www.MichaelReid.ca

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

Great Movements #3: Lizard Push Ups

No, no, no, this is not some new variation of the push up but of Jamaican lizards that do push ups and other physical displays to ward off other males from their territory.  Read More

Push Ups are actually one of my favorite upper body exercises.

Great for shoulder health and core stability.

Works more then just the chest, shoulder and arms, done properly your trunk muscles must work in-order to hold proper alignment.

In the video below I demonstrate some of my favorite variations of the push up.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Slide Board Leg Curls with out the Slide Board

Excellent exercise for training the hamstrings and gluteals. 

This exercise was featured in an earlier post using a slide board but with this version no slide board needed and it is just as good.

It is very important for females to strengthen their hamstrings since the hamstring aids the ACL in stabilizing the knee joint and females are up to 8x more likely to injure their ACL then males.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Rehab Tip - Do the Opposite

Here is a little rehabilitation tip.

When a movement causes pain, doing the opposite will usually relieve the pain and correct the problem.

E.g. 

• My shoulders hurt when bench pressing ... do more rowing (pulling) exercises like chin ups or supine pull ups.

• My low back hurts when I bend forward to tie my shoes ... do press ups.

• When I sit for long periods I get pain in the back, neck and shoulders ... stand more and do the Brugger Relief Position.  Hold the below position for 5-15s and do 3-5 repetitions.

image: www.sportsandspine.org/pain_headache.asp

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Killer at Large

Why as a society are we getting fatter?

My initial thoughts:

• Overconsumption of the "white devils" (sugar and processed grains)
• not moving enough

Be Well,
Mike Reid