Archive for “Flexibility Training” Category

SPEED KILLS!!! Speed & Strength to Improve Sport Performance

Posted on: May 17th, 2013 by IYCA No Comments

By Todd Durkin, MA,CSCS, NCTMB

Speed kills. Speed, agility, and quickness in sport gives an athlete an edge on his/her competition. And the great news is that “SAQ” can all be learned through technique training, proper drills, and hard work. If you’re wanting and willing to get faster, let’s dive (or sprint!) into the action.

In this article, you will learn all about improving your speed, agility, and quickness. You will learn about stride rate, stride length, and proper running mechanics. You will learn several different speed improvement training drills, exercises, and programs that will enable you to reach new levels in your sport.

And you will learn:

Best strength exercises for speed development
Top technique tips for speed performance
Power and plyometrics to develop fast-twitch muscle fiber
Nutrition for optimal fueling
Top recovery strategies

So don’t be left in the dust. Dive into the article and find out all the in’s and out’s of improving speed and performance now.

SPEED TRAINING

First off, let’s understand speed training and its components. Here are the phases of Speed Training:

Dynamic Warm-Up (see below; not really a phase of speed training but essential to include prior to speed training)
Mechanics
Acceleration (reaching maximum speed in the shortest amount of time possible)
Top-End Speed
Deceleration
Change of Direction (Agility & Quickness)

As we talk about speed training, it is necessary to understand the following principles:

“Stride Frequency”: The number of strides taken in a given amount of time or distance. This is improved via technique drills, cycling, towing, sprinting and bungee work.

“Stride Length”: The distance covered from one stride when sprinting. Strength and flexibility are the most important factors to improve stride length.

All speed work should be preceded by a great General Warm-up and Dynamic Warm-up. A general warm-up is 5-10 minutes of exercise to begin elevating core tissue temperature, increase heart rate, and prepare the body for a workout or competition. Examples will include running, treadmill, jumping rope, elliptical, or bike.

One would then proceed into the Dynamic Warm-Up

Dynamic Warm-Up:

Should be performed before every workout, practice or competition, and should take approximately 5-25 minutes.

The purpose of the Dynamic Warm-Up is to: Increase tissue temperature, improve flexibility, activate the nervous system, and help coordination and develop body awareness. It also lengthens fascia.

What is Fascia? Fascia is a specialized system of the body (connective tissue) which plays an important role in the support of our bodies. Fascia is a very dense connective tissue which envelops every muscle, bone, nerve, artery, and vein as well as our internal organs including the heart, lungs, brain and spinal cord. When fascia becomes constricted, it becomes tight, creates great pressure on its structures and becomes a great source of tension to the body.

The methods utilized to perform a dynamic warm-up are:

Movement in Space: (10-20 yards)

High knees
Butt-kicks
Cariocas
Exagerated Cariocas
A-Skips
B-Skips
Frankenstein Walks (& skips)
Lunge with rotation
Reverse lunge with reach over top
Side-lunges

Stationary:

Jumping jacks
Gate swings
Pogo hops
Seal jacks
Arm circles
Trunk rotations
Cats & Dogs
Downard Dog
Scorpion Kicks
1 Legged Windshield wipers
Bodyweight Squats

Perform each movement approx. 10-20 seconds.

Before a workout or competition, the emphasis is on a dynamic warm-up.

After a workout, the emphasis should be on static stretching and myofascial release.

Flexibility:

Every time after you workout, practice or compete, there should be stretching that involves holding each stretch 20 seconds to 1 minute, and it should take 10 minutes minimally. Using a stretch rope, you should concentrate on your hip flexors, hamstrings, quads, calves, trunk and opening the chest and shoulders. The methods utilized to stretch are rope chest stretch, standing rotator cuff stretch, kneeling hip flexor stretch, cats & dogs, downward dog, lying rope hamstring stretch, lying rope lower back stretch, lying rope groin stretch, side-lying rope quad stretch, walking soldiers. Foam rolling (ie. The Grid or a foam roller) & a massage stick are essential to do on your own to promote fascia lengthening and recovery. This can be performed both before and after the workout.

When assessing speed, one of the most critical aspects is acceleration. Acceleration is defined as the ability and time it takes for the body to reach Top End Speed.

Mechanics and technique for acceleration include:

Foot Contact behind hip
Body angle at 45 degrees/Straight line from heel to neck
Chin to chest
Head down

Some of the best technique acceleration drills include:

Marches along wall
Wall Runs
3, 5, 7, 9 step wall sprints

STRENGTH, SPEED & ACCELERATION

When training for acceleration, it is important to train and strengthen the posterior chain of the body—glutes, hamstrings, lower back, mid-back, and even the calves & feet. Some of the most effective methods and strength exercises to improve acceleration include:

Sled Drags & Sled Pulls
Resisted Towing
Tire Flips
Plate Pushes
Keiser Air Runner
Bullet Belt
Super Band Leap Frogs
Form running in place & move out
Legged Romanian Deadlifts
Calf Raises (Double & Single Leg)
Swiss Ball Leg Curls
TRX Hip Extensions/Bicycles, Leg Curls
Hyperextensions (Glute/Ham)
Barefoot Balance Touches (on airex pad)
Planks
Pullups

Once one achieves top-end speed (T.E.S.), the mechanics then change. Now, technique is a bit different:

Foot Contact now under hip
Body is upright
Upper body relaxed
Arms swinging 90-120 degrees from waist to chin; drive elbows back!
T.E.S. typically reached at approximately 20-30 yards on a linear sprint

Some drills to reinforce Top End Speed Mechanics/Technique Drills include:

Arm swing drills
Fast Claw Drill
Marches
Skipping

Some of the best exercises and methods to improve acceleration and T.E.S. include:

Uphill running
Stadium Steps
Resisted Speed Drills (bungees)
Assisted Over-speed training with bungee
High speed treadmill

Best Strength Exercises to Improve Overall Speed (& acceleration):

Squats (2 legged & 1 legged)
Step-ups
Lunges (variations)
Bulgarian Split Squats
Deadlifts
Plate Pushes
Sled Drags
Plyometrics (squat jumps, lunge hops, Box jumps, leap frogs, vertimax, etc.)
Olympic Lifts (snatch, clean & jerk, clean, power shrugs) (power development)
Core Conditioning (ie. hyperextensions, Glute/Ham Raise, Russian twists, Bosu Core, med ball standing twists, med ball standing windmills, med ball seated sidewinders, med ball side-tosses into wall, med ball throws (straight up), etc…
Pullups
Weighted arm swings

3 Tips for Speed Performance: (credit to Patrick Beith)

Tip 1 – Drive Phase – Don’t force yourself to “stay low”’
The drive phase happens right after you react to the starting gun. Your initial 8 -10 steps is considered your drive phase. The biggest problem seen with athletes in the drive phase is that athletes are ‘trying’ to stay too low. Keep the body angle at about 45 degrees and keep the heel of the recovery leg low to the ground during the first 8 strides. Drive the foot into the ground and explode powerfully backwards to create maximum ground reaction force. Drive your elbows backwards and keep your head down. You should be in a straight line from your heels to your head.

Tip 2 – Acceleration Phase
In this phase, you want to think “powerful.” Since the acceleration phase (0-30 yards) is associated with a higher stride frequency then at maximum speed, focus on leg drive. You want to keep the feet behind your center of mass so that you can maximize leg drive. “Head down and drive.”

Tip 3 – Relaxation
One of the most challenging things to do is to stay relaxed while sprinting full speed. I often look at my athlete’s cheeks to see if they are running with “puppy dog” cheeks. If an athlete is too tense, their jaw will be tight and they will be tensing their entire body.

If you see an athlete with a tight face, eyes squinting, teeth clenched, elevated shoulders, and tight fists, they are actually slowing themselves down. You have to let your muscles work for you and not against to maximize your speed potential. This is a tough concept to learn and MUST be practiced if you want get the most out of our speed.

Relax and let your speed come to you!

Closely related to speed, is agility and quickness. Let’s look at the difference.

Agility is the ability to accelerate, decelerate, and change directions as quickly as possible in the shortest amount of time possible

Closely related to balance
Should be able to move forward, backwards, left, & right all very well

Quickness is the ability to react to a stimulus in the environment in the shortest amount of time possible (a whistle, clap, defender, etc.)

Closely related to reaction time
Could be foot quickness or hand-eye quickness

Factors affecting Agility & Quickness:

Ground Reaction Forces
Reaction Time
Acceleration & Deceleration
Starting quickness (1st step quickness)
Cutting
Cross-over ability

Drills/Methodologies to Influence Agility & Quickness:

Line Drills—runs back & forth, jumping jack feet, front hops, side hops, Ali shuffles, 1-legged lateral hops, 1-legged front hops
5 dot drill
Mirror Drill
Tag Drill
Cone Drills (cone circles, box drill)
Bag Drills (shuffles, figure 8’s, shuffle & figure 8’s)
Agility Ladder drills (1 foot in each rung, sideways 2 feet in each rung, Ali shuffles, Icky Shuffles, NFL crossover drills)
BOSU foot Quickness Drills
Deceleration Drills
- Sprint & stop
- Sprint & stop and repeat
Super Band overspeed/resisted speed drills (running forward & backward or left & right with Super Band; works acceleration & deceleration)

* Incorporate hand-eye coordination into any of these drills for additional quickness/reaction time.

To include hand-eye coordination and reaction time, you can include drills such as:

Reaction ball drills (drops, rolls, into rebounder)
Card Catch drills
BOLA catches

Furthermore, if you are needing to increase your agility and quickness, you can use the same aforementioned exercises to improve your speed. Due to the fact that agility often is lateral quickness or involves cutting, it is imperative that the groins & hips are adequately worked also. The following exercises will augment the strength exercises found in the speed & acceleration section:

Diagonal Lunges
Slide Board
Lateral Band Walks
Side Lunges
Dirty Dogs
Horse-Back Riding

POWER

If an athlete really wants to reach full potential, they must be able to convert their strength into power. Power is defined as the ability of the neuro-muscular system to create a force rapidly. In its simplest term, power = strength + speed

Strength– the maximal amount of force a muscle can generate under a given set of conditions
Speed– the ability to move from one point to another point as fast as possible

Methodologies to improve power:

Olympic lifting
Plyometrics
Strength training with speed component

For the sake of this discussion, I am going to concentrate on plyometrics to improve power (along with strength). Plyometrics is a system of hopping, skipping, jumping, or running that works on developing explosive power and maximally recruiting fast-twitch muscle fiber by eccentrically loading a muscle and quickly producing a concentric force. Plyometrics are exercises that enable a muscle to reach maximum strength in as short a time as possible. The faster the eccentric movement (the loading phase), the more stored elastic energy will be released, resulting in a more explosive jump.

Benefits of plyometrics:

Improves power & elasticity
Trains the nervous system
Improves anaerobic conditioning
Transformation of muscle strength into power
Recruitment of most motor units and their corresponding muscle fibers
Develops fast twitch muscle fiber!!!

Rules of plyometrics:

Perform on soft surface
Do early in your routine
Land softly
Have adequate strength base before introducing advanced levels of plyometrics (approx. 10 weeks of resistance training)
No pain should be experienced in joints
Be attentive to form & technique
Be sure to stretch & work on strength & flexibility when using plyometrics as part of program
Use a 1:3 work/rest ratio for most plyometric exercises
Can be performed in many ways:
- immediately after dynamic warm-up
- Infuse it during your workout and perform immediately after a strength exercise (complex training)
- Can be performed on speed days also performed as separate sessions

3 Basic Categories of Lower Body Plyometric Exercises:

Jumping—taking off on one or two feet; landing on 2 feet (jumping jacks, leap frogs)
Hopping—taking off on one foot and landing on same foot (single leg hopping over line)
Bounding—taking off on one foot and landing on other foot (alternate leg bounds)

3 Stages of Plyometric Program Design:

Off-Season (General Conditioning)—2 to 3 times per week; 80-100 foot contacts

Pre-Season (Sport Specific)—2 to 3 times per week; 100-150 foot contacts

In-Season (Sport Specific Maintenance)—1 to 2 times per week; 80-100 foot contacts

3 Levels of Plyometrics

Beginning

Jumping Rope
Jumping Jacks
Line jumps & hops
Squat jumps
Tuck jumps
Skater plyos
Overhead Medicine Ball Tosses
Med Ball Chest Passes
Plyo Pushups on floor
Medicine Ball rotational ab twists into wall

Moderate

Box jumps
Lateral box jumps
1 legged jumps (front & lateral)
Supine medicine ball push presses (to partner)
1-legged lateral bounds
Plyo situps
Med ball throws into ground (with twist)
Explosive pushups onto 2 steppers
Explosive pushups onto 1 stepper
Med ball push press to partner into plyo pushup & repeat
Abdominal leg throws
Med ball overhead tosses, sprint, and retrieve

Advanced

Depth Jumps
Depth Jump with multiple repeats
Single leg triple jumps
Smith Machine Bench Press Throws to partner
Add another exercise to upper & lower body
Keiser Air Runner or double leap frongs
Increase height of box
Incorporate single leg movements
Use weighted vests

With all this focus on proper training to improve overall athleticism, it is necessary to address one critical aspect to an athlete receiving maximum benefits from their training. It is called RECOVERY & REGENERATION. The following components play a critical role in determining how quickly an athlete can recover. The quicker the athlete can recover, the quicker they can train or perform again. Let’s take a look at a couple key components of recovery:

1) Nutrition is step one

Protein is step one; we want to increase protein synthesis. One should consume approximately 1 g per lb. of body weight.
A protein and carb drink promotes glycogen recovery faster than a carb drink alone following a workout. This helps stimulate protein synthesis.
Good nutrition controls insulin, glucagon, leptin, and other very important hormones.

insulin—stores nutrients into cells
leptin—follows insulin & caloric intake/deposition
glucagon—releases fat
Nutrient Timing does play a role in overall nutrition

2) Flexibility (see beginning of article)

Static Stretching
Yoga

3) Foam Roller or Massage Stick (Self-Myofascial Release)

4) Bodywork (massage, Rolfing, Optimal Performance Bodywork, etc.)

5) Infrared Saunas

6) Supplementation

Fish oils & Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM
Multi-vitamin & mineral Complex
B12

7) Sleep—During sleep, the production of growth hormone, testosterone, and IGF-1 are at their peak. Growth hormone speeds the absorption of nutrients and amino acids into your cells and aids the healing of tissues throughout the body. Testosterone and IGF-1 are anabolic hormones that are important in muscle growth and assist in recovery also. It is recommended that you get at least 8 hours of sleep when trying to optimize hormone-release and recovery.

Now that you have the tools, it’s time to implement the game-plan and begin working towards improving performance. If you combine training hard, the correct methodologies, along with ample recovery & regeneration techniques, it is then that you can maximize your strength, speed, and power development. GO GET IT!!!

Todd Durkin is an internationally-recognized strength and conditioning coach who works with numerous NFL, MLB, and NBA athletes. He is the owner of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, CA, and the author of The IMPACT! Body Plan. For more information, visit www.ToddDurkin.com or follow him on Twitter at @ToddDurkin.

Heavier Isn’t Always Better, Shoulder Stabilization Part 2

Posted on: May 15th, 2013 by admin No Comments

I hope you were able to test out the arm bar and the high windmill that I went over with you in the previous post. If you were new to these exercises, did you notice the drastic difference in the amount of weight you initially thought you might be able to do the exercise with? After some serious practice you should be able to start moving up in weights.

The next exercise in the series that we are going to cover, is the all famous Turkish get-up, one of the most challenging full body exercises. The Turkish get-up challenges shoulder stabilization as the body moves through multiple planes of motion as well as tasks the core and lower body.

To start the Turkish get up you always want to begin by being on your side for the safety of your shoulder. Take an underhand grip, then overhead grip on the handle of the kettlebell, hug it close to your chest, and roll back to your back.

Once you are laying flat on your back, press the kettlebell up from the floor on one side. It is ok to use both hands to press the kettlebell if needed. The arm should remain vertical and perpendicular to the floor throughout the remainder of the exercise. The same side leg will be flexed.

Keeping the right shin vertical, drive through the heal that is flat on the floor and sit up at an angle onto the elbow. Keep the kettlebell directly over the shoulder throughout the exercise.

Progress to resting your weight on your hand with a straight arm. Be sure to keep the kettlebell directly over the right shoulder.

Keep your weight in your right foot and your left hand, pick the hips up from the floor into a bridge.

Retract the left leg, underneath the body, and bring the left knee to the ground, close to your left hand. Notice the hips will go from facing the ceiling to facing forward.

Kettlebell continues to sit directly over the right shoulder, the left shoulder and the left hand, while both shoulders are active. Bring the torso to an upright kneeling position.

Position the body so that it is safe and comfortable to stand from the kneeling position. You can move the right foot and the angle of the left lower leg to be able to stand up with good mechanics.

Once you reach the standing position you have completed half of the exercise, know reverse each step. You can watch the video to see the reverse part of the Turkish get up.

Just as with the arm bar and the high windmill it is extremely important to keep the arm that is holding the kettlebell vertical and perpendicular to the floor as the body moves underneath it.

There are several weighs to do the Turkish get-up and while all are valid, they must still be executed with proper form in order to be both safe and effective. The above is just one variation.

Our last exercise in the series is the gladiator press. You’ll notice in the video and in the photos that the gladiator press starts out very similar to both the arm bar and the Turkish get-up, in fact the gladiator press can be done as part of a Turkish get-up.

In the gladiator press you will perform all of the steps of the Turkish get up exactly as listed out above until you get to the hip bridge position. Once you get to the hip bridge position, you will shift your bodyweight to be on the straight leg.

Take your time here, be sure the left hand is sitting directly under the left shoulder to support your torso and the weight of the kettlebell overhead. Gradually move the right (top) leg to rest directly on top of the left (bottom) leg.

From here, if you can maintain the position, slowly left to the top leg into the air.

Once you have reached this position, you can return to the starting point by simply reversing the steps to get here. You can also return the top leg to the floor to create the hip bridge position and continue on with the Turkish get up.

For all four of these exercises it is recommended to start out with a slightly lighter weight or even bodyweight to get comfortable with the complexity of the movement as well as to determine if you have any imbalances in shoulder stabilization from one side to the other.

Keep the repetitions low on these exercises and place them in the beginning of workouts when the mind and body are both fresh. As you progress to heavier weights, it is always safe to use a spotter.

Heavier Isn’t Always Better, Shoulder Stabilization Part 1

Posted on: May 13th, 2013 by admin No Comments

By Pamela MacElree, MS

EEK! Did I really just write that for everyone to see? Coming from someone who constantly talks about picking up more weight this might seem like a partial shock to you. The truth of it is, some kettlebell exercises are better served with lighter to moderate weight especially while learning them.

There are 4 really awesome kettlebell exercises that will help increase shoulder stabilization. The unique thing about these kettlebell exercises is that we’re working on shoulder stabilization while the body is moving through multiple planes of motion. I’ll go over two now and two in another blog post.

Typically speaking we could put more weight overhead and stabilize it than we could actually press overhead. In the four kettlebell shoulder stabilization exercises I’m going to go over with you, you will likely find that you need to back off the weight and use something a little lighter than you might initially expect as I mentioned earlier. This is why we choose to do several shoulder stabilization exercises that are more complex then just overhead holds or walks.

Let us first take a look at the arm bar.

Always start the arm bar by rolling onto your side, you’ll grip the handle of the kettlebell with both hands and hold it close to your chest as you roll back onto your back to press it overhead.

Once you are lying on your back with the kettlebell pressed overhead, raise the opposite side arm overhead on the floor and flex the knee that is on the same side of the body as the kettlebell.

Keep the knee above the hip and begin to rotate to the side that is opposite of the kettlebell. Keep your focus on the kettlebell. Once you have placed the knee on the ground on the opposite side of it’s starting point begin to straighten on the leg and aim to get the front of the hips close to the floor.

Once you have placed the knee on the ground on the opposite side of it’s starting point begin to straighten out the leg and aim to get the front of the hips close to the floor. Once you are stable, you can direct your nose toward the floor.

You’ll notice in the arm bar, the shoulder must be very stable as the body moves around the tall pillar that is created by the arm. The kettlebell sits nicely in the hand as the weight sits closer to the shoulder than it would with a dumbbell.

The next excellent shoulder stabilization exercise is the high windmill. Again, the shoulder is forced to stabilize as the body moves. This particular exercise is also great for strengthening the entire core.

Starting with the kettlebell in the overhead postion from standing, shift about 70-80% of your bodyweight into the same side leg that has the kettlebell overhead. Maintain a vertical structure with the arm that holds the kettlebell and the same side leg.

While maintaining the weight shift, fold at the hips (similar to the feel of a good morning) and guide your free hand along the inseam of your leg. You can keep a soft bend in the other leg or keep it straight depending on your flexibility.

In all of the shoulder stabilization kettlebell exercises, the two we talked about today and the two we’ll talk about later, the arm always maintains a vertical position to the floor above the shoulder, regardless of where the body is. It is important to keep the shoulder retracted and not elevated or in layman’s terms down and back. If at any point the arm starts to sway and you are unable to hold the weight of the kettlebell directly over the shoulder you should decrease the weight you are working with.

Think about the shoulder being the base of a structure or the foundation and the arm being the structure. The arm must maintain a vertical and perpendicular structure to the floor. There should be no bend in the elbow or the wrist as you progress through these kettlebell exercises. Think of it like a leaning building, at some point the foundation will start to give and the structure will begin to fall.

Check back for the other two kettlebell exercises on increasing shoulder stabilization.

Flexibility and Mobility for Young Athletes

Posted on: March 19th, 2013 by IYCA No Comments

By Mike Robertson

What is the difference between Flexibility and Mobility?

I’ve always used the Bill Hartman definitions; they go something like this:

Mobility – Range of motion under specific circumstances (specific)

Flexibility – Range of motion about a joint (non-specific)

So mobility is specific to a certain movement – i.e. you need a certain amount of hip mobility to squat, lunge, etc.

In contrast, flexibility is non-specific – i.e. you lay someone on their back and stretch their hamstrings. This gives you an idea of their flexibility, but it’s not specific. Just because they have great hamstring length doesn’t mean they’ll be able to perform functional movements properly or without compensation.

Are both important to young athletes or is one more important than the other?

I feel that both are important, but flexibility is merely a component of mobility. I think of mobility as an equation, something like this:

Tissue length + neural control/stability + joint architecture = Mobility

flexibility and mobility

So my goal with young athletes is to improve their mobility and allow them to perform those specific movements (squatting, lunging, etc.) without compensation from other areas (generally the lumbar spine).

When should young athletes train Flexibility?

There are several times throughout the day when I would incorporate specific flexibility drills into the programming:

Pre/peri-workout – I would only use this as part of an acute-corrective strategy; in other words, I don’t believe that static stretching has much of a place pre-workout. The goal here, for example, would be to statically stretch the hip flexors and pair that stretch with an activation drill for the gluteals. This will enhance motor control and function by helping restore proper length/tension relationships.

Post-workout – Here I’d use more “active” flexibility techniques like eccentric quasi-isometrics (EQI’s).

Before bed – I’ve always been a proponent of static stretching before bed. I think not only does it allow you to unwind and relax, but if you hop right into bed afterwards you’re less likely to lose any flexibility gains you just worked for.

When should they train Mobility?

Whenever they can! Quite simply, most people need more mobility in the appropriate areas (ankles, hips, t-spine, etc.). Especially in the beginning or foundational period of their training, more is generally better.

Getting more specific, pre-workout mobility training is a slam dunk. But if someone is really restricted in their movement patterns or movement quality, I’ll have them perform mobility drills several times throughout the day to reinforce good movement. Unlike strength training, you’re not going to overtrain your body by doing some simple mobility drills throughout the day.

Are there different kinds of Flexibility, or is ‘bending over to touch my toes and stretch my hammy’ all young athletes should be doing?

With the athletes I work with, we include several different kinds of mobility throughout their day.

Pre-workout, we always do a dynamic warm-up. Always. They’ve been sitting in school or class all day, so my first goal is to get them warmed up and moving through a nice range of motion.

EQI’s are a little more advanced, but they’re still working to promote optimal/length tension relationships and develop active flexibility. Once someone has been training for a few months I like to get them doing this at the end of every workout.

Finally, we discussed static flexibility above, and I think it’s an integral component as well. Kids are a lot different now than they were 10, 12, or 15 years ago when I was a kid! They sit more. They play more games. They have more homework. Static stretching can help get them back in tune with their body and keep themselves healthy.

I think all these methods are important; what’s more important is using the right flexibility method at the appropriate time.

What is the single greatest mistake or myth people make when it comes to Flexibility training?

Not doing it!

Seriously, most people are so focused on their training and/or diet, they put no value or stock into recovery methods. Just using the methods I outlined in the above question can go a long way to improving the flexibility and mobility of your body.

Understanding Low Back Pain in Adolescents

Posted on: August 1st, 2012 by IYCA No Comments

Low Back Pain in Adolescents

By Jake Moore

Every one of us has worked with a young athlete with low back pain. In fact, we have all likely have worked with and missed the signs of serious low back pain in our athletes. Looking back at my career so far, I’m sure I have. Of those young athletes with lower back pain, up to 47% have spondylolysis or spondylolisthesis (1). Spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis are injuries to the posterior vertebrae and result from excessive spinal extension loading. Unfortunately too many young athletes are over-trained and exposed to poor training, leaving them at risk for these injuries. On the positive side, these injuries are preventable with good movement training and knowledgeable coaches. As IYCA professionals we expect to be held to a higher standard than other exercise professionals when working with young athletes. If we can recognize the signs of serious back, and how to train to prevent such injuries, it will go a long ways in diminishing low back pain amongst your athletes, help those with low back pain get timely treatment and decrease the impact of low back pain into adulthood.

Young athletes are at a vulnerable time to develop low back pain from excessive trunk extension. In late middle school and early high school they may be participating in multiple sports throughout the year. It is not uncommon to be in-season for one sport and still participate in off-season training for their club teams. (It would be worth another article to discuss how these athletes would benefit more from developing fundamental movement skills instead of being in-season all year.) In addition these athletes will be asked to begin a strength and conditioning program in their school as part of their athletic participation. Meanwhile this athlete is at a time in their development where:
1. The rate of bone growth is often outpacing the lengthening of muscle and fascia, leading to tight hips and poor posture.
2. Growth plates are still open and bone density is not yet fully developed.
3. Core strength is not developed as the body adapts to having longer limbs.
4. Motor control and posture are continuing to be shaped.
If these athletes are asked to perform fully loaded strength movements with poor form with an immature and ill-prepared body, the body has but one choice to accomplish this task. That is to hang onto ligaments and bony restraints instead of utilizing muscular control.

Pelvic influence on spinal curves

The spine has three curves. A lordosis, or slight backward bend at the cervical and lumbar spine, and a slight kyphosis or forward bend at the thoracic spine. This helps the spine absorb shock and increases stability versus a completely vertically stacked spine. The lumbar spine position is controlled largely by the pelvis. The pelvis is able to anteriorly and posteriorly rotate based on the muscle pull on the front and back side of the body. The images below demonstrate the muscles involved in creating rotation of the pelvis. The line of action of the hip flexors and spinal erectors pull on the pelvis to create anterior rotation. This anterior rotation results in increased lumbar lordosis. On the other hand, the glutes, hamstrings and abdominals create posterior rotation and a decrease in lumbar lordosis. It’s common to see individuals with inhibited glute and abdominal musculature and tight hip flexors and spinal erectors. The result is a tendency to position the pelvis in anterior tilt and increase compression of the lumbar vertebrae. When this occurs repeatedly over time, the posterior structures of the lumbar vertebrae are at risk for injury.

Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis

Some of the most significant injuries affecting adolescents are spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis. We all have likely trained athletes with this injury, whether we knew it or not. Spondylolysis refers to a stress reaction of overload to part of the vertebrae. In the lumbar spine this is often the pedicle or pars interarticularis. Spondylolisthesis is an advancement of spondylolysis with an identifiable fracture to the vertebrae and possible forward slippage.

The pedicles and pars interarticularis are located on the back side of the vertebrae and are placed under compressive and shear load when the spine moves into extension. Injuries to these structures often occur gradually over time. As an athlete is asked to do exercises that are beyond their ability for the core musculature to control, the lower back will drift towards extension to find stability. Think about trying to bend a copper wire. As you initially bend the wire a hinge point develops. As you do this over and over again the wire will bend more easily and eventually break. This is exactly what is happening to young athletes with spondylolysis. It’s critical that these individuals get treatment before it is too late (spondylolisthesis).

Recognizing serious low back injury

To recognize the signs of spondylolysis or athletes at risk, look at posture, core strength, hip mobility and activities. Posture is often excessively lordotic when doing squats, overhead presses, deadlifts, back extensions, push-ups and planks. These athletes may be some of your more capable squatters and deadlifters because they understand how to keep the spine from rounding forward. The problem is they can’t control spine extension. Athletes with poor core strength are more apt to use this type of strategy to make-up for inadequate active lumbar stabilization.

An athlete with limited hip mobility is also at risk. Without flexibility in the hamstrings, glutes and hip flexors, the athlete will have to bend more through the spine on order to perform sport specific or weight room movements. Tight hip flexors will pull the spine into excess extension and poor glute and hamstring mobility will force the athlete to contract more through spinal erectors. The end result either way is increased posterior spinal loading. Any athlete who has made recent large increases in loading in the weight room should be monitored closely for low back pain. Football players and gymnasts seem to be most at risk as well as athletes participating in multiple sports at the same time.

Initial symptoms of spondylolysis may be a dull ache in the back with no initial onset. These athletes often have the most pain with running and jumping due to large ground contact forces. Squats, cleans, deadlifts, overhead presses, planks and leg lifts are also exercises that can increase symptoms. These athletes may be able to do every exercise in your program but have pain doing it. These symptoms may go on for months before they bring it to your attention. It may even recur every year, increasing during track season for example, going away during the summer only to return during football season. Once diagnosed, these athletes may be held out of sports and put in a brace for up to 6 weeks with another 4-6 weeks of rehab before full sport participation. An athlete who develops spondylolisthesis may battle low back pain on and off for the rest of their lives.

Keys to prevention of Low Back Pain in Adolescents

1. Teach pelvic tilt. Understanding how to pelvic tilt is fundamental to developing awareness of the position of the spine and pelvis. An athlete who does not know how to posteriorly pelvic tilt will have difficulty controlling trunk extension and rest on boney structures during exercise. The athlete who cannot anterioly tilt the pelvis will have a hard time learning how to hip hinge and keep neutral spine with squats and deadlifts. Teaching pelvic tilt is easily done if doing and floor based core exercise. Have your athletes start with knees bent, feet flat. Have athletes practice arching the lower back up off the floor, keeping the glutes and shoulders down, then have them smash the lower back down into the floor. This can be progressed to quadruped, tall kneeling and athletic stance positions. Once your athletes understand pelvic tilt, many of your strength exercises will be easier to teach.

2. Train in neutral spine. Have your athlete’s pelvic tilt both ways and then find a happy medium. That’s roughly what we would call neutral lumbar spine. To find neutral spine a stick placed along the lower back works well. The athlete should be able to contact the stick at the sacrum, thoracic spine and back of the head.

Floor based core exercise should use neutral spine as well. Dead bug progressions work very well here. Have your athletes lift one leg or extend one leg and opposite arm, keeping neutral spine. Check under their back to be sure there isn’t an increase in the gap between the spine and the floor. Exercises such as double leg straight leg lifts will be too challenging for most athletes without a progression. This is why kids put their hands under their butt if asked to do excessive leg lifts with a weak core.

Look at how your athletes perform planks. Ideally the glutes should be tight and spine neutral. The pelvis position should not change when doing planks or push-ups. If it does, then the abdominals are fatigued or the athlete has poor core control and the lower back passive restraints will bear the load. Discontinue the set. This means push-ups may be limited more by core strength than by upper body strength.

Neutral spine applies for other strength exercises as well. Athletes should be able to use the force couples around the pelvis, engaging the glutes and abdominals to help control pelvic position. Exercises should maintain lumbar lordosis without forcing end range lumbar extension. Back extensions for example should be taken to full hip extension without hyper-extending the low back. For strength exercises, the cues to squeeze the glutes and tighten the abs will often help create balanced forces around the pelvis to control excessive pelvic tilt.

3. Improve hip mobility. As mentioned earlier, the hip flexors can create a force pulling the pelvis into anterior rotation, increasing lumbar lordosis. Keeping the hip flexors mobility is essential to allowing for neutral spine positioning when strength training and running. For younger athletes a specific static hip flexor stretch is not necessary. You can adequately train the hip flexors with lunges and split squats to develop mobility and neuromuscular control. Again use a dowel held along the spine and cue abs tight to improve pelvic control during the movement. On the other end of the spectrum, the athlete with tight hamstrings may not be able to utilize their glutes well when doing deadlifts, squats or getting into athletic stance. Getting the hamstrings more mobile will help young athletes access their glute strength and decrease demands on the lumbar extensors. Again, an isolated static hamstring stretch is not needed. Get your athletes to hip hinge with a stick and RDL with a neutral spine and you will develop functional hamstring mobility and trunk stability. These types of exercises along with many of the hip mobility exercises from your IYCA certification will help your athletes develop great hip mobility and allow for decreased demands on the lumbar spine during training and sport participation.

If you encounter Low Back Pain in Adolescents or an athlete who complains of LBP, take it seriously. Suggest that they see a therapist or physician for further evaluation. If their back pain is still there, suggest they see an orthopedic specialist. To help diminish the risk of spondylolysis, teach pelvic control through fundamental movement patterns and core exercise. Correct excessive spine extension just as much as you would the athlete who tends to round over. Teaching athletes how to move well and stay injury free is the essence of an IYCA professional and avoiding Low Back Pain in Adolescents. Being aware of the risk of spondylolysis in adolescent athletes will help direct those who need it to medical attention while improving the quality of training for all our athletes.

1. Motley G, Nyland J, Jacobs J, Caborn D. The pars interarticularis stress reaction, spondylolysis, and spondylolisthesis progression. Journal of Athletic Training 1998; 33 (4): 351-358

Stretching Young Athletes with Bands

Posted on: March 16th, 2012 by IYCA 1 Comment

Young Athletes and Resistance Band Stretching

By Dave Schmitz

What age is good to start band stretching?

Is it appropriate to stretch young athlete ages 10 to 13 with Bands?

Are there precautions when stretching young athletes with bands?

As a band expert I have never felt doing band stretching with athletes younger than 14 was an effective way to improve passive mobility because of the hypersensitivity of the nervous system to passive over pressure stretching. Anytime I attempted to introduce band stretching to this age group, I met with a great deal inhibition and compensation. Passive overpressure stretching of young athletes for years seemed to be very noxious to the neuromuscular system which resulted in kids just putting their body through unproductive stress that the body was not mature enough to handle. The key word in this sentence was mature or from a functional standpoint integrated.

Band stretching is like any other movement skill, it must be integrated progressively which means eliminating inhibition by introducing the movement skill in a progressive manner. With band stretching that means:

Using the correct band strength that provides the young athlete with enough resistance to initiate a contraction but does not put their muscle under inhibitory causing stress
Providing a manual training stimulus using your hands and verbal cueing to guide them through the movement patterns
Stressing the importance of opposite side stabilization and manually assisting with this so they can feel the impact of locking out the opposite arm and maintaining a solid foot contact against the wall
Not overwhelming them by showing all stretching positions in one training session. Start with hamstring stretching first and then gradually introduce hip rotation, hip flexor/quad and ankle on subsequent sessions

Other important keys to remember are that many of these young athletes are going through abrupt growth spurts which disrupt their neuromuscular control and coordination instantly. Lever arms are lengthened which in turn challenges dynamic stabilization. Also with this added length neural tissues become shortened leading to neurotension restrictions which are best addressed with rhythmical dynamic stretching versus using a static stretching approach.

A Case Study

My son Carter was 13 years old, 135 pounds and 5 feet 1 inch tall going into 8th grade school year. Carter moved very well for his age but had recently gone through a 3 inch growth spurt over a 2 month time frame which dramatically increased his hamstring and hip rotation tightness. Carter played soccer as well as football. He had become very interested in becoming the kicker for his 8th grade club football team. In watching Carter kick during the summer prior to his 8th Grade year, he was not able to get effective hip flexion with knee extension during the follow through of his kicks which had decreased both his power as well as accuracy. In accessing his Straight leg Raise (SLR) Test, Carter demonstrated only about 30 degrees of hip flexion with full knee extension.

Up until this time, I had never implemented band stretching with Carter but decided to do a 3 week trial. For the first three 15 minute stretching sessions, I manually worked with Carter to insure proper movement and stability during the movement. I did not apply any overpressure but rather allowed Carter to create that with the band. My role was simply to guide the movements and assist with stabilization. After the first 2 sessions Carter started demonstrating very good neuromuscular control using a Red Small band and was able to perform all hamstring and hip rotation stretches effectively without my assistance. He stretched a total of 15 times over a 21 day period with each session lasting about 12 to 15 minutes. Many of the sessions were done prior to practice or before going out to play with his friends.

After 3 weeks of band stretching, Carter’s SLR Test increased to 75 degrees and his kicking accuracy from 30 yards was 90%. After 6 weeks his SLR Test was 90 degrees and his accuracy was now 90% at 35 yards.

Obviously after seeing this incredible change in Carter’s hip flexibility, I quickly started to adjust my opinion on band stretching for younger athletes. One of the other factors that I realized while going through this experiment with Carter, was level of muscle stiffness maturity he was experiencing. Carter’s tissues were stiff but not to the degree of an individual in his 20′s or 30′s Therefore by applying the correct stretching stimulus Carter’s tissues quickly adapted and lengthen which explained the dramatic improvement but also provided a stronger support towards instituting band stretching sooner than later in young athletes.

Recommendations for stretching young athletes with bands

Here are a few recommendations for starting a band stretching program for ages 11 to 14.

1. Begin by using a red band before considering any stronger level band. Very important to not over tension their muscle tissue and make them struggle getting into the correct positions.

2. As their coach or parent, you need to help them learn the movements and positions. They will need manual guidance and verbal cueing for at least 2-3 sessions before they can be allowed to stretch on their own.

3. Start with 1 or 2 stretches and gradually implement the others as they master the initial stretches. Again keep in mind, this is not fun stuff and the motivation to train flexibility will probably not be there initially. Until they begin to feel functional improvement, getting young athletes to stretch effectively will require coaching patience.

4. Stretch slowly but actively. 2-3 second progressive holds while performing at least 90 seconds of rhythmical movement in each position is important. Progressive holds are defined as maintaining increased tension for 2 to 3 seconds while still attempting to push further into the range.

The video below will take you through what stretches I feel you should start using with young athletes.

It should be noted the hip flexor- quad stretch is not performed but should be added into the routine once hamstrings and hip rotation stretches are mastered.

Damage Control: Reversing the effects of early specialization

Posted on: February 24th, 2012 by IYCA 3 Comments

Damage Control: Reversing the effects of early specialization

By Mike Mejia CSCS

In last month’s newsletter, which you can access here, I wrote about why young athletes shouldn’t necessarily engage in sports specific training and instead, focus on developing more in the way of global athleticism. While certainly sound advice, for some it may come a bit too late. The unfortunate reality is that far too many kids have not only been specializing in a single sport from an early age, but many have also geared any fitness efforts solely towards enhancing their performance in said sport. As a result, there are legions of young athletes who’ve already developed significant movement restrictions and musculoskeletal imbalances that often serve as precursors to injury. Whether it’s a teenage swimmer with chronic shoulder pain, or a high school aged basketball player with “bad knees”, the message to be as diversified as possible when it comes to early sports participation and exercise habits is lost on some. So, what do you do when the ship seems to have sailed in terms of developing a well-rounded athlete and are instead, forced to deal with a young body in an obvious state of disrepair?

Not that there aren’t things you can do to help correct any existing problems. Changing the training focus to include more in the way of flexibility work and strengthening those areas that often go neglected to promote more balanced physical development is always a good idea. There are however certain “sensitive periods” where the acquisition of specific bio-motor skills is going to be much easier to attain. During the ages of 9-12 for instance, kids are developmentally ready to make the most rapid improvements in things like balance, agility and coordination. Or in other words, the kind of physical attributes that are the cornerstone of athletic success. Again, not that these types of skills can’t be attained to a certain degree later in an athlete’s development. It’s just that spending so much time specializing puts them at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to overall athleticism and in turn, runs the risk of imposing serious limitations of their ability to perform at a high level as they get older.

So, if you do have a fourteen, fifteen year old (or older) young athlete who is just now trying to undo some of the damage caused by what’s been a decidedly one-sided approach to sports participation and physical conditioning, he or she is going to have to go about things a bit differently.

One of the main things that will entail is forgoing a lot of the more popular forms of training aimed at enhancing performance (i.e. plyometrics, Olympic lifting and advanced speed and agility work) and instead, concentrating on some less glamorous but ultimately more necessary aspects of maintaining a fit, healthy body. These include things like:

Paying constant attention to posture: No kid wants to hear it, but employing good postural habits is one of the best ways to help guard against injury. Even if a young athlete were to completely revamp his, or her training approach to target all the areas the young athlete needs to work most, that’s still only on average about two to four hours per week where they’d be working towards correcting the problem. Compare this to the hours of repetitive motion involved in practicing and competing in their sport, as well as all of the time spent slumped over in class, in front of computers and texting and you can see where it’s hard to make any kind of lasting improvements. However, being aware of their posture as often as possible throughout the day is one of the best and easiest ways of helping them restore more structural balance.

Treating conditioning like a job: If a young athlete is going to spend that much time practicing and competing, they’d better find a way to put some serious effort into helping their body withstand the rigors of all that abuse. This involves a lot more than just hitting the weight room with reckless abandon. Improving soft tissue quality with things like foam rolling, doing a sound dynamic warm-up prior to all forms of physical activity and post workout stretching aimed at those areas where they’re especially tight, are all vital components of a well-rounded program. Gone are the days where kids could just enjoy sports for hours on end without giving any thought to what they were doing to their bodies. This age of early specialization has drastically altered the landscape; essentially forcing kids to approach conditioning in a whole new light- especially if they want to have any kind of staying power in their chosen sport.

Allowing more time for recovery and regeneration: Recovery is without question, one of the most overlooked aspects of athletic performance. Yet time and time again I see young athletes pushing themselves to their absolute limits, only to come right back the next day and do it all over again. True, kids do have the resiliency of youth on their side, but that doesn’t mean that the “more is better” mindset should always prevail. I’ve got nothing against seeing kids work hard, but there are limits. Allowing athletes more recovery time between practices, competitions and workouts will ultimately yield better results in terms of both performance and injury prevention.

Besides not scheduling their practices and workouts too closely together, encourage your athletes to employ other types of recovery aids during those periods of the season that are most physically demanding. In addition to the aforementioned stretching and foam rolling, things like epsom salt baths, contrast showers and even dietary changes like adding in more alkaline foods (leafy greens, sweet potatoes, almonds, green tea etc.) are all effective ways of helping to reduce inflammation and facilitate better muscle recovery.

While you obviously can’t go back in time and do anything about your child having succumbed to early specialization at an early age, there’s plenty you can do right now to help manage the situation and get them started on a healthier path. Encourage them to focus on posture, stretching and strengthening exercises that are going to promote more physical balance and create good lifelong habits. Because let’s face it; the vast majority of kids will never go on to compete at any sort of high level.

So, make it your business to help them avoid early specialization and having to experience any long-term effects from participating in the sport they love.

Recovery for Athletes

Posted on: October 11th, 2011 by IYCA 2 Comments

by Wil Fleming

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High School Certification: Sample Chapter

Posted on: January 20th, 2011 by IYCA 2 Comments

High School Certification Taster

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Did you miss last night’s recording?

No worries!

The complete recording AND PDF transcript of every word that was said is yours… For no charge!

Just click here —> http://iyca.org/highschool/

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High School Certification (more…)

Should Young Athletes Stretch?

Posted on: January 12th, 2011 by IYCA 12 Comments

Should young athletes stretch?

Watch this video and then leave a comment…

… Pay close attention starting around the 1:25 second mark:

A Complete System for Training Young Athletes That Gives You All The Answers:

Just Click Here —> http://CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com

(more…)

Flexibility Training for Young Athletes

Posted on: May 4th, 2009 by IYCA 4 Comments

Chris Blake gives answer some common questions about flexibility training for young athletes

What is the difference between Flexibility and Mobility?
Flexibility can have two definitions:

1.) The ability of muscle to lengthen during passive movements.

2.) Range of motion about a joint and surrounding musculature during passive movements.

Mobility can also have two ways of being defined. The main definition is the state of being in motion. But this state of motion can be looked at within certain joints (subtalar mobility) or as a physical whole (moving from one position into the next during a run).

Are both important to young athletes or is one more important than the other?
This is a great question. Both are important for the older athlete (ages 14-18+) as athletes within this age group tend to show more restrictions with both flexibility and mobility, often times once you take care of the flexibility then you improve mobility. But with the younger athlete (ages 13 and under) I wouldn’t place much importance on either one unless there has been a certain injury that limits each.

Are there different kinds of Flexibility, or is ‘bending over to touch my toes and stretch my hammy’ what all young athletes should be doing?
There are seven different ways of going about flexibility:

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Fitness Training For Youth Flexibility vs. Mobility

Posted on: March 23rd, 2009 by IYCA 10 Comments

Fitness Training For Youth

What is the difference between Flexibility and Mobility?

Well, sometimes this is a confusing issue, as these terms are often used interchangeably. Mobility (also known in some circles as active flexibility) is where we’re talking about CONTROL of the body through a larger range of motion. The muscle group says “I want to move, and I can.” The contrast is passive flexibility, where an outside force will be asking the question, “Can I stretch you?”, and the muscle says “Yeah, I guess so”. There is no skill here, and it is my belief that those who are hyperflexible (too flexible) without motor control are just as prone to injury as those who are Hypomobile / flexible (not mobile or flexible enough)

Are both important for Fitness Training For Youth or is one more important than the other?

I think that, all things being equal, mobility is a far more valuable goal to pursue for our young ones. However, if there is a physical limitation in a certain body area / muscle group, flexibility can certainly be addressed as part of an overall mobility program.

When should young athletes train Flexibility?

Again, flexibility should be the goal when there is a specific area that is tighter proportionally than the rest of the body. Although, the first question should be “Why?”, with regard to the cause of the tightness. Many times, we are just dealing with the natural growth process during a growth spurt, where bones outgrow muscle and connective tissue, and there is temporary tightness. We may need to train flexibility here through focused stretching, but always in the context of a well rounded mobility program.

When should they train Mobility?

Unless there is a debilitating injury. Always. Throughout development. Period.

Are there different kinds of Flexibility, or is ‘bending over to touch my toes and stretch my hammy’ what all young athletes should be doing?

Absolutely not. The young body should be able to MOVE, and the body should interact smoothly and naturally with the nervous system, not just accept and yield to forces passively.

What is the single greatest mistake or myth people make when it comes to Flexibility training for fitness training for youth?

The greatest mistake people make when it comes to flexibility is to force a passive stretch. When you force a passive stretch, there is circuitry in the spinal cord that will respond by tightening the muscles. Wait, weren’t we trying to RELIEVE the tightness in the muscles? I have seen utterly sadistic attempts by uninformed, performance / ego driven coaches where they would take a young athlete and stretch him or her to the point of tears, actually saying that they wouldn’t get flexible unless they fought through the pain. This doesn’t create athletic mobility, it injures, tears, and forever alters the tissue.

Want to learn more on Fitness Training For Youth? www.IYCA.org/youth-fitness-certification

SPEED TRAINING

STRENGTH, SPEED & ACCELERATION

3 Tips for Speed Performance: (credit to Patrick Beith)

POWER

3 Levels of Plyometrics

Low Back Pain in Adolescents

Keys to prevention of Low Back Pain in Adolescents

Young Athletes and Resistance Band Stretching

Recommendations for stretching young athletes with bands

The video below will take you through what stretches I feel you should start using with young athletes.

Damage Control: Reversing the effects of early specialization

So, make it your business to help them avoid early specialization and having to experience any long-term effects from participating in the sport they love.

High School Certification Taster

Should young athletes stretch?

A Complete System for Training Young Athletes That Gives You All The Answers:

Chris Blake gives answer some common questions about flexibility training for young athletes

Fitness Training For Youth

Are both important for Fitness Training For Youth or is one more important than the other?