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)

Just like “Hannibal”, “Faceman”, “Howling Mad Murdoch” and “B.A Baracus” (Bad Attitude if you didn’t know)…this rag tag group with common bonds and special skills worked together in an unorthodox manner as well intentioned mercenaries to fight injustices. Somehow it all came together at the end of each episode..you can hear Hannibal now “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Can you imagine BA on a foam roller??? lol!!

Who would you be??? Faceman was always my favorite as a kid!

I feel like the plan is coming together for me too which means I am another step closer to helping more people directly with corrective exercise, moving touching and inspiring even more professionals to do the same, finding a way to give back to the community and providing for my family while I do it. Now that fires me up!!!

Why am I so bleary eyed in my video below?? I flew to Mesa Arizona to visit the corporate offices of the National Academy of Sports Medicine for a training on the NEW NASM PRO and to lay down some audio for the site webinar tutorials. This sound room was cool, you don’t see all the material on the other walls that absorbed the extra sound!

Here I am with two of my good buddies Marty Miller an ATC, CES and an NASM Instructor for NASM (left) and Scott Pullen Director of Fitness and Nutrition Education for dtoFIT.com-or some fancy tittle these days- (with the guns) at lunch.

I haven’t been there since before they switched buildings, must have been 2 years before that. I am at the Calabasas location @ 3 times a year to teach however. Here is a pic of me with Ben Tucker the President of NASM PRO, great guy and devoted family man.

Here is a short video that I shot this morning while waiting for my shuttle at Logan Airport. I look pretty rough…actually still fee pretty rough, but was too excited to sleep on the plane and have not been to bed since Wednesday night!

This is short…but you will get the gist!

Thanks for reading and watching!

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

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The topic of dips comes up at workshops that I teach pretty frequently. They have been a staple of the body building, group exercise and body weight training scene for years. A simple take off on the parallel bars or rings in gymnastics.

So what’s the big deal about dips??? Well Google shoulder pain and there are over 11,100,000 hits. Too many shoulder problems! See the end of my post for more rationale on taking care with shoulder movements* I wish I learned more about biomechanics and corrective exercise before I did too many dips!

Optimal r.o.m. for humeral extension (sagital plane) is @45 degrees. Most people do not have optimal posture or r.o.m. Forcing the humerus past it’s natural end point will yield 2 negative results 1) excessive pressure of the humeral head into the anterior capsule of the gleno-humeral joint 2) tipping of the scapulae.

It is common that many people will have restrictions in the posterior and inferior capsules of their shoulder which forces the head of the humerus to migrate interiorly and superiorly respectively. Bones move away from tightness/restriction and create ligamentous and capsular laxity, joint instability and/or impingement while moving in the opposite directions. Forcing the head of the humerus anteriorly repeatedly, especially under load and with momentum with little focus on eccentric deceleration as most people who perform dips do, will wear out the anterior capsule of the shoulder. Once the passive stabilization of the joint is compromised (this is a permanent situation by the way) the active system (muscles and tendons) must become more active to protect the joint. This can have an impact from one joint throughout the entire kinetic chain. Take for instance the latissimus dorsi tightening up to make up for a stretched out joint capsule in the glenohueraml joint. The Lat originates in the thoraco lumbar fascia and has insertion points into the sacrum, illium, lumbar spine, thoracic spine and inferior angle of the scapulae. All of these joints can be negatively impacted by loss optimal force coupling around them which can in turn impact the femur and further down the kinetic chain leading to increases susceptibility of ankle sprains, patella femoral pain and low back pain. So the argument of I have been doing dips for years and my shoulders do not hurt is a tough one to make.

Also, repetitive and excessive tipping of the scapulae can alter Length Tension Relationships and Neuromuscular Efficiency around the shoulder complex, head and cervical spine, traumatize the rotator cuff tendons (mostly infraspinatus and supraspinatus in this scenario), aggravate bursae sacs and increase cervical extension yielding increased pressure on the cervical discs. Know anyone with tight necks? Headaches? Over-active levator scpulae?

This…

Plus this…

Will lead to this…

Do to the seated posture and “upper cross syndrome” apparent in most clients personal training clients and gym goers today, the above scenario will contribute to their preexisting imbalances and accelerate wear and tear on components of the passive system. Ligaments wear out like the rubber on the bottom of your sneakers…it’s just a question of when they wear down? 30?40? 85? or in the grave???

This is a high risk exercise option for the triceps, pectoral complex or shoulder complex. These muscles can be targeted with much safer alternatives with minimized risk regardless of the patient, client or athletes goals..

if someone MUST “dip”…1) the Life Fitness Signature Series Tricep machine looks and feels like a seated dip machine, but does not allow the user’s humerus to extend past 45 degrees it is very comfortable and fills the need most people are looking for.

2) Sitting on a bench with your hands on two dumbbells at tour side for lower trap activation can be pretty helpful. Having trouble loading my picture of this one.

3) other than that..shallow range of motion dips that do not let the humerus extend more than 45 degrees are a better option than what is seen in most gym, classes or health clubs.

I know they FEEL GOOD sometimes and can be good for the ego…but there is life after ego and plenty of exercises to blast away at those muscles with a much lower risk of trauma.

There is more to talk about of course…but I think that is enough for now.

What do you think?

A typical Corrective Exercise program for someone who has been trashing themselves with dips might look something like this;

I wanted to add some more in, but Murphy my lab wanted out of his crate and my 5 year old was itching to play…sorry, he is tough to turn down:)

Thanks for reading!

Eric Beard

Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist

Corrective Exercise Specialist

theericbeard.blogspot.com

www.ericbeard.com

Shoulder pain and dysfunction rank among the most common of peripheral joint complaints (1)(2)(5)(9)(11). Incidence has been estimated to be between ten and 25 per 1000 patients (1)(2)(11). Pain, injury and instability can be either the cause or the effect of shoulder joint dysfunction (1)(5)(6)(7)(8). The two most frequent diagnoses for patients presenting with shoulder pain are impingement and rotator cuff tendonitis (1)(2)(6)(7)(9)(11). Approximately 48% of patients who have presented with shoulder pain have been diagnosed with impingement syndrome in Dutch general practice (6). Bankart lesions, bursitis, dislocations, separations, rotator cuff disease, osteoarthritis and rotator cuff tears are other common diagnoses (1)(2)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(11). In order to select the appropriate treatment, the appropriate diagnosis must be made first (6)(7)(8)(11). Treatments range from palliative to curative and may include over-the-counter medications, manual therapy, therapeutic exercise and surgery (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(9)(10)(11).

References:

1) Bang, Michael and Deyle, Gail. (2000). Comparison of Supervised Exercise With and Without Manual Physical Therapy for Patients With Shoulder Impingement Syndrome. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, Volume 30 (3), pp. 126-137.

2) Bergman, MScGert J.D. Winters, PhD, C. Jan. Groenier, MsC, H. Klass. Betty. Pool. Meyboom-de Jong, PhD, MD, Betty. Postema, PhD, MD, Klass and van de Heijen, PhD, Geert J.M.G. (2004) Manipulative Therapy in Addition to Usual Medical Care for Patients with Shoulder Dysfunction and Pain. Annals of Internal Medicine, 141, pp. 432-439.

3) Eccles, Nyjon K.,M.R.C.P., Ph.D. (2005). A Critical Review of Randomized Controlled Trials of Static Magnets for Pain Relief. The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, Volume 11, Number 3, pp. 495-509.

4) Fabbriciani, C. Milano, G. Demontis, A. Fadda, S. Ziranu, F. Mulas, PD. (2004). Arthroscopic Versus Open Treatment of Bankart Lesion of the Shoulder: A Prospective Randomized Study. Arthroscopy, May-June; Volume 20, pp. 456-62.

5) Gursel, Kurtai Yesim. Ulus, Yasemin. Biligic, Ayse. Dincer, Gulay and van de Heijen, Geert

JMG . (2004). Adding Ultrasound in the Management of Soft Tissue Disorders of the Shoulder: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial. Physical Therapy, Volume 84, pp. 336-343.

6) Johansson, Kajsa M. Adolfson, Lars E. and Foldevi, Mats OM. (2005). Effects of Acupuncture Versus Ultrasound in Patients With Impingement Syndrome: Randomized Clinical Trial. Physical Therapy, Volume 85, pp.490-501.

7) McClure, W. Philip. Bialker, Jason. Neff, Nancy. Williams, Gerald. and Karduna, Andrew. (2004). Shoulder Function and 3-Dimentional Kinematics in People With Shoulder Impingement Syndrome Before and After a 6-Week Exercise Program. Physical Therapy, Volume 84, pp. 832-848.

Park, Hying Bin, MD, Yokota, Atsushi, MD, PhD, Gill, Harpreet, MD. Rassi, George, El, MD and McFarland, Edward, MD. (2005). Diagnosis Accuracy of Clinical Tests for the Different Degrees of Subacromial Impingement Syndrome. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Volume 87-A, Number 7, July, pp. 1446-1455.

9) Razavi, Mahanaz and Akuten, Kvaters. (2002). Effects of Acupuncture and Placebo TENS in Addition to Exercise in Treatment of Rotator Cuff Tendonitis. Clinical Rehabilitation, 2004, Volume 18, pp. 872-878.

10) Sperling, John W., MD, Cofield, Robert, MD and Schleck, Cathy, BS. (2004). Rotator Cuff Repair in Patients Fifty Years of Age and Younger. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Volume 86-A, Number 10, October pp. 2212-2215.

11) van den Dolder, Paul A. and Roberts, David L. (2003). A trial into the effectiveness of soft tissue massage in the treatment of shoulder pain. Australian Journal of Physiotherapy. Volume 49, pp. 183-188.

12) Effects of a shoulder injury prevention strength training program on eccentric external rotator muscle strength and glenohumeral joint imbalance in female overhead activity athletes J Strength Cond Res. 2008 Jan; 22(1):140-5. J Strength Cond Res. 2008

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I can hear Willie Nelson in my ears… “on the road again, I just can’t wait to get on the road again…”

Isn’t that is backwards though? I want to go home. I am sitting in Reagan International Airport in Washington, DC after teaching an Essentials of Personal Training workshop with my buddy Tony, waiting to get home to me wife and kids. My flight is delayed, as has been the case on 3 of the last 4 flights I have been booked on. It goes with the territory I guess.

I was at the same hotel that I was at in February teaching the Corrective Exercise Specialist workshop. One of the guys that was here then referred his wife Jan to the workshop and I got to meet her this weekend. Thanks Zeb! Zeb came by and said “hi”, we got to catch up a bit after Day 1. It’s always good to see friends on the road. There were at least four other people in the workshop of 50 that I have had as students in the past. One of which said that he didn’t need the continuing education credits, he just had so much fun last time he decided to come back. That is a huge compliment!

He and I talked Corrective Exercise for a long while on Friday night. I even performed an assessment on him. He had injured the medial meniscus skiing this winter and was still having some right knee pain. Check out a video of his movement assessment here.

I did not go through the entire assessment process but believed that I was able to see his primary area of impairment, his right ankle. He does have some issues at his Lumbo-Pelvic Hip Complex (LPHC), and is seeing a chiropractor for them. I believe that focusing on his ankle will positively impact his knee, LPHC and overall movement a good deal. He is not able to move in the Sagital plane very well (dorsiflexion), primarily because of a restriction at his subtalor joint. This contributes to his calcaneous everting, knee moving inwards and his pelvis shifting. He has some compensations on the left side of his body, but let’s focus on the right.

I spent about 15 minutes working with him. Sometimes 15 minutes makes a HUGE difference and sometimes none at all. Here is his after video.

His knee moves inwards less and the calcaneous everts less right away, but does so as he does more reps. I could feel a definite improvement in the quality of the tissue around the talus. Below I will list what I did with him and my recommendations for him moving forward. All work was on the right.

Manual Therapy and Corrective Exercise

1) Trigger Point Therapy /Sustained Direct Pressure / Myopractic (depending what you would call it) on his right lateral gastroc, soleus and peroneals (spent about 4 minutes on the groc. and sol. and about 1 minute on the peroneals)

2) Passive Release Technique

Lateral gastroc (2 passes), biceps femoris (short head 1 pass), vastus lateralis (1 pass).

3) Joint Mobilizations

Subtalor (10 reps with muscle energy techniques and static stretch x 2)

Navicluar 5-6 reps

4) Isometric Muscle Activation

Medial hamstring (1 set of 6)

5) Active Isolated Strengthening

Medial gastroc (with foot/tibial internal rotation) (1 sets of 12)

Stability Ball Bridge with right hip abduction (1 set 10 reps)

6) Integration-Body weight squats during reassessment (with alignment cues)

This process took about 15 to 20 minutes. He should probably receive this type of work 3 times a week for 3 weeks for optimal results, adding in therapy on his other tissues to help and stabilize his LPHC and corresponding corrective exercise. We spoke and he is going to ask his chiropractor to treat his ankle/subtalor joint next visit.

What can he do on his own for corrective exercise? Let’s take a look at the most important things to do…there is more yes, let’s just start with the primary impairment…

Step 1-Self Myofascial Release (soft tissue work with Rollaxer, Softball or foam roller)

15 minutes per day distributed between:

Right lateral gastroc-Rollaxer (or firm roller)

Right soleus-Softball

Proximal tensor fascia latte-Rollaxer (or firm roller)

Distal right biceps femoris(short head)/vastus lateralis- Rollaxer (or firm roller or softball)

Proximal right adductor magnus Rollaxer (or firm roller)

Step 2-Self Mobilization subtalor joint with Stretch-Out Strap (2 sets x 10reps @1 minute)

Step 3-Static Stretching (@5 minutes)

Right lateral gastroc and soleus (2x30sec)

Right biceps femoris (short head) (2x30sec)

Right TFL (1-2x30sec)

Right Adductor Magnus (1x30sec)

Step 4-Activation Techniques (@ 5 minutes)

Right medial gastroc (1×12)

Right medial hamstrings (1×12)

Right glute medius (1×12)

Right glute maximus (1×15)

Step 5-Integration Techniques (@ 45 seconds)

Body weight squats (1×12)

Steps 1, 3 and 4 are what I teach at the NASM’s Corrective Exercise Specialist Workshop that I teach. The joint mobilization work I have studied in texts and have learned from other manual therapists, mostly physical therapists and chiropractors and a couple of ATCs.

Thank you for reading and watching…I hope this corrective exercise program will be helpful for my buddy, thanks for the Tea by the way…and the rest of the readers got something from this as well.

…I just found out my flight has been delayed again, that makes it over a 3 hours delay…yessh! Hope I get home tonight, father’s day is tomorrow and I want to be with my wife and kids! Got some good blogging in for you at least! J

Eric Beard

Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist

Corrective Exercise Specialist

theericbeard.blogspot.com

www.ericbeard.com

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Anyway…he handed me a research study that he heard about on Bill Hartman’s blog. It was;

Stability Training Reduces Hamstring Stiffness by Kuszewski, Gnat and Sauliz 2009.

Sounded cool and I trust Tony’s judgment, he is a voracious reader and very bright and read away. It sounded vaguely familiar and one of the pictures in the article jogged my memory..I had heard of this before, I know! I read about it in…

Sling Exercise Therapy is the technique explored in each of these offerings.

S.E.T. has been described as “Sling Exercise Therapy (SET) is a holistic concept for active treatment and/or training aimed at alleviating or even healing skeleton and muscle complaints. It is based on fundamental elements which are considered to be the most essential elements in active training and active rehabilitation.”

I wish I had one of those!!

In many people their intrinsic core stabilizers …

courtesy of Paul Check

…are so weak their global movers must fire to produce artificial stability of the lumbo-pelvic hip complex.

Tight hamstrings anyone?

Or how about low back pain??

Well..even though Kuszewski’s group was small, the core stabilization training / corrective exercise seemed to decrease tension in the hamstring complex. If the Transverse Abdominus does not activate as part of the feed forward mechanism then the body develops abnormal firing patterns (how about some synergistic dominance of say…the hamstrings???) to try and add stability. Hodges and Richardson state that the “deep subsystem is normally activated before the global one”.

Kuszewski’s et al. write “A person with a deactivated deep muscular subsystem (intrinsic core stabilizers) does not immediately become a disabled person”. Their body finds a way to adapt! Long term these compensatory firing patterns will place abnormal stress on the passive system (ligaments, cartilage, discs etc.) of the human body.

Hey..am I writing about alignment and function again??? YES I AM:)

So this S.E.T. helps to deload the human movement system to quite the overactive synergists so patients can reinstall that feed forward mechanism, activation of other intrinsic stabilizers and coordinated firing patterns.

You start with the shortest lever arm necessary to activate the core stabilizers and firing patterns then progress to a longer lever arm and they work away from the apparatus into more function situations.

There is always more than one way yo do things, but I would like to try this tool since I find myself having to get pretty creative with core stabilization and corrective exercises with many of the patients, clients and athletes that come to see me.

Of course starting with soft tissue work/SMR and corrective flexibility…but this is another tool/technique/approach worth exploring. Have not seen one of these state side, but are more coming in the Netherlands and Germany.

Thanks for reading!

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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This is pretty much how things are going. Feel free to believe in creationism or evolution, that is not my place to decide for you. However, I don’t think anyone will debate the fact that we are becoming more sedentary as we become more attached to our technology (as I type from my lap top…)

(not a self portrait…)

We move less and sit more, we have become a flexion addicted society and it is getting worse. Even movement therapy like Yoga, that has been around for thousands of years, is leading to low back and sacro-illiac injuries because people are so out of shape and deconditioned. Now when I say deconditioned, I do not necessarily mean overweight. I mean they have poor posture, muscular imbalances or poor neuromuscualr control.

I mean they bring this to the golf course…

and they look like this…

and then they need this…

Whether you are looking at weightlifting or athletics, your load bearing joints must be aligned. This allows the joints to move correctly (sparing the cartilage and ligaments), muscles to do their jobs (to produce, reduce and stabilize force) and the nervous system to coordinate the entire human movement system. When that happens, you can groove movement patterns in athletics with the help of coaches and pros to look like this…

and this…

Who will drive the ball further? Feel fresher on the back 9? Feel good enough to play back to back days?

There is more than skill or a fancy putter involved. The alignment and function of the human movement system is a must!
Driving your car with the front end out of alignment to and from the grocery store a few times is not a big deal, but what will happen if you leave it like that for a few years? Would you take it on the highway and drive 80 mph??? If your car were out of alignment, would you; waste fuel? Be less efficient? Be less safe? Have a decrease in performance and burn through tires???

You would get your front end aligned and slap some new tires on there and look out for pot holes and curbs, wouldn’t you?

But do we do that with your bodies?

More often than not the journey looks like this…

Corrective exercise; stretching and strengthening SPECIFIC muscles in a periodized manner, grooving quality movement patterns and practicing correct preparation and recovery techniques on a regular basis can help. Remember to look at the position that you sleep in, how you sit at work, how you sit when you eat, the shoes you wear, how you sit in your vehicle etc. It is a non stop process to keep our amazing machinery running optimally.

You would not expect our car to run properly after ignoring the oil change and engine light for 5 years. Why do we think our body will be okay?

If you are not sure what you should be doing to minimize risk of injury and maximize your return on effort from exercise and enhance athletic performance then find a corrective exercise specialist and athletic performance enhancement specialist to help you out.

Thanks for reading, sit up tall! Do your CEx and go like heck!!!

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

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He is a bright guy and thought that maybe doing some coach pitch little league was flaring the elbow up.

He deduced that he was not following through with is regular arm motion and maybe that has something to do with it. He was pitching lower than normal because the kids are so small and he was trying to take some velocity off he ball. Pretty good for a non-fitness person!

My response was simple. It is probably more about what you do before, after, in between and what you have done in the past.

Remember flopping around the gym like a clown for 10 years?

…doing just chest and Bis?

How about what you do for 10 hours a day??? 12 if you count your time on facebook every night?

Or the fact that you do not warm up, cool down or exercise other than little league right now???

He can blame his pitching technique all he wants, but you know what it comes down to….alignment and function! Of course some corrective exercise could help, but we need to change; how he sits at the computer, how long he sits at the computer, preparation and recovery from activity and probably how he sleeps.

The good news is he has the opportunity to make some HUGE changes in his life, of just take some Advil and suck it up for the season and let this turn into shoulder pain or headaches of over the next few years. I will go glass half full and vote that he makes some changes, what do you think??

Thanks for reading and have a great night!

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

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“Just as Cardinal fans were rejoicing the return of a healthy Chris Carpenter after two years, he has returned to the DL with an external oblique strain. Atlanta’s third baseman Chipper Jones was plagued by this injury during Spring Training as well. These are unfortunately not uncommon injuries in pitchers and throwing athletes, and usually affect the side opposite of the throwing arm. During the motion of throwing, the muscle can be overstretched beyond its normal resting length and result in tearing of the muscle fibers with secondary injury.”

Why is the muscle over stretched??? What about movement of the plant leg ankle? Stability of the plant leg hip? Integrity of the core stabilizers? Internal rotation of the pitching shoulder?????

The last paragraph of the article sounds good…but what caused the original elbow injury?? They are only paying lip service to the concept of the kinetic chain.

“Complete healing before returning to throwing is imperative, as pitching relies heavily on what has been described as the kinetic chain of throwing. This means that the entire body, starting with the feet and legs up through the abdominal muscles to the shoulder and elbow, all play a role in generating the power needed to pitch. It also implies that each link in the chain needs to be strong to prevent injury further down the line. It is not uncommon for baseball players with problems their hip or abdominal muscles to develop shoulder or elbow problems as a result of trying to overcompensate. This is of particular concern in a pitcher like Chris Carpenter who is coming off Tommy John Surgery to reconstruct his elbow ulnar collateral ligament.

Should have thought about this before the Tommy john was needed! Senseless. Poor guy.

That picture pretty much sums it up…remember to look head to toe and follow a corrective exercise program to eliminate performance inhibitors or waste time and money on rehabilitation later.

Thanks for reading!

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

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