Marvin Lewis vs. AE-Combine Preparation!

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Theredzone.org, Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports when it comes to evaluating talent in the draft, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is always quick to point out “the film doesn’t lie”.

On Friday on Dan Dakich’s show in Indianapolis, Lewis did chide those who go through unusual steps of preparing for the combine, saying that the way most go about it is “asinine”.
 The Bengals did show last year, with the selection of Andre Smith, that a disastrous combine won’t wreck their chances of being selected. And for that case, neither does the pro day.
 Among other things from the interview, courtesy of our friends at Sports Radio Interviews:

On players who leave school to workout and prepare for the Combine: “The other one that just kills me is that they spend three or four years with a strength coach on a college campus and as soon as the season’s over they go somewhere else to some guy who doesn’t know them from a hole in the wall and pay this guy a bunch of money. It doesn’t make any sense at all. It used to be that they had to pay for it and now it’s part of the agent deal. They’ve cultivated a whole industry out of it. It doesn’t make sense. It’s actually asinine that if I go to school in Florida, now I have to go to Arizona to train. If I go to school in Arizona, I have to go to Georgia to train. These guys have the best facilities and the best people working with them year round and now all the sudden they got to go somewhere else. You don’t need to go away. A football player is a football player.”

On how much stock he puts in workouts at the Combine: “The workout becomes a confirmation for a lot of players. It’s got to be judged individually with the player. The number one thing is what that guy has done on his college campus. So as these college players who are going to be underclassmen who may be listening to your show should know to take stock in what they do on the football field their – junior and senior – their last two seasons and not get all caught up in what this is.”

On what the NFL Scouting Combine is: “This is just a confirmation; that I can run. I weigh this much. I’m smart enough. I can carry on a conversation. I can learn. I can understand. And I’m a good person.”

AE Response By James Walker

I respect Marvin Lewis and agree with his opinion about the best current evaluation of a prospective football payer is their game film. Although you can always find exceptions to this with those players with little or no game film such as Willy Parker, Mike Lewis, and Ray Crittenden to name a few.

I also agree that many college strength programs are top notch and do a wonderful job at preparing athletes. Though I disagree with Marvin’s premise that athletes shouldn’t seek out additional help to increase their stock especially since with the current system there is so much money and opportunity involved.

First, most college football programs involve over a 100 athletes it’s difficult to address the specific needs of individual players or a select group each week while neglecting everyone else.

Second, those athletes may have specific needs involving strength, speed, power, mobility, flexibility, agility, nutrition, technique, structural integrity, soft tissue health, etc. From a logistical perspective most of these issues cannot get addressed per individual. Therefore a critical evaluation or assessment is vital.

Third, If any of these specific needs is not addressed the athlete will be at a disadvantage and unable to display their best performance on possibly their biggest stage. Unfortunately some of them go into the combine, pro-day, or camp ill prepared by innocently overlooking their specific needs and is released. Many do not receive a second chance.

Again most college strength coaches or programs by themselves do not have the resources or time to address this individually. So under the current system the athlete needs to do whatever is legally or ethically necessary to increase their opportunity.

In-Season Strength Training: Part Two

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

In Part One we defined in-season training and listed the first two objectives when designing a program including exercise selection and energy system needs of the athlete. In Part Two we are discussing the remaining components that determine an athletes program, including rep range, weight load-intensity, muscle fiber type, and  work volume consideration.

An intertwined objective to consider when determining the athlete’s program is choosing the correct rep range, weight load-intensity, and muscle fiber type that’s needed to improve their performance. A blocker or outside hitter in volleyball will need to develop and recruit their fast twitch fibers, so doing between 1-6 reps, with 95-80% of their one rep max (1RM), for their phasic muscles will accomplish this. Similarly, a running back in football will benefit from the same intensity and rep ranges. Now these values can vary depending on the age, maturity, health, and genetic make up of the athlete but explosive power is the important component.

On the other hand the cross-country runner may require 15-20 reps or more, at 60-70% of their 1RM to improve their muscle endurance but may benefit from the 1-10 rep range at 75-95% 1RM to help with 100-400 meter surges or sprint finishes. Several of the top Olympic middle distance runners employ this method in their training.

Either of these athletes may require a different rep range and intensity level to address their individual structural needs. In general if their tonic or postural muscles need work a rep range of 8-15, at an intensity of 80-70% of 1RM, may be required. The specific needs of the individual will always be the most beneficial to them.

The last proponent to consider is the appropriate volume of work needed to maintain and/or improve ability without over-training. The primary focus during the season should be the development of the necessary skills, ability, and strategy needed to perform the sport or position at the highest level. The secondary focus should be on maintaining and/or improving power, strength, and conditioning that was developed during the off-season. Usually most in-season practice is devoted to game preparation, sports skills, drills, strategy, tactics, plays, and related task. Therefore most of the repetition and conditioning will come from those activities, so strength related training only needs to occupy about 10-15% of the athletes total weekly time. That can be accomplished in one or two sessions, with consideration given to adequate recovery time before the day of the competition. Ideally the strength training should enhance practices, skills, abilities, and performance, while reducing the injury potential.

Likewise, practices shouldn’t injure the athlete or hinder their strength training but allow for mutual improvement, or a complete synergistic relationship. A big mistake often made is to abandon strength training during the season. This will usually start to gradually impact performance or increase injury potential after about 14 days. The athlete may start the season strong, fast, powerful, explosive, and energetic but within a few weeks will start to exhibit weakness, slowness, sluggishness, or tiredness.

Coincidently, the residual effects from strength training may last up to 10 days; so training a muscle group at least once a week or every 7 days will allow maximal recovery and strength gains. Often world-class sprinters require up to 7-10 days to fully recover, after running a personal record.

So a cheerleader who practices about 10 hours a week, excluding a 3-hour Friday evening game, at 10% of her weekly practice time the strength training would require about 1 hour to complete. Depending on equipment, facility, scheduling, etc, the 1-hour time could be divided into two 30-minute segments as to minimize time away from skills practice. This could be accomplished with a 30-minute strength training session on Saturday (the day after the game), followed by another 30-minute session on Monday or Tuesday, which would also give plenty of recovery time prior to the game. Each session would be comprised of 4 strength-power exercises for 4-8 reps, times 2 sets; and 2-4 structural exercises for 8-15+ reps, for 1-2 sets. The exercise selection could be different for each session to target various or specific muscle groups as well.

As you can see the exercise selection, energy system, rep range, weight load-intensity, muscle fiber type, and volume all comply with her in-season strength training needs. The exercise selection should depend on her individual needs and ability level. Likewise, considering the amount of impact and repetitive stress related injuries that cheerleaders accrue i.e., sprains, strains, twists, pulls, fractures, and soft-tissue adhesions, this would help to address those concerns. Not to mention the additional strength to help with the skills execution.

In conclusion, the benefits of the in-season strength training far out-way the time, cost, injury potential, and other factors involved.  The correct, safe, and scientific approach should consider exercise selection, energy system, rep range, weight load-intensity, muscle fiber type, and volume to best address the athletes in-season needs.

How To Reduce Hamstring Pulls

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Over the past few years I’ve seen a multitude of hamstring pulls and strains from elite professional athletes to very good scholastic athletes. In most instances there seems to be a common theme, structural imbalance, existing scar tissue, and a lack of strength in the hamstrings.

From an anatomical perspective the hamstrings are located on the back of the thigh and attach over the hips and over the knee joints. From a performance perspective, the hamstrings extend the hips and flex the knees.

First from a structural perspective the hamstrings have a synergistic relationship with the other muscle groups that are located near or adjacent or on the opposite side of the joint. So the muscles that attach over the front of the hip (hip flexors) have a relationship with those that attach over the back (hip extensors), the outside (hip abductors), and the inside (hip adductors).

This is important because those neighboring muscles act together to produce desired movement like sprinting, running, or jumping etc. When the hip flexors become tighter or stronger than it’s antagonistic neighbors the hip extensors, it will pull the hips forward and result in an alignment or imbalance issue. Likewise if the muscles that act to counter the excess forward tilt i.e., lower abdominals are unusually weak or dysfunctional, this further contributes to misalignment and structural imbalance. These imbalances may then cause excess strain on several muscle groups including the hamstrings. The tight muscles like the hip flexors will need to be stretched and loosened to help realign the hips.

Second there is usually scar tissue or adhesions in the hamstrings and it’s neighbors like the hip abductors and/or hip flexors. In part due to those muscles having to over compensate by assisting the hamstrings from the repetitive use and stress over time. This excess scar tissue will interfere with the proper function and recruitment of these muscles, which in turn produces more scar tissue. This may also shorten and make the muscle tight as well.

Third the hamstrings are usually weak in comparison to it’s neighbors. Since the hamstrings are part of the motor or engine, along with the hips, for those athlete’s who run, jump, throw, and sprint, they need to be strong. If you want to sprint you need a high performance engine aka, Corvette or Lamborghini or Top Fuel Dragster not a Civic or Smart car. In addition the hamstrings will help support the knee joint during planting, stopping, and changing direction, so they need to be dimensionally strong.

So if you want to reduce or minimize hamstring strains address the structural imbalance, scar tissue, and strength needs early on with a good pre-training assessment or evaluation to identify and optimize performance.

Adhesions, Knots, Scar-Tissue, That May Affect Fascia, Muscles, & Nerves: Part III

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

In Part I, I defined the terms involved with adhesions, knots, scar-tissue, fascia, muscles, and nerves. In Part II, I identified the primary causes of adhesions, knots, and scar-tissue (AKS). In Part III I will discuss solutions or remedies to AKS formation through nutrition & foods, supplements, and treatment or management methods.

Proper nutrition is a very important part to manage AKS. Since stomach, cell, and tissue inflammation is an integral component of AKS formation foods that can reduce this are vital. For instance increasing the intake of anti-inflammatory foods, spices, and alkaline water may help immensely. Foods such as dark green vegetables, garlic, onions, mushrooms, peppers, berries, seeds, nuts, metal free fish, grass feed beef, organic eggs, and natural raised chickens. Like vegetables herbs and spices have anti-oxidant and ant-inflammatory abilities as well like cinnamon, curcumin, tumeric, oregano, rosemary, olive, ginger, and green tea help to reduce inflammation. To determine specific individual allergens an allergy test such as the MRT maybe necessary.

Specific supplements can help to reduce inflammation as well as remove AKS and dead cells. For acute responses products like Pain X, EFA Complex Px, Omega 3 6:1, Uber Curcumin 2.0, and Flame Quench Px to name a few relatively fast acting natural anti-inflammatory supplements that seem to work very well but without the adverse effects on the stomach or liver like meds or pharmaceuticals.

For chronic solutions products like Serrapeptase, Worbenzym, Vitalzym, and other forms of Proteolytic enzymes can help reduce inflammation aid in the removal of AKS and dead tissue cells from the body. Most of these supplements can be purchased from AE Training & Products, AE Creating Elite, local health stores, or over the internet. See my articles “Essential Supplements That People Don’t Need” and “ Favorite Supplement Brands”.

The best method to treat and manage AKS is through physical contact or hands on application. For instance applying tension or pressure to the affected area via massage, stroking, or rolling with an object. For example a foam roller, basketball, baseball, golf ball, lacrosse ball, or softball placed underneath the AKS area and rolling back and forth 6-20 times will start to break up the AKS. Often the adjacent muscles will need to be rolled as well due over compensation. The most precise treatment involves hands on care by a experienced practitioner of Myofascial Release, Active Release, Graston, or Scar -Tissue Management. They can usually assess and determine the severity of the AKS and provide the best care to remedy the problem.

Finally I hope that this information has been enlightening, educational, and helpful. Remember these suggestions are not the only remedies but are a good place to start. They will definitely enable you to stay healthier, more athletic, active, and lead a better injury resistant life style.

Part 1

Part 2

References:

• Clinical Mastery In The Treatment Of Myofascial Pain by Ferguson & Gerwin.

• Active Release Technique, Soft-Tissue Management System by M. Leahy.

• Sports Medicine Prevention, Assessment, Management, & Rehabilitation Of Athletic Injuries by Irvin, Iversen, & Roy.

• Fitness & Strength Training For All Sports, Theory, Methods, Programs by Hartmann & Tunnemann.

• Biosignature Modulation by C. Poliquin

Adhesions, Knots, Scar-Tissue, That May Affect Fascia, Muscles, & Nerves: Part II

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Adhesions, knots, scar-tissue (AKS) caused by the excessive formation of fibrin on tissue will inhibit the function of those tissues. Over-training, inflammation, repetitive stress, trauma-injury, poor posture, aging, and inadequate nutrition may all contribute to the formation of AKS.

For example, over-training and inflammation that cause excessive formation of AKS on the fascia around the lower back and crest of the hip may develop into a mass or knot the size of a marble or golf ball. This mass may interfere with the nerve impulse or neural drive that occurs between the fascia tissue and the muscles of the lower back and hip. Because the AKS blocks the signal to these muscles other muscles may be recruited instead of the desired ones and a faulty motor-muscle recruitment pattern may result eventually leading to an injury.

Often if the AKS is so strong that it will restrict the range of motion (ROM) of the affected muscles as well as pull the connecting skeletal segment out of alignment or balance. Either scenario can result in muscle atrophy, weakening, de-conditioning, and loss in muscle tone. The above example may occur as a result of excessive treadmill or incline treadmill running caused by over hyperextension of the hip-thigh segment.

Repetitive stress and trauma to tissue leading to AKS formation within a muscle such as the bicep femoris of the hamstrings can prevent muscle fibers from contracting properly thereby irritating and inflaming the muscle tissue even more thus producing more AKS. Eventually this can lead to muscle shortening, tightening, and decreased ROM, then to a strain, tear, or pull within the weakest part of the tissue. The type of activity, movement, angle, and force will determine the severity of the injury as well.

Similarly poor posture, structural imbalance, and decreased circulation can affect a nerve segment within the correlating body segment thus assisting in AKS formation around the nerve. It can entrap that nerve, blocking the impulses to the muscle supplied by that nerve and other muscles along the path of the nerve. So muscle utilization will be difficult or compromised, affecting whatever movement is to be performed. Sort of like sitting 10,000 lb on top of an electrical cord to an appliance, over time the signal will dissipate or be interrupted making the devise useless.

Unfortunately aging is a contributor to AKS. As we age our production of the proteins and enzymes that help our bodies repair and regenerate healthy cells diminishes along with the proteins and enzymes that regulate AKS production. So we accumulate AKS easier as we age and it takes longer to break down and dispose of damaged tissues and cells. This process may also cause an increase in intra-cellular inflammation.

Inadequate nutrition may also aid in the formation of AKS by creating a blood, cell, and tissue environment that’s very acidic or inflammatory. Foods that may contribute to acidity and inflammation like processed flours, gluten, sugars, sodas, and snacks should be avoided or reduced. Artificial foods, drinks, and sweeteners will promote an acidic or inflammatory response as well. These antagonistic foods and their responses begin in the mouth and stomach and prohibit adequate protein-enzyme production while inhibiting the absorption of nutrients and the formation of healthy bacteria.

Next in Part III I will recommend foods, supplements, and treatment methods tomanage AKS formation.

Adhesions, Knots, Scar-Tissue, That May Affect Fascia, Muscle, & Nerves: Part I

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

What are adhesion's, scar tissue, or knots and how can they affect fascia, muscle, and nerve function? Lets start by explaining each of these terms. I'll begin with fascia, it's the thin layer of connective tissue that covers the muscles, tendons, vessels, and nerves. It’s like a latex glove or plastic wrap that fits around these tissues. In addition this fascia surrounds individual and whole groups of muscle fibers. If you have ever cut up a chicken you can see the thin almost translucent layer of tissue covering the muscle underneath of the skin, that’s fascia.

Next there are two types of muscle tissue, skeletal and smooth. Skeletal muscle is the elastic tissue that crosses over a joint and attaches to the bone to form a lever that produces movement, force, and locomotion. For example the biceps muscle in the upper arm attaches to the inside of the shoulder blade (scapular bone) and on the outside of the elbow at the forearm (radius bone) and contributes to elbow flexion or “making a muscle”. Since it attaches to bone it only makes sense that it’s called skeletal muscle. Also because we can start, stop, and control the movement willingly it’s action is considered voluntary.

The second type of muscle tissue is called cardiac or smooth. It’s responsible for the heartbeat or cardiac contraction, but in the stomach and intestines enables food and waste to be moved through the digestive tract. This type of muscle action occurs without our conscience effort and happens automatically, so it’s considered involuntary.

Nerves are fibers or cords that transmit electrical signals to various parts of the body i.e., brain, eyes, fascia, heart, lungs, muscles, organs, spinal cord, etc. It’s like an extremely complex highway or fiber optic system or matrix that’s alive and works 24/7 to keep us alive and functioning. The signals can originate from the brain or central nervous system or other sensory receptors.

Now adhesions, knots, and scar-tissue (AKS) are caused by the excessive formation of fibrin, a protein that helps form blood clots and repairs muscle, lung, and other tissue as a result of stress or trauma. The normal formation of fibrin contributes to and aids these natural processes but problems arise when excessive amounts are produced to form AKS. A thickening of the tissue will start to occur which initially is designed to strengthen and protect the area but too much will interfere with the normal function of the fascia, muscles, and nerves.

A visual analogy is like using glue to repair a broken vase but you continue to use the glue long after the vase has been fixed. Eventually you have a distorted vase that not only looks bad but doesn’t function as well either.

Okay, now I’m sure everyone has had enough of the biology session but unfortunately training and rehab comes down to science and math. So what’s the big deal about AKS? In part II we will discuss AKS in more detail and ways to lessen it’s affect.

In-Season Strength Training: Part One

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Welcome back from a seemingly very short summer. I decided to take the summer off from writing but am always thinking of articles or topics to write about. Since it’s the start of the fall season of sports I thought in-season training would be a interesting topic to explore.

First of all, in-season strength training is the training that’s performed during the season, not prior or after the season. I get asked from athletes all the time “What should I do during the season”? I think many athletes and coaches struggle with how to determine the correct amount of work that’s necessary to maintain what the athlete has spent the entire off-season developing. Hopefully, the athlete prepared during the off or slow season! For athletes the off-season is the opportunity to really recover, regenerate, grow, develop, and mature. We live in an era were almost all sports have evolved into year round participation, so it‘s become difficult to balance and to avoid over-training.

Over-training should be a real concern for athletes and coaches alike. Over-training can lead to illness, repressed immune system, injury, muscle strains, pulls, and tears, decreases in performance, speed and strength, depression, inability to focus and concentrate, formation of soft tissue adhesions, tight & shortened muscle tissue, structural imbalance, insomnia, suppressed testosterone and growth hormone production, irritability, and mood swings. These are just some of the more apparent symptoms and conditions.

The objectives to consider for in-season strength training should be, what are the demands of the activity, sport, or position? The considerations should include the exercise selection, energy system, muscle fiber type, rep range, weight load-intensity, and work volume.

The first consideration is the exercise selection, what exercise does the athlete need to improve their performance, including structural needs?  Upon observation or assessment does the athlete have any postural, structural, muscle imbalance, or movement flaws? If so they need to be addressed. Next, does the athlete need muscle specific strength, power, or endurance to optimize their performance? Again, indentify and address those needs.

For example a lineman in football with issues of jamming their opponent off the line may benefit from rotator cuff and scapular strengthening exercises. A sprinter who has difficulty starting out of the blocks may benefit from deep squats or platform dead lifts. While a midfielder in soccer with stride issues might require split or single leg squats or lunges to best help their ability. Obviously there are exercises that all individuals may benefit from that enhance their athletic ability i.e., jumping, quickness, stopping, change of direction, which can be determined during the athlete’s tryout or assessment phase.

Another example, cheerleaders who are subjected to high levels of impact force from tumbling and landing need strength through their legs, spine torso, and arms to absorb and displace the stress, in order to prevent and reduce injury to those areas. The stronger the muscles the better the stress and energy displacement.

The second consideration might be, what energy system is used by the athlete in their particular sport or position?  So whether it’s anaerobic energy needing fast twitch muscle fibers or aerobic energy requiring slow twitch muscle fibers, the energy system determines how the athlete should train to enhance their ability. For example a volleyball player needs to react quickly and jump for short bursts, interspersed with periods of waiting. So their energy system is more anaerobic and requires high energy phosphate compounds like adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP), creatine phosphate (CP), and carbohydrate-sugar compounds i.e., glycogen, or a combination thereof for fuel. Whereas a cross-country runner will need more endurance with occasional surges of speed, requiring primarily oxygen, fats, and glycogen for fuel.

In Part Two we will examine the necessary rep range, weight load-intensity, muscle fiber type, and work volume requirements of the athlete.