It was kind of hard to do just a 3 part list, as I have learned a ton this past year through my formal physical therapy educations as well as reading on my own to stay caught up in the strength, conditioning, and nutrition fields. However, the following 3 things really stood out this past year.
1. In the case of persons with lateral patellar subluxation and patellofemoral pain kinetic MRI reveals significantly more lateral displacement with non-weight bearing verses weight bearing exercise. In addition during closed chain weight bearing movements MRI revealed that the patella doesn’t actually move, rather that the femur internally rotates on the patella.The first thing I took out of this research is the importance of using weight-bearing or partial weight-bearing positions in positions to treat patients with PTFP and lateral subluxation to minimized patellar displacement and associated symptoms. Perhaps more importantly this research demonstrates the need to address the role of hip external rotators to maintain proper patellar alignment in closed chain activities. (Powers, 2003 JOSPT)
2. Breathing facilitates movement in the following ways:
Inhalation: thoracic extension/shoulder flexion/scapular elevation and glenohumeral internal rotation
Thus, when performing the preceding movements breathing should be used in conjunction to improve both quality and quantity of movement.
3. Don’t take the advice of our government when it comes down to nutrition and food intake recomendations .The obesity epidemic has dramatically rose since the year of 1980, which represented a major change in the dietary compositions of Americans. Americans began eating less fat, less red meat and dairy and ate more chicken, shortening, and soy oil. Coincidentally this was a year after the first “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” were produced.. Thanks food pyramid. For more charts and other interesting info about this trend check this out: file://localhost/. http/::www.ericcressey.com:healthy-food-options-why-you-should-never-take-nutrition-advice-from-your-government. Therefore in 2012 I’ll continue to have my daily dose of red meat, WHOLE eggs, real butter and full fat dairy products along with lots of fresh veggies and fruit of course.
“Neck-Packing” is a combination of strong cervical retrusion and capital flexion. In more simple terms, it is more or less making an unattractive double chin. Try this two-part process. Stand with your back against a wall and your head touching the wall. Wiggle your head up the wall to make yourself as tall as possible. Next, allow your chin to drop back toward your throat. You have now executed a packed neck. I have known for a while that training with your neck in a hyperlordodic position, like the guy in the picture below, is probably a safety issues and is going to lead to problems down the road.
However, not until recently watching Charlie Weingroff’s “Training = Rehab” did I begin to realize the performance implications as well. In movements used in training, such as swings and deadlifts, the spine functions as one long chain rather than as distinct sections of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar. The human spine has unique curves that allow it to act in a spring-like fashion to balance out compressive forces and accommodate shearing forces. Thus, when one area of the chain moves, the human body will respond by doing what it does best and compensate in other areas.
For now, lets consider the consequences of letting the neck drift into extension with a movement like the deadlift. When this occurs it causes what Mike Reinold has termed a “kinetic chain ripple effect“ (you can read more about this topic here: http://www.mikereinold.com/2011/11/the-problem-with-the-kinetic-chain-concept.html). When the head falls out of optimal alignment, strap muscles from the anterior neck that attach to the scapula pull it into slight protraction and elevation. The thoracic spine then accommodates by flexing slightly as well.
In addition, when cervical spine extends, the deep neck flexors become inhibited. As the deep neck flexors are intimately connected to the rest of the inner core (including the diaphragm, transversus abdominus, multifidus, and pelvic floor), inhibition leads to suboptimal or delayed contraction in these other important muscles of intrinsic stabilization.Further down, the lumbar spine will continue the previous compensatory patterns by falling into lordosis. This results in the lumbar spine relying posteriorly on bony approximation for stability and therefore telling the core stabilizers that they can take a break.
(This looks so much better!)
These may not seem like major changes and might not even be visibly noticeable all of the time. Nevertheless, these compensations bring the joints out of positions of centration where optimal stabilization and force transmission can occur. From a performance standpoint, this creates energy leaks where force is sub optimally transferred up or down the chain.
I believe that in all controllable training environments, packing the neck is a key feed-forward mechanism you can use that will lead to improved performance and safety. At first when attempting this with your training, you might have to lower the weights and really focus on keeping the neck in the right position.I have found, though, after practicing it for several months, it has become more reflexive and something I have started to find myself doing out of habit. Check out Bret Contreras in the video below for a good demo of what this looks likes.
