Day…Who knows?

June 25, 2007

It’s been a busy week and bit so far. I was lucky enough to catch the tail end of the Perform Better 3 Day Summit in Providence, Rhode Island. Caught presentations by Gray Cook, Mike Boyle, Eric Cressey and John Graham. Below are a few thoughts and tidbits from the past week or so.

-It might not make sense to foam roll the IT band (as much as it may hurt) due to it’s tissue structure. Although it seemingly makes sense to roll the TFL which the ITB inserts into up at the hip.

-Good athletes are better compensators and will more quickly find a way to get around doing an exercise or movement properly.

-Keeping athletes injury free is priority #1. Boyle includes static stretching before and during his workouts which opposes the current trend to cut out static stretching completely until post exercise. Apparently his programs followed that protocol for about 10 years but after conversations with PT’s, chiro’s and other practitioners he was sending his athletes to, he came to the realization that a lot of the overuse and more chronic injuries were due to lack of mobility and flexibility thus he reintroduced the static stretching into his workouts. BUT IT REDUCES POWER you say?! Maybe 5%, the difference is minimal and he hasn’t seen appreciable decreases in numbers lifted.

-“It doesn’t take an ounce of talent to get in great shape.”

-It’s extremely beneficial to be able to recognize compensation patterns…athletes, especially young ones will do their best to make a movement or exercise LOOK like the one you demonstrated and asked for, but there are a ton of ways they can get around them and you must be able to recognize them. They might not even be doing it consciously, they may in fact be giving you their best, what they think you want, but their bodies just aren’t moving exactly as they should.

-If an athlete can’t properly absorb the landing on a box jump they shouldn’t be jumping to a higher box. SOUND on landing means that a joint is absorbing impact as opposed to the muscles, which would result in a quiet landing.

From Gray Cook…

-Bringing a knee to the chest on a glute bridge will take away your ability to compensate with lumbar hyperextension.

-Once you’ve got your running mechanics down it’s actually beneficial to run LESS. Endurance running is hard on the body and excessive long distance running will result in more time OFF the road due to injuries.

-It’s always a good idea to REMOVE a NEGATIVE before ADDING a POSITIVE. In other words remove a restriction before adding an exercise that is affected by the restriction.

-The deep squat is a fundamental movement, GET IT or IMPROVE IT. If you can’t deep squat try this…bend over and touch your toes…now just sit down. Easier than you thought?

-THE BRAIN is the anatomical structure responsible for movement dysfunction in the human body.

-Cook loves the deadlift. He thinks everyone can and should deadlift and I wholeheatedly agree. He also states it’s more important to go HEAVY on the deadlift than it is to get a full range of motion.


From Mike Boyle…

-Does anybody bring in a picture of a marathon runner to their trainer or coach as an example of the kind of physique they covet? No. Look at the bodies of sprinters and distance runners, whose would you rather have?

-Interval training improves aerobic capacity better than aerobic training.

-Most people don’t do interval training because it’s HARD.

-Putting your young athlete into cross country running is a death sentence for their sporting career. In fact it’s tremendously beneficial for youth athletes to do sprint intervals, as it’s been shown that this will prevent conversion of transitional or intermediate muscle fibers to red endurance muscle fiber,

-“An athlete selection system – do a vertical jump and then run a mile. The kids you want jump high and die in the mile.”

-At least 70% of the population does not fit the 220-age formula. The man who came up with it has even asked in the past why people are still using it.

-Females starting a running program are 6 TIMES more likely to be injured than their male counterparts.

Questions for Coach Boyle.

I'm working 7:30am-9pm Monday to Thursday so I won't be posting with much regularity until the weekends. If anyone has a question (short) for Coach Boyle send me an email at jdford@gmail.com or post a comment on this entry. I will do my best to fit them into a conversation and get you an answer.

MBSC on Fox.

Click HERE to see a Fox News piece on Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning filmed last week.

Day 3 & 4.

June 13th and 14th.

Nothing of consequence happened on day 3 really. We actually traveled to another Boyle facility for part of the day to help clean and set up some stuff. Nothing too exciting. One word of advice though the next time you plan on positioning and rolling out about 75 feet of outdoor turf. You’re going to need 4 very strong Olympic sized bars and about 10-12 very strong people.

Day 4 had a bit more in store for us as we saw another workout, a bit of setup and clean-up and staff training meeting for the entire summer staff numbering between 30-40 I’d say. Mike Boyle is an awesome speaker; he’s the most unassuming guy but when he opens his mouth you listen. I think he’s even got a future in comedy when he retires from the S&C realm. Some notes, thoughts and observations from the past couple days:

-Teaching Olympic lifting is a HANDS ON experience. You’re going to waste time, frustrate yourself and the athlete and get nowhere if you just stand next to someone and try to cue or demonstrate proper setup and positioning. While the athlete might be genuinely listening to you and trying to do what you’re asking they just may not be able to physically get into the position you ask them because it’s so foreign and unnatural. So you’ve got to grab their shoulders and pull them back. Grab their hips, pull them back. Push their chest out over the bar. Makes sense.

-At MBSC they do all their Olympic lifting from the hang position because;

1- If you do them from the floor you’ve got to teach a proper deadlift as well. Another exercise to learn, more time required, and with 300 athletes a day going through the facility for 10 weeks in the summer there’s no place for it.
2- The hang position more accurately represents the athletic posture or stance most athletes find themselves in.

-The best athletes will perform drills etc. best at higher speeds and will perform poorer at slower speeds.

-Better athletes will have the weakest stabilizers because their main muscle groups are so efficient they don’t require them to the same extent as a poorer athlete and thus they won’t be as developed.

-You can do wall slides on the floor. Floor slides, whoulda thunk? Not as difficult mind you as you’re not fighting gravity as much.

-There’s no such thing as too much glute activation.

-When you hear people referring to an athlete as having a great first step (heard a lot in basketball) it’s actually a great first PUSH. Leg drive, power.

-Coach Boyle said during the meeting that if he could only do one exercise with his athletes right now it would probably be sled marches. (Forward sled push) “It’s like a leg press in the best possible position.”

-A half kneeling position is a great starting position for various exercises that can then be progressed into a standing position.

-Mike has his athletes do scap pushups on their elbows as in a bridge (front support) position. Athletes were having a hard time doing them in a full pushup position (too much bend at the elbow) so one day he just thought “Why not take that joint out of the movement?”

-MBSC athletes do their X-band walks with sliced mini bands holding the bands with their arms straight in the Da Vinci position. Coach Boyle’s reasoning behind this is to take advantage of the cross body fascial chain. Instead of stopping the warm-up and activation at the hips, having the arms up hits the thoracolumbar fascia, QL (I believe), lats and other upper body muscle groups. More bang for the buck.

-Mike doesn’t test his athletes. People who are genetically gifted and are good at max effort lifts do well at testing and those who aren’t, don’t. They make so much progress in the first phase anyway that all the numbers change and the testing results quickly become useless. It can also be a psychological killer for athletes who test poorly, especially younger athletes. Some training facilities send testing repots home to the athletes parents. “Yeah so I can only bench press 95 pounds and I’ve got a 5.2, 40 yard dash, I’m already feeling pretty shitty about that and now you’re going to send home a report to my mom and dad to let them know how horrible I am too?”

-Boston is a cool place. Kind of touristy but tons of history and lots to see. It's got a neat vibe.

-Every time I order a coffee with cream at Dunkin' Donuts they ask again if I'd like sugar like it's odd that I don't get any...America Runs on Dunkin'...but if America (North America even.) gets any fatter it won't be running anywhere.

That’s all I can think of at the moment. Summer groups start Monday. I’m sure there will be much more to say come next week, if I can stay awake long enough to write about it when I get home.

Day 2.

June 12, 2007.

I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. Not quite an 18-wheeler, but maybe a Ford F-150, red with chrome all over. Little sleep, little food, lots of new activity. I’m still adapting to the new schedule which will be changing over next week again as the summer groups come in. It’s great we’re getting in a workout each 4 days we’re working at the facility, if anything I’ll find myself with LeBron James like athleticism at the end of summer…although if you’ve been watching the NBA finals…

Saw some interesting new stuff today in the “Day 2 workout” including a direct hip flexor exercise I hadn’t seen before. The first exercise in the series of progressions would be a low pulley supine lying hip flexion with leg at 90 degrees and trying to bring the knee up past 90 degrees. New athletes start with this to avoid compensating with lumbar flexion in a standing position. Next would be the same movement standing and from there you could add adduction at the same time. I had a short conversation with Mike about the exercise; his thoughts are that there are still groin strains in sports, especially in hockey players (a large portion of his clientele) and when tested many athletes are found weak in the adductors and hip flexors. This open chain exercise mimics hip flexion during running or skating, directly addressing these weaknesses. In my humble opinion this type of exercise would be contraindicated for the general population as most people have overactive and shortened hip flexors due to North American posture and this direct hip flexor work would reinforce these imbalances. That said we’re training the ATHLETIC population and in turn this type of exercise is okay. I believe Mike mentioned he’s trying it out for the first time this summer and he’ll watch the groin strain numbers for next year and go from there.

On a related note, Mike and an NHL player then got into a conversation about this and similar exercises and it was interesting (in a good way) to see Mike watch and take suggestions from the athlete.

None of the coaches at this facility are massive. This is not a bodybuilding facility. Hypertrophy is not goal #1. However, they are all good athletes, coaches and in fantastic condition. It’s interesting to see how different coaches and trainers work in different facilities. These guys don’t have a ton of time to diddle around and eat. I saw people randomly pulling food out of their pockets and that sort of thing and it’s quickly become apparent that my food preparation strategy needs to coincide with the environment I’m going to be in for the summer. This means, quick, portable and nutrient dense foods and with the shear amount of moving around we’re going to be doing we can most likely get away with some “not so clean” foods and still be in single digit bodyfat by the end of the summer (I’m not there yet but I doubt it will take long).

Today was a lateral day. The four-day program is split into linear and lateral days and exercises and warm-ups are tailored to the general movement scheme of the specific days. We did some ladder work today; which certainly isn’t my forte but I picked it up quick enough; I’m hoping there will be crossover to my dancing abilities. Single leg box jumps were also on the agenda as well as some “new to me” med ball work. GLUTES, glutes, glutes. You’ve always gotta be contracting those glutes. And I thought I was bad when one of my clients recently told me he’ll remember me because of my constant urging to “squeeze your butt”. I’m squeezing my butt here in places and positions where I hadn’t thought previously to squeeze my butt. Butt (sorry) it’s awesome because I had been suffering from some glute dysfunction anyway and this is certainly going to show me how to better approach proper gluteal training and functioning. Alas, my ass, it’s sore.

Today was also an “upper body” day. As part of the changes this year to reduce the load on the CNS, Coach Boyle has basically gone from 4 to 2 lower body exercise days and placed more emphasis on upper body on the other days. This means where he had never previously included direct isolation work for the triceps for instance, today we were doing rope pressdowns. I’m digging the stretches and supplementary exercises throughout the workouts and I’ll go into more detail another day about how the workouts are laid out.

One of the other interns heard Mike say that a certain exercises was “the best exercise for core” or something to that effect so of course we had to investigate. It’s hard to describe because it was being done on a Keiser machine I had never seen before, Sort of a round centre with arms every couple feet or so that could be adjusted to point more up or down. Essentially the athlete grabbed two handles one from behind and one from in front and simultaneously did a push, press or punch with the back arm and a pull or row with the front arm. The idea was to keep the hips and torso stable and to resist rotation. Another big theme here, developing core stability and strength by resisting rotation. The movement in this exercise should be coming from the shoulders only.

I think this blog is getting plenty long and although I’m sure I’ve forgotten some world changing, mind boggling tidbit of information I wanted to include I’ll have to save it for next time.

Day 1. (Officially)

June 11th, 2007.

Today was the official first day for interns. We all showed up around 8am to observe coach Boyle go through a workout with some NHL and D1 hockey players. Some fantastic athletes for sure. What's interesting though is that they're doing basically the same workouts as everyone else going through the facility everyday (up to 300 people). Mike has trained this way for some time; he doesn't necessarily believe in "sport specific" training. He trains people to become better "athletes"; training athleticism as a whole. I'm sure there are a ton of people who wouldn't necessarily agree with this type of training but it's worked for him and his athletes for a long time. Can't argue with the success he's had.

The interns had a meeting with our coordinators; our roles were more clearly defined and everyone got a proper introduction. We then were taken through the very same program we had seen earlier in the day by one of the strength coaches.

There has been a big move towards a "DYNAMIC WARMUP" in the industry which is great. Standing around and static stretching every muscle group and then hopping on a bike for 5 minutes will warm you up about as effectively as a snowmobiling trip in Northern Ontario. However I think people have taken it too far and have neglected to stretch out certain muscle groups which tend to be chronically tight or problematic. What I'm getting at is that I was happy to see some static stretching as part of the warmup (mostly involving the hips/lower body) and also some more dynamic stretches during the workout.

The volume was significantly lower than what I'm used to, but it was only our first time through the workout, so loads were minimal and everyone felt good but not exhausted afterwards. I expect that to change.

I must say it was really enjoyable to actually have someone coaching me for once; working as a trainer puts you on the other side of the fence.

There is a strong focus on "core strength/stability" as well as glute function which are both part of the foundation of athleticism in my mind.

There was a lot of stuff I hadn't seen or done before and some I have done before or do slightly differently; all in all a good first experience and I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer.

My goal is for this blog to take on a bit more life as things progress. I'll try my best to keep it interesting, although after a looong day the brain doesn't always function as planned....so I apologize if this entry is all over the place.

I have no idea who is reading this (if anybody) but if you are reading this and you have any questions regarding the internship, or anything I've mentioned on here let me know...jdford@gmail.com.

Day 1.

June 7th, 2007.

Waiting in a near empty airport for 5 hours for a flight is quit close to hell, especially when the restaurants don’t open until 5am and far worse they don’t start serving up their breakfast sandwiches (tasty little devils of egg, cheese and sausage OR ham.) until even after then. I hadn’t eaten nearly enough in the 12 hours prior to arriving at the airport and certainly appreciated the complimentary pretzels on the flight…speaking of, it went off without a hitch, smooth take and landing and it was shorter than predicted.

I was met at the airport by the director of internships for MBSC…but not before I had time to score a coffee and bagel from the Tim Hortons of the USA…Dunkin Donuts. Steve drove me to the facility where I spent 45 minutes or so meeting various members of the MBSC team as well as getting an idea of how they run things and the equipment available. It’s certainly a world class facility, apparently Perform Better uses it to showcase equipment. Just seeing all of the toys I haven’t had the privilege to use elsewhere got me excited.

The thing that stood out to me the most was that EVERYONE in the facility was enjoying themselves and having a good time. When somebody didn’t have a hardened face of focus and/or intensity they were smiling or laughing. It’s obvious Mike and everyone involved with the facility want to foster that sort of environment and frankly it’s great to see, especially with younger athletes. If something is not enjoyable, then why do it? Why PAY to do it?

This summer there will be a big change in the MBSC program; instead of 4 days of Olympic lifting (cns intensive activity) the athletes will now only be doing 2. This has been talked about extensively online

I then went and did some shopping, not having much time and not recognizing any brands I pretty much just started throwing things in my cart.

Boyle has some videos online of females performing various Olympic lifts and I noticed a rocking motion right before the pull. Apparently the idea behind it is just to muster a bit more power and momentum. The resident Olympic lifter isn’t a huge fan of the style but Mike defends it by stating “We’re training athletes not Olympic lifters” and if a rock is going to allow someone to lift a bit more load then why not?

Slideboard work was new for me in the conditioning realm and in Mike's CNS intensive training DVD he calls it a "Low intensity interval training" as the heart rate doesn't jump very high during the exercise. However it's still beneficial for conditioning and you're working laterally which is different as opposed to most conditioning work which is done in the sagittal plane.

Bed was early for me and I crashed hard, ready to get up and train the next morning.

AND THE JOURNEY BEGINS...or does it?

I'd been waiting months for June 6th. June 6th is the day I was headed to Buffalo en route to Boston to intern at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning. The past few weeks were spent hustling around getting paperwork such as passports and birth certificates, plane tickets, bus tickets, clothes and other things that would last me the summer as well as tying up any loose ends I had in the city.

The bus ride from Toronto to Buffalo was well...a bus ride. Big guy sitting in front of my ramming his seat as far back as possible and snoring and snorting to his hearts content while the guy sitting beside him had enough Jean Paul Gauthier cologne on to choke up the entire bus. We reach the border and everyone has to get off and clear immigration and customs. Easy-peasy I thought, I've got my new shiny passport and I'm certainly not a "person of questionable identity". As we all shuffle off the bus, minds fogged and eyes glazed over at 1:30 in the morning I realize it's going to take a while to get all these people checked out. Didn't help I had to take a major leak. Finally after waiting 25 minutes or so it's my turn. Should be a breeze.

"You're going to be here a while." Wasn't necessarily the first thing out of the border patrol agents mouth but was the only thing that mattered in our 12 sentence or so exchange. Apparently because I had no "papers" for my internship nor a work Visa they weren't going to let me go. I was sent back to the waiting area (a crusty old wooden bench) while the other passengers all moved through without trouble.

I remained calm, didn't panic....he called me back in, asked a few more questions and told me "it didn't look good" and went to talk to his supervisor. Now I wasn't expecting them to roll out the red carpet for me but the guy could have been a little more...pleasant. Back to the bench...waiting...waiting. By this time the rest of the passengers are back waiting on the bus while little old me is in jeopardy of being sent back to my beloved Canada. At this point all I was thinking was the poor people on the bus have got to wait for me and they've gotta be hating me by now.

Finally I was cleared, although the guy REALLY didn't want to let me go, not sure why but told me "we looked it up on the internet." and that was good enough for them. I'll take it. Back on the bus and another 10 minutes or so to the bus station in Buffalo. Some Greyhound employee takes my bag on a trolley as I get off and takes me over to a taxi to head to the airport, I really didn't need his help to ROLL my bag about 150 metres but he asked for a tip anyway.

The first thing I noticed about the taxi in Buffalo was that there was this plexiglass divder between the driver and passenger, we don't have those in Toronto, but then again we don't have as much gun crime either. I arrived at the airport for what seemed an excessive amount and was wondering if these Americans had it out for me? The internet access at the airport isn't even free, I had to pay $6.95 just to be able to post this and dive around on the internet until my flight in about 5 hours.

Here's to hoping they let me on without a hassle.