As the
CrossFit Open is nearly upon us another Fitness Influencer has issues with
CrossFit.
Julian Michaels
is a big deal in the Fitness Industry state side, where she was on the Biggest Loser. In the Biggest Loser participants trained through injury and were made to workout until they vomited. But that's where her similarities with CrossFit end.
But what is her issue with CrossFit? Julian says "It only has 20 to 25 movements so it can't be constantly varied." "Not challenging the body." WTF WRONG! It turns out that she is the new ambassador for Soda Stream, who have been bought out by Pepsi. We all know what Greg Glassman thinks of big Soda. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=436&v=khYkFRh_29g
At Bulletproofbodies We have recently had lots of people asking us about shin splints, so hear is the way
to Bulletproof your shins.
As
we at Bulletproofbodies know, the first thing to do any injury is to get an
accurate diagnosis.
Put
simply, know your enemy.
So what exactly is shin splints?
Shin
splints is actually a bit of a misnomer and should really be referred to as
"exercise-induced leg pain", as I will explain.
The
most common type of exercise-induced leg pain is medial tibial (shin bone)
stress syndrome (MTSS) which doesn't exactly role off the tongue, but is a more
accurate term.
The
other two main types are a stress fractures or compartment syndrome /
biomechanical overload syndrome.
MTSS
occurs when the muscle that inserts just behind the shin starts to pull away
from the bone.
There is a sheath around the bone called the periosteum, and
this can get inflamed as a result of the pulling away, and cause pain.
If this
inflammation of the periosteum persists, because someone continues to run
without attempting to treat it, then it may go on to cause a stress fracture.
A
stress fracture is not like a traumatic fracture that occurs suddenly. It is a
continuum. So it may start with a worsening of the inflammation around the
periosteum, and then slowly go into the bone itself.
The
good thing about this is if it is caught early enough, it is possible to
prevent a full-blown stress fracture. And this is definitely something you
want, because a stress fracture can mean being put in a boot and no running for
around 12 weeks.
Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS) literally means that the different muscles that make up the calf –
which are split into compartments – get too big for the muscle sheath they are
in and can cause quite severe pressure pain.
This can also be known as Bio-mechanical overload syndrome and refers to either anterior or posterior compartments of the lower limb.
Changes to your running mechanics can help but require time and effort to re-train.
Single leg calf raises are a great test for the Capacity of your muscles, less than 25 reps has been associated with injury.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
