Yeah, I guess so. Life has been good, and busy…good and busy. I have done some travelling for work and have worked with some clients and I have done some reading and research. My kids have been busy with their sports and school and well…being kids. Well I have been on the road my eight year old son even gave my wife a massage a couple of times. The five year old pitched in too, but he lost interest and went back to playing. Regular bodywork (insert manual therapy, soft tissue work etc. if you would like) is so important to good health. Even if you have to grab a 15 minute chair massage at the airport or 15 minutes with your beat up old foam roller at home it will pay dividends. Stress reduction, ease of movement, immune system stimulation, sleep enhancement and the list goes on.

If you are an athlete or serious exercise another key application of bodywork techniques are for preparation and recovery. The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) preaches the incorporation of self-myofascial release techniques into every warm up and every cool down. Let’s focus on the cool down importance of bodywork in the cool down or immediate recovery. We can discuss re-generation or longer term recovery another time. When practice, the game or a workout is complete make sure to utilize some sort of low intensity, repetitive and rhythmic movement for 5-10 minutes. I would actually urge you to ingest your recovery drink prior to doing so, or sip it when you are doing some “cardio”. The cardio or cool down movements will help to recycle lactic acid and flush other waste products and metabolites out of the blood stream. It will also lower body temperature and regulate heart rate and the nervous system.

After your recovery drink and cool down then it’s time to manipulate some tissue. You can  further move lymph and blood through the body and enhance recovery BUT I am more concerned with restoring tissue quality. Has the TFL or calve thickened up? Is the long head of the biceps brachii inflamed? Well, let’s do something about it. Stretching can help reestablish length, but let’s minimize any unwanted tissue density, or knots or restrictions first. A skilled manual therapist beats a $7.50 foam roll any day, but the roller (or any other tool) is not a bad choice.

Slow steady, exploration of the tissue will help you milk the tissue and identify areas of restriction. Once you have spent sufficient time doing so, go in and try and make some changes. You can use a trigger point style of therapy (find it, hold it and kill it) or you can take a more myofascial release approach and add some drag or pull with some torque provided by your body position. This will make it much easier to then lengthen the tissues with traditional stretching techniques and prevent the always nefarious and unwanted “relative flexibility”. A good deep stretch is only good it the joints are aligned correctly while the stretch is being performed. I promise to to go on a technique rant…I am sure you are all to used to that.

If you can have someone stretch you out, fantastic! If not good old fashioned static stretching will do. What should you stretch? I say what is “short”. No need to lengthen a muscle after the cardio and soft tissue work has already been applied during the cool down.

In case you are wondering…I have been performing a kneeling hip flexor stretch while I have been typing this post lol!

Thanks for reading and remember to cool down properly for heavens sake! Nutrition, Cardio, Soft Tissue Manipulation and Lengthening Techniques. Enjoy your corrective exercise!

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

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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

• January 19, 2012 -- Vertical Core Stability Training (0)
• March 19, 2010 -- Active Heel Slides for Deep Core Stabilizers and Psoas Inhibition: Corrective Exercise (0)
• January 7, 2012 -- Can You Give Me Some Advice? (0)
• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)
• February 13, 2011 -- I Need a Doctor (Not for Valentines Day) (0)
• December 10, 2010 -- Improving Running Performance and Running Mechanics (0)
• November 20, 2010 -- 99 Problems But a Vision Ain’t One (0)
• October 24, 2010 -- I Don’t Really Know What I Am Doing (0)
• September 22, 2010 -- Anke Mobility Issues? This Corrective Exercise Technique will Help Your Soleus (0)
• September 18, 2010 -- I Was Wr, Wr, Wr Wrong About Wes Welker and I am Glad! (1)

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

• September 22, 2010 -- Anke Mobility Issues? This Corrective Exercise Technique will Help Your Soleus (0)
• January 22, 2012 -- Knock The Rust Off With Some Core Stability Work (0)
• January 19, 2012 -- Vertical Core Stability Training (0)
• January 7, 2012 -- Can You Give Me Some Advice? (0)
• January 4, 2012 -- Does 30+30+30 Really Equal 90? (0)
• August 7, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-3 (0)
• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)
• July 5, 2011 -- Perform Better Show Review: Barefoot Training – Mark Verstegen Part 1 (0)
• June 28, 2011 -- A Pilgrimage to Wrigley, A Heel and Perform Better in Chicago (0)
• June 23, 2011 -- Perform Better, Disney World, The Boston Bruins and the Stanley Cup (0)

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

• January 22, 2012 -- Knock The Rust Off With Some Core Stability Work (0)
• January 19, 2012 -- Vertical Core Stability Training (0)
• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)
• February 13, 2011 -- I Need a Doctor (Not for Valentines Day) (0)
• December 10, 2010 -- Improving Running Performance and Running Mechanics (0)
• November 20, 2010 -- 99 Problems But a Vision Ain’t One (0)
• October 24, 2010 -- I Don’t Really Know What I Am Doing (0)
• September 22, 2010 -- Anke Mobility Issues? This Corrective Exercise Technique will Help Your Soleus (0)
• September 18, 2010 -- I Was Wr, Wr, Wr Wrong About Wes Welker and I am Glad! (1)
• August 28, 2010 -- Did Steve Strasburg have the G.I.R.D. and Could His Injury Have Been Prevented? (2)

I hope you had a chance to read parts 1 and 2 of this series;

http://ericbeard.com/2011/07/05/perform-better-show-review-barefoot-training-mark-verstegen-part-1/

http://ericbeard.com/2011/07/29/barefoot-training-part-2/

If not dive in anyway! I am continuing on with the topic of barefoot training. I am in the middle of sharing my experience sand will dive into the anatomical adaptations that take place when transitioning from a supportive to a minimalist training shoe, or if you even should.

As the bottom of my foot got better, (I of course kept with my joint mobility for my lower extremity issues and core stability work etc.), I transitioned to the Vibram Five Fingers KSO model.

My feet and low back rejoiced instantly! I felt better in my KSOs than I did barefoot because to the proprioceptive feedback that my toes were receiving from being individually wrapped. I wore them inside and outside, at work and when working out, for hours on end. Then….they started to smell. You can machine wash them and air dry them, which is nice, but if you don’t use something like Dr.Scholls’ Odor Destroying powder, they smell can be a bit much. Mind you that I was wearing these shoes 8-10 hours a day. If I were wearing them just for workouts, this probably wouldn’t have been an issue. I did all of my workouts in them, unless I forgot them and just had my Chucks with me. I even brought them to China where I did some work with the Swing for the Stars program that is associated with the Chinese Tennis Association. This was my fourth time working with them. I worked with them twice in the US and twice in China. I am excited to head back again this October. Anyways, I wore them all day everyday on the tennis court with them and felt great. I even played soccer with the coaches for an hour with them on.

Yeah...it was like this when I kicked it....when I actually touched the ball that is...

I will also work out in them when I am on the road, but try to keep them looking sharp since I wear them “on stage”. They are more built up on the bottom than the KSOs so you have more protection from the pavement, rocks, sticks and other unpleasant things to step on. I like how much more I can feel with the KSOs, especially on grass. I remember playing fetch and chase on a soccer field last spring with the KSOs on and I swear it was pure joy to run on grass with theses things on. I would through the dog’s toy in one direction and as he went to chase it I would sprint the other way with one of my son’s. The dog would haul down, get the toy, then chase us down. A great workout for all of us and a ton of fun. I can’t ever remember feeling so good running before that. I always had football cleats on in high school or college or some sort of cross trainer holding my foot together into an inflexible block instead of something letting it move free.

I actually thought something that I never thought I would….I am enjoying running. I don’t tell too many people this since I usually give runners a hard time by poking fun at them. I have even started doing some sprints outside or inside on a treadmill once a week. I told my wife a couple of weeks ago that I was going for a run at 9:30 at night and she looked at me like I had three heads and said “Why? I thought you hated running?”. My response was… “I’m going to do some sprints.” Of course I ran to the field after I did my flexibility and core stab work at home.

So what else do you need to consider when transitioning from an over-built, pronation control shoe to a minimalist trainer? I need to dive into some anatomical adaptations and I am just out of gas for the night.

Thank you 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

• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)
• July 5, 2011 -- Perform Better Show Review: Barefoot Training – Mark Verstegen Part 1 (0)
• August 21, 2009 -- Flip-Flops and Sandals Make Me Money as A Corrective Exercise Specialist but I’d Rather They Just Wore Sneakers! (0)
• January 22, 2012 -- Knock The Rust Off With Some Core Stability Work (0)
• January 19, 2012 -- Vertical Core Stability Training (0)
• January 12, 2012 -- Quick Tip to Improve Dorsiflexion (making your calve stretch more effective) (0)
• January 7, 2012 -- Can You Give Me Some Advice? (0)
• January 4, 2012 -- Does 30+30+30 Really Equal 90? (0)
• June 28, 2011 -- A Pilgrimage to Wrigley, A Heel and Perform Better in Chicago (0)
• June 23, 2011 -- Perform Better, Disney World, The Boston Bruins and the Stanley Cup (0)

I have been on the road a ton lately. Just this last week I have made two trips to Arizona and one to Denver. They were all good, productive trips. I had some very productive meetings at NASM corporate in AZ and attended a very helpful performance management training course alongside many of the managers from the Mesa office as well. I had a great time in Denver. I shot some footage for NASM TV, taught a corrective Exercise Specialist Workshop for NASM and got to see some friends for dinner Friday night. I even shot some video footage for the CPT Assist eTeach course Saturday night. Needless to say I was wiped out by the end of Saturday! Leading the workshops for NASM has been one of favorite parts of my “jobs” over the last ten years. More specifically, I have really come to enjoy teaching others.

As I shared to my Corrective Exercise class in Denver as well as on my NASM TV shoot, my first opportunity to educate other professionals came when I was working as personal trainer for 24 Hour Fitness in Aurora, CO.

Where it all started...

I’ll save the long story for another day, but knowing that I have made a contribution to others makes me feel amazing. They may use the information for themselves or to help their clients, it doesn’t make a difference to me. At the Perform Better Functional Training Summit in Chicago, I had a packed house for the hands on session.

I had a blast in Chicago and Providence!

I mean people were spilling out into the hallways. It was awesome. The title of my session was “Save Your Back: get Your Butt in Gear.” After my hands on breakout session a woman came up to me with tears in her eyes. She had pain radiating down her posterior and lateral hip for some time and could not find relief despite seeing several medial professionals. She was overjoyed that she was experiencing relief. All I taught the group to do was NASM’s four step Corrective Exercise (CEx)process- Inhibit, Lengthen, Activate and Integrate. I focused on the lumbo-pelvic hip complex and threw in my own wrinkles to the stretching and activation section, but it was NASM CEx straight up. To be able to provide someone relief from pain is a great feeling. I home that she keeps up with her program and can in turn pass the techniques and system on to others.

You have me on a cross country flight with a full battery, so I have some time to give you a nice solid post! Okay, back to barefoot training. Last post I wrote about progressing sensibly from a supportive shoe to a minimalist shoe if there were no injuries or congenital conditions that made barefoot training contraindicated. During Mark Verstegen’s lecture at Perform Better, he even gave a history of minimalist shoes and provided pictures of the best minimalist shoes on the market today. He cited a research study that compared 186 pairs of feet. He compared the feet of people who did not wear shoes to the feet of people who did wear shoes. If you want to read the study, search for “J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1905, Conclusions Drawn from A comparative Study of Barefooted and Shoe-Wearing Peoples, Hoffman, M.D.” Hoffman found that the barefoot group had more separation and straightness to their toes with the toes being the widest portion of the foot. Verstegen also included a picture of a Bronze Herculaneum Statue that depicted a runner and the adduction to the great toe (the big toe) is much more prominent than what I see with my clients, patients and athletes today. For those who wear shoes, especially something like a cowboy boot, women’s high fashion shoes or anything with a small and restrictive toe box, this is basically going to compact the tarsals, metatarsals and phalanges.

Look at that big toe...and it only ges worse from here

This can happen in men’s professional shoes and kids sneakers too. The shock absorption of the foot is all but eliminated. The rich amount of proprioceptors in the sole of the feet are shut down. Imagine walking around with a canvas bag tied tightly over your head all day. How well would you be able to process information?

I magine a rope around the bag...

All of the ground reaction forces that should be stored and released throughout the kinetic chain and propel someone through the gait cycle are now forced to be transmitted to the knees, hips spine and beyond. Ambulating now requires more effort and places more stress throughout the human movement system. Think of all of the professional basketball players in the 1900’s. The all wore Chuck Taylors, Converse All Stars. Chucks basically were and are just a shank of rubber with some canvas and a lace. It did not have arch support and had a wider toe box than most shoes seen today. It also did not have an elevated heel. This let the calve sit at it’s natural resting length and kept the pelvis better balanced. I have a pair that I wear during when performing yard and house work and a pair that I wear in public. The public ones are cleaner and more respectable. The house work ones have paint stains and are much grungier. For $35-$40 they are worth every penny. I used to train clients in them and work out in them too. I have to admit, lifting, kettlebells, core and flexibility were more comfortable than agility or cardio with them on. I wanted to slowly bridge the gap from the Asics 2150 pronation control show than I had been wearing for a year or so, and a minimalist shoe like the Vibram Five Fingers.

And the Chucks were a good cheap option. My feet felt so comfortable and cozy all wrapped up in my Asics. The arch support felt good from ankle to hip….but the elevate heel aggravated my sacroiliac joint and low back to no end. I could just feel them tightening up as the day went. At the time I had a standing desk, so when I wasn’t training clients I would work standing up. So being upright with those shoes was not a good fit for me. Notice I said for me…

I did try a minimalist shoe back in 2005 when Nike came out with their Free 5.0. They launched the shoe at IDEA World and I happened to presenting a Speed Agility and Quickness for Youth session for NASM there. I saw the shoe, bought a pair. Like them so much that after three days at the show, I went back and bought a second. I still have the newer pair! What happened, because I had some 1st MTP, ankle and LPCH issues that were unresolved is that after a week or so I started getting some aches and pains and slowly moved away from them. I put them on every now and then, but the 5.0 still has too much of a heel for me. Their 3.0 is even lower and the 7.0 is even higher in the heel, so they provide their customers with some choices which is nice. Nike toe boxes tend to run on the narrow side as well and I did feel a bit restricted through the toes as well.
From there I went to a New Balance tennis trainer that had minimal arch support and a very low heel. I liked these. Unfortunately, the discontinued the model and I could not find a second pair anywhere and I eventually had to move on. I found some funky orange Teva walking shoes that I tried for a while. I still have them somewhere. A physical therapist that was helping me with my joint restrictions in my big toe and ankle thought that I needed some more support so I tried some over the counter shoe inserts called Superfeet. They run about $30 and have three versions that range in level of support. They were decent.

Another physical therapist that I saw thought that I needed even more support and convinced me to go with the Asic 2130. This worked great for the foot ankle as I mentioned and I matriculated to the newer 2150 model from there.

Until I said enough is enough with the stinking elevated heel! The reason that these pronation control shoes need the heel is that they need a place for the arch support to “sit” in. That is one of the reasons that the Superfeet did not help out my Tevas very much. The Tevas were flat from heel to toe, there was no “drop”. So the arch support had minimal support underneath it and did not have the desired effect. I knew that, but thought it was better than nothing. I also ran into some plantar fascia pain, yes plantar fasciitis, last year while transitioning to my Chucks. I saw a podiatrist to try and find out more about my 1st MTP and ankle restrictions. He started off well talking about the global effect of foot ankle issues and the potential negative impact of wearing shoes with an elevated heel. He recommended Spenco arch supports which I found on Amazon for less than @$10.

<iframe src=”http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=ericbecom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B000FPKUZ0″ style=”width:120px;height:240px;” scrolling=”no” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ frameborder=”0″></iframe>

They seemed to help in my Chucks some, so I stuck with them for a couple of months. Then he ended one of our appointments by saying that I had some pathologies in my feet and I would eventually have to have surgery…I disagree, so I never went back.

If you haven’t seen this, there is some amazing info on this DVD I put together. I used some of these techniques to help with my foot pain
http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00Z43XTB

That’s all for tonight. I’ll be back for part 3 soon! Thank you for reading!

Eric Beard
CEO A-Team
Corrective Exercise Specialist

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

• August 7, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-3 (0)
• July 5, 2011 -- Perform Better Show Review: Barefoot Training – Mark Verstegen Part 1 (0)
• August 21, 2009 -- Flip-Flops and Sandals Make Me Money as A Corrective Exercise Specialist but I’d Rather They Just Wore Sneakers! (0)
• January 22, 2012 -- Knock The Rust Off With Some Core Stability Work (0)
• January 19, 2012 -- Vertical Core Stability Training (0)
• January 7, 2012 -- Can You Give Me Some Advice? (0)
• June 28, 2011 -- A Pilgrimage to Wrigley, A Heel and Perform Better in Chicago (0)
• June 23, 2011 -- Perform Better, Disney World, The Boston Bruins and the Stanley Cup (0)
• February 13, 2011 -- I Need a Doctor (Not for Valentines Day) (0)
• December 10, 2010 -- Improving Running Performance and Running Mechanics (0)

The Perform Better Functional Training Summit is really one of the best. I am going to chronicle my experiences one presentation at a time over the next few weeks. I’ll start with Mark Verstegen and his barefoot training talk. Mark is one of the top performance coaches in the game and has some beautiful facilities in his Athlete’s Performance locations.

The way Perform Better lays out their Summit is each presenter has a 75 minute lecture and 75 minute hands on breakout session that accompanies it. There are up to four sessions that run in each time block and you have to make some tough decisions because there are a plethora of good choices most sections. For you Three Amigos fans…a short 1 minute clip (click on the text)
Do You Know What a Plethora Is?

If you are going to talk about barefoot running, you have to throw out;

Click on this picture for a link to the paperback version of the book for less than $10.

These are what I used to step down from a traditional overbuilt running shoe, or sneaker as we call it where I’m from;
A true classic and you can’t go wrong for under $40. Better than buying a $100 shoe and have to stop wearing them after two weeks because your feet and knees are killing you! I wanted to go slow and Chucks have been a hit in the Kettlebell training community for a couple of years. There is no heel and a relatively comfortable toe box. There is also zero arch support. That is pretty much the point.

I actually went with the KSO Model that will show if you click on the picture. These run @ $80 but have been worth every penny. The KSO’s have a more minimal approach so the proprioceptors in the feet get a fair amount of information and the toes can move independently of one another.  They tend to get pretty smelly but you can machine wash and air dry them. Dr Scholl’s Odor Destroyer works well from what I have heard.
I just picked some up, and it works decent on my KSOs, but I have had them for a long time so the odor damage has been done. I do have a newer pair that I will use the powder with from the start. My wife gave me the Vibram Bikila that is built up more on the bottom than the KSO. Mine are black and gold. They are great for outdoor running, trail running etc.
I wear these when I present because they are in better shape than my KSOs.
I also picked up perhaps my newest favorite yet mid-June when I needed something to wear to a trip to Disney World in Florida with my family. I wore my Chucks there last year and alternated with Chacco sandals, which are pretty awesome.
My friend actually did some work with their organization before they really got going a few years ago, so I have had a pair for a while. So I alternated between the Chacos and Chucks and they did the trick, but I was looking for something with no heel, like the Chucks, and a wider toe box like the Chacos. So after reading and researching for a while, I went out and picked up a pair of the New Balance Minimus Trail Runners. What a great call! The lightest show I have ever worn, only a 19 millimeter heel and very flexible toe box. They help up to the pounding in Disney and have traveled well. I fly frequently and a breathable lightweight shoe is important to me that has no heel and let’s the foot work like it should. They look sharp too. The fitness version of these are a bit ugly to me.

Well I have been typing for a while and I have said almost nothing about Verstegen’s lecture or hands on! I am tired now so I guess I will get into that info in my next post. Until then…

Have an awesome day!

Eric Beard
CEO A-Team
Corrective Exercise Specialist

http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00Z43XTB (My Self Myofascial Release DVD!)
AthleticShoulder.com
http://facebook.com/theericbeard
http://youtube.com/theericbeard

• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)
• August 7, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-3 (0)
• June 28, 2011 -- A Pilgrimage to Wrigley, A Heel and Perform Better in Chicago (0)
• June 23, 2011 -- Perform Better, Disney World, The Boston Bruins and the Stanley Cup (0)
• August 21, 2009 -- Flip-Flops and Sandals Make Me Money as A Corrective Exercise Specialist but I’d Rather They Just Wore Sneakers! (0)
• January 22, 2012 -- Knock The Rust Off With Some Core Stability Work (0)
• January 19, 2012 -- Vertical Core Stability Training (0)
• January 12, 2012 -- Quick Tip to Improve Dorsiflexion (making your calve stretch more effective) (0)
• January 7, 2012 -- Can You Give Me Some Advice? (0)
• January 4, 2012 -- Does 30+30+30 Really Equal 90? (0)

This place is MASSIVE!!!

What a good looking group!

At the conference I ran into a handful of students from workshops that I have lead over the years, a friend that used to work with me in Colorado and the Strength Coach of the Buffalo Bills who I played football with at Springfield College. It’s such a small industry!

Want to see something cool? A college track athlete came to see me wanting to get back into training for their event. Imagine trying to run on a heel that sits like this?
Client Calcaneous Comparison
Their movement assessment was pretty good, but there were some core stability and shoulder issues to go along with the foot/ankle impairment. I did some manual therapy and then some corrective work for the foot/ankle, core and shoulder. The client reports being able to run longer and train harder. They still have a ways to go.

Before I go… a quick picture from my Friday night on the town!

I made a pilgrimage!

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

• August 21, 2010 -- Corrective Exercise 2010 Summer Update (0)
• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)
• July 5, 2011 -- Perform Better Show Review: Barefoot Training – Mark Verstegen Part 1 (0)
• June 23, 2011 -- Perform Better, Disney World, The Boston Bruins and the Stanley Cup (0)
• February 8, 2010 -- Revist, Recite, Re-Write Your Goals Dailly to Manifest your Dreams (0)
• January 31, 2010 -- FLY This-Eric Beard Shows a Cool Variation for Core Stability plus Another Fitness Challenge (1)
• January 27, 2010 -- Overhead Squat Assessment-Excessive Forward Lean from Ankle Restriction at NASM CES Workshop by Eric Beard (0)
• January 15, 2010 -- Boston CPT for NASM Ends up With Some After Hours Corrective Exercise Action for Eric Beard (0)
• December 24, 2009 -- Does the Grinch Need Corrective Exercise? (2)
• December 17, 2009 -- Corrective Exercise Specialist Answers Why Do I Like DotFit? (0)

I now have the privilege of uploading videos to YouTube that are longer than 15 minutes. I am guessing that I have passed a certain number of uploads and maintained a positive status with You Tube. So basically I have not uploaded any iphone videos of a Bruins broadcast or anything like that. I did recently post a series of videos on You Tube giving a basic overview of the OPT Model over the course of five videos. Visit my YouTube channel if you want to see them http://youtube.com/theericbeard. You probably notice that I have been investing my time outside of my blog lately I logged in last week to post and spent an hour fixing the typos in my last post. Sheesjh! What a stinker! My apologies for letting that go out. The content was good but what a mess! So that is fit for public consumption and worth a peak when you have time

More importantly is that I uploaded an entire DVD of mine to You Tube. It is finishing processing right now. The DVD is actually the prologue installment for my DVD series Secrets and Staples of Training the Athletic Shoulder. (of course available at http://athleticshoulder.com ) it is 54 minutes long and has some greta stuff in it if I do say so myself. Please watch it and let me know what you think! I am confident that you will find it helpful.

Thanks for reading!

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

• September 14, 2009 -- Secrets of Training the Athletic Shoulder: Corner Activatons from AthleticShoulder.com (0)
• September 8, 2009 -- Corrective Exercise and Performance Enhancement for The Shoulder Complex Has Evolved (0)
• March 3, 2011 -- Shoulder Dysfunction and Contra-Lateral Sacroiliac Joint Health in a Tennis Player (0)
• November 5, 2009 -- Corrective Exercise for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? (2)
• September 25, 2009 -- Teaching an NASM Personal Trainer Workshop in Atlanta Thinking about HFPN.com (0)
• January 22, 2012 -- Knock The Rust Off With Some Core Stability Work (0)
• January 19, 2012 -- Vertical Core Stability Training (0)
• January 12, 2012 -- Quick Tip to Improve Dorsiflexion (making your calve stretch more effective) (0)
• January 7, 2012 -- Can You Give Me Some Advice? (0)
• January 4, 2012 -- Does 30+30+30 Really Equal 90? (0)

It seems that I don’t usually get to posting on Thursday nights, but I’d like to get more regular with my blog. And no not to talk about increasing my fiber intake. I don’t have a video to share this week just some insights. (actually I just uploaded one for the edit!!) I have a client that I’ve been working with, who is a seventy-year-old avid tennis player. She is very open-minded to alternative treatments takes very good care of herself. And has recently been receiving physical therapy, stretch therapy, neuromuscular massage therapy, and seeing a chiropractor, for a shoulder injury. She had an MRI to quantify the damage to the shoulder and she’s laid off from tennis to let her shoulder heal. Actually she hasn’t laid off from playing tennis. She’s only playing left-handed now, and she’s the a right-handed player. Talk about dedication to tennis!

This woman has received acupuncture, used homeopathic remedies and mixed these approaches to health care with traditional medicine. Pretty much the perfect client. haven’t actually work with her for a few years but she’s back to see me to help with her shoulder. When I started to ask her about the treatment she’d been receiving, I was pretty happy. It sound like a good mix of therapies the compliment each other well. Once I performed some movement assessments, goniometry measurements, (specific joint range of motion assessments) and manual muscle testing, I found that there were several other areas throughout the kinetic chain contributing to her shoulder injury. I was a bit disappointed that none of the other practitioners that she was seeing were addressing these other areas. It sounded like the work they were doing was appropriate for shoulder, but the rest of the kinetic chain is not being considered. She had restrictions in dorsiflexion flexion, left sacroiliac joint dysfunction and other soft tissue restrictions. Just by releasing her left adductor magnus, left short head of the biceps femoris and encouraging some movement in her sacroiliac joint, she instantaneously stood taller and moved easier. She was excited and relieved that her whole body felt better. It always amazes me the, complexity yet simplicity of the kinetic chain principle. It’s true that sometimes we can’t see the forest through the trees, and I have made this mistake myself plenty of times. So the good news is is that this client will coming to see me for some soft tissue work and very specific corrective exercise programming to address her movement impairments and she will continue to see her other practitioners for localize work at the site of her injury. This is almost the best case scenario we have a specific diagnosis and qualified practitioners treating the diagnosis as well if someone else looking at the big picture. Now at 70 years of age playing as much tennis as this client is played, degradation of tissue is unavoidable. I’m not saying a the SI joint restriction caused her shoulder problem. It might even just be a response to the injury itself. I’m very clear however that does need to be addressed. And if we think about the fascial connections in the posterior chain of the body, the sacroiliac joint dysfunction and right shoulder dysfunction are not uncommon in this situation. We can extrapolate that further restrictions in dorsi flexion bilaterally as well as first MTP joint restriction bilaterally have contributed to her dysfunction as well.

I’m excited to get this client back on the court and playing tennis again…with the racket in her right hand. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take, but I know her love of the game will keep her moving consistently toward that court again.

I’m sure we’ve all experienced situations where other practitioners have get lost in the minutia of the condition. As corrective exercise specialists and personal trainers, we work with our strengths of just looking at human movement. We can’t diagnose, many of us can’t apply manual therapy techniques unless we are licensed to do so, but we can observe and identify movement impairments. We can restore muscular balance. We can activate inhibited muscles. We can teach quality movement patterns. We can make a huge difference. We can do so along with other practitioners who have the appropriate licensure and skill set to identify and treat specific injuries. or we can use this skill set skill set with someone who doesn’t have a diagnosed injury to enhance the quality of life, performance on the court or play time with their kids.

There are so many other people that we can learn from to get better at what we do. There are countless practitioners we can network with to learn more about the body. Just remember that human movement is human movement, and the kinetic chain is the kinetic chain. These basics will guide us in identification of dysfunction reeducation of the neuromuscular system, fitness programs and athletic performance enhancement programs.

That’s all for me tonight. Thanks for reading and here is to to a dry and sunny spring!

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

• April 19, 2011 -- Full Length DVD Content FREE Here! Corrective Exercise and More! (0)
• November 5, 2009 -- Corrective Exercise for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? (2)
• September 25, 2009 -- Teaching an NASM Personal Trainer Workshop in Atlanta Thinking about HFPN.com (0)
• September 14, 2009 -- Secrets of Training the Athletic Shoulder: Corner Activatons from AthleticShoulder.com (0)
• September 8, 2009 -- Corrective Exercise and Performance Enhancement for The Shoulder Complex Has Evolved (0)
• January 22, 2012 -- Knock The Rust Off With Some Core Stability Work (0)
• January 19, 2012 -- Vertical Core Stability Training (0)
• January 12, 2012 -- Quick Tip to Improve Dorsiflexion (making your calve stretch more effective) (0)
• January 7, 2012 -- Can You Give Me Some Advice? (0)
• January 4, 2012 -- Does 30+30+30 Really Equal 90? (0)