I had to wake up early or stay up late to get this work in since I was enjoying the time with my family pretty
much every waking hour. I do my SMR / soft tissue work first followed by my static stretching for any muscles that are shortened. I typicaly do my core stabilization work next then any needed activation work. I have been utilizing some variations of some Yoga poses during my stretching sessions and have really enjoyed the benefits.

My best an biggest workout came while the wife and kids took a nap on a rainy afternoon. I got my rolling on while they were settling down then grabbed my bands as headed outside once they laid down for some zzzs.

I went out in the rain and did a total body workout with some Yoga and sprints. It was amazing to be outside and working out. It was refreshing especially after the rain stopped. I got a few strange looks from passers by like they were thinking “what is this nut doing? He’s going to get struck by lightening!”

It was peaceful by the riverside. There was a crane that stayed next to me the entire time, even during my sprints and dynamic flexibility. It felt great to take care of my body on the road during this hectic trip. It would have been easy to blow everything off and come back home feeling all tight and crummy but I am so glad that I didn’t. I didn’t over do it, but took car or myself to be able to feel good and move well. I felt like it kept my energy up too. I was pushing a double stroller full of 2 kids with bags draped over it and sometimes a third on my back. I needed to be up to the task. I enjoy active type of vacations and this sure was one. I walked and walked and walked in the Florida heat for hours a day and felt great, albeit sweaty.

So it is ok to unplug, step back and dial down, but take care of yourself to keep feeling great. I bet you enjoy your vacation even more.

Hope you are having an awesome day!
Eric Beard
Corrective Exercise Specialist
CEO A-Team
AthleticShoulder.com

• September 22, 2010 -- Anke Mobility Issues? This Corrective Exercise Technique will Help Your Soleus (0)
• January 15, 2010 -- Boston CPT for NASM Ends up With Some After Hours Corrective Exercise Action for Eric Beard (0)
• 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)
• August 4, 2009 -- Corrective Exercise for the Neck: The Stick for The C/Spine? (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 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)

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

• No Related Post

I am not so sure about either of those. I honestly have no first hand information to go from, but based on my experience I would say that no one looked at how here body moves as a whole, like during an overhead squat test.

Restrictions in joints down in the big toe and ankle can lead to upper extremity dysfunction. Maybe her primary area of concern is not her shoulder??? In this example, the athlete can not keep their feet straight ahead during their squat, this could mean tightness in their calves (amongst other tings), this will have a significant impact on her low back and the low back is most definitely connected to the shoulder via the latissimus dorsi. The human body is a wonderfully interconnected organism and the kinetic chain principle states that we are only as strong as our weakest link. Sometimes the weak link is somewhere other than where the pain is. an integrated approach will help to determine if that is the case.

I hope that they looked at the internal rotation in her shoulder as well. This picture demonstrates poor technique performing this assessment, but you get the gist. There should be 70 degrees of internal rotation at the glenohumeral joint from this position. The picture shows about 58 degrees, but with compensations at the shoulder.

If we look at what is happening at Maria’s shoulder dynamically, it appears that her shoulder is not internally rotating sufficiently during her follow through. That is a precursor to impingement syndrome, tennis elbow and rotator cuff tendinitis at the least, and other undetected issues throughout the kinetic chain at the worst. It is causing her shoulder blade to elevate and tilt forward and her trunk to lean too much to the side as well.

I hope they are not just doing massage, electrical stimulation and rotator cuff strengthening on her. There is much more that she, and most other tennis players and athletes in general need.

Soooo the next time your or one of your athlete’s shoulder hurts, or even better….BEFORE there is an injury, find a corrective exercise specialist or licensed health care professional that is truly proficient at completing an integrated assessment. An assessment that look at how the body moves as a single unit, that can help to pin point segments that are impacting the entire kinetic chain. this can save hours or pain and rehabilitation, keep players on the court and in Maria’s case…save hundreds of thousands of dollars. From there specific;

1) soft tissue work/manual therapy
2) flexibility techniques
3) joint mobilizations
4) activation techniques
5) coordination/total body strengthening techniques

…can be applied in a systematic manner.

Thanks for reading and remember to look at the big picture but pay attention to the small details!!

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

• No Related Post

Does this look and feel familiar? Even for those of us who move our body for a portion of the work day must get stuck with the inevitable paper and or computer work. My student athletes are subjected to these postures for 6 plus hours a day at school, never mind meals, transportation to and from school, doing homework and “down time” playing video games or watching TV.

Imagine what happens to the length of their muscles, strength of their muscles, joint movement and coordination? Not good! We know that the human body is an amazingly adaptive organism and it will adapt to whatever stimulus we provide to it repeatedly. The S.A.I.D. Principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand) tidily explains this. Couple this with repetitive movements and pattern overload and our athletes are on a sure path for an injury or at least sub-optimal performance.

This picture demonstrates a very important force couple that produces upward rotation of the scapulae and eccentrically decelerates downward rotation of the scapulae. These muscles are often weak and the downward rotators of the scapulae; levator scapulae, rhomboids, latissimus dorsi/teres major are often overactive and lack extensibility. The rounded shoulder/chair borne posture above can lead to this imbalance which puts the shoulder (and other aspects of the kinetic chain) under greater than stress. Remember, an “injury” occurs when tissue experiences greater force(s) than it can accommodate. It won’t take long for this imbalance to lead to rotator cuff tendinitis, headaches, low back pain or elbow pain. If the scapulae is misaligned then the glenohumeral joint will not articulate properly. With throwing athletes, over-head athletes and tennis players the internal rotation of the humerus on their follow through is critical for shoulder health. If the can not rotate internally (ideally 70 degrees from a 90 degree horizontally abducted position) then there will be significant forces placed on the ulna collateral ligament. Hello tennis elbow if this happens too often! That’s how too much sitting can lead to elbow pain:)

Corrective Exercise and Manual Therapy can go a long way to restore optimal human movement and eliminate the symptoms of these imbalances.

As I mentioned yesterday, I filmed the first half of my video last Sunday (tentatively titled Secrets and Staples of Training the Tennis Shoulder) and look to finish next Sunday. I noticed that the camera man was getting into the presentation. He started to move his shoulder around, palpate muscles and mimic assessments as I talked about them. I could almost hear him say “hhmmmm..” and “oh yeah…” as he was noticing some imbalances and limited ranges of motion. He appeared to have some issues that may have not been cleaned up completely and were still effecting his quality of movement. I hope that he applies some of the things I talked about!

Here is a link to a blog post that I made in January. It has a short video that goes over some self care techniques to help keep the shoulder joint moving correctly.

http://tinyurl.com/b4yf5o

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

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

• No Related Post

• No Related Post

Rudy Ruettiger harbored a dream to play for one of the all time great college football Ara Parseghian and the Fighting Irish football team of Notre Dame. Tall hopes for almost any athlete, but he was only 5′ 7″ and 165 pounds (far shorter and lighter than would be expected of a collegiate football player).

After having the snot knocked out of him practice after practice and never dressing for a game, the coach finally dressed him for the last home game of his senior season against Georgia Tech on November 8th 1975.

With 27 seconds left in the game, they put him in at defensive end. In the final play of the game he recorded a sack which is all his Notre Dame stat line has ever shown. Ruettiger was carried off the field by his teammates following the game.

I just finished watching Rudy, the 1993 telling of this tale. Honestly, my eyes welled up with a tear or two when they showed that last play and the sack he made. The culmination of all of his hard work, blood sweat and tears. He sacrificed more in two years of college football than most people do their entire lives. He suffered more physical and emotional pain during that time with beating after beating in practice. He never quit.

He did the little things to chance his dream. Fought dyslexia, doubters and hostile teammates. He never quit.

Most people give up on the little things and lack the discipline for long term success. Most people don’t want to keep up with their flexibility routines, monitor their seated posture, change their sleeping posture, prepare for and recover from workouts and sports properly. These sins of omission add up and lead to impaired performance and increased of injury down the line. Rudy suffered the pain of daily commitment to practice no matter how unrewarding it was that moment, but it has been paying off since 11.8.1975 a thousand times over. He is a father of 5 and successful motivational speaker.

Let’s be like Rudy and do the little things now to make the big difference later.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving,

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

• No Related Post

Daily flexibility and core exercises are the key to increasing their range of motion, enhancing their posture, bolstering their power and keeping them healthier in the long run.

Sound coaching, school desk and home work station posture are obvious areas to focus on, but the daily completion of corrective exercises must be done to deal with the rigors of our chair borne society and the demands of high level athletics.

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

• No Related Post

• No Related Post

When one of the segments is not functioning optimally, the other segments are subjected to unnecessary and potentially harmful stresses. Ideally, the skeletal system provides us with structure, support and leverage. The nervous system takes in and processes stimulation then sends messages through the muscular system t respond appropriately.

When I talk to my athletes, I tell the that their brains, bones and muscles must all be working together other wise one of the components will wear down the other down and their performance will not be as efficient. Remember, the body works as a whole and is only as good as the sum of it’s parts. The weakest link in the kinetic chain, determines the strength and function of the entire system.

Find and eliminate these weak links to maximize athletic performance enhancement and minimize the risk of injuries.

Have a great nigh!

Eric Beard
theericbeard@blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com

• No Related Post

If we are discussing posture and human movement, then we must discuss the Active System and the Passive System. The Active System is comprised of contractile tissue of the body, the muscles and tendons. It can absorb, reduce, store and produce forces. It’s counter part is the Passive System and is comprised of the non contractile tissue of the human body, the bones, cartilage and ligaments. These tissues absorb and store forces, but can not produce them. When aligned well, the Passive System can absorb force, such as the external force of gravity and distribute it quite well. If the skeleton is misaligned, then external forces such as gravity and ground reaction forces, and internal forces such as shear and torsion can wreak havoc on these tissues. Continued exposure to these forces can weaken cartilage and ligaments especially and lead to a myriad of injuries.

So when someone has a repetitive stress injury or a breakdown of cartilage or ligaments, there is a good chance the the movements system is out of balance and the injury is a symptom of underlying dysfunction.

It kills me to watch people trashing themselves with over training and poor technique. They do not have the basic lynch-pin of posture to hod their exercise program or athletic training endeavors.

More on what to actually do to improve posture, function and performance another day.

Eric Beard
theericbeard@blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com

• No Related Post