The Toe Touch Challenge : 4 Easy Steps to Improve Your “Bendability”

In what has always been the benchmark for flexibility (which it really isn't), touching your toes is a skill that alludes many individuals shortly into adulthood, and sometimes even sooner. While not being able to put your fingertips comfortably to your shoes may simply mean you have short arms and long legs (that's a joke...), it also may be implicative of greater movement dysfunctions. Let's look at a few:

1 - Overstrain on your low back - Your inability to flex at your hips will in turn cause you to compensate and overflex your back, leaving the discs of your spine very vulnerable to injury.

2 - Decreased performance - Whether your an NFL lineman that has to fire out of a 3-point stance or a grandmother that needs to get your crockpot out from the bottom cabinet, your insufficient bending pattern will be inefficient and weak due to the poor motor sequencing of your muscles.

3 - Wasted time in the gym - What if I told you all of those squats and deadlifts you've been working so hard on in the gym were completely ineffective???
People who can't bend properly also usually have very poor coordination and strength in their glutes (butt muscles). That means whether you're trying to increase your vertical jump or just look good in your jeans, your backside is probably snoozing right through your workouts, making you miss out on all the benefits.

So how can you fix it???

Provided that your deficiency is not due to a spinal abnormality or disc issue, you need to teach your body the proper sequencing and coordination to bend properly. We are all born with this ability, yet lose it over time due to muscular imbalances, poor posture and lack of use and/or overuse.

Step 1 : Clear Out the Junk

When we exercise, play sports or work hard a certain degree of tissue breakdown occurs within our muscle cells. Sometimes the body will lay down inelastic scar tissue in the repair process that can lead to lack of strength and/or flexibility. This can be compounded by trigger points or “knots” that develop from overuse and/or poor posture. These need to be addressed prior to stretching, or we end simply stretching around the adhered tissue. Basically the tight parts stay tight and the loose parts get looser. By using a round Foam Roller, we can perform a self-massage technique to restore optimal tissue quality and circulation. Rollers can be purchased for around $10 each from most athletic training equipment suppliers.

Even though the hamstrings most often get the blame for being too tight, more often it is the muscles on the front of the thigh and hip that create movement restrictions.

Lay on your stomach with the roller perpendicular to one thigh. The opposite leg should be bent and held up at hip height. Start at the hip and roll down through the thigh. Find the most tender area and stay on that spot for at least 45 seconds. Repeat on the opposite side.

Step 2: Get Tall

Modern society leaves most people relegated to a seated position for the majority of their days. Whether you’re a student or office worker, being seated for 7-8 hours per day over time can shorten the hip flexors, the muscles on the front of your hips. Since these muscles fold the hips forward, as well as attach to your lumbar spine (low back), they can cause the hips to tip forward and the spine to shorten when they are too tight.

By getting in a half-kneeling position and becoming as “tall” as possible, we can begin to restore the hip flexors natural length. To get tall, tighten your butt on the side you are stretching, draw in your abdominals and reach your hand towards the ceiling. To enhance the stretch further down the thigh into the “quad” muscles, the back foot may be placed on a ball or chair.

Step 3: Wake Up Your Core

Part of the issue that restricts people from bending forward properly is that their hamstrings and low back stiffen. These muscles don’t always stiffen because they are “tight”, but rather that they are tightening to protect and stabilize the pelvis and spine. This is normally the job of the core muscles, but when they become de-conditioned or improperly trained, they lose their function, therefore having the hamstrings and low back compensate.

 

 

Lay on your back with one leg running straight up a doorway wall or a bench/table. The other leg should lie parallel on the ground, creating a “L” position. If this is uncomfortable, you can place a roller or towel under the ankle of the lower leg. Initially it may be difficult to have the top leg straight and flat against the wall, but that will improve with practice. Once you are in position, tighten your abdominals and press your shoulder blades into the ground. This exercise can be progressed by holding the core tight and then lifting the lower leg to meet the top leg without allowing movement in the hips, low back or other leg. Repeat 10-15 times, 2-3 times on each leg.

Step 4: Trick Touches

Any movement that we do is stored in our nervous system as a pattern or program, much like a computer file. Every time we repeat that pattern it is updated and becomes more ingrained for the better or for the worse. Also referred to commonly as “muscle memory”, this is why practice our golf swing or piano playing, so that each time those movements become more efficient and natural.

If you can not touch your toes, your program for bending has been improperly written over time. By performing the next sequence, we can “trick” your nervous system into a new pattern.

Stand with your toes elevated on a 2x4 or books. Hold a roller or rolled towel between your knees. The feet should be close enough together that your feel slightly bow-legged and pigeon-toed. Bend forward, letting everything relax and reach for the floor. Once you hit your first barrier, squeeze the roll between your knees and forcefully exhale. Once you have hit your limit, slide your hands up the front of the body and reach for the ceiling while taking a deep inhale through the nose. Repeat this process 10 to 15 times. Each time you will notice that you get closer to the floor. If you need to bend your knees slightly to get to the floor, it is OK. Eventually you will be able to keep your knees straight.

Now move across the board and perform the same drill with the heels elevated. After 10-15 repetitions, step off the board and try and touch your toes. If you are not touching your toes, you will be shockingly closer than you ever have been.

Repeat this program daily for 10 days consecutively and enjoy your new “bendability”!

Preventing the Pull: Key Steps to Keeping Hamstrings Healthy

The thought of it makes every coach, parent and athlete cringe. A player is sprinting down the field and all of a sudden they slow up, grab the back of their leg and painfully limp to the sideline. The infamous pulled “hammy” has become all too common in sports, leaving athletes out of commission for weeks, if not months at a time.

So why are so many athletes coming up lame with injuries due to this curious muscle? There are many reasons, the most common of which are:

-Improper Conditioning – Many times hamstring muscles strain because they are just simply too weak to accommodate the demand that is put on them. When an athlete transitions from a jog to a sprint, the majority of muscular effort transitions from the front muscles of thigh over to the back of the thigh, rapidly increasing the stress on the hamstrings. If sprinting and rapid acceleration and deceleration is not trained prior to competing, the muscles are not ready for this demand, and will in turn breakdown. Specific strengthening of the posterior thigh is also often neglected, and in the cases it is done, it is mistakenly done on machines that do not translate strength that can be actually used athletically.

-Muscular Imbalances – Research has never been able to conclusively show that “tight” muscles will directly lead to injury. However, it has been shown in many studies that when an imbalance is present from right to left, the likelihood for injury can increase by as much as 2-11 times. When one hamstring is consistently tight and/or strained, almost always the opposite hip flexor is tight and overactive as well, and must be addressed also to truly resolve the issue.

-Weak Core Muscles – The muscles of the trunk, specifically the lower portion of the abdominals and obliques are key stabilizers of the pelvis. When they are weak and fail to do their job, other muscles must compensate, leading to poor muscular coordination and overload.

So how do we fix this problem???

If you have noticed, nowhere did I mention that the majority of hamstring pulls were the result of tight hamstrings. Actually, this muscle is often overstretched and lax and continual stretching in that area can in fact make the problem worse.

There are also other factors that go beyond this article that range from poor hydration to muscular trigger points and foot and ankle disorders, just to name a few. However, here are four basic steps that you can take to keep your hamstrings healthy:

1 – Get Strong – Specific exercises to address the hamstrings, glutes and lower abdominals, as well as integrated lifts that reinforce proper hip hinging, such as deadlifts and good mornings, will build a strong foundation for the area.

2 – Proper Progression – This means don’t roll out of bed and go all out in a 40 yard sprint after taking a few weeks off. Sprint speed and acceleration needs to be gradually increased from rep to rep and from workout to workout.

3 – Loosen the Hips – Focus less time on stretching the hamstrings and increase your attention on the hip flexors, hip rotators, calves and lateral hip muscles.

4 – Get Unilateral – Most times when hamstrings pull, it is done when lunging (as with baseball pitchers) or sprinting, which are both one-legged movements. Performing exercises and drills that build strength and balance on a single leg will dramatically improve function and durability.

The Road to the Super Bowl - How a kid from Section 308 got to help the Giants get ready for their biggest game

Sunday, February 5, 2012, Indianapolis, IN 

One last play. Tom Brady, arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, heaves a hail mary pass towards the end zone that can win the ultimate game. After getting batted around, the ball bounced on the Lucas Oil Stadium turf no more than 50 feet away from me. Incomplete. Giants win. Or should I say “Complete”. The pinnacle of an incredible journey and life’s dream was now complete.

I must have sat in the stadium in awe for an hour. In what was arguably one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played, the Giants had just pulled off one of the most remarkable come from nowhere runs in football history. The emotions I felt can not be described, but I should explain a little of how I got to here.

My grandfather went to was coined “The Greatest Game Ever Played” when the Colts beat the Giants for the NFL Championship in 1957. The next year he bought season tickets for the Giants that have been passed down through the generations in our family, through 5 different stadiums, with lots of tradition attached. Our family bleeds Giants blue to insane proportions. I got my first season tickets at the age of 18, almost 22 years ago. Section 308, Row 12.

Fast forward to 2007. I have been in the fitness industry for about 10 years at this point and in addition to owning a training facility since 2002, I also was teaching around the country for a company called FMS (Functional Movement Systems). FMS is testing and training system that evaluates an individual’s  movement abilities which not only helps in designing training programs, it can also discover if someone is at risk for injury.

One afternoon, I get a call from my Operations Director and Head Trainer Mark Leibowitz. He tells me that through a contact of his, he has set us up with a meeting with the training staff of the NY Giants. They are intrigued by our testing system and are giving us a half hour to show them what we have to offer. Cool.

At that meeting, the staff explained how they had brought someone in who did a different type of movement testing the year before. They didn’t think much of it, but took note of when one of their big name free agents did the test that he failed miserably. Everyone on the team laughed it off as the player just being clumsy until a few weeks later when they were paying millions of dollars for him to stand on the sideline in a sweatsuit injured.

Our first opportunity came during the team’s Spring program which usually commences in mid-March. We were able to screen as many players as we could on an optional basis and the players who participated were given Corrective Exercise programs to address any weak links we found.  My staff and I returned for a few more visits that Spring for follow up. A few players appreciated the work we were doing with them and began to hire us privately to help keep them healthy throughout the season. That year the team went on to defeat the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl 42. Very cool.

Each year after that our relationship with the organization has grown, leading to me being with the team throughout the season also, as well as a growing stable of marquis players who have enlisted my services privately.

The way it works is this: I have what I call “Team Time” that the Giants hire me for that I am at the Timex Center to be available for any players who desire and/need Testing or Corrective Work.  I serve in a way as a liason between the Strength staff and Medical/Training staff.  The strength coaches will bring to me players who are struggling with certain movements or exercises and the trainers will send over players who have acquired non-contact injuries that they would like me to be a detective of sorts to discover if there are any underlying dysfunctions that may have precipitated their injuries. Many players will also seek me out independently, referred by teammates that I have helped at one time or another.  I have 2 days per week of Team Time that I have a set up in a room off of the weight room to work with players. Occasionally I will add in some extra trips to the facility if we have a player that needs special attention that we need to get back on the field ASAP.

On top of that, players will hook up with me 1-3 times per week privately to work on optimizing their function, mobility, recovery and overall movement. These sessions are done either at the Timex Center, our facility or the player’s homes.  This eventually led to my Super Bowl attendance, as many of the players felt strongly about having me work on them in the days leading up to the game.  Out in Indianapolis, I ended up working on guys Friday afternoon and evening, all day Saturday and Sunday until they got on the bus to the stadium.  For many reasons, I purposely try not to name drop the identities of the individuals I work with. (Even though a good fan can figure out from the picture collage from the game I posted :)

In the years since we started with the Giants, we have been fortunate enough to have been hired by several other NFL teams. Published research has shown that NFL players who score below average have up to a 40% higher likelihood to end up with season ending injury so many teams have begun to take notice. It is estimated that almost half of the teams in the league are now using the system in some shape or form and it has recently been instituted as part of the testing regime at the NFL Combine. It has also trickled over to more areas of athletics and we have had the subsequent opportunity to work with pro teams and athletes from other major sports. None, however, will quite come close to my experience with Big Blue.

I’d like to think that the interventions I’ve done with at least more than a few of players have allowed them to avoid injuries they may have otherwise been destined for. If that allowed them to participate in one more game or contribute in some way to getting them to or winning the Super Bowl, that is an indescribable feeling.  I don’t mention this for the accolades or credit, since there are many who contribute in making such a Herculean victory happen. My rewards came in the form of the gratitude, acceptance and warmth I felt from the staff and players at the team’s postgame celebration party and really being made to feel part of the team. And unless there is a dramatic paradigm shift in the NFL and there is a sudden demand for a short, slow, minimally athletic, almost-40, Irish-Italian kid, my chances of playing in a Super Bowl are looking pretty bleak. Short of my own boys playing in the Super Bowl it probably isn’t going to get much better than this. Unless of course, we do it again next year!

Why Gyms Don't Work - The Top 5 Reasons to Not Join a Gym in 2012

It's that time of year again and so the end of year checklists are starting to be written:

1. Finish off the last of the Christmas cookies so they will be out of the house

2. Make a resolution to lose weight and be healthy next year

3. Join a gym

While I don't have too much of an issue with the first 2 items, I highly object to #3. 

What??? Why not join a gym? Well, here is 5 real good reasons why:

1. You'll pay and never go
Nearly 3/4 of all new gym members will drop out within the 1st three months of joining. Gym owners actually bank on this and hope you NEVER show up. If all the members of any given gym showed up one day, the fire department would close them down for overcrowding. The hope is that they can just hit your credit card each month for your dues. 
And you will let them do it.  There is a huge psychological component to the process as you won't call and cancel since you will feel as if you are admitting defeat if you do. You would rather pay for another month and lie to yourself that you'll go back "next Monday".  

2. The WalMartting of the Fitness Business
As with many industries in our country, big conglomerates are taking over the fitness business using the same model as big chains such as WalMart, Home Depot, etc.
They open up large "box gyms" and offer dirt cheap memberships for $19.99 or less per month. This then drives out all the privately owned local "Mom and Pop" gyms who can't compete and survive at those rates. Then all that is left to choose from is the big box gyms that provide little to no service and are usually overcrowded pick-up joints.
On top of that, at only $19.99 or less per month you are less likely to cancel so you'll keep paying for what you will never use. See #1.

3. You Don't Know What You Are Doing
Some people are gym rats. They have spent the better part of their lives in gyms. I am proud to say I am one. That's what made me want to be in this business. 
I also know a lot of other gym rats and you know what? They don't know what they are doing either. I have spent the better part of the last 15 years studying anything and everything about training, injury prevention and rehabilitation, etc. and I am just starting to scratch the surface of understanding exercise and it's effects on the human body.
At best, most people's attempts at an exercise program produce little to no results. At worst, it often leaves them injured, frustrated and forced to quit.


4. It's Just an Equipment Rental
I've answered multiple phone calls from prospective customers who ask if we have a basic membership if they just want to "use the treadmill". In turn I offer to give them free exercise advice from an "expert" in the field. (Me:)
For $20-30 per month you can pay Gym Source or Sports Authority or Sears for a treadmill that you actually get to keep! They will even set it up in your home so you don't have to go anywhere. It will save you gas money, conserve the environment and give you a great place to hang your dry cleaning once you stop using it.

5. The Twisted Gym Psychology
Do you even know why you are going to the gym??? I often wonder if most members do. 
Let me explain:
Have you ever seen someone drive around the parking lot for 10 minutes looking for the closest parking space so they can go inside the gym and walk on a machine that goes nowhere?
Do you know I used to watch members take an elevator or escalator in the gym (Yes, they do exist) just so they can go upstairs to get on a Stair Climber?
Do you also know the #1 reason why people are overweight, achy, immobile and weak? Because they sit all day. So what do gyms offer them for their one hour of opportunity to move each day??? More chairs with pulleys and bars and cables and weights attached to them, also known as exercise machines.




Bottom line is that if you want Look, Feel and Perform better, you need to move. The question then becomes - How? and When? and How Much? and for How Long? and How Often?
The answers to these powerful questions are unique to each individual but can be answered easily with the guidance of trained fitness professionals. That is why the future of the fitness industry lies in the hands of highly skilled Personal Trainers, Strength & Conditioning Coaches, Group Fitness Instructors and Physical Therapists. Facilities that are based in and focus on the services provided by these "exercise technicians" are where the future lies and where YOU should be.

Where can I find such a magical place??? 
I know ONE in particular in Montville that's really good:)
www.onehumanperformance.com

Is the FMS worthless or is this just another case of only knowing enough to get you in trouble?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KDxeJVIc7iM

I recently came across an article that got my Irish up by a trainer entitled "Is the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) worthless?". He used the video above from the Nike Football Training Camp as the basis for his argument on the FMS's usefulness in preventing injury. This guy basically said "look how many of the athletes featured in the video still got injured this year..."

Well, here are the 2 giant gaping holes in his argument, which unfortunately are all too common of many of the FMS critics:

1-He has not been formally trained or certified in the FMS system so automatically he is speaking out of his posterior chain. He also goes on to say in his follow up article that he uses "some aspects of the FMS" in his own assessment. The FMS is a SYSTEM so to use it partially will never give you results, which you would know if you actually knew the system you are criticizing.

2-The screen itself does not prevent injury. It only discovers movement impairments and imbalances. The corrective training program you design based on that information is what reduces (not eliminates) the likelihood of injury. More importantly, that program only works if the athlete actually does the program and does it correctly.
I personally have worked with one of the athletes you use in your argument (Have you???). You know how much corrective work he does??? NONE. I hate to burst your bubble folks, but even professional athletes can be lazy sometimes and no testing system in the world fixes that.

3 Tips to Avoid Dehydration and Cramping

This past weekend was unusually warm for this time of year in NJ and inevitably we saw a lot of athletes cramping up in the field.

 Here is 3 tips to keep in mind:
 

1-Once the event is going, it is really too late to hydrate. You should be drinking plenty of water the 24-48 hours leading up to the game for optimal hydration.
 

2-Research has shown a solution of w...ater with a trace amount of honey and sea salt to be comparable to many popular sports drinks without the added sugars and artificial colors and flavors.
 

3-Once cramping does set in, it can often be relieved almost immediately by drinking a shot of pickle juice or vinegar. I know it sounds gross, but it works!

 

 

Why Does Everybody Hurt?

Did you know that low back pain is the 2nd leading cause for missed work in our country? Why??? There are lots of reasons, but I'll give you the top 3:

1-Our modern society sits at desks and chairs all day, leading to all sorts of postural dysfunctions

2-Most people are just bloody weak and have no core support or strength to divert forces out of their spine so they hang on their joints all day until they eventually break down

3-We are constantly bombarded by ads that tell us to take a pill and don't let your pain stop you from living. Pills just mask the pain, they don't fix the problem.