Water Polo Training

Keeping it Simple - the farmers walk

My New Quick Morning Work Out

This is something I have started doing last year 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 Farmers Walk.

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

While I am certainly not the first person to praise the farmers walk, I am sure I will not be the last.

It's just so simple and sinister.

What is the "Farmers Walk"?

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

 

Read the rest of the article here

Enjoy and Be Well,

Michael Reid, B.HE. CSCS, RKC

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Keeping your Shoulders Healthy - 4 Tips for the Water Polo Athlete

What is the most common site of pain and injury in Water Polo players?

Big drum roll please .... The shoulders!!!!!

You do not even have to look at the research. If you have been involved in the game as a player, coach or even parent you are probably very aware of the importance of shoulder health and how common it is for Water Polo athletes to experience some kind of shoulder pain or injury during their career.

In this article I will discuss some very valuable tips and tricks for keeping your shoulders healthy.

READ THE REST HERE

 

Enjoy and Be Well,

Michael Reid, B.HE. CSCS, RKC

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Is your Can Empty or Full?

Below is my latest article published on WaterPoloPlanet.com.

Enjoy and Be Well,

Michael Reid, B.HE. CSCS, RKC

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

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Most Water Polo players will experience some kind of shoulder injury or dysfunction at some point in their career. In conjunction with that comes some knowledge of the “rotator cuff” (RC) to the point where these two words have become part of the lingo of most if not all Water Polo coaches and athletes. But of all the rotator cuff (RC) exercises out there, which ones are the best suited for Water Polo and which are less then desirable.

With the increased knowledge of the human body comes the realization that what was done in the past wasn't always the best option. You will see in this article some exercises that you are very familiar with that have become part of the trash heap while others are receiving very high approval from researchers and rehab clinicians.

In this article I will discuss the following key points:

• Rotator Cuff Function
• The Best and the Worst
• Thoughts on progressions and other useful exercises

Rotator Cuff Function

There are four muscles that make up the rotator cuff (Subscapularis, Infraspinatus, Supraspinatus & Teres Minor). When you look at these muscles it is quite obvious that they are rather small when compared to some of the bigger prime movers of the shoulder.

The function of them is usually categorized as either Humeral (shoulder) internal or external rotators but probably more important is the function of keeping the head of the Humerus centrally located in the Glenoid Fossa (or cavity).

But it's not that simple ... or is it?

You also need to consider that the body works as a whole not as isolated parts, the RC muscles are no different. Since they all originate on the Scapulae (shoulder blade), the position of the shoulder blade will greatly impact how well the RC muscles are able to perform their job. As seen in my last 2 articles, “Stretching the Shoulders for a BIGGER Shot – Part I & Part II”; the position of the Thoracic Spine will affect the range of motion of the shoulder. It just so happens that the position of the Scapulae also is greatly influenced by the Thoracic Spine. ...

READ WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

Stretching the Shoulders for a BIGGER shot - part II

Look at the picture below; you don't need to be a brain surgeon to realize that this range of motion (ROM) in the shoulder will not be conducive to a powerful shot or a healthy shoulder.

But what about this next picture, looks a lot better, but what has changed?

The body works as a complete unit all the time, it is never isolated. What the picture above shows is the relationship between the thoracic spine position and the arm position you are able to achieve. If the thoracic spine is stiff or unable to extend (straighten) then shoulder motion will be reduced and health of the shoulder will be greatly compromised.

In this article I will show some examples of exercises that you can start using today to improve your shoulder ROM, improve shoulder health and ultimately aid in your development as a world class shooter.

READ MORE ...

READ PART I

Enjoy and Be Well,

Michael Reid, B.HE. CSCS, RKC

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Stretching the Shoulders for a BIGGER shot - part I

In Jim Solum's new book, “Science of Shooting”, he writes about three arm positions of the dominant arm. The position that has the most power is what he calls the “long arm cock”. This arm position is essentially one that is high and far behind the head and body. This allows the athlete to have a larger arm motion on their shot which in turns creates a more powerful shot or more speed on the ball.

Why a more powerful shot?

Because the ball will be in the athletes possession for a longer period and said athlete will have increased opportunity to transfer the power from their body to the ball. This is much like trying to run as fast as you can on a track.

If it takes you around 40m to get up to top speed, then that 40m of track is your “long arm cock” position. If you only had 20 meters of track, the maximum speed you would be able to attain would be much less.

In this two part article I will discuss safe and effective methods of improving your “long arm cock” position to help you achieve a better shot but also a healthier shoulder. If you don't have this “long arm cock” position then you will likely be throwing more like President Obama then a top level Water Polo player.

READ MORE...

Next month I will publish part II of this article.

Enjoy and Be Well,

Michael Reid, B.HE. CSCS, RKC

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Deadlifts are GOOD!!!

Deadlifts get an undeserved bad rap for being a dangerous exercise that can seriously hurt your back.

How can this possibly be when it's original name used to be “the health lift”. Somewhere along the way we took a wrong turn ... but I will leave that discussion for another time.

In this article I will show you a safe way of learning the deadlift, key points for safety, performance and variations so that you can start training deadlifts even if you do not have access to a weight room.

Benefits of Deadlifts

1. Improved Grip Strength

2. Shoulder Stability

3. Upper Back Strength

4. Trunk Stability

5. Leg Strength

Read the rest of the article here.

Be Well,

Michael Reid

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Tennis Ball Massage - Shoulder

I have a new article up on Water Polo Planet, below is the introduction.

"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 too much of an economic strain.

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 muscle knots, trigger points or scar tissue on many parts of your body."

Article Link: Tennis Ball Massage for Water Polo Players

Video Link for a demo of how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EVxjpiKSqw

Be Well,

Mike Reid

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

A Dry-Land Warm Up for Water Polo

Below is a link to the most recent article I wrote for www.waterpoloplanet.com.

A Dry-Land Warm Up for Water Polo: http://www.waterpoloplanet.com/HTML_Mike_pages/mr06_Strength_Training.html

Here is a brief excerpt:

This should be obvious but the purpose of a warm up is to get warm! How do you get warm? By moving your body through full ranges of motion in a rhythmic fashion.                          Not a good warm up exercise.

This right away kind of excludes passive static stretching where you may be holding a specific position in a fairly relaxed manner. I believe this kind of stretching has its place in training but is certainly a little more of a “gray area” in the field of physical training and rehabilitative sciences. Start slow and easy and gradually increase speed, complexity, range of motion and intensity of movement through out the warm up. As you will see in the warm up included in this article, the first few exercises are relatively easy and progress to more challenging movements by the end. At the end of the warm up, you should be sweating which will also be accompanied by an increased heart rate. In colder climates, I suggest to wear some clothes (sweat pants and top) over your swim suit to aid in getting your body warm. With respect to Water Polo, we need to warm up the entire body with some special attention to the shoulders, arms and upper back. Since the shoulder is the most commonly injured joint in Water Polo it would be somewhat silly not to pay some attention to it.

The warm up is divided into two sections; i) individual joint mobility and ii) multi-joint movements.

There is also a message board discussion on this article which you can read at this link:

http://www.waterpoloplanet.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5413

This is actually the 2nd dry-land warm up I have published for Water Polo. Last year I designed a similar program for a Water Polo club in Canada. It is available for FREE at the below link with a video demo and PDF download.

Water Polo Dry-Land Warm Up - vol 1.0

You will notice that although there are many things similar between the two programs there are some minor differences like the two stretches programed in the Water Polo Warm Up - vol. 1 but in this current warm up I pretty much "pooh-poohed" on even considering stretching for a warm up.

WHY?

Here are some reasons why.

1. In the current warm up, I am trying to steer people away from thinking of stretching as a warm up strategy in of itself. It can be strategically used as part of a warm up but it really depends on what, when, why and who is doing the  stretching.

3. I am life long student, always learning. Since I wrote the first program, I have developed new insights into training and coaching hence the change.

2. The 2 stretches I program in vol. 1.0 are to deal with typical problems of "tightness" or over activity in the Water Polo athlete. One is for the upper traps which if are overly dominant relative to the mid and lower traps can cause or be implicated in various shoulder injuries and/or pain, particularly in swimmers and overhead throwing athletes (i.e Water Polo!!!).

The 2nd stretch (sleeper stretch) is for the posterior capsule of the shoulder which is typically tighter on the throwing arm. This is commonly referred to as "glenohumeral internal rotation deficit" (GIRD). Basically, if you have GIRD you are at higher risk of a shoulder injury.

sleep stretch

Both of the static stretches are used to specifically target a problem area. Also, both static stretches are performed very early in the warm up phase and are part of gradually moving from isolated to more complex and intense movements.

Overall, I strongly believe both programs are very valid for use as a dry-land warm up for Water Polo.

Please leave your comments below.

Be Well,

Mike Reid

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Shoulder Joint Trivia: the whole story

I am very surprised, very surprised.

No one "called me" on my last post (shoulder joint trivia).

Why you ask?

Because what I wrote was not entirely correct.

The shoulder joint CAN be very difficult to treat BUT it is way more then just 4 joints.

The simple view of the shoulder joint is that it involves just the glenoid-humeral joint (the ball & socket portion), AC joint (this what commonly gets injured when someone "dislocates their shoulder") and the SC joint. But that view is so 80's.

 

Now, it is widely (if not completely) accepted that the shoulder should really be viewed as a complex, hence the name the Shoulder Joint Complex.

complex: involving many parts; complicated; intricate; a whole structure (as a building) made up of interconnected or related structures; a conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts.

source:http://ardictionary.com/Complex/9256

What is involved in this complex?

Image via Wikipedia

Everything mentioned so far plus the thoracic spine, which is like another 96 joints. Right away you can see that there are a lot of areas that could be causing problems.

You can also add the cervical spine (neck) to the shoulder joint complex. 

Just consider this, all the nerves that control the muscles of the shoulder come from the cervical spine.  Probably an important area to look at if there is a "shoulder problem".

Is that it?

How about the ankle.  There is research showing a strong correlation between  shoulder pain and decreased range of motion in the opposite ankle. 

Pretty cool.

Actually, there is a lot of research associating dysfunction in one area of the body with pain somewhere else (e.g. lack of hip range of motion is associated with low back pain).

So as you can see you really need to look at the whole body and not just where it hurts.

This is somewhat the thought process that goes on with a method called Z-Health. I am taking the level I course (R-Phase) this November (2009).

Be Well,
Michael Reid
www.michaelreid.ca
www.waterpolotraining.net

Shoulder Joint Trivia

Did you know that technically the shoulder joint is a complex of 4 different joints.

This is one of the reasons that shoulder problems can be so difficult to treat.

Be Well,
Michael Reid
www.michaelreid.ca
www.waterpolotraining.net