SPARTA POINT

How Should You Olympic Lift?

2012-02-01T13:12:00.000-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

Weightlifting dates back to 3000 BC in a Chinese text that describes soldiers lifting weighted objects before entry into the military. Now you can walk into most team weight rooms and Cross Fit gyms, to hear the familiar sound of rubber weights being dropped and chalk scattered all over the ground. Weightlifting, particularly the Olympic lifts such as clean & jerk and the snatch, are one of the most common forms of training for explosive strength (see Sparta Point 3/24/10). But if you are a competing athlete, you have a limited training window, and there are many variations for these lifts beyond just pulling a barbell off the floor. There is a place for each variation, and you should know which lift, if any, to pursue for your needs.

First, a little nomenclature behind Olympic weightlifting. There is the hang clean, or snatch, and the classic version. The hang clean involves starting with the barbell off the floor, either at raised blocks or held by your arms while standing. On the other hand, the classic version is the type used in the Olympics since 1891, where the barbell begins static on the floor, before being pulled in the air. With the classic version, hopefully the weights are generally so maximal that a squat is required after the catch. An added variation to both of these movements is the power catch. This type usually employs lighter weights so a squat after the catch is not needed.

At Sparta, we only use the hang power clean for 2 reasons; the greater technical expertise of the classic version and the more specific benefits from the hang. The first rationale is based on the classic version requiring the barbell to move continuously from the floor. Such smooth knee action is only perfected by thousands of reps to allow heavier weights to be lifted. Besides, if we needed the Olympic lifts for maximal weight, we would just squat instead, a lift requiring far more maximal strength, and far less technique than the Olympic lifts (see Sparta Point 9/20/11).

Recent research has validated our second reason for employing the hang power clean. In a December 2011 study out of the University of Salford, in the UK, authors found this movement to be the most advantageous variation to maximize power, peak FORCE and RATE of force development (see Sparta Point 3/22/10). RATE was 100% greater in the hang conditions compared to the floor, most likely due to the smaller distance the bar moves, requiring more sudden acceleration.

To further complicate matters in weightlifting nomenclature, above the knee (ak) and below the knee (bk) variations exist, referring to the position the bar ends in the countermovement. We use the (ak) shown in the video below as it does shorten the movement further, emphasizing RATE even more.

The video shows a large emphasis on the most important part of any Olympic lift, the brush of the bar off the mid thighs. This aspect is critical objective feedback that you have engaged the most important joint in your body for maximal power, hip extension (see Sparta Point 12/29/10). The brush from the hang version can also drastically improve your classic version if you are competing for Olympic weightlifting or your team’s testing.

So if you need RATE, one of the best options is the hang power clean. If your goal is low back and wrist pain, just skip the brush though.

The Musical Journey of a Workout

2012-01-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

For better or worse, the first impression of our training environment is not the force plate science or the professional athletes. It is the music. Ancient Greek warriors were also highly trained in music because this would enhance their ability to move gracefully, to be more efficient and effective during battle.

As coaches, we spend a lot of time discussing our musical choices; what genre is being played, how often the music changes, and audibles depending on the mood of the group. Others might see this as a waste of time, but research has shown that the beat of the music directly entrains brainwave frequencies, which can subsequently enhance the learning process. So we relish the musical opportunity of a training session so athletes have the best experience to be educated on every journey we have together.

Athletes always walk into Sparta with something they are comfortable with, popular music with words they have heard before, ranging from country to rock. For newcomers and returning athletes, this common genre makes them feel they are somewhere familiar, hopefully home in most cases. However after myofascial release and flexibility movements for 10 minutes, the focus changes from preparation to activation. The music changes as well, incorporating more driving beats to accompany the prescribed focus on rhythmic movements like skipping (see Sparta Point 8/3/11). After another 30 minutes spent here on these highly skilled movements, the strangeness begins.

At this point, new athletes feel as if they have been dropped into another dimension. However, veterans know the real work is about to begin, and they have come to thrive on this specific electronic music, as it is unlike any other kind. The genre is called psytrance, in part due to its psychoactive component of affecting the mind or mental processes. Psytrance is at about 140-150 beats per minute, which is around 2 cycles per second, corresponding to the alpha waves in the brain. This frequency is important because high level athletes and superior performances have been correlated with more frequent occurrences of these alpha waves (see Sparta Point 11/24/10). Alpha waves are associated with a more relaxed state or readiness. The absence of words in these tracks only heightens the sense of focus. Here is a great track from a frequent artist we play, Blue Tech.

The last 10 minutes is a grind, some form of strength endurance; local stabilizing muscles, general work capacity, or basic upper body conditioning. Considering the last 10 minute is pure exertion and their focus has been exhausted, our heavy metal rifts become crucial to push through the finish. As the workout ends, we progress our journey to a candid discussion of nutritional habits, so soothing reggae or acoustical mixes transitions our time to an end.

Despite the wide variety and predetermined progression of these musical genres, the psytrance dominates for 40 minutes as the largest component, and definitely the most unique to visitors and new athletes.

So I hope your music has a purpose, if not we can help you find some psytrance to help those alpha waves. After all, the German Philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche said that "We listen to music with our muscles.”

Are You a Gorilla or Gibbon?

2012-01-18T10:45:00.000-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

In a typical training week, some of our athletes will lift weights only 4% of the time, 10 minutes of their total weekly volume. We are not talking about young kids either, these individuals are usually elite high school, college, or professionals. However, there is a similarity between these prescriptions. Their force plate testing resembles a gorilla. They are large human beings with exceptional RATE, a force plate measurement usually associated with weightlifting prowess. The goal is to change these primates to their ape relatives, gibbons, smaller animals known for their agility and speed. Due to the use of their arms, they are able to jump up to 26 feet at speeds up to 35 miles per hour. This ability to produce force over longer periods of TIME makes them an equally formidable opponent, and can be a valuable asset to you as an athlete, especially if you are a gorilla.

Too often, strength is viewed as just lifting weights, an important avenue if it is what you need. But strength is simply the ability to generate force, whether it is a squat, throwing a ball, or jumping. Jumping is one of the best training exercises to improve TIME (see Sparta Point 1/27/10). To take it a step further, jumping off one leg is even better because the challenge of balancing forces you to spend even more TIME loading and unloading as you apply force into the ground.

We use a series of single leg jumps, emphasizing the 2 major planes in which they occur in sports, horizontal or lateral. We use the horizontal jump in particular to emphasize the TIME of force production because the body’s joints allow a greater range of motion in this plane due to the hinge nature of the knee joint. This greater range of motion again allows more TIME in the loading phase. The other critical component to emphasize TIME is the arm technique.

A 2010 study out of Loughborough University in the UK, found that the use of both arms simultaneously maximizes this TIME, or impulse, compared to using the arms asymmetrically, like running. The double arm technique also allowed the athlete to produce more work at the single leg pushing into the ground, and even more work at the shoulder joints, much like a gibbon swinging through the trees.

Below is a video of the technique we use for horizontal hopping on one 1 leg. All of our athletes will perform this movement once a week, focusing on proper landing mechanics on 1 leg. However, gorillas, with high RATE and low TIME, will perform additional single leg jumps that emphasize more distance using the arms, regardless of their landing mechanics.

Without a force plate, you probably know if you are more of a gibbon or gorilla, so the question becomes if you use more jumps or lifting for your strength. If you are jumping, use both arms, because unlike a gibbon you don’t have to worry about grabbing onto a tree branch.

The 2 Tools to Exceed Your Strength

2012-01-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

The foundation of athleticism is based around one tool; the stretch shortening cycle (SSC). By storing energy in other soft tissue and activating the nervous system to a greater degree, this neuromuscular process allows us to exceed the results of using just muscles alone. There are really 2 choices within this process, short or long. Do you need to have quicker reactions over a shorter distance, or is the goal to cover a large span at the expense of longer loading? Better yet, do you know which process needs to be improved for your performance?

2 Graphs from our force plate with 2 similar jump height results, but different means of achievement. The figure on the left is through the long SSC, figure on the right is the short SSC.

These questions are not new to the performance training realm; coaches have been debating for years on these avenues, generally classifying movements as hip or knee dominant. But movement classification goes beyond joint preferences, and should focus on the most important parameter, the time of movement. After all, this temporal variable, short or long, is the biggest determinant of your performance, whether it is sprinting, jumping, or even displacement from a very angry predator (see Sparta Point 1/5/12).

The first tool is the short SSC, which is usually less than .25 seconds. Great examples are a quick rebound in basketball or block jump for volleyball. The shared characteristic is that these movements both involve jumping off of 2 feet to allow a shorter reaction time. Genetically, these athletes tend to have higher fast twitch muscle content, and utilize total body stiffness. Remember that stiffness is not a bad thing; it actually allows you to resist injuries and increase power by transmitting force quicker into the ground, or improve GRF (see Sparta Point 8/30/11).

The second tool is the long SSC, which is seen more in single leg explosive movements like a dunk or an approach jump. Another example is the stopping to change direction or the initial part of a sprint, also known as acceleration (see Sparta Point 11/3/10). This tool emphasizes muscular compliance, or the ability for this soft tissue to stretch, to allow more time for greater involvement from the Central Nervous System.

We all have both tools in some regard, but differentiating your need becomes more difficult as you become more trained. We use a force plate to analyze GRF, finding athletes that are better in short SSC have higher FORCE, while long SSC types have great TIME. The goal is to have equal abilities on each tool, as you never know what tool that the game or battle will require

Without a force plate, differentiation can be done, albeit more subjectively. Short SSC athletes will have better 40 yard or 60 yard sprint times, relative to their acceleration time at 10 yards, and volleyball players will perform better on the block. On the other hand, rotation movements like hitting or pitching involve longer SSC movements.

The solution is similar to most of our recommendations; do what you need not what you like. Are you good at single leg movements like acceleration or the approach jump? Then work on quicker training exercises like the Hang Clean and Push Press seen below.

Better at quick movements? Endure those single leg lifts and stability exercises that you dread so much.

So find a way to balance your SSC tools, you’ll need both the short and long to win.

Displacement Allows us to Survive

2012-01-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

Displacement was one of the most crucial evolutionary characteristics, as escaping from a predator can be simplified into creating the largest distance between predator and prey, hopefully as fast as possible. Sports also depend on displacement, and as a result, most physical tests evaluate this measure, sprinting a certain distance, vertical jump height, even agility runs. Yet, there are so many philosophies on ways to improve sport performance and these tests; sometimes we forget to take a step back and determine what really defines the outcome of your displacement.

There are really 2 determinants of displacement, take off velocity and the angle of force application. We have already discussed angles of GRF (see Sparta Point 6/15/11), so we’ll focus on take-off velocity.

For take-off velocity, it’s all about energy efficiency, particularly optimizing the stretch shortening cycle, which allows movements to be more explosive due to the storage of elastic energy in tendons (see Sparta Point 1/28/09). This energy storage is added onto a baseline energy production from the contraction of muscles. Such elasticity can be enhanced through training of athletic, explosive movements, such as jumping, sprinting, and even weightlifting (see Sparta Point 6/29/11). Of course, the proportion of fast twitch muscles, versus slower twitch, will also increase your body’s ability to store this elastic energy. But if you’re parents were slow twitch runners, be careful to optimize your extracurricular activities to optimize those muscle fiber changes (see Sparta Point 12/29/11).

In addition to elastic energy, spinal stability is crucial to transmit the forces through your body into the ground (see Sparta Point 9/7/11). This transmission, previously likened to a faster internet connection of a computer, is improved when the trunk musculature is able to prevent any energy leakage.

So if you need to optimize elastic energy and spinal stability, how do you choose which to focus on? At Sparta, we use a force plate to evaluate impulse, or takeoff velocity, giving objective insight into your elastic energy utilization. This force plate also allows us to glimpse spinal stability in a very dynamic matter, such as vertical jumping. Athletes with poor stability will create great RATE of force initially, lose this energy, but gain it back in the form of TIME. These objective markers allow us to choose whether to focus on this spinal stability or elastic energy.

In a more simple setting, you can compare your vertical jump’s relative performance, versus your strength performance on a squat. If your strength is superior, you’ll need to focus on more elastic energy utilization through plyometrics. If your vertical jump has higher values, that spinal stability is best improved through resistance training.

So whether you are the predator or the prey, displacement will determine the outcome. But if you’re not working on the deciding factors of velocity or the GRF angle, your choice is a forfeit.

Any Movement Makes you Slower

2011-12-29T07:37:00.000-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

Dozens of athletes approach us, specifically wanting justone thing; to get faster in sprints or throw/hit a ball harder. After all, theyare working out 6 days a week, and every workout is the hardest of their life,so they deserve to be bigger, faster, and stronger. If they only knew thatevery step you take, fast or slow, makes you a less powerful human being. Each movementyou perform, including getting up off the couch, makes your muscles act slower, which could hurt GRF, the worst consequence of any exercise.With this scientific fact and the limited training window of a competitiveathlete, you had better be choosing all your non-sleeping activities very carefully.

Let’s start with the basics behind these shocking statements:there are slow and fast twitch muscles, or type I and type II. The first majordifference between these muscle types is the way energy, in the form of ATP, isused. Type I fibers are rich in mitochondria for aerobic metabolism, makingthem look red due to the increased oxygen and blood flow. This pathway helpsyou recover from repetitive explosive efforts like a soccer match. However, pursuingthis energy system through long, prolonged exercise (i.e. over 60 seconds) willnegatively affect your entire sport’s pursuit from a catabolic hormone profileto overuse injuries (see Sparta Point 12/31/08). Type II fibers appear white, and have larger diameters with higher amounts ofphosphocreatine for anaerobic metabolism, pathways dedicated toproviding energy QUICKLY.

The second major difference of fiber typeis the rate of relaxation, which allows joint movement to continue to beaccelerated (see Sparta Point 10/8/09). Type II fibers have a faster muscle relaxation rate for greater jointspeed.

Then there are different types of type IImuscles, particularly IIa and IIx. This type IIa is more similar to slow twitchfibers, rich in mitochondria, thus appearing redder. The type IIx fibers arethe fastest muscle type due to their higher contractile speeds and greaterforce.

Any muscledamage and breakdown, like soreness, can shift fibers more towards the type IIacharacteristics. Even movements like sprinting can cause this shift from extremelyfast fibers to the more moderate compromise of type IIa. In fact, untrainedpeople have more type IIx fibers than anyone as they do not require anyendurance!

This information is not more ammunition to be lazy as more type IIx fibers won't guarantee more GRF, which is the end goal for every athlete. Rather, the take home point is simple; ANY EXERCISE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER. As a competitiveathlete, you do not have the luxury of being accepting of all things, so here area few guidelines.

1. Outside your sport’sskills, aggressively focus on anaerobic athletic exercise, like sprinting,jumping, or weightlifting, for about 360 minutes a week (we use 4 days at 90minutes)

2. Channel your extratime into sleeping more, the average requirements are 9 ½ hours before you hitsleep debt (see Sparta Point 3/17/10).

3. Long distance runningor exercise of any kind will make you fatter and slower, blame your nutrition for any positive or negative effects on your appearance (see Sparta Point 12/16/09).

Like everything,you need to decide your priorities first, and sleeping in or cooking instead ofgoing for that hike may be the best training decision you’ve ever made.

Where is your Center of Pressure?

2011-12-22T13:19:00.000-08:00

CoP = Center of Pressure

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

It is easy to spot the veteran athletes around Sparta, the professionals who have made human movement their life’s work. It’s not how they look, bigger or leaner, but rather how they set up movements, particularly their feet. They are just more aware of their set-up, or the center of pressure, which is the point of application for their ground reaction force (GRF). Where you put this pressure will not only dictate your performance, but characterize your injury risks as well.

An October 2011 study out of Brazil compared subjects with anterior knee pain (patellar tendonosis, chondromalacia, etc.) versus participants with no pain. The difference was that the knee pain group displayed a greater range in their center of pressure, meaning they shifted their point of GRF application during movement. This group also produced a smaller magnitude of GRF, so less force in their movement. More inconsistent and weaker is not a great combination for athletes.

We see this observations in our Force Plate scans (see Sparta Point 8/3/11). Athletes with a history of knee pain will shift to their toes early as they jump upwards. This scoop limits their TIME of force application because they must leave the ground sooner than if they kept the pressure further back. These same mechanics will also be seen in shorter stride length in their sprints (see Sparta Point 1/6/10) and less ground covered in lateral movements such as agility. Another example is how most baseball pitchers find it critical to maintain that heel pressure against the rubber, not the toe which drags along for the ride.

We correct poor Center of Pressure by helping the athlete by correlating their awareness with performance. Showing longer and higher jumps when the focus remains on the point of GRF application. We also limit the variety of movements so these athletes get the opportunity to be consistent, repeating the same movements over and over again to fine tune that awareness on their center of pressure.

So on every movement, regardless of the direction or sport, load through that “sweet spot” of the arch in your foot, but also focusing on driving through that same spot, as you’ll get to your toes eventually.

if you hear “be on your toes”, remember it refers to your mind and not your body.

Step Backwards if you want to Run Faster

2011-12-15T15:33:00.000-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

It is the busiest time of year at Sparta, not because of the Holidays, but because it is the pro baseball offseason, which means we are improving their sprint mechanics. One of the best ways to immediately get these players to run faster, or any athlete for that matter, is to step backwards! That’s right, by dropping one of your feet in the OPPOSITE direction of your target; you can get your destination sooner than your opponent.

Athletes have intuitively known this nugget for years, the best base stealer of all time, Rickey Henderson, would always drop his front foot before heading to second base. Below is a video of Daniel Descalso, one of our athletes who recently won the World Series with the St Louis Cardinals.

However, only recently was such intuition confirmed by research. A 2011 study out of the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, Canada, examined athletes of varying start stances and their effect on both 5 and 10 meter times. One group started with their feet parallel before stepping forward, the second group started in a split stance with one foot forward before stepping forward, and the last group did a false start, stepping backwards to initiate movement. The also correlated these sprint times with ground reaction forces (GRF) using a force plate of course (see Sparta Point 1/27/10).

The authors found that the false start group had the fastest sprint times at all distances due to increased force and power at push off. While the other groups spent more TIME on the ground, this longer opportunity to apply force was not an efficient means of movement due to the slower result, 29-66% slower in fact!

The reason this false start is more effective is due to the way an athlete applies force. Basically this backwards step sets up a better angle to apply force into the ground towards the desired direction, in this case, horizontal or forward (see Sparta Point 6/15/11).

Most recommendations for quickness in the lateral direction (Right to Left, like stealing a base) are directed to use a cross over step; the front foot remains planted while the back leg crosses over the front leg. The argument is that this method never “loses ground.” Well, athletes and researchers both know that what they may lose initially with this drop step, they gain by a greater RATE of force and angle to apply this power.

But if you’re competing against our athletes, please don’t step backwards just keep that front leg in your way.

The Real ACL Cause

2011-12-06T15:33:00.001-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

Despite some great efforts by sports scientists and coaches, knee injuries like ACL tears are NOT decreasing! In fact, 2011 research conducted by orthopedic surgeons from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia shows that anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus tears among adolescent athletes have increased dramatically over the past 12 years. One of the trends that have progressed with this increase in incidence is the greater frequency of playing sport, longer practices, more showcases, and larger tournaments. The level of competition is so high that athletes now just play one sport 11-12 months a year, exposing athletes to a greater number of non-contact landings in the same setting repeatedly. This higher frequency of exposure, despite an athlete and coaches best effort, makes knee injuries more likely because the biggest cause is landing incorrectly.

Bad landing mechanics will negate any previous strength training through 2 primary avenues; increasing the load on the knee joint and changing the position of the knee joint upon this landing.

The first cause, increasing the load on the knee, is most often due to improper tracking, where the foot and knee are not aligned in the same direction (see Sparta Point 4/27/11). Most frequently this misalignment is from a valgus force, seen when the knee cap dives inward toward the midline of the body. An October 2011 study out of George Mason and Old Dominion University found that Division One female soccer athletes that landed more on the forefoot had a more valgus position, or knock-kneed, place a higher strain on the ACL.

The second major cause for knee injury occurs more often in landing from a jump. When the knee is extended, or straight, the ligaments become tighter. This ligament stretch makes the knee more likely to dive inwards as mentioned above. Several studies have shown less knee stress when athletes land “softly” due to increased flexion, or bending or the legs (the ankle, knee, and hip joints).

Don’t get the wrong idea; strength of the muscles and ligaments is still very important, as perfect landings are not common. The greater levels of strength in the lower body can provide a buffer, a larger margin for error if the landing is not timed correctly. At Sparta, we pay particular attention to the body’s position when decelerating, giving special emphasis to

1. Avoid loading the toes and forefoot, as this will increase the likelihood of valgus stress

2. Land in a flexed position, bending the lower body (not your trunk) upon impact

3. Include complex strength exercises to encourage the cocontraction of muscles that will stabilize the knee, squats are best when targeting the above mechanics (see Sparta Point 9/7/11)

Below is a video clip at Sparta that emphasizes proper tracking, during the drive phase of a jump, as well as crucial landing mechanics.

So the real cause of increased knee injuries? Increased sport participation and specialization. There is no magic program to guarantee healthy knees; it is a conscious awareness of landing mechanics on every jump, and cutting maneuver, so use your training to establish those habits. If you are not concerned about decelerating during your preparation, maybe you shouldn’t be accelerating in the first place.

Why Are You Tired?

2011-11-30T13:16:00.001-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

Being tired is the most common complaint of human kind. This should be no surprise, since an entire industry of “energy drinks” has spawned over the past decade to combat this feeling of fatigue. Fatigue, more specifically, can be defined as a decreased capacity to produce force, reversible by rest. So fatigue really sets in immediately during exercise, as your ability to produce ground reaction force (GRF, see Sparta Point 1/27/10) is incapable of being replicated at the same, initially high level. So our goal should not be to eliminate fatigue, an impossible feat, but rather reduce its inevitable effect on declining performance.

There are 2 major forms of fatigue, peripheral and central. Peripheral fatigue occurs at, or further downstream from, the neuromuscular junction, the point at which the neuron activates muscle. Central fatigue, on the other hand, occurs upstream, from areas of the brain that cause a VOLUNTARY reduction of muscle activation. So central fatigue general occurs from low motivation (see Sparta Point 3/29/11) and continuous submaximal activity, which is yet another reason to avoid those long jogs and cardio exercise at all costs (see Sparta Point 7/21/10). Therefore, our focus will remain on peripheral fatigue as this is the most common contributor to being tired.

We know that fatigue is an inability to maintain GRF, but we can be more specific. The body behaves like a spring, with multiple springs within it (muscles, tendons, joints) so fatigue is really the body’s inability to regulate the stiffness of these springs (see Sparta Point 1/28/09). So stiffness is no longer the bad guy for our aches and fatigue. In fact, stiffness is important; as it allows the body to regulate the springs’ behavior. Just think about an athlete’s knee collapsing inward towards the end of game or match because fatigue has caused a lack of body control…or stiffness!

The initial peripheral fatigue and stiffness deregulation is due to metabolic factors: the accumulation of waste products from exercise. The good news is that this metabolic fatigue resolves an hour or two after exercise! However, there is a major secondary increase due to another peripheral fatigue factor, inflammation. You know how your soreness after a big workout is greatest 2 days later? This soreness, also known as delayed muscle soreness (DOMS), peaks at 48 hours, due to muscle damage and subsequent swelling. This swelling can cause smaller nerves to prevent communication with muscles, eventually limiting force production.

We use our force plate to monitor fatigue, particularly seeing decreases in athletes’ RATE of force development, a great measure of their stiffness regulation. Without a force plate, some quick tips to limit fatigue and its effects on your workouts are

1. Back to back days of training are probably better than a day in between, avoiding the dreaded 48 hour soreness peak, which will still happen UNLESS YOU…

2. Measuring volume of training, particularly high intensity skills like sprinting, to avoid excessive inflammation and subsequent fatigue (see Sparta Point 7/6/11)

3. Daily myofascial release, or “rolling out”, water and an anti-inflammatory diet (no processed foods but a focus on Omega 3s and vegetables) can help reduce the swelling from post workout.

Another option is to just to keep chugging energy drinks, that hole you keep digging will eventually lead you to stop…when you hit bottom.

The Most Important Muscle in Your Body

2011-11-22T13:12:00.001-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

Most of our days right now are spent rebuilding professional baseball players, preparing them for the most rotational sport on the planet. But yesterday, I got to talking with an NFL quarterback about the differences between quarterbacks and baseball players. It’s an interesting difference that we can all learn from because it shows there is little use for categorizing upper versus lower leg muscles. The reason is your core, more specifically your thoracolumbar fascia.

We previously introduced fascia as a layer of connective tissue that surrounds muscles, nerves, organs, basically permeating and extending uninterrupted throughout your entire body (see Sparta Point 6/30/10). We also discussed that this tissue is not just dormant plastic sandwich wrap, but has cells sensitive to pressure that allows communication throughout the entire body, similar to the control of the nervous system (see Sparta Point 7/27/11).

Perhaps most important is the thoracolumbar fascia, the deeper tissue of the back. It basically forms an “X”, starting right below the shoulder blades and running diagonally to your hip bone on the other side. In their 2007 research, Vleeming and Stoeckart discussed this fascia’s crucial role in transferring force between the spine, pelvis, and lower body. Remember we talked about your trunk being the internet connection (see Sparta Point 11/12/09)? The healthier this tissue is, the faster and more effectively forces are transmitted when you run, throw, or jump. The authors go onto explain how this “glistening sheet of connective tissue, links two of the largest muscles of the body, the latissimus dorsi and gluteus maximus.”

How does this fascia relate? One of the main differences according to this NFL quarterback was the decreased importance of the front throwing leg. You can imagine you don’t want to have a wide stance like hitting a baseball or pitching, otherwise a 300 pound freight train can end your season (Tom Brady’s ACL injury). So that is where the thoracolumbar fascia plays a role. Force is still generated from the ground, through the back leg shin angle (see Sparta Point 6/15/11). But with a narrow stance of a quarterback, there is less ability to transfer forces to the front leg, and that fascia must be able to transfer and stiffen the front side by bracing the lead lat muscle for a strong, abrupt finish of the back hip and leg.

The answer is not just more pull-ups, the best upper body exercise and one of the chief means of improving lat strength. The answer is strength from many movements; pull-ups, rows, and yes even lower body strength movements like squat, because we know that no athletic movement targets just the lower or the upper body. Olympic weightlifters perform little traditional upper body work, but have extremely strong lats from holding heavy barbells on their shoulders. We also labeled fascia’s need to be “healthy”, not just strong, so releasing this fascia by lying on balls can help stretch and release fascia from the tightness of training. Another stretch, what we call "heel sit rotation", shown below, can be a very effective, yet simple solution for mobility in this region.

So work on your “X”, you’ll need it to connect your lower and upper bodies, regardless of how you throw or what sport you play. Think of the thoracolumbar fascia as the fastest network, the most important one you’ll ever use.

I Love Cholesterol

2011-11-15T15:07:00.001-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

Cholesterol stabilizes every cell's membrane

How could you not be in love with cholesterol? It is in every cell of your body; it is thebuilding block for steroids like testosterone, and even reduces musclesoreness. But you’ve probably also heard that high cholesterol can kill you,that a diet of meat and eggs will lead to heart attacks. The major researchcreating this concern over cholesterol was the Framingham Study, OBSERVINGhigher cholesterol with heart disease. However, this cholesterol was notcausing the problem, merely trying to HEAL the infected tissue from the trueculprits. This research was not a cause and effect conclusion, only anobservation, as there are far more studies indicating heart disease is causedby infectious agents, like viruses or bacteria, from a more general unhealthy lifestyle.

Cholesterol is a fat, produced by the liver; in fact onlyabout 25% comes from your diet in the form of fat, further easing any concernsover your cholesterol rich foods like eggs. Cholesterol is carried in the bloodby lipoproteins, which are generally known by 2 types

1. LDL (low density lipoprotein) – the “badcholesterol”, carries cholesterol from liver to cells

2. HDL (high density lipoprotein) – “good cholesterol”takes cholesterol away from cells back to the liver

Cholesterol exists in the outer layer of every cell in ourbody and has many functions, but we will focus on just a few relevant benefitsto athletic performance

1. AnabolicEnvironment for more muscle STRENGTH

Cholesterol is critical in the metabolism and absorption ofvitamins such as A, D, E, and K, even helping convert sunlight to vitamin D,the most crucial of the aforementioned vitamins for testosterone levels.Speaking of testosterone, cholesterol is a major building block for sexhormones like testosterone.

2. Cell signalingfor the speed of your SKILL

Myelin, surrounds and insulates nerve cells, and isespecially rich in cholesterol, transmitting signals faster and moreefficiently (see Sparta Point 7/8/09)

3. Muscle sorenessfor REGENERATION

A 2009 Texas A & M study out of the Journal ofGerontology found that, the subjects who gained the most muscle mass were theones with highest LDL cholesterol levels. The researchers’ findingsillustrate that a certain amount of “bad” cholesterol is needed tobuild muscle. Makes sense since we know that LDL brings cholesterol from theliver to cells, which are damaged during exercise, particularly resistancetraining that causes soreness.

Still wary of 6 egg yolks every morning or a steak everynight? Cholesterol expert and Swedish doctor Uffe Ravnskov presented a2009 paper that LDL, participates in the immune system by binding andinactivating bacteria and viruses, the true causes of inflammation. And thisinflammation has always been the main culprit for heart disease, any chronicdisease or condition for that matter. The researchers go onto explain that whenyou inject bacterial toxins into rats they die almost immediately, but if youstart by injecting them with purified human LDL, most of them survive!

So eat high quality protein and fat, vegetables, andexercise consistently. Anything else is inflammatory.

How Long Should You Rest?

2011-11-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

You just finished your season, the last game, and you just want to relax. Unfortunately, an athlete’s window is small; one poor offseason can negatively affect the upcoming season and ultimately change your path in sport. After all, only 3% of high school basketball and football athletes go on to play in college, and professional athletes careers are shortening with new crops of talent flowing in each year. Most importantly, the average offseason duration has drastically shrunk at every level, leaving you less time to physically prepare. This conundrum leads to the inevitable question of how long to rest after your season?

Previously we discussed how just 4 weeks of detraining, or time off from exercise, resulted in a 17% decline in power (see Sparta Point 12/9/09). For example, athletes could experience a 3.5 to 5 inch drop in vertical jump!! While this study identifies performance decrements, more recent research identifies detraining’s disadvantages to healing.

A January 2011 study out of the University of Bologna examined the effects of detraining on tendons. These structures attach muscles to bones, and are best known for their effect on elasticity by storing energy to allow greater jump heights and faster sprints than just using muscle alone, a process known as the stretch shortening cycle (see Sparta Point 10/19/09). Like the nervous system, the behavior and structure of tendons are not static, but plastic, constantly adapting itself to stimulus, particularly loading through exercise. Jumping and weightlifting have shown beneficial effects on the size and protein content of these tendons. Discontinuing activity has the opposite effects, and, in the short term, disrupts tendon organization and protein content.

While previous research has observed that tendon adaptation to detraining is faster than training, this study was the first to investigate the sudden cessation of exercise, finding a disruption of the both the content and alignment of the proteins in tendons. While this study was on rats, I have seen several athletes encounter these setbacks from time off. Just 2 weeks ago, a professional pitcher experienced elbow tendon pain for the first time while resting at home after an 8 month season of no pain.

So here is a few tips on rest, whether it is the start of your offseason or not.

1. Rest duration (days versus weeks) is ONLY for your mind, to restore motivation which will fuel your workouts (see Sparta Point 3/29/11)

2. Physical decrements start IMMEDIATELY at the tendon level, but a motivated, happy athlete is always best, so see rule #1.

3. Any injuries are prolonged by rest (see Sparta Point 10/29/09). So use the other limb, and the rest of the body, as much as possible because the stimulus will still transfer up to 58% to that injured limb without even using it.

Time off should be as short as possible without negatively affecting your mood, and thus motivation. After all, initial training sessions will probably only last 1-2 hours, and in this initial offseason should emphasize mobility to improve range of motion and the tendon architecture mentioned above.

But if you’re resting your body and not your mind, you’ve got it all wrong.

How do you learn faster?

2011-11-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

We all want to learn faster, as well as have our athletes, kids, or employees learn faster. There are few situations more frustrating than having to explain something a second time. As hard working Americans, the need to push harder and more frequently is rampant in our schools, weight rooms, and sporting showcases. Hard work builds mental toughness and physical resilience, so there needs to be focused and efficient periods of intense training, but what if these commitments were actually jeopardizing our ability to learn?

For example, there are thousands of athletes, parents, and coaches who want to improve reaction time but sacrifice rest to do so. However, even 6 hours of sleep can reduce reaction time by 32%! This effect of sleep on reaction time skill is usually measured by more general tasks, like a finger tapping test, which evaluates a subject’s ability to tap a desk with their finger or touch a screen as quickly as possible. These tests, and motor skills in general, have been proven to improve with overnight sleep due to the reorganizing of new information in the brain to make it more readily available (see Sparta Point 9/8/10). This process during sleep is one of 2 general forms of memory consolidation, the processes that stabilize skills after their initial acquisition.

This initial acquisition occurs on a smaller level, the synapse. The synapse is the connection between neurons, and this consolidation occurs in just minutes to hours after a skill, as opposed to the overnight system consolidation that occurs in sleep. As previously discussed (see Sparta Point 3/1/11), dietary flavonoids, or the nutrients in food, have beneficial effects on this synaptic process. Specifically, it was found that these dietary-derived flavonoids, higher in vegetables than any other food, protect and help regenerate neurons.

The next question is always the same; how much sleep and vegetables do I need then to maximize learning? Well, Cheri Mah, a athlete sleep specialist at the Stanford Sleep Lab, collaborates with Sparta and has found a range of 9 ¼ to 9 ¾ hours for the average requirements among athletes. If you are not getting that rest, you’re likely accumulating sleep debt, which will eventually need to be paid back in more sleep for optimal performance (see Sparta Point 3/17/10).

However, there are solutions for those of us with schedules that prevent more than 9 hours. A recent 2011 study out of the University of Pisa in Italy found increases in motor memory consolidation from short naps (<30 minutes), also called power naps, so if you cannot get that required nighttime sleep, those daytime naps can help with skill acquisition.

We train NO PROFESSIONAL athletes more than once a day for 4 days a week, suggesting they use that extra time for sleeping and eating at least 8 servings of fresh vegetables. So my next question is; how willing are you to trust your sleep and diet over just more sweat and effort?

Train with Inertia!

2011-10-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

BY. DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

We only use one machine to train. That machine’s resistance is so unique that the same setting can be used for both professional athletes and a 14 year old female. It’s a flywheel, shown to the right. The cone is a couple feet high with a rope attached to the top, allowing the rope to wrap down to the bottom when the athlete pulls on it. The beauty of this resistance is inertia, meaning the speed of this cone determines the resistance exerted back on the athlete. Basically, it provides more resistance as you pull the rope, and the cone, faster. It is very unique to have a resistance not based on gravity, just ask NASA. But what if we are not in space, why even bother training with a flywheel?

The main benefit of the flywheel is inertia, which is the building of resistance due to increasing speed, like a big rock rolling downhill. This inertia becomes so great that it overloads the muscles to cause eccentric contractions, (see Sparta Point 4/13/11), which has crucial performance and healing benefits. From a performance standpoint, this eccentric strength determines your finishing movement, or concentric force production (see Sparta Point 8/4/10). As far as injury prevention, eccentric exercise is a well-accepted treatment method for tendonopathies, like jumper’s knee or tennis elbow. You’ll see this nature of exercise done by people who “work the negative” or descend with the weight slower than it is raised. But this flywheel adds an entirely new facet, due to the simultaneous provisions of speed AND resistance.

A 2011 study out of the University School of Sport and Health in Barcelona Spain examined the use of this flywheel in treating the most common form of tendonopathy in athletes, patellar tendonitis, or that tenderness right below your kneecap. The authors found reduced pain and improved muscle function, agreeing with previous research.

But the study showed 2 more important aspects of this flywheel that make it irreplaceable. The most important finding for us all is that a flywheel is EFFICIENT. The intervention only took 12 sessions for very large improvements, far less time required from other forms of eccentric exercise. The second unique aspect of the flywheel was the study’s nature of eccentric exercise, or overload. Their emphasis was placed on the last 1/3 of the movement before movement direction was reversed. This focus enhances the process known as the stretch shortening cycle (see Sparta Point 10/19/09). So rather than just slowly lowering the resistance for the entire descending phase, the athletes only exerted maximal effort at the end to stop the flywheel and reverse directions quickly.

We use the flywheel from Versapulley because we can measure both the speed of the cone and the resistance, particularly in lateral movements, as shown below in the video. This machine provides that eccentric overload for our injury rehabilitation, but more importantly with injury prevention because offseason duration is shrinking.

But if you have all the time in the world, you should probably just try every machine and hope for the best. If not, take advantage of this unique form of resistance that will make your training more efficient.

Should You Train Like Pro Athletes?

2011-10-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

This past week, I was heartbroken as we lost one of our minor league players who chose to pursue training on his own, mostly because Brian Wilson does his own workouts. He wanted the same freedom to choose random training times and movements, citing the success of this San Francisco Giants relief pitcher. Later on this same week, one of our baseball players wanted to perform extra bodybuilding exercises, an isolation movement meant to gain sheer muscle size rather than any specific athletic function. His rationale was a video of Albert Pujols performing a similar exercise. It begs the question, are these athletes great because of their training or in spite of it?

The answer is not simple, but certainly the response is no. These athletes’ success is largely due to 2 major factors, DNA and the perfection of the sport skill such as pitching and hitting. The third and last vital piece of this puzzle is their physical preparation, and unfortunately worthless without great parents and knowledgeable sport coaches. And when it comes to physical preparation, the best advice is to follow what we know, science. We are just unaware of professional athletes’ genetic contribution, as well as their relative acuity at sport specific skills.

So let’s review a few crucial training components

1. Programming

Everything should be geared towards increasing and balancing GRF (see Sparta Point 12/8/10). The bodybuilding exercises mentioned above are not as efficient as squats or other total body movements in improving your force production into the ground, which results in more speed in any direction as well as reduced injury risk from balanced energy absorption (see Sparta Point 3/8/11). In fact, exercises like biceps curls can even inhibit your range of motion which will result in less power (see Sparta Point 11/17/10).

2. Environment

Key aspects of your environment are your peers, coaches and fellow athletes that keep your workouts accountable and grueling, yet fun. Another important environmental aspect is the time, specifically circadian rhythms, as you need to train at similar times each day, like going to bed and waking at the same time. Such patterns will allow your body’s hormones to be released optimally and provide the best ergogenic effects (see Sparta Point 11/2/09).

3. Consistency

Sprinting, jumping, and weightlifting are all simple skill or strength movements, and their execution improves with repetition, allowing more speed and heavier weight over time. With this greater intensity during training, a larger stimulus is provided, which is crucial in more trained athletes with higher thresholds for improvements (see Sparta Point 2/24/10). Therefore changing exercises every week, or each offseason, will impede this linear, or perhaps greater, curve of improvement.

Another baseball example, flush runs, started after Roger Clemens was famed for performing these longer jogs after his baseball starts (see Sparta Point 12/31/08). However, would this logic encourage us to drink more alcohol like Mickey Mantle or others who have succeeded despite off-field problems?

Rather than asking what professional athletes do to train, follow their skills, and perhaps family tree, but let the science guide your physical preparation.

How to Choose Footwear

2011-10-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

BY DR. PHIL WAGNER, M.D.

I just got back from a week with adidas at their newly remodeled headquarters at a small, farming town in Germany, where the company was first started in the 1940s. Most of our discussions were held in laboratory settings, reminiscent of a James Bond movie with brilliant technicians designing the latest in sports technology. One concept stood out, because their view on footwear is so similar to our view on training athletes. We all need to be evaluating our choices in shoes, as well as exercises, based off a mobility and stability continuum.

    MOBILITY                                          STABILITY
                              Choose if you need
- foot strengthening                                        - heavy lifting
- more TIME - more RATE
                             - all around sport training
                             -balanced GRF performance

Our training is individualized based off a force plate, identifying an athlete’s nervous system weaknesses, particularly along this mobility and stability continuum (see Sparta Point 12/8/10). If athletes need more stability, or stiffness, they are lacking RATE of force development, which is how quickly they can create ground reaction force (GRF). Athletes needing more mobility, will excel on these RATE measures, but need to improve their ability to maintain that GRF over TIME (see Sparta Point 1/27/10). To simplify these prescriptions, RATE athletes need to pursue quicker, heavier movements like a Hang Clean, while those seeking TIME should target single leg lifting for more time under tension.

The beauty of footwear is that it seeks to serve this same continuum. Adidas has developed a great line of barefoot shoes, designed more for the gym rather than running. This footwear provides mobility and freedom of movement in the foot, but as such, challenges the need to stabilize upon foot impact. So athletes will actually get stronger feet, particularly through their arch muscles, by wearing and training in these shoes. However, athletes also need to sprint fast and lift heavy, especially in competition. Athletes in these endeavors will favor a stronger, more stable shoe to maximize the energy return or elasticity of these higher force/speed movements. Shoes that are too soft absorb too much force, thus limiting this energy return and minimizing stiffness. An extreme example is a weightlifting shoe that provides a higher, stiffer heel for stability during the heavy, explosive nature of Olympic lifts (see Sparta Point 8/31/10). While this discussion may seem like a marketing strategy for the original sports apparel company, no other group produces both extremes of this apparel, so I have no choice but to use these examples.

The exciting part of this footwear continuum concept is athletes can also choose their footwear off of their GRF needs, not just based off the setting of training versus competition. For example, even if an athlete that needs RATE is not in competition, a stiffer shoe would be recommended. What footwear would best fit the athlete needing time? A barefoot shoe.

We know that the most important aspect of an athlete’s performance and injury risk is GRF, how much and the balance of its variables (RATE, FORCE, TIME). If the footwear is the only thing between the body and the ground, it seems we have been underestimating the variability options and importance of specialty footwear.

But if you’re not worried about GRF, then don’t worry about your footwear either, gravity is overrated.