Stop working out in the 80's. Stop isolation and muscle group training

I know it takes time for paradigm shifts to occur, and I do believe that strength and conditioning is going in the right direction, but I still see people in the gym that are stuck in the 80s with their training techniques.  Here are a few questions for you if you are still training muscle groups and trying to do isolation exercises.


1.  Can we really "Isolate" a particular muscle?
It is actually impossible to "Isolate" a particular muscle.  Even the most strict bicep curl would require core stabilization, leg activation, scapular stabilizers and forearm flexors and extensors.  How can we really call this exercise an "Isolation" exercise. 

2.  Is there a time and place for isolation exercises? 
I suppose that for the initial stages of rehabilitation, or if you happen to be terrible at coordinating movements, some "isolation" exercises may be beneficial, but I would highly recommend taking the training wheels off and progressing as quickly as possible.

3.  Is there a benefit to training muscle groups? 
If you were a body builder (and I know a few people who are) then I can see this as being a good way of training.  For most people who are training for strength, fitness, or weight/fat loss, I think it is a lost cause.  People need to shift their thinking to training movements (pushes, pulls, lifts, drags/carries, tosses/throws).



It is ironic that most gyms are full of equipment/machines that minimize movement and variability.  These machines are typically only good for one movement or "muscle group" (and are often very expensive for gyms to buy).  It is also ironic that people are so scared to use anything other than machines for fear that they are going to injure themselves.  However, if you happened to get out of bed this morning, go up or down stairs, carry groceries or a bag and tie your shoes, without injury, you qualify for access to the other parts of the gym where you can practice good movement and work to achieve your fitness goals.  

 

5 Reasons you SHOULD NOT stretch if you are STIFF

There appears to be a common belief that if you are stiff, you need to stretch or increase flexibility.  These beliefs are unsubstantiated and often come with little evidence that stretching is good for you. 


Before I go on, I should qualify that I am not against stretching.  If there is a functional reason to increase flexibility (more importantly, mobility) then I would recommend stretching.  However there are a lot of reasons that we would want to maintain or even increase stiffness.  Here are some of those reasons:

1.  Increased stiffness increases power output

Increasing stiffness increases power output.  This is important for athletic performance and for daily activities.  Think about it this way; if you were to hit a baseball for distance,  you would prefer to hit it with a bat and not a pool noodle.  Why?  The bat is more stiff than the pool noodle and is better suited to transmit force to the baseball.  Our body is the same way.  Most of the time with activity, our goal is to "Stiffen" our core to transmit force to our limbs so we can kick or throw a ball, or even push open a door. 

2.  Stiff muscles are like springs.  More stiff = more speed   

I find it interesting that with most athletic events, I see people stretching before a game.  I would agree that this would be appropriate if someone was too stiff, but there is an optimal amount of stiffness for athletic performance and why would you spend time trying to get rid of it?  Muscles in the body act like springs.  A stiff spring would be better at producing increased speed as opposed to a loose spring (like a slinky).  Again, I qualify, there is an optimal amount of stiffness.  Too stiff is no good, but neither is too loose or flexible.

3.  Increasing flexibility increases the chance for injury

This should just make sense.  If something is too loose or wobbly it makes it difficult to control.  The joints in our body are controlled by muscles (and passively by ligaments and joint capsules).  If a joint wobbles around it increases the chance for injury or irritation of said joint.  Imagine driving down a bumpy road with a car with loose steering.  It would be difficult to navigate the car.  If the steering was more stiff, it allows for more responsiveness and more control.  However, too stiff is not good either.

4.  Muscles don't really stretch much

Most of the time when we stretch, we believe that we are stretching out muscles.  However, we forget about all the other tissues we are stretching including tendon, ligaments, nerves, fascia, collagen.  In the chain of tissues we are stretching, muscle does not get stretched as much as we think.  For example, if you stretch you hamstring in a typical hamstring stretch, the deep ache you feel in your hamstring is likely the sciatic nerve that is being stretched and not actually the hamstring.  It would be like stretching an elastic band and a rope together.  Both will only stretch so far, but the rope would limit the stretch of the elastic band.




5. Joints tend to stiffen up after injury

Joints try to stabilize themselves after there is injury to surrounding tissues.  This is a common response to pain as increased movement typically causes increase pain (particularly if the joint itself is the pain generator).  Isn't it interesting as therapists often prescribe stretches to "loosen up tight joints" when the body is trying to stiffen up to reduce movement of said joints? 

Stiffness should not be seen as evil.  I believe that more needs to be done to harness stiffness to improve performance and activities.  Stretching is not a bad thing, however I find that it is often over-prescribed and poorly executed.  

Pain alters Movement, and Movement affects Activity. Stop being in pain

It is pretty clear that being in pain alters the way we move and the things we do.  Why do people seem to think that if you just ignore the pain, that things will be fine.  Could it be possible that ignoring pain can make things worse...a lot worse?

 

It is difficult for an observer to measure pain, but it is pretty clear for someone who experiences it.  When we experience pain, it is our brains perception that something is not working properly.  You brain responds by altering the way we move to avoid being in pain.  This is why you limp when you sprain your ankle.  Your brain senses that there is damage to soft tissue in the ankle, and weight bearing will make it worse.  Hence, you will look to move to limit weight bearing on the affected ankle.

So altering movement to avoid pain changes the mechanics throughout the rest of the body.  Going to back to the sprained ankle example; more stresses are placed on the uninjured limb causing muscles to work harder, joints to be under more stress, ligaments to be more strained, while on the affected limb, muscles tend to atrophy, ligaments and joints tend to stiffen with a lack of movement.

Due to the changes in movement about the lower limb, it also affects how we move through the torso and the upper limbs.  Stresses are changed through the spine and we even alter the way that we use our arms. 

We do whatever we can to not be in pain, so why don't people take care of themselves.  I hate the whole notion of "no pain no gain" and really does not have much application to health or fitness.

If you are in pain, you need to look to correct the problem and stop the cascade.  If you move better, you will feel better.  

Breathe much? You are doing it wrong!

It seems really simple. Breathing:  It is an essential part of life.  If you aren't breathing, you probably aren't reading this right now.

If you are reading this, can you tell me whether anyone has shown you how to breathe?  Let's find out.  Go ahead, take a deep breath in...What happened?

Likely you stuck your chest out, tilted your chin up a little, tried to expand (probably more elevated) your ribs and maybe even pulled your belly button towards your spine.

Here lies the problem. We only have 3 breathing muscles in our body.  None of them are named trapezius, levator scapulae, erector spinae, pectoralis, biceps, etc.

So what are these magic breathing muscles?  The diaphragm and the intercostals (internal and external).

The diaphragm attaches to the bottom of the ribs and when we breath in, it flattens pulling air into the lungs.  The diaphragm should not change the shape of the spine (this is what the erector spinae and associated muscles do!)  The intercostals (mostly external intercostals) expand the ribs outwards (not upwards like you just did when you took a deep breath in, those are your overactive trapezius muscle). 

So when you breathe, your diaphragm should move down and your ribs move out.  Try this...do you find it difficult?  We have been ignoring our breathing technique for a long time now.  You will have to consciously practice if you want to improve.

So if you suffer from tightness in upper back and neck, it might be because you are using those muscles to breath, instead of using them for what they were made to do. 

"That's The Worst Case I've Ever Seen..."

 

I've been hearing the same thing over and over again from patients.  "I've been told that this is the worst case that they have ever seen..."  I find it a tad bit odd.  Does everyone with "the worst case" happen to end up in my office? 
I'm not sure why these patients are told this.  I had a young man (less than 40 years old) in the office the other day saying that "he had the worst case of arthritis in his knee that the doc had ever seen!"  I found it a bit odd for a few reasons;  first, he was relatively young for severe arthritis in the knee (cartilage is pretty spongy when we are younger).  Secondly, he had not suffered significant trauma to his knee.  Third, he had full range of motion.  Lastly, he had not had X rays (not that this is a good way of observing arthritis, but it does give you some information.)  He did have some crepitus that sounded like grinding, but it was not "bone on bone" as it was described to him. 

I get patients with "severe" arthritis in their back and neck.  Some of them have the X rays to prove it (as mentioned, X rays are not the best way to determine how bad someones arthritis is), yet they appear to have minimal pain and decent range of motion.  More importantly, they are able to perform all the activities and/or sports that they would like to continue to do!  So why are they told that they should be in pain?

I think that people need to be enabled.  We need to stop telling them they are in bad shape. That "this is the worst I have ever seen." I think that people are looking for someone to help them get to where they need to be.  We should not be telling them what they cannot do, but how they should be doing the things that they want to be doing!  Lets stop enabling patients to be in pain and give them a helping hand!