Train Your Way Out Of Pain

It's been a while - sorry - big plans with seminars and mentoring so I apologise...but I had to wrote about something today because I am fed up with this problem. If i had hair, it would be pulled out by now!! Just because a clinical/muscle test shows something is "weak" doesn't mean that it really is weak... e.g. a glute can test weak on hip extension isometric muscle testing in different positions...fine. but if I ask the patient to think about something different or a different cue, and THEN the muscle tests normally or performs better, is it REALLY weak? Far too often I hear my patients tell me they have a weak this or a tight that...it might FEEL weak, it might LOOK underactive, it might PERFORM weakly, but it might actually be because you have poor coordination! This is not an easy concept for some health professionals, fitness professionals and the public to understand...I know that...so I will say it again S L O W L Y Just because a test result is poor DOES NOT MEAN your muscles are weak. For example, I had a guy who can squat 150+kg tell me he has weak glutes. Wha!!?? he had a rounded bum. He had obvious tone in the muscles. He can squat and deadlift. He can do weighted lunges and step ups...but someone told him he has weak glutes. So he showed me how his one leg bridge was "weak"...I then showed him how to set... Read More

Yesterday, we looked at rope pull ups as another version of the pullup. But this principle can apply to many exercises. That is why we do front squats, back squats and overhead squats...but you can add Bulgarian Split Squats, Lunges, Cleans, Snatches, Thrusters as other variations. Most repetitive strain injuries occur when you do the one thing in one way over and over again. Weightlifters know this - they cycle through different exercises and work on their accessory exercises. Bodybuilders know this - they go through different cycles and exercises to ensure the whole body is balanced. As a CrossFitter, you should know this as well - in a week where you might have done 100 pullups the day before, it might be worthwhile doing ring pulls or ring pullups or rope pullups just to vary the loading. Even changing it to chin ups can help. The beauty of CrossFit is that it is infinitely scalable and there are so many exercise choices. So to avoid injury, try moving your hands around into different positions during push ups. Learn how to do muscles ups with a neutral AND a false grip. Work on strict, kipping and butterfly pullups. Variety is the spice of life...it is also a valuable injury prevention tool!

That is one of the topic Brent Fikowski (finished 6th in the Australian Regionals in 2013 and now lives in the Canada West region) and I have been discussing. This post is a combination of our discussions on the topic so it is essentially co-written by Brent. Brent's pick? 13.2...here's why. (And he wants to say, it is not just because he had success in this WOD!) For those that don't know, last year's 13.2 Open Workout was particularly interesting for two main reasons. The first reason is that some high scorers on this WOD were given the infamous "No-Rep" and were disqualified from The Open, thereby crushing their goals of Regionals and The Games. The second reason was that the opinion of many (including myself) is that multiple rebounding box jumps is an unsafe exercise to program. Repeating 13.2 would allow those disqualified athletes an opportunity at redemption, and a way for CrossFit Headquarters to say we don't care what you think, when we say jump you say how high. CFHQ, for better or for worse (IMHO) loves online hype, conversation, and controversy. I can't think of a better way to stir the pot than to have that workout back in it. What would be great is if those disqualified athletes were on the live Open show. And then it would be even better if they all got no-repped heaps...[which they won't because they will have learned from last year!] But still, that would be an incredibly entertaining viewing experience... Read More

Restricted shoulders? Failing your cleans and front squats because your can't support the weight in the front rack position? Have back pain? Are your muscles refusing to relax despite being pounded by rollers and lacrosse balls? Most people think that if you have sore shoulders, you should work your shoulders and the pain will improve. This is true sometimes but more often than not,the area is sore because something else is pulling on that sore part. This week alone, I reckon I have addressed the same general problem of mid-back stability daily in sedentary desk jockeys to elite athletes. When I teach people how to stabilize the mid back, I show them how it improves their tests and their movements. If stability in the mid-back is a problem, then a small test will find the problem area in the mid back and then you can retest all the other symptoms like restricted shoulders etc. An example for you is someone I saw recently. Her coach didn't like the way she set up at the barbell for her snatch. the first thing I did was look at what that looked like. Next, I got her to remember what it felt like to snatch grip deadlift the bar. The she set up as she usually did and then I had her let go of the bar and did an isometric muscle test in that position - it was really "weak". I gave her 2 simple cues and retested the isometric muscle test... Read More