Reid

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Placebo ... The Power of the Mind

The human mind is really amazing.

You must truly believe you can do something great in order to achieve it.

A research article by Hashish et al. (abstract at the bottom) demonstrates the power of the mind at the expense of ultrasound therapy which is commonly used in physical therapy clinics. This article is 20 years old and ultrasound therapy is still common place in  many physical therapy clinics.

What the researchers did was take a bunch of post-operative patients and give them ultrasound therapy to control pain and swelling.

With out the patients knowledge they did treatments with the machine on/off but also with/without massage. They also had patients self administer the ultrasound treatment.

24 hours later they did some tests to check which treatment option had the best outcome.

Do you know which one?

The treatment with the machine OFF, had the best outcome but it had to be administered by the therapist.

That is the power of the mind and really the power of your thoughts.

You can start to imagine how an athlete who may have everything going for them can really sabotage their own success by the wrong kind of thoughts.

Be Well,

Mike Reid

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Reduction of postoperative pain and swelling by ultrasound treatment: a placebo effect.

Hashish I, Hai HK, Harvey W, Feinmann C, Harris M., Pain. 1988 Jun;33(3):303-11. Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Eastman Dental Hospital, London, U.K.

Ultrasound (US) therapy is used to reduce pain and inflammation and to accelerate healing after soft tissue injury. However, there is little objective evidence of its effectiveness and the mechanisms which may cause these effects are unknown. In a placebo-controlled double-blind clinical trial we examined the contribution of placebo and massage effects in ultrasound therapy following bilateral surgical extraction of lower third molars. Four to 6 h after surgery the patients (25 per group) received either no therapy, US (0.1 W/cm2), 'mock' US with massage, 'mock' US without massage, or 'self-massage' with a dummy applicator. Facial swelling, trismus, serum C-reactive protein, serum cortisol, pain and anxiety were measured 24 h postoperatively. The results showed that the beneficial analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of US therapy were placebomediated, with maximum effect in the placebo ('mock' US) group without circular massaging with the applicator). Self-massage by the patient produced no significant effect. This placebo action was independent of changes in serum cortisol or patient anxiety state. US therapy can significantly reduce postoperative morbidity, but by placebo-mediated mechanisms which are
unrelated to the US itself.

Jumpers Knee Clinic - Sunday, May 3, 2009

I will be teaching a 1-day clinic on "Jumpers Knee" at Gothia Arena in Gothenburg, Sweden on Sunday May 3, 2009.

What will be covered:

● What is it & What exercises to do
● Most common tight muscle & how to test it
● Lower body flexibility training for Jumpers Knee
● Sample Training Program

Bonus Section:
● Agility Ladders & Medicine Balls: learn my favorite drills
● Learn how to measure your vertical jump

When: Sunday, 2009-05-03 Time: 10:00-16:00 (lunch & coffee provided)

Where: Gothia Arena (Ängåsvallen, 421 47 Västra Frölunda)

Cost: 500 kr. Please come prepared to move.

To register contact Marina at Gothia Arena:

tele: 031 69 35 14 email marina.tillberg@hogsbobasket.se

This clinic is only for the most SERIOUS athletes & coaches!

Download Jumpers Knee - Poster

When to Strength Train?

When I ask the question, "when to strength train", I am referring to if you should do it before or after practice or in a completely separate session.

Is this even important?

Really, the most important thing is to get the work done, right? 

Yes, get the work done and get stronger but you need to understand the potential consequences of your actions.

The main concern with doing your strength practice before your sports practice is that you may be increasing your risk of potential injury by fatiguing key stabilizers. 

Do it after sports practice and your strength training suffers.

So when should you do it? 

The best is to do your strength training in a separate session.  As an example, you could do your strength training in the morning with your sports practice in the evening.  For the professional athlete, this should not be an issue and this is what I routinely do with the pro basketball team I currently work with.

It also depends on what you actually do in your strength training session and how fatiguing the session is.

One of the things I have also done this year with the same pro basketball team, especially when the game schedule is very busy is to do several short strength training sessions right before practice.  So, instead of doing a 60+ minute strength program 2-3x/week, we would split that up and do a 30 minute session which includes a warm up and 1-2 exercises before every practice.  Is this fatiguing them?  Absolutely, but are they in a completely fatigue state when they leave the strength room or are they just feeling activated and ready to hit their sports practice hard?

The research:

Researchers from the US Army, looked at the effect of rotator cuff fatigue on shoulder joint mechanics.  They found that when the rotator cuff was fatigued (via strength training) the space in the shoulder decreased which could lead to more impingement type injuries.

Not good for the overhead throwing athlete (e.g. Water Polo, Hand Ball, Baseball).

The entire article can be downloaded for free here.

For another commentary on this research, you can go to Dr. Mike Reinold's blog.  It's a very good read  especially for all the sports medical geeks out there (like me!).

Be Well,

Mike Reid

Tennis Ball Massage - Shoulders

Massage therapy has been an important part of high level sports for many years.  It has been known to be beneficial for recovery and injury prevention.  Although good research to prove this either way is hard to come by, I think the majority of coaches would say yes to regular massage therapy for their athletes.  The only downfall is cost and even though one time per month is not an issue for the serious athlete, to go every week may be to much of an economic strain.

Some Reasons for Tennis Ball Massage

✔ improved range of motion.
✔ reduce scar tissue and adhesion's.
✔ relax over active muscles.
✔ supplement your regular massage therapy sessions.

But there is one option to the rescue, the great tennis ball. You can get massage therapy when ever you want for less then $1. It is a great way to work out adhesion's, trigger points or scar tissue on many parts of your body.  It is so simple to use, just roll on it and when you find an area that is painful you have just found the jack pot. Generally, the more painful it is the more you need to do it.

For Water Polo, Hand Ball, Baseball and other overhead throwing athletes, I recommend that you focus on the shoulders since this is the most common area of injury

Key Points
✔ start in the standing positions and progress to lying positions.
✔ time needed is directly correlated to your tissue health.
✔ at the beginning you may need ~10 minutes per shoulder.
✔ after a few weeks this should be down to 5 minutes total.
✔ perform 2-4x/week.
✔ can be done before or after training and on days off.

You can see me suffering on the video linked below.

Enjoy the pain!

Be Well,
Mike Reid

http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=8EVxjpiKSqw

Leg Extensions SUCK! or why not just learn how to squat?

If I am your coach then you know I am not a big fan of this exercise known as the leg extension machine.

Why?  you might ask.

First, it is a machine based exercise and no machine will EVER be made that will out perform what can be done with free weights. 

I generally find that athletes who gravitate towards machines like leg extensions, smith machines and leg presses either have really crappy movement patterns and/or are just too lazy and unfocused to put in the necessary energy to learn and perfect basic movement skills like squatting, lunging and bending (i.e. dead lifts).  They take the easy way out and hop onto a machine.  This goes for coaches and therapists as well who prescribe machine based exercises for their athletes or patients.  I see it all the time here in Sweden.  I have been to what is apparently the best rehabilition clinic in the city and they have all machines.  Am I missing something?  I really don't understand how they can go on training their patients like this.

Secondly, check out the below key points which are taken from an article called The Truth About Leg Extensions by Eric Cressey (note: also read the article!). 

For the geeks out there, the article has a complete list of references.

Leg Extension Risks:

1. Increased patellofemoral joint reaction force, knee movement, and joint stress in the most commonly used range of motion.

2. Reduced hamstrings activity.

3. Reduced VMO activity and late onset of firing.

4. Non-existent hip adductor and abductor contribution.

5. Increased rectus femoris firing.

6. Constant ACL tension.

7. Higher patellar ligament, quadriceps tendon, and patellofemoral and tibiofemoral forces with the most commonly utilized loading parameters.

8. Increased lateral patellar deviation.

9. Insufficient involvement of surrounding joints to ensure optimal functioning.

10. Poor training economy (no carryover to closed-chain performance from open-chain exercises).

Leg Extension Benefits:

1. Will give you a good pump, but not even close to the benefits you'll get from squatting and single-leg movements.

2. Uh, wait, there's really only one benefit — and it's pretty weak.

I must ask, are you still going to do leg extensions?

Be Well,

Mike Reid