Author: Vernon Gambetta
Build The Athlete From the Ground Up
The ground is where we live, and work and play. Effective movement entails the ability to optimally utilize ground reaction forces to propel the body in the intended direction. The legs are the base upon which we build the most effective, efficient and injury free athlete. Building sound functional leg strength will ensure efficient movement and go a long way toward preventing injuries. Leg strength is an essential prerequisite for speed and agility development. Leg strength is just as important for the endurance athlete as it is for the speed/power and change of direction athlete. Think of training through a spectrum of muscle actions, eccentric, concentric and isometric using squats, lunges and step-ups as the training tools. Determine your starting point and the progression based on a physical competency assessment that evaluates single leg squat, overhead squat, squat and lunge ability. Invest in the progressive development of leg strength beginning with body weight and then adding appropriate resistance as needed and as the athlete is able to handle it. Leg strength is the foundation; remember you can’t shoot a cannon from a canoe.
Process
Process, get absorbed in it and revel in it because process is the secret! Focus on the process and the outcome will take care of itself. To win a championship or a gold medal is a process, it is not a one off event. You win championships and medals a little bit at a time, bite-by-bite, chunk-by-chunk, a series of small wins and forward moving baby steps. We see the leaps and bounds in performance because they are so big and very visible but it is the small things the details that make the difference. It is the small things executed with focus and purpose that make the big leaps in performance possible. There is no secret; the devil is in the details executed with consistent effort directed toward the ultimate performance goal. Don’t make it complicated. Keep it simple and straightforward. Make it measurable and manageable. Focus on the process and the outcome will follow.
Posture(s) and Swimming
Mike Keeler in response to yesterdays post wrote to ask: What about aquatic postures? Posture and streamlining are crucial direct performance factors in swimming. Everything I said yesterday holds true in the water even though swimming is exclusively in prone and supine positions with the body “suspended” in the water. I think swimming coaches sometimes forget that the swimmers are still primarily land animals. They are bipedal and walk upright. I have yet to see a swimmer with gills, fins – dorsal and otherwise – and webbed hands and feet. We try to get the swimmer to adapt to the aquatic environment and achieve a certain level of efficiency by working to make them more “fishlike.” With swimming I have moved away from the great majority of work done in prone and supine positions on dryland to more standing and moving postures that activate the reflexes that are innate to the human. The emphasis is on linkage and connections to enhance drag reduction and improve hip position (posture) in the water. All the “anti-gravity muscles” and the muscles of the core so important in land posture are equally important in the water. They dynamically align and streamline to put the hands in better position to catch and hold water. Dynamic posture is paramount – water is as unforgiving as gravity and in some ways more so.
Posture, Alignment and Symmetry
Posture is highly individual to each person’s body structure and highly adapted to the sport activity the athlete is engaged in. According to Logan and McKinney, “The mature athlete tends to have a posture which is related to his particular sport if he has trained for years to become expert at his specific position or event. The reason for this phenomenon is the fact that the body tends to adjust or adapt to the various stresses or demands imposed upon it as a result of prolonged muscular activity.” (Logan and McKinney, page 149) It is helpful to think of athletic movement not as one posture, but as a series of postures. Optimal dynamic alignment of the segments of the kinetic chain throughout movement yield coordinated movement. If one segment or link in the kinetic chain is out of sync, this sets up the potential for performance error as well as a predisposition to injury if the movement is repeated enough. Logan and McKinney have termed the muscles that are most active in resisting the force of gravity the anti-gravity muscles: “the antigravity muscles are the most important muscle groups which make possible the maintenance of body postures in sport, exercise, and dance situation.” (Logan and McKinney, page 150.) The primary antigravity muscle groups are : the gastroc soleus group, the quadriceps group, and the erector spinae group. When the body is upright, as is the case in most over ground sport activities, the antigravity muscle groups work in conjunction with other muscle groups to maintain upright posture. These muscles act on information from three major sensory systems in the body: the proprioceptive, vestibular and visual systems. Movements that train these muscles must be given prime consideration in a conditioning program. Gravity is essentially trying to smash us into the ground when we are just standing still, add to this the complexity of running, jumping or throwing, and it is easy to see how important these antigravity muscles are in determining successful postures for performance. The core muscles play a major role in dynamic posture because the large muscles of the core also act as “anti-gravity” muscles that give the body structural integrity to allow the limbs to position and reposition according to the demands of the activity. There is a trend today to identify muscular imbalances in static positions and seek to correct them. The key is what happens to these “imbalances” when the athlete is asked to move? We must remember that the body is fundamentally asymmetric. It is unrealistic to think of muscular balance right to left or front to back. The body is just not designed that way. We must think of proportionality rather than symmetric muscle balance. From a historical perspective it is valuable to see where the idea of posture as a static quality originated. Just as in classical muscle function, it was derived from studies of cadavers in the so-called “anatomical position.” Cadavers generally don’t move, but that did not seem to bother those people who were looking for a “normal standard” to measure against. We need to get away from the concept of the “ideal posture” and think in terms of individual needs and adaptations. “… the postural pattern is that of many small parts moving definite distances in space, in a scheme perfectly timed, and with the exact amount of effort necessary to support the individual weights and to cover the time-space movement. These delicate, accurate and intricate regulations are made in the substrata, below the ‘threshold of consciousness.’ Through such adjustment man preserves his unity and copes with his world.” (Todd, page 22) That was written over eighty years ago! Mabel Todd did not have the benefit of the sophisticated evaluation methods we have today, she was a dance teacher had to rely on a feeling for movement in the context of the desired outcome of the activity. Basically, posture allows the body to maintain normal length – tension relationships of the muscles relative to the activity. Each posture in movement is a momentary alignment of body segments. Successful movement is determined by the ease of movement into the next posture. Therefore when we assess and subsequently train posture it should be in motion, not in stillness. Static postural measurements are non-functional baselines that can potentially red flag things to look for. But I have found that static posture has very little relationship to movement unless there is some obvious pathology or deformity. Once the athlete begins to move, especially in their chosen skill pattern, everything smoothes out and evens up. If it does not smooth out, if there are breaks in the movement, a lack of rhythm, then there is a problem. It is also important to point out that posture is highly dependent on strength, flexibility, balance, and fundamental movement skills. Any deficiencies will result in compensations. Great athletes are great compensators, they have adapted and learned over the years, that is why you see them get away with some of the movements they do and avoid injury. Sometimes the athlete can overcome and succeed in spite of compensation, at times the compensations can come back to haunt you, especially as the athlete gets older or in a fatigued state. A good sound strength training program coupled with an individualized flexibility routine can go a long way toward correcting any postural deviations that could interfere with efficient movement. Strength training programs that enhance good functional posture incorporate multi-joint and multi – plane movements that put the body into positions that will enhance its ability to withstand the force of gravity and meet the strength needs of the sport. A distribution of pulling, pushing, and squatting movements will accomplish this task. The body must be put in positions that force it to work against gravity in postures similar to the sport. An overemphasis on work in a supine and prone position will not transfer to dynamic postural improvement. Work on the anti gravity muscles are a key element of any sound strength training program. Although in many cases this work is quite transparent because it is accomplished in the context of total body large amplitude movements. Basically proportional muscular development is rewarded. That is achieved by focusing on movements, not individual muscles. For movement to be efficient muscles must be recruited in patterns that allow for optimum firing frequency and patterns as demanded by the activity. Because the core is so important in postural integrity and transition through the various postures it must be trained daily. It should be incorporated as part of warm-up to wake up the core muscles. It should have a distinct module within the actual workout itself and it also can addressed as part of cooldown. The majority of core work should be done standing and moving to enhance the transfer to postural improvement and activate the muscles of the core as they are used in movement, Tight muscles can contribute to poor dynamic posture; therefore a sound program of functional flexibility that addresses the target muscles must be part of the athlete’s daily routine. Starting from the ground up stretch the gastroc/sloeus group, if this group of muscles is tight this will lead to the inability to properly reduce and produce into the ground. The psoas must be stretched daily, a shortening of the psoas will have a profound negative effect on the ability to go through the postures necessary to perform. The lats as the connecter of the hip, to the shoulder must be stretched and the pectorals must be stretched. Training to enhance dynamic posture is all of this is part of a sound well-rounded athletic development program. Dynamic posture is a major contributing factor to athletic performance so it must be considered daily in training. The actual work to improve posture is quite transparent, it is an integral part of the overall training program. Remember we are training to move, not to stand still. Logan, Gene A. and McKinney, Wayne C. Kinesiology. Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers. 1970 Todd, Mabel E. The Thinking Body. Princeton Book Company Publishers. Highston, NJ. 1937
No Pain, No Gain?
No pain, no gain was a prevalent attitude and philosophy when I began coaching in the late Sixties. Surprisingly it continues to persist today. Frankly I have never been able to understand the appeal of this. Proper training in the weight room or on the field demands that the athlete be periodically pushed to their limits. Some workouts are tough and other workouts are easy. This ebb and flow of hard efforts interspersed with easier efforts is essential allow for proper adaptation. That is the essence of training. I want my athletes to be tough and ready on game or race day. That should be the goal of training. A thoroughly conditioned athlete who is supremely confident in their physical preparation will be mentally and physically tough. Physically and psychologically an athlete can only go to the well so many times before it will begin to deplete their physical, psychological and emotional reserves. There is no doubt that a good coach can get athletes to train and perform beyond levels that the athletes ever thought possible. To achieve this does not mean you have to inflict pain. Certainly pushing the envelope is uncomfortable. Athletes in training especially at the highest level must get comfortable with a certain level of discomfort but this is a process. As coaches we are teachers. It is our job to teach our athletes how to train. Training is more than feeling the burn. In fact when you do feel the burn that can be a sign that the training is incorrect. It does not take a genius to devise a workout that can bury someone, that is not training. Training is cumulative, it is more than one heavy session in the weight room or a killer interval workout, it is the cumulative effect of many sessions over a period of week’s and months. Keep the individual workouts in the context of the whole program. With young athletes it is sometimes difficult for them to see the big picture so we as coaches have paint a very clear picture so they can see where they are going and the steps they must take to get there to keep each session in context. There is no substitute for purposeful directed work. Athletes are like finely tuned racecars. To stay fine tuned they must work with high energy and push themselves, but just like the race car they can not be at red line all the time or there will be a blow-up. More is certainly not better. To negate the no pain, no gain mentality is important to understand progression. Too much too soon without establishing a good foundation of fundamental movement skill will negate the possibility of greater return later on. To make gains it is necessary to achieve a certain stimulus threshold. This threshold is dependent on the individual and the objective of the training. It is certainly more than one magic workout. Willingness and ability to work is a given prerequisite for success, but it must be purposeful, directed and nurtured. There is gain without pain, but it demands patience and a well-executed plan.
You are what you train to be
Certainly the outcome of training depends on the input. If you train to be slow you will be slow, if you train to be strong you will be strong. Instead of searching for narrower more specific activities we should broaden our approach to incorporate more sport appropriate activities. Similar activities and movements can also have a very positive carryover. If we try to be too specific all the time we not get the adaptation that we need to make significant improvement.
Game Speed Tips
Here are a few somewhat random thoughts on speed and speed development for game sports – sports that require change of direction and frequent stops and starts as opposed to pure sprint speed as required by a sprinter in track. Some of the concepts obvously overlap. To be fast you must train fast! Base your speed development training on the speed demands of the sport that you are preparing for. Always prepare for each speed training session with a thorough active warm-up. Speed development must be done in a non-fatigued state; therefore it should occur at the start of the workout and after an easy workday or a rest day. Technique under fatigue (TUF) comes latter after good motor patterns have been established. Always stress correct mechanics and relate the mechanics to the specific movements of sport you preparing for. Optimum Speed is the goal – Speed that you can use and control in the game. Never lose sight of the "moment of truth." When you least expect it and are most fatigued speed will be the deciding factor in ability to make the play. Speed is a motor task – You can learn to be faster through correct mechanics and situational awareness. Starting is extending ankle/knee/hip. Stopping is bending ankle/ knee/hip. Without the ability to stop effectively it is difficult to be skillful and stay injury free Reaction can be improved by working on the primary stimulus that is either the ball or another player. Assistance training methods (Towing) develops specific strength to improve stride frequency. Resistance training methods (Harness, hills sprits, tire pull) develop specific strength and acceleration. Speed work demands a high level of motivation and concentration. 6 – 8 are the optimum number of reps for speed development work for any one exercise with adequate recovery between efforts to insure quality. Adequate strength and sound basic technique are prerequisites for speed development. Vary speed training methods and intensity to avoid building a speed barrier.
My New Book
Following the Functional Path – Building and Rebuilding the Athlete is out now and available for purchase from Momentum Media at http://bit.ly/im1OnS It is an edited compilation of the first five years of this blog. At the risk of sounding like a shameless self-promoter I know it is good because I got a two thumbs up from my toughest critic, my wife Melissa. When she finished the final edit her exact words were: “I learned so much reading this, it was really interesting, I liked the stories.” Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as she did. I do hope you will be challenged by the ideas. It is my ninth book, a fact that has my ninth grade English teacher turning over in his grave. How can someone who got a solid D- in ninth grade English possibly write one book much less nine? Honestly my mother inspired me to not get discouraged, to never give up and to persevere. Had I listened to that teacher I would have quit school and gotten a job bagging groceries or driving a truck. There is a lesson here, a lesson I remind myself of everyday. Don’t listen to the naysayers. Pursue your dreams, find a way and make it happen. Be gritty and remember the story of the Little Engine That Could that my mom used to read to read to me when I was a little kid – “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” I am gathering material now for my tenth book. Thanks Mom for never letting me quit and believing in me. Sure wish you were here to read the book.