The prevalence of non-contact ACL tears has been on the rise for years and is upwards of 200,000 annually with 70% of these injuries being non-contact (which in my mind is preventable). Welker’s injury was non-contact.

Wes was in serious pain

Wes gets the cart treatment

This is what we want to see!

If you remember the classic show Happy Days and Arthur Fonzarelli.

"Heyyyyyy"

The Fonz had a hard time saying that he was “wrong”. He would stutter..”wr, wr, wr” like a car trying to start on a cold winter day. And after watching Welker catch 8 balls for 64 yards and 2 touchdowns I was glad to be WRONG! He looked impressive being only 6 and 1/2 months out from surgery. I know that pro-athltes supposedly get the best care, I think otherwise with the lack of integrated assessments, manual therapy and corrective exercise, but some guys just heal better that others. Of course a great surgeon and an error free surgery helps the rehab process and final outcome for sure. I am looking forward to a great season for Welker and the Pats. I am a huge fan of both but a bigger fan of people who bust their butt to be the best they can.

Thanks for reading. Go Pats!

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

• December 10, 2010 -- Improving Running Performance and Running Mechanics (0)
• May 27, 2010 -- Whiplash is Not Just an Awesome Song From Metallica or Mickey Rourke’s Character in Ironman 2 (0)
• February 26, 2010 -- First Month of Another Fitness Challenge Brings Eric Beard Some Results (1)
• January 31, 2010 -- FLY This-Eric Beard Shows a Cool Variation for Core Stability plus Another Fitness Challenge (1)
• December 2, 2009 -- Corrective Exercise Specialist Eric Beard Works With Chinese Tennis Association in Nanjing, China Part II (0)
• December 1, 2009 -- Corrective Exercise Specialist Abroad for Tennis: To China and Back! (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)
• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)

I shot this at NASM corporate after teaching a corrective exercise specialist workshop in January 2010. NASM.org and HFPN.com share an exercise library with other ideas as well. I wish I had more time to do these videos, there is so much more to cover. If you are looking for more ideas for training the shoulder complex you can check out my video series Secrets and Staples of Training the Athletic Shoulder at http://athleticshoulder.com . This is a 5 disc series that I am pretty proud of. Lots of content! Truly soups to nuts training for the shoulder complex.

Are you guys registered yet for HFPN’s Another Fitness Challenge (AFC)? Visit http://anotherfitnesschallenge.com to get in while the getting is good. I can’t wait! I am going to use the AFC to reach some personal goals and offer some goal setting coaching and moving towards reaching your goals. Will be a fun ride! Register now, it’s free and you could win some cool stuff:) http://anotherfitnesschallenge.com to

Back to the Grammy’s! Beyonce finally beat Taylor Swift with a Grammy for Single Ladies and just tore it up on stage with a pretty cool mash up with her stuff and an Alanis Morisette cover!

Here are some vids about AFC…

HEY! Did you see the picture on Ben’s Desktop?? Mr.T!!! That is my boy B.A. Bad Attitude Barracass of the A-Team…it is hint! Get on bard A-Teamers!!!

Have a great night.

Eric Beard
CEO A-Team
AthleticShoulder.com
EricBeard.com

• February 26, 2010 -- First Month of Another Fitness Challenge Brings Eric Beard Some Results (1)
• February 12, 2010 -- Will Smith Needs Corrective Exercise…but He Helps Me this Time (0)
• February 9, 2010 -- 5 Minute Core Stability / Corrective Exercise for Back Pain by Eric Beard with the MECA Back (0)
• February 8, 2010 -- Revist, Recite, Re-Write Your Goals Dailly to Manifest your Dreams (0)
• February 6, 2010 -- Chunking Goals: Breakdown the Big Goals Into Smaller Actionable Steps (0)
• February 24, 2010 -- Another Fitness Challenge Update on Ankle Mobility of Eric Beard (0)
• February 19, 2010 -- Upper Extremity Reach Range of Motion Assessments (0)
• January 27, 2010 -- Overhead Squat Assessment-Excessive Forward Lean from Ankle Restriction at NASM CES Workshop by 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 was away on the road again early in the weekend. I uploaded this picture of a sculpture I saw in the airport in Atlanta that reminded me of my kids and the importance of play in our lives!

I got to have dinner with some friends and their Chocolate Labs Friday night, taking the train from my hotel to their house and back. The MARTA system works pretty well!

On Thursday, I got to meet some friends from The Rotater, Chris and Scott for dinner. Great guys on a mission to help others!

http://therotater.com

Finally made it home last night after teaching an NASM CPT Workshop in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday. An eclectic and fun group. We had two women expecting children, real estate agents, accountants, personal trainers, corrective exercise specialists, pilates and yoga instructors, group exercise instructors, rookies, 10 year plus veterans, fitness managers, facility owners, a marine (Oorah!), an entrepreneur, an aspiring actor and some clients turned trainers!

We had some interesting conversations regarding; exercises such as dips (see this old post about dips for me 2 cents on them) , upright rows (more on upright rows), lunges, corrective exercise and the importance of posture and alignment (more on posture here) and here).

In addition to the technical information we went over, what stayed with me most was my lecture and our discussion about the power of “why”. Understanding what motivates our clients to take action and what wakes us up at 3 am reading to change the world! I was touched by the workshop and group and hope I was able to help the on their path to help others, move better, feel better and live better.

Yes..that chart is right, more than 66% of everyone in the US is overweight or obese!!!

People need our help for sure! And trainer’s want to help them.

Unfortunately I see many health and fitness professionals/personal trainers are so gung-ho to dive in and make a difference that they gloss over their own developmental plan. They spend more time planning for their client’s success than they do planning their own. They questions that we ask others; “What do you want?”, “Why do you want it?” and “How bad do you want it?” are just as pertinent for ourselves.

Have you written out your goals? There are endless goal setting programs available out there. Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn and John Maxwell have great info on this. Once you have them down, you should review them upon rising in the morning and right before you go to sleep at night. I have just added this part in and am loving it! It helps to set my compass!

Are you crystal clear on WHY you want to reach your goals? If not, you probably will never reach them. The Why is the intrinsic, emotional driver. I love this quote from Friedrich Nietzsche “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” Find your why ASAP!

How committed are you to reaching your goals??? Do you live breathe and sweat your goals? Are you undeterred even in the face of temporary setbacks and seemingly insurmountable obstacles? You have to be! WE have to be.

I joined Success University a few months ago to fuel my engine. I enjoy reading, listening and watching professional development information tremendously, and Success University has provided me with unparalleled resources to help me grow.

It’s not just about making a living for me, it’s about making a difference.

Thank you to those of you who have been part of my process and to those who have let me contribute to theirs.

Thanks for reading go make a difference and let me know if I can help!

Eric Beard
Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist
Corrective Exercise Specialist
theericbeard.blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com

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It has been a busy week or two for me after Memorial Day weekend, time with the family and teaching an Essentials of Personal training Workshop for the National Academy of Sports Medicine in Chicago last weekend. Fun group, we had 68 students from all parts of the mid-west and beyond. I am off to Atlanta this week then the Kettlebell and Corrective Exercise workshop in Natick the weekend after 6/13 www.jenbrickey.com/products for more info.

Quick tid-bits on that… .4 CEUs NASM and NSCA, Free Food! 25% off Ketteblls for attendees through Perform Better and it is also sponsored by dotfit.com can’t wait!! Oh yeah…corrective exercises for Kettlebells you wont’ find anywhere else...we are filming a video of it if you can’t make it and will release the DVD soon after.

One very good questions for my readers to think about, that was posed by Don, A long time NASM junkie, at least I think he asked it:)

“Should you keep your abdominals drawn in (TrA activated) at the end of the eccentric phase of a stability ball crunch (when the spine is in full extension)?”

Feel free to answer with a comment below if you have an opinion.

The real reason I wrote this post today is this…

I recorded a short 3 minute 31 second video today reviewing The Rotator,

Click on the link below for more information on the product.

http://therotater.com/

I am also doing some work on my website, a slow process and may need to recruit some help:)

Thanks for reading and have great night!

Eric Beard
Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist
Corrective Exercise Specialist
theericbeard.blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com

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It has been a busy week or two for me after Memorial Day weekend, time with the family and teaching an Essentials of Personal training Workshop for the National Academy of Sports Medicine in Chicago last weekend. Fun group, we had 68 students from all parts of the mid-west and beyond. I am off to Atlanta this week then the Kettlebell and Corrective Exercise workshop in Natick the weekend after 6/13 www.jenbrickey.com/products for more info.

Quick tid-bits on that… .4 CEUs NASM and NSCA, Free Food! 25% off Ketteblls for attendees through Perform Better and it is also sponsored by dotfit.com can’t wait!! Oh yeah…corrective exercises for Kettlebells you wont’ find anywhere else...we are filming a video of it if you can’t make it and will release the DVD soon after.

One very good questions for my readers to think about, that was posed by Don, A long time NASM junkie, at least I think he asked it:)

“Should you keep your abdominals drawn in (TrA activated) at the end of the eccentric phase of a stability ball crunch (when the spine is in full extension)?”

Feel free to answer with a comment below if you have an opinion.

The real reason I wrote this post today is this…

I recorded a short 3 minute 31 second video today reviewing The Rotator,

Click on the link below for more information on the product.

http://therotater.com/

I am also doing some work on my website, a slow process and may need to recruit some help:)

Thanks for reading and have great night!

Eric Beard
Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist
Corrective Exercise Specialist
theericbeard.blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com

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About.com says

“Sometimes the tendons become inflamed for a variety of reasons, and the action of pulling the muscle becomes irritating. If the normal smooth gliding motion of your tendon is impaired, the tendon will become inflamed and movement will become painful. This is called tendinitis, and literally means inflammation of the tendon. “

Pretty straight forward definition, what I like about it is it mentions that if “the smooth gliding motion of the tendon is impaired, the tendon will become inflamed.” There are many possible causes for tendinitis such as;

-repetitive strain
-age related tendon changes
-acute strain
-thermal injury
-anatomical causes

In this case…just look at the everted calcaneuous!

This is a posterior view of someone’s left foot who was diagnosed with and treated for Achilles Tendinitis.

You can also see the lateral aspect of the gastrocnemius is hypertonic and hypertrophied compared to the medial aspect. No wonder the Achilles Tendon is inflamed! The bone which it inserts into is not in the correct position and the proximal musculature has developed uneven lines of pull. This could easily be a case of plantar fasciatis, knee pain or back pain but this person was diagnosed with Achilles Tendinitis. “The smooth gliding motion of the tendon is impaired” for sure!!! It is not a problem with the tendon, that is the symptom, it is an alignment and function issue!!!

If an overhead squat assessment (current research being done on OHS assessment
http://www.unc.edu/sportmedlab/research.htm#top1 ) was performed then the patient would have most likely exhibited the left foot turning out and foot flattening out. If would have been helpful to note this first, and begin a corrective exercise program, a preventative one vs. a rehabilitative protocol with pain, time investment, inactivity, insurance fees and frustration.

Corrective exercise may not prevent tendinitis from anatomical variations in bones, but maintaining; posture, joint alignment and neuromuscular control will go a long way to decrease the likely hood of if not prevent an injury such as tendinitis in most cases.

It starts with identifying impairments and then working to improve them. Simple steps like;

Myofascial release for the calves

Myofascial release for the ITB

Static stretching for the lateral gastroc

Single leg balance reach to integrated medial gastroc and posterior tibialis control to a single leg stance

More needs to be said, but hopefully we are at least paying attention to alignment and function. the overhead squat assessment is a great tool to use. It can be as simple (or complex) as watching someone run! Do they line up like they should? Are they wasting energy and putting abnormal strain on tissue?

(Don’t even get me started about the glute medius weakness being demonstrated in this picture!!!)

If a body does not move like it should, do something about it before running a marathon, beginning a quest to lose 20 pounds or trying to get as big as physically possible. Start with the basics and use the basics on a regular basis. ALIGNMENT and FUNCTION. I know that good shoes and proper technique are important but something has to come first, and that is proper HUMAN MOVEMENT.

Only floss the teeth you want to keep and only balance the muscles around the joints you want to use.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Eric Beard
Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist
Corrective Exercise Specialist
theericbeard.blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com

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In this post I want to share a case study with you. KM volunteered! Thank you KM! Each video is very short, about a minute or less. I add some light commentary to go with what you are viewing.

Anterior and posterior view of overhead squat. Anterior view, pay attention to right foot and knee. Posterior view pay attention to the alignment of her pelvis and left femur. I filmed this video after she has just performed myofascial release for 50 minutes and static stretching for 60 minutes. Her compensations were much more noticeable before this!

Here is a modified version of the overhead squat. We elevate the heels to decrease the demand on the ankle joint for sagital plane movement (dorsiflexion). We are using a 3+¹⁄₂ inch lift since here compensations are so pronounced. We typically use 1 1/2 inches. Sorry about the last 30 seconds of this one:) it picks up in the next video…notice the improvement in quality of movement, depth and symmetry from the anterior view…

Posterior view, heels elevated/overhead squat…watch the abduction of the left femur. You can see that the left ankle just stops moving and she abducts at hip (femur).

Her left ankle is her primary impairment, LPHC secondary.

After I worked with KM for about 10 minutes, this is the result we got, still some instability in the LPHC and restriction in the left hip capsule, but much smoother.

I worked on here squat technique with just a few cues and had her put her sneakers on and this was the final result about 15 minutes total time…your clients patients and athletes have 15 minutes a day, don’t they?

Not a bad improvement for a short intervention. Her original overhead squat assessment provided and even more pronounced set of compensations, but there is still a difference in the quality of her movement for sure.

Imagine if she was going to run or lift weights moving like she was without performing a corrective exercise program? How long would her cartilage in her right knee or the integrity of her lumbar discs last?

For homework I recommended that she continue to follow up with her Chiropractor, execute the corrective program we designed for her and perform the self ankle mobilization technique that I showed her daily. In addition we discussed footwear as well, limiting heels whenever possible.

In addition to the Overhead Squat, I performend a range of motion assessment on her ankles and determined that her dorsiflexion on the right side was 8 degrees (15-20 is deal) and 3.5 degrees on the left side (15-20 is ideal).

Her left tibialis anterior, and glute medius bilaterally (right weaker than left) tested weak with manual muscle testing.

I believe that she has a restriction in her left right capsule, pelvic obliquity and a restriction in her sacroilliac joint as well. I believe that this stems from teh restriction in her left subtalor joint.

After the movement assessment (before the goniometry and MMT) I aksed KM if she had ever sprained her left ankle and she shared that she had a significant injury to her left ankle when she was a teenager.

Key Overactive Muscles
Lateral gastroc (L>R)
TFL (R>L)
Vastus Lateralis (R)
Biceps Femoris (short head R>L)

Key Under Active Muscles
Tibialis Anterior (L)
Glue Medius (R>L)
Intrinsic Core Stabilizers

Thanks for reading!

Eric Beard
Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist
Corrective Exercise Specialist
theericbeard.blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com

• No Related Post

In this post I want to share a case study with you. KM volunteered! Thank you KM! Each video is very short, about a minute or less. I add some light commentary to go with what you are viewing.

Anterior and posterior view of overhead squat. Anterior view, pay attention to right foot and knee. Posterior view pay attention to the alignment of her pelvis and left femur. I filmed this video after she has just performed myofascial release for 50 minutes and static stretching for 60 minutes. Her compensations were much more noticeable before this!

Here is a modified version of the overhead squat. We elevate the heels to decrease the demand on the ankle joint for sagital plane movement (dorsiflexion). We are using a 3+¹⁄₂ inch lift since here compensations are so pronounced. We typically use 1 1/2 inches. Sorry about the last 30 seconds of this one:) it picks up in the next video…notice the improvement in quality of movement, depth and symmetry from the anterior view…

Posterior view, heels elevated/overhead squat…watch the abduction of the left femur. You can see that the left ankle just stops moving and she abducts at hip (femur).

Her left ankle is her primary impairment, LPHC secondary.

After I worked with KM for about 10 minutes, this is the result we got, still some instability in the LPHC and restriction in the left hip capsule, but much smoother.

I worked on here squat technique with just a few cues and had her put her sneakers on and this was the final result about 15 minutes total time…your clients patients and athletes have 15 minutes a day, don’t they?

Not a bad improvement for a short intervention. Her original overhead squat assessment provided and even more pronounced set of compensations, but there is still a difference in the quality of her movement for sure.

Imagine if she was going to run or lift weights moving like she was without performing a corrective exercise program? How long would her cartilage in her right knee or the integrity of her lumbar discs last?

For homework I recommended that she continue to follow up with her Chiropractor, execute the corrective program we designed for her and perform the self ankle mobilization technique that I showed her daily. In addition we discussed footwear as well, limiting heels whenever possible.

In addition to the Overhead Squat, I performend a range of motion assessment on her ankles and determined that her dorsiflexion on the right side was 8 degrees (15-20 is deal) and 3.5 degrees on the left side (15-20 is ideal).

Her left tibialis anterior, and glute medius bilaterally (right weaker than left) tested weak with manual muscle testing.

I believe that she has a restriction in her left right capsule, pelvic obliquity and a restriction in her sacroilliac joint as well. I believe that this stems from teh restriction in her left subtalor joint.

After the movement assessment (before the goniometry and MMT) I aksed KM if she had ever sprained her left ankle and she shared that she had a significant injury to her left ankle when she was a teenager.

Key Overactive Muscles
Lateral gastroc (L>R)
TFL (R>L)
Vastus Lateralis (R)
Biceps Femoris (short head R>L)

Key Under Active Muscles
Tibialis Anterior (L)
Glue Medius (R>L)
Intrinsic Core Stabilizers

Thanks for reading!

Eric Beard
Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist
Corrective Exercise Specialist
theericbeard.blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com

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I have worked out a few times while I have been here at a gym in Castle Rock over the last few days and I was not able to shut my “work brain” off as usual. Lots to blog about from these workouts, but I will stick with Runner’s Knee (more recently called Patella Femoral Pain Syndrome or less recently Chondromalacia). My friends were running and biking indoors while I did my thing and I watched them as well as the other regulars at this gym. Endurance athletes and runners are a mess more often than not. It seems that the traditional information that they receive is helpful in the short term at best and crumby over the long term at the worst.

What is runner’s knee??

Wiki does s nice job with the definition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runner%27s_knee if you are unfamiliar with this condition.

Another site I perused tonight listed the possible causes as;

• Wide Hips (female runners)
• Knock Knees (Genu Valgum)
• Subluxating Patella
• Patella Alta (high patella)
• Small medial pole of patella or corresponding portion of femur
• Weak Vastus Medialis
• Weak Quadriceps Muscles
• Tight Hamstrings or calf muscles
• Pronation of the feet

YES DO THIS!!!

Over-Active Muscles	Under-Active Muscles
Calve complex	Tibialis anterior/posterior
Tensor fascia latte (TFL)	Gluteus medius
Psoas/illiacus	Gluteus maximus
Vastus lateralis	Intrinsic core stabilizers
Adductor magnus	Medial hamstrings/popliteus
Biceps femoris (short head

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We have put the students through the ringer with; dynamic flexibility, speed, agility and quickness workouts and will cap of the physical activity with a total body circuit workout. Hopefully they aren’t too tired after to focus on the program design lecture:)

Ken and I have had some great conversations about athletic preparation, recovery and performance enhancement. I always look forward to teaching with Ken, we don’t get to see each other often enough on the road since we are based on opposite coasts. Here is a pic of Ken outside of Lupe Tortilla where we had a great dinner Friday night;

During some down time I found a new research article published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery that was just published 4/4/09!

Shoulder Injuries in the Throwing Athlete

Sepp Braun, MD¹, Dirk Kokmeyer, PT, SCS, COMT² and Peter J. Millett, MD, MSc¹

¹ Steadman Hawkins Research Foundation, 181 West Meadow Drive, Suite 1000, Vail, CO 81657. E-mail address for P.J. Millett: drmillett@steadman-hawkins.com
² Howard Head Sports Medicine Center, 181 West Meadow Drive, Vail, CO 81657

The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American). 2009;91:966-978.
doi:10.2106/JBJS.H.01341
© 2009 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.

This is not new information to most people in the corrective exercise, rehabilitation and performance enhancement fields, but it is great to see this information in print in a peer reviewed quality publication.

It reminded me of the post I did on the red Sox throwing program http://tinyurl.com/d3x9pv and also made me think of the Trouble that Troy Glaus is having after having suffered a set back during rehabilitation from his shoulder surgery http://tinyurl.com/cuxtax

The authors’ conclusions were basically;

*Pathologic conditions in the shoulder of a throwing athlete frequently represent a breakdown of multiple elements of the shoulder restraint system, both static and dynamic, and also a breakdown in the kinetic chain.

*Physical therapy and rehabilitation should be, with only a few exceptions, the primary treatment for throwing athletes before operative treatment is considered.

*Articular-sided partial rotator cuff tears and superior labral tears are common in throwing athletes. Operative treatment can be successful when nonoperative measures have failed.

*Throwing athletes who have a glenohumeral internal rotation deficit have a good response, in most cases, to stretching of the posteroinferior aspect of the capsule.—sound familiar:)

One of my favorite quotes from the article is “While a single traumatic event may cause injury, more commonly it is repetitive overuse that leads to failure of
one or more of these structures.”

Think about the 6 phases of throwing and how stressful they are pn the shoulder complex;

“The six phases of the throwing motion. Phase 1 is the wind-up phase. Phase 2 is the early cocking phase, ending with planting of the striding foot.
Phase 3 is the late cocking phase, in which the arm reaches maximum external rotation. In Phase 4, the ball is accelerated until Phase 5 starts with
release of the ball and deceleration of the arm. Phase 6, the follow-through, rebalances the body until the motion stops.”

“The arc of motion of the throwing shoulder is shifted posteriorly, with increased external rotation and decreased internal rotation of the abducted shoulder.”

Phase number three with the shoulder abducted and externally rotated can be very strenuous.

“Internal impingement of the undersurface of the rotator cuff against the posterior
aspect of the labrum in maximum external rotation and abduction.”

“Left: With the arm in a position of abduction and external rotation, the humeral head and the proximal humeral calcar produce a substantial cam effect of the anteroinferior aspect of the capsule, tensioning the capsule by virtue of the space-occupying effect. Middle: With a posterosuperior shift of the glenohumeral contact point, the space-occupying effect of the proximal part of the humerus on the anteroinferior aspect of the capsule is reduced (a reduction of the cam effect). This creates a relative redundancy in the anteroinferior aspect of the capsule that has probably been misinterpreted in the past as microinstability. Right: The superimposed neutral position (dotted line) shows the magnitude of the capsular redundancy that occurs as a result of the shift in the glenohumeral contact point.”

The goal is to minimize these repetitive movements and microtraumas with corrective exercise;

soft tissue work, stretch short muscles and stressed joint capsules

activate/strengthen weak muscles and work on the body’s coordination to make it all stick!

It takes diligence and precision to keep an athletes healthy.

1 + 1 can only = 2, not = 3

#1 is injury prevention
#2 is athletic longevity
#3 is athletic performance enhancement which will only come if you have 1 plus 1 and then 1 plus 2!
1+1+1=3!!

Prevention, longevity and then improvement!

Thanks for reading!

Eric Beard
Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist
Corrective Exercise Specialist
theericbeard.blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com

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