Rise up... against forearm and wrist issues

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Rise up... against forearm and wrist issues

I know it may seem unending and potentially a little overwhelming, but soft tissue work can make a huge difference in the way you feel. For this installment I want to look at an area that often flies under the radar, but probably affects everyone to some degree: the forearm.

Most people should be able to relate to this because who hasn’t spent extended time on the computer only to have their wrist and lateral (outside) elbow feel terrible? I spend less time on the computer than most office workers but find that my forearm gets plenty “junked” up, especially on the lateral side of the elbow. There are a few reasons for this; first, the lateral epicondyle (outer knob of the elbow) is a point of convergence for the wrist extensor muscles as many of them originate there or close to it. 

The graphic on the left shows how many extensors originate at the lateral epicondyle

Second, when we do activities that require extended pronation (palms down) it puts these muscles in a lengthened position, not to mention causing potential overuse of the pronator quadratus and pronator teres on the opposing side.

All of this means that everyone from the sedentary desk jockey to the most active athlete that trains regularly can experience issues in the forearm. Taking care of this tissue is important considering carpal tunnel and other arm/wrist syndromes are often the result of inflamed arm/wrist tissues.

Treating these tissues is not unlike treating leg, hip, or back tissues discussed in earlier posts, however, rollers and lacrosse balls tend to be inefficient on the arm. A couple of tools I've found to be effective are the stick, an index or jack nobber, and one of the most intense tools I've used in a while, the armaid.

The Stick

 The stick is best used with one end braced against a stationary object with the other in your free hand. Push the forearm into the stick and roll the tissue through the points of pressure created by the rollers.

Jacknobber

 The jacknobber is a tool i keep by my computer because it's small and easy to use while reading or web surfing. It doesn't slide over the skin as easily as the stick or armaid, but it can be effective for tissue release through targeted pressure and gentile rotation.

The Armaid Device

 The armaid is an intense device. Strap this to your leg, clamp down on one of your arms and pull it through; extra credit to those who don't make a pain face. Despite the discomfort this can create it does wonders for releasing the tissue of the forearm and wrist.

In conclusion, most will benefit from addressing the forearm since it's an area of high use in all populations even sedentary, computer based ones.

Some thoughts about footwear

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Complicated much?

When discussing physical adaptations to modern life, the conversation wouldn’t be complete without touching on modern footwear. The minimalist trend that has taken hold in the running and training worlds has provided more options, but until recently most shoes came with a healthy build up at the heel. The differential from heel to toe, called stack height, can cause a host of issues depending on how big the difference is. It is not uncommon to see a standard running shoe with a 12mm differential from heel to toe. This is like wearing a moderate high heel all of the time and as we know from previous posts, the longer one spends in a particular position the greater the possibility of adaptation. If one works in a heeled dress shoe or high heel, then spends non-work hours in running shoes like this there is a good chance the calf area (gastrocnemius, soleus, etc.) is becoming shorter. When you stand on your toes you will notice these posterior muscles flexing to raise the heel; this is the same basic thing that is happening when wearing heeled shoes. Over time this will limit the ankle’s ability to dorsiflex, or bring the toes up toward the shin. IF you suffer from chronically tight calves this may be why.

When exercising this creates an imbalance that must be overcome by relying on other areas of the body potentially leading to plantar fasciitis and other overuse type injuries. Starting in an anteriorly biased position is not optimal unless you are training for something specific like Olympic lifting or girevoy sport. For most people flatter is better. 

While this is not representative of an exercise shoe it does explain the necessary adaptations, and problem, with high heels

Thanks to the minimalist shoe trend there are some great options out there from the likes of New Balance, Reebok, Merrell, and Nike. New balance’s minimus collection offers 0mm, 4mm, and 6mm offset options. 

New Balance Minimus Trail Zero, 0mm offset shoe

The New Balance Minimus 1010, a 4mm offset with a bit more cushion for those just making the switch to a flatter shoe

Nike is similar based on which “free” shoe you’re looking at. The 3.0 series sole is going to be the most minimal with a 4mm offset while 4.0 is a bit more cushioned with a 6mm offset. 

Nike Free 3.0 v4, 4mm offset shoe

For those of you out there that just don’t want to spend upwards of $100 on a pair of training shoes don’t forget the original flat athletic shoe, Converse Chuck Taylors. These will set you back about $40 or so and are great for lifting, though, I’m not sure I’d want to run very far in them.

The "OG" of flat shoes

There are more minimalist options out there, but i just haven't been able to bring myself to sport these... 

Vibram Five Fingers "shoes"

If you really want this feel just go barefoot. I've squatted and deadlifted barefoot and it feels good, though, many gyms aren't keen on it.

One side note, for those who have never worn a shoe this flat and minimal you may want to ease your way in. I found that my calves were quite tight after switching to a 4mm offset New Balance Minimus. It took a number of weeks of foam rolling and stretching to get them to feel normal again. I did alternate between them and a pair of Nike free trainers, which I found helpful.

In closing, try to be barefoot as much as possible at home to keep the foot muscles strong and work toward wearing a flatter shoe as often as possible.

Flexibility vs. Mobility

Mobile or Flexible?

 

Do we need mobility or flexibility? The answer is an emphatic yes, however, it's not “mobility or flexibility”, it should be "mobility and flexibility". For all of those that just don’t have time to stretch or work on mobility, you’re setting yourself up for bad things. I know this is by far the least exciting and “non-sexy” part of exercise, but possessing adequate range of motion and the ability to move properly is important.

First let’s differentiate something; mobility and flexibility are not the same thing. Flexibility refers to movement that happens in the muscle. If a muscle can stretch to an optimal distance that’s good flexibility. However, flexibility is just part of our overall mobility.

Mobility requires good flexibility, but also unrestricted joint movement. In a larger context, when focusing on functional movement, proper neuromuscular control and adequate stability are also necessary. In other words we must be able to control our bodies in space.

First lets look at someone lying on his or her back and pulling their knee to their chest. This requires good hip mobility to do, but it’s not totally functional until the kinetic chain is closed and the feet are on the ground. This is a passive movement and has little to do with joints outside of the hip and knee. It also doesn’t require the muscles of the hip and thigh to fire because it’s passive and lastly, stability isn’t required due to the supported, lying position. So while this is an example of good mobility, it’s not totally functional because the person is lying down. Due to the nature of this blog, we should be more concerned with functional movement so think of mobility as the capacity to actively move a joint through a full range of motion.

In comparison to the above example, think of performing a bodyweight squat. This is an active movement that requires much more than just muscle flexibility and joint mobility; one must also possess a good amount of stability and muscular control. Some may be able to squat to a point similar to the position were the knee was pulled to the chest and others may be nowhere close. Why?

Poor squat - limited range of motion, bi-lateral pronation of the feet and a general lack of stability

Despite the theatrics this is a good, deep squat - feet flat with weight on the heels, knees tracking over the feet, shoulders upright and general stability under load.

While flexibility can restrict mobility, we need nice pliable and balanced muscles to allow a healthy joint to move through its full range unimpeded, the joints themselves can also cause limited range of motion. Joints can and do become dysfunctional due to imbalances and injury. So while you may possess flexible muscles, you may not achieve optimum range of motion because the joint itself is limited. This is why we want to work on mobility and flexibility, dynamic type movements and stretching.

Lets look at the squat example one more time; if one cannot perform a good squat, but also shows limitations in pulling their knee to their chest we may find that the person’s posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, gastrocs, soleus, etc.) is overactive (tight) and limiting range of motion. This would be corrected by working on the flexibility of the aforementioned muscles through myofascial release and stretching. This could also be indicative of some sort of hip joint limitation requiring joint mobilization type exercises. However, if a person cannot perform a good squat, but can lie on their back and pull their knee to their chest we have a different issue, usually lack of stability.

Because the joints can move unimpeded we’re not having flexibility or joint issues, but the squat is still unattainable. Usually this is an issue of stability because the body will limit range of motion if it’s notably unstable. This is generally due to weak core and hip muscles and I think the fix here is self explanatory, we always want to strengthen weak areas. So while stability is a subject for another time, all of this plays into mobility, at least when concerning functional actions.

The take home message here is that stretching, myofascial release and mobility work should not be after thoughts to ones training program. These are key training elements that can eventually limit progress or worse, lead to injury when not in working order.

Loaded Carries

From time to time I like to highlight certain exercises that produce great results and keep the workout regimen fun and interesting. For this post we’ll take a look at the loaded carry.

Loaded carries are exercises that I would classify as total body (when using a movement based approach) because the whole body is essentially worked at once. I like using exercises that force the body to work as a unit and loaded carries definitely fits this criteria. From a training standpoint, one big advantage of the loaded carry is that they’re relatively simple to do. In a nutshell, pick up something heavy and walk with it. Most people can do this with very minimal coaching making carries a great option even for beginners.

When it comes to the specifics of these exercises there aren’t a ton of things to deal with. The main focus should be on posture, keeping the torso upright and the scapulae down and back preventing the shoulders from rounding forward. The implement doesn’t really matter as long as it’s heavy enough to produce the training effect we’re after. One could use dumbbells, kettlebells, farmer walkimplements, yokes, sandbags, plate weight, weighted buckets, etc. There are also a bunch of different carry options such as the farmer’s carry, suitcase carry, waiter walk, super yoke, uneven carry, etc. 

     Farmer's Carry (suitcase carry would be the same but using just a single dumbbell)

Sandbag Carry (offset)

Yoke Carry

No equipment, no problem... as long as you have a friend

The beauty of these exercises is the amount of the body that gets worked. Since the weight is generally in the hands or being secured with the hands the arms and shoulders are always working to stabilize the load. Anytime we carry a significant load there is going to be compressive force placed on the spine, which will recruit the core musculature in a big way. Lastly, because these exercises are generally done for distance the hips and legs work to provide the locomotion. And don't discount the cardiovascular effect of these exercises because it can be pretty taxing especially if you're using a stair case as your runway.

Great exercises, easy to coach and easy to do.

-ko

Functional benefit? Can you get it all in one trip? If not, start practicing.

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Why we train

       We train for physical improvement 
      Courtesy of Bryan Christie Design

I’m going to expand a bit on something I wrote about a while back because I think it’s important to break away from absolutes and norms that may not be as beneficial as everyone believes. The previous post I’m referring to is the “check your vision” post where I discussed the need to remember why we train in first place.

Since that time I’ve had a number of teen athletes come through my gym and have found a less than desirable trend emerging. Now this includes both male and female athletes and isn’t confined to one sport. I’ve had athletes from a range of sports including football, softball, volleyball, soccer and basketball. Most of these adolescents were of decent athletic ability, though, none possessed what I would consider amazing strength or stability. The trend I began to see was basically a lack of programming knowledge by their coaches or trainers and the use of Olympic lifts in athletes that were far from ready for them. 

A little too much weight maybe?

The use of Olympic lifts was more common than I expected and was not confined to just the football players. One 12 year old female volleyball player who was tall, thin and relatively weak, especially in the core, was told to use power cleans to train explosiveness. Needless to say her form was atrocious because she had nowhere near the core stability nor the hip, wrist, or ankle flexibility to come close to doing it right. Apparently no one seemed to notice these blatantly obvious deficiencies. She wasn’t alone, however, none of the athletes I saw that were using Olympic lifts did them right and all were being allowed to continue on this way. This is a major problem especially in physically developing youth.

Olympic lifting is technically challenging and even Olympians who train primarily for this make mistakes.

This is where I revisit my confusion over the seemingly incessant push for young athletes, and many adults as well, to use Olympic lifts to train explosiveness. There are many other ways to improve ones vertical jump and explosiveness. Olympic lifts are great if you can do them right, but so many just aren’t ready for this level of training. I realize that basic strength and stability exercises may not be as “sexy” as more advanced ones, but until one masters the basics it makes no sense to progress to more complicated exercises. If one can’t efficiently control their body weight in space why push for externally loaded exercises? Injury prevention should be our foremost concern because if an athlete is injured it doesn’t matter how explosive they are. Therefore, strength coaches need to be focusing on getting their athletes stronger and more stable first. 

Box Jump

Medicine ball throw

Using a variety of jumps and hops along with medicine ball work can be great for improving explosiveness without exposing younger athletes to unnecessary injury risk. At some point, if you favor investing the time, it’s fine to introduce Olympic lifts, but it’s very important clients are physically ready.

The second thing I noticed, while not as troubling as the first, is still bothersome because individuals are being paid to perform a job they’re failing at. When a football player comes in and describes a practice environment that includes a bunch of running I question why. Why have athletes run a mile when even their big gain plays will take something like 10 – 15 seconds? This isn’t nearly enough time to get around a track once let alone four times. 

Do any of these athletes look like football players? Then why train this way for football?

Next to this is having these players spend a lot of time/energy bench pressing. Now, before anyone gets up in arms, I always include some sort of pushing exercise, bench press included, but I put much more stock in dead lifting, squatting, and sled work. Most athletes are going to gain much more from these types of compound exercises than benching and it’s simply a matter of using your time wisely since most people don’t have unlimited gym time. 

A much better use of your time.

So again, check your vision and remember why it is that we train. It’s to improve our physical abilities be it for sport or just life, to improve body composition, to improve health, etc. This means do what gets you the best results while taking the least amount of risk. 

-KO

Don't Forget the CNS

Courtesy of Bryan Christie Design

Pushing yourself in the gym or during your activity of choice is how we improve. However, there is a potential downside lurking just below the surface if one is not careful. This downside is more than just sore muscles that require a little rest. What I’m referring to is the central nervous system.

Our movements are all controlled by the Central Nervous System
  Courtesy of Bryan Christie Design

The central nervous system (CNS) is the control center for all that we do. The electrical impulses that travel through this system cause all of our muscular movements. If we work our bodies long enough and hard enough we can eventually reach a state of CNS fatigue. This means the power source that moves our body is over burdened. 

I was actually asked one time by a young man why he could bench press 320lbs but now, a month later, can barely get 300lbs. After a little Q & A it turns out he was using a body part split that had him lifting 6 days a week. When I asked him about de-loading he looked at me like I was speaking another language. This guy was in full CNS meltdown. His system just didn’t have the juice to keep him working at the extremely high intensity he always trained with. Think about it, 6 days a week going to failure on every exercise. That’s very taxing on the nervous system not to mention the rest of the body.

This is why I tend to prescribe a 3 – 4 day a week split for most people because it allows plenty of time off generally spliced between workout days. I also like to use a concurrent type training model, which trains multiple areas of performance at the same time. This introduces multiple loading parameters in a month, which can reduce CNS overloading; it also produces well-rounded athleticism, which most people desire anyway.

Some other factors to consider outside of your training split.

Sleep: 

if you neglect a good nights sleep you are cutting your recovery short, 7 – 9 hours is the recommended dosage for most people. Undercutting this amount on a regular basis will add up over time hindering your physical performance and potential for improvement.

 Food:

Which of these two meals do you think will get your further?

 making poor food choices will definitely affect you as well. Getting the right fuel into your body is essential for optimum performance. You body has nutritional needs and fast food is just not delivering the necessary ingredients, though it is delivering a host of other less than desirable ones.

 Stress:

 all stress is not the same, but it can have a similar effect on the body. If we are overloaded by stress at home, at work, on the freeway, at the gym, etc. we can easily burn out. Adding stimulants to the mix because we aren’t getting enough sleep just makes it worse; coffee to get going in the morning after 5 hours of sleep, an “energy” drink mid afternoon to ward off the post fast food lunch lull, and a cocktail at the end of the day to wind down because we have artificially cranked our system up and now are unable to relax. I assume you can see how this cycle would cost you over time. 

In the end, eat well most of the time, get a good nights sleep as often as you can, try to relax, stop worrying about things you can’t control, and finally train smart. Paradoxically by training smarter and sometimes working out less we can actually gain more. Recovery is as much of the puzzle as training is.

-KO

Prowling for weight loss?

Courtesy of Travis self training

Looking for a better way to condition yourself? Countless hours spent plodding away on an elliptical or recumbent bike can be very boring and in reality not tremendously productive. Additionally, as I’ve said before, keep your goals in mind; are you training for a marathon or high endurance event? If not, why spend countless hours doing long distance cardio if you’re never going to need that level of endurance? If cardio is strictly being used for weight loss there are better options, try something with more intensity and less duration. Limiting the duration will reduce the chances of overuse injuries and not require you to mortgage large shares of precious time just to stay in shape. There are a number of options such as intervals on a treadmill and sprint variations, but the ultimate, in my opinion, is sled work. Nothing really comes close to the intensity of weighted sled repeats.

There are many sled options and all work well, but one of the most popular in the strength and conditioning world is the prowler from Elite FTS.

Who says you can't look good while prowling? "Blinged out" prowler 2

This versatile sled can bring even highly conditioned people to their knees. It has a couple of pushing options from low to high as well as attachment points for pulling. This gives the operator many choices: push, pull, skip, side shuffle, offset pulling for training anti-rotation and more. This sled can be used for conditioning only or as a full-fledged workout itself. You could load it up, press it down one way (like a moving bench press), row it back (think standing cable row), then do a host of pulling and pushing varieties driving with the hips and legs before returning to the first exercise. You can also go heavy and march the sled down and back for more of a strength focus or lighten the weight up a bit and sprint it down for training power. The one thing that is never missing no matter how you use the prowler is cardiovascular conditioning. Your heart rate is guaranteed to be elevated the whole time.

Doesn't this look like fun?

If all of that weren’t enough, another beautiful thing about sled work is that it doesn’t create much soreness if at all. Because the effort is all concentric (all acceleration) you tend to feel fatigue the next day rather than soreness. If you’ve ever done “negatives” then you know what I’m talking about; negatives are all eccentric (all deceleration) which tends to elicit a good deal of soreness. This fact makes sled work a great option for athletes in season that can’t afford to be sore all of the time but need to keep their strength and conditioning up. Though I’m not an athlete in the traditional sense, I don’t participate in organized sports, I do appreciate being able to add the prowler into my programming because it can be done on my non-lifting days without negatively affecting my strength training. It can also be added as a finisher on lifting days because post-workout a couple of repeats can be plenty so it doesn’t add a lot of time or volume.

Drive Sled II from Perform Better

Sled Dawg Elite also from Perform Better

Power Sled from Power Systems

If you’re ready to take your conditioning and weight loss to the next level weighted sled work could be the answer. To avoid catching the “prowler flu”, make sure to moderate your volume at first. This type of conditioning is sneaky and more intense than it initially feels. IF you think your recumbent bike is giving you an intense workout, try using a sled and compare because there really is no comparison.

-KO

Buzzword: "Core"

Courtesy of Bryan Christie Design

When discussing the “core” what comes to mind? Ones thinking about this often talked about area can really make a difference in their training. A person who thinks of the core simply as abs and obliques is missing a huge portion of what’s really going on. First let's look at what this area is actually comprised of.

The core is an area floored by the pelvis and topped by the shoulder girdle. With the vertical dimensions laid out it’s pretty obvious that the aforementioned abdominals and obliques are part of it along with a host of other trunk musculature. Now we are three-dimensional beings so think of the core as more of a cuboid or cylinder with a back, front, and sides.

Because the pelvis and shoulder girdle are very mobile areas, any muscle that controls the movement of these two girdles must be considered part of the core as well. This means muscles that attach to the shoulder girdle but extend above to the neck and head can be considered part of the core and the same can be said for the muscles that attach to the hip and extend below to the lower extremities. We are now talking about muscles such as the trapezius, which attaches to the base of the skull but extends all the way down to the mid back, the hip flexors that control much of the lumbar spine and hip complex but attach to the femur as well, and the glutes which attach to the pelvis on one side, cross the hip joint, and tie into the IT band and femur on the other. Obviously muscles such as the trapezius aren't typically trained as core stabilizers, but they do span the distance between the trunk and neck thus providing stability to the shoulder girdle and displaying how interconnected our musculature is. This extends the reach of the core to a much larger area than most people consider and ones core training should reflect this extended region.

The Trapezius muscle, core?

Hip flexors: Iliacus and Psoas major both posses femoral attachments

The "Glutes", strong pelvic stabilizers and also part of the "core"

Now the reality of what the core does; while it certainly has the capacity to create movement, we use it to prevent movement more often. Many of the muscle of the abdomen and spine are postural and stabilize the body against external forces. One of the main responsibilities of our core is to prevent movement and protect the spine from injury. This means we should put more stock into anti-movement exercises than ones that create movement. Planks, glute bridges, pallof presses and other anti-movement exercises are great for training the core to be strong and stable. This also allows optimum power transfer from the upper and lower extremities, which enhances performance as well as reducing the risk of injury.