The hips need to function properly to maximize athletic potential considering the role hip strength plays in sprint speed, explosiveness, and change of direction. I recently demonstrate a series of exercises to help improve hip mobility. The video associated with this post illustrates how incorporating a mini band into your routine can improve hip strength. Many of the exercises are performed in multiple planes of motion. This is important because many strength exercises are primarily performed in the sagital plane which can lead to deficiencies in the other two planes (frontal and transverse).
Archive for the ‘Exercise Demonstrations’ Category
Hip Strength
Sunday, January 24th, 2010Hip Mobility
Sunday, January 17th, 2010There are powerful muscles in the hip that work to produce many athletic movements. The hips need to be strong and stable to transfer energy during sporting movements such as hitting, pitching, and kicking (soccer). However, the hips can not do their job effectively if they are locked up or restricted in their range of motion.
Hip mobility is extrememly important to help protect the lower back and knees. There is a limited amount of motion that takes place at the lower back, so the hips actually need to be the area where the greatest range of motion comes from in the core.
Shown below are a few simple stretches that will definitely help improve flexibility of the muscles of the hip and enhance mobility of the entire joint.
Train Hard-Train Smart
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Sport Specific Training
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009If you are an athlete or coach, analyze your entire training program to make sure it is sport specific. Check out this key sentence from Tudor Bompa and Gregory Haff’s book Periodization – Theory and Methodology of Training:
“The concept of movement pattern specificity reveals that the type of muscle action, kinematic characteristics (ie. movement patterns), kinetic characteristics (ie. forces, rate of force development, power output), muscle groups activated, and acceleration or velocity characteristics of the movement all contribute to the exercise’s ability to transfer to the sporting activity.”
Your movements in the weight room should never try to replicate sports movements (check out this blog for more on this topic). However, the exercises you choice should have characteristics similar to your sport. You want the exercises to carry over to the playing field otherwise why would you waste your time in the weight room to begin with. Once you begin to understand these scientific principles, it makes sense to incorporate ground-based training (exercises performed in standing positions), Olympic lifts and other high power output exercises, exercises in the full range of motion, and exercises in all planes motion. At the same time, it should begin to make sense why it is not as beneficial to train on machines that control only one movement and usually control the speed of the movement. Not to mention that most machines require the athlete to sit or lay on their back/stomach – that doesn’t look anything like sport!
Train Hard-Train Smart –> it’s not just important to train with intensity, it’s important to train with the correct knowledge too!
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Jump – Bound Matrix
Monday, November 2nd, 2009Athletes are always looking to develop their lower body explosiveness and power. Improve your lower body strength (Lunge Matrix). Convert strength into explosiveness with the Jump-Bound Matrix. Check it out:
This video takes you through jump and then bound progressions in multiple planes of motion. This series would benefit every athlete (it may not help a billards player – but every other athlete).
Train Hard-Train Smart
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More on Myofascial Release
Monday, September 28th, 2009After the previous post about Myofascial Release I had a couple general questions. So I have decided to do an additional post to clear a few things up.
Here is some more information about this topic:
- You do not have to buy and use a foam roller to perform myofascial release techniques. You can use a tennis ball, baseball, softball, or golf ball as a way to release the tissue. In fact these objects would be better suited for certian areas of the body such as the bottom of the feet or around the shoulder blade.
- Muscle adhesions and trigger points alter the length and function of the muscle. These altered movements patterns are what cause over-use injuries over time. It is extrememly important to take care of you muscle and fascia (connect tissue). A cheap and easy way is self myofascial release techniques.
- Once you have done the mysofascial release technique, it is then recommended to stretch the effected muscle. Desensitizing the trigger point and reducing/eliminating the adhesion will help restore the proper length and function to the muscle. This would be the appropriate time to stretch – Increase the functional flexibility of the muscle and surrounding tissue.
Train Hard-Train Smart
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Athletic Core
Thursday, September 17th, 2009Many times core resistance training looks like this:
However, it should look something like this:
Read my previous post on core training for other great functional core exercises with medicine balls. Notice how the cable and medicine ball exercises have something in common – you use your entire body and you are in a standing position.
Take a look at these athletic movements below and notice the commonalities between each movement. With exception to the volleyball player, they are all standing on either two feet or one foot (however, remember the volleyball player jumped off two feet or one foot to get in the air). It is important to notice the amount of torque (rotation) throughout their core during these movements. Their core is not working in isolation – the big powerful muscles of the legs and hips or working. The muscles in the back, shoulders, chest and arms are also involved in the movement. If you are an athlete or coach looking to strengthen or enhance the power of these movements, I would suggest the exercises I demonstrated in the video or the medicine ball exercises. The medicine ball exercises are great because the athlete must generate force throughout the entire movement – even during the release of the ball which is extremely sport specific.
Train Hard- Train Smart
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Functional Movement
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009Here is an example of a great warm up/strength/mobility exercise. This series is performed in multiple planes of motion and uses the arms as a driver during each lunge. Any athlete should be able to perform this series without limited range of motion or pain. This is also a great body weight strength training exercise series for younger athletes.
Train Hard – Train Smart
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Information About Youth Baseball Pitchers
Friday, August 28th, 2009As an trainer who works with a large number of youth baseball players I know the story. Your son takes pitching lessons and now has amazing delivery on the mound. He is also apart of sports performance program to increase his relative strength and flexibility. Here’s the thing…it doesn’t matter your son still has to be on a strict pitch count. Because if he is not, he is increasing the risk of injury to his elbow or shoulder (scientifically proven!). Here are a few amazing stats from this article I’m recommending all parents and coaches should read. Here’s the article. Here’s the facts according to this article:
In a study by Andrews and Fleisig (1999) 476 youth pitchers between the ages of 9 and 14 were closely examined. “Over the course of the season, more than half of the pitchers experienced shoulder or elbow pain. For each increment of 25 pitches thrown after 50 pitches, the percentage of pitchers experiencing pain increased as fatigue set in. Those who threw curveballs were 52% more likely to feel shoulder pain. Those who threw sliders were 86% more likely to endure elbow pain.”
Train Hard-Train Smart
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Evaluating training programs
Sunday, August 9th, 2009I come across a ton of bogus training programs that only use modality, promise unrealistic results, or do not structure their program based on scientific principles. Be a smart consumer when choosing a fitness/sports performance program to be apart of. For example, if you’re an athlete looking to get stronger or improve your speed/quickness it wouldn’t logically make sense to use fancy equipment where you’re in seated, prone (on your stomach), or supine (on your back).
Here is an example of an expensive (I mean $10,000 expensive piece of equipment) machine that is suppose to improve your strength and power while not making you sore. This machine only does concentric movements – you pull then you push. I’m going to clue you in on a secret…athletes don’t function this way. Instead, their movements involve a loading (eccentric muscle action) phase followed by a powerful transformation movement (concentric phase). Therefore, you are training your body on this piece of equipment in a way that you wouldn’t perform during your sport. In addition, last time I checked most sports (besides cycling and rowing to name a few) are performed in upright stranding positions where your body has to react to gravity and move in multiple planes of motion. Again, this expensive, fancy piece of equipment does not allow you to do this.
Here is fitness example about evaluating a training program with some logic before you participate. Many females come into a training with similar goals such as working on their hips, butt and thighs (at least this is what I have seen over the past 9 years of training). Many trainers will cater their exercise by doing a variety of different leg lifts in every position – side lying leg lifts, on all fours kicking your butt up in the air with the small pink dumbbell between their knee, and standing cable leg raises, just to name a few. Want to know a more effective and functional approach to targeting the hips and butt…wait for it…it’s called squats and lunges. Squat and lunge variations are performed in an upright position (more functional) and recruit more muscles than isolate exercises (more effective). Anytime you see a trainer doing special isolated exercises or using a fancy piece of equipment that isolates those trouble spots just remember there is usually a more effective and functional approach.
“Hello lady, do some squats or lunges and stop wasting your time with this silly exercise!!”
Train Hard-Train Smart
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Any other ways to do cardio?
Thursday, July 16th, 2009This is probably one of the most common questions I get from the average gym-goer. It seems like many individuals who work out at the gym and even do cardiovascular exercise outside get bored easily with their exercise program. I always explain to these individuals how they should be doing interval training to spice things up and the benefits associated with interval training. Many of them find this more exciting then their regular routine, but still look for alternatives for burning calories.
You do not have to do traditional cardiovascular exercises (run, bike, elliptical, stairs, swim) to get a great conditioning workout. You can get just as great of a conditioning/metabolic workout by alternating high intensity exercises. If you have access to kettlebells, medicine balls, agility ladders, TRXs, or other free weights you can easily put together a great high intensity circuit. This is great for athletes who are looking to improve their conditioning for sport or a housewives looking to shred fat.
Here is an example of a basic conditioning circuit:
- 30 seconds TRX Rows
- Rest 15 seconds
- 30 seconds kettlebell swings
- Rest 15 seconds
- 30 seconds medicine ball chops one directions
- 30 seconds medicine ball chops other direction
- Rest 15 seconds
- 4 laps of an agility drill on the ladders
- Rest 30 seconds
- Repeat this circuit 4-5 times
This workout would take you about 15-20 minutes to complete. It’s a great alternative to typical cardio training.
