|
"T Cubed"
Warm up:
5 Rounds
2x "Frenchie"
(1 Frenchie = pull up, hold at top for 5 count, drop to bottom, do a pull up, drop to 90-degrees and hold for 5 count
drop to bottom, do pull up, drop to 120-degrees, hold for 5 count)
Workout:
(1) Tag Team
Team 1: (3 People), 30x combined bouldering problems,
fast as possible
Team 2: (3 People), continuous laps on 15 foot
overhanging traverse wall until Team 1 done.
Then switch.
(2) 15x Laps (300 hand moves) on auto belay weight 25# pack
(upclimb only)
- Climb in "rounds" of 5x climbs as fast as possible,
then rest while partner does same.
Comments:
I've been re-reading Gray Cook's "Athletic Body in Balance," and learning more the second time around. Cook
is a physical therapist and strength coach who developed the Functional Movement Screen.
Cook is relied on heavily by Athletes' Performance and Core Performance author and coach Mark Verstegen.
Cook believes that "functional movement" which he defines as "the ability to move without restriction or
limitation" is the foundation of athletic performance. He writes,
"Great athletes develop efficiency through mobility, stability, and motor programs tht use the least amount of energy
with the greatest possible result. This allows the athlete to stay relaxed while functioning at an extremely high level. Poor
biomechanics not only affect performance, they also can create unnecessary stress, resulting injury. Playing and training
without appropriate mobility and stability will create faulty motor programs, which can create frustration, greatly hinder
gains in performance, and increase the risk of injury."
For Cook and Verstegen, athletic movement begins with the hips and torso, and great athletic performance results from
flexible hips, and a strong torso.
And they proclaim the deep squat as a great indicator of overall movement quality.
Writes Cook, "Difficulty in deep squatting is rarely simply a flexibility problem. Squatting is a complex movement
that requires stability of the trunk and mobility of the extremities through constantly changing tension and position. The
tension between the muscles of the trunk and limbs must coordinate perfectly - as one relaxes, the other must contract to
maintain balance and an erect spine through the entire motion. If coordination is skewed, the deep squat will feel extremely
awkward and limited."
In my gym, I see the deep squat also as a great indicator of raw athletic talent. Inevitably, my best athletes - those
with the greatest upside in gym performance - can naturally squat well.
Perhaps more importantly, hip mobility, demonstrated through a good deep squat, also leads to injury prevention. Back
injury expert Stuart McGill notes that immobile hips are an indicator of low back pain.
Cook's website cites a 2007 study of 433 firefighters who were tested through his functional movement screen, and drilled
on mobility and core stability strength as a result. The increased mobility led to 62% less lost work time due to injury and
a 42% decline in injuries overall.
When I did my mentorship at Athletes' Performance Verstegen's coaches would subject professional baseball, football and
basketball players to very specific hip mobility and awareness drills. The coaches used to say that they were trying to increase
career longevity by teaching these athletes to brake and cut using their glutes and hips, instead of their knees, and through
core stability and awareness, eliminated energy "leakage" from changes of direction on the playing field.
This link between career longevity and durability and hip mobility seems to play out in my gym with the Exum Guides. Two
who are known for their durability, Dave Carmen - now in his late 50s - and Christian Santelices - almost 40, both have great
squat mechanics.
On the other side are some of my female athletes who carry the most accomplished athletic resumes, including collegiate
athletic careers. These women are strong and fit, but have terrible squat mechanics, as well as multiple knee operation history,
shoulder problems and lower back pain issues. It's like their bodies have been all broken up.
Working mobility drills into training sessions takes discipline and planning. Some big gyms, like Parisi in New Jersey
and Velocity Sports Centers, use dynamic mobility drills as their everyday warm up. At Athletes' Performance, the coaches
would throw in mobility drills between sets lifting weights.
We're also moving in this direction, but not without hic ups. One of the issues is there is some disagreement about what
a "good" squat looks like amongst the experts. For example, Cook wants the toes pointing straight ahead, while McGill
seems to allow the toes to flare out slightly.
Choosing which mobility drills to use is also a challenge. Many of those I observed at Athletes' Performance simply didn't
appear transferable. They were so complicated that the pro-athletes would have two coaches hovering over them making constant,
small corrections.
I've begun to work these basic squat mobility and glute/hip activation and awareness drills into my training sessions
- during the warm up, or between lifting sets copying the idea from Athletes' Performance.
Some coaches can get righteous about this stuff, and believe proper mobility should be achieved before any strength training
can begin. I'm not one of them. Rather, I'm of the mind that mobility, with proper programming, can be improved in conjunction
with strength and conditioning training.
One thing I understand right away about hip mobility and proper squat mechanics is that with them, the athlete can front
squat and dead lift more weight safely - or in other words, they make the athlete "stronger." Also, the link between
hip mobility and career longevity is of great interest to me as many of my athletes are middle ages mountain professionals
or weekend warriors lifting to extend their days in the mountains injury free.
Boston-area strength coaches Eric Cressey and Mike Boyle are more great sources on mobility approaches and www.t-nation.com
is also a great source for mobility information.
- Rob Shaul
|
| Rob hits a deep dip. |
|
| Tire drag, half way forward, half way backward. |
|
| You can't see the flames, but Dave's quads are on fire. |
|
