Thursday, October 15, 2009
I hope everyone got something out of my last post as well as the article. Its something that must be taken seriously and for some people, its a must if they want to continue to train. Its boring stuff, I know but its gotta be done. Foam rolling and icing is so very easy and can produce results. It can diminish swelling and improve the connective tissue and blood flow. This just doesn’t go for the shoulder either. If you have a bum knee or low back pain, you need to notice the obvious. Don’t look to the knee or low back to try and fix the problem. Well, let me rephrase that. You do need to work on strengthening the abs and learning how to properly stabilize the mid-line under duress but other than that, if you have low back pain, don’t focus your efforts on the low back. Focus your efforts on hamstrings, quads (namely, the rectus femoris), the muscles surrounding the hip such as the iliopsoas, TFL (tensor fasciae latae), and maybe even the sartorius muscle. If these muscle groups are given enough attention to in terms of mobility using methods such as foam rolling or even proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), the back pain can and will go away.
But who has time for that right? Hopefully, you do. Its that important. Its the difference between being able to workout and not being able to workout. Its the difference between being a so-so athlete and a great athlete. If you are looking for that edge, look no further. Spend 15 to 20 minutes a day on this stuff and notice the difference in your workouts and life in general. This goes the same for the knees. If knee pain is existent, take a look at your calves, your hamstrings, your quads, your adductors, your glutes, etc. Improve mobility in these areas and pay attention to how you are squatting. You may need to change your squat for a bit to accommodate knee pain which means that the weight may have to come down a bit. Check the ego and bring it down. You will really have to look at keeping those knees back or even box squatting maybe even taking out full catches in the Olympic lifts (You can still do power catches so long as there is no pain). This is okay right? There are a million other things you can do until you heal yourself to keep your fitness up.
I’ll tell you what, if you are having joint pain and don’t know where to begin? Let me know. If you are in the area, I can physically look at you and we can both try and locate the problem areas. We can put a plan in place to try and alleviate these problems by focusing our efforts on mobilizing. If you aren’t in the area, I would love to consult through email or by phone. Sometimes these problems are too far beyond what can be done outside of surgery but in most cases something can be done to alleviate pain and/or eliminate it. Believe me, it is usually faulty movement patterns that cause pain, impingement, and finally injury.
With all this being said, I don’t just do this kind of consulting either. I hope that all of you know that I would love to and am available for personal training (specialize in teaching the Olympic lifts), nutrition consulting, programming considerations, and of course mobility and injury prevention. Don’t be afraid to email me or even call me (402-315-8101) as I am confident we can work something out. I love working with people one-on-one. This is where the most results can occur and it gives me the opportunity to really enjoy my passion.
Today’s WOD (091015)
Back Squat 6×3 (176-203-227-252-277-302)
ss w/
Push Press 6×3 (130-142-160-176-196-208)
Rested about 3 minutes between supersets.
followed by,
AMRAP in 4 minutes of:
7 Muscle Snatches @ 98 pounds
15 Double Unders
Rest 1 minute. Repeat Cycle for a total of 4 times.
Total Rounds Completed: 12 Rounds (back is tight as heck, muscle snatch is not really a good exercise to do for a long time or a ton of reps.)
I may yet and try and hit running squats this evening. We’ll see. I took Tuesday and Wednesday off.
