3-D Optimal Performance Guide

Hiatus over! Interview with Dr. Roy Sugarman

2011-07-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

Dear all,

I'm back!!!

It's been a while and I'm sorry I have not been attending to the blog that much. It's been quite a few months as I have moved into radio as well.

I'm going to post a few of the interviews up as well as some videos. They are awesome if I do say so myself.

This first interview is of me and Dr. Roy Sugarman of Athletes Performance. Roy is the Director of Neuroscience there so we were able to talk about that aspect of performance and how mindset really affects motor control.

Coaches and players out there, take note that if you are distracted or have a bad attitude, those thoughts actually affect the motor control centers of your brain. Bad attitude = Bad performance.

Enjoy the interview!!!

Will

Listen to internet radio with thrill96 on Blog Talk Radio

Explain Pain: Part II with guest writer Anoop Balachandran

2011-06-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

This post has been a LOOOOONG time coming but I have been really busy with various interviews that I will post later. My friend, Anoop Balachandran, wrote this post on pain and I thought "Why try and reinvent the wheel?"

Thanks Anoop!!!

By: Anoop Balachandran of ExerciseBiology.com

Just like many fitness professionals and lay people, I used to believe that pain comes from an injury or damage caused by misaligned joints, weak and tight muscles, ruptured disks, bad posture and so on. This was based on the Cartesian model of thinking proposed by the philosopher Descartes almost 450 years back. Descartes wrote, “The flame particle jumps from the fire, touches the toe, moves up the spinal cord until a little bell goes off in the brain and says, ‘ouch. It hurt’.”

Figure 1: Cartesian Model

So it made a lot of sense to me when many physical therapists strengthened and stretched the muscle to treat pain, chiropractors tried to snap misaligned joints back to alignment, when physicians tried to diagnose and identify the damage causing the pain, and expensive tools like MRI and CT scans were recommended to spot the cause of pain. So just like any other passionate personal trainer, I too worked on correcting my client’s posture, finding their movement dysfunctions, correcting their imbalances, and performing trigger point therapy to ‘fix’ the pain in my clients.

In some of my clients it worked, in some it didn’t, and the rest ‘acted’ like it worked. This piqued my curiosity to research more about pain and converse with people who were a lot more abreast with the pain research and its application. And to be honest, it turned out be a very humbling experience.

It seemed like my understanding of pain was far from being complete and was missing some very vital information. So without further ado, here is what I learned:

So what is missing in our understanding of pain?

From what we remember from our undergraduate textbooks, when you get hurt the pain receptors send pain signals up the brain and we sense pain. So if pain is indeed an accurate indication of tissue damage, tell me:

Why do 40% of the people (alert, rational & coherent and “not in shock”) admitted to an emergency room with horrific wounds feel no pain or pain of low intensity even after long delays? (1)
Why do studies repeatedly show gross abnormalities, like disc bulges, spinal stenosis, herniations, meniscus tears, and so on in 20-70% of people who have no history of pain? (3,4,5).
Which treatment would help in relieving the pain experienced by amputees in their “missing limb”? And 70% of the amputees report limb pain and sensation even years after the amputation (2).
There are thousands of amputees running with prosthetic limbs and cerebral palsy patients walking with worst gait possible. These folks have more than 100% movement dysfunctions. Why are they not in bed wreathing in pain?

There are a lot more questions which the simple Cartesian model of pain has no answers.

So what is this revolution in the understanding of pain science?

The topic of pain is extremely complex to say the least. The below points are just a short summary of some of the major advancements in our understanding of the science of pain. Mind you, the researchers knew about all this at least a decade ago, but the practitioners just happened to be late in understanding these concepts (just like in most fields).

1. There are no pain receptors

Pain is often thought of as a reflex mechanism. When you get hurt, the pain receptors send pain signals up to the brain and we sense pain, right? Wrong.

We have no ‘pain’ receptors. It is physiologically more correct to call them nociceptors because they are very similar to other receptors which sense temperature, pressure, and chemicals (called non-nociceptive receptors). The only difference between the two is that the nociceptors have a higher threshold than the non-nociceptors and are only activated when the stimuli is in the higher range. Contrary to what most people believe they don’t send ‘pain’ signals, they send the same signals as other non-nociceptors but just at a higher threshold.

2. Pain is in your brain

When these ‘warning’ signals from the nociceptors reach the brain, it is up to the brain to decide whether it is indeed a real danger or not. You will not feel pain unless and until the brain believes that there is a threat to the body and hence an action is required. This has been shown in numerous studies both in animals and humans 6,7,8). In other words, it’s not the signals that go to the brain from the body that matters, it’s what the brain decides to do with these signals that matters.

This perhaps explains the countless examples we see of how people come to the emergency room with limbs missing and other horrific injuries room, but feel no pain whatsoever. The likely explanation is that if the brain indeed thought that the missing limb or the injury was highly threatening, you will be crouched, caring for your wound and will most likely succumb to your injuries. If you think about it, pain does not serve a protective purpose when survival is at stake.

Pain is so unique from other sensations such as touch, smell and taste that pain is defined as an ‘emotion or experience’. Pain, just like your emotions, is influenced by your thoughts, culture, beliefs and attitude.

In the 1950’s Henry Beecher, a military doctor in World War II, looked at the magnitude of injury and the morphine dose soldiers took to control pain. As expected, the greater the injury, the greater the morphine dose. And hence he concluded that there is no influence of your emotions and thinking on your pain. To apply these finding to civilians, he did the same study on civilians. And he found the same: the greater the injury, the greater the morphine. But there was one critical difference – for the same amount of tissue damage, the civilians took 3 times more morphine that the soldiers! How the heck is that possible?(9)

For a soldier, the injury meant he survived the war and he can recover and go back home. However, a civilian looked at the injuries from a completely different and negative perspective. For the civilian, the injury meant an awful situation which will dramatically change their life for the worse. Their emotions, attitudes and beliefs influenced how the brain perceived the threat level of the injury and modulated pain accordingly. It is now clear from brain imaging studies that that there is no single ‘pain centre in the brain’ as we used to believe. Many areas in the brain are actively involved in constructing and modulating this multisensory experience called pain (known as the Pain Neuromatrix). It is very appropriate to say that pain is an output constructed in the brain and not an input to the brain as we used to believe (10,11).

Now think how differently a football player and a stay-at- home mom experience their pain after a knee injury of similar magnitude?

3. Pain can change your nervous system

Acute pain due to broken bones, cuts, surgery, burns and such usually goes away when the underlying injury has been treated or healed. It might last for a few seconds, hours, weeks or, at the most, 3-6 months which is the time it takes to heal and remodel connective tissue. But in a sub-set of people, even after the tissues had enough time to heal, pain persists for years. Pain that lasts for more than 3-6 months is termed as chronic pain and has remained a mystery for many years.

We always believed that the brain and the nervous system cannot change. But now we know that brain is plastic and can indeed change (the science of neuro-plasticity). This was only discovered a decade ago and it is one of the groundbreaking discoveries in the field of neuroscience.

We now know from imaging and animal studies that persistent pain or pain which lasts for months and years can change the pain pathways – peripheral receptors-spinal cord-brain(physically, functionally and chemically) to make it a lot more sensitive. And this hypersensitivity causes the brain to interpret anything related to those tissues to be highly threatening. Just like the concept, ‘the more your practice, the better you become at performing the skill’, the longer your pain persists, the more efficient the nervous system and the brain becomes in triggering and maintaining pain. Hence in chronic pain, pain has moved up to the nervous system and now has very little to do with the initial damage to the tissues that caused the pain (12,13,14). It is just the like the neurological adaptations in strength training that we always talk about.

So some times when folks are in chronic pain, they did not get hurt or they did not re-injure themselves as many think. It is just that your brain and nervous system has become so good at constructing pain at the slightest of triggers –even those that don’t cause damage. These triggers could be in the form of a slight pressure on the affected tissues or nearby tissues or just even the thought of the injury-causing incident. Chronic pain has been a mystery because we were just looking at the tissues and joints while ignoring the nervous system and the brain. But It is in the brain and the nervous system that the action happens!

Figure 2: The figure shows the old Cartesian model of pain and the new model which shows pain as a multisensory experience affected by both bottom-up and top-down inputs.

So what can you do about my pain?

The role of any pain treatment should be to lower the threatening inputs to the brain. Just so that you know, we are talking about the treatment of chronic pain here and not acute pain (associated with tissue injury) which is pretty straightforward and well understood. What we are more concerned about is the chronic pain problem which has progressed beyond the normal healing timeframe.

Bottom-Up Approach (Nociceptive Mechanisms): This involves any treatments which lowers or inhibits the nociceptive signals (bottom) to the brain (hence called bottom-up approach). Most current pain therapies targeting the tissues and joints are based on this ‘bottom-up’ approach. A simple example would applying ice or heat to the damaged area. Another example would be lowering the weight for leg exercises if you have knee or low back pain (24).Mckenzie’s method, Postural correction, Sahrmann’s movement impairment syndrome, Trigger Point therapy, ART, Functional Movement Screens and all come under this category.

But the problem with this ‘bottom up’ only approach is that the treatment is rationalized in a context which reinforces the belief that there is something wrong in their tissues and joints (and thereby raising the threat level) and may only bring temporary relief (25).

Top-Down Approach (Non-Nociceptive Mechanisms): This is done by educating the person about the physiology of pain, the role of brain in pain, and ”how pain does not mean harm” (hence called top-down approach).

If we explain pain based on our structural-pathology model, every time people feel pain they think they got hurt or re-injured themselves and naturally try to avoid pain-causing behaviors. This thinking process heightens the threat level in the brain leading to pain persistence (fear-avoidance belief model) (15,16). The fear-avoidance model is now seen as a central mechanism of how acute pain turns into chronic pain. Pain education should make them understand that “pain does not mean harm” Most of our current treatments based on the structural-pathology model may provide temporary pain relief, but pain explained based on our current model only helps to heighten fear of pain and anxiety in the patient.

It has been shown in recent studies that teaching patients about modern pain biology can change beliefs and attitudes about pain and lower the pain sensitivity. Further, when education about pain physiology is included into physiotherapy treatment of patients with chronic pain, pain and disability are reduced (17,18,19).

If you are keeping up with me, it is more scientifically correct to include both methods.

Graded Exposure Approach or Activity: In this approach, the person is gradually exposed to feared activities without causing pain and thereby lowering the threat level in the brain. These feared activities could be imagined movements, exercise, or daily functions. Many researchers believe that a large part of pain relief seen with exercise and other rehabilitation methods is from lowering the threat level in the brain using the graded approach. So when you clients talk about how they have less pain after lifting weights, is it because they got stronger lifting weights or were they just gradually exposed in a graded manner to the threatening exercise or both?(20,21)

Can you give an example?

For example, Person A hurts his low back doing barbell squats. Now every time he tries to squat he feels pain in his low back. He works in the fitness field and strongly believes that the key to getting stronger and bigger is performing big exercises like the squat and deadlift. And to make matters worse, he has read the works of Florence Kendall, Shirley Sahrmann, Gary Gray, Stuart McGill and other rehab experts who emphasizes the structural-pathology model and hence uses the ‘bottom-up approach’ in managing pain. All this has made him believe that there is something wrong in his joints and tissues. His beliefs, his attitude, and emotions have heightened the threat level in the brain and have made his nervous system a lot more sensitive to pain. He tries doing squats, but gets pain when he exceeds a certain weight. He has the pain now for more than 3-4 years and now he feels pain in the morning bending over the sink to brush his teeth, riding a bike or an elliptical or doing anything related to hips or low back for an extended period of time. Now he strongly believes his low back is very vulnerable to injury and he will never be able to squat or deadlift again.

But things are getting brighter. He reads how complicated pain can be, how pain is an experience constructed in the brain and how in chronic pain pain has moved up to the nervous system and the tissues maybe totally fine. He reads the book Explain Pain, works of Patrick Wall, Melzack, Louis Gifford, Lorimer Moseley, Waddell and learns a lot fromSomasimple.com discussions.

Top-Down Approach: He now clearly understands that the structural-pathology model, which relies solely on the ‘bottom-up’ approach is incomplete. Just by understanding the physiology of pain or the ‘top-down’ approach, his threat level has lowered in the brain. His nervous system is much less sensitive to pain and the brain finds no reason to induce pain because there is no threat and no action required. He feels much less pain now.

Bottom-Up Approach and Graded Exposure Method: He gradually starts incorporating deadlift and squats with light weights thereby lowering the nociceptive input (‘bottom-up approach’) and stays away from the pain flare up point. Within a few months, he is squatting and deadlifting with very little pain. The Person A is the author of the article.

Non-specific effects: Some of the pain relief with every pain treatment could also be attributed to the effects which are not specific to the treatment. These could include the person’s beliefs, expectations and experiences with other illnesses, previous use of the current treatment or other treatments, context and the interaction between the patient and the practitioner and so on (placebo effect). But, mind you, they all work by affecting how the brain perceives pain (22).

Every pain treatment out there, whether it is acupuncture, postural correction, movement dysfunctions, trigger point therapy, stretching, active release technique, manual therapy, McKenzie methods, meditation, yoga and so forth, works by the above mechanisms to affect the brain since the experience of pain comes from your brain and may have very little to do with eliminating the ‘pathology’ in the body as claimed. While many people do have “issues in the tissues”, that’s far from the only consideration.

I think we all can learn a lot from what Louis Gifford, a physical therapist and one of the leading authors in the field of pain, has to say about pain and dysfunction, “It is important to note that we are full of dysfunctions whether we are in pain or not. If we are in pain it is easy to find something wrong relevant to a precise tissue model but which may not be relevant at all to the patients state”(23).

Conclusion

The purpose of the article was to give a short introduction to the current understanding of the science of pain in a simple and non- technical manner. I really hope the article will provide a ray of hope (and direction) to people suffering from pain who have lost all their hope. I also hope that this article will help the fitness professionals understand what we were missing in our current approach to pain and how we can add the ‘top-down’ approach to make it more complete and scientific and thereby help our clients better.

Next time when you come across a client who complains about low back pain that he or she had for years, the two disc bulges seen on the scan, and how she or he has to be extremely careful not to hurt it again, what are you going to say?

Note: Please click the Recommended Reading (this will take you to a new page and then click on Recommended Reading again) for references and for other recommended resources on the topic. This will come as a PDF that provides links to all references.

Acknowledgement: Jason Silvernail DPT, DSc

Explaining "pain" to your clients and athletes: A guide for trainers and coaches

2011-05-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

If you have been in the fitness/coaching industry long enough, you will have dealt with a client or athlete who is in pain whether it is acute or chronic. If it hasn't happened yet, it will at some point.

Even if you have or have not had a client or athlete in pain, you have most likely experienced it yourself. Chronic. Acute. Or both.

However, do you really understand what "pain" really is and what is going on in the body.

Here is a TRAINER/COACHES GUIDE TO PAIN with special thanks to Diane Jacobs and the folks at somasimple.com for their information and support.

DESCARTES AND HIS THEORY

About 400 years ago, a smart French philosopher by the name of Rene Descartes came up with the idea that PAIN was created by peripheral sensors in the body that sent "pain" messages to that brain. Basically, if you stubbed your toe, an "alarm bell" of some type rings your brain. However, this proved to not be the case.

In the last 50 or so years, pain science research has come out that opens our eyes to the true cause of "pain." Led by pioneers like Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall, we have newer and workable theory of pain which is now being known as Melzacks Neuromatrix Theory. However, I will go over this in more detail at a later time. Right now, I want to give you an overview of Pain as we understand it now.

NOCICEPTION DOES NOT EQUAL PAIN

This is probably where most people, including myself, get tripped up a bit. We think, we bang our knee and then BOOM, there's pain. Well, turns out its more complicated than that. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1) First, recognize that pain and nociception are terms that are often used interchangeably unfortunately, so please bare with me while I deconstruct the above bolded statement.

2) Pain CAN exist without any nociception. For instance, there are many documented cases and a tremendous amount of research done about PHANTOM LIMB PAIN where there is no limb but there is a perceived pain where that limb would be. Luckily thanks to the pioneering efforts of doctors like V.S. Ramanchandran and Mirror Box Therapy, many of those afflicted with Phantom Limb Pain have been helped.

3) If there is pain, the brain can choose to ignore it given the circumstances. There are well documented cases of soldiers who have been wounded on the battlefield and kept on fighting. Not until they ceased fighting did the body experience "pain" because the situation of staying alive throughout the battled overrode the pain perception. Same things happen in the wild to animals like zebra who have been wounded by a lion but still keeps running, if possible.

4) Nociceptive input is required for the developing infant brain so that starts to create an experience of pain. There is an disorder called congenital insensitivity to pain where a person can feel no pain. This is especially dangerous for young children as any infections, broken bones, burns, etc go unfelt by the child and there is a greater risk of them dying young.

According to the International Association for the Study of Pain, "PAIN" is defined as:

"Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage."

Wait! Pain is an EXPERIENCE and not some sense????

Yes, that's pretty much what it is. It was once thought that pain nerves in the body would send signals through the spinal cord to the a pain center in the brain much like the way the visual, auditory, gustatory, etc senses worked. However, this is not the case.

According to Diane Jacobs, PT: Instead [of a pain center] there are circuitry routes, billions of neurons, receptor sites on them (lots and lots of receptors that can change to different ones, alter what they are sensitive to, thanks to "synaptic plasticity") and transmitters. There are convergence zones and arborizations, ascending and descending fibers, switchback and feed forward stations, and lots of somatotopic representational areas (brain maps of body parts). There is brain behaviour, and parts or areas that light up for pain as well as for other functions on fMRI. But there is no verifiable "pain center," a center devoted exclusively to receiving pain signals, same as there is no actual "little wo/man", or mayor, up there running anything or guiding our lives.

SO WHERE DOES PAIN COME FROM THEN???

Music as Medicine through this world of woe: Focus on Dopamine

2011-05-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

Peter Hollens has done it again. What can i say but the boy's got talent! His latest a cappella single "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" was amazingly powerful and moving. Of course with my new found respect for being a "neuro-head" I had to investigate why I was so moved by this music.

This led me to a search on google that resulted in an article from MSNBC.com entitled "T o your brain, music is as enjoyable as sex." BINGO! In this article, the researchers from McGill University focused on just the neurotransmitter, DOPAMINE that was released during listening to classical music. Among other things, they found that "The brain substance is involved both in anticipating a particularly thrilling musical moment and in feeling the rush from it, researchers found," and "while dopamine normally helps us feel the pleasure of eating or having sex, it also helps produce euphoria from illegal drugs. It's active in particular circuits of the brain."

So wait...just listening to music can make me feel happy? Sure, I think that people have known that for centuries. The adage "Music soothes the savage beast" captures that perfectly. It seems that dopamine's effects were known in the 1800's by Angelo Masso, an Italian physiologist, and later confirmed that dopamine not only acted as neurotransmitter but worked as a a vasopressor

WHOAAAA! Wait, dopamine secreted while listening to music creates an entire physiologic experience of pleasure not to mention a potential stir of emotions, depending on the context of the music? Dr. Robert Zatorre of McGill University said "that makes sense: The area linked to anticipation connects with parts of the brain involved with making predictions and responding to the environment, while the area reacting to the peak moment itself is linked to the brain's limbic system, which is involved in emotion.

Dopamine, secreted by the Hypothalamus which is intimately tied in with the Pituitary gland that leads to other glands like the Adrenals, Gonads and Thyroid (the whole Hypothalimic - Pituitiary Axis) is affected by something as common as music?

Wait! The hypothalamus that is intimately linked to our Autonomic Nervous System that controls bodily functions like heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature is stimulated by MUSIC?

Can music make you happier? Sure does look that way. In an article from WIRED entitled "Music makes your brain happy", Dr. Daniel Levitin, another McGill University adjunct professor, also believes that serotonin and dopamine are involved while listening to music with the ability to act like anti-depressants. According to Levitin: ...most people in Western society use music to regulate moods, whether it's playing something peppy in the morning or something soothing at the end of a hard day, or something that will motivate them to exercise. Joni Mitchell told me that someone once said before there was Prozac, there was her."

I invite you listen to the video below and buy the single from iTunes. Pete is a great musician who, like many musicians, is trying to make a living while following his passion.

Enjoy and be happy!

Will

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Lyrics

I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger
While traveling through, this world of woe.
Yet there's no sickness, toil nor danger
In that bright land, to which I go.
I'm going there to see my father
I'm going there no more to roam;
I'm just a going over Jordan
I'm just a going over home.

I know dark clouds will gather o'er me
I know my way is rough and steep;
Yet beauteous fields lie just before me
Where God's redeemed, their vigils keep
I'm going there to see my mother
She said she'd meet me when I come;
I'm just a going over Jordan
I'm just a going over home.

I want to wear a crown of Glory
When I get home to that good land
I want to shout Salvation's story
In concert with the Blood-Washed Band

I'm going there to meet my Saviour
To sing his praise forever more;
I'm just a going over Jordan
I'm just a going over home.

Pavlov's Yogis?: Redefining your space through Neuroplasticity

2011-05-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

How do you define your yoga practice? I think the better question is "How do you redefine your yoga practice?"

I do not think there is one particular answer but the one I have been focusing on in my yoga classes is one of SPACE and SPACING. It seems when many of us go to a class, we grab our mats and go to the same place as the last time we were there. We like our "spots" and given going to that same spot more and more, we become accustomed to it and even feel "weird" when we are not in it, despite the fact it's the same room.

I think that probably happens in more than just the yoga studio. Classrooms, boardrooms, treadmills at the gym to even airplane seats. We are "creatures of habit" in so many ways. However, is that advantageous during our yoga practice and lives off of the mat?

Well, I could argue both ways but for the sake of today's post, I will go with a NO!

I have observed over the last few weeks that not only are my students setting themselves up the same way in the room (fine by me) but they are actually moving in, remaining and moving out of the asana in the same way and positioning their hands and feet the same way (not fine by me). Looking at the function of the CEREBELLUM, we become aware of how powerful the brain is in terms of learning in anything, in particular yoga. In the book "Brain Architecture" by Larry Swanson, we see that the brain "The essential nature of cerebellar function remains elusive. However it does appear safe to conclude that the “small brain” is an integral part of the motor system (it is also known to participate in visceromotor responses) and that it plays an important role in motor learning and in fine tuning the coordination between the hundreds of muscles involved in orienting responses, reaching and manipulating, posture, and so on. The cerebellum receives all types of sensory information, either directly from the spinal cord and brainstem or indirectly from the cerebral cortex (via mossy fibers from the pontine gray). "

We also see "Much more intriguing, however, is the possibility that synaptic strength can be increased or decreased by the coincident activation of synapses: in other words, that associate learning can take place. As a matter of fact, Richard Thompson and his colleagues have shown that the circuit underlies at least some forms of Pavlovian learning, which is also referred to as classical conditioning. Recall Pavlov’s dogs and how they salivated at the sight of food (an unconditioned stimulus and response). What Pavlov did was to ring a bell just before food was shown to the dog, and the next time the bell was rung alone the dog salivated. Before the pairing, the bell alone did not elicit salivation; after the pairing, it did – it became a conditioned or learned stimulus that produced a conditioned response. The key point was that an ineffective stimulus (the bell) became an effective stimulus after pairing with an unconditioned or already effective stimulus. We now know that the strength of synapses associated with the auditory pathway were strengthened to the point where they were now effective without pairing with the other stimulus. Where does this synaptic strengthening – this learning – take place?"

Are yogis victims of "classical conditioning" that the mat is the effective stimulus to have them position and move themselves the same way EVERY TIME? I offer the some thoughts that we can not only develop our body, we can develop our minds via neuroplasticity.

In the book "The Brain that Changes itself" by Dr. Norman Doidge, we see a great interview with Dr. Michael Menzerich who discusses the reality that the brain is able to be changed, even in adulthood, for the better and it is not "hard-wired" as previously thought. Turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks, but it's harder due to "competitive plasticity" which "explains why our bad habits are so difficult to break or “unlearn.” Most of us think of the brain as a container and learning as putting something in it. When we try to break a bad habit, we think the solution is to put something new into the container. But when we learn a bad habit, it takes over a brain map, and each time we repeat it, it claims more control of that map and prevents the use of that space for “good” habits. That is why “unlearning” is often a lot harder than learning, and why early childhood education is so important— it’s best to get it right early, before the “bad habit” gets a competitive advantage.

As we move through our yoga practice, make sure that you are changing the physical and MENTAL dimensions of your practice by doing the following:

1) Be "longer" in your poses, meaning increase the length of how far the feet are apart from each other. For instance, step 2 more inches forward of where you normally do in Standing poses like Virhrabandrasana I (Warrior I). (More sensory feedback for greater motor output)

2) Be "deeper" in your poses by bending your knees, within a safe range, to allow the muscles to elongate at the same time stabilizing you more. (More sensory feedback for greater motor output)

3) Be "slower" while moving into, through and out of your poses. The brain will want to move in/out of the pose quickly since the "pose" and not the transition is the goal. Be aware of your speed so that the brain fires to more muscle fibers so that start to develop greater strength. (More sensory feedback for greater motor output)

4) Breathe deeper. Enough said.

5) Focus

Merzenich discovered that paying close attention is essential to long-term plastic change. In numerous experiments he found that lasting changes occurred only when his monkeys paid close attention. When the animals performed tasks automatically, without paying attention, they changed their brain maps, but the changes did not last. We often praise “the ability to multitask.” While you can learn when you divide your attention, divided attention doesn’t lead to abiding change in your brain maps.

Warning: This will be difficult at first. For some, including myself, change is not hard. It's easier to use those highly used neural pathways. However, as we are more focused on the changing the brain, I promise you that the body will follow and you will see your practice soar!

Questions? Comments? I'd love to hear them!

Will

Focus on the movement and not the exercise

2011-05-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I wrote about athletic performance enhancement so I figured I'd go ahead and do it today. In case you haven't gathered from my recent posts, I am focusing on the Nervous System which is pretty cool.

My colleagues are a little perplexed, maybe even a little intimidated by this topic because it is VERY in-depth. Muscles, joints, fascia, are all fascinating subjects, don't get me wrong and for MANY, MANY years coaches have been focusing on those because it's the easiest to see (and maybe understand). However, as I look at my preparation for training my athletes this summer, I see an advantage to being much more MINDFUL of movements and not exercises.

If you have been a long time reader of the blog, you will see that I am heavily involved in biomechanics and the movements of the joints, eccentric loading/concentric unloading of muscles, etc. Both are very important to performance enhancement because we need to know what is going on at any given time during the movement. That way, if our athlete is experiencing a physical limitation, we have some kind of starting point with the movement. We take into considerations like GRAVITY, GROUND REACTION FORCES, MASS, MOMENTUM. All of those physics-based variables. Biologically, we understand arthrokinematics and muscle function. We also need to take into account the other bodily systems like Endocrine, Immune and Nervous systems. If an athlete is hitting a plateau, those integrated systems are the places to look. Not more weight/load on the athlete.

Is it possible that the allostatic load of the athlete is unbalanced from all of the training?I have seen athletes being driven into the ground during off season workouts only to crack under the pressure of the season. All that work for nothing!

At 3-D Optimal Performance we offer a program that takes into consideration the needs and wants of the athlete and balances them out in a week long program that consists of:

Strength Training

Cardiovascular Conditioning

Aquatic Conditioning

Yoga/Pilates

Martial Arts

Speed and Agility Training

We do this to stimulate performance enhancement by providing novel stimuls to the athletes system so that it is not able to adapt unlike the painful and repetitive Bench Press-Squat-Deadlift routine.

Our athletes CONSISTENTLY score high on the strength tests their schools put them through despite never lifting heavy and stay injury free (minus trauma based injuries).

Challenge the body by challenging the brain.

Highs and Lows in Training.

Make them think.

Make them adapt.

Make them love movement so when they get on the field it's there without hesitation.

Make them breathe and be calm so when they are in clutch situation, they don't panic.

Educate them on proper nutrition. Basic physiology doesnt change. Eat crap. Play like crap.

Focus on the movement and not the exercise.

Simple? Simple.

Here's what the Dalai Lama thinks about humanity....

2011-04-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered:

"Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."

Dalai Lama (1935- ), 14th and current Dalai Lama; Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism

My Neural Path Way: My journey from a meat-head to a neuro-head

2011-04-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have had a life changing moment. It was all brought on about by a workshop I participated in about 3 months ago regarding Kinesiotape and how to apply it in rehabiliation and performance enhancement.

This workshop was facilitated by my friend and colleague, Dr. Nick Studholme, DC. Of course, we started with the neurophysiology of the Kinesiotape, of which I'll go over in another post, which really excited me. I had already been awakened to the possibility that the body is run by the body's president, the brain by another friend, Dr. Peter Jo, DC. During the summer we discussed, in detail, how the nervous system is the key to the body and how it is important that the we address the nervous system when we look at the body; otherwise, we are missing a huge component.

Well, many books and websites later, I finally found Diane Jacobs and the folks at SomaSimple.com who really got me thinking. They are a group of manual therapy physical therapists, massage therapists and even a few strength coaches and chiropractors who have created a pretty amazing forum dedicated to understanding neuroscience and how it relates to pain elimination/management but easily be applied to performance enhancement especially when so many athletes are in pain.... A LOT.

1 - blastula, 2 - gastrula with blastopore;orange - ectoderm, red - endoderm.

On the forum, they frequently refer to ectoderm and mesoderm. These terms are based in embryology and describe the progression of development of the embryo to maturation with the ectoderm (nervous system, skin) and the endoderm (digestive organs, lungs, bladder) developing first and THEN the mesoderm (muscles, skeleton and blood systems). Because of this order of development, it seems working with the ECTODERM or nervous system, makes more sense than trying to work with muscles or joints or the MESODERM for a truly functional outcome.

However, MANY in the rehabilitation and strength and conditioning fields are "mesodermalists". They insist that the muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons and fascia are the sources of pain and dysfunction. Treating or training them is the primary focus of many and while they may acknowledge the existence of the nervous system, it seems to be in a more "Oh of course it's important" and then go right back to focusing on joint mobilization/manipulation, ultrasound, deep tissue massage (read: beating), and in training focusing on isolated muscle building, foam rolling to "prep tissues", and joint mobility work.

All well intentioned but what I have learned in working with neuroscience or being an ECTODERMALIST, is that the brain can do all the heavy lifting (no pun intended) in terms of rehab AND training.

WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! I know that probably got some feathers ruffled but it's unfortunately the case folks. Now in terms of strength, sure, you can't just think yourself strong. You have to obviously increase the demands of load upon the organism to stimulate 'hypertrophy". I totally get that. However, how is that that the signals are sent that stimulates all the necessary metabolic changes to take place? How are type I or type II fibers "recruited?"

Hint: Nervous system.

How about in terms of pain in rehab? Well, just reading Melzacks Neuromatrix will clue you into that pain is an OUTPUT from the brain and not an input to the brain. This totally changed the way I treated pain along with thinking ectodermally.

I have been getting so much better results while just working with the skin and a technique developed by Diane Jacobs, PT called DERMONEUROMODULATION than digging into fascia or muscles. I simply let the brain do the work. There is no need to cause more pain with these techniques to the patients especially when muscles are just meat and fascia is just structural support. They do not signal the brain themselves. They are simply innervated.

As we look a little closer at training, many coaches say that they are doing "functional training," which is a dirty word in some regards but has become so widely misunderstood, the truly functional training coaches like Vern Gambetta, barely use it anymore. However, I am not sure they are sure who actually sits in the seat of "function." Here's another hint:

It's the nervous system.

I could go on and on about it, but I don't think more details are necessary, at least not in this post. This post was meant to stimulate some deeper thinking on the subject of the Nervous System as the "President of the body". Sure, he can't go at it without support from other departments like the vascular system, the cardiopulmonary system, etc, BUT he's still the "PREZ".

Thoughts? Questions?

Let me know.

Will

Introduction to Neural Training for Athletics: Focus on Baseball

2011-04-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting here for about an hour racking my brain thinking about baseball. It is THE season now and it's all over ESPN, so like the flu, I was bound to catch BASEBALL FEVER sooner or later.

Anyway, as I move through my studies of the body, I have made my way through the field of biomechanics and now have landed at HOME BASE (pardon the pun) of THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

Thanks for a pioneering group of PT's at SOMA SIMPLE, I have been truly enlightened. My realization:

THE BRAIN RUNS EVERYTHING IN THE BODY. You can live without many body parts and organs but life will cease instantly with no brain.

As I look at the field of baseball, I see that most to all of the focus is on the strengthening and conditioning of muscles and joints. Some coaches have even focused on the now very popular FASCIA and it's many wonderments. Anatomy trains has a foothold on many trainers and coaches now. It's fine to be interested in it but guess what....THE BRAIN RUNS EVERYTHING. No matter how well you understand fascia, if you don't have the brain to facilitate the task, you are dead in the water. Sorry to break it to you!

Anyway, I was reading a great article on a Belgian soccer coach by the name of Michel Bruyninckx entitled "Cracking Coaching's final frontier". In this article, the coach describes using "brain centered learning" as a way to train his players and its effects on his players. "When Germinal Beerschot and Belgian international midfielder Faris Haroun came to work with Bruyninckx, he could not kick the ball with his left foot. Two years later his former club Racing Genk thought he was left-footed"

According to the article "His drills start off simply but become increasingly more complicated to challenge players' focus and maintain their concentration. Sometimes players train in bare feet to make them more "sensorially" aware; at other times they would play simple maths games while doing physical conditioning work."

Wow! A sports coach who is having success with focusing his training on the brain. I HAD to learn more.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH BASEBALL?

Well, it has everything to do with baseball or any other sport for that matter. As I mentioned before, the brain runs the show and when we take a complicated action like pitching, we MUST figure that into the equation. Its not just muscles, fascia and bones!

Current USC baseball pitching coach Tom House has written a great book on pitching called " Arm Action, Arm Path, and the Perfect Pitch: Building a million dollar arm"

and in the first chapter of the book, he discusses what he calls "Timing of the RDRBI Mechanics Variables with the Progression of Critical Events in a Pitchers Delivery". He cites 3 functions of optimal kinematic/kinetic efficiency in a pitchers delivery being:

A. Timing

B. The RDRBI Bio-mechanical variables with

C. The proper sequencing of critical events.

I'd like to focus on TIMING. I realize that there some disagreements with Coach House's sequencing but I will leave that for another time. Any comments to that can be directed to him. :)

TIMING AND PERCEPTION IN BASEBALL:

As we look towards the skill of baseball, it is easy to break down component parts of the full movement from Set-up to the Follow-through. According to Coach House, there are particular points in time WITHIN the sequence of events that need to occur in a very narrow window of time. These numbers are for elite baseball players and will probably modulate given age and competitive level but they will most not likely deviate too much. However, our sense of "time" and "timing" in sports is integral to our success. In a complex action, like pitching, our brain and body have to be tuned into time or COORDINATED. This "time sense" of course is subconscious, but this should not downplay its importance.

In a task, there is an inherent rhythm to the movements kept in step by our brain. If that sense of timing is off, then no matter what sequencing we use, it will not be as efficient and more than likely not as effective. This matter of timing is critical in both learning and performing.

NEUROSCIENCE MEETS SPORTS

Science is now telling us that there are neurons devoted to the sensing of time which are located in the prefrontal cortex and striatum. In an article entitled "Time Keeping Brain Neurons Discovered" based on the journal paper "Neural representation of time in cortico-basal ganglia circuits" , it suggests that part of the brain actually time stamps tasks that didn't require a specific time requirement; and that the task had dominant peaks in latencies at 100 milliseconds, 110 miliseconds, 150 milliseconds, etc after the initiation of a "go" signal. Interestingly, the neurons that are located in the prefrontal cortex and striatum also play important roles in movement, thought control and learning.

WHAT!??!?!?!? Is is possible there are subtle peaks times in the brain for optimal learning, thought control and movement??????

BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE.....

In a study in the Journal of Neuroscience, the researchers found that PERCEPTION has 'on' and 'off' periods where attention is a at its greatest. According to the article, "Timewarp: How your brain creates the 4th Dimension" "[Prof] VanRullen examined another neural function, called near-threshold luminance detection. He exposed his subjects to flashes of light barely bright enough to see, and found that the likelihood of them noticing the light depended on the phase of another wave in the front of the brain, which rises and falls about 7 times per second. It turned out that subjects were more likely to detect the flash when the wave was near its trough, and miss it when the wave was near its peak."

WHERE IS THIS GOING....

Ok, I know some of the above info was a little dense BUT I am getting to what it has to do with baseball and sports in general.

As we teach our athletes, students and musicians a skill, it is important for us to recognize that we can access the brain directly to accelerate learning. For instance, Dr. Luke Jones from the University of Manchester discovered that performance of certain tasks could be improved up to 20 percent by causing the internal clock of the brain to speed up artificially by using 10 seconds of clicks (about 5 clicks per second) to stimulate neurons in the brain. TWENTY PERCENT!?!?!?

The theory behind it is that if you accelerate peoples subjective time, "they really seem to have more time to process things," according to Dr. John Wearden, a mentor of Dr. Jones. That's the feeling of the ZONE when everything slows down and you can see things almost moving in slow motion.

The implications in both learning skills and performance are enormous with the knowledge that we can directly affect the brain through something as simple as clicks on a metronome to improve performance.

ARE THERE OTHER WAYS TO TWEAK THE BRAIN TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE?

Of course! The "Timewarp" article says that "Edward Large, a neuroscientist at Florida Atlantic University at Boca Raton, has found that rhythmic sounds (like that found in music) can entrain gamma brain waves, causing the beginning of each sound to be accompanied by a burst of several especially strong wave peaks. The click train may entrain other types of brain waves too - perhaps those that correspond to the discrete snapshots in our perceptions.

VanRullen and Jones agree that this may be the answer. "When you have faster oscillations, you have more snapshots per second," says VanRullen. "You may be more efficient at particular cognitive tasks, and because there are more snapshots in a given time, it may seem to last for longer. If this theory is correct, the click train is literally resetting the brain's frame-capture rate."

SHOTGUN TECHNIQUE:

1) Find an online metronome or download something to your smart phone. I have an app called Tempo on my iphone.
2) Set the metronome to about 250 beats per minute (bpm) in 4/4 time using the quarter note as the beat.
3) Try not to have any distractions on music. The rhythm and tempo of the music will affect the experiment.
4) Compose of 2 sets of of 10 arithmetic problems. They should be all addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc. Try not to mix.
5) Time yourself on how long it takes you to complete the first set
6) With a stopwatch listen to your metronome for 10 seconds at 250 bpm.
5) Immediately time yourself doing set #2 of the arithmetic problems.

Where you better on the second set?

Could this be used when you doing other skill builidng?

CONCLUSION

Myelination of a neuron

We know that the brain controls everything, so when we can start to understand and accept that, it opens up a whole new world to training like Coach Bruyninckx did. With the "brain centered training" we know that all skills are learned in a progression. When one step of that progression is weak, we will see a breakdown at SOME point of the complete skill. As we begin skills, we learn them in a slower approach and then begin to tweak variables like speed, distance and time. As the brain becomes comfortable with the one step of the skill, an athlete, or whoever, can start to layer and fine tune that step ("myelination") which will create a natural transition to the next step. Until all steps are learned in an integrated fashion to produce something like an effective and efficient baseball pitch.

OBVIOUSLY, we cannot stop focusing on the biomechanics, muscle strengthening, fascial connections, etc that is associated with sports. They have their place. Knowing joint positions and muscular eccentric and concentric movements helps us to understand the the positions and snap shots of the task; however, what is important is what is "controlling the puppet strings".

THE BRAIN. THE BRAIN. THE BRAIN.

If team, skills and strength coaches recognize this, their results could improve 10-20 percent! Hmmm....I wonder if that's the difference between winning and losing a championship game? You tell me!!!

Thoughts? I'd love to hear them!

Have a great day!

Will

From Ordinary to EXTRAORDINARY Series Part II: Music + Dedication = Magic

2011-04-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

In the last blog post, I focused on Jimmer Fredette and how he had a team off the court that helped him go from ordinary to extraordinary. Athletics is always a great way to demonstrate how something can just transform and take off past any expectations. Now, I turn to music.

I have the pleasure of knowing many awesome people in many fields. It's really the nature of my work but one of the parts that I most love about it. Recently, I reconnected with my music colleague, Peter Hollens. Now Peter has an interesting background. He was a music major at Oregon who did quite a bit of classical music. During school, he decided to form an a cappella group and named it "On the Rocks". Well, this was the start of Peters amazing path in music that took him from singing in recital halls to singing on this seasons "The Sing Off" on NBC.

Recently, Peter has taken his talents and applied them to a worthy cause. With the help of fellow a cappella group members, he recorded a rendition of Justin Bieber's song "Pray." This song is on itunes and all proceeds from the song go to aid the victims of the earthquake/tsunami in Japan.

When asked why he decided to record the song, Peter said "“I just want to make a difference,” he explained. “I feel like as an artist…it makes perfect sense to donate my gifts to help get exposure for charities and organizations doing amazing work.”

So what does this have to with going from ORDINARY TO EXTRAORDINARY? A key component in going to the next level is DEDICATION.

“The dedication and talent really came together, [thanks to] all my most talented friends,” Hollens said. Dedication is a MAJOR DRIVER of action. It forces us to get uncomfortable when we get complacent. It stirs deep emotions that we may not have dealt with. It truly does move us.

How dedicated are you to get better? Has it moved you to action? If so, great! If not, you may need to reassess if the goal you have in mind is really something that you are willing to shift the heavens and earth to accomplish. Can you put your mind, body and spirit into it?

This is what came about when Peter Hollens dedicated himself to a worthy cause.......

(Please make sure to LIKE this video and consider buying the song! It's truly amazing.)

From Ordinary to EXTRAORDINARY Series: Focus on Jimmer Fredette

2011-03-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

March has been a pretty "mad" month, and I mean that in the most positive way possible. Yes, I am referring to March Madness with all of the great basketball games, but I am also referring to some really amazing experiences with client/patients.

There have been some really extraordinary moments and it got me thinking "How are these people so extraordinary?" I wanted to take a few case studies and look at why I think they are successful. Hopefully, I can hack some of their secrets so you can in turn apply them to become EXTRAORDINARY.

This is Part 1 of my ORDINARY TO EXTRAORDINARY SERIES starting with BYU'S JIMMER FREDETTE and why HE'S THE MAN!

Jimmer Fredette: TEAMWORK OFF OF THE COURTS
If you seen any of the games during March Madness, you will most likely have heard the name JIMMER FREDETTE of BYU. He is one of the NCAA's leading scorers whether from dunks, lay-ups or 3 point shots. He's legit! However, I did some research on this athlete to see how he went from Ordinary to Extraordinary and here's what I came up with.

Youngest of three children
Very competitive from the young age of 4!
Played sports with his older brother and their friends being able to hit 3 pointers and dodge other players at age 5
Father took him for schoolyard play with adults when he was age 8 as well as travelled to more intense competition with his AAU league.
Mother allowed him to dribble in throughout the house and even went as far as to build him a dribbling studio in the basement of their house
Uncle started speed training with at age 5 and still works with him

Jimmer had a TEAM when he was a young boy who challenged him and pushed him because they saw at a young age that he probably had talent, but most importantly was his DRIVE TO COMPETE AND GET BETTER. This amazing team who encouraged him in many ways knew that he had the drive and willingness to succeed and win. This is extremely fertile ground from going from ordinary to extraordinary.

What did this all add up to? Well here's a quote from Sports Illustrated writer Kelli Anderson about Fredette's playing style from a January 2011 article,

"Facing the opposition's best defender (or, more often, defenders), he pulls up going right or going left. He shoots off the dribble, off the wrong foot, off balance, off the glass. He finishes in traffic with a dozen deft moves, including a funky scoop shot, originating from his waist, that he can make with either hand."

Of course, I cannot ignore all of the great teams and coaches on the court that he has. I am interested in that, but I want to go back to the start of his career. From there, we can build.

Principle of Ordinary to Extraordinary: SUPPORT

Strategy of Ordinary to Extraordinary: Assemble a team of people who believe in and support you mentally, physically spiritually. Negative people and situations will not help and will most likely do the opposite.

Technique of Ordinary to Extraordinary:
1) Look at 5 people and/or situations in your life today. It's easy. What are the first five people or situations that pop into your head? Write those down on a piece of paper.
2) Analyze if they are positive or negative and write a "+" or "-" next to them. It should take about 2 seconds for each.
3) If that situation or person has done nothing positive in your life in the last 6 weeks, you do not need it so ELIMINATE IT. It is an energy leech and will continue to do so ad libitum.
4) If that situation or person has done something positive in your life in the last 6 weeks, you do need it. If it's a person, send them a quick thank you for supporting you. If it's a situation, encourage others to participate and spread the wealth.
5) If you are working on something and need help, look for someone who is at the top of their game, contact them and ask for their help. If you are sincere, they will help you. Nothing makes people feel better than helping someone out who REALLY wants to learn.
5) Repeat as often as necessary.

As always, I welcome questions and comments. Please send them to will@3doptimalperformance.com

Thanks!!!!

Will

Here's a great video highlight of Jimmer Fredette.

3-D OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE QUOTE SERIES: MOHANDAS GAHNDI

2011-03-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

"Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy."

-Mohandas Gandhi

3-D OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE QUOTE SERIES: MORPHEUS

2011-03-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

"Don't think you are, know you are. Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me. "

- Morpheus

How often do we TRY??? I'm willing to bet that you TRY more often than not at anything from fitness to relationships to business.

Stop trying. Know that you can and do it.

Dermoneuromodulation - based Training Introduction and Short Video

2011-03-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have become quite enamored with the NERVOUS SYSTEM. I mean, let's face it: IT'S THE CONTROL CENTER OF THE BODY.

The brain controls everything and is supplied with information via the nerves. It controls everything from our heart rate to cell proliferation to movement. When we consider working with the body in either a rehabilitative or training setting, considering the power of the nervous system would benefit both the client/patient and the trainer/therapist. Yes, we can still look at biomechanics, fascial manipulation, joint mobilization/manipulation, muscle action, etc; however, let's not lose track of what rules what. After all, the brain is king.

A fantastic Physical Therapist by the name of Diane Jacobs in Canada has created an amazing technique called Dermoneuromodulation. Here's a short excerpt from her manual:

The DNM system takes into account cutaneous nerves. The treatment rationale includes providing the nervous system with novel stimuli to assist it to function more easily and economically. Ordinary mechanical pain (from movement deficiency) becomes decreased, usually markedly. Follow up homework includes movement suggestions, but not usually any “exercise” as such. This approach is consistent with neurodynamic theory and pain theory.

Working with DNM and Applied Functional Science based functional training has provided me with an even more effective tool bag to work from. Below is a short video demonstrating the union of DNM and AFS Functional Training.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Send comments and questions to will@3doptimalperformance.com

All the best!

Will

The problem with TECHNIQUE

2011-03-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

To me, it's amazing what it taught these days in many disciplines. We see so many techniques and tools that are passed around to each student, usually in a very cookie cutter fashion. I am guilty of doing that with students in the past and for some reason, they got good results. Maybe it was because part of the technique was right which was held together with the students natural "talent". It's hard to say.

However, as I study biomechanics, neurology, kinesiology, etc, the more I see techniques are just the TIP OF THE ICEBERG in terms of what it really takes to have successful, repeatable and sustainable results. Well, what is it? What makes technique the final stage?

Fortunately, I was able to study under two great physical therapists, Gary Gray and Dr. David Tiberio of the Gray Institute who taught me about Principles - Strategies - Techniques paradigm.

The thing is that many people create techniques. Business. Politics. Psychology. Medicine. Athletics. Literature. Music. They create this little package, tool, manual that has some groundbreaking technique that is supposed to be THE THING. However, when we start looking at many of these techniques and what they are based (or not based) on (principles and strategies), we see that they are not really anchored to anything scientific. Evidence sure but not much based on the laws of nature, physics, biology, neurology. They are guesses on guesses on assumptions.

Working with PRINCIPLES or the WHY helps us to understand what is really going on. They are principles like GRAVITY, MASS, MOMENTUM, FORCES, 3-DIMENSIONS in physics. They are the deep anatomical and physiological knowledge of the brain that is at the center of human operations (thoughts, beliefs, emotions, movement). They are the functional aspects of skin, nerves, muscles, fascia and bones. These are the things that we know to be true.

Our STRATEGIES are based on the PRINCIPLES. They are our plans of action or the HOW. They give us direction in where we are going realizing that sometimes this is a not a straightforward direction. It may take us up, down, side to side and around in circles but at least we are aware of that. We are not just wandering aimlessly.

The TECHNIQUES are what we do. They are the WHAT and these are based out of our PRINCIPLES AND STRATEGIES. There is a foundation to these techniques.

Our tendency is go with what we see. What's on the surface. What is most easily identifiable. However, this superficial look is just that. It does not allow you to see what is REALLY going on underneath. There is usually a lot. It's what the microscope did for us. It allowed us to see the what the naked eye could not.

As we look at building skills/techniques, please understand that there is a lot much to what is going on with the technique. Here's the thing: these techniques should be able to hold up in the light of scientific scrutiny. Real science. Question those who create techniques AND seek to verify that which they tell you. When it does not hold up, politely excuse yourself and run like hell when they start to make stuff up to cover for their shortcomings.

Yes, this applies to anything. Do it. Here's a little warning though: IT IS DIFFICULT. It will not be easy to get and it may frustrate the hell out of you when you do it, but as you start to incorporate this thought process more and more, you will really be able to uncover aspects of the skill/activity that you never imagine. Your results will be amazing and you will have truly learned something special.

Questions? Comments? Email me at will@3doptimalperformance.com

Space and Time: Focus on TRANSITIONS

2011-03-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted on the blog. Partly because of life getting busy and also because I am not sure people are actually reading the blog. However, I will not let that deter me anymore. I made a commitment to write at least 3 blog posts per week, I'm going to stick with it.

As I teach and coach more, I'm seeing the importance of TRANSITIONS. The space and time in between is what transitions are all about. It happens with music, written word, sports, etc. Life is not just a series of snap shots. It is a wonderful flow that moves us forward in time and it's the space and time in between events and activities that make it exciting and meaningful.

Recently, I've been working extensively with baseball and yoga. Yoga is pretty constant but tis the season for baseball, and unfortunately the injuries that can come with increased demand on bodies that are not prepared for it, but I digress.

Looking at the the yoga sequence, we see all of the "poses" in the Sun Salutation/Surya Namaskar. We see what the pose is supposed to look like with the drawing but what's so important is HOW we got into the pose. How our body is sequenced and coordinated to get there is just as, if not more, important than the actual pose since the quality of how we get in and out of them determines the quality of the actual pose.

It's the same thing with baseball. We see that the sequencing of the motions in the body and how well coordinated they are are directly proportionally linked to the effectiveness and efficiency of the throw. Better sequencing of the entire body leads to increased sustained velocity and decreased injury. However, we have to know how work with the transitions between the "stages" of the throw. It cannot be willy-nilly and done haphazardly. I believe for 98% of people, the basics of the skill, must be broken down into parts, then connected, and then integrated into the skill. If not, we just will see "snap shot" pitching with dysfunctional and painful arms. For the other 2%, well, consider yourself the "naturals" but keep working harder to get better.

Is paying attention to the transitions difficult? Of course it! Very few people want to look in between the spaces. It's not sexy or glamorous, BUT it is the key to success and growth.

Questions? Comments? Please direct them below or send me an email at will@3doptimalperformance.com

Have a great day!

Will

NEW VIDEO: Tri-planar functional workout

2011-03-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

Sooooooooo... February was a bust in terms of writing. I will say that I got really sick with an ear infection of all things and that knocked me out for a while.

Anyway, I'm back and will get back to the writing. I wanted to share a quick 7 minute video of a functional workout I filmed awhile back. The cool thing is that it takes the standard Dumbell bench press, push-ups, squats and squat jumps to another level utilizing different foot and hand positions.

Enjoy!!!

Vibration training for athletes: What it is and does it work

2011-01-13T07:14:00.000-08:00

Recently, a friend and colleague bought a VibePlate and has been raving about it. Since I am the eternal skeptic, I decided to do a little research on WHOLE BODY VIBRATION TRAINING (WBV).

As much I am a believer in anecdotes and experience, the scientist in me wanted to see what research had been done what it yielded.

The history of WBV has its roots in ancient Greece for performance enhancement in athletes where they would take a saw covered with cotton and apply vibrations to a part of the body that was not functioning properly. Dr. John Kellogg Harvey was also using WBV in the 1880's and 1890's at the Battle Creek Sanitarium as part of his "wellness" protocols.

Most recently, we have seen the Russians using WBV for their cosmonauts which was followed closely NASA and the European Space Agency to offset the effects of being in space with no gravity which caused rapid muscle and bone density loss.

Recently, a lot of research has been done for performance enhancement as well as physical therapy and the research is very mixed but with good reason. Because the technology is not uniform across the board and there are many variations on the apparatus, the research is inconsistent. Keeping that in mind, here's what we've come up with regarding athletic performance enhancement as well as physical therapy:

1: THE EFFICACY OF THE PLATFORMS DEPENDS UPON THE TYPE OF PLATFORM. ^ ^a ^b Marín, PJ; Rhea, MR (2010). "Effects of vibration training on muscle power: a meta-analysis.". Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association 24 (3): 871–8.doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c7c6f0. PMID 20145554.

THERE ARE FOUR TYPES:

1. High Energy Lineal, found mostly in commercial vibration training studios and gyms. The vibration direction is lineal/upward eliciting a strong stretch-reflex contraction in muscle fibres targeted by the positions of training program.

2. Premium Speed Pivotal, (teeter-totter movement) used for physiotherapy work at lower speeds and exercise workouts at “premium” speed, up to 27 Hz. Both commercial and home units are available.

3. Medium Energy Lineal, the majority of lineal platforms produced. These are usually made of plastic; some have 3-D vibration which is low quality. They give slower and less consistent results.

4. Low Speed Pivotal units. These can give “therapy” benefits. Other machine types are low Energy/Low amplitude lineal and Low energy/High amplitude lineal with varying uses from osteoporosis prevention, therapy for improved blood circulation and flexibility and limited fitness training.

2. The SHORT TERM effects of WBV show that more motor units (read: brain) and their muscle fibers are incited more than non WBV training. Because of this hyper stimulation of the neuromuscular system, more force is able to be produced. However, MORE is not better. The WBV must be monitored closely as it can overwhelm the system causing fatigue.

^ ^a ^b Delecluse, C; Roelants, M; Diels, R; Koninckx, E; Verschueren, S (2005). "Effects of whole body vibration training on muscle strength and sprint performance in sprint-trained athletes.". International journal of sports medicine26 (8): 662–8. doi:10.1055/s-2004-830381. PMID 16158372.
^ Lamont, Cramer, Gayaud, Acree, Bemben: Effects of different vibration interventions on indices of counter movement vertical jump performance in college aged males, Poster presentation ACSM, 2006
^ Cormie, P; Deane, RS; Triplett, NT; McBride, JM (2006). "Acute effects of whole-body vibration on muscle activity, strength, and power.". Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association 20 (2): 257–61. doi:10.1519/R-17835.1. PMID 16686550.
^ Bosco, C; Iacovelli, M; Tsarpela, O; Cardinale, M; Bonifazi, M; Tihanyi, J; Viru, M; De Lorenzo, A et al. (2000). "Hormonal responses to whole-body vibration in men.". European journal of applied physiology 81 (6): 449–54.PMID 10774867.
^ Rittweger, J; Schiessl, H; Felsenberg, D (2001). "Oxygen uptake during whole-body vibration exercise: comparison with squatting as a slow voluntary movement.". European journal of applied physiology 86 (2): 169–73.doi:10.1007/s004210100511. PMID 11822476.
^ Rittweger, J; Ehrig, J; Just, K; Mutschelknauss, M; Kirsch, KA; Felsenberg, D (2002). "Oxygen uptake in whole-body vibration exercise: influence of vibration frequency, amplitude, and external load.". International journal of sports medicine23 (6): 428–32. doi:10.1055/s-2002-33739. PMID 12215962.
^ Abercromby, Amonette, Paloski, Hinman: Effect of knee flexion angle on neuromuscular responses to whole-body vibration, Abstract presented at NSCA National Conference, July 2005

3. WBV training does increase circulation to both the muscles and lymphatic system by the 30-50 times per second contractions and relaxation of the muscles which could prove very useful in post-workout/game activities as a way of active recovery. Again, the system would have be closely monitored and combined with other therapies to maximize recovery for athletes.

^ Kerschan-Schindl, K; Grampp, S; Henk, C; Resch, H; Preisinger, E; Fialka-Moser, V; Imhof, H (2001). "Whole-body vibration exercise leads to alterations in muscle blood volume.". Clinical physiology (Oxford, England) 21 (3): 377–82.PMID 11380538.
^ Lohman Eb, 3rd; Petrofsky, JS; Maloney-Hinds, C; Betts-Schwab, H; Thorpe, D (2007). "The effect of whole body vibration on lower extremity skin blood flow in normal subjects.". Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research 13 (2): CR71–6. PMID 17261985.
^ Stewart, JM; Karman, C; Montgomery, LD; McLeod, KJ (2005). "Plantar vibration improves leg fluid flow in perimenopausal women.". American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology 288 (3): R623–9.doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00513.2004. PMID 15472009.
^ Oliveri, DJ; Lynn, K; Hong, CZ (1989). "Increased skin temperature after vibratory stimulation.". American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation / Association of Academic Physiatrists 68 (2): 81–5. PMID 2930643.

4. In the LONG TERM, studies have not show that the WBV is any more effective than conventional training methods to increase STRENGTH. The research time and time again showed insignificant residual power increases. It was noted that the WBV training had to be maintained over a period of time to effect the changes that they did. A one time training session or treatment would not have sufficed.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Delecluse, C; Roelants, M; Verschueren, S (2003). "Strength increase after whole-body vibration compared with resistance training.". Medicine and science in sports and exercise 35 (6): 1033–41.doi:10.1249/01.MSS.0000069752.96438.B0. PMID 12783053.
^ ^a ^b Delecluse, C; Roelants, M; Diels, R; Koninckx, E; Verschueren, S (2005). "Effects of whole body vibration training on muscle strength and sprint performance in sprint-trained athletes.". International journal of sports medicine26 (8): 662–8. doi:10.1055/s-2004-830381. PMID 16158372.
^ Lamont, Cramer, Gayaud, Acree, Bemben: Effects of different vibration interventions on indices of counter movement vertical jump performance in college aged males, Poster presentation ACSM, 2006
^ Cormie, P; Deane, RS; Triplett, NT; McBride, JM (2006). "Acute effects of whole-body vibration on muscle activity, strength, and power.". Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association 20 (2): 257–61. doi:10.1519/R-17835.1. PMID 16686550.

5. Vibration therapy has been shown to alleviate pain, HOWEVER, this was not WBV. In the study below, it showed that vibration stimulation reported that 70% of patients reported pain alleviation. With this kind of therapy, a few factors were important:

Application of therapy had to be on or close to area of injury insult, at the antagonistic muscle or trigger point
In most patients suffering from musculoskeletal pain the best pain reducing effect was obtained when the vibratory stimulation was applied with moderate pressure (at which contact was achieved with underlying bone) at a frequency of 50-150 Hz. To obtain a maximal duration of pain relief the stimulation had to be applied for 30-45 minutes.
In comparison with high or low frequency TENS, vibratory stimulation was found to be as effective and in some patients even more effective in reducing chronic musculoskeletal or orofacial pain. The effect of 20 Hz, 100 Hz and 200 Hz vibratory stimulation, high frequency TENS, low frequency TENS and "placebo" vibratory stimulation was examined in various chronic musculoskeletal pain syndromes. 82% of the patients experienced a relief of pain with any of the above mentioned methods; 47% of the patients experienced a reduction of pain with vibratory stimulation or TENS stimulation.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

Well, the jury is still out for the most part. WBV is a nice tool used in the right hands but it is not a panacea by any stretch of the imagination. Like most training methods, WBV has to be applied at the right place, time, and to the right person. Could tri-planar work infused with WBV be highly effective. Sure looks like it will be in the short-term. Do we need it??? Probably not. Looks like you can get the same results without it. Is it a nice toy to have? Sure! Hopefully, it will not become another toy in the corner like oh so many toys become.

I challenge my colleagues who are using the WBV training to take it beyond the standards and come up with something great that will be long lasting as well as beneficial. Can it be done? Sure as long as they remember that there is a NEURO in the Neuromusculoskeletal system and let science and not fiction guide the process.

Thoughts?

Best,

Will

Are the gifted athletes simply gifted planners?

2011-01-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

I was doing a little research on the brain, and I ran across a really interesting section from "Principles of Neural Science" by Kandel et al. In chapter 33, the authors state:

The nervous system deconstructs complex actions into elemental movements that have highly stereotyped spatial and temporal characteristics. For example, a seeming continous motion of drawing a figure eight actually consists of discrete movement segments that are constant in duration, regardless of their size. These simple spatiotemoporal elements of movement are called MOVEMENT PRIMITIVES or MOVEMENT SCHEMAS.

Well, that is interesting to me. Basically, they are saying that complex movements are just combinations of simple and basic movements that are constructed for function in the brain and expressed in the body. Okay, well, that wasn't enough so I went on to do a little more research and found interesting information at the University of Southern California's Computational Learning and Motor Control lab. They state that:

Movement coordination requires some form of planning: every degree-of-freedom (DOF) needs to be supplied with appropriate motor commands at every moment in time. The commands must be chosen such that they accomplish the desired task, but also such that they do not violate the abilities of the movement system. Due to the numerous DOFs in complex movement systems and the almost infinite number of possibilities to use the DOFs over time, there exist actually an infinite number of possible movement plans for any given task.This redundancy is advantageous as it allows a movement system to avoid situations where, for instance, the range of motion of DOFs is saturated, or where obstacles need to be circumvented to reach a goal. But, from a learning point of view, it also makes it quite complicated to find good movement plans since the state spaces spanned by all possible plans it extremely large. What is needed to make learning tractable in such high dimensional systems is some form of additional constraints, constraints that reduce the state spaces in a reasonable way without eliminating good solutions.

I posted this on my Facebook page and my good friend and colleague, Andrea W, wrote: So maybe what makes the gifted athletes so gifted is less the ability to move well and more the ability to plan well?

Brilliant, Andrea!

I replied: Andrea, I like that idea!! I think that one leads to another though. Like you said, the ability to plan well may be Step 1 in that process that leads to the "gifted mover". For the gifted athlete, I think by "luck" or something they were able to find the exact combinations of primitive movements that caused a systemic change in their body (neurological, muscular, skeletal, endocrine, etc) that pushed them into that other level. We've said multiple times that form follows function and this would be in that same thought process. We know that the mylineation process is extremely important in building any skill because it creates a "faster more efficient" neural pathways in sensory and motor nerves. I believe because these athletes had the right combination of primitive directives initially, they were able through time and practice reinforce the myelin as well as the supplementary and presupplementary motor areas in the brain to a point where they are perceived, justifiably, as "great athletes". The crazy thing is that working with an inefficient combination of movement primitives leads straight to repetitive strain/stress injuries.

Great athletes, musicians, dancers, etc may have had the good fortune to fall into those combinations of movement primitives that paved the way to their greatness. This doesn't mean that they didn't hone their skills but it seems that the environment where the "abilities" flourished was there all along.

This leaves hope to many of us who are not "gifted" athletes. I believe that through careful work we can find those combinations of movements that enable us to be an effectively efficient athlete When we find that combination, it's up to us to refine it to the point we are "gifted athletes."

It can be done.

Thoughts?

-Will

Joint movement in Hatha Yoga

2011-01-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

Recently, I have been fortunate enough to be able to sit down and chat with a few yoga teachers and discuss "YOGA". For the civilian, Yoga is just the asana or poses. However, for the truly devoted, Yoga is an 8 limb system of how to live your life that goes WAY beyond the physical poses.

However, since that's what most tend to focus on, I decided to focus a blog post to the asana as Part III to my "More than meets the eye" series.

Chatting with these teachers, I realized that the poses are very elusive to many. They tend to just regurgitate instructions from what their teachers said and so on. Rarely do they take the time to break the poses down and understand them.

However, some do go a bit further and focus on the muscles and stretching the muscles which is fine. It's like Step 2 on the never ending yogic journey. So I wanted to write a short post on looking at the asana with the motions of the joints in mind. Here's the thing: you can focus on muscles but they are JUST reactors to the motions of the bones and joints. If you don't flex your knee or anteriorly rotate your pelvis, you are not going to get any reaction or stretch out of those tight hamstrings.

As always, we will look at the motions of the joints in 3-D and you'll be shocked to know that the joint has over 2,000 possibilities at any given moment.

Here's the short and sweet about 3-D Joint Physiology:

1) A joint is the location at which two or more bones contact.

2) Joints are tri-planar meaning that they have movement capability in the three cardinal planes:

SAGITAL: Flexion and Extension
FRONTAL: Right and Left lateral flexion or right and left lateral translation
TRANSVERSE: Right and Left rotation

THESE MOTIONS ARE ALSO CALLED OSTEOKINEMATICS.

3) Joints have specific movements within them which are usually small amplitude motions called:

Roll
Glide
Spin

THESE MOTIONS ARE CALLED ARTHROKINEMATICS.

Now, this is the simple side of joint mechanics that can get complex pretty quickly.

Interestingly, within the Osteokinematics, we find an even deeper process. At each cardinal planar movement, there are 13 ways to get the motions like sagital planes' flexion and extension. Well, if you know that there are 13 ways to get motion in the sagital plane, you know there are 13 ways to get it in the frontal plane so that's 13x13 which equals 169 joint possibilities. Then we have 13 ways to get motion in the Transverse plane so that's 13x13x13 which equals 2, 169 minus 1 for NO MOTION at the joint and you get 2, 168 ways that a joint can move.

Q: SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH YOGA???

I will tell you when I first learned that, I was absolutely floored because here I was thinking one-dimensionally when there was a whole other world out there especially for the yoga asana because we have to work with the joints in the poses. Because poses are generally multi-joint rich, we have a formula for a lot going on all at once.

When we look at the asana, it would benefit all involved parties, especially teachers, to look at the asana with knowledge based in anatomy, physiology and biomechanics and use language that is clear and concise not phrases like "Pop your hip" "Your inner ankle is collapsing" "Balance on your sits bones"(I hate the last one the most).

For better or for worse, yoga teachers are movement therapists in many regards, especially when they get into "alignment". Knowing the anatomy only will deepen your skills as teachers. Understanding physiology and simple joint mechanics will allow you to serve your clients and students better as well as being able to speak on a professional level with health care providers like doctors and physical therapists so that you can be part of a team that can facilitate healing of your client.

I am starting to teach a series of "Anatomy of Yoga" workshops to introduce the science of the body to yoga teachers and advanced students. Having an accurate mental map of your body will only serve you.

As always I welcome in questions and comments you may have. I can be reached at will@3doptimalperformance.com

Thanks!

Will

Applied Functional Development: Understanding what the REAL CORE is

2010-12-30T11:34:00.000-08:00

This is Part 2 of the "More than meets the eye series". In this blog post we will focus on the CORE. Now, my definition of the CORE is much different from a lot of folks out there. I'll here from a client or patient, "I need to strengthen my core" or "I saw (insert celebrity athlete) doing core work. Can we do that too?"

I smile and then roll my eyes (in my mind, of course). I'd like to propose that when we refer to our CORE we are actually referring to our CENTER OF GRAVITY (COG).

Q: Okay...so what is the center of gravity?

In uniform objects like a solid ball, cylinder or square box, the center of gravity is located in the middle of the object. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, it is in physics, imaginary point in a body of matter where, for convenience in certain calculations, the total weight of the body may be thought to be concentrated. The concept is sometimes useful in designing static structures (e.g., buildings and bridges) or in predicting the behaviour of a moving body when it is acted on by gravity.

If you look at the picture above, you will see a dot in the characters that are different heights. We can say that this is the point where gravity will mostly act on a body in motion. Interestingly, coaches of basketball, football, and lacrosse players have said for years to "Watch your opponents hips!!!" This was done so that the defensive player can predict where the offensive player would be heading. Watching the head and feet are bad ideas because they can move in opposite directions from where the COG moves. WISE WORDS!

Q: Why is the COG in a different place in the cartoons above?

Because humans are non-symmetrical objects that are motion, the COG will not be uniform in them. The woman in the picture is more bottom heavy, so here COG is lower than the male who is very muscular in his torso. Correspondingly, his COG is higher. We see a slouched posture, also displaces the COG.

The coolest thing is that the COG within a person is not a fixed point either. When a person moves their arms or legs, it shifts the COG slightly. When we are carrying a heavy object like weights, a child, a book bag, this will shift our COG accordingly. Luckily for us, we have a very sophisticated nervous system that accounts for the movement of the COG and will redirect the our body so that we are able to keep some semblance of a base of support. This management of the COG's mobility and stability/balance is exclusively under the domain of the CNS which then normally regulates balance so that the person does not simply fall and hurt themselves. We see that the CNS calls all of the other bodily systems into play with particular emphasis on the neuromuscular and skeletal systems.

Q: What does this have to do with movement?

As we go throughout our lives, we are rarely static creatures. In fact, a principle of function is that Function is DYNAMIC, meaning we are moving from a global body perspective down to the cellular level. Another Principle of Function is that Function is DRIVEN BY FORCES. We see that this principle holds true because GRAVITY is the main physical force acting on a human in motion.

When we base our strategies and techniques for rehabilitation, training and condition and prevention in Principle of Function, we can easily understand and implement successful programs for our clients and patients. In life, we are(should) be dynamically moving in all three planes of motions at all triangulations. With this, GRAVITY (a force) will be acting perpendicularly on the COG, driving it into it's trajectory along with momentum and the additional Ground Reaction Forces (GRF).

When we move, we want it to be in the most efficient manner possible. Running, jumping, sprinting, throwing, flipping, etc is how we manipulate our COG that is coordinated by neuromusculoskeletal system, among other body systems. b

Q: Okay, I understand more of the science, but how do I apply this to my movements?

I have observed many coaches doing "footwork" with their athletes. It's a great idea but let's think about what's behind that? The foot is pretty much a bag of bones and joints" who do not have a mind of their own. The foot is really responding to the movements perceived by the brain with input from the senses, right? So instructing your athlete to move their feet faster may or may not work. When we think in terms of COG, we easily understand the body will respond to the movement of the COG so it will not fall. If our body shifts over to the right suddenly, say if we are ice, the foot, ankle and leg will react to stabilize the body by possibly stepping wider so that the COG remains over a base point (i.e. the foot). The foot just got there, or didn't, but our focus was not to train it. It's the same thing with agility. The movement of our COG is dependent on what we are doing (function) so our body will compensate during our movement patterns.

I am posting a video I did a while ago called the 3-D Jump Matrix. It's a great study of seeing how the COG moves and how the lower extremities react. The reaction of the feet when they are IN-SYNC is the best examples.

Paradigm shift: THINK TOP DOWN INSTEAD OF BOTTOM UP REGARDING SPEED AND AGILITY TRAINING! We've done looking from bottom up way too long. Shift your focus.

If you have any thoughts or comments, please email me at will@3doptimalperformance.com

Thanks!

Will

Applied Functional Athletic Development: More than meets the eye

2010-12-23T11:24:00.000-08:00

This week, besides being a holiday week, I have been fortunate to meet two AMAZING martial artists.
Ben, who is a 20 year old collegiate wrestler, is in the Top 3 grapplers as far as moving more naturally and athletically than most. Not only is he a great wrestler, he is also a great coach who INTUITIVELY moves and teaches in all 3 planes of motion.

The second is James, who is a Kung Fu artist/master. From what my client-patient tells me, he's been doing Kung Fu for close to 20 years. He just 'gets it' in terms of the way he moves and the way he instructs. When he was demonstrating as well as teaching, I could see he was FULLY ENGAGED in the movement. There was nothing in his body that was isolated. Kung Fu, by appearance, looks to be a lot of arm movements, blocks and kicks. However, being a biomechanist, I look at what is going on from the bottom of the foot to the top of head and everything in between as well as how internal and external forces are acting on the body.

Q: So why bring this up?

Funny that you should ask that! What I have observed is that when most people see my two friends in their respective activity, they are doing the big movements like the punches, kicks, trips etc without any authentic connection throughout their bodies. It's all arms or legs since that's what the most obvious motion is. I believe naturally gifted movers and athletes, have found ways to not only use their whole body for their activity, they also use their 5 senses in a coordinated fashion to deliver all pertinent information to the Command Center of the Body. When the brain is "fed" information, given no major neurological deficits, it can transform it into the proper movement with ease and a high level of sophistication.

When we see the big movements of the body, we usually miss the smaller and more important movements some of which are not subtle and then others that are unfortunately, not really able to be seen.

I included a picture of an iceberg above because that is what happens in movement. A lot of what we do is totally under the surface and cannot be seen and is generally enormous and complex. It's the finished product that is really at the tip of the iceberg.

Mind, Body and Spirit must be honored for us to reach potential.

Q: What does this have to do with MOVEMENT?

Well, the short answer is: EVERYTHING!!!

In the next few posts, I will expand on the "More than meets the eye" series. We will cover:

Center of Gravity: What it is and its applications in movement
Joint Motions and possibilities
The Rock & Roll of the Soft Tissues
FiOS of the Body: Brain-Nerve connections

I am very excited to get into this information as it can be so transformational. If you have any questions or requests for anything in particular, please email me at will@3doptimalperformance.com

Thanks!!!

Will

Optimal Performance Quote Series: Coach John Wooden

2010-12-15T06:20:00.000-08:00

"You haven't taught until they've learned"- Coach John Wooden

Back to Basics: It can help anyone from the Redskins to you

2010-12-14T08:35:00.000-08:00

Once in a while, things come into my life that I really need. It may be one or two things at a time that have the same message but once in a blue moon, MULTIPLE events occur with the same message, and I have no choice but to notice and take action.

The message has been: GET BACK TO BASICS!!!

It's amazing how much I hear this everyday and see it lacking in many people, including myself. Please do not think that I am exempt from this. It is truly something that I have to work with physically, mentally and spiritually every day BUT the good news is that when I put a block in place that is missing, everything gets a little easier and makes A LOT more sense.

I can give multiple examples but the one that really jumped out at me the most was reading an article written about the Washington Redskins after their abysmal loss to the New York Giants. Redskins Linebacker London Fletcher had this to say:

"It's extremely frustrating," Fletcher said. "Same old story week in and week out, we're just not a sound fundamental football team. Poor tackling, probably the worst tackling team I've been around, don't do the fundamental things well: don't catch footballs, don't hold onto the ball, don't tackle well. Those things are things that you need to do on every level in order to win football games."

That's pretty powerful especially when its coming from an elite level athlete on a professional team. Now while this may not be the only issue that is plaguing the Redskins now, it's definitely a major factor.

Why is it that we are allowed to go through our lives without the fundamentals that London Fletcher spoke about? I do not believe it is limited to sports as it is easily seen pervading all aspects of our society.

When I started this post, I was going to use the picture of a building blocks but the more and more I thought about it, I felt as the building blocks were too much of a "static" analogy. Building blocks are necessary but I wanted something a little more natural so I choose the image of a tall tree with deep roots. As we know, as trees grow, they must sustain themselves by using their surroundings, above and below ground, for nourishment and stability. Branches reach upward to grab the important solar energy and the roots soak up nutrients from the soil. As the trees get bigger, the roots get deeper. That's what the BASICS are. The deeper when can go with our basics, the more better we will get with our skills.

Unfortunately, most people do not want to acknowledge their lack of the basics. Through various psychological mechanisms, they deceive themselves either subconsciously or consciously tell themselves that "I've got it". In my experience, that's the furthest thing from the truth.

I've been seeing a trend with people where they hit some kind of barrier that I'll call a PIVOT POINT. This pivot point is a point in the experience where a person starts to run into difficulty. Sometimes it's overt and sometimes its very subtle, but it's still there. At the pivot point, there are 3 choices that I have observed (or done). They are:

1) STOP. RESIST. DESIST. Most people will not go any further claiming it's too hard and completely reject this point. There will be plenty of excuses and people, usually other than that person, to blame. It's a knee jerk reaction. However, the sad thing is that it will continue to happen over and over in many aspects of the persons life and they finally get it.

2) MOVE OVER, UNDER OR AROUND THE PIVOT POINT BY DOING THE MINIMUM: This is also a fun one that I people will attempt to find the PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE in the moment. They may get something accomplished but it will never be to their potential and they will always be left wanting more.

3) ENGAGE WITH SMART AND HARD WORK: This is the most challenging choice and its the road less travelled by many but the results that will follow from the detailed, thoughtful work will surpass their expectations and leave them feeling satisfied. Do not get me wrong. This is a difficult choice that comes with a myriad of experiences, up and down, during the process. However, the process of reaching your potential will be worth it.

Which option do you choose? Can you take a moment to think about a difficult aspect of your life and see what decision you have made for yourself? If you are unhappy and frustrated with something, more than likely, you will have chosen Options 1 or 2. How do you get out of that rut?

GET BACK TO THE BASICS!

As always, I welcome questions and feedback. Contact me at will@3doptimalperformance.com

Thanks,

Will

Optimal Performance Quote Series: Pig in Mud

2010-12-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

"Never fight with a pig. It loves mud & stink and you don’t. Identify a pig and avoid it."

Stylishly Scientfic: Staying warm for outdoor workouts

2010-12-01T06:15:00.000-08:00

I am going to start to do this more often in this blog so I can bring in a different perspective. I've asked my good friend, Read Wall, of Read's Clothing Project who is an expert in what I call Functional Fashion (my cheesy words, not his). In this post, Read gives great suggestions on what to wear during the fall and winter seasons and I will throw in a little science of why you should stay warm during your workouts.

Cold Weather Workouts

As the weather get colder…and colder…and colder…where was I going with this? Oh right, it's cold outside. It would be easy to call it quits and spend the winter on the treadmill dreaming of green leaves, shorts, and the gentle warmth of the spring sun. But we can't do that. For a number of reasons. First, the treadmill is boring. Like, fork in the eye boring. Second, staying inside deprives the body of vital vitamin D, which, among other health benefits, makes us fell not-crappy all the time. I think we can all agree that's a good thing.

But we need to remember to dress for the weather. Breathable, technical fabrics, layered correctly, provide the perfect level of warmth without sacrificing movement or, just as important, style. Look good, feel good, right?

So get outside, even when it looks like Ernest Shackelton wouldn't. Run, do some body weight movements, even grab a kettlebell. It's good for you.

Here are some ways to keep from getting frostbite while doing so:

Zoot RUNfit Jacket (ZootSports.com)- I've been running with this jacket for about a year now. It's gotten me through a lot. Cold can be tough, but this jacket is tougher.

2XU Thermal Run Tights (2XU.com)- If you've got it, flaunt it. Rock the tights.

Nike Thermal Running Pants (Store.Nike.com)- And if you can't, these will work, too.

Patagonia R1 Hoody (Patagonia.com)- An essential layering piece. Cool colors but warm where you need it.

Accessories (Note: Important!)

Patagonia Lightweight Glove Liners (Patagonia.com)

Patagonia Cap 4 Beanie (Patagonia.com)

Q: SO WHY WOULD I WANT TO STAY SO WARM DURING WORKOUTS?

A: Well, that's a great question. The easiest answer is so that we can avoid hypothermia, where the body temperature drops too low to allow for normal bodily functions to occur which includes, but not limited to, neuromuscular and cognitive function decline. WHOA...That is not good at all and through simple solutions like wearing the appropriate clothes, we can prevent a lot of that. When our body starts to sense a temperature drop, it will divert energy and heat to keep our core body temperature up as much as possible while pulling heat away from our extremities like hands and feet. This can get dangerous especially if we are in an activity like jogging, where our feet and hands are being desensitized because of the cold. The vasoconstriction, or tightening of the blood vessels to reduce blood flow to the muscles also reduces blood flow to the nerves which means we do not respond very well to gravity, ground reaction forces, mass and momentum. Because of our loss of proprioception, we may be more prone to injury.

Q: WAIT...HYPOTHERMIA? CAN YOU GO INTO MORE DETAIL ABOUT WHAT IT IS AND WHAT CAUSES IT?

A: Hypothermia "a decrease in the core body temperature to a level at which normal muscular and cerebral functions are impaired." - Medicine for Mountaineering.

This is caused by a a number of factors which include:

•Cold temperatures
•Improper clothing and equipment
•Wetness
•Fatigue, exhaustion
•Dehydration
•Poor food intake
•No knowledge of hypothermia
•Alcohol intake - causes vasodilation leading to increased heat loss

Q: SO I SEE THAT THE FIRST TWO FACTORS ARE COLD TEMPERATURES AND IMPROPER CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT. IT SEEMS THAT I CANNOT CONTROL THE TEMPERATURES, BUT I DO HAVE CONTROL OVER WEARING PROPER CLOTHES.

A: Yes! Great observation and you see the wisdom in Read's selections where he is recommending the ZootRunFit Jacket which is a great outer shell that will keep too much heat from escaping. The 2XU Thermal Run pants, that will "wick away" the sweat from the body which you know is important as the body starts to sweat to cool itself down from the exertion but gets into a dangerous situation when we are soaked with sweat in cold weather. We cannot stop the sweating but can control the effects with layering of clothes. Finally, the gloves and beanie are important as well. Most will be wearing socks but many will neglect wearing gloves which are super important as the hands are the most distal part of the arm and will be low on the priority list of blood flow if the core temperature needs to be regulated.

Q: OKAY, I UNDERSTAND HYPOTHERMIA AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO STAY WARM BY DRESSING PROPERLY BUT I'D STILL LIKE TO KNOW THE SIGNS OF HYPOTHERMIA. WHAT ARE THEY?

A: According to the OUTDOOR ACTION GUIDE from Princeton University are 3 stages of hypothermia: 1) Mild 2) Moderate and 3) Severe. With Severe Hypothermia being the most life threatening.

Signs of hypothermia are the "-UMBLES" of stumbles, mumbles, fumbles, and grumbles which show changes in motor coordination and levels of consciousness

b. Mild Hypothermia - core temperature 98.6 - 96 degrees F
•Shivering - not under voluntary control
•Can't do complex motor functions (ice climbing or skiing) can still walk & talk
•Vasoconstriction to periphery

c. Moderate Hypothermia - core temperature 95 - 93 degrees F

•Dazed consciousness
•Loss of fine motor coordination - particularly in hands - can't zip up parka, due to restricted peripheral blood flow
•Slurred speech
•Violent shivering
•Irrational behavior - Paradoxical Undressing - person starts to take off clothing, unaware s/he is cold
•"I don't care attitude" - flattened affect

d. Severe Hypothermia - core temperature 92 - 86 degrees and below (immediately life threatening)

•Shivering occurs in waves, violent then pause, pauses get longer until shivering finally ceases - because the heat output from burning glycogen in the muscles is not sufficient
to counteract the continually dropping core temperature, the body shuts down on shivering to conserve glucose
•Person falls to the ground, can't walk, curls up into a fetal position to conserve heat
•Muscle rigidity develops - because peripheral blood flow is reduced and due to lactic acid and CO2 buildup in the muscles
•Skin is pale
•Pupils dilate
•Pulse rate decreases
•at 90 degrees the body tries to move into hibernation, shutting down all peripheral blood flow and reducing breathing rate and heart rate.
•at 86 degrees the body is in a state of "metabolic icebox." The person looks dead but is still alive.

e. Death from Hypothermia

•Breathing becomes erratic and very shallow
•Semi-conscious
•Cardiac arrythmias develop, any sudden shock may set off Ventricular Fibrillation
•Heart stops, death

Q: WHOA! THE FACT THAT YOU CAN DIE FROM HYPOTHERMIA IS SCARY. WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I AM EXPERIENCING IT?

A: Well, the first thing I will say is that I am not a doctor so I am obligated to say SEEK PROPER EMERGENCY CARE IMMEDIATELY! Do not pass go or collect $200. This is your life and if you have any doubt in your mind, please seek some professional care.

The OUTDOOR ACTION GUIDE suggests the following:

The basic principles of rewarming a hypothermic victim are to conserve the heat they have and replace the body fuel they are burning up to generate that heat. If a person is shivering, they have the ability to rewarm themselves at a rate of 2 degrees C per hour.
Mild - Moderate Hypothermia

1. Reduce Heat Loss

•Additional layers of clothing
•Dry clothing
•Increased physical activity
•Shelter

2. Add Fuel & Fluids

It is essential to keep a hypothermic person adequately hydrated and fueled.
a. Food types
•Carbohydrates - 5 calories/gram - quickly released into blood stream for sudden brief heat surge - these are the best to use for quick energy intake especially for mild cases of hypothermia
•Proteins - 5 calories/gram - slowly released - heat given off over a longer period
•Fats - 9 calories/gram - slowly released but are good because they release heat over a long period, however, it takes more energy to break fats down into glucose - also takes more water to break down fats leading to increased fluid loss

b. Food intake
•Hot liquids - calories plus heat source
•Sugars (kindling)
•GORP - has both carbohydrates (sticks) and proteins/fats (logs)

c. Things to avoid

•Alcohol - a vasodilator - increases peripheral heat loss
•Caffeine - a diuretic - causes water loss increasing dehydration
•Tobacco/nicotine - a vasoconstrictor, increases risk of frostbite

3. Add Heat

•Fire or other external heat source
•Body to body contact. Get into a sleeping back, in dry clothing with a normothermic person in lightweight dry clothing

Severe Hypothermia

1. Reduce Heat Loss

•Hypothermia Wrap: The idea is to provide a shell of total insulation for the patient. No matter how cold, patients can still internally rewarm themselves much more efficiently than any external rewarming. Make sure the patient is dry, and has a polypropylene layer to minimize sweating on the skin. The person must be protected from any moisture in the environment. Use multiple sleeping bags, wool blankets, wool clothing, Ensolite pads to create a minimum of 4" of insulation all the way around the patient, especially between the patient and the ground. Include an aluminum "space" blanket to help prevent radiant heat loss, and wrap the entire ensemble in plastic to protect from wind and water. If someone is truly hypothermic, don't put him/her naked in a sleeping bag with another person.

2. Add Fuel and Fluids

•Warm Sugar Water - for people in severe hypothermia, the stomach has shut down and will not digest solid food but can absorb water and sugars. Give a dilute mixture of warm water with sugar every 15 minutes. Dilute Jello™ works best since it is part sugar and part protein. This will be absorbed directly into the blood stream providing the necessary calories to allow the person to rewarm themselves. One box of Jello = 500 Kilocalories of heat energy. Do not give full strength Jello even in liquid form, it is too concentrated and will not be absorbed.
•Urination - people will have to urinate from cold diuresis. Vasoconstriction creates greater volume pressure in the blood stream. The kidneys pull off excess fluid to reduce the pressure. A full bladder results in body heat being used to keep urine warm rather than vital organs. Once the person has urinated, it precious body heat will be used to maintain the temperature of vital organs. So in the end urinating will help conserve heat. You will need to help the person urinate. Open up the Hypothermia Wrap enough to do this and then cover them back up. You will need to keep them hydrated with the dilute Jello solution described above.

3. Add Heat

Heat can be applied to transfer heat to major arteries - at the neck for the carotid, at the armpits for the brachial, at the groin for the femoral, at the palms of the hands for the arterial arch.

•Chemical heat packs such as the Heat Wave™ provides 110 degrees F for 6-10 hours.
•Hot water bottles, warm rocks, towels, compresses
•For a severely hypothermic person, rescue breathing can increase oxygen and provide internal heat.

Afterdrop

Is a situation in which the core temperature actually decreases during rewarming. This is caused by peripheral vessels in the arms and legs dilating if they are rewarmed. This dilation sends this very cold, stagnate blood from the periphery to the core further decreasing core temperature which can lead to death. In addition, this blood also is very acetic which may lead to cardiac arrythmias and death. Afterdrop can best be avoided by not rewarming the periphery. Rewarm the core only! Do not expose a severely hypothermic victim to extremes of heat.

I hope this was informative from a style and a scientific standpoint. We all want to reach our best and by being smart and working hard, we can get to those goals. Please make sure you dress properly if you are going to do outdoor workouts during the cold months. We hear a lot on the news about people suffering from heat stroke but we also hear about many who are struck by the various stages of hypothermia.

If you have any comments or questions to either Read or I, please send mail to will@3doptimalperformance and I will pass any questions on to Read.

Read is also the designer of 3 great shirts for men that are made especially for athletes focusing on a nice fit. What is great is that Read is donating part of the proceeds to help promote education in Africa. Please visit his site at http://www.readsclothingproject.com/.

Stay warm!

Read Wall and Will Stewart

Optimal Performance Quote Series: Abraham

2010-11-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

“You can’t manifest beyond what you believe.”

-Abraham

6 tips to keep the holiday weight off

2010-11-23T07:20:00.000-08:00

"FOOD IS MEDICINE" is the main tenet of the Institute for Functional Medicine. I truly believe this as I have cleaned up my diet over the last few months and have NEVER felt better in my life. I typically eat between 2-3 lbs of vegetables per day and have at least 4 servings of fruit. It's probably closer to 8 with my mondo-breakfast smoothie. Imagine my surprise when I dropped 15 lbs easily just by cleaning up my diet.

As we come close to the holiday season with all of the company, friend and family parties, it becomes very easy to pack on the POUNDS between Christmas and New Years and when New Years Day comes around, we feel a little guilty and get our much bigger butts into the gym. I actually read a statistic that most people gain between 5-8lbs during the holiday season. (HOLY SMOKES!!!)

Well, how about for 2011, you not even get to that point???? Below are 6 simple tips to keep the weight off and put you ahead of the "New Years Resolution" crowd in the gym.

1) Stick to the 90/10 rule with food. 90% of the time you want to eat WHOLE, UNPROCESSED FOOD and 10% of the time, go crazy and eat what you want. I do this on a weekly basis but some people have taken to mean it during every meal. Honestly, once you start to clean up your diet, you wont crave the foods that are not so good for you.

2) Go for the salad first. Challenge yourself to eat at least 2lbs of veggies per day. Here are some GREAT Holiday salad ideas.

3) Have a great smoothie for breakfast with nuts or eggs. Go here for some good ideas. I use a healthy acai juice with no added sugar or preservatives

4) Go 90/10 rule with liquids. 90% of the time you want to drink WATER but the other 10% of the time live it up with GOOD QUALITY eggnog, wine, seasonal beer. Sodas and other sugar beverages are in general, CRAP, so unless there is a great holiday root beer float with eggnog ice cream you want to make, SKIP THEM!

5) Get at least 30-45 minutes of movement per day. That could be traditional gym exercise, walking, jogging, swimming, Yoga class. If you want to stimulate your digestion, go for a walk after a big meal instead of falling asleep. You will get some fresh air as well as getting your body moving. Check out my quick hitter circuit video below.

6) Invest and take good vitamin supplements like a multi-vitamin, Vitamin D (to boost immunity), Probiotics (to improve digestion), Fish Oil (for the cellular maintenance), Magnesium (the "relaxation" mineral) and a Vitamin B complex (to improve brain function). For more info go to Dr. Mark Hymans' great post on supporting your immune system during the winter which includes great info on supplements and vitamins.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Will

Optimal Performance Quote Series: Leon Fleisher

2010-11-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

"Subvert the dominant paradigm” - pianist Leon Fleischer

Looking functionally at Osgood-Schlatters Disease

2010-11-16T06:54:00.000-08:00

Recently, a few of my athletes have been coming to training with knee problems which has been neatly diagnosed by their doctors as Osgood-Schlatters Disease. Unfortunately, this effects many adolescent athletes BUT not all of them so it made me start to think, "What in the world is going on here?" Basing my thought process in Applied Functional Science. , and with guidance from Dr. David Tiberio and Lenny Parracino of the Gray Institute, I wanted to write a short post on this monster known as Osgood-Schlatters that has and is taking out my athletes.

WHAT IS OSGOOD-SCHLATTERS DISEASE?

According to Wikipedia, it is:

Osgood–Schlatter disease or syndrome (also known as tibial tubercle apophyseal traction injury) is a rupture of the growth plate at the tibial tuberosity.[1]

Sinding–Larsen–Johansson syndrome is an analogous condition involving the patellar tendon and the lower margin of the patella bone, instead of the upper margin of the tibia.

The condition occurs in active boys and girls aged 9–16[2] coinciding with periods of growth spurts. It occurs more frequently in boys than in girls, with reports of a male-to-female ratio ranging from 3:1 to as high as 7:1. It has been suggested the difference is related to a greater participation by boys in sports and risk activities than by girls.[citation needed]

The condition is usually self-limiting and is caused by stress on the patellar tendon that attaches the quadriceps muscle at the front of the thigh to the tibial tuberosity. Following an adolescent growth spurt, repeated stress from contraction of the quadriceps is transmitted through the patellar tendon to the immature tibial tuberosity. This can cause multiple subacute avulsion fractures along with inflammation of the tendon, leading to excess bone growth in the tuberosity and producing a visible lump which can be extremely painful when hit.

Now this is an interesting analysis of the disease but it never really gets to the WHY of the situation. As we look functionally at OSD, we look at the site of the injury but it would be shortsighted to not look below and above the knee to see if we cannot find out who is zooming who in this situation.

When we look at what elicits symptoms from a person suffering from OSD, we see that it generally mid-range to deep knee flexion. With our knowledge of functional muscle function, we know that the quadriceps decelerates knee flexion, and this makes sense that the tensile stress on the tibial tubercule would cause micro-avulsions in an immature structure if the force exceeded the threshold of the bone/cartilage. Now we also know that many muscles also cross the knee joint that would aid in the deceleration of knee flexion like the powerful gluteal muscles, hamstrings, as well as the gastroc-soleus complex also known as the calf muscles.

The body is not going to allow the knee to not be decelerated. If it did, we would simply fall over with every step we tried to take. When the body sense that the powerful hip and calf muscles are not doing their job, it will OVER-recruit the quadriceps which will do the job but at the expense of the causing microtrauma to the tendon and insertions of the muscle. When we get this OVERUSE, we get....OSGOOD-SCHLATTERS DISEASE.

WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR PREVENTION?

Fortunately, training, conditioning, rehabilitation and prevention of the cause of OSD, are all in the same boat.

If you suspect an athlete is suffering from it, you want to direct he or she to a doctor so that they can receive an accurate diagnosis as well as treatments.

According to Mayoclinic.com, Osgood-Schlatter disease usually gets better without formal treatment. Symptoms typically disappear after your child's bones stop growing. Until that happens, your doctor may recommend mild pain relievers and physical therapy.

However, we can start get a jump on Osgood-Schlatters by getting the powerful gluteals and calves working to help decelerate knee flexion so that the quadriceps do not have to work so hard.

Here's a quick program:

HIP FLEXION WITH SLIGHT KNEE FLEXION TO ACTIVATE GLUTES AND HAMSTRINGS

1. Standing one leg, if possible, slightly bend the knee to about 10-20 degrees or to the point that doesn't cause pain.
2. If there are balance issues use a chair in front of the athlete to help stabilize.
3. Using the nose a driver, start bending from hips with the spine in neutral as much as possible to either chest or hip height.
4. The athlete is concentrating on using the glutes to slow down the anterior pelvic rotation along with the hamstrings.
5) The feeling of a stretching of the glutes and hamstrings. Do this 5-7 times PROPERLY. A trained therapist or strength coach should be able to guide a young athlete in this if necessary.
6) This should be followed up by EASY lunges, to the same nose driver height and knee flexion.

I will post a video of this in a day or so.

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know at will@3doptimalperformance.com

Effective vs Efficient: Shortsighted thinking at its best

2010-11-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

Recently, my high school kicker has been having some intense back problems. He was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis a few years ago but after his rehab has been OK for the most part. Interestingly, he has had a great season and made a 44 yard field goal during the game last week to push our team to a 27-14 win against a rival school.

He's kicking with good power and accuracy but this is coming at a cost of his body. During the summer, he worked on getting more power and has done so but after evaluating him last week, it was obvious that he lacked any hip extension and was exclusively using extension from the lumbar spine. What a great way to irritate a previous injury! We've done some soft tissue therapy on him after his doctor gave him the "OK" to play. He's uncomfortable, but he'll make it through to the championship game this Saturday.

The thing about Chris is he's very effective at kicking. He's also a great kid so its hard to see him in pain after he's being so effective in making all of his kicks. However, the reality is that he's not really being efficient in using his whole body during his activity and it's causing him a great deal of pain.

Looks like this University of Texas kicker is getting the most out of his whole body.

We spoke in detail about this, and he and I both came to the conclusion that his while he's being effective, his kicking mechanics are off and not efficient; and that he's probably not going to be able to sustain that level of performance when he kicks in college. I truly believe that Chris can go to the next level (as tough as I am on him) but only if he is willing to step back and do some structural work to "clear the path" of function as well as do the functional movements that will coordinate his athletic ability. It will not be easy. Actually, it will be a lot of hard work that will require him to step back and be dedicated, intelligent and humble throughout the training process. (More of that in a later post)

SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH EFFICIENT VS EFFECTIVE???

Effective (adj.): Adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.

Efficient (adj.) Performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort.

If you want an easier way to memorize the difference, remember this sentence: “Being effective is about doing the right things, while being efficient is about doing the things in the right manner.”

As I searched the Internet, I found many articles dedicated to contrasting and comparing the two. However, only one made mention of combining the two. I would like to propose:

EFFICIENTLY EFFECTIVE

AND

EFFECTIVELY EFFICIENT

Oxymorons? Maybe. However, I think that they are intimately connected by HARD WORK.

Dedication to excellence and optimal performance comes at the cost of getting into something and REALLY doing the work that it entails. It is not just touching on details. It is a commitment to delving into the depths of the activity that you are in and extracting the most from the moment or person working with you.( I've mentioned this in my post on OPTIMAL COACHING).

The thread that unites Efficient and Effective is DEDICATION.

Can you step back and objectively look at the things that are the most important AND least important in your life and evaluate whether or not you are being EFFICIENTLY EFFECTIVE AND EFFECTIVELY EFFICIENT?

Can you learn to be a better athlete/student/parent/child/employee/employer? Sure! I guarantee you that it will take hard work to get there but the results will AMAZE you.

Enjoy the process of being E.D.E (Effective. Dedicated. Efficient).

Best regards,

Will

Any Yoga is NOT good Yoga!

2010-11-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

WAY TOO MUCH LUMBAR EXTENSION!!! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME IF YOU LOVE YOUR BACK!

A few years ago, someone said to me "Any yoga is good yoga" and I reluctantly agreed because I was a budding young teacher and this person had been teaching for a while. To this persons credit, she was (and still is) an AWESOME teacher and must have been comparing her way of instruction to students that resulted in good alignment and form. Unfortunately, not everyone does not have her deep and rich understanding of the mechanics of the poses. Actually, these days, I think its almost the opposite, especially in some of the Power Yoga and Vinyasa classes where getting a workout in is put over proper alignment.

I have the opportunity to come into contact with hundreds of yoga practitioners per week who may be regular to my class, a drop-in or completely new to yoga. "Open Level" is what we call some of those classes. What I see from some of the non-regular students in their yoga poses forces me to stop class and really instruct on a particulars. Their alignment is all out of sorts but worse off its just plain dangerous and will more than likely lead them to a repetitive stress/strain injury. Some things I see are:

HYPER EXTENDED LUMBAR SPINES
LOCKED ELBOWS
OVERLY TENSE SHOULDERS
OFF BALANCE POSES
OVER ROTATING AT THE LUMBAR SPINE

The list goes on and on. The cause of some of these are structural like tight hamstrings that are compensated for, tight thoracic spine that is compensated for at the Lumbar spine. These can be worked through. But some of these are just from BAD HABITS and what gets me is that these bad habits extremely limit the practitioners progress.

This happens because many yoga teachers do not understand how the body REALLY works. Anatomy is studied but its focused on muscles and not the correct biomechanics of the WHOLE BODY. Understanding how joints and connective tissue all work TOGETHER, based on unifying principles of function, allows the teacher to create an authentic practice.

Simply calling out a pose in class is not teaching. It's reciting lines. Don't get me wrong. I was in that boat once. I am not blameless. However, when I found my way into understanding the body the other parts of my yoga teaching opened significantly and my students really were able to progress physically, mentally and spiritually. If they feel more comfortable in one, they will feel more comfortable in the other two.

As a teacher and yogi, I am constantly working toward being as authentic as possible. Interestingly, that is where the hard work is. Being fake and artificial takes no work at all.

YOGA TEACHERS: Keep studying the sutras, chanting, inspirational reading, etc up. It's good. Get yourself into biomechanics and functional anatomy. If you want to see your students move with ease, efficiency, grace and power, sink your teeth into the science of movement. Do not be put off by it because it gets technical. GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND GET TECHNICAL! Your students will keep coming back and getting better and better every week because they will understand the body more. Help them own their practice.

This may ruffle some feathers. That's okay. My intent is to encourage you to study some of the science of yoga as well as the spiritual and mental. They are not SEPARATE!!!!

I will post some videos detailing certain asana soon. If you have any requests, let me know and I will see what I can do.

Any questions or comments can be sent to will@3doptimalperformance.com

Thanks,

Will

8 ways to maximize your time with your trainer/coach/therapist/teacher

2010-11-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned many times that I wear many hats as a coach, teacher, therapist and trainer and they all have their own set of experiences that are particular to that "hat", but there are a lot of similarities that I see as well. Very often people come in and pay me a good deal of money to help them with their issues of performance enhancement, weight loss, pain elimination, etc but unfortunately, some of these people are not maximizing their time with me.

Unfortunately, but I have to say this, we are very much in a "DO ME" culture. Now let me clarify that. What I mean is that people think that if they show up, that they've done their part and now its up to us to do the rest and "fix" them. Wow!

First, that is A LOT to put on someone. Yes, we are the ones with the training in the area that you are having an issue with BUT the truth of the matter is that it is VERY DRAINING for us to be the one leading the ship especially when its not our ship.

The real truth is that its a TEAM effort. As therapists/coaches/trainers/teacher/doctors, we are not on some higher level than you and unfortunately that is the way its been taught for many years. If you come in to us, we will do our best to help you; but what usually happens is, we do great work in the session, we give you "homework" to do and then you may do some of it but not all of it. Then you come back the week after or at the next visit and we ask "How's it going? How did you do with the homework?"

Well, what happens is folks tell us "Great! Did all my work" and then we get into the session and we find out you didn't do your work and in fact are at the same place you were last week. Sound familiar?

If you REALLY want results, come in with a TEAM MENTALITY that we will both give it all we have at the session and especially afterwards. That's where the real work comes in. Yes, WORK. Many professionals, would LOVE a client who asks us to draw from our deep resources of knowledge to help you, but this is AFTER you have put your work in. There is nothing more draining that a client who asks a lot but gives very little.

KEY POINTS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME:

1) Come in with a clear purpose that you are willing to state upfront to your professional. If they can help, great. If they cannot, they will pass you on to someone who can.
2) Come to work as team.
3) Ask questions. If you are not clear on something, PLEASE PLEASE ASK US! We want you to be CRYSTAL CLEAR on what needs to be done.
4) Do your homework! We know when you do not so please do not get frustrated with us that you are not improving. Remember, TEAMWORK!
5) Be consistent with your visits. We need to see you so that we can go to the next logical step even if that visit with us is to say, "We are as far as I can take you but here is a great person to see to get you to the next step." Professionals build relationships in our business for that reason. Your improvement benefits everyone.
6) Be honest. If its working, tell us. If it's not working, tell us.
7) If we are awesome, tell others about us!
8) Remember that many of us got into our profession to help people, and we really do appreciate you.

I hope this wasn't too preachy. Believe me, I'm not an innocent party. I am going through it right now with one of my teachers. However, at the end of the day, I know that he has my best interests at heart and wants to see me do well. He just called me out on not being a team player. I respect his honesty and integrity. That's why I'm dedicating this post to ROBERT DURSO of the Golandsky Institute. He is a teacher/trainer/coach/therapist par excellence.

Any questions, comments, feedback can be sent to will@3doptimalperformance.com.

Thanks,

Will

Optimal Performance Quote Series: Nova Knutson

2010-10-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

"Hint: The cage is not locked." - Nova Knutson

Are you being 3-D Authentic?

2010-10-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, I was able to go to a Functional Soft Tissue Transformation course by one of my mentors, Lenny Parracino. He is a great teacher and a guy who is really paving the way for functional therapy.

In his workshop, he mentioned that what separates his practice from other practices was that he looked at each of his client-patients as INDIVIDUALS and took through through movements and soft tissue therapy that was AUTHENTIC as possible to their true function. Hmmm....

Lately, authenticity has been popping up a lot for me, and I started to ask myself why do I continue to see this theme. Am I not being authentic in my life? Well, the truth of the matter is that while I sometimes think so, I am probably being "semi-authentic" which is probably an oxymoron. Is it either/or?

However, there are clear moments that I am being authentic. Andrew Cohen, said this about being authentic:

The authentic self is the best part of a human being. It's the part of you that already cares, that is already passionate about evolution. When your authentic self miraculously awakens and becomes stronger than your ego, then you will truly begin to make a difference in this world. You will literally enter into a partnership with the creative principle.

Being authentic doesn't take work. It is already there and it feels comfortable. It's not forced. There is no ego that interjects judgements. The tough thing is that the pull of the ego is so great, we cannot break free from its grasp and feel a sense of anxiety when we try.

W.H. Auden said:

We would rather be ruined than changed.

We would rather die in our dread

Than climb the cross of the present

And let our illusions die

Audenn could refer to so much. In my profession, I am tasked with helping people move better so that they are more efficient in their function. Sometimes that takes soft tissue work, corrective exercise, functional conditioning, nutrition, and even behavioral changes. I can say that I have rarely had a client-patient who was ready to jump into change. There is always a hesitancy because the familiar feels easy. We're accustomed to it. Change is hard and like Auden said, people would rather be ruined than changed. However, it is that movement, that Transformational Zone(TZ), as we say in Applied Functional Science, when we move from one direction into another. The eccentric loading of our mind, body and spirit that got us to one point, is ready to propel us to the unloading or explode concentrically in another direction.

Unfortunately, this Transformational Zone needs to be sequenced appropriately and all known blocks removed so that the sensation of flow can happen. The TZ could also be seen as a breakdown to a breakthrough. Sometimes its a little more anticipated and sometimes its spontaneous. We have to be ready for both because when that time comes, we have to just let go.

Now what I think many of us do, myself included, is play it safe. Do what we know. Take the path more travelled. It's easier to do what we know or follow in others shadows. For some, that's fine. That's their choice, but I think those reading a blog on optimal performance want more than to just be shadows.

In your life, what are you fearing now? What is keeping you from being great? Can you identify one area and take small steps to change directions for the better. I do not mean side stepping either. I mean turn this around for the better. It may be a HUGE rock but as we do functional soft tissue and training with people, we know its one fiber at a time. Chiseling down the "big rock" to smaller ones that are more manageable. It may take a few days, months or years but there is nothing like the sensation of moving freely.

Are you moving freely in mind/body/spirit? I will tell you now its not easy but boy is it rewarding.

Will

Be your authentic self. Your authentic self is who you are when you have no fear of judgment, or before the world starts pushing you around and telling you who you're supposed to be. Your fictional self is who you are when you have a social mask on to please everyone else. Give yourself permission to be your authentic self.

~ Dr. Phil

How to save your throwing arm from injury

2010-10-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have had to deal with a few injuries related to throwing with my athletes that has also been concurrent with a rise of throwing injuries of a few professional athletes like Stephen Strasburg and Brett Favre.

Some of these injuries are not serious and the athlete can continue playing but others, like Strasburg, unfortunately, ended their seasons prematurely.

What do all of these have in common?

The short answer was that there was more than likely a breakdown somewhere in the kinetic chain that caused the body's tissues to be overexerted in a compensation that lead to the injury. That's the easy answer. The bigger question is WHERE in the kinetic chain was there a breakdown?

THROWING BASICS 101

When we look at throwing in any sport, we see a VERY complex skill. It requires the full body to be completely coordinated to achieve a efficient and injury free motion. This means that the from the big toe up to the top of the head, everything must be in working order and orderly working.

Proper joint motion must occur at the right time, place and speed so that the muscles and connective tissue that are attached can ECCENTRICALLY LOAD so that they can create the CONCENTRIC UNLOAD/EXPLODE which results in the throw.

When there a glitch in the process somewhere, we get an overloaded compensation somwhere else in the body that leads to an injury. For Straburg and Favre, it's focusing in on their elbows. For other throwers, it can go into places like the shoulder and lower back. It just depends on the person.

The question is now HOW DO WE TRAIN AND CONDITION FOR THE SKILL OF THROWING FOR POWER AND ACCURACY AS WELL AS FOR INJURY PREVENTION?

The process lies within Applied Functional Athletic Development design. In my other post 5 WAYS TO PREPARE YOUR ATHLETE FOR SUCCESS, I outlined the process focusing on the foot and ankle, but the same process applies for skill of throwing to develop an proficient injury free motion. It is:

1) Functional Prep

2) Fundamental Movement

3) Complex Movement

4) Skill (Throwing, in this case)

A lot of times, people tend to skip the one step or another and when that happens, we can get SOME results but not as comprehensive as is possible using the 4 step process.

In the next blog post, we will go over the Fundamental Preparation that everyone who is starting to throw, throwing or maybe post rehab should do. We'll also do some investigations into some of the elbow injuries that throwers suffer from. There are already posts on Rotator Cuff impingement and Shoulder Instability.

Please send any questions or comments to Will@3doptimalperformance.com.

Thanks,

Will

A quick and dirty functional circuit for a total body workout

2010-10-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

Very often, I get emails from friends asking me about a simple yet functional workout.

As many of my client-patients and athletes know, I am all about exercies being multi-planar to be functional. A while back, I wrote the post "3 exercises every athletes needs to do". They are:

LUNGES

SQUATS

PUSH-UPS

Putting the movements into a nice sequence works very well. Because function is TWEAKABLE, this cicuit can be done many ways.

For instance, you can change the number of reps within the circuit from 1-(whatever).

You can do each movement (lunge, squat, push-up) for time before you move to the next one like 45 seconds for lunges then 45 seconds for squats, etc.

You can speed up or slow down the movmements.

You decrease or increase weight of dumbells.

The number of possibilities is ENDLESS but I wanted to just shoot this video out as a INTRO TO FUNCTIONAL FITNESS.

VIDEO DETAILS

In the video, you will see me:

Do the lunge matrix with:

Both arms reaching to knees back to shoulder (bicep curl)

Both arms reaching to ankles to an overhead press

Do squats and push-ups with the single-plane tweaks of:

XXX - Feet/hands neutral

RXX- Right foot/hand forward

LXX- Left foot/hand forward

XWX- Feet/hands wider than hip distance

XNX- Feet/hands narrowr than hip distance

XXE- Feet/hands turned out

XXI- Feet/hands turned in

This circuit can be progressed into the double-plane and tri-planar tweaks, but I will save that for another day.

If you have any questions or comments please let me know.

Best,

Will

Slowing down to Speed up Development: Secrets of Success series

2010-10-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

Faster. Stronger. Bigger.

Thats the tagline of a lot of training and conditioning programs. They LOOOOOVE to get you doing something faster. However, is faster always better?

Recently, I was coaching our fall conditioning group in "Stances and Starts" which is basically starting in different foot positions like right or left foot foward and then going to small jog with either the same or opposite foot moving first. For some reason, a few of the guys were in good stances and when they started, there was a moment where they rocked back and then rocked forward into the jog. At first, I was puzzled as to why they would do that. It wastes a lot of time and is pretty uncoordinated. Well, I had to stop the whole group for a moment to tell them that when you want to start walking/jogging/sprinting, you simply had to lose your balance forward, the body would react by moving either foot forward. Therefore, rocking back to then go forward was very inefficient. After a few times, some of the boys got it but one did not. He simply wanted to just get started any way that his body could do at the time. I let another coach work the rest of the drill and coached this young man. I told him to simlply "slow down, feel the weight of your body (which is 6'8", 230lbs) in the balls of the feet, lean forward and just go but DON'T RUSH!" Everytime I saw him start to rock back, I stopped him and had it do it over and slower. Big guys need to have as much finesse, balance and body awareness as anyone else on the court. If not, it makes for a BIG ineffective clumsy player. Well, after a few minutes of really focusing and slowing down, he was finally able to feel the ground under feet and every start and stance after that was perfect.

This young man need to allow himself to slow down and get into his body. So many people, especially athletes, go through their activity with their brains half-on and hoping that they 'get-it'. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't but when they do not get it, the recipe for success is not going to be do it faster. Speed covers up a lot of errors. It's in the slow speed that's when we can see what's going on.

Below is a video of the famous golfer, Ben Hogan, who was meticulous in his practice. You will see him do a few super-slow swings. It's amazing that Ben is taking the time to a) breakdown his swing into parts and b) do it a slow speed so that he is aware of the movements taking place. Notice also who he steps slowly into place. Not only does this take patience, it also takes a tremendous amount of discipline to practice with intent, focus and attention to the most minute detail.

Are you able to slow down to really get a grip on what you doing? It doesn't have to be athletics. It could be anything from work to raising a family. Some moments deserve a slow practice to appreciate the subtleties of the activities as well as the big movements.

Is there something you aren't getting within an activity? Here's a simple solution:

1) Slow down. Breathe.
2) Break the movement down into parts. Taking one big skill in one bite can be too much to deal with but smaller parts, that are then connected together make the task MUCH more approachable and attainable.
3) After practing slowly, start to integrate speed and if there is something still wrong, go back to Step 2 and do it again. Maybe something else in the chain is going wrong. If so, find and fix.

Have a productive day!!!

Will

The Myth of Mistakes: "Secrets of Success" series

2010-10-13T06:26:00.000-07:00

"Do not fear mistakes. There are none."

-Miles Davis

Miles Davis was an icon as well as being an iconoclast. He redefined Jazz and Blues and will always be a true legend. Sometime in between making music, he was able to find some deep truths. I read the above quote in college and ALWAYS remembered it. However, it has taken me a while to really live that truth.

From a young age, many of us are made painfully aware of our perceived mistakes. We drop a pass, miss a passage from a piece, miss a bill payment, eat junk food. The list of mistakes goes on and on. Reactions from others can compound the feelings of guilt or anger that we may have when we make a mistake such as the "oooooh" of the crowd after a basketball player misses the game winning shot. The list of reactions goes on and on too, but I'd like to offer this:

THE SECOND SECRET OF SUCCESS IS THAT THERE ARE NO MISTAKES!

Last summer, I found a great book. The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle is an awesome book and I've suggested it to anyone who would listen. In it, Coyle explains that talent is really not all its cracked up to be. He broke it down to three vital components of so-called talent.

1) Deliberate Practice
2) Ignition/Motivation
3) Master Coaching

The book is well worth the read but I wanted to mention an awesome blog post by Coyle. In his post "The 0.25 Second that makes all the difference" he recounts a story of the audition process of the Bolshoi Ballet Company.

Here's an excerpt from his blog:

But there’s another way of thinking about error, and it begins with a story I heard recently about Marina Semyonova, a master teacher at the Bolshoi Ballet in the fifties.

The story goes like this: Every year, Semyonova would hold a tryout for the Bolshoi, which was (and still is) one of the world’s greatest ballet troupes. You can imagine the scene: dozens of brilliant young dancers milling about, years of experience holstered and ready, their dreams on the line.

At first, the tryout would proceed like any other: the dancers would try to show their abilities and vast repertoires. But then Semyonova would surprise them. She would stop the audition and teach them one new move – something they’ve never tried. They weren’t big complex moves – to the contrary, they were quite simple. It was as if the top-level audition suddenly was replaced by a beginners’ class.

The beginners’ class section took only a few minutes. But it was by far the most important moment of the audition, because by the time it was over Semyonova knew precisely which dancers to pick and which to pass over. And as the record shows, she proved to be right far more often than not.

Semyonova wasn’t a neuroscientist, but she was onto something. She wasn’t interested in measuring levels of skill – which changes over time and can be frustratingly unpredictable. She was zeroing in on a tiny slice of time that makes a massive difference in our learning ability — that primal instant right after we make a mistake.

That instant – which this very cool brain-scan experiment shows to be about 0.25 seconds – is a fork in the road; the moment when things tip one way or the other. Either the mistake is judged as a verdict and thus blocked out — or it’s seen as a piece of information to be used. And indeed, in the experiment referenced above, the students who used their mistakes (whose brains processed them deeply in that magical 0.25 seconds) ended up scoring higher than students who didn’t.

I love this for so many reasons. That "mistake" was instant feedback of how much we can better. It's a launch pad to success. However, we've been programmed that they are bad.

Do you dwell on your mistakes? Do you get down on yourself for making an error?

Allow yourself to be open to the possibility that the kind of mistakes that you think exist, really do not. Allow the moment after you've done something that did not go your way to be feedback, acknowledge that it's neither bad or good, own it and move on to do it better next time.

"Do not fear mistakes. There are none"

-Miles Davis

Functional Pilates for Athletes: Cross-Train like a Pro Series pt. 4

2010-10-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

If someone would have asked me if I would take, train and then finally teach Pilates ten years ago, I would have said "NO WAY!" As a yoga teacher, I even snubbed Pilates as a "yoga knock-off" but after training in the system for the past 6 years, I take it all back.

WHO DOES PILATES?
Originally called "Contrology" by its founder Joseph Pilates, evolved as a system of rehabiltation for injured soldiers during World War II. Joseph noticed that when the soldiers were able to move sooner, even in hospital beds, they recovered much faster. Over time he developed his system and finally moved to New York City where it became a mainstay of conditioning and rehabilitation for injured dancers, many of whom danced under Balanchine and Graham (both very physically demanding forms of dance). For decades, Pilates was used by dancers not only as conditioning but rehab. However, much like yoga, the tremendous benefits of Pilates emerged and made their way into mainstream America and finally into professional athletics. Thats right! Athletes like Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Jason Kidd and Curt Schilling have all been doing Pilates and swear by this amazing system.

HOW IS PILATES FUNCTIONAL?

Many of my colleagues poo-poo Pilates, but I really think it's because they do not understand it. Their arguement to me is "when are you ever on your back crunching up in athletics? We need to train upright for function because that's where they will be performing." Well, as Gary Gray, PT says "It depends".
Looking back at Fundamental Movements, those included activities like lunging, squatting, running, jumping, hopping, pushing and pulling. However, those movements could also be lying on the back, side, and front. These movements are FOUNDATIONAL movements for us to get into our bodies.

In my last post on FUNCTIONAL YOGA FOR ATHLETES, I mentioned that it develops a greater kinesthetic sense or where and what the body is doing in space. One of the main tenets of Pilates is FOCUSING on your body. Pilates, done correctly, requires a great deal of precision that will not let people turn their brains off as they may do during an "abs workout". When the movements are refined, it will not only be a "good workout" physically, they will have honed their awareness of their body.

Can Pilates strengthen the core? Sure, but I think it's way deeper than that. On top of the kinesthetic sense, athletes can find Pilates to be restorative in nature. Because they are either lying on the back, side or front for Mat-based Pilates, there is less load to the joints. Also, going through these movements, muscles are being eccentrically loaded and concentrically exploded while their joints go through their range of motion in a non-weight bearing way. Joints and muscles are able to find more space, mobility and stability during the session.

Below is a quick video of the "5 Abdomnial Series" with an explanation. These five exercises that are done in a "flow" manner are great for starting to turn on all of the nerves and muscles of abs.

As always, I welcome questions and comments.

Thanks,

Will

Optimal Performance Quote Series: Ellen Bass

2010-10-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

"There's a part of every living thing that wants to become itself. The tadpole into a frog, the chrysalis into a butterfly, a damaged human being into a whole one. That is spirituality."

-Ellen Bass

Functional Swimming for Athletes: Cross-train like a Pro series pt. 3

2010-10-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

In 2009, I decided I was going to start doing triathlons. The second thought I had was "OH CRAP! I have to actually learn how to swim." Well, this started a search for a swim coach. Being a biomechanist, I immeditaely went to the Internet and did a search for "The Biomechanics of Swimming." Because its such a big field, I had pages and pages of results but I happened to click on TOTAL IMMERSION (TI) SWIMMING and to my surprise, they were dead on for what I needed. The founder, Terry Laughlin, promised efficieny and easy freesytle, so naturally I was encouraged. I eventually got the TI videos and TI book and started woking with a TI coach, and to say my life was changed was a bit of an undesrtatement.

The magic of the TI method is that it is systemically broken down to build or rebuild your stroke so that instead of having a barge-shaped vessel, you are more torpedo or "fishlike" so that you are able to literally glide through the water. The method is VERY 3-D in its approach as it uses all 3 planes of motion to combine into a seemeless technique.

3-D BIOMECHANIC TECHNIQUE OF TOTAL IMMERSION

Transverse Plane: Arms and lets are not used as primary propulsion. Instead, a horizontal rotation of the entire body or "hip-drive" in TI parlance is the engine that moves the body. Terrys' reason being that in longer distances (not sprints), the arms will fatique quickly and the swimmer will not be able to sustain the swim. The larger muscles of the 'core' assist the swim so the smaller muscles do not have to.

Frontal Plane: The arms become more integral in this plane since they are set as "tracks" for balance and stability. They are set wider than shoulder distance, so when the swimmer has a stable point for the rotation to go to.

Sagital Plane: The arms and legs do play a role but not as large as we would think. They do reach forward but only to have "patient hands" that just hold the water and not pull it back. As for the legs, TI preaches a 2-beat kick.

SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH CROSS-TRAINING???

As I started swimming more and more, I was not as sore from my other training. The swimming, even for an hour or more, had a very therapeutic affect on me. I was able to workout longer and harder without the fear of overtraining (even in fucntional training). The result was that I improved in nearly everything I was doing from strength, to flexibility, to body awareness to cardiovascular conditioning.

SO WHY DO I NEED TOTAL IMMERSION???

Well, the fact of the matter is that you dont really need the method to just get in the water and do aquatic based conditioning. However, the benefits of someone learning how to swim properly far out weigh the cons of just flopping around in the water. Feeling comfortable in the water and not feeling like you will drown is probably the top reasons why most people do not swim more. They fight water instead of moving with it. My father always told me "Do not fight the water because it will always win." I kept this in the back of my mind when I began my swim training.

With Total Immersion, the athlete is able to go through a step by step process on how to build the stroke up from nothing. If he or she is truly mindful, they are able to not only develop a good stroke, they will have improved their kinestthetic sense which, as I've said in other posts, are a vital to improving athletic ability. Moving through water, you must allow yourself to float and that is done by maintaining a sense of calm and being able to remove excess tension from the body where it doesnt need to be. What we see typically is that when an athlete becomes aware of their body, they are able to move better overall.

ON THE THERAPEUTIC SIDE....

Much research has been done to back up the wisdom of coaches regading aquatic therapy and conditioning. Some of the most cutting edge work is being done by Dr. Jan Prins at the University of Hawaii, who is also owner of Prins Aquatherapy. In a recent keynote speech to the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports, Dr. Prins described the kinesthetics of exercising in the water are:

- Most movements in the water are learned skills and take time to develop.
- Kinesthetic movement in the water is subtle, therefore, efective movement patterns must be developed and then closesly monitored.
-The water reduces the pressure induced loads on the joints and consequently allows continue exercising with decreased risk of internal injury.

Dr. Prins primary population is rehabiltiation but his strategies are still very valid for athletes.

OUR SUMMER WORKOUTS
This summer our athletes would do at least one, sometimes two pool session per week. If they could swim reasonbaly well we would do a pool set that looked like:

100yd freestyle warm-up
50yd kicking drill with kick pad
50 yd upper body pull using buoy between legs

We would then repeat for backstroke and breaststroke. Butterfly was omitted because of how complex it could be.

The guys would repeat this for at least 3 sets. For my guys who could not swim or were struggling, I took through them the Total Immersion freestyle progression. One student in particular was able to improve his stroke so much he was able to swim 1/2 mile easily and started coming in on his own before practices to swim.

For the strong swimmers, we would finish with a 10 minute continuous swim using any stroke they wanted to.

Sometimes it would be a little more conditioning based, so I used the program from Human Kinetics. Again, the effect that it had on their bodies and our recovery cannot be stressed enough how productive it was. Usually the biggers hurdle are athletes feeling comfortable in the water to do this work. Once they do, they LOVE it. Many of my athletes are still doing it on the weekend to stay up on their swimming but also recover from a long week of land-based practices and workouts.

I am posting videos below from Total Immersion. The first is the first of a video presentation that Terry gave at the Multi-Sport expo. The other are from Shinji Takeuchi, a TI master instructor, who has a beautiful form with videos that allow you to see how he started and how much he progressed with TI.

Thank you,

Will

Please click on the video to go directly to Youtube to see the rest of the series. It's worth your time to watch them all for a better understanding of the method.

The First Secret of Success is...

2010-10-01T07:09:00.000-07:00

Success. Scary word and even scarier process.

Success also means different things to many people. To Michael Jordan, athletic success meant winning championships. To one of my best friends, Brandt, his success came in fully becoming a husband, father, math teacher and high school baseball coach (all almost within a year).

The perception about success is that it's the last thing done and the most publicized (i.e. winning a conference title) but that's not the whole picture. Unfortunately, outsiders don't see the process that leads up to the "success". They don't see the literal and metaphorical bumps, bruises and scrapes, and that's the sad part because it's the most exciting and where the most growth occurs.

I have the privilege of wearing a few "hats" and among them coach. Practices can be ugly. Coaches and athletes can have as many bad days as they have good days. Growth can initially be very fast, slow down dramatically, stop and then pick back up and shoot higher than expected. There are tears. Smiles. Laughs. Frowns. Quitting. Joining. Rejoining. All of which are unpredictable but at the end of the day: rewarding. The process that our football players go through, is the very same process that many go through with work, relationships, arts, etc. but it's that amazing process that is the core of the experience.
So what is it about success that is so elusive in parts of peoples lives?

Unfortunately, most people do not even show up. They have the best laid plans but when it's time to put their butts on the line, they are not there physically, mentally, spiritually or all three.

THE FIRST SECRET OF SUCCESS IS SHOWING UP IN MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT.

I have seen athletes physically at practice but just going through the motions and were not mentally invested in what they were doing, so the same mistakes kept repeating themselves in practices and even during competition. I've seen clients make all the plans to lose weight and get in shape, but when it was time for a session, they were sick, busy or busy, etc. Finally, in my life, I've practice and performed in music and athletics and had a great performance but when I looked back at it, something wasn't quite there. It lacked "feeling/soul/spirit". It happens to the best and worst of us, but when we are there, right in that moment, fully present, our chances of success skyrocket exponentially.

Where are you in mind, body and spirit today? Can you be fully present at the things you do no matter how insignificant they may be?

Take the time out stop for 2 minutes out of what you are doing and take in the scene. Breathe. Observe without judgement. Do this daily so that 2 minutes becomes 5 then 10, 20, 60 until you are fully present during every moment in the day. It takes dedication, but you'll be surprised how much more productive and efficient you are when you are fully engaged. (Note: I'm still working on this, so I'm right there with you.)

In the "Secrets of Success" series, we will look at a diverse group of successful people and what they did to get to where they are. I look forward to going on this this functional success journey with you.

Thanks,

Will

Functional Problem Solving in Action: Lacrosse Player with Lower Back Pain (LBP)

2010-09-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

I am grateful to be able to do what I do every day working with athletes and non-athletes alike. They always present different challenges and it's fun to see what happens when you help someone with a physical breakthrough.

Here is a portion of an email I received from one of my collegiate athletes about one of his teammates.

"Also, my friend here has had lower back problems for
forever and hurt it especially bad this morning doing box jumps, and
is really having trouble bending down and moving at all. The trainer
says its because his abs are weaker than his back, and his right hip
is higher than his left hip. they did stim and stretched it today,
and it made it a little better. But he wanted me to ask you if you
had any advice to give him or anything about it since its really
giving him trouble."

First, I'm always impressed by this young man's concern for his teammates. He's not only a great athlete, he's a great guy and unfortunately, that is becoming more and more rare these days. Anyway, I made the quick video below explaining my thinking behind his teammates' lower back pain as well as a quick hitter to get him on the road to fully functional. Please excuse the rough editing.

If you have any questions that you'd like me to do a webcast on, please let me know and I'll see if we can make it happen. Email questions to will@3doptimalperformance.com

Thanks,

Will

Functional Yoga for Athletes: Cross-Train like a Pro series pt. 2

2010-09-29T05:52:00.000-07:00

EDDIE GEORGE, FORMERLY OF THE DALLAS COWBOYS, IN CRESCENT LUNGE (ANJENAYASANA)

In the mid 90's when I started doing yoga as a high school student, it was REALLY weird. I mean, being the only guy out of a few hundred students to do yoga really challenged me physically, mentally and spiritually. However, thanks to my Aunt Tracy, I was far ahead of the Yoga for Athletes movement in the US that exploded a few years ago.

Since the early 2000's, MANY athletes from the high school level all the way up to the professionals have been incorporating yoga into their training and conditioning programs. Many strength coaches, sports coaches and athletic directors have finally "bought into" the many benefits that yoga can have on their athletes and some have even required it! (I love that, by the way).

REAL MEN DO YOGA was a book that I referred to constantly when starting yoga at the high school level. I referenced guys like Shannon Sharpe in the NFL, Barry Zito in the MLB, as well as entire teams like the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bulls who practiced yoga. This somehow made it acceptable.

I can remember the season that we started yoga, our incidence of injuries like pulled groins and hamstring strains decreased dramatically. The guys were more limber and able to stay relatively injury free. It was pretty amazing and we have kept it going ever since.

HOW YOGA CAN BENEFIT ATHLETES

Well, the most obvious benefit is the stretching aspect that the practice can bring to someone. Depending on the type of yoga (Iyengar, Ashtanga, Power, Vinyasa, etc), they will get more or less strengthening, aerobic conditioning, as well as a faster or slower pace. Some folks love the slower and more detailed work an Iyengar class brings while others prefer the athletic and faster pace of a Power or Ashtanga class. I think its up to the person to really see what 'fits' them and go with it. It's easy for people to go to a few classes with one instructor and say "Yoga really isn't for me." That's like saying "Food isn't for me." There are so many ways to approach yoga that become even more diversified by the number of teachers. The possibilities are endless.

Another reason, is that it really starts honing your overall athletic abilities. In a post I wrote on Applied Functional Athletic Development, I referenced KINESTHETIC AWARENESS or the ability to sense where and what your body was doing in space. This awareness MUST be taken into the yoga practice and when it does, the athlete learns a little more about their body. They appreciate how a bend here or a twist there activates and stretches the soft tissues in the body. This sense can be taken deeper and deeper so that the athlete becomes very familiar with how their body moves. This directly translates to athletic performance so when they need their body to do something big or subtle (such a changing their pitching in baseball a minute amount), they will already have developed the control and sense to do it. PRETTY COOL --- YOGA MAKES FOR BETTER ATHLETES!!!

WHAT TO FOCUS ON...
With all that being said, I think there are areas that athletes need to focus on. I can safely say I've taught hundreds and hundreds of classes over the last 10 years and I've come to see a few trends. For athletes, THE HIPS and the surrounding neuromuscular complex is where I tend to start.

I find the hips are the tightest/strongest/weakest/most dysfunctional area of the body because of our lifestyles. For example, at the high school level, our students sit in classes for 6+ hours per day for years and years and then come out for athletics after academics, lunch and sometimes chapel. They do their 15 minute warm-up and they are off for 2.5 hour practices. Needless to say, imbalances will arise pretty quickly.

Can the foot/ankle complex be locked down because of sitting, bad shoes/cleats, past injuries, etc? SURE!

Can the thoracic spine lack the proper Type I and Type II motion from training and condition that focused solely in the Sagital plane and ignored proper motion in the Frontal and Transverse Planes? SURE!

I have seen when a thoughtful assessment has lead to the discovery of these dysfunctions and really freed the athlete from any neuromsuclar pain and discomfort and then allowed them to move well. I acknowledge all of that, BUT I still start at the hips because they are the power source of the body.

HOW TO START YOGA FOR ATHLETES
Generally, the first physical movement pattern I teach is the Sun Salutation (or Surya Namaskar in Sanskrit). Now, every teacher will teach them a little differently but for the most part, it's the same.

Because of my biomechanics background, I absolutely INSIST on good form as bad form can also injure someone. No one wants to herniate a disk in their spines and especially not from something that is touted as a restorative/preventative aspect of their athletic development.

Below is a video showing the Sun Salutation "A" and Sun Salutation "A" with a Crescent Lunge, like in the above picture with Eddie George Please make sure that you properly warmed up to do this. Never just jump into any movement especially one that takes you through to (or close to) your end range of motion. This Sun Salutation can be done every. It will take about 10 minutes but you will refreshed and energized afterwards.

If you have any questions regarding the movements, I'd love answer them as well as any questions you may have.

Thanks,

Will

Optimal Performance Quote Series: Master Yoda

2010-09-27T05:07:00.000-07:00

"NO! Try not. Do or do not. There is no try" -Master Yoda

Optimal Performance Quote Series: Michael Jordan

2010-09-22T05:52:00.000-07:00

"I'm not afraid to take a step and if I fail, I fail. I pick myself up and move on. If we can all learn one thing in life, it's don't be afraid to take on something that you believe you're capable of achieving." -Michael Jordan

Are you getting better every day?

2010-09-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

KAIZEN is a word in the Japanese language that means "CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT." It was first introduced into English as a way of to describe increasing efficiency of the manufacturing process by statistical analysis. I first heard it through the TOTAL IMMERSION swimming method that encourages swimmers to have a goal of swimming better each time they get into the pool.

To truly practice, kaizen a person needs to be mindful of their thoughts, words and actions. That's much easier said (and typed) than done. We live in such a fast paced society that most of the time, we just "do" things without thinking about them. When is the last time you drove to work or school and thought "How did I get here?" I have had that happen on more than one occasion. It seems like we are almost beamed from one place to another. The unfortunate thing is those precious moments are moments that you and I will never have back.

A wise man once told me that TIME is the only commodity that we can never truly get back. Once a moment is gone, it's gone.

As we go about our lives, its so easy for us to go on auto-pilot in a number of situations. As a employee, supervisor, therapist, coach, teacher, parent, student, etc., we all have moments that we are not really there. It's one thing for you to miss something in your life but for most of us, we usually have someone else sharing a experience with us; and for us not to be FULLY PRESENT robs ourselves and the other person of the experience.

Can we afford to miss moments with others when the future is so uncertain? I hate to bring up an unfortunate event but it's powerful. On 9/11, we lost thousands of Americans in a terrorist attack. What is even sadder is there were probably moments that those people may have missed with their loved ones who may have thought "I'll see Mom/Dad/Sister/Brother/Friend later. We'll have plenty of time." Later never came.

Take a moment to look up from reading and take in the scene. Then take a moment to reach out to someone you have not talked to in a while and maybe reminisce with them. Smile at a stranger. Hug your loved one.

Being better doesn't require you to sweat, run, lift weights, practice Yoga, etc. It just requires you to be PRESENT 100 PERCENT. When you are present, you leave space for yourself to improve. If you are present, those improvements will be there before you know it.

As always, I welcome questions and comments.

Thank you,

Will

3 AWESOME and EFFECTIVE ways to cross-train athletes

2010-09-20T05:22:00.000-07:00

Many athletes go through their entire career doing the "regular" activities like lifting weights, running, doing plyometrics, etc. These are all important to development but unfortunately there are hundreds of other ways to develop athletes that are never really pursued unless it pushed by a progressive athletic development team. Fortunately, I have been blessed to be part of a team like this for the past 6 years where we regulary integrated traditional weight lifting, functional training, Yoga, Pilates, swimming conditioning, martial arts and gymnastics. Our success at winning multiple conference championships every year and sending student athletes to top-tier athletic collegiate programs has been a result of good skills coaching, good athletes and a good multi-discipline training and conditioning program.

This summer, I took on the job of not only training and conditioning my high school athletes, I also worked with current collegiate athletes. Many of the guys already had summer programs from their coaches, and I didn't want to fuss with their programs. What I did do was to insert some training that worked on some of areas that were not focused on. We did a lot of functional training with the 3-D Lunge Matrices and 3-D footwork as well as tweaked some traditional lifts like the Power Clean.

We also did some VERY non-traditional work which consisted of:

YOGA

PILATES

AQUATIC CONDITIONING

At the end of the summer, my collegiate athletes reported feeling stronger, quicker and more flexible than they ever had. Even as I checked in this fall, they are still feeling great and many are still following the program that we did this summer within reason of their primary athletic schedules.

An example schedule looked like this (including their respective school workouts):

Monday: Functional Training

Tuesday: Traditional Lifts and 3-D Lunge and Squat Matrices

Wednesday: Pilates Core work and Functional Balance Training

Thursday: 3-D Footwork, Agility, Speed and Quickness

Friday: Yoga and Aquatics

Athletes were responsible for maintaining their individual sport skills so many would do it after their workouts.

What we saw was the guys were moving better, able to recover faster and maintain a high level of skill work during tournaments and games. Additionally, injuries that had affected the guys during their seasons were able to heal properly and didn't bother them all summer and into their seasons or preseasons.

In the next few posts, I will cover in more detail what we did with YOGA, PILATES AND AQUATIC CONDITIONING and will include videos as well.

Take a look at your workouts. Are you including any cross-training to give your body a rest from its routine and give your brain a chance to create a few more neural pathways from the different activity?

If you want to jump the gun a bit, try this: Instead of going to the weightroom today, look for a beginners Pilates or Yoga class. Get there a little early and tell the teacher you dont have much experience. Teachers LOVE to have new people in their classes and most will give you a little extra attention. Afterall, we want you to come back. (Note: If you are a guy who is nervous about going into a class full of women, SWALLOW YOUR PRIDE AND GO then CHECK YOUR EGO at the door. Not to mention, the women in classes are usually beautiful and I have seen on more than one occasion people chatting it up after class. It's a win-win for everyone!)

How about swimming? Do 2 or 3 pool lengths destroy you and have you rethinking your athleticism? If so, check out TOTAL IMMERSION. It's amazing swimming instruction by revolutionary coach, Terry Laughlin. I went from struggling with 2 lengths to being able to swim a 1/2 mile easily and ready for more. There are tons of Youtube videos as well as thorough explanations of the method by Terry.

I look forward to sharing with you. If you have any thoughts or comments about how you cross-train, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks!

Will

5 simple steps to functionally prepare your athlete VIDEO!

2010-09-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a video from a blog post I did a few days ago. I wanted to repost it since it got lost in the shuffle. It was originally entitlted "5 SIMPLE BASIC WAYS TO PREPARE YOUR ATHLETE FOR SUCCESS"

Let me know what you think.

Best,

Will

Optimal Performance Quote Series

2010-09-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

How to functionally condition athletes that dominate

2010-09-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

After athletes have been able to get a good hold on the FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENTS that were discusseed in part II of the "HOW TO FUNCTIONALLY TRAIN ATHLETES THAT WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS", we now move onto the ENHANCEMENT MOVEMENTS.

These are the enhancement variables that stimulate conditioning for the intended activity/sport:

Functional movement (replicates specfic movement within sport)

Cardiorespiratory training

Speed, Agility, Quickness conditioning

Structural conditioning

Complex conditioning (Power Snatch, Power Clean, Hang Cleans, etc)

As you can see, these movement are a lot more complex than the lunges, squats, skips, jumps, etc that make up FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENTS. These enhancement movements are as close to the activity/sport as you can get, so having the fundamentals well established will benefit all athletes. It's hard to do Power Clean if you cannot squat properly. The same goes for lunges in 3 planes of motion with Speed, Agiliity and Quickness training. Low mobility and stability (mostability) in the body, in particular the hips, equals `low results from the training. It's as simple as that.

Whenever we take on a new class of athletes, they ALWAYS want to do the sexy lifts like Power Cleans because they think that will get them results faster. Of course they will get some results, but unfortunately, they eventually plateau. As soon as we can convince them to take a month or so off of the "Big Lifts" and focus on the FUNDAMENTAL MOVMENTS, they moan and complain at first, but when they come back a few weeks later, they find that their lifts have skyrocketed WITHOUT them doing any of the lifts. Imagine that!

However, when they do move to the ENHANCEMENT MOVEMENTS we insist that they still do all of the work in 3 planes of motion and not limit themselves to the traditional stances. After all, we are getting them as close to the activity as possible and unfortunately, sports are not predicatble. The movements within the acttivity, must be spontaneous but controllable. The athlete needs to know that they can be in almost any position and be able to decelerate their body eccentrically so that they concentrically accelerate or unload the entire neuromuscular system.

As we look through this functional process, we see that it is a process that when followed, yields results that athletes can take to the field and even to the bank!

I will revisit the ENHANCEMENT MOVEMENTS in future posts to go further in depth on one particular conditioning as well as the various tweaks that can be applied to them.

Here is a video that demonstrates one category of the ENHANCEMENT MOVEMENTS as well as a FOOT POSITION tweak that is applicable to the Complex Conditioning lifts.

This clip is a 3-D version of the Power Clean. Traditionally, the move is taught with the feet facing forward but rarely do we still a symmetrical stance in sports, so we had Tony move into various foot positions to illicit different neuromuscular responses. This should not be attempted until an athlete has a very good grasp on the various positions with low to no weight.

RESULTS: One athlete in particular, as a high school junior (6'2 185lbs- wide receiver), was able to max squat 405lbs even after he had surgery for a sports hernia about 6 months prior (Note: He was cleared by the doctor for full activity). This athlete did not squat heavy for most of the summer but had been working with the various squats in single, double and triple plane stances, so when it came time for more weight, all of the muscles were able to coordinate to eccentricallly decelerate to a concentric acceleration.

As always I love comments and questions.

Thanks,

Will

NEW VIDEO: 3-D JUMP MATRIX Preview

2010-09-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

I am fortunate enough to train athletes of many different sports like football, lacrosse, basketball, soccer, baseball, tennis and wrestling to name a few. Each sport and each athlete come with their own set of needs and desires to get better, so I have to really take a look at each sport and person and break down the fundamental movements.

What I hear time and time again is that FOOTWORK IS IMPORTANT. Many of the athletes want to be quicker and more explosive and that can be challenging given the many variables of sports. However, when we go back to our basics, we look at the JUMPING as a fundamental movement of footwork. When we talk about Jumping, we are referring to movement from 2 feet to 2 feet. As hopping is 1 foot to 1 foot (regardless if its the same foot or moving to the other foot).

To start building the fundamental movements, we will take a simple jump and turn it into a 3-D JUMP MATRIX.

In the video below you will see that the athletes first start jumping with both feet IN-SYNC, meaning they are going in the plane of motion in the SAME direction. We then tweak the jump to be OUT-OF-SYNC so that even the feet are moving in the same plane, they are moving in OPPOSITE directions from each other.

The benefit is that we are training the neuromuscular system to be able to eccentrically load the muscles of the lower extremities from the intrinsic muscles of the feet to the deep muscles of the pelvic floor(and everything in between) in ALL 3 PLANES OF MOTION so that they are able to concentrically unload in a coordinated manner to ensure maximum SPEED, AGILITY AND QUICKNESS.

Can you get all of this from one matrix? Well, my challenge to you is to time yourself in a agility test and write down your results. Do the 3-D Jump Matrix for 10 days then go back and retest yourself. You will be pleased at your results.

You will need to tweak the timing of the 3-D JUMP MATRIX starting with at least 15 seconds for both in-sync and out-of-sync movements in one plane. So in the sagital plane, you would go 15 seconds in-sync and then 15 seconds out-of-sync for 30 seconds total. Rest 10 seconds. Then move on to the frontal and transverse planes. That is one set. Do this for 3 sets and add a set every other day that you do the 3-D JUMP MATRIX.

I'd love for you to report back and tell me what your results were.

Thanks!

Will

NEW VIDEO: 3-D COMMON AND UNCOMMON LUNGE MATRICES

2010-09-10T05:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a new video with Matt, who is demonstrating both common and uncommon lunge matrices.

The COMMON lunge matrix simulates what would be a motion that we would normally do like stepping to pick a box up, or rotating the hips to turn around.

The UNCOMMON lunge matrix simuates movements we usually dont do normally BUT we still see those movements. For instance, crossover steps in basketball.

Matt started with no arm drivers but then as he progressed, he started to incorporate reaches first to his ankle. He then changed to overhead reaches and then finally combined the arm reaches, going ankle to
overhead reach.

I got a great comment from Jugo who added that these lunges could easily be applied to a basketball progression and I fully agree. Thanks for your insight, Jugo!

As always, I encourage comments and questions.

Thanks!

Will