STRETCHING

Stretching is a broad topic. There are several elements involved when evaluating the mechanisms of flexibility and trying to create the change a client/athlete desire. Ultimately the method of implementation to improve someone’s flexibility is going to be dictated by the objective. Why are you stretching in the first place? Do you know why you’re tight to begin with? Do you understand the difference in active vs passive ranges of motion; or that more range of motion is not always a good thing?

We’ve all been taught that stretching prevents injuries and that we need to stretch before activity. Stretching has seemingly become a tradition that continues to be passed down from generation to generation. We learned to stretch from our coaches and gym teachers, and the cycle continues to repeat itself. But what is happening when we stretch and is it appropriate for our goals at that moment in time?

When we stretch, our goal is to lengthen a muscle. We stretch in an effort to make the muscle more flexible and improve its range of motion. However, for a muscle to improve its range of motion, the muscle that you are trying to lengthen must first relax. Relaxation is key to lengthening. Once a muscle is relaxed, it can then be moved into a new, lengthened position.

Your typical pre-game/prehab static stretching session isn’t accomplishing this. The low level of afferent feedback isn’t enough to cause significant changes in the viscoelasticity of the muscle creating a lengthened state. It simply isn’t enough time. Its more of a placebo effect.

The effects of stretching on the viscoelasticity of a muscle are short lived. Thus, stretching doesn’t make significant change to muscle. Improvements in flexibility are due more to a STRETCH TOLERANCE rather than change in the physical state of the tissue. (Spinea)

It will however increase the activity of something called a muscle spindle. Within each of our muscles lies a nervous system receptor called a muscle spindle. This muscle spindle can be stretched and compressed, similar to a slinky. As the length of a muscle begins to change, the muscle spindle will begin to fire (or turn on) causing contraction in the muscle. This reaction is called the stretch reflex.

This stretch reflex is a protective mechanism that is designed to prevent our muscles from pulling and tearing. So, the result is you trying to pull a muscle to its maximum length (stretch it), while the muscle fibers are tightened. This is similar to trying to stretch a towel beyond its maximal length...it’s not going to happen unless the towel rips.

As you continue to reach for that extra range of motion, the stretch actually comes from connective tissues as they begin to weaken. As you continue with repetitive sets, you are essentially setting yourself up for injury by weakening these extremely important connective tissues.

Research shows that there is tremendous amount of evidence showing that the articular system is intimately connected to the spindle system (Spinea).

After you are done stretching, there is what we call a “refractory period” that occurs. During this period, the exact opposite of what was originally occurring in the tissue occurs. So, if contraction occurred during the stretch, what is going to occur afterwards? You guessed correctly, no contraction! So, as you are trying to workout, run, jump etc., the contractions that are needed to help propel your body are less than they were before you stretched.

This refractory period is a problem because it significantly decreases your ability to create and absorb force. When the muscle(s) are unable to absorb force, the force transfers into the surrounding connective tissue and will eventually result in injury.

So, with this information, how are we supposed to increase our range of motion and improve our flexibility? There are two methods that we recommend that best put this knowledge to use. The first method is contract/release techniques. This is what most know as Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF). PNF is great, however leaves open the possibility of developing passive range of motion without active control. After the range of motion is created it’s important that it be maintained. This can be done through a variety of hovers, lift offs, passive range holds etc.

The second method is positional isometrics. Positional isometrics, when performed properly, not only lengthen the targeted muscles, but preserve the health of the tendons and ligaments. This subsequently reduces your chance of injury. They also increase blood flow and refuel the muscle much more efficiently allowing you to recover faster. To learn more about isometrics and how we implement them read our prior article on isometrics.

I’m hopeful this article providers the reader a better understanding of the mechanisms that occur during stretching, and how broad-based prescription of static stretching is not necessarily the best course of action. As we stated at the beginning of the article, the course of action for improvements in flexibility should be dictated by the objective.

John Nelson Founder/Director ELP

Should Athletes Perform Olympic Lifts?

“Many think Olympic lifts develop explosiveness, but they in fact do not. There’s no such thing as ‘explosive lifts'. The reference is to how the lift is performed, not the lift (Simmons, 133).

Many coaches and trainers teach their HS/College athletes to perform Olympic Lifts in the hopes of developing explosiveness. Although I do have great respect for Olympic lifters, I do not believe Olympic lifts to be an advantageous approach to athletic development. Below are reasons to support our stance.

1. Olympic Lifting Doesn’t Develop Explosiveness.

• Olympic lifting is closer to developing strength-speed qualities. This is not the same thing as explosiveness (more on this in point number two). Explosiveness is developed through the implementation of jumping, bounding and depth jumps. This isn’t opinion, this comes directly from the literature of the great Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc strength and speed development experts. There is a common theme amongst the works of Verkhosansky, Starzynski, Sozanski, and Lasocki when it comes to explosiveness; none of them mention Olympic lifting. However, they all consistently mention jumps, bounds and depth jumps to be the best methods to develop explosiveness.

2. The Bar Speed Doesn’t Match Up.

• Research from the likes of Mladen, Simmons and others show that Olympic lifting occurs at .6 -.8 m/sec. This would put Olympic Lifting in the realm of power development, closer towards the absolute strength side of the continuum. Again, another reason Olympic Lifting is not explosive in nature. These are great qualities for athletes to develop, but Olympic Lifting is not our preferred way to do it. The following is a breakdown of bar speeds when developing special qualities along the force velocity curve:
  • Absolute Strength: .15 - .35 m/sec
  • Strength-Speed: .8 – 1 m/sec
  • Speed – Strength: 1 – 1.5 m/sec
  • Starting Strength/Speed: > 1.5 m/sec

3. They’re too Technical and Dangerous.

• With the limited amount of time most coaches have with their athletes, it’s important we give them the best bang for their buck. Additionally, most athletes aren’t gym rats like us. They are in the gym because they know it’ll improve their game; not because they love working out. Olympic Lifting is a skill (and sport) and requires a tremendous amount of practice in order to complete a lift with proper technique and safety. Olympic Lifters spend years perfecting their form, and it simply doesn’t make sense to expect a high school or college athlete to spend that kind of time perfecting that type of skill. There are many simpler ways to develop the needed areas along the force velocity continuum that don’t require the technical skill Olympic Lifting does. Good examples are: box squats, deadlifts, benching and many others. It is much safer and easier to teach technique with these lifts, while developing the strength-speed and/or speed-strength qualities with proper velocities. Then using explosive movements to develop explosiveness.

4. Save the Joints and Connective Tissues.

• Athletes aren’t made of glass, but I tend to take a common-sense approach when it comes to saving their joints and connective tissues. The athlete’s joints will take enough of a beating on the field; we don’t need to add to that in the gym. With so many other effective means at developing explosiveness and other qualities along the force velocity curve, it’s just not sensible to crush their joints and connective tissues with high impact Olympic lifts. The cumulative effect of pounding on the joints in the gym will rear its ugly head eventually.

5. Random Thoughts:

• 99% of athletics are Speed-Strength anyways. I’d rather train my athletes for that.
• Research the lack of an eccentric phase in Olympic lifts (other than the hang clean).
• Force summation
• Lack of stretch reflex development

John Nelson Founder/Director ELP

Ankle Stiffness and Running Speed

This weeks article comes from my good friend and colleague Chris Scarborough. Chris is a S&C/Speed coach, and licensed Physical Therapist in Birmingham, AL. We've worked together for nearly a decade, and have spent many hours talking shop over bbq, steaks and maybe a beer or two. Not only is Chris one of my closest friends, he is one of my biggest influences when it comes to sprint/speed development. He's a great mind in this industry, and when it comes to speed, he's the GURU. In this video Chris talks about Ankle Stiffness and its roll in Speed Development. Enjoy...

-John Nelson, Founder/Director ELP

PROPER BENCH PRESS SETUP FOR ATHLETES

Proper setup on the bench press can be the difference between either making a lift or missing it. Not only can your setup technique be the difference in successfully completing a lift, it can also play a huge role in reducing the risk of injury during the lift.

There are a handful of setup techniques for the bench press. Our setup technique was taught to me by a world class power lifter and record holder, and over the years has proven to be the most beneficial technique for our athletes, as well as the safest.

For athletes who have progressed enough to begin bench pressing, we teach a “mild arched back setup.” This setup is a hybrid of the arched back style and the second bench (flat) style. It does not include the Japanese setup. It should also be noted that this setup is designed for a raw bencher and may not be appropriate for shirted benchers or bench only competitors.

We use this hybrid style of benching for three reasons:

1. The arched back style can be very taxing on an athlete’s lower back.
2. The second style incorporates too much of the cervical spine; particularly for throwers.
3. Torso and arm length are always considered during setup as well. We feel this setup gives us the opportunity to adjust arm angles, which is important as we train a variety of different sized athletes.

How to Setup the Hybrid Bench for the Athlete:

• START: With the bar in the racked position, slide backwards on the bench and align the bar with the bottom of your chest, or roughly at nipple level.

• FEET: Set your feet to the ground, with knees bent. We recommend the heels remain elevated from this point on. More on this in "establishing the arch phase."

• GRIP: Set your grip while this position. Keep your pinky finger inside the power ring on both sides. Depending on what you’re training, your grip width will vary. Arm length should also be considered.

• ESTABLISH THE ARCH: Now that you have your grip, maintain position of your feet, then slide yourself back down the bench so that the bar is aligned with your eyes. Maintaining your foot placement form step two is important here. Maintaining the foot placement here is what creates the arch in your lower back when you slide into position. We want a normal arched back style, not an exaggerate arched back! Find the foot placement and back arch that allows a shorter distance for the bar to travel while also allowing you to keep your lower back safe and the bar in a stable position during the lift. You should be in a position where your feet are at or slightly in front of your glutes, but not directly under them or behind them. The Japanese method typically has the feet directly under the glutes with the heels down, but we don’t recommend that for our purposes.
• UNRACKING PHASE: Once set, un-rack the bar and pause at the top to ensure proper muscle engagement and control of the weight. There are plenty of YouTube videos of people skipping this aspect of the lift and the results aren’t pretty….. After un-racking and ensuring control, engage the lats by attempting to “break the bar.” The lats should be engaged the entire time as they’re one of the most important muscles in the bench. This is hands down the most common mistake young lifters/athletes make. Your lats must be engaged!! You’re likely to cramp up the first time you do this properly.
• ECCENTRIC PHASE (LOWERING PHASE): Finally, take a deep breathe in, pull the bar down towards your lower chest. The eccentric (lowering phase) is where most of the action takes place. Take it slow and reap the benefits of the eccentric phase! TOUCH THE WEIGHT TO YOUR CHEST, DO NOT BOUNCE!!
• CONCENTRIC PHASE (DRIVE PHASE): Do not let your glutes come off the bench during the drive! If you do this, you will find yourself in an excessively arched position without the proper setup. As you’re driving (up or forward depending on who you talk too), continue to keep the feet engaged and drive through the floor as much as possible. This tension throughout the body is very important both as an advantage in the lift and a safety measure. In simplistic terms, Sherrington’s Law of Irradiation states that by squeezing X muscle, other muscles nearby will assist and engage that much more. This has also been called muscle cheering. Understanding how this additional muscle engagement impacts your lift can make a big difference. Lock out at the top (hypermobility of the elbows should be considered) and rack it up.

The bench press can be a great tool when incorporated properly. At the end of the day, athletes are athletes… they’re not powerlifters or bench pressers. Bench pressing (whether with a barbell or dumbbell) is also not detrimental to pitchers or overhead athletes. All our thrower’s bench and do variations of the bench during the year (pending they have the needed prerequisites). Shoulder issues will arise if the needed prerequisites aren’t met and/or if technique is off. Lastly, special attention should always be paid to the style of bar used, the setup, loading schemes and the time of year an athlete benches.

John Nelson, Founder/Director ELP

THOUGHTS ON SPORT SPECIFIC TRAINING

A common question parents and coaches ask is whether we do “sport specific training.” The short answer to that question is no. The long answer to that question is that the level of specificity is dependent upon the individual as well as the demands the sport puts on the athlete.

Here are Three Reasons Why We Don’t Train Sport Specifically:

• First, there is really no such thing as sport specific training. This is a term that is widely thrown around without any true foundation to stand upon and has generally been used as a marketing gimmick. A rotational athlete doing a lunge with a medicine ball throw isn’t a sport specific move. It’s training the athlete to do a lunge and throw a medicine ball. Too many coaches view the exercise through the microcosm of sport specificity rather than evaluating the move and demands from a global perspective. Meaning, what are the actual rotational mechanisms in play and how are we impacting them? Or are we just having a Quarterback work on their 3 steps drop with a band around their knees and calling it sport specific because they’re mimicing a similar action that they’d do on the field?

• Secondly: Our focus at ELP is to help the athlete become a better athlete. When an individual becomes a better athlete, they will become a better “insert sport” player. Who doesn’t want to run faster or jump higher? What I’m about to say may sound like a shameless plug, and that’s not the intent, it’s simply facts over the course of my career... We’ve had over 5 high school pitchers throw over 95mph and one post an official 99mph and unofficial 100mph. That number goes up once we get to our college athletes. In 15 years, there has only been one Tommy John injury that occurred while the athlete was directly under our supervision; and honestly that one is questionable, but I’ll accept there are a few things we could’ve done differently. I am proud of this stat, as we and our healthcare partners have worked very hard to ensure the health of our athletes; but touting our credentials isn’t the point of that statement. The point is that we were able to help these throwers reach their true potential because we trained their athletic ability, not their baseball ability. Athleticism should come before skill. The more athletic the athlete is, the higher levels of skill they’re able to adopt. There is a reason that most of the top athletes in their profession played multiple sports growing up and then go on to have success at the highest of levels. They were great athletes first, and a “insert sport” player second.

• Lastly, the human body is the human body. Although it may seem contrary to popular belief, we’re all generally built the same. Granted there are some minor physiological differences; but at the end of the day your hamstring works just like my hamstring. As a mentor of mine once told me: “Find me an athlete whose hamstring ties up near their ear and I’ll gladly relearn everything I know.” Because the laws of nature are global, the process of athletic development becomes global. Train the human body to do what it’s designed to do, and you’ll find success. Ultimately, I’d rather work with Mother Nature and Father Time than try to work against them; they’re undefeated.

Why Maybe We Do Train a Little Sport Specific:

With the material in mind, there are appropriate times to address an individual player’s needs. For example, a quarterback is going to need a slightly greater emphasis on their rotator cuff and scapular upward rotation rather than that of, say, a soccer player. However, that soccer player will need more attention paid to their ankle stability and dorsi/plantar flexion ability than that of a quarterback. So, before we start throwing in J-Bands and scapular mobility work into a throwers program, or ankle mobility drills into a soccer player’s program, we must address the capacity of the individual first. This is very specific in nature and is not global. Blindly throwing mobility drills at an athlete without truly understanding the mechanisms behind their movement is a disservice to the athlete. You need to ask yourself questions such as: what their active vs passive ranges of motion, what is required of their movement, what does muscle alteration around the joint look like, and what is their overall capacity to handle said stimulus?

Once these areas have been addressed, we can implement them properly. However, it should only make up about 20% of their workout. The other 80% is dedicated to developing the athlete while keeping these individual factors in mind. The athlete’s development should emphasize quality movement, the ability to absorb force and then ability to produce force. And in that order.

I’d hardly call that sport specific. I’d call it athlete specific.

Hopefully that helps in breaking down what sport specific training is and what is best for either yourself or your athlete.

If you’re a parent or coach reading this and have questions, we are more than happy to assist however we can! Even if our facility is not the right fit for you or your family due to location, time commitments etc., please don’t ever hesitate to reach out to us. Our goal is to help provide our community with the best possible resources for continued development in athletics, health, and performance. Even if you’re 100+ miles away, we have a great network of colleagues across the country and are always happy to help you in any way we can.

John Nelson, Founder/Director ELP

ARE YOU DRINKING MILK?

Last night we posted “STOP DRINKING MILK” on our social media pages and received a few requests for more information. We will gladly discuss. However, this article is for entertainment purposes only! This article is not meant as attempt to treat, diagnose or prevent any disesase or illness and should not be misconstrued as such. In no way should the information presented in this article replace the recommendations of a qualified healthcare provider. Always consult your physician and/or dietician regarding any physical, supplemental and nutritional needs you have.

Lastly, before beginning, we should clarify that we are referring to Cow's Milk. And despite what fancy marketing might tell you, the negatives of drinking cow’s milk outweigh the positives.

WHY WE'RE NOT FANS OF COW'S MILK:

• We are the only species on the planet that consumes another species milk… That by itself should be enough to make you raise an eyebrow…
• We technically lose the enzyme to break down lactose after breastfeeding. So theoretically we’re all lactose intolerant; even though some people may be able to break it down in some form.
• Cow’s milk doesn’t have the calcium you think. Not only does it not have much calcium, but it’s also actually been shown to rob our bones of our own calcium. When animal proteins are broken down, they produce acid. Calcium happens to be very good at neutralizing acid. So naturally, our bodies use the calcium that the milk contains as well as our own stores of calcium to flush out these acids.
• There are typically massive amounts of hormones and antibiotics that are pumped into cows; not to mention the GMO feed that many cows consume. When the cow consumes those hormones and GMO’s, you do too…
• Dairy can elevate estrogen levels in men. Not a good thing bro.
• Some studies have found links between milk consumption and the increased risk of ovarian and prostate cancer.
• Milk is very inflammatory.

What About Chocolate Milk for My Post Workout Recovery?

That’s a hard NO as well. Three simple reasons:

• Again, milk causes inflammation. You just spent the last hour creating inflammation from your workout. Adding more isn’t really what you need.
• Chocolate milk is loaded with sugar. Yes, you need sugar to assist in recovery; but milk chocolate is not the right choice. There’s little to no nutritional benefit and it contains too many simple sugars.
• The proper post workout carbohydrate to protein ratio would be 4:1; chocolate milk is closer to 6:1… More simple sugar isn’t better.

What Are Other Options?

• For normal consumption, Almond Milk is the most popular. There’s also cashew milk, hemp milk, oat milk and unpasteurized goat’s milk. Goat’s milk is an article all on its own.
• For your Post Workout, use almond milk, water, protein and grab an apple.

There is a ton of research out there, so I'd encourage you to look into it. The information in this article is for entertainment purposes only and in no way should replace the recommendations of a qualified healthcare physician. Always consult your healthcare provider and/or dietician regarding any physical, supplemental and nutritional needs.

-John Nelson, Founder/Director ELP

Can You Do Too Many Isometrics? - Part 1

Can You Do Too Many Isometrics – Muscle Fatigue – Part 1

This topic was recommended by one of our high school athletes, and it’s a great question.

The answer to this question is “no.” I will preface by saying that the implementation of isometrics by a coach into an athlete’s program plays an enormous role in this. Simply because 99% of the time they are not implemented properly. I’ve seen it time and time again. However when implemented properly, you can train with isometrics every day. And at ELP we do just that.

There are a handful of reasons we incorporate isometrics into our programs:

• To train position
• To eliminate compensation patterns
• To assist in recovery

Each element has a different approach and a different purpose. Each element produces a different stimulus, which leads to a predicable adaptation. If you’re unable to predict that adaptation, then your implementation of the stimulus is wrong.

The Eastern Bloc countries figured out years ago that the same muscle could be trained every day, provided the stimulus was different. This should be common knowledge for anyone who coaches athletes at any level.

With that thought in mind, this article is only going to focus on the recovery element of isometrics. The recovery ability of isometrics is one of the most important reasons you can train with them every day and not “overdo it.” If you’re interested in learning more about the other two elements, please leave us a comment or message us.

Simply put, muscles are designed to work together. When they don’t, that is when fatigue starts to set in. Fatigue is nothing more than the shortening of a muscle. So, if we start our training in a lengthened position, with the understanding that muscles are designed to work together, we begin down the path of resisting fatigue and increasing recovery in our training sessions.

I don’t want to get into too much of the training element of isometrics in this article, but I will briefly touch on the concept. As muscles work together there is both contraction and relaxation. As the bicep contracts, the triceps will relax to the same degree and vice versa. However traditional athletic training doesn’t teach this; it doesn’t teach the body to contract and relax. It teaches that during a bicep curl, the bicep pulls the load up and then lowers or slowly resists the load back to the starting position. However, in normal movement, elbow extension should occur as triceps pulls the arm and load back to its starting position.

Traditional training methods have instead taught the bicep to contract with both elbow flexion and extension, thus never giving the bicep a chance to relax and lengthen. Continue this repeatedly and therefore the muscle fatigues out. This teaches a muscle to be slow, both in contraction and relaxation. When training a muscle slowly, your brain will only allow it to move slowly during competition. This training will ultimately transfer over to the field. So it’s no wonder why so many pitchers get fatigued so quickly, why injuries are increasing and why athletes are exhausted all the time…

So back to the recovery and use of isometrics daily… How do you use isometrics for recovery? It’s simple, create a violent contraction of the opposing muscle group and you will strengthen the pathways for relaxation of the target muscle group. Violent contraction of the triceps to extend the elbow will cause a violent reflex to inhibit the biceps thus allowing it to relax and lengthen. This will subsequently be strengthening both pathways of relaxation. Because the contractions are violent enough that the stimulation to relax will also be strong enough to allow the muscles to lengthen. There will be no fatigue of the muscle because each muscle has a chance to lengthen back to the starting position; away from shortening. Fatigue will only occur when the antagonistic relationship goes one way. For example, when the athlete or client becomes lazy and doesn’t execute the movement properly.

Additionally, when executed properly, isometrics will have a profound effect on the development of the energy systems. So now you’ve trained the muscle to relax, and you’re also building a system of proper energy delivery to aid in recovery; more to come on that in another article.

Hopefully this helps you gain an understanding of how properly implemented isometrics can not only be trained daily, but can benefit you on and off the field.

John Nelson Founder/Director ELP

In Season Training

In-Season Training – What Should it Look Like?

Eventually it comes time for an athlete to decrease the time spent in the gym and step back on the field. During this in-season phase of an athlete’s annual plan, their training objectives shift in an effort to ensure optimal on-field performance.

We all know that strength/power/speed gains deteriorate in some respect during the season. Depending on what you read, the literature can be all over the place when trying to determine exactly how long improvements will last before the athlete starts to “lose some of their gains.” Without getting into major technicalities, the general consensus is that strength/power/speed improvements may deteriorate somewhere between 2-6 weeks. But this is highly variable due to a vast number of factors the athlete may experience during the season. We’ll save the details of that for another article.

So, with us now in agreement that strength/power/speed gains will ultimately deteriorate in some capacity, this makes an athlete’s in-season training a vital part of their continued progression.

Our goal as coaches for in-season work should be twofold: 1) Put our athletes in the best possible position to succeed while making every effort to keep them healthy and performing at a high level and 2) Maintain their off-season improvements and try to make smaller incremental improvements without impacting their on-field performance.

There are a lot of moving pieces when addressing an in-season program. Here is a breakdown of how we approach it at ELP with a detailed breakdown following.

1. Warmup – Joint Articulations and Muscle Activations (5 mins)
2. Movement work – prescribed work based on movement analysis. May include joint work or movement specific work to return the body to an efficient locomotive state. (10 mins)
3. Workout – Two Upper/Lower combo Days w/ the Neubie. Two circuits; three exercises each. Exercises done with the Neubie. (35 mins)

4. Cool Down – Neubie Master Reset. (10 mins.)

   *Total Time: 45-55 minutes.

   *PH Testing done 1x/month

Below is a more detailed look into the aforementioned elements:

• The Weight Room – Maintaining Strength/Power/Speed and The Warmup
  • Decrease the Frequency of training sessions:
    • Dropping from 3-4 days of 1-1.5-hour training sessions to 2 days of 45-minute sessions has been very successful for us over the years.
  • Decrease the Volume in each training session:
    • Fewer sets and less specificity with exercises. Grab the lowest hanging fruit possible to get the biggest bang for your buck. Specificity can be applied more extensively based on movement and with warmups. See the next section.
  • Decrease the Intensity of the training session:
    • During the season is not a good time to be “maxing out,” having “gut check days” or incorporating extra “speed work.” Keep things simple and give your athletes an opportunity to recover. Ultimately most athletes aren’t gym rats like coaches; they simply use the gym to improve their sport, which is their true love. Keep it simple, calm, get in and get out.

At ELP our athletes have the benefit of implementing the Neubie to maximize their training sessions and replace their lost “time under the bar.” The Neubie’s direct current allows us to stimulate more muscle without adding additional stress to their joints. We’re able to recruit more muscle in a shorter time, keeping their strength/power levels high and reducing the risk of injury and unnecessary fatigue. We do not incorporate much, if any, speed work during the season. In our opinion, they’re getting enough of it simply by playing their sport.

• Monitor Movement Patterns
  • Repetitive Motions may lead to compensatory patterns and eventually the dreaded words known as: “overuse injury.” There are a handful of ways we monitor this throughout the season. The first method of evaluation is through the lens of joint function both passively and actively. Its commonplace for coaches will throw mobility drills at athletes during in-season work in an effort to simply “get something done.” That’s fine and may have its place, but we tend to use more specificity in movement patterns/mobility work during this time. Our specificity is based on the principles of progressive and regressive angular isometrics. ELP is Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) certified and the only certified Functional Range Assessment (FRA) facility in the Mid-South/Northern Mississippi. These certifications provide our team the ability to assess movement specifically at the joint capsule level through a very detailed lens. Monitoring changes in active and passive ranges of motion help us plan our mobility and movement work during the season.

• Getting in those Tune Ups aka “Oil Changes”
  • The human body is like a car engine; it’s going to need maintenance and a tune up every so often. As the wear and tear of the season accumulates on the athletes, it’s common to see eventual changes in performance and recovery due to changes in muscle activation and nervous system function. In this part of our in-season work, we will regularly implement full body muscle testing analysis to make sure everything is still firing as it should and that our athlete’s bodies are in the best possible state. The Master Reset is also an ELP favorite. The Master Reset harnesses the power of The Neubie’s unique current to stimulate the vagus nerve and assist in elevating parasympathetic (rest/digest) activity. It will take us anywhere from 10-20 minutes and really puts the athlete in a great position to be prepared for their next outing.

• PH Monitoring
  • PH Monitoring is arguably one of the most important, and also the most overlooked element of in-season. We all know that during competition, minerals are lost, and nutrients are depleted. Couple that with the fact most athletes don’t eat properly anyways, and you’re looking that an athlete that is fatigued due to a slowed recovery process. Mandy (our Board-Certified ND and Certified Natural Health Practitioner) regularly monitors our athletes internal bio-terrain to help keep the athlete’s body in an efficient state. Once the engine is churning, we want to keep it churning otherwise something will break down.

If you’re interested in learning more about in-season work for you or your athlete, feel free to contact us at info@elitelevelperformance.com or at 901-221-8808.

John Nelson, Founder/Director ELP

The Supine Dumbbell Pullover - An Old School Gem

The Supine Dumbbell Pullover has to be one of the most underrated exercises out there. There are countless variations; all of which have their time and place. However, the supine dumbbell pullover is a personal favorite of ours.

It’s a great exercise to challenge anterior core strength, shoulder mobility/stability and a great “opener of the connective tissue” for overhead athletes.

When executing the supine dumbbell pullover, there are two main areas of emphasis I’m looking at: the anterior core and the shoulder complex.

The pullover is an excellent exercise to challenge anterior core strength. Too often when we bring our arm overhead, we compensate by excessively extending the lumbar spine. This can create a whole host of other compensations but that’s for another article. By laying supine (face up) on a bench, with the legs at a 90-degree angle, the client is cued to then flatten the lower back, drawing the navel in towards the spine, being careful to not “lock or brace the core” excessively; simply keeping tension and maintaining their position.

The reason I prefer a bench for this exercise is namely due to the fact that it provides a proprioceptive cue for the client/athlete. Anterior core strength (aka flattening that lower back out and resisting lumbar extension) can be a very difficult thing, even for the highest-level athlete.

Once we’ve accomplished the anterior core component, the client/athlete will slowly bring the arms overhead (shoulder flexion). Keep the elbows “slightly” bent. This will not only challenge their ability to maintain proper core position but will work nearly every muscle in the upper body. We cue our athletes to only go as far back as they can while maintaining their core position. It does no good to gain range of motion in this move if you can’t maintain the anterior core position. If someone is struggling here, we will further address this with either lengthening frequencies on the Neubie, or further evaluation to determine additional limiting factors.

Ultimately whether you’re a DIYer, high level thrower or a bodybuilder looking to develop that serratus, the pullover is an old school gem with tremendous benefits when incorporated properly.

-John Nelson, Founder/Director ELP

5 Lessons I've Learned in 10 Years of Business

In August, ELP celebrated 10 years in business! We're very fortunate to have reached this milestone, especially when you consider the facts:

• Approximately 20% of small businesses fail within the 1st year.
• By the end of the 2nd year, 30% of businesses will have failed.
• By the end of the 5th year, 50% of businesses will have failed.
• By the end of a decade, only 30% of businesses will remain… a 70% failure rate…

Before going any further, I want to thank EVERY SINGLE PERSON who has been there for us. We would not be here without you! The past 10 years happened in the blink of an eye, and have come with many life lessons. Here are a few of the "lessons" if you will, that I've learned...

1. Never Bolt Down a Piece of Equipment – Perfectionism is Lethal.

No matter how much you plan – the plan will never go according to plan. Partners will leave. Clients will leave. Business plans will change. Life happens. You can try to make your plan perfect, but you will always need to be ready to adjust course at any given moment. Don't exhaust yourself trying to make everything perfect; because you never know when that piece of equipment might work better on the other side of the room.

2. Fits Gunna Hit the Shan at Some Point – Be Grateful.

Kind of like Thanos, this point is inevitable... You’re going to mess up. The mistake might be something as simple as an invoicing error, or it might be as big as a programming error that caused one of your athletes to sustain an injury. I’ve done them both, and you’re going to it as well. But over the years I’ve found that if you are upfront about your mistakes, most situations will resolve themselves amicably. So be grateful to those that extend you forgiveness and remember to pay it forward.

3. It’s Good to Have a Dog at the Office – Be Genuine.

The Nelsons are animal people. It’s genuinely who we are as a family. Our dogs are a huge part of our life, and we bring that to the office with us. Similarly, we genuinely care about the well being of our clients; it’s who we are. If we’re struggling to help you resolve a problem, it’s literally something that comes home with us... Sometimes life will give you a bad hand. Maybe it’s a failed business partnership, or maybe it’s a customer who left for seemingly greener pastures. Regardless of the situation, if you’re genuine in how you handle your business, your clients will notice, and karma has a way of working itself out in your favor. Just Be Genuine. Side note: there’s soon to be a “Coates Four Legged Family Member” at ELP very soon...

4. Don’t Sign a Lease in July - Competition Comes and Goes.

Starting a business is easy. Running a business is not. Over the last ten years I’ve seen competition come and go. I’ve seen major corporate gyms set up shop right next door to us; and I’ve seen countless start-ups come out of the gates on fire only to then fizzle away a few years later. Just because ELP is still around, doesn’t mean we have all the answers. We’re greatful for each year we remain open and at this point in my career, I genuinely wish our competition nothing but the best of success. I’ve found that as long as you keep your nose to the grindstone and stay the course; you’re going to survive. But just in case, make sure you don’t sign your lease in July. We made that mistake and July is not a pleasant month to have to move gym equipment.

5. Don’t Trust a Batting Cage w/ a Hole in It - Appreciate Those Who Appreciate You.

In business and in life there will always be risk. You can seemingly do everything right, go above and beyond for the client/situation, but ultimately God and the Universe have other plans. Entering a situation/partnership with an understanding of the risk that is associated with it will help you prepare for a variety of different outcomes. Whether the outcome is in your favor or not; always be aware of the individuals who appreciate you. Most importantly, make sure they know how much you appreciate them! The risk that is associated with business and life is similar to taking batting practice in a cage with holes in it. You might have every intention of hitting only line drives, but there’s the risk you might just hit that one pop up… and that one pop up winds up going through the cage and hitting a sprinkler head that eventually causes the entire gym to flood... The moral is: No matter how safe you think a situation might be, know there’s always a risk associated with it and always be greatful to those who support and stand up for you.

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has been there for us over the past 10 years. It has been an absolute pleasure serving this community and we are so blessed for all of the great relationships that have been cultivated over the years. The future is unknown, but from our family to yours, thank you for your continued support of ELP! #elpfamily

-John

Newtonian Physics, Chaos Theory and Athletic Training /Rehab

Bob Dylan once said, “Chaos is a friend of mine.”

How does a Bob Dylan quote, Newtonian Physics and Chaos Theory relate to Athletic Training and Rehab?

Let’s take a moment to break down each of them first:

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. One of his famous quotes was “chaos is a friend of mine.” That’s really his only connection in this blog post. If you haven’t listened to him, I highly recommend it.

Newtonian Physics/Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton is widely regarded as the greatest scientific genius of all time. His law of gravity and laws of motion formed the content of modern science and influence much of our world view today. His theories placed a firm physical and mathematical basis for the Copernican worldview of heliocentricity based off the divergent works of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler. However, it was Newton who united all the aforementioned theories into one coherent whole, setting the stage for the scientific revolution.

Without diving too far into his work, his discoveries established the following:

• The Law of Gravity
• The Laws of Motion
• Established the Cause-and-Effect relationship.

He postulated that the cause-and-effect relationship was the basic defining principle of the universe. His work states that the universe is considered to be ordered and all phenomena are defined by clear, logical mathematical laws. His work is the basis of modern science as we know it and is the prevailing way of thought still to this day.

Chaos Theory

Chaos theory is a branch of mathematics that studies the dynamical systems whose apparently random states of disorder and irregularities are actually governed by underlying patterns and deterministic laws that are highly sensitive to initial conditions.

Athletic Training/Rehab - Linear Periodization

Much of today’s work with athletes is rooted in linear periodization. Although there are plenty of coaches out there who use less antiquated methodologies, linear periodization is the prevailing general model of training that is taught in institutions and training seminars. Linear periodization is a gradual form of progression in training. Linear periodization basically breaks training into 1–4-week blocks emphasizing different qualities each block: hypertrophy, strength, speed etc. It’s very “structured and organized” system.

How is All of This Connected:

The laws of Newtonian Physics are still to this day, the prevailing thought pattern in our world structure today. There is a cause and there is an effect. And while I’m not here to argue that, the laws of Newtonian Physics make it clear that there is a specific order to everything in our universe, and that would include training (linear periodization). That is until Chaos Theory entered the picture…

In very recent times, physicists looked inside the atom and to their astonishment they found two distinct things: first, a natural order; second: a totally unanticipated chaos and uncertainty.

This was a revolutionary finding. So much so that it could be in the conversation with the findings of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler. The discovery of the “chaos” led scientists to develop the “uncertainty principle,” in an effort to work with and express these ideas mathematically. The uncertainty principle was coupled with the science of quantum mechanics (Newtonian) and chaos theory. This discovery led to a new three-level view of reality and the universe not seen since the days of Aristotle. The Three layers are as follows:

• First layer: that which can be described by Newtonian Physics. Everything has an order. A cause and effect.
• Second layer: the area of relative uncertainty (aka determined chaos). It is this level that all the phenomena of life exists.
• Third layer: consists of all objects and phenomena that are best described by chaos theory.

Within this new three-layered viewpoint, it is believed that life cannot exist either in rigid form (Newtonian view) or in utter chaos (chaos view). Life can only exist within defined limits, between strict rules of structure and complete chaos. It is this reasoning that proves why challenges/chaos (either determined or not) help you grow as a person. You experience the chaos (stress), and your body adapts accordingly. Without a certain amount of stress/chaos, an organism cannot survive. If there is too much stress, the organism will die; this was proved by Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome.

It is through this viewpoint that the laws of physics apply to athletes’ training/rehab particularly in the sense of linear periodization. Linear periodization is a Newtonian based training philosophy with the premise that progress is achieved through established and orderly means; strict order and structure. Develop A, then develop B, etc. Chaos theory proves that relying solely on linear periodization is an antiquated model.

On the other end, athletes cannot progress through complete and utter chaos. This is why if you consistently throw new exercises at someone every day, without allowing the body time to adapt, there will be no adaption. With no adaptation, there is no improvement. This process will lead to little or no development in the areas of absolute strength and absolute speed, which are critical qualities for athletes. Additionally, it will eventually lead to the breakdown of the body as it reaches Selye’s third state of stress response, the exhaustion state. The exhaustion state is where a continual state of stress occurs, and the body can no longer produce the extra chemicals and energy needed for further resistance, eventually leading to complete shutdown. Selye proved that if this continued eventually the organism would die. If progress isn’t based solely on layer one, or layer three, then layer two is all we’re left with; Relative Uncertainty (determined chaos). The layer where all phenomena of life exists.

Structure can be a positive thing, but adaptation occurs through chaos. The beauty of training is that we can provide structured chaos. So, what we preach with our coaches is: lets lay out a plan of attack for our athletes/clients (Newtonian), but if halfway through either the plan or even a workout changes, that is not necessarily a bad thing (I probably do this to a fault). As long as we’re accomplishing our primary objective in each realm of training, then we love to introduce new types of stimulus that can still help us accomplish our training objectives.

So, in conclusion, there is a balance between the laws of physics and a time and place for everything. The recent discovery of chaos theory, when applied appropriately can lead to excellent results for athletes. Similarly, a basic linear periodization model can lead to excellent results for new athletes. So, what about elite athletes? I’ll let you think about that one.

Ps – if you haven’t listened to Bob Dylan, you should.

WHAT DOES THE ELP TRAINING MODEL LOOK LIKE?

I should have put this post together a long time ago. But I guess better late than never right? So, here it goes…

Most people in our community who have heard of ELP associate us with baseball; which we are very proud of. However, we do actually train athletes from other sports in case you’re wondering before you start to read this.

This post is going to focus specifically on Athlete Training and how our system is structured. It will briefly touch on points of our wellness and health coaching services.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU DON'T LIKE READING...

• If you only want the training system, feel free to skip to the bottom of the post.
• It might be worth your time to take the 3 minutes to read the whole article b/c it all works together.

One of the fundamental beliefs of our program is that we are working with athletes first and skill players second. Unfortunately, our society have flipped this paradigm upside down. Parents and athletes alike are led to believe athleticism is secondary and skill is primary. When in reality it’s the other way around. The bottom line is if you can’t squat to the ground like a baby, you have no business putting a barbell on your back.

Now that is not to knock skill work. We’re all in favor of that. And we partner with some great organizations in the area who do an excellent job at helping their players develop their skill. But skill shouldn’t come at cost of athleticism.

Now that that is out of the way, here is the breakdown of our training system. It has two distinct areas of emphasis:

• Step One: Muscle Activation
• Step Two: The Training Program

Muscle Activation

Muscles have two distinct roles: strengthening and absorbing force. If a muscle cannot properly absorb force, force will travel to areas of the body that are not designed to absorb it. This can lead to a host of problems including injury. So, before every training session, we test each athlete to make sure muscles are firing in the correct patterns and are absorbing force properly.

This is a critical component to our training, because muscles can become inhibited very easily. Muscles are fairly unimportant on our body’s hierarchy of needs; so, when a muscle repeatedly tests weak it’s a clear indication the body is diverting energy elsewhere at the expense of the muscle. So, through testing each athlete, every session, we can learn a lot about what’s going on in their body. There can be inhibition in firing patterns due to a variety of factors ranging from: neurological disorganization, digestive issues, foot dysfunction etc. This is where John’s wellness work and Mandy’s health coaching play a big role in identifying these factors that are contributing to muscle inhibition and working to improve them. In the meantime, we can continue to activate them so the athlete can reach their fullest potential.

THE TRAINING SYSTEM

The ELP training system is a blend of Conjugate and Triphasic Training Models. It is ultimately centered around three primary elements:

• Position
• Absorbing Force
• Producing Force

The Conjugate Method is a system of training that allows us to train a variety of properties along the force velocity curve (absolute strength, strength speed, speed etc.). Within this model we can rotate and adapt exercises based on the athlete’s sport, time of year, and physical needs with relative ease.

We typically train 3-4 days a week with two days focused on “strength” and 1-2 days focused on “speed – or dynamic effort” work. Speed is not to be confused with cone drills and agility ladders, b/c that stuff doesn’t work. Our speed/dynamic work is about utilizing submaximal loads and moving them at max velocity.

In our 3-4 day conjugate model, we utilize a triphasic training approach for each microcycle. Dynamic movement (i.e.: jumping) has three distinct actions: the eccentric (lengthening), the isometric (static position) and the concentric (shortening). We always use the example: which ball is going to go higher? The one you drop on the ground, or the one you throw on the ground? Obviously, the answer is the one you throw on the ground. This is because it absorbs more force (eccentric) allowing it to then produces more force (concentric). I like to think of the isometric as the postion of the ball; the fact that it was able to maintain it's structure without exploding. Well, the human body works the same way. If you have the prerequisite strength/mobility to produce force the limiting factor is likely how much force you can absorb and translate into production.

So, in a standard 9-12 week mesocycle, each phase (or microcycle) would be between 2-3 weeks emphasizing a different property of the muscle action. Care is obviously taken to address the individual athlete’s needs and design their programs accordingly.

Within this macro view of our system there are a number of micro components to it that I won’t dive into in this article. This could range anywhere from the lifts we utilize, the mobility protocols, how we teach position etc.

Hopefully this answers some questions for those that were curious. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

-John

Tib/Fib Joint

Tib Fib Joint

The tibiofibular joint, or Tib/Fib joint, is very unique. Most joints in the body are supported by ligaments and then have muscles that cross the joint to help stabilize it. The Tib/Fib joint is one of the few exceptions, as it is only supported by ligaments. The muscles that run alongside the joint all go down to the foot to support it, providing no additional support to the Tib/Fib joint.

In a normal joint, if a ligament becomes stretched, the muscles will contract and protect the joint so it can heal. But because there are no muscles connected to the Tib/Fib joint, if the ligament becomes stretched its ability to heal is compromised. It’s likely that if you’ve ever had an ankle sprain, it’s probably still there.

Normally when force enters into a joint, the joint receptors fire up to the nervous system. The nervous system then responds by sending information back down to the muscles telling which muscles to turn on to absorb the incoming force. When the ligament is stretched, the laxity creates problems for the joint receptors and their ability to receive and send information. Due to the laxity, when force enters into the joint, the receptors can’t properly register the force that has entered, subsequently hindering their ability to send the correct information up to the nervous system. If the nervous system can’t receive the information, it can’t send information back down to turn on muscles properly. The delay in muscle response causes the force to not be absorbed properly, eventually leading to the force transferring into other areas of the body.

To restore normal function of the joint there are a few things we can do. First, support the joint with tape. The tape takes the stretch off the ligament, so it can begin to heal. This typically takes 6-8 weeks. The second component is to strengthen the weakened neurological pathways. Strengthening these pathways involves afferentation from the joint and leads to restoring normal receptor activation. There are a number of ways to accomplish this (electric muscle stimulation, proprioceptive training, vibration etc.).

So now if you see someone walking around with tape on their ankle you’ll know why.

John Nelson, MS, CES, CPT, FRCms

Founder/Director Elite Level

Why The Flu Isn't a Season

WHY THE FLU ISN'T A SEASON...

Why does it seem more illnesses occur between the months of October and April? It actually has little to do with temperature change, or an increase in germs, and has more to do with your lifestyle.

Ever notice how the flu explodes around the holidays? Starting with Halloween... Halloween has just passed and most of us still have bowls of candy on the table. From Halloween we go straight into Thanksgiving – a holiday loaded with high carbohydrate and high sugar foods (pies anyone?) and perhaps a higher consumption of alcohol.

In addition, the increase in social events and family gatherings tend to add additional stress for most. So now Thanksgiving ends, we keep enjoying those leftover pies for the next few weeks and then all the sudden it's the start of the Christmas season! More sugar! More carbs! More alcohol!

During the Christmas season we enjoy fesitivies such as baking with family, attending cookie swaps, and once again, holiday meals with foods and drinks that are not normally consumed. But wait, there's more...

Following Christmas there’s New Years Eve and New Years Day, then Valentine’s Day and finally ending with Easter. I call it, “The Season of Sugar”!

So be mindful of overloading with sugar and stress. With all this sugar, topped off by less sunlight and lower vitamin D levels, it’s more important than ever to keep your body healthy with food and movement!

Mandy Nelson, BCND, CES

Ocular Nutrition - Dr. Brandon Walley

Ocular Nutrition

Most ELP athletes watch their nutrition so that their bodies will perform at a high level. However, most athletes don’t consider that the foods they consume also have a direct impact on their vision performance.

One could argue that vision performance is just as important as any other aspect in sports performance. So paying attention to your nutrition and how it impacts your vision is very important.

When your eye is fixated on an object you are using a part of the eye known as the macula. The macula is responsible for color vision and visual acuity. It contains a high concentration of pigments called carotenoids. People that have higher concentrations of carotenoids in their macula have better visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and glare reduction/recovery.

The three most common carotenoids are: Lutein, Zeaxanthin and Meso-Zeaxanthin.

Carotenoids are pigments found in foods that give them their natural bright colors. Leafy green vegetables, and brightly colored fruits and vegetables are all highly concentrated with carotenoids. So eating these types of foods on a daily basis will build up the amount of carotenoids found in your eyes leading to better vision. So, if the food is dark green or brightly colored it is likely high in carotenoids and great for your eyes.

On the other hand, eating foods that are deficient in carotenoids are going to lead to poor vision. Starchy carbohydrates like white potatoes and grains are not very nutrient dense and will not do much to improve your vision.

If you are not consuming these nutrients through your diet I recommend a supplement called Fortifeye Focus. You can find it on Amazon or through their website Fortifeye.com. If you use their website put in the coupon code BW20 to get 20% off.

One other aspect of ocular nutrition that is extremely important is hydration. If you are not properly hydrated, your eyes will not produce healthy tears. Healthy tears keep your visual acuity sharp and maintain moisture in contact lenses if you wear them. If you do not have adequate tear production it can lead to fluctuating and cloudy vision, leading to inconsistent performance.

So in summary, eat your fruits and veggies and stay hydrated!

Dr. Brandon Walley

SHOULD BASEBALL/SOFTBALL PLAYERS DO OVERHEAD WORK?

The question of whether or not baseball/softball players should do overhead lifting has been around likely since lifting weights became popular. It’s a hotly debated topic and there are conflicting opinions all throughout the baseball and performance training industries.

I’ll go on record as saying I do believe overhead athletes (baseball/softball players) should perform overhead work. However, it’s imperative to understand that there are a number of prerequisites that should be accomplished prior to advancing into overhead work, and that not all overhead work is created equally.

I discussed this topic with our Physical Therapist/Medical Advisor Cindy Caudy, PT and we put together our thoughts on how overhead lifting should be approached with these athletes.

IF YOU HATE READING HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1. Having sufficient mobility is critical before beginning overhead work. Areas of emphasis include: Scapula Upward Rotation, Shoulder External Rotation, Thoracic Extension and its impact on Glenohumeral Joint Rhythm. This is by no means a comprehensive mobility checklist, but provides a solid foundation for observation.
2. Evaluate the bicep tendon and its supporting structures. Understanding its role in arm and shoulder kinematics can go a long way in the care and prevention of the shoulder and elbow in throwers.
3. Look at other areas such as: neck flexors, scalenes, SCM’s and the masseter. Be able to identify altered tone of these muscles and their impact on shoulder girdle.
4. Strengthen the Shoulder, Rotator Cuff and Posterior Shoulder Girdle: Lastly, understand not all overhead work is the same. If the athlete is capable of performing overhead work, strengthen the shoulder and be smart about it. A major league pitcher doesn’t need to be maxing out on a barbell military press.

HERE’S THE BREAKDOWN FOR YOU:

1. Sufficient Mobility – Scapula Upward Rotation, Shoulder External Rotation, Thoracic Extension and its impact on Glenohumeral Joint Rhythm.

“If I see the scapula winging in upward rotation (tipping away from the thoracic cavity) we know immediately there is a red flag. Scapular movement is very important in relation to proper movement of the humeral head & clavicle.” - Cindy

In general, most baseball players, especially pitchers, are already hypermobile; meaning they likely have excessive mobility in their arms and shoulders. However, throughout a long period of spring and summer ball, the shoulder girdle can become locked down, subsequently creating a variety of compensation patterns that impact their natural mobility.

Scapular upward rotation is an area that Cindy and I both agree should be evaluated prior to diving into overhead work. If the scapula is locked down, it can tend to create a myriad of problems throughout the shoulder girdle and arm. I’d say 9/10 out baseball players I see that have arm issues have some type of scapular restriction.

Eric Cressey goes into great detail about scapular upward rotation and I tend to agree with his assessment of the scapula. When at rest, the angle of the scapula should sit at about 5 degrees from the spine. So, you want to see the inferior medial border angle more towards the lateral part of the body compared to the superior medial border. Or in layman’s terms, the bottom inner part of the scapula is more angled out than the top part of the scapula. As movement occurs (namely abduction of the arm) it’s the humerus that is primarily involved in the first 30 degrees of movement, not the scapula. Past 30 degrees the scapula should begin upwardly rotating to assist the movement of the arm.

Ideally, we’d like to see around 55-60 degrees of upward rotation when the arm gets to a full 180 degrees. The glenohumeral joint handles about 120 degrees of that motion. When restriction here occurs, the humeral head will ride up in the socket sparking labrum issues, bicep tendon issues etc.

In no particular order, sufficient external rotation is another area to evaluate. It is not uncommon to see guys arrive in the off season and lack the ability to fully externally rotate their shoulder. Good external rotation would fall in the category of roughly 90+ degrees. A passive range of motion test for shoulder external rotation typically can provide you valuable insight. If external rotation is lacking, then proper mobility drills should be incorporated to address this (FRC principles). If you go directly into a lot of overhead work, you’re likely going to see issues occurring in the low back as the athlete tries to get into an overhead or externally rotated position. Hyperextending the lower back while trying to externally rotate the shoulder is a common movement pattern that needs to be eliminated.

Another test that we utilize is a supine shoulder flexion test. Normal shoulder flexion is 150 degree, and hypermobile would be recognized at 180 degrees (if the scapula is stabilized). Another common area of dysfunction is to see athletes not be able to reach over their head in this test without significant extension (arching) of the lower back.

2. Evaluate the bicep tendon and its supporting structures.

If someone comes to see me complaining of shoulder or elbow pain, one of the first things I’m going to look at is the bicep tendon.

The long head of the bicep assists in supporting the shoulder joint along with the rotator cuff muscles. The long head of the bicep traverses along the intertrabecular groove and attaches on the glenoid of the scapula. The long head of the bicep is held in the intertrabecular groove by the transverse ligament. The transverse ligament is formed from the tendon attaching the subscapularis muscle to the greater and lesser tuberosities of the humeral head. It’s also formed from the tendon from the supraspinatus tendon and additional rotator cuff muscles.

Laxity of the transverse ligament will allow the bicep tendon to slip. Most of the time it will slip medially, however it can slip laterally. This is extremely important because any amount of slippage can change how the muscles of the arm and shoulder contract and relax. Many times, issues can be found in scapula as the body tries to protect the bicep tendon, and in other cases it can travel down towards the elbow. There is typically accompanied weakness of the subscapularis and/or supraspinatus as well.

Usually a manual muscle test of the bicep tendon can be performed to evaluate any slipping that may occur. Ensuring there are no issues with the tendon and its supporting structures can go a long way in shoulder and arm health, and should be evaluated before overhead work is performed to reduce the risk of injury or poor motor pattern development.

3. Evaluation of the muscles of the stomatognathic system (mouth and jaw) as well as the neck flexors/scalenes and sternocleidomastoids (SCM). Be able to identify altered tone of these muscles and their impact on the should girdle.

Dr. David Walther states: “Shoulder dysfunction is often secondary to remote problems. Often the remote problem may not be symptomatic, but it causes neurological disorganization that interferes with shoulder muscle harmony.”

The tone of the muscles of the stomatognathic system is an area I tend to look at with all my throwers and most athletes/clients in general. Many of these muscles may actually have problems in and of themselves, or they can simply be on the negative end of a forward head posture or kyphosis. The stomatognathic system is very active in the dynamics of the body. For example, during walking the sternocleidomastoid and upper trapezius muscles are alternately inhibited and facilitated.

Tone of these muscles can create unnecessary tension around the cervical spine subsequently inhibiting muscles of the shoulder girdle, chest, back and arms from doing their job.

Evaluation of the stomatognathic system can get pretty deep but a good starting point is simply looking for basic biomechanical function; ie: not presenting excessive kyphosis, forward head posture etc. Basic muscle testing while challenging these muscles can be a good indicator of excessive tightness or dysfunction.

4. Strengthen the Shoulder, Rotator Cuff and Posterior Shoulder Girdle: Not all overhead work is the same. If the athlete is capable of performing overhead work, strengthen the shoulder and be smart about it.

So the bottom line in this conversation is that in our opinion NO, overhead work isn’t a cardinal sin with throwing athletes, as long as mobility standards have been met. I think it’s important to understand that not all overhead exercises are created equally. It simply doesn’t make any sense for a high level pitcher to be performing heavy barbell military presses. There are a variety of other ways to train that will reap the same rewards with less risk of injury.

“Many of the classic rotator cuff exercises do a great job in strengthening the shoulder and eliminate the need to perform heavy overhead work. Additionally, I love incorporating scapular strengthening work with my clients. – Cindy Caudy, PT

“Pending mobility prerequisites have been met, we’ll move on to stability and strength. That doesn’t mean we avoid all overhead work (chins, face pulls etc.) but overhead dumbbell and barbell work is limited, if not completely eliminated.” - John

Our mobility work incorporates scapular movements of all kinds. However we still typically adhere to the concepts of FRC when working on mobility and progressing to stability and strength. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are a few of our favorite overhead exercises we like to incorporate: Upside Down Kettlebell Carries, Scapular Pullups, Suspension Trainer variations, Face Pulls, Isometric YWA’s, External Rotations w/ Cuban Press & single arm curl to presses. Be smart and use your instincts when working with overhead athletes. They’re not fragile little athletes that’ll break if you challenge them, but care should be given to consider the demands of their sport.

For more information you can email me at jnelson@elitelevel.net or visit out website at www.elitelevel.net.

John Nelson, MS CES CPT FRCms Founder/Director Elite Level

Cindy Caudy, PT Next Level Training Elite Level Physical Therapist/Medical Director

The Importance of Vision in Athletic Performance

THE IMPORTANCE OF VISION & ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE

What role does basic vision (i.e. straight ahead, "20/20" visual acuity) have in the success of an athlete in a ball sport? Are there some sports that have a higher priority here?

Visual acuity is the foundation of your vision, it is important in all sports. However, it is much more critical in sports where the athlete is tasked with hitting a small object moving at a high rate of speed such as Baseball, Softball, and Tennis. Athletes that have poor visual acuity in one or both eyes typically don’t make it to the upper levels of their sport.

A study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology titled -The Visual Function of Professional Baseball Players-Daniel Laby MD helps shed a little light on this subject. The study concluded that 77% of major league baseball players had greater than 20/15 visual acuity and 42% had better than 20/12.5

To help you understand what these numbers actually mean let me give you a quick example. 20/20 vision has been the standard that most people have been tested to over the years. If someone with 20/20 vision is presented with a letter on the 20/10 row on the eye chart they would have to get up and walk 10 feet closer to the chart to see the letter. Someone with 20/10 vision can see that same letter from 20 feet away. So, basically, someone with 20/10 vision sees everything 10 feet sooner than someone with 20/20 vision. Imagine how much of an advantage that is when trying to hit a pitch that is going 95 mph.

Now, all of these numbers are considered static visual acuity, which basically means, reading a target that is standing still. Dynamic visual acuity is actually much more important. This is testing the ability to see a small moving object clearly, like seeing the seams on a pitch. Dynamic visual acuity is often not tested during a routine exam, but almost all athletes should have this test done.

Although having extremely sharp visual acuity is not as important in sports such as Basketball, Football, Golf, or Soccer, it is still important to have good visual acuity. Most of these sports require excellent depth perception to be able to catch a pass, shoot a ball, or read a putt. Depth perception is the ability to judge the distance of objects in relation to yourself or another object such as a basketball goal. If you have good visual acuity in one eye and poor visual acuity in the other eye, you will have poor depth perception because both eyes are not working together.

To wrap this question up, let me give you a few more examples of how acuity can affect any given sport. An athlete that is nearsighted (can’t see far away) will always miss shots short, swing late, and will always grasp a catch too late and drop the ball. An athlete that is far-sighted will always be long on shots, swing too soon and overthrow his receiver.

So as you can see, visual acuity is very important. If you don’t get anything else out of this article, get your eyes checked and make sure you can see at least 20/20 in each eye. This can make a huge difference in your performance.

How much can this aspect of vision be improved, and if an athlete doesn't have natural 20/20 or better to the point where it is demanded by the sport, can they still reach an elite level?

There are a lot of factors that determine someone’s ability to see better than 20/20. Visual acuity starts to develop as soon as you are born. If something gets in the way of the development of one of your eyes your are less likely to develop better than 20/20 vision. For example, someone that is born with a crossed eye, or an eye that has a higher prescription than the other eye they can develop what is called amblyopia (lazy eye) if these conditions go uncorrected. Amblyopia can be corrected later in life, but it is much easier to fix at an early age than to try to catch up later in life.

One thing that many people don’t consider as an important factor to vision is good nutrition. Poor nutrition depletes the eye of nutrients called carotenoids which are highly concentrated in the macula. The macula is the part of the eye that sees the sharpest, and if it is deficient in nutrients it will not see as well as it should. Leafy green vegetables, carrots, sweet potatoes and berries are great for your eyes. There are also vision supplements available that are highly concentrated in these nutrients that can protect your eyes from oxidative stress and improve vision.

Lastly, and this may be an unpopular opinion, but too much screen time is bad for your eyes. Spending a lot of time in front of a screen can cause a lot of eye problems. One of those problems is dry eye. We typically don’t blink enough when we are using devices such as cell phones or tablets, and this causes our eyes to dry out. When your eyes are dry, everything is blurry, like looking through a dirty window. Too much screen time can also cause nearsightedness to develop at a more rapid rate in teenagers. It can also cause problems with the focusing system in your eyes. If your focusing system doesn’t work properly it’s harder to switch your vision from near to far making it more difficult to make accurate throws.

It is possible to reach an elite level in sports with vision worse than 20/20, but it will be much harder. The earlier vision problems are detected, the easier they are to fix, so be sure to make an eye exam part of your pre-season routine.

What vision abilities beyond acuity have an impact on an athlete's performance in sport?

There are many visual skills that can have an impact on an athlete’s performance. Some of these include near-far focusing, convergence and divergence of the eye muscles and peripheral awareness. Of these, I would consider peripheral awareness the most important.

Peripheral awareness is mostly subconscious, it controls your spatial orientation, balance, and it helps you anticipate change and movement in your environment. Information from your peripheral vision is typically processed 25% faster than your central vision.

When athletes are “in the zone”, they are often accessing their peripheral awareness which allows them to see and react quicker than usual. The ball will appear bigger and move slower to athletes that are in the zone.

On the other hand, an athlete that is stressed out will have tunnel vision and poor peripheral awareness. The ball will appear smaller and faster and will be much harder to hit.

Lastly, having good peripheral awareness can prevent injuries. Being more aware of your surroundings helps you avoid other players and dangers on the field. It can also improve your balance and instinctive reflexes which in turn help you prevent injuries.

How can this type of vision be trained, and how much can it be improved?

There are many activities that Sports Vision doctors can prescribe to help train peripheral awareness. This is often the first thing I work on with most athletes because it has so many benefits. Teaching an athlete how to turn this system off and on can help them “get in the zone” more often and can help them greatly improve their performance.

The goal of Sports Vision training is to have a balanced visual system, so any part of the system that is out of balance can be brought back to normal levels through a customized vision training program.

Many athletes already have superior visual skills but these can be enhanced by introducing “loading” activities to make them more difficult. I like to use Senaptec strobe goggles which flicker and temporarily occlude part of the athletes vision to make activities more difficult. Adding balance work to any drill can also make it much more difficult and helps integrate the vestibular system with the visual system.

What are some examples of common sport "mistakes" that really have vision at their root?

There are so many common sport “mistakes” that can be attributed to vision, it’s hard to pick just a few. No matter what sport it is, if an athlete consistently misses, shoots, or throws in the same place it is likely a vision problem. For example, a golfer that constantly misses putts short may do this because his eye muscles cross too far inward causing everything to appear closer to him than they really are. The same example can be used for a basketball player that tends to miss shots short consistently. A receiver that constantly seems to drop balls that are right in his hands may be near-sighted which can slow down his reaction time.

One thing I would like to mention that can tie all of this together is concussions and head injuries. Some studies show that over 80% of head injuries result in some sort of visual problem. Often times the player is cleared to play medically, but may still be suffering from visual problems that are affecting his performance. These problems can include double vision, light sensitivity, and trouble tracking moving objects, just to name a few. It is important for athletes to have baseline vision testing done so that their eye doctor can work with other doctors and training staff on making the decision when the athlete should return to play after a concussion. Optometrist can also help athletes regain some of the visual skills that they lost as a result of a concussion.

So in summary, what I do is three fold. I enhance and improve visual skills to improve athletic performance. I aid in prevention of injuries by enhancing visual skills, and I serve as part of a rehab team by helping athletes regain visual skills after a concussion or injury.

Dr. Brandon Walley

4 Things to Do If You're Not Playing Fall Ball

4 THINGS TO DO IF YOU’RE NOT PLAYING FALL BALL

If you’re a baseball or softball player, the fall is the perfect time to step away from the field to work on your game. This means getting in the weight room and spending those late nights in the cage.

I recently sat down with DeSoto Central High School Baseball Coach Mark Monaghan to discuss the benefits of the fall offseason and how to properly approach it. Together we have put together a framework for your offseason work through the eyes of a baseball coach and strength coach.

Coach Monaghan and I met in 2013 through a mutual athlete and have continued to work together over the last six years. Since 2013, Desoto Central Baseball has won 3 state championships, 4 North Half Mississippi Championships, 1 North Mississippi Runner Up Title and has been ranked as high as number 5 in the country by USA Today after the 2019 season. They have had six players drafted by the MLB, including two directly out of high school. There have been 10+ ball players go on to continue their careers in the SEC, and even more go on to the Division II or JUCO level.

IF YOU HATE READING HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Develop Your GPP – General Physical Preparedness. Move a lot and in different directions.

• Build Your Relative Strength: Get Stronger!

• Get Your Body and Mind Right.

• Take Care of Your Joints. Work On Your Mobility and Flexibility.

HERE’S THE BREAKDOWN FOR YOU:

1. Develop GPP (aka: General Physical Preparedness). Early fall is a great time to build your level of GPP. GPP can be viewed as the foundation for your fitness, strength and power development. For example: If you can’t do burpees without questioning if you’re going to have a heart attack, do you really think you’re in any type of state to play at the highest level? I tell our guys that GPP is a “bunch of random stuff.” It doesn’t build Absolute Strength or Absolute Speed, but it lays the foundation for you to be able to build those other qualities when the time is appropriate.

COACH MONAGHAN: The best baseball players are the best athletes. Build yourself up as an athlete and you’ll become a better baseball player. I like seeing guys who are in such great shape that they “get loose to throw, not throw to get loose.” Be drenched in sweat prior to even throwing and have that foundation.

WHAT WE DO: At Elite Level we love to do GPP work of all kinds. Sled pulls of all varieties; body weight movements and loaded carriers that challenge the body from all angles are some of our favorites. We also incorporate a heavy amount of FRC into our GPP work. There’s more about that in the fourth point.

2. Build Your Relative Strength: Relative Strength can be thought of as “strength per pound of body weight.” An athlete who weights 180lbs and deadlifts 300lbs has a significant advantage over an athlete who weights 230lbs and can deadlift 300lbs. If you don’t have the strength to support and move your body you’re already behind the eight ball. Having good relative strength sets you up to develop other elements along the strength/speed continuum.

COACH MONAGHAN: Strength, and the ability to display strength, is what holds so many athletes back. So many guys are stationary and one dimensional in their strength. Having good relative strength helps set you up for more explosiveness and power in the long run.

WHAT WE DO: We like to emphasize two different points of relative strength. The first is strength in positional isometrics. Positional isometric strength deals with placing the body in extreme joint angles and either contracting or holding a position for a prescribed time. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. Once an athlete shows a sufficient level of understanding and control in these positions they can move into move advanced work like loading these movements, etc. The second element of relative strength we emphasize is building the main core lifts (bench, squat, deadlift). I will openly admit I am not a huge fan of the traditional back squat for athletes and prefer to train it from a different perspective. But that’s for another article.

3. Get Your Body And Mind Right!
“If you can’t see yourself doing it, you never will.” There’s a lot of truth to that statement. Fall provides a time to step back from the game and evaluate your mental and physical state. Maybe you’re carrying too much body-fat and that’s slowing your 60 time down. Or maybe you’ve got a lingering injury that needs time to heal. Are you in a slump at the plate and can’t get out of your head? Sometimes taking a step back is better than pushing harder. More is not always better.

COACH MONAGHAN: Relearn your body. Take the time to listen to it. This can help you “know your arm” more when the season starts. Get in touch with yourself so you can communicate to us properly how you’re feeling so we can help direct you accordingly throughout the season.

WHAT WE DO: Every athlete is different and their individual needs should be addressed in such a manner. We connect some athletes with Mandy, our Certified Natural Health Practitioner, to take a look at how efficient their body is working. Other times they’ll work with our Vision Performance Specialist Dr. Brandon Walley on improving their eye hand coordination. I’ve even been known to send athletes outside and simply stand barefoot in the grass next to a tree (aka: grounding) and meditate.

4. Joint Care and Working on Your Mobility and Flexibility. In our opinion, this is arguably the most important element. Find yourself a Functional Range Conditioning Specialist (FRCms) and get to work. FRC practitioners specifically work on joint development (think mobility and strength). FRC practitioners can be found within organizations such as the: Dodgers, Cubs, Padres, Diamondbacks, Phillies, Mariners, Braves, Astros and many more. If it’s good enough for them then there’s likely a good chance you’d benefit from it.

COACH MONAGHAN: It’s really important to maintain your flexibility and mobility throughout a long season. This goes right along with being a better athlete. The fall is a good time to work on this. This may not always be as fun as lifting but it’s arguably just as, or more, important. You need to be able to maintain your flexibility and mobility throughout the season.

WHAT WE DO: As you become a better baseball/softball player you get worse at being a human. Through the FRC protocols we can assist an athlete or individual in the proper development of their joints and associated mobility. This isn’t the “mobility workout of the day,” in fact it’s far from it. Once new range of motion is established in a joint, strength must be developed in that new range of motion. This is a far cry from yoga as well. What good does it do to be flexible and mobile if you can’t control it?

BONUS TIP: Throw something everyday other than a baseball or softball!

Summary

Use the fall to get yourself right and work on your weak points. Good coaches and successful programs understand that taking time off the field to address your game can pay major dividends. Addressing the aforementioned areas is a great starting point and will undoubtedly help you in your quest to be the best baseball/softball player you can be. For more information you can email me at jnelson@elitelevel.net or visit any of our social media pages.

John Nelson, MS CES CPT FRCms

THE DOWNSIDE TO LOW BLOOD PRESSURE

The Downside to Low Blood Pressure

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Have you ever been patted on the head by your doctor and praised for having low blood pressure? I have and it's frustrating.  Those of us that have chronic low blood pressure have, at one time or another, experienced the less-than-desirable side effects of this condition.  Chronic fatigue, poor circulation and vertigo or dizziness when standing are typically associated with low blood pressure but did you know that menstrual cramps, depression, anxiety, decreased libido and cravings (salty and sweet) can also be caused by this as well?
 
Why do I have low blood pressure?
First, let me say that there can be other reasons for low blood pressure, but the one I'm going to talk about today tends to be the most common and one of the easiest ones to fix.  Blood pressure is directly linked to the amount of electrolytes (i.e. minerals) in your bloodstream.  The short and sweet of it is, minerals thicken your blood, increasing the pressure, making you feel better.  So why are your minerals low?  There are several causes but one of the biggest ones is digestion.  If you are not properly digesting your food and absorbing minerals, your body's supply will slowly diminish.  If you drink lots of water throughout the day, you are diluting (and peeing out) your minerals and if you exercise, you are sweating them out through the skin.
 
 How can I help bring up my minerals?
The first step is working to correct digestive issues.  Are you producing enough stomach acid to properly breakdown your food?  Are you producing enough bile to further break up food into its most basic elements so that it can be assimilated into the body?  Are you eating REAL food?  If not, start there.  Next, try adding in a simple sea salt to your diet.  Celtic or Himilayan sea salt contains valuable minerals that help you feel better and fight cravings.  Load your food up with as much sea salt as you can tolerate.  Lots!  Limiting your water intake throughout the day can help as well.  This does NOT mean don't drink water... it just means you shouldn't overdo it.  If you want to take it a step further, you can add trace mineral drops to your water.
 
To wrap it up...
Low blood pressure is not an "issue" in western medicine because there is no pill to fix it.  However, just like running on overinflated tires is risky, so is running on underinflated tires.  Our brain and nervous system rely on minerals in our bloodstream to relay information back and forth.  When these resources run low, you feel like crap.  The best thing you can do is work on any digestive issues you might have.  You can also add sea salt to your diet or possibly a trace mineral drop to your water.  Knowledge is power - now you know that low blood pressure is not "good", don't ignore it!  

Do You Really Need Vitamin D?

Do you really need Vitamin D?

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You've just been to the doctor and he or she has told you that your vitamin D is low and you should start taking a supplement.  In fact, they may have made the off-hand remark that it's "just something everyone needs to take".  So why do you need it?  To help absorb calcium?  Probably not.  Mainstream medicine is on their soapbox about the importance of vitamin D to fight osteoporosis.  It's important to note that osteoporosis has been on the rise ever since they've been telling us that.  Vitamin D is actually the perfect recipe FOR osteoporosis. 
 

What does vitamin D do in relation to calcium?

Vitamin D helps calcium make the jump from your digestive track into your bloodstream where it can then be absorbed in the body.  That's a good thing.  Unfortunately, it can also have the ability to pull calcium from the tissues as well.  
 
Why do we want calcium in the tissues?  
Calcium in your tissues is like the alarm bell for invaders in the body.  Without calcium, your body would never recognize it has a "bug" to fight and therefore never trigger your immune system to take care of the problem.  
 
So, the more D the better, right?
Um, no.  First off, most people will make enough vitamin D just by stepping out in the sun for about 10 minutes.  In higher doses, it not only pulls the calcium out of the digestive tract and into the bloodstream, like it should, it also starts to pull calcium out of the tissues AND bones and then holds the calcium in the bloodstream.  And now the calcium cannot leave the bloodstream and go back down to the tissues where it's needed because the blood has become calcium-retentive.  Now's it's a problem for your kidneys to handle and if they are not able to excrete the higher calcium precipitated by the excess vitamin D, the body will allow the calcium to be deposited in the joints.  Joint pain, anyone? Vitamin D has its benefits but when it's taken in higher amounts like it's being prescribed these days, it could cause more trouble than good. 
 
Why did my blood test tell me I have low Vitamin D?
When a person's blood test comes back saying vitamin D levels are low, the medical world just looks at average numbers and says "you're low, you must need more D".  A better question is WHY your body is not making higher levels of D.  Wouldn't it make sense if a person already had a high level of calcium in the blood and lower levels at the tissue level, they the body would reduce the amount of vitamin D being produced so that it does not pull MORE calcium out of the tissues and dump it into the bloodstream?
 
The medical world is going to look at clinical trials (this is a topic for another day) and not at the circumstances surrounding the person.  You are an individual.  You are unique.  Don't be average!