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Mike T Nelson

Who Uses Kettlebells?

New video from Dragon Door on Kettlebell athletes.

I can say that all types of athletes can use them, just be sure to get some good instruction so that you are using them properly. Even endurance folks can use them to balance out there training and I just did a Z Health/Kettlebell session with a top RAAM cyclist the other night.

Be sure to keep about from that Kettleworx crap though!

Mike T Nelson Ramblings: Kettleworx As Seen on KARE 11 TV Can Kiss ...

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Dynamic Joint Mobility (Z Health) vs Static Stretching: Q and A Time

I had a great question from the wonderful post Smitty from Diesel Crew put up recently about static stretching (thanks again Smitty---you da man). I though I would post it here for those that missed it.

Be sure to check out The Diesel Crew

Hello mike,

I wouldn't want to ask you anything to sell your secret.

I don't understand how it could be any more efficient then foam rolling
with a combination of dynamic and static stretches. Say you have a tight
muscles whats the difference between massaging it, stretching it, or
doing some z health> which lasts the longest? etc.

Ha! No worries. Ask away--no secrets, but some things are just really
hard to explain over the internet at times.

Good question. For long term, permanent change we need to elicit
learning a new pattern/program.

Passive work (somebody doing something to you or you yourself as you lay
their like a dead fish) in general does not "hold" for a long period of
time since the learning effect in the brain is small. This does not
mean it is NOT effective in certain cases, but in general it needs to be
repeated quite frequently to be effective.

Foam rolling kind of falls into that area as you are moving, but not a
ton. Also, people tend to foam roll trying to INDUCE pain, which is a
bad idea as pain will inhibit performance. If you have a right shoulder
problem I can take a cow Massage falls into this category of a more
passive therapy. Want to drive your massage therapist nuts? When they
are done working on an area--get up and walk around the room and see if
there is still any difference. If NOT, what makes you think it will
stay once you even get home, much less tomorrow?

For increased learning, we need to do more active, controlled, precise,
movement. This is probably dynamic drills are better---more movement.
More movement= more motor learning. Z Health is based on dynamic,
ACTIVE mobility work. In my experience, after doing a Z Health drill
to target a muscle, it will stay "on" for about 2-5 hours; so I have
athletes do some high pay off drills for only 3-5 reps, but done 3-4
times during the day. This promotes more motor learning by getting some
overlap of the new patterns (increased reps promote learning too).
After about 3-4 weeks at 90% compliance, this new program is pretty well
wired into your body and we move on to the next issue.

Stretching can work, but be careful of what you are teaching your body.
The definition of static stretch is to put the limb/muscle into an
elongated position and teach it to be WEAKER. Can this help with some
muscles that may be "overactive"---yes, but you will most likely need a
trained eye/hands on work to find them. Dynamic joint mobility work
(like Z Health) can also target this muscles too. Randomly static
stretching is teaching your body to be weaker. DJM (dyn joint mobility)
is teaching STRENGTH, esp at an end range of motion. How many athletes
are weak during a mid range movement? Very few. How many are weak at
an end range of motion? Many (myself included on certain exercises).

Long winded answer, but I believe PRECISE joint mobility work can
actually replace about 90% of foam rolling, massage and static
stretching. Beyond this, think of how the brain gets info--1) eyes 2)
vestibular (inner ear "balance") 3) proprioception--joint information.
A system for extreme human performance, should target all 3 of these
areas---at a high level, this is what Z Health does. You can also add
to this very specific hands on holding of tissue while athletes do
certain drills also, but that is another can o' worms.

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Related posts

More Brain Science and BAHG

Neuroplasticity and Human Athletic Performance

Z Health, Proprioception, Neuroplasticity all on Super Human Radio

Super Human Radio: Visual Aspect of Performance

Opposite Joints: My elbow hurts, you want me to check my knee?

Here is a question I get a fair amount in relation to the location of pain / loss of function and where to look for a solution.

"He who treats the site of pain is lost" ---Karel Lewitt, M.D., Dr.

Just because you have a chronic shoulder issue does not mean that you can SOLVE that issue by working ONLY on the shoulder! The first place I would look is the opposite joint; so for a right shoulder I would check the LEFT hip. For a right elbow issue, I would check the LEFT KNEE.

The technical term is interlimb neural coupling (see reference below).

How does this help in the real world? Keep on reading


Hey mike...you got me thinking on joint and cross joint and function. My right elbow has chronic arthritis and joint mice built up. I have full supination/pronation. But my extension is to about 130 degrees and my flexion is only at 90 degrees. It's quite limited! So I'm always altering movement. I really don't do much pressing anymore. In Z health should i pay extra attention to my left knee?

Just curious
Thanks a lot man
Jason Ross

The short answer is YES I have a video coming out on this soon, whenever I can steal 5 minutes to upload it.

I can't guarantee that, but for an elbow, the first place I would look at is the opposite knee and I would check the opposite motion too; so knee flexion (hamstring). Have you ever sprained that ankle on that side? I wold check the talocalcaneal aka subtalar joint since that corresponds to hamstring activity due to gait

Let me know what you find!

Mike N


Mike....I actually have sprained the left ankle pretty severely around 12 years ago. It has never felt as stable.

Thanks for your time man. Jason

Be sure to check out all the killer information on Jason's blog

Train Out Pain

For a case study on how to use opposite joints and the results, see the link below

Z Health and Marathon Running

REFERENCE

Brain. 2007 Jan;130(Pt 1):159-69. Epub 2006 Oct 3.

Exaggerated interlimb neural coupling following stroke.

Kline TL, Schmit BD, Kamper DG.

Neuromechanics Laboratory, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA.

The patterns of interlimb coupling were examined in 10 stroke survivors with chronic hand impairment. In particular, the potential roles of postural state and motor tasks in promoting the flexed posture of the upper extremity were assessed. Through the use of electromyography analysis, joint angle measurements and a novel biomechanical apparatus to perturb the digits of the hand into extension, measurements of muscle activity and joint position were compared during multiple postural states, locomotion and voluntary muscle activity. The results demonstrated a significant increase in flexion of the digits (P < class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">flexion and voluntary leg extension produced significant activity in the other impaired extremity, leg and arm, respectively, in the stroke as compared with the control subjects. Thus, rectus femoris in the impaired leg was active during finger flexion of the impaired hand in the stroke survivors and all four tested muscles in the impaired arm were active during extension of the legs (P < class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">interlimb coupling related to active motor tasks, contributing to an upper extremity flexion bias following stroke.

Tips for KB Pressing Power: New Article at Dragon Door

Greetings everyone!

I apologize for the delays here as Jodie and I were at a marketing conference this past weekend in CT. It was crazy as we did not get much sleep, but learned a ton! We also got to meet TONS of great people and connect with old friends too. I hope to have an update soon, but our flight was delayed last night so I got a whole 5 hours of sleep and 6 the night before and 7 the night before---blah blah blah.

Changes Coming
Tons of changing coming as I am working on a new website, blog, and lots of really cool stuff--all to better serve you and keep providing killer information. Keep that dial (er, mouse?) here for all the latest and greatest.

Tips for KB Pressing Power

Just wanted to let everyone know I have a new article up at Dragon Door entitled "Tips for Kettlebell Pressing Power" so click on the link above to read it. Feel free to leave comments here and I will answer them as soon as I can.

Off to finish some last minute research for a nutrition teleseminar I am doing tonight.

Rock on!
Mike T Nelson

TendonOSIS vs TendonITIS

TendonOSIS vs TendonITIS. What is the difference and does it matter?

Here it the crash course for you.

TendonITIS is normally from inflammation (itis)

TendonOSIS is normally from messed up connective tissue.

Most things are actually tendonOSIS (even though most docs call everything tendonITIS).

Once your overall movement quality improves, pain will normally dramatically reduce. I remember Dr. Cobb stating, "It movement can get you into pain, movement should be able to get you out of pain." I've found the Z Health exercises to be very effective here. For this line of thinking, it really doesn't matter much.

In general, tendonOSIS gets better (less pain) as you train in that session. TendonITIS normally gets worse.

If you are looking for a different approach, tendonOSIS responds better to longer eccentric contractions, but make sure there is no startle (flinching, fascial contortions, altered breathing and not painful). Try 10 reps or so of 5 sec eccentrics and work up to 2-3 sets and can be done as often as needed (sometimes daily). If someone is working with me, I will also evaluate their movement (normally via gait) to make sure their movement is not getting worse.

Most should see some change in 1-2 weeks and completely gone in about 3 weeks (but results will vary of course).

If it is tendonITIS I would try higher amounts of fish oil (EPA/DHA combined of about 2-4 grams per day), more fruits and veggies and if you want to get fancy tumeric and/or bromelain along with a good multi vitamin/mineral.

If pain still persists and appears to still be refractory to all of the above and you have not seen the sun in months, I would try some Vit D. Ideally you would talk to your doc about getting a blood test for Vit D and go from there. In many states, you can have your blood levels of Vit D testing on its own. ZRT labs will test for Vit D. Check out the SHR show below for more info.

Super Human Radio Show - # 258 - Responsible Vitamin D Supplementation

Hope this is helpful!
Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Edit--thanks to Kevin for sending me the following abstract

Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2006 Feb;443:320-32.

Biomechanical basis for tendinopathy.
Wang JH, Iosifidis MI, Fu FH.

MechanoBiology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. wanghc@pitt.edu

Tendinopathy affects millions of people in athletic and occupational settings and is a nemesis for patients and physicians. Mechanical loading is a major causative factor for tendinopathy; however, the exact mechanical loading conditions (magnitude, frequency, duration, loading history, or some combinations) that cause tendinopathy are poorly defined. Exercise animal model studies indicate that repetitive mechanical loading induces inflammatory and degenerative changes in tendons, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for such changes are not known. Injection animal model studies show that collagenase and inflammatory agents (inflammatory cytokines and prostaglandin E1 and E2) may be involved in tendon inflammation and degeneration; however, whether these molecules are involved in the development of tendinopathy because of mechanical loading remains to be verified. Finally, despite improved treatment modalities, the clinical outcome of treatment of tendinopathy is unpredictable, as it is not clear whether a specific modality treats the symptoms or the causes.

Research is required to better understand the mechanisms of tendinopathy at the tissue, cellular, and molecular levels and to develop new scientifically based modalities to treat tendinopathy more effectively.

Z Health/ Mike T Nelson Testmionial

Testimonial Time!
Outstanding! Professional! Amiable! Thoughtful! Intelligent! Those are just a few words to describe my experience with Mike T. Nelson.

I arrived at Mike’s place hoping to be educated and find relief from some nagging injuries and poor movement habits to include a tight lower back, lack of movement in the hips and plantar fasciitis in my both my feet. My right foot being much worse than my left.

I left Mike’s place using hip muscles that I have not effectively used in, well maybe forever.

Within 2 weeks of performing the drills Mike provided for me my back pain disappeared and within 4 weeks the pain in my feet subsided dramatically. Only 5 days after working with Mike I did a marathon. I marched 17 miles and ran 9 miles with hiking boots and a backpack. Without Mike’s help I would not have been able to walk across the finish line, it would have been a crawl. A few times during the race the pain in my hips, due to poor movement, became very intense. When this happened I would stop marching/running and perform the Z-drills. This provided for instant relief and more efficient, fluent movement!

It’s been 5 weeks since my experience with Mike and I can play 2 hours of basketball with minimal pain in my feet! This was not possible pre Mike. Along with the Z-Health drills Mike provided for me he also gave me advice on footwear and he gave me a book on weight training. I left Mike’s place an improved man.

Thank you Mike for your first class service and I’ll be seeing you again.

Lucas Guili, Michigan
B.S. in Health/Fitness Management, Veteran of U.S.A.F.

Thanks again to Lucas for making the long drive and doing his exercises! Excellent work!
It is not always this easy, but about 70% of the time it is!
Drop me a line and book your session today.

Email Mike T Nelson by clicking here

Rock on
Mike T Nelson
PS
To see more testimonials check out the links below
Z Health MN

Testimonials

Z Health Testimonial from Joe Pavel and More Nervous System Research

Testimonial Time, Blogs, Fat Loss and Bone Health Connection?

Z Health Testimonial: Endurance Athlete

Testimonial Time, TSC 2009 Training and Lessons Learned

Enough with the static stretching already

As readers of this blog know, I am not a big fan of static stretching. Don't get me wrong, if you have any pain and/or movement issues you need to get them fixed ASAP; but I don't feel static stretching is the most effective solution. I think you can use mobility work for all your static stretching needs. Here are some related posts

Stop Static Stretching: New Research

Static Stretching--Good or Bad?

Human tendon behavior and adaptation, in vivo.

Stretching and Resistance Training and Tendon Effects

The Death of Static Stretching

Hey look Mom---someone else has similar thoughts!

http://saveyourself.ca/articles/stretching.php

rock on
Mike T Nelson

Random Thoughts Friday: NSCA Clinic, More Muscle and Rock Stars

Coming at ya with another Random Friday since all the cool people are doing! Actually it is a good way to get out some thoughts running around in my head that I am not sure what to do with or don't have time to expand on.

If you are reading this at the butt crack of dawn, I will be starting or finishing up my 4th to last (fingers crossed) battery of tests in the Energy Drink study!! Getting close to the end of data collection and a HUGE thanks to everyone that has participated so far! I could not do it without you.

Here we go!

1) Minnesota NSCA clinic later today and tomorrow

It is an honor for me to be presenting later tonight and tomorrow with Brad "No Relation" Nelson from Kinetic Edge Performance on the topic "Speed: Walk Before You Run: How Neuroscience Affects Speed by Two Closet Geeks" I can't speak for Brad, but I burned my closet for kindling years ago--hahaha.

We will be covering some ways to make you faster using that big brain on your head and efficient foot work. The player/athlete that can minimize the number of unnecessary steps he/she takes will be faster.

One simple example is how to start out going straight ahead (or to slight angle).

Some coaches tell their athletes to "fall" forward to get that first step and go from there.

Lee Taft has been saying this for years (and Dr. Cobb covers it in Z Health S Phase too) that if you watch the fastest players, they take a very quick step BACKWARDS to propel them forward and the don't fall forward---it is too slow. Don't take my word for it--try it!

They don't rock back like slingshot, they step back (plyo step) and use that foot/leg to DRIVE them forward fast.

Be careful doing this, as there is a ton of stress applied to the driving (plyo) foot--that does not mean it is bad, just go slow and get the proper form down and ease into full speed drills and do NOT rush it. Most need more mobility work on both of their feet/ankles too.

Is there any research to support this? Glad you asked!

Starting from standing; why step backwards?

Reference Kraan GA e al. J Biomech. 2001 Feb;34(2):211-5.

3 different positions

• an athletic stance with no step back
• athletic stance allowing a step back (plyo step)
• a standing track start with one foot in front of the other
• Found that the Plyo Step had a greater impact on an athlete’s acceleration in terms of force and impulse time
• Also referenced by Lee Taft in “Coaching Away an Athlete's Speed”
  

Stepping backward can improve sprint performance over short distances (2008)

“…utilizing a step forward to initiate movement resulted in significantly slower sprint times to both 2.5 and 5 m (6.4% and 5.3%, respectively)

“…adopting a starting technique in which a step backward is employed may result in superior performance.”

Reference: Strength Cond Res. 2008 May;22(3):918-22.


2) NSCA clinic, come talk to me and say hi

Seriously, come on over and at minimum say hi, argue or throw stale muffins at me. I look forward to meeting many of you there and talking shop for 1.5 days-----yeahhhh ha!

Super stoked to see the presentations and one of the Gillinghams and pro strong man from Minnesota Dave Ostlund. Dave is also a brand new dad, so congrats to him!

3) Remodeling your body

Thinking out loud here about the remodeling process of the body due to weight training (more strength, more muscle and perhaps less fat). Here are my thoughts

Stimulus (weight training) + protein (calories with sufficient protein) = more muscle!

Stimulus (weight training, jumping, etc) + calcium and minerals = more bone!

If the raw materials (calcium, protein, etc) are not present in your diet you will have less than optimal remodeling, and it will also be associated with a "higher cost"

Think of it this way, it would be like trying to fix your toilet downstairs by stealing part off the one upstairs. Yep, the downstairs one works great now, but you have another issue.

If you look in the literature, there are some older cool studies on rats where they cut the tendons in the calf area to completely overload the other muscle (soleus). They could stave them, cut their nuts off (youch, I am all for rat studies now!!), and lots of other things and the little buggers still had LOCALIZED muscle hypertrophy, since the stimulus was so large.

The take away
For muscle hypertrophy, the stimulus and protein (probably more calories too) are extremely important. You could argue that the stimulus is the most important thing.

REFERENCES
: Experientia. 1971 Sep 15;27(9):1039-40.Links
'Compensatory' muscle hypertrophy in the rat induced by tenotomy of synergistic muscles."
Macková E, Hník P.

Cell Tissue Res. 1975 Jul 16;160(3):411-21.Links
Satellite cells of the rat soleus muscle in the process of compensatory hypertrophy combined with denervation.
Hanzlíková V, Macková EV, Hník P.

4) New Quote on Beliefs
I was talking to Frankie Faires the other night and the quote we came up with

"All beliefs are limited"

The mind is incredibly powerful and if you truly believe a new weight training program will help you, then it will (and there is nothing wrong with that). The power of belief is huge, but limited. I can try as hard as I want to believe that I can fly all by myself, but in the end gravity will win.

5) A shout out to all my friends kiteboarding in South Padre
Pete Koski shot this cool kite view video. I am so jealous....... if anyone in SPI is reading this, have some sweet rides and airs for me. Jodie and I will be down in Nov this year for sure.
Ride on

SPI #2 from Pete Koski on Vimeo.

Mike T Nelson on Super Human Radio: Visual Aspect of Performance

Just a heads up that I was recently on Super Human Radio again discussing how your vision affects your performance

Learn some simple exercises to improve your athletic performance on the field and in the gym

• Should you look in the mirror in the gym?
• Neurologic reflexes to maximize strength
• Should you lift without your glasses?
• Can you really "see" results from all this stuff?
  

Vision is MUCH more than just the ability to see clearly! Learn more below

Super Human Radio Show - # 295 - The Visual Aspect Of Performance

Special thanks to Carl as he does a great show and makes doing an interview a fun experience.

Be sure to check the Super Human Radio home page

If you missed the first episode I did on proprioception "2 way muscle talk" check it out below.

Z Health, Proprioception, Neuroplasticity all on Super Human Radio

Any comments, let me know!
Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Dysfunctional Exercise Cues at XL Athlete (aka How to Cue Exercise Correctly)

I recently wrote an article about applying neurology to exercise cues. The full article is at

XL Athlete Dysfunctional Exercise Cues By Mike T Nelson

Special thanks to Cal Dietz for publishing in and editing my typos by Jonathon Janz, MS, CSCS, USAW

Below is the start of the article

If most agree that training full body
exercises (dead lifts, bench press, KB Swing,
etc) is better than isolating body parts for
the purpose of training athletes, why do
most coaches still cue athletes via body
parts (squeeze those lats, etc)?
For those that don't want to read any further,
here is the crazy thought:
Cue them by the movement you want them to
do and/or do an exercise to allow better
execution.
Ok, you can stop reading now. If you want
more details, down the rabbit hole we go!

Head over to XL Athlete and read the full article (click below) and put any discussion points/ experience/ comments in general here on my blog and I will reply to them.

XL Athlete Dysfunctional Exercise Cues By Mike T Nelson

There are tons and tons of great things on the XL Athlete site, so be sure to check out their main page below

XL Athlete
Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Mobility vs Stability, Primitive Patterns, Z Health and More!

Question on Mobility, Stability, Primitive Patterns, Z Health and more!

Came across your blog and found it interesting as I have also taken some Z courses. I love it, but think that there doesn't have to be a distinction between the nervous system and biomechanical approaches.

I think both are necessary and we all need a balance between mobility and stability. Not sure if you're familiar with Gray Cook, but he wrote an interesting article on this topic a while back on T-nation.

I recently purchased his Primitive Movements DVD and he discusses movement patterns along with some stability work, including some Power Plate exercises. In one of his newsletters, Eric (Dr. Cobb of Z Health) stated his doubt about the use of anything electric, but I think he is wrong on this one.

I've been doing Z Health since 2003 and seen great results with it. At the same time, it hasn't restored proper function by itself and I believe most people will need some form of manual therapy and stability work for optimal results.

Vibration platforms are a great tool for addressing reflex stabilization. Just a tool, but effective none the less.

Look forward to reading your articles. Always looking to learn from someone new.

Thanks
Brian Morgan

Answer
Thanks for the note Brian! One of the things I love about this blog is the ability to interact with some really smart people.

I don't really like the term "stability" I think a better term is "coordination" (stole that from Frankie Faires). Much of this I covered in this past post

Jammed Joints and Muscular Weakness--Stability and Mobility

Also see Aaron's Blog post here

Not a Stability Issue

I do believe you need mobility before stability, as I stated in my lumbar mobility post quite some time ago (I am sure I am not the first to say that). Kids has tons of mobility and then learn coordination (stability).

Lumbar Mobility in Italy

Lumbar movement and Z Health comment

Cool that you have been doing Z-Health for a long time. Have you worked with a Z Health trainer? If so, what level? Many times after a period of time, you will need your eyes/vestibular systems checked as they can be impeding any progress. Don't just take my word for it, see this comment from Dr. Jim below

Testimonial for Z Health and New Dragon Door Workshop: Z-Health

I am actually totally for hands on work, as long as it is NOT painful---see my ART / Z Health post below (I think I am going for a record number of links in a post)

Active Release Technique (ART), Z Health, Hands on Work (Massage, Guided Exercise)

For research, I think vibe platforms are cool (although they feel really weird), but if I was going to build a gym from scratch, at 10K a piece I would put them on the bottom of the list. I do think they can get lots of mechanoreceptor stim going and many times that will even get people out of pain.

I spent about an hour talking to the nice people at the power plate stand at ACSM last year. Very cool people and I expect to see more use of them for pain reduction coming soon. How long that effect will hold once you step off is debatable. I think some cool mobility work (when done with precision) can get you a similar effect and will last (hold) longer due to the enhanced motor learning--you are ACTIVELY moving your limbs so that brain on top of your head has to work harder than if you just lay their like a dead fish while someone pokes/prods at ya.

Thoughts/ comments from others? Post them in the comments!

Rock on and special thanks to Brian for letting me post this here
Mike T Nelson

Movement and Brain Health: Running exercise-induced up-regulation of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor

Running exercise-induced up-regulation of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor is CREB-dependent.

Chen MJ, Russo-Neustadt AA. Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, 5151 State University Dr., Los Angeles, California.

The past decade has witnessed burgeoning evidence that antidepressant medications and physical exercise increase the expression of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This phenomenon has gained widespread appeal, because BDNF is one of the first macromolecules observed to play a central role not only in the treatment of mood disorders, but also in neuronal survival-, growth-, and plasticity-related signaling cascades. Thus, it has become critical to understand how BDNF synthesis is regulated. Much evidence exists that changes in BDNF expression result from the activation/phosphorylation of the transcription factor, cAMP-response-element binding protein (CREB) following the administration of antidepressant medications. Utilizing a mouse model genetically engineered with an inducible CREB repressor, our current study provides evidence that increases in BDNF expression and cellular survival signaling resulting from physical exercise are also dependent upon activation of this central transcription factor.


The transcription and expression of hippocampal BDNF, as well as the activation of Akt, a key survival signaling molecule, were measured following acute exercise, and also following short-term treatment with the norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, reboxetine. We found that both interventions led to a marked increase in hippocampal BDNF mRNA, BDNF protein, and Akt phosphorylation (as well as CREB phosphorylation) in wild-type mice. As expected, activation of the CREB repressor in mutant mice sharply decreased CREB phosphorylation. In addition, all measures noted above remained at baseline levels when mutant mice exercised or received reboxetine. Increases in BDNF and phospho-Akt were also prevented when mutant mice received a combination of exercise and antidepressant treatment.


CONCLUSION: The results are discussed in the context of what is currently known about brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling.

My Notes: While this is a mechanistic study, once again science is starting to unwind the mysteries of brain function and movement. It is pretty clear that movement (running in this case, but exercise in general) affects brain function too! Another positive for mobility work and exercise in general.

Related posts

Movement and Brain Deterioration? New Study

More Brain Science and BAHG

Stroke of Insight

Neuroscience Research Updates for October

Neuroplasticity and Human Athletic Performance

Rock on!
Mike T Nelson

Active Release Technique (ART), Z Health, Hands on Work (Massage, Guided Exericse)

What are your thoughts about ART?

This was a good question that I received about 3 times in the past week, so I thought I would address it here.

It is a general question, so I will answer it in relation to general prinicples. Again, everything needs to be custom to the athletes that you work with of course.

For more info, click the links below

Get Off the Foam Roller

Myth Busters-Painful Soft Tissue Work

Some have believed based on my posts above that I am against soft tissue/hands on work; and that is not true at all. I am against PAINFUL soft tissue work!

All of the ART therapists that I have met so far have been great and extremely knowledgeable. Some do painful soft tissue work and others do not (although they are much less common). I don't believe pain is needed to get a result and will actually diminish your results. You are normally seeing an ART person to get out of pain or change a motor pattern/pain.

Don't try to blow up the safe when you just need the correct combination to open the door.

Here is another great post by Carl Valle at Elite Track and my response to it.

Soft Tissue Therapy by Carl Valle (click the title to open it)


My response to Carl.

Hi there Carl! Thanks for the kinds words as it means a lot coming from someone such as yourself.

In relation to experience with athletes that is an excellent point. To date, I have done a fair amount of Z Health sessions (I do have the exact number documented and not pulled out of thin air if you need further info).

Note that when I say Z Health this may apply to dynamic joint mobility work, visual testing/movements, vestibular work or even hands on work (which means that I am holding
tissue/joint/muscle in a specific orientation while they perform an exercise).

I agree that most of these are not what would be considered high level athletes and more weekend warriors types. I was able do a session with a recent Olympic competitor and was able to get her out of pain for the first time in years (see link below)

Z Health and Marathon Running

The same principles would apply to high level athletes.

I agree 100% that soft tissue work done correctly can have HUGE changes for people. No question about that!

You point about most businesses is a good one. I do run a business in the private sector.

Clients/athletes come to a professional in the field for results. My guarantee is that if I can’t get your pain to less than a 2 on a 1-10 scale in ONE session, it is FREE. No results=no money for me=out of business.

Down with foam rollers! Preach on.

Yes, there is research on eccentric stimuli to help encourage remodeling, esp in the case of
tendonOSIS as you know. I like to think upstream—-what causes tension on the muscles/tendons?

Control from the nervous system, so if we can alter that signal, over time the structures will adapt.

Carl said “..but the direct approach WITH motor changes and other elements is a full approach.”

Yes! I have had cases where I’ve needed to do hands on (touch an athlete just as you would touch them to guide them during an exericse) to get a result. In one specific case I held the hamstrings in a specific orientation with the athlete doing an opposite elbow circle (joint mobility), with her head turned to the right and eyes in the up position.

Her hamstrings worked much better afterward and total time of the drill was about 1 minute (getting to that point was about 40 minutes in that case though). She had to follow up and do a similar drill (without hands on work) 3xs a day for about 3-4 weeks for it to “stick”—there is never a free lunch

In general, I do the minimal approach to get the maximal results. Precise joint mobility work seems to get me there about 70% of the time ( I mean 72.8958859% of the time, hehee). The more times I work with athletes and as their movement progresses, the more other work they will need—hands on (guided exercises), visual (eyes held in a specific position), and vestibular (head motions) ; but with all things “it depends” as I may skip around depending on the client. I like to start simple and then only add complexity when the simple looking things do not work.


I hope that answers the ART question!

Any follow up points, thoughts, clarifications, please post them in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mike T Nelson

Pain is Bad for Performance: New Study on Shoulder Pain

I am sure everyone is tired of hearing me yack about how bad pain is for performance and proper muscle coordination. If you have missed my tyrants in the past, see the following by clicking on them

Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal Pain and A Shot to the Nuts

Pain and Performance

In this study, they created pain in healthy people and then saw that it decreased shoulder muscle activity. The researchers stated,

"During abduction, experimentally induced pain in the supraspinatus muscle caused a significant decrease in activity of the anterior deltoid, upper trapezius and the infraspinatus and an increase in activity of lower trapezius and latissimus dorsi muscles."

The body is showing an arthrokinetic reflex where it is working to protect the joint by starting to shut down the muscles around it. Makes sense since your body is survival based, not performance based. You can get an increase in performance by increasing the ability of it to survive. This is a basic concept taught in Z Health R Phase.

Mobility drills (like Z Health) can be used to correct the joints and thus muscular function.

For maximal performance, get out of pain. A vast majority of the time, better movement = less pain.

Below is the full study

The influence of experimentally induced pain on shoulder muscle activity

Louise Pyndt Diederichsen1, 4, 5 Contact Information, Annika Winther1, Poul Dyhre-Poulsen2, Michael R. Krogsgaard3 and Jesper Nørregaard1
(1) Institute of Sports Medicine-Copenhagen, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
(2) Department for Medical Physiology, Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
(3) Department of Orthopaedic Surgery M, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
(4) Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Odense Universitetshospital, Sdr. Boulevard 29, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
(5) Lodsvej 25A, 5270 Odense N, Denmark

Abstract
Muscle function is altered in painful shoulder conditions. However, the influence of shoulder pain on muscle coordination of the shoulder has not been fully clarified. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of experimentally induced shoulder pain on shoulder muscle function.

Eleven healthy men (range 22–27 years), with no history of shoulder or cervical problems, were included in the study. Pain was induced by 5% hypertonic saline injections into the supraspinatus muscle or subacromially. Seated in a shoulder machine, subjects performed standardized concentric abduction (0°–105°) at a speed of approximately 120°/s, controlled by a metronome.

During abduction, electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded by intramuscular wire electrodes inserted in two deeply located shoulder muscles and by surface-electrodes over six superficially located shoulder muscles.

EMG was recorded before pain, during pain and after pain had subsided and pain intensity was continuously scored on a visual analog scale (VAS). During abduction, experimentally induced pain in the supraspinatus muscle caused a significant decrease in activity of the anterior deltoid, upper trapezius and the infraspinatus and an increase in activity of lower trapezius and latissimus dorsi muscles. Following subacromial injection a significantly increased muscle activity was seen in the lower trapezius, the serratus anterior and the latissimus dorsi muscles.

In conclusion, this study shows that acute pain both subacromially and in the supraspinatus muscle modulates coordination of the shoulder muscles during voluntary movements. During painful conditions, an increased activity was detected in the antagonist (latissimus), which support the idea that localized pain affects muscle activation in a way that protects the painful structure.

Further, the changes in muscle activity following subacromial pain induction tend to expand the subacromial space and thereby decrease the load on the painful structures.

Stop Static Stretching: New Research

Up On The Soapbox Again
The loyal readers of this blog know that I am not a fan of static stretching. I can't understand why you would put a muscle (and joints) at an extreme range of motion (ROM) and wait there for the muscles to get WEAKER. I don't want to teach my body that!

I want to have STRENGTH at an END range of motion.

Remember, your body is uber smart and is CONSTANTLY adapting, so what do you want it to adapt to? This goes for you desk jockeys too cranking your necks to read this screen, so sit up straight (yes Mom), but please do keep reading.

Why Do People Static Stretch?
I think people still do static stretching to some degree because they have nothing else to replace it with.

Here is the big revelation
You can replace all static stretching with precise joint mobility work (insert Z Health plug here).

Even dynamic mobility drills are much better than static stretching.

On a personal note, I have not done any static stretching for almost 2 years now and I have less pain, more mobility and increased strength (in most exercises) than I ever have before. I know, anecdotal, self reported, n=1.

What To Do Now?
Here is a video showing a hip flexor stretch, then an active mobility drill for the OPPOSITE shoulder. At the end he does a hip flexor stretch again to note the new change in range of motion (see for yourself).



If you are interested in the Z Health R Phase, you can pick it up by clicking on the icon on the upper right. Full disclosure: I do make a few bucks off each sale, but the price is the same to you and I would never recommend anything that sucks.

Here is another brand new study looking at static stretching. If you are still insisting upon doing it, the data below would say that if you are lifting 30 minutes after stretching the reduction in max force will be pretty much gone. I would still like to see people replace static stretching with mobility work.

See these related posts below

The Death of Static Stretching

Human tendon behaviour and adaptation, in vivo.

Stretching and Resistance Training and Tendon Effects

Static Stretching--Good or Bad?

Here is the abstract

Moderate-duration static stretch reduces active and passive plantar flexor moment but not Achilles tendon stiffness or active muscle length

Anthony D. Kay1,2 and Anthony J. Blazevich2,3

J Appl Physiol 106: 1249-1256, 2009. First published January 29, 2009;

1Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences, The University of Northampton, Northampton; 2Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance. Brunel University, Uxbridge, United Kingdom; and 3School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia

The effects of static stretch on muscle and tendon mechanical properties and muscle activation were studied in fifteen healthy human volunteers. Peak active and passive moment data were recorded during plantar flexion trials on an isokinetic dynamometer. Electromyography (EMG) monitoring of the triceps surae muscles, real-time motion analysis of the lower leg, and ultrasound imaging of the Achilles-medial gastrocnemius muscle-tendon junction were simultaneously conducted.

Subjects performed three 60-s static stretches before being retested 2 min and 30 min poststretch.

There were three main findings in the present study.

First, peak concentric moment was significantly reduced after stretch; 60% of the deficit recovered 30 min poststretch. This was accompanied by, and correlated with (r = 0.81; P < style="font-weight: bold;">

CONCLUSION
These data indicate that the stretching protocol used in this study induced losses in concentric moment that were accompanied by, and related to, reductions in neuromuscular activity, but they were not associated with alterations in tendon stiffness or shorter muscle operating length. Reductions in passive moment were associated with reductions in muscle stiffness, whereas tendon mechanics were unaffected by the stretch. Importantly, the impact on mechanical properties and neuromuscular activity was minimal at 30 min poststretch.

Z Health Testimonial: Endurance Athlete

Z Health Testimonial Time
Mike is like a miracle worker. One time I was walking with him and he asked me if I had ever been in an accident. I said no. Then he said, You walk funny. He had me do just a few odd exercises and suddenly my whole gait felt different. It actually felt smooth. I didn't know it could feel like that. That whole episode lasted about 5 minutes. Unbelievable!

--Neil Erdmans, Team Strong Heart Race Across America (RAAM) Rider
Team Heartstrong finished 3rd in the 2007 RAAM

Mike's notes
Thanks Neil! Some of the Z Health drills are kind of odd, but as Dr. Cobb likes to say "you should be able to make changes at the speed of the nervous system" which is VERY fast.

I was a crew member for the RAAM race that year, and it was quite the experience to say the least. Be sure to check out my blog posts about it below.

Race Across America Update!

Team Strong Heart places 3rd in RAAM!!

Neil just before the big race in 2007


Be sure to follow Team Strong Heart for 2009 RAAM!

Check out Neil's blog at Nerdy Bike

2009 Predictions for Health, Fitness and Athletic Performance

So I wrote this back in November and have not had time to even proof it and get it out and now 1/4 of 2009 is over! Time flies.

I have only listed 5 here and if you want to see the rest of the list I will only be sending it out to my loyal newsletter subscribers. It only takes a few seconds to sign up to my newsletter, so go to the upper right hand side of this blog and enter in your name and email. I HATE spam and will never sell your address or send you crap. Plus you will be the first to hear about any upcoming events, products and news.

The rest of the list will go out to my newsletter on Monday, March 23 at noon CST, so sign up now.

Here ya go!

Mike T Nelson's Predictions for Health, Fitness and Athletic Performance in 2009

"Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr

In no particular order, here are my thoughts

1) Movement and Mood
I think more people will look at the connection between movement and mood. All things being equal, the better your movement, the better your mood. Notice your movement when you are sick--usually not very good. How do you know when Fido is sick? Fido's movement goes in the hopper as he mopes around. Fido can't speak to you and tell you he is sick, you infer that from his movement. Fix your movement and note the difference! This is a huge reason why I love Z Health. See also

Mood and Mobility

Dopamine, Mood, Movement and Exercise

2) Kettlebells are here to stay
Every year, more and more people learn about kettlebells and they are here to stay. Kettlebells are not new, and have been used for well over 300 years.

The kettlebell appears in a 1704 Russian Dictionary (Cherkikh, 1994). I love KBs, but I agree that they are NOT the ONLY implement to use. If you only use KBs--great, but it is not a requirement. KBs provide a great way to perform many great exercises like KB swings, KB snatches, presses, cleans, etc.

Just make sure to find a good instructor to show you have to use them properly. And be sure to stay far far away from jokers like this below (click on it to open)

Kettleworx As Seen on KARE 11 TV Can Kiss My....

3) Painful hands on (massage) work will be used less
As more people investigate the nervous system, there will be less and less use of painful techniques for hands on work.
Creating pain is NOT needed to get the desired result, and many times it may be going in the wrong direction.

If you are trying to get OUT of pain, why would you do things that put you IN pain?

If you come in to see someone and complain about a painful right shoulder, I could take a hot poker and stab your right ankle with it. The pain in your right shoulder will feel much less. I know this is an extreme example (and no I don't use red hot pokers or branding irons) , but the idea is similar.

Despite popular belief, even scar work does NOT need to be painful. I've had great scar work done on myself and none of it was painful.

If someone wants to use an implement on you, I would politely pass. Check that, I would actually get up off the table and run out the door as fast as you could. Send a check in the mail for payment later.

You don't need someone with a dull spoon digging around your rotator cuff area. It is true that these techniques can result in temporary relief, but long term I believe there is a better way. cough cough, insert Z Health Level 4 plug here.

Don't try to blow up the safe when you just need the correct combination to open the door.

For more info, see the links below
Myth Busters: Painful Soft Tissue Work


4) Mechanical vs Neurological Solutions
The current trend seems to still be in the mechanical realm for performance and pain reduction. Oh, your hip flexors are "tight" and that further causes your glutes to be inhibited (reciprocal inhibition) so we need to stretch your hip flexors and strengthen your glutes.

While I believe you can get good results with this approach in many cases, but remember that the WHOLE body is HIGHLY INTEGRATED and it is very rarely that simple (although sometimes it is). We need to take a WHOLE BODY approach. Many times I see hip flexor and glute issues traced back to the feet/ankles being goofed up.

A pure biomechanical approach will provide some results, but at some point you will run into a ceiling (stole that one from Dr. Cobb). At some point we need to think WHY is a certain muscle tight/weak, etc and we end up at the nervous system.

The nervous system is what is TELLING the muscles to be tight, so for OPTIMAL results we need to use a system that targets the nervous system (hence, why I love Z Health, I know some are tired of hearing that by now).

If you believe that the nervous system holds all the keys, and most will agree with that, why would you go back to a pure biomechanical approach then?

When I started college many years ago (ok, it was 1992 and I suddenly feel old now since I am STILL in freaking college.) I was convinced that the biomechanical approach was the best and even completed a MS in Mechanical Engineering focusing on biomechanics. I soon realized that I needed to go further upstream into the brain and nervous system since that is what is really controlling the show! Hence that part about me still being in college.


5) Vision Training will be more mainstream
Rumor has it that Nike has a vision training system due out in 2009. Most people think of vision as only visual acuity (how well you can see the numbers and letters at the doc's office). I am 20/20, so I am all good, right?

There are actually many more components to vision such as the ability to see in 3D (since we have 2 eyes), the ability to switch from a close to a far target (looking up from my laptop here my eyes have to change focus to see who is walking towards me for example) and other components.

Remember that the eyes are controlled by MUSCLES! Muscles can be trained.

Keep in mind the SAID principle----ALL visual work will have to be made SAID specific as part of the progression! This point will most likely be lost. Z Health S Phase contains many many great visual training skills. Drop me a line if you are interested---awesome stuff

Summary
I have more predictions, but you will have to sign up to my newsletter by entering your name and email in the box on the upper right hand side. Do so by this coming Monday, March 23 at noon CST as I will be sending out my newsletter with the rest of list then.

I promise I will NEVER send you any spam because I hate stupid spam.

That is it for my crystal ball look into 2009. What are your predictions/thoughts? Agree or disagree? Am I off my rocker completely?

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Z Health Testimonial from Joe Pavel and More Nervous System Research

Z Health Testimonial
The testimonials keep rolling in! Yeah ha! When I open my inbox and find a really cool testimonial in there, I have to admit that it TOTALLY (like I still live in the 80s or something) makes my day.

It is WHY I do this, spend all the time reading studies, trying stuff out, talking to others---it is to get RESULTS since that is why athletes pay money!

I can't take much of the credit since I never did an exercise for them. They have to put the time into it each day and do their exercises in good form. Nobody will ever be able to do that for you. I am just providing the stimulus to get them moving in the correct direction.

I truly believe your body wants to be healthy and perform at a much higher level, it just needs the right "push" at times to get moving in the correct direction again.

Here is one Joe Pavel, RKC, Z Health R, I Phase Trainer put in his newsletter recently

Since taking the Z-health certifications last spring and Summer I have…

1. Signed up and participated in judo classes. Just yesterday I received my yellow belt.

2. Rode a unicycle.

3. I can ride a Ripstick for however long I want

4. I got rhythm- I know this is hard to believe but it is true. I can do more than the "white man dance" at weddings now, which makes my wife very happy!

5. I've fixed my aches, pains, eyes and previous injuries, with the help of my Z- Health Master Trainer Mike T. Nelson.

Why did this all happen?

It happened because I move better now than I ever have in my whole life. That's from doing daily Z-Health drills and from seeing a Z-Health coach.

It works better than anything else I've ever tried at fixing your bodies restrictions to improve your movement skills because every problem is a movement problem.

No drugs, no surgery no long recovery, no needles, no trips to the hospital where you might end up with flesh eating disease (this happened recently to a woman where I live.)

Just simple, precise, joint movements can deliver the right release from a restriction, instantly.

After the session I did with Joe recently, I got this email

Thanks for the great Z session on Saturday. I crushed Ben my partner in judo when we randoried, wrassled. But man was I sore yesterday from the new nervous system stimulis. -Joe Pavel

Congrats to Joe for doing his "homework" also and getting his reps in! Nice work! If you are interested in some Z Health training, be sure to drop me a line.

Check out Joe's Blog below
Kool Kettlebells

On to some more studies on the nervous system. My notes at the end of each as always. Here we go!


Heat reactions in multiple sclerosis: an overlooked paradigm in the study of comparative fatigue.

Marino FE. School of Human Movement Studies & Exercise & Sports Science Laboratories, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. fmarino@csu.edu.au


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating and debilitating disease characterised by a range of symptoms such as motor dysfunction and muscle weakness. A significant MS symptom is heat sensitivity so that exposure to heat will increase body temperature and consequently the appearance of neurological signs. Although some people with MS can undertake exercise, it is thought to be limited by the sensitivity to heat and the subsequent rise in body temperature which occurs.


It has been found that central fatigue is a determining factor in muscle activation and performance in normal healthy subjects. However, it is unknown whether thermal strain also induces central fatigue in MS even though muscular fatigue in MS is due mainly to central rather than peripheral factors.


CONCLUSION: This review focuses on the similarities in the manifestation of central fatigue in both MS and healthy subjects with reference to thermal strain and heat reactions.

My Notes: Be sure to check out the other studies I covered that look at the effects of heat below

Performance Research for February: Central fatigue exercise 3

On to another study!

Locomotor exercise induces long-lasting impairments in the capacity of the human motor cortex to voluntarily activate knee extensor muscles.

Sidhu SK, Bentley DJ, Carroll TJ. University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.


Muscle fatigue is a reduction in the capacity to exert force and may involve a "central" component originating in the brain and/or spinal cord. Here we examined whether supraspinal factors contribute to impaired central drive after locomotor endurance exercise. On 2 separate days, 10 moderately active individuals completed a locomotor cycling exercise session or a control session. Brief (2 s) and sustained (30 s) isometric knee extension contractions were completed before and after locomotor exercise consisting of eight, 5-min bouts of cycling at 80% of maximum workload. In the control session, subjects completed the isometric contractions in a rested state.

Twitch responses to supramaximal motor nerve stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation were obtained to assess peripheral force-generating capacity and voluntary activation. Maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) force during brief contractions decreased by 23 +/- 6.3% after cycling exercise and remained 12 +/- 2.8% below baseline 45 min later (F(1,9) > 15.5;

CONCLUSION: Thus locomotor exercise caused a long-lasting impairment in the capacity of the motor cortex to drive the knee extensors. Force was reduced more during sustained Maximum voluntary contraction after locomotor exercise than in the control session.
Peripheral mechanisms contributed relatively more to this force reduction in the control session, whereas supraspinal fatigue played a greater role in sustained Maximum voluntary contraction reduction after locomotor exercise.

My Notes: Interesting study, but it goes to show that trying to tease out central (aka brain) issues from peripheral (muscle) is very hard to do and in reality it is probably a combination of both.



Cortical voluntary activation of the human knee extensors can be reliably estimated using transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Sidhu SK, Bentley DJ, Carroll TJ. Health and Exercise Science, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.


The objective of this study was to determine if a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) method of quantifying the degree to which the motor cortex drives the muscles during voluntary efforts can be reliably applied to the human knee extensors. Although the technique for estimating "cortical" voluntary activation (VA) is valid and reliable for elbow flexors and wrist extensors, evidence that it can be applied to muscles of the lower limb is necessary if twitch interpolation with TMS is to be widely used in research or clinical practice. Eight subjects completed two identical test sessions involving brief isometric knee extensions at forces ranging from rest to maximal voluntary contraction (MVC).


Electromyographic (EMG) responses to TMS of the motor cortex and electrical stimulation of the femoral nerve were recorded from the rectus femoris (RF) and biceps femoris (BF) muscles, and knee extension twitch forces evoked by stimulation were measured. The amplitude of TMS-evoked twitch forces decreased linearly between 25% and 100% MVC (r(2) > 0.9), and produced reliable estimations of resting twitch and VA (ICC(2,1) > 0.85). The reliability and size of cortical measures of VA were comparable to those derived from motor nerve stimulation when the resting twitches were estimated on the basis of as few as three TMS trials.


CONCLUSION: Thus, transcranial magnetic stimulation measures of voluntary activation may provide a reliable and valid tool in studies investigating central fatigue due to exercise and neurological deficits in neural drive in the lower limbs.

My Notes: This may be a cool tool to help sort out the differences.

That is it for now! Any comments, let me know
Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Lumbar Mobility in Italy

In this issue

• A question from across the pond on mobility in the lumbar (low back) area
• A short video clip of one of the best bands....ever!

Mobility in Italy
I checked my inbox the other day and found a very cool message all the way from Italy!

Hi Michael, I'm Alessandro Menegaz a co-founder of the RawTraining.eu web site [1].
Our web project is directed to Italian athletes and our goal is to spread the culture of strength training witha 360 degree view.
To increase our knowledge and to improve our training results all our members are continuously searching and testing every kind of training strategy and programs (choosing only the ones that increase efficiently our performances in at least one of the strength qualities).
From the opening of our site, ten months ago, we have already published articles of coach JOE DEFRANCO, STEVE COTTER, CHRISTIAN THIBAUDEAU, MIKE MAHLER, LOUIE SIMMONS and a lot of other important works published on DieselCrew.com, T-nation.com, EliteFTS.com and other famous fitness web-sites.
On the 10th November 2008 we published a translation of one of your articles (first published by DieselCrew.com) onthe authorization of Jim Smith (from DieselCrew).
He told us that we can translate the article as long as we put all the references to the author, to the original version and to their website (we had no problem with that since it is our standard policy about the translations).
Here you can find the link to the published article: http://www.rawtraining.eu/it/stabilita-mobilita


(for the US viewers here, check out Diesel Crew for tons of great stuff! Llink below to the article)

Lumbar movement and Z Health comment

We are very happy to make some important/innovative works available for Italian-language readers and we hope that this will also help you and other authors to be known in our nation (for this reason we always translate a short biography of the author and we put all the references to his site/blog too).
I hope you are happy about this too (if not, you can obviously have your article removed at any time).
I'm writing you since we received an interesting feedback from one of our readers about your work.
In his message he asked questions about some of the concepts you presented. We would be very pleased to answer him, but since we are not Biomechanical experts and we don't want to give imprecise or incomplete information, we decided to try to pass those question to you (who better than the author can answer them? :-)
Maybe you are not interested in this … but we had to try to contact you :)
I thank you very much for the time you have dedicated to this message and for your interesting works.
Kind Regards, Alessandro Menegaz Co-founder of RawTraining project
http://www.rawtraining.eu/it/

I translated the original message almost literally (well … I tried … it is more difficult from Italian to English than vice versa :)



Wow, very cool and yes I will do whatever I can to help for sure!

Mobility Question

"Hi ! I think that this article is very interesting and I'd want to ask you some questions about it.
I see that you have it in for Mc Gill and Cressey (poor guys, I love them ^^). I don't think that the lumbar spine's mobility is the origin of all evil (and I don't think that they believe this too), nonetheless I think that in our sedentary society you can very easily find people with a thoracic mobility close to zero, a posterior kinetic chain as flexible as cast iron (I hope that cast iron is not flexible lol) and for this reasons they also have lumbar mobility to compensate all these motionless areas.

Therefore in my opinion it is very likely that common people need exercises to put thoracics in motion and exercises to stabilize lumbars, isn't it ?

Anyway we know that hyper-mobility is harmful and it is harmful for the spine too.

There are a lot of studies (mentioned by Mc Gill too) about the high incidence of spondylolisthesis (double, triple, one upon the other ...) focused for example on women gymnasts that show the dreadful couple: iper-mobility + low weight (and bones that "you can cut with a bread-stick")

After all this self-gloating :), I'd want to ask what you think about:

- The results achieved by McGills about discs herniation's mechanisms that are very probable when we join high compression forces (for example executing squat with a load equal to 2 times your bodyweight) with lumbar movement (as it happens when someone not very flexible goes below the parallel position during the squat "closing on himself like a squeeze-box").

- the studies he did with fluoroscopy on powerlifters who did a 200Kg-deadlift with a semi-flexed back

- How would you design a lumbar mobility workout, to whom and would you use external loads?

-- Which kind of results would you expect from this workout ?

--Which athletic movements would you want to improve and why ?

Sorry if this message is too long ;-)"

---Submitted from Italy

Answer
First, off thanks for the kind words and it is obvious you have done your homework, which I LOVE to see.


Actually, when I listen to Dr. McGill speak and others from his lab, I actually agree with 99% of what they say. I don't always agree with some of the "leaps of faith" some in the training world then take based on it. Even coach Boyle has stated that he probably does things based on McGills work that is farther than McGill himself would take (Reference: Strength Coach Podcast). I think the lumbar should be mobile, but not HYPER mobile, esp in only one part.

- How would you design a lumbar mobility workout, to whom and would you use external loads?


I actually use the Z Health system (starting with Z Health R Phase, which you can pick up here in the upper right hand corner) and it includes drills for lumbar mobility. Most (even some athletes) can NOT do these correctly for several sessions. The goal of the drill to so increase extension and "open up" the lumbar area.


I agree with your point that most have very bad hip movement and horrible thoracic mobility--no question! Get those areas moving first since they are much easier to work on and they have a high pay off.


Most that I see are also hyper mobile in the lumbar, but ONLY at ONE segment---this is NOT good---too much force on a small area (thus increased stress). The goal is to get ALL of the lumbar segments moving, not just one. The amount they move is of course very small compared to the thoracic, but they should still move.

Which kind of results would you expect from this workout ?

Very very hard to say. It really depends on what their weakness is. For some, the results are a huge decrease in pain and much better movement, for others there is only a small change. Very hard to say, but once the area is open and mobile, everyone moves better--how MUCH better varies a lot.


Which athletic movements would you want to improve and why ?
Your question is actually a great one. My answer is the one that they are the worst at! Maybe I am not answering your question, so feel free to rephrase.


Summary
Special thanks for the great question and if you are in Italy, but sure to check out the website below.


Big thanks to Alessandro Menegaz also for putting up my article and translating the question. It is still amazing to me that this blog is translated into so many languages! Small world.



One of the live best bands.....ever

Below is a very cool video from SXSW this year.

Iron Maiden is one of the best live metal bands...ever. I've only been able to see them live once on the "Brave New World" tour on August 27, 2000 (7 days after my birthday) here in St Paul Minnesota. The show was AMAZING. I was expecting a good show, but they pulled out all the stops and each member was so passionate about playing live I could have watched them all night. Excellent show and one of the top live shows I have ever seen in my life (and I've been to a lot of shows).

In the video below, notice that they have their own plane and Bruce Dickinson (lead singer) is actually the pilot too (click HERE for more info). Not just any plane---a real 737! They even got it custom painted and will sell it back to a major airlines later at some point.

The last few seconds may not be super work friendly, but they did edit out a few bad words

Special thanks to my buddy Warren Smith for sending me the video. If you are in Canada around the Vancouver area, be sure to check out his training/nutrition services.

Rock on!
Mike T Nelson