What's the missing exercise you're not doing on leg day?

               

The Weighted Hip Thrust is something you will see many girls doing in the gym for buns of steel.

However, for guys and girls that want to increase their muscle mass and glute strength then this is the missing exercise you are not doing on leg day!

Researchers hypothesized that barbell hip thrusts would be better than squats for improving horizontal force production, thereby enhancing performance in athletic movements requiring a horizontal force vector, such as horizontal jumping and sprinting.

According to the study’s first author, Bret Contreras, squats poorly activate the hamstrings and do not maximally activate the glutes, which are critical muscle groups for powerful sprinting. In a squat, the glutes are fired up during the concentric action – when you explode out of the hole. Glute activation decreases near the top when the athlete is in a more upright position, which is characteristic of applying force into the ground while running.

The study was comprised of male teenage athletes and consisted of 2 training sessions per week for 6 weeks in a periodized fashion. One group performed only front squats, and another group performed only hip thrusts. Pre- and post-test performance measures included:

 10-meter acceleration

20-meter acceleration

vertical jump

 maximum isometric mid-thigh pull

 3-rep-max front squat

 and 3-rep-max hip thrust

Results showed that among teenage male athletes, hip thrusts are more effective than front squats at improving sprinting acceleration, max isometric mid-thigh pull force, and max hip thrust strength. However, front squats are more effective than hip thrusts at improving vertical jump max and front squat strength.

In addition, athletes who performed the hip thrust gained half as much front squat strength as those who only performed front squats, and vice versa. This is an important finding, as it demonstrates that hip extension exercises transfer to other lifts and points to the possibility that strength in one lift can be maintained during times of injury by performing assistance lifts.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChVak8_IyuqcErdf_jQUOHA

https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/improve-your-performance-squats-or-hip-thrusts

Tight hip flexors?

                      

As I've said many other times, the hip flexors are an area that has become more and more susceptible to tightness due to modern habits. 

A lot of people sit in a chair for 8 hours a day, and often a chair that does not allow you to keep good posture all day either. 

The result of this is that your hip flexors will become tighter and be at risk for a strain unless you perform stretches. 

Now ideally you should be performing these stretches every day for at least 1 minutes, if you can do up to 2 minutes even better!

Stretches Lying Down

This is a great stretch to start off with because it's so gentle and natural for your leg. To perform it all you need to do is start off lying down on your back, try to take some slow, relaxed breaths until your body become relaxed. Once you feel ready lift up one of your legs, allow your knee to bend, then place both your hands just behind the knee and gently pull upwards towards your chest until you feel a good stretch. You can hold this stretch as long as you'd like, typically recommended is around 20 seconds and then try to go further after a short break. A key thing to note about this stretch is that if you feel any hip flexor pain, stop immediately.

Stretches Sitting

Many people initially classify this as a groin stretch, but remember some of the Hip Flexor muscles are also considered groin muscles, which is partially why this is a great stretch. Secondly, if you have really tight Psoas muscles you will also stretch those in this position.

To perform the butterfly stretch sit on the floor with your legs outstretched. Begin by shaking out your legs and taking a few deep breaths. To initiate the stretch pull in both your legs until the bottoms of your feet are touching, this should force your knees out. Increase the stretch as needed by putting your hands on your feet and pushing down on your knees. Hold for 20 seconds then shake out your legs again and repeat once or twice more. **Note: Try to keep your lower back straight, you should not be rounding your back and hunching over during the stretch.

Stretches - Standing

Standing stretches are amazing at targeting the inner core muscles around the pelvic region. Here are two of the best stretches you should incorporate into your stretching.

Lunge

You may have seen this one before because it is one of the best Hip Flexor stretches. The reason for this is that it works, and is worth reiterating.

Perform this stretch by standing upright initially, and then taking a large but comfortable step forward. Next, descend into a lunge position where your front knee is at an approximately 90 degree angle. Now push your lower hips forward until you feel the stretch and hold the position for up to 30 seconds. Just 3 sets of this stretch alone will do wonders for your flexibility.

Lunge Twist

This final stretch is similar to the lunge stretch above, but with an advanced twist on it. It will look very similar to a lunge, but instead you can allow your back leg knee to rest on the ground. Try to keep your upper torso upright and then lift the arm of the lowered leg over your head. You will know immediately if you are doing this correctly, as this stretch targets several of your muscles, even the hard to reach Tensor Fascia Latae.

Static Stretches

This is a special type of stretches performed using a resistance band or tube that can be used both as a stretch and strengthening exercise at the same time. To perform you need to attach one end of the band to a wall or anchor point and the other end to your ankle. Next, lift up your knee as high as you can and hold the position for 10-15 seconds. You should not only feel a stretch, but also fatigue in your Hip Flexors.

Hip Flexor Stretches Summary

To recap, you do not need to perform every single one of these exercises every day. Listen to your body and how it responds after a week or two of stretching and adjust accordingly. If you stick to a good schedule I am confident you will see incredible improvements in your hip mobility doing just a few of these Hip Flexor stretches and prevent a potential injury.

Information is power; you owe it to yourself and your body's health to understand your injuries. If you are able to understand injuries, you can diagnose them faster, treat them better, and recovery to the highest possible levels.

The Bulletproofbodies Team wish you all the best.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dale_Cudom/1225185

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6898245

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsd_BgT-jy8

Overcoming Gymtimidation

                   

So, January is here and my Gym is already full of new people who don’t have clue about how to train, Gym etiquette or sharing of the facilities.

However, I don’t blame them, we’ve all been there when we started our fitness journey.

The Gym can be an intimidating place if you are not comfortable in those surroundings.

The term “Gym-timidation” has been coined for such a situation.

Sweating, other people’s sweat, cold iron, Lycra clad ladies and muscle bound blokes in vest tops are all reasons why the Gym can be unappealing. 

The alternative is working out on your own in the privacy of your own home, however, can you really motivate yourself to achieve your maximum without the encouragement of others?

It’s time to shift your view on Exercise in the Gym, as Body building has lost its appeal and importance in the fitness community. 

The Functional Fitness revolution has changed the way we workout, as we want fitness that helps us outside the gym with exercises that helps us lift, move, play, dance and recreate ourselves. 

The term “fitness” means adaption to a specific task and you don’t get that from isolated muscle training. Fitness has 11 components divided into three categories physical fitness, motor fitness and injury prevention.

Physical fitness refers to flexibility, endurance (muscular and heart), strength and speed. Motor fitness refers to Accuracy, Balance, Power, Agility and Co-ordination. 

With this in mind, people want to exercise for than just health reasons and to lose weight / tone up. 

People also want a challenge, to learn a new skill and get that sense of achievement that the elliptical or the bicep curl can never bring.

Therefore, it is no surprise that adventure races involving mud, Bootcamps, 

Functional movement training, Hot Yoga and CrossFit have gained in popularity.

This is because a community of people working out together to achieve the same goal is more fun than the loneliness and isolation of your home. 

It is not uncommon to pay a year’s membership to a health club, only to go once and never return, wasting both precious money and motivation.

Furthermore, working out in a community is much better when it comes to exercise adherence because it then becomes a social experience rather than putting earphones on and jumping on the treadmill, surrounded by people but interacting with no-one unless they are on a machine that we want to use which brings us full circle back to Gym-timidation.

Lots of people want to get fit, let’s make it a social experience and all train together to achieve the same aim, a better version of ourselves.

Injury prevention is our specialty at Bulletproofbodies. 

We are Physiotherapists and we provide Functional Movement Screening, Orthopaedic assessment, injury diagnosis, Manual Therapy, Exercise Therapy Body Maintenance and Optimisation for you to build a robust and Bulletproof Body.

Download our FREE injury prevention E Book:

Video: https://www.youtube.com/user/buffdudes

Plantar fascia pain management

               

Over the weekend the Bulletproofbodies Team were asked lots of questions about foot pain in particular, plantar fasciitis.

After 22 years in the Military I can tell you that I have tried all sorts of tricks when it comes to footwear, Orthotics and inner soles.

Wearing boots for long periods of time can irritate the bottom of the foot resulting in plantar fascia pain.

The plantar fascia is a thick band of connective tissue that acts like a ligament to help support your arch and provide shock absorption during weight bearing activities.

The area where the plantar fascia attaches to the bottom of the heel bone is a place that can get stressed or injured and become inflamed.

When this happens, you have plantar fasciitis. The good news is that you can prevent this happening and stop the problem before it gets worse.

Our answer is "get some balls!"

At Bulletproofbodies our weapons of choice are Rockballs and Pulseball:

 If you want to get money off Rocktape products visit the website below:

https://www.rocktape.co.uk/

Use the Bulletproofbodies discount code:

Dale01

If you want to get money off Pulseball and Pulseroll products visit the website below:

www.pulseroll.com

Use the discount code:

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Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1lT1I35jAc

Bulletproof Physio at the Fan Dance Winter 2019

                  

While everyone else is thinking about joining the Gym and losing some weight for the New Year, Endurance Athletes have been training hard over the Christmas break to perform on the first adventure race of the year, the legendary 

Fan Dance.

Last weekend three events were available:

The Fan Dance, Double Tap and Trident.

Some were also doing Blade Runner!

Clean fatigue choose to run, others TAB as they are carrying load, but all of them will be challenged by the hill.

AEE (Avalanche Endurance Events) are an awesome team to work hard to make this race the gold standard for both fun and safety.

There is always a different feel about this event when compared to other races.

There is a Military flavour to this event that makes every athlete sit up and take notice.

From the kit checks to the photo at the finish, this event is the real deal.

The Bulletproofbodies Team were there to keep all athletes from getting a Musculo-Skeletal injury and for treatment in between races.

Physio support from Dale and Uzo was available around the clock as we provide the necessary treatment to keep athletes going.

This is Claire who is clearly telling us that she wants to come in first place.

Mark in the ready position at the start of his third and final ascent.

Don’t forget to check out our e-book on injury prevention and management for the Hill.

We will see you back on the hill for the Summer Fan Dance 2019.

After the pain, a well-deserved Fan Dance Ale.

The Bulletproofbodies Team salutes all athletes and support staff with AEE.