Knock The Rust Off With Some Core Stability Work

By admin | Published: January 22, 2012

I literally had 10 minutes at the gym yesterday. This included changing out of my snow boots and winter gear. So really I was left with five minutes. I coach hockey for both of my boys teams and had some shoveling to do and wanted to move well and feel good throughout. What did I do? Well I did cheat and use a foam roller (my orange Grid at home for 2-3 minutes to mobilize my thoracic spine.

I threw my sneakers on and went over the TRX and did some rows , I only got 4 reps in before a trainer running a bootcamp class gave me the boot. So on to the Vertex. Vibration training is a huge advantage when you are short on time. I proceeded to performa circuit of slow tempo push ups, bird dogs and double kneeling, Y-T-A’s from a hip hinges position. The settings on Vertex where 30 seconds per interval, 50 hertz and low amplitude. I was able to get in three cycles with 90 seconds on each cycle then I had to through the snow gear back on and head home to get my youngest to the rink.

Short, frequent bouts of core stability or rehabilitation style of exercises can be very beneficial to maintain or enhance neural activation of inhibited muscles and groove quality movement patterns. I would have liked to add in some integration type movements like walking lunges, but a few laps around the ice rink would have to suffice.

I chose the push up so I could load the anterior chain while engaging my glutes to maintain a straight alignment, plus I wanted to get the upper body some pushing work and the rotator cuff stimulation on the Vertex is great. Push Up Video

The birddogs are a classic selection for core stability from the lumbar multifidi to the internal oblique, glutes and transverse abdominus integration. The movement of the opposite hip and shoulder helps to enhance the force closure mechanism to stabilize the sacroiliac joint. I also like the lower trap and posterior rotator cuff work from the scaption movement and gleno-humeral external rotation.

I finished with what I termed a kneeling Y-T-A from a hip hinge. Imagine kneeling ona vibration platform, starting in this position and performing Y-T-A’s (cobras, rear delt flys and scaptions). This loads the glutes heavily and gets some good work to the para-scapualr musculature. YTAs on HFPN (or Ball Combo 1)

I felt great after this circuit and was ready to work out for sure! It definitely helped to get the right muscles firing before and active day. Hope your winter is coming right along!

Eric Beard
CEO A-Team
Corrective Exercise Specialist
AthleticShoulder.com
http://facebook.com/theericbeard
http://youtube.com/theericbeard

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Vertical Core Stability Training

By admin | Published: January 19, 2012

I saw an IDEA video about vertical core training and I thought I’d put together a short video with some progressions and key points on this topic. Core training should be used in corrective exercise programs as well as athletic enhancement programs. The Variables and exercises change of course, but we all need more core stability.

I hope you enjoy the video!

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/4ORDq_iCUnQ” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ORDq_iCUnQ

Eric Beard
CEO A-Team
Corrective Exercise Specialist
AthleticShoulder.com
http://facebook.com/theericbeard
http://youtube.com/theericbeard

Eric

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Quick Tip to Improve Dorsiflexion (making your calve stretch more effective)

By admin | Published: January 12, 2012

Happy Thursday Night!

I just got home from a trip to Arizona and I am ready for bed, but I wanted to share something with you that I have been using. After I perform soft tissue work on the lower extremity (foam rolling, SMR, manual therapy, trigger point therapy, active release technique…you name it) I like to apply a stretch or lengthening technique. Static stretching can work great when trying to restore length, but at times you may find that it is limited in it’s effectiveness. I prefer to stay with one ankle for about 90 seconds. The first 30 seconds will be a static stretch on a slant board. Make sure the heel is down, toes are straight or slightly in and quad is engaged. Then I back off about 5-10% from my end range of motion and perform a muscle energy technique (MET or contract relax). I engage the muscles that I am trying to stretch for 4-5 seconds with a low amount of force. Then I relax them and ease deeper into the stretch. Here’s the twist…instead of engaging the plantar flexors in the calve the we focus on most of the time, I start with the muscles that perform dorsiflexion and flexion of the toes, specifically the flexor hallucis longus and the flexor digitorum longus. Sure, you may get some posterior tibialis in there too, that’s okay. I do this by flexing the first MTP joint by instead of pushing the ball of the foot down into the board. Don’t forget, there are seven muscles that can create open chain plantar flexion:

  • the gastrocnemius
  • the soleus
  • the peroneus longus
  • the peroneus brevis
  • the tibialis posterior
  • the flexor hallucis longus and
  • the flexor digitorum longus

"Hey! Take me out of that shoe and stretch me out!!!"

From there, I hold a static stretch for 20-30 second sand then perform a second MET focusing on plantar flexion by trying to lift the heel off of the slant board for 4-5 seconds then returning to another 20-30 second static stretch.

Give this corrective exercise technique a shot and let me know what you think.

Have a great weekend!

Eric Beard
CEO A-Team
Corrective Exercise Specialist

Have you seen my SMR DVD?
http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00Z43XTB

AthleticShoulder.com
http://facebook.com/theericbeard
http://youtube.com/theericbeard

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Posted in achilles tendonitis, barefoot training, Corrective Exercise, fascia, foot pain | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can You Give Me Some Advice?

By admin | Published: January 7, 2012

So this guy who I am an acquaintance of, actually we have just played hockey together a couple of times, comes up to me at the gym and asks for “some advice”. Then he clarifies and asks me for “some exercises to help this?” and pulls up his sock to show me this

So, can you fox this?

He was a few months out from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles Tendon. Why is everyone always looking for a quick fix? I guess I do too, I am only human…but to expect a couple of exercises to break open his rehab was a bit much. My question to him was “have you been discharged from physical therapy?” Of course he hadn’t been discharged yet, in fact I knew one of the two PTs that were treating him. I asked what they were having him do…I got the typical response of “Some of these and some of these…and I think there was something else. ” It’s probably like when someone tries to tell you what their IT guy said about their broken computer. “The server was down, and it’s a good thing it wasn’t my motherboard and I need to make sure that I don’t click on any links  with suggestive words in them or something.”

My suggestion was to follow the program that his PTs put together because all too often people tend to collect additions to their rehab program and end up over-doing it by either doing too much too soon or by executing the exercises poorly.  It turns out that Achilles Man had in fact done just that last month and his ankle swelled up on him and he couldn’t walk for a day or so.

We all want to help others and we like to look like the hero, but sometimes the right thing to say is “nothing”. Follow directions. Keep working. Be consistent.  Actually do your homework. Don’t look for the quick fix exercise or treatment. It probably doesn’t exist.

Can I drink this and not have to stretch?

Have a great weekend!

Eric Beard
CEO A-Team
Corrective Exercise Specialist

Have you seen my SMR DVD?
http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00Z43XTB

AthleticShoulder.com
http://facebook.com/theericbeard
http://youtube.com/theericbeard

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Does 30+30+30 Really Equal 90?

By admin | Published: January 4, 2012

It has been too long my friends! Too long to properly update you on my goings on, here are my past three plus months in a nutshell

Eric Beard's Life in a Nutshell

I gave presentations at the NEHRSA Fall Conference, TSI Summit and went to China for 10 days and worked with top junior tennis players and coaches. I had some interesting food in China including pigeon and seahorse soup…yum.

Who Doesn't Like Pigeon?Okay, i get Pigeon Soup...but Seahorse and Pigeon Soup?

My time on the road was amazing and I met some wonderful and inspiring professionals. I enjoyed delivering presentations titled “Save Your Back: Get Your Butt in Gear” (which I gave at the IDEA World Show and Perform Better Functional Training Summits in Providence and Chicago), “Real World Dynamic Flexibility Progressions” and “Corrective Exercise for Shoulder Impairments”.

I just accepted a new position with NASM as well, the Director of Advanced Education. I look forward to new challenges in 2012 for sure.

The holidays were priceless with my wife and children and Santa even brought me some Under Armour Socks and the Star Wars Force Unleashed game for Nintendo Wii.

FunnyThat my 8 year old son was off the charts excited that I got this...

I have listened to Jim Fanin’s 90 Second Rule audio program and started the workbook and have dabbled in some older programs that I enjoyed. I reviewed my personal goals and family goals from 2011 and set some new ones for 2012. We are looking forward to a year of growth and positive change.

I have used Darin Hardy’s “Design Your Best Year Ever” program fro my goal setting again this year and am committed to utilizing it even more.

I have come up with the daily 30-30-30=90 goal for myself. My target is to invest 30 minutes in each of the following three categories with the total target time of 90 minutes a day; Physiology (positive inout) {+}, Anatomy (movement/exercise) {M} and Methods {->}(tactics/techniques and strategies). I want to invest in myself and as Jim Rohn has suggested many times over, work harder on yourself than on your job. The last three days turned out like this;

+    M   ->

30-90-0 = 120

0-10-180=190

45-60-0=105

Not exactly balanced, but I have been investing more than 90 minutes a day into myself. If I can keep that up for a year…look out!!! What are your goals? What are you tracking? This daily investment will contribute to my larger goals. I need to become more and operate at a higher level to reach the targets that I want to reach for my family and I. 30+30+30 does not equal 90…the results will be exponential!

Remember the old adage, inspect what you expect!

Here’s to a miraculous 2012!

By the way…visit my Faceboook page to enter a chance to win some of my DVD bundles and share your goals for 2012 http://facebook.com/theericbeard

Thanks for reading,

Eric Beard
CEO A-Team
Corrective Exercise Specialist

Have you seen my SMR DVD?
http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00Z43XTB

AthleticShoulder.com
http://facebook.com/theericbeard
http://youtube.com/theericbeard

 

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