Shopping Trip!

Who doesn't like going shopping?

I don't.

But that's not the point. Normally, when I run a one-off training session with a group they ask me for a shopping list of the equipment I brought with me. I bring a lot of toys to these sorts of training sessions.

None of the equipment I'm about to list replaces having a basic weightlifting set-up and program. And some of the material I present is best used and safest when done in conjunction with a complete strength training plan - it's not all basic material.

Also, feel free to shop around but keep in mind the reasons for why I recommend the products that I do.

Power

Medicine Balls - I recommend these particular medicine balls because they bounce and the bounce is helpful for a variety of drills. For HEMA I suggest 4 or 6 pound balls. For smallsword and later period fencing, including modern fencing, a 2 pound ball is best. Our objective is for the ball to be no more than double the weight of the sword - this allows us to train velocity of action.

Sandbells - No one else makes a version that is as durable, though you can usually get a better price on Amazon than on their website. Great for a wide variety of throwing drills. The appropriate weight is going to be around 30-70% of bench press max. This is quite a wide range and so you have to get a number of different sizes to work best.

Sandbells only go up to 50 pounds but there are good reason to keep going higher. To do that I put multiple sandbells into these sandbag trainers. Again, the product I pick is based on our durability needs, we are going to be throwing these as hard as we can at the wall and floor etc. However, you can usually get a better price on Amazon for these as well.

Everyone starts at 10 pounds so that they can get the form right before they go up in weight.

At beginner levels these can be replaced with Dynamax balls.

Hurdles - Adjustable hurdles and other variations exist and each is a trade-off between flexibility, durability and cost. Individual choices are going to depend in large part on expected use. But start small, big hurdles are hard on the joints.

Plyo boxes - I'm not going to recommend a specific product here, because their are so many facility specific factors that go into a purchasing decision here - mostly space concerns. Plyo boxes are an important tool though. They are much safer on the joints than doing other jumping exercises.

Everyone should have plyo boxes.

Agility

Agility Ladders - basic tool, so basic that a lot of folks already have them. There are spiffy versions that do niftier things and cost more, but those are really only going to matter for high-end athletes and even then only after they have mastered all the lower intensity stuff. Probably not worth spending extra money on fancy ones.

Rings - another basic level tool. The advantage of items like ladders and rings is that they force the athlete to pay attention to their footwork - you can't just put your foot anywhere with these drills. Which is why I recommend rings, even though you could do the associated drills without anything special.

Dots - These are a minor tool that are all about forcing accuracy in footwork. 

Reflex ball - aka Z-ball (which is the brand I originally got). These are for proving to your athletes that you wish to torture them. It's fun. But not a lot of tools actually allow you to create random stimuli for training reflexes, so these are pretty unique in their utility.

Core Training

Heavy Bar - Functionally similar to various sledgehammer workouts except safer. Safer than swinging a hammer head past your legs at speed. Not only are they safer for the user, they are also safer for the floor and walls. These are also similar to Indian clubs in terms of the workouts that you can do, but they are cheaper and more versatile. I start adults off at 6 pounds.

Mini-bands - Primarily for hip strengthening exercises. Color coded for resistance level. Adults can usually start with the green bands and work their way up. Adolescents and smaller folks should start with yellow.

Sandbags - these are useful for a variety of core training exercises as well, which makes them a nice multi-purpose tool. Plus it means that you don't need to buy conventional weights as well.

Conclusion

Everything I've shown here is usually also available at Perform Better, with minor variations existing. Check their before purchasing to see if they have a better deal or suit your needs better. Or it's available in a prettier color.

My  start-up level kit would include the following as a minimum:

1. Medicine ball
2. Agility ladder
3. Mini-bands
4. Z-ball

The next most important component is plyo boxes, but they are expensive, heavy and take up a lot of space. Which makes them not easy for a lot of clubs. They really can't be beat for utility though. And they are still safer than the alternatives.

I would love for all the useful things to be free. However, a well designed program will have overload and progression, both of which are hard to do without tools. 

Programming Core Workouts - Putting It All Together

So I've put together a four part series (I, II, III, IV) on core training. That series is a bunch of pieces with instructions for each component. Now let's look at how to incorporate these ideas into a complete program.

Let me get one assumption about planning your training out up front. The assumption is that you are going to have a weekly training program. There is a day or more of technical training at your club. Two or three days of strength work and three or more days of cardio. You strive to have a regular schedule, where each component has a particular day when you do it. There are more complex approaches possible, but this is a good starting point. And, of course, there is progression from week to week.

First, don't try to do everything. I've presented four different types of core training and there are plenty of other options as well. Instead pick a couple of options and do them a couple of times per week each. 

Second, remember that these exercises are not your only core training. Basic weightlifting exercises provide plenty additional stimulus to developing core muscles. Conditioning methods like kettlebells and battle ropes will also help train the core. As will medicine ball exercises (which are a great as a part of the warm-up for class).

Categories of Core Training

To help you decide which exercises to do it helps to start by categorize them by the basic kind of benefit the exercises will produce.

Intensity - the most basic core exercises will help us develop stronger core muscles and progression is achieved through increasing intensity. The most basic are the weighted isometric exercises from part I. If you are only going to include one kind of core work then make sure that this is it. Alternatives abound. For this category exercises should be low reps (<15) or low time (<45 seconds), with enough resistance for muscle fatigue to be the limiting factor. These exercises should be stable and involve only short arcs of movement or no motion.

Coordination - other core exercises are better at developing the integration of our core with whole body movement and/or the integration of sensory and muscular activity for balance and agility. Basic, whole body lifts like the squat will develop integration of the core and movement; medicine ball drills will do the same but with a different emphasis. Agility drills (like ladders and cones) will place a core demand where dynamic stability is developed. 

Specific exercises include those described in parts III and IV. These should be seen as supplemental to other kinds of core exercise. As the other aspects (weightlifting and agility) are more important to include.

Activation - desk jobs, sedentary living and the general frailty of humans mean that we frequently need to help trigger muscles to be more active. These kinds of exercises may be less demanding physically and progress may be noted in improvements to other actions, not the exercise itself. A basic starting point for these are the hip exercises described in part II. 

Lots of alternatives exist in this category, for instance the Turkish Get-up or various carry exercises. Common elements are that the exercise is highly form dependent and the core is used to support the resistance, rather than directly causing the movement. They are also low enough in intensity to be done most days.

Deciding What Goes Where

The different exercises you do should be associated with specific other aspects of your workout, this will help keep things organized and guide decisions about what goes where.

Activation exercises are specifically beneficial as a pre-workout exercise, particularly before weightlifting. 

Intensity exercises should probably follow the same schedule as strength training since they will require a rest day in-between. They should be done at the end of a strength training session since the bigger exercises are more technically demanding.

Coordination exercises can be used as part of the warm-up for any kind of exercise or as part of a circuit. Remember, that when used as a warm-up the volume of exercise will be lower than when they are a primary training goal. 

When it comes to training, everything should be done a couple of times per week or more. Anything you are training only once a week will not see progress and development. More frequent training is necessary for improvement.

Here's a sample schedule to illustrate

• Monday - Activation and Agility work (coordination) as part of warm-up for class
• Tuesday - Activation before lifting, intensity work after main lifts (coordination)
• Wednesday - Activation and med ball work (coordination) as part of warm-up for class
• Thursday - Activation before lifting, intensity work after main lifts (coordination)
• Friday -Activation before long cardio session
• Saturday -  Activation before lifting, intensity work after main lifts (coordination)
• Sunday - rest

Since activation is on there nearly everyday, I will probably alternate two different activation exercises. Carry exercises can be made into a good warm-up that is focused on structure and is therefore relevant to weightlifting e.g. squats etc. While the hip activation can be done on the other days.

How Much?

Ten minutes. As part of a warm-up five minutes. Since core training shows up in many aspects of a complete training program (like strength and agility) the time spent on dedicated core work does not need to be large. It's actually already in there plenty.

Conclusion

A good program requires planning. It probably even involves a calendar or spreadsheet. This idea will be featured in another blog post. But it shows what is required for success - dedication.

Programming Core Workouts - Part 4: Isometric Stability

Isometric Stability Exercises for the Core

This is part 4 of the continuing series on Core workouts. If you haven't seen them, or just need a refresher here's Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Our basic pattern continues here with a three part approach - front, back and side. However, these exercises are using various devices to create instability, such as a BOSU, medicine ball or stability ball. 

Instability creates two additional kinds of demand relative to simpler exercises. First, the need to stabilize engages more of the muscles, thereby increasing the intensity of the exercise without having to increase weight. Second, our trunk muscles have a significant role in stabilizing the torso and our body (of course), so a stability demanding exercises is going to help develop that capability. This demonstrates the application of a basic principle: overload. An unstable surface is overload in comparison to regular life, where we don't have to deal with unstable surfaces. Overload is necessary to make regular tasks easy.

Their are four exercises shown above:

1. Medicine Ball Plank - this engages the entire body for stabilization, especially the upper body. Emphasis should be on good posture - as always, a good plank looks just like good standing posture except rotated 90 degrees. This means a neutral spine, instead of letting the hips drop or sticking your butt up in the air.

2. Stability Ball Curl Up - with the small of the back on the stability ball this exercise focuses the demand on the abdominal muscles, unlike the previous exercise. The objective is to hold the shoulders up against gravity while simultaneously stabilizing on the ball to maintain a neutral posture.

3. Stability Ball  Hip Bridge - with the shoulders and neck on the stability ball this exercise places it's demand on the back extensors, glutes and hamstrings. Once again, the objective is to maintain a straight back posture. There is a tendency for people to cheat by letting the hips sag. However, there is no real downside to a bit of over-extension with the back. So I advise people to err on the side of elevating the hips higher than they think they need to.

4. BOSU Side Plank - by elevating the feet on the flat side of a BOSU the side plank gets an added stability requirement. As with the regular side plank the emphasis should be on good posture (which I'm sure you've noticed is the pattern), avoiding the errors illustrated in the video.

Task Complexity

These exercises illustrate another principle for progression, that of task complexity. Task complexity allows us to progress an exercise without increasing weight, by adding additional layers of difficulty in other domains. This does not improve strength but it will improve the cross-over between different exercises. 

It can also provide a way of progressing an exercise in group training when there is a mix of levels. Since not everyone can necessarily do a harder or more intense version of an exercise it can be easier to have some folks do a more complex version of the exercise.

Programming

These are supplementary exercises that work best in conjunction with the more basic exercises described in the previous parts of the series. They can be done on the off days since they are less intense than the standard weighted core exercises.

As with the other isometric exercises, aim for a duration of at least 30 seconds and build up to a minute. Much past a minute and it becomes necessary to change the exercise to continue to make meaningful improvement.

Conclusion

These basic exercise variants can improve an already solid core development and strengthening program by adding task complexity through instability.

(Conclusion about programming)

Programming Core Workouts - Part 3

Dynamic Core Work

Dynamic exercises to train moving your body around a stationary torso for good structure in the fight.

Sorry it took so long to get the next blog post up. Grad school has been intense and I needed to shoot a video for it.

In case you missed them here are Part 1 and Part 2.

Here's the video


The key point of this series of exercises is moving the limbs around a stationary torso. This is what we do when we fight, as I discussed in part 1. As such this is a natural progression for the core training.

Plank Walkout - the two most common errors I see with this exercise involve the end points of the motion.

• Too Far Back - Only come back to a push-up position, don't bring your hands any closer to your feet and don't let your backside pop-up.
• Too Far Out - Don't reach as far forward as you can. Instead you should only walk forward as far as you are able to do well. And well here means maintaining a neutral spine (as it pretty much always does). If you can't get very far at first then don't worry about - just go a little bit farther each week.

Side Plank Reach - a common error here is a short range of motion. Do not try to do this exercise quickly, take the time to reach as far as you can in each direction.

1-leg Hip Bridge - be sure to get the hips all the way up to full extension. This version of the exercise helps to engage the glute med muscles of the hip because of the need to stabilize with one side.

Programming

For all three of these exercises 8-12 reps for three sets, done as a circuit is a good program, easily included at the beginning of a strength training session. If the objective is simple activation before technical training, such as part of a pre-class warm-up, then half as many reps is sufficient.

Conclusion

Overall these exercises develop movement quality and the focus is not on difficulty or intensity. Progression is therefore less of a concern than with other exercises. However, advanced exercises will be discussed in coming blog posts.

(Parts IV and conclusion about programming)

Programming Core Workouts - Part 2

Adding in the Hips and Motion

Part 1 is here. Now we are going to add three more basic components to our core workout. These additions have to do with the hip musculature. While these muscles are used in the previous exercises there are two basic reasons to work them separately:

1. They are often inactive - Modern living frequently leads to the muscles being poorly used. They get tight or weak. Whether from sitting too much or faulty movement patterns or both. As such it is useful to target them specifically.
2. The hip muscles generate motion - while the trunk muscles prevent motion. The previous exercises are geared towards preventing torso motion. But we need to be able to move around this stable core. These exercises work this aspect.

Once again we have three basic directions - front, back and sides - which define a complete approach.

Front - (iliopsoas and rectus femoris) While the rectus abdominis prevents extension of the back and create a a stable torso, these muscles are used to flex the thigh. Our objective is to train to keep the back flat, with the abs, while being able to generate leg motion.

Back - (gluteus maximus) Weak abs and a tight back frequently lead to hip extension being tied to back extension. Our objective though is to train hip extension while maintaining a flat back, which requires co-activation of the abs while extending at the hip. As well as training to separate back and hip extension.

Side - (gluteus medius) Another muscle that is under utilized in daily life, this muscle serves to stabilize and move the hips laterally. Again the objective is to be able to move the leg laterally while keeping the torso still.

(The side muscles can also be thought to include the adductor group. However, this group serves a different kind of role, is worked separately from the core muscles and is less likely to be problematic)

Programming

Our objective with these muscles is activation and movement pattern related. As such it is useful to include these exercises with the warm-up instead of trying to build-up strength with them.

Deadbugs - The link is to a blog post by Tony Gentilcore. There are two key related points he makes: 1) keep the back flat on the floor, really press it down; 2) the number of repetitions is limited not by your leg muscles but by how many you can do while keeping the back flat. As such 5-8 reps per side is generally the limit, but do 2-3 sets.

Bird-dog - The animated gif with the link isn't perfect, because the objective is maintain a nice neutral spine throughout the movement. 5-8 reps per side is good for 2-3 sets.

Mini-band walks - The mini-band walks will place a strong demand on the glute med muscles, enough that people new to the exercise often have the feeling of having worked a muscle they didn't know they had.

These three exercises as part of the warm-up helps round out the core program and make it more complete and functional. Easier and harder versions of all of these exist and some of them will be discussed later in the series.

Next time we'll be discussing how to organize the great diversity of available exercises and start looking at exercises that require a bit of equipment.

(Parts III, IV and conclusion about programming)

Programming Core Workouts - Part 1

I think "core" workouts are one the grayest areas of program design for any kind of exercise plan. I'm going to start off by describing what I think are the two key elements:

1. Defining a complete program
2. Establishing objectives

Complete Program

Our trunk muscles are arranged into three primary groups: front, back and oblique. While there is clearly more going on than just this, it is a good, functional starting point for understanding them.

Front - (rectus abdominis, iliopsoas, rectus femoris) These muscles produce forward flexion and prevent extension of the spine. In fencing we will hardly need to flex forward at the waist, but we do require good anti-extension. Anti-extension will help us form overhead guards with good posture, strike with good structure and resist grappling. Forward flexion will occasionally be used to duck especially in unarmed fighting.

Back - (erector spinae, quadratus lumborum, glutes) These muscles produce back extension and prevent flexion of the spine. For swordfighting we will normally use these muscles to resist flexion. Example actions include maintaining good posture with forward extended guards and retaining an upright posture as you lunge. Extension is used in dodging backwards, such as against a thrust to the face, and in some grappling techniques.

Oblique - (external obliques, internal obliques, quadratus) These muscles are involved in two movement patterns.

• Lateral Flexion i.e. bending to the side and preventing the same. Used primarily for lateral stability while moving explosively and occasionally for slipping an attack.
• Rotation and anti-rotation. Anti-rotation is used primarily to keep the torso aligned correctly for good structure with attacks and defenses.

These three elements define a complete program and three exercises to target each aspect is enough for a single day's core workout.

Objectives

Our primary use for these muscles is to hold our core still while our limbs move around it. To maintain good posture and structure as we fight. The largest demand on these objectives is created during very intense moments such as lunge or passing attacks, and defenses against powerful blows.

The demand is high force production for a brief moment in time.

As such our exercises should be geared towards keeping the core stiff and motionless at high-intensity, with a secondary aspect of moving the rest of the body while doing the same. Long duration and high rep exercise programs do not achieve these objectives.

Programming

Let's start with a really basic approach. Subsequent posts will expand on this topic, but this is a good starting point. For each of these 30 seconds is sufficient for a set. Add weight when you can easily to 45-60 seconds to bring the time back down to 30.

Plank
Side Plank
Hip Bridge

Conclusion

Programming for the core need not be complex nor does it need to be a time consuming part of the workout. But this only makes sense in the situation where you are doing a complete strength training program, as I've described before. For instance, one arm dumbbell rows are an anti-rotation exercise, so a day with those and side planks is a complete workout for the oblique muscle groups.

(Parts II, III, IV and conclusion about programming)

April Link Round-up

Since I've done several Link posts I should start labeling them better. So, I'll do about one a month - and this is the April installment.

Agility Cone Drills for SAQ
This video comes from the maker of various SAQ related sports equipment: SKLZ. It describes 5 agility drills

1. Pro Agility (AKA 5-10-5) - Emphasizes lateral change of direction.
2. 3-Cone - Emphasizes the agility and balance needed to stay on your feet while leaning laterally.
3. Linear W Sprint - Emphasizes forward-backward change of direction with a diagonal component.
4. Lateral W Slide - Combines lateral movement with change of direction
1. Lateral W Sprint - Adds complexity by changing from lateral slide to sprinting and back
5. Figure 8 - Challenges lateral movement with inside and outside curves

Your first question is going to be: what do these have to do with martial arts and combat sports? So let me explain my philosophy regarding agility training for our purposes.

1) Overload -  The first drill there illustrates this component well. If I just drill in class by doing my agile footwork I never train above the level of what I'm trying to achieve - I don't get overload. But by sprinting a few yards from one change of direction to the next I make the change more difficult - I do get overload. The deceleration component is more challenging because I sprinted into it. And the acceleration is more challenging as well since I'm trying to power into a sprint. (Although from an injury prevention standpoint the deceleration part is more important)

2) Permutational Analysis - This is a term that Scott Brown uses to explain a set of drills he uses for swordwork. He has developed a large library of drills that train every possible combination of actions with the sword. This means that at whatever point in a fight you need to go from one action to another it's not something new - you have trained it already. Agility training does the same thing for foot actions.

Building a Superhuman Core
by the appropriately named Tony Gentilcore
Does a good job of providing a variety of anti-motion exercises for the core. These are exercises to prevent motion of the trunk - and very important to martial arts. Think of how much instructors will harp on keeping your shoulders and hips aligned. Well the reason for this is that a stable core like that will transfer power from the hips/legs to the upper body.

There are a few basic categories of such exercises.

• Anti-extension - preventing the torso from curling forwards, these exercises engage the spinal erectors, glutes and hamstrings
• Ant-flexion - preventing excessive arch in the back, these exercises engage the abs
• Anti-rotation - preventing the torso from turning, these exercises primarily use the obliques
• Anti-lateral flexion - preventing side bending, these exercises also target the obliques but in a different patter of activation

That's it for this month.

Link Round Up

Strength Training for Women. It's actually pretty simple. There are more similarities than differences. And programming should be based on a person's objectives.

A modified version of the bottom's up walk that I discussed previously, to make it a bit harder.

A recent blog post from another HEMA-ist, discussing the role of heavier training tools. Weapons up to double-weight are one of the few training tools attested to in historical records on HEMA training.

I like the post, but I have two additions that I'd make. Research with other sports that involve swinging an implement show that using a trainer up to double weight is beneficial. That it doesn't become too heavy until higher weight.
That is, a 3kg trainer is a fine component of a complete program, when used correctly.

Note that anything heavier, like doing a sledgehammer workout, is conditioning and technical skills shouldn't be practiced at that weight.

Second, lighter tools are useful too. By using a lighter trainer we are able to physically able to move the weapon faster. This allows us to train firing our muscles at a higher rate - which we cannot do as well with regular weight tools.

So both heavier and lighter have their place in an advanced, comprehensive training program.

It's not really a matter of lighter or heavier being better. They achieve different results.

Funny Walks for Stability

"Core" exercise is a lot more than just crunches and other trunk muscles. I sometimes feel that the conventional training approach to the core misses the forest for the trees. We need our "core" training to support an overall practical goal. We want our "core", that is our trunk, to provide stability for transferring power from our legs to our upper body. This requires the torso be able to stiffen as needed.

So the following exercises should be part of your program to provide a complete approach to stability and torso stiffness.

 

 Carry Exercises

With all of these exercises the key points is keeping the torso rigidly upright. This focus on torso stiffness is essential to training the torso for both daily life and martial applications.

 

Suitcase Carry

This exercise develops unilateral stability for the back by placing the weight on just one side. The muscles used are similar to those used in basic side plank, but we are able to combine that stimulus with the complexity of moving and using the shoulder to control the weight.

 

Farmer's Carry

This exercise puts weight in both hands and can be done with quite significant amounts of weight. The focus here is on structural loading - the torso development inherent to holding a large weight off of the ground.

Both the Farmer's carry and Suitcase carry can also be used for training grip strength for grapplers.

 

Bottom's-Up Carry

Here the weight is held upright thereby focusing the effect on upper body stability. Lower weights are used and the limiting factor is usually the forearm muscle's ability to keep the weight in place. This exercise is usually shown with a kettlebell, but as you can see here, plates with handles work just fine.

To achieve fine tuning with weight, and to make it more sword specific, an adjustable dumbbell can be used with weight on just one end and held upright.

 

Programming

These exercises make good finishing exercises done at the end of the workout. Attach each of these to one day's workout and do all three over the course of a week. Each set should be about 12-16 paces. You can work your way up in duration as well as weight, while maintaining good form.

For most fit individuals the Suitcase carry starting around 25-30 pounds is usually good. The Farmer's carry can usually start with a dumbbells of the same size in each hand. Start small with the weight to practice good form at first. For folks most starting with 8-12 pounds for the Bottom's-up should be reasonable. Be sure you can keep the weight safe with this exercise since getting hit in the forearm by a heavy bell will ruin your training.

 

Mini-band Walks

The exercises illustrated here help to turn on the stabilizing muscles of your hip. They will increase your knee stability and hip power. The mini-bands can be bought from Perform Better. They come in several strengths.

Start easy and work your way up slowly. We are mostly interested in the endurance of these small muscles and making sure they are active. They will never be big strong muscles.

For the walks, after you get used to the band around your knees move it down to your ankles. Later you can move the band to your around your mid-foot, this emphasizes the hip external rotation component of the exercise.

 

Programming

As these exercises are primarily geared towards activation they should be done at the start of a work-out or training session. They can, and should, be done most days initially and then they can be scaled back to 3 times a week after a good base is developed.

 

Conclusion

Good 'core' training comprises much more than just simple exercises for the abs. We must build on those to develop movement patterns and activation, so that the core muscles work with our whole body to produce a stable torso.

Back Pain and Strength Training

My mother posted this article from NPR and asked for my comment: Pain In The Back? Exercise May Help You Learn Not To Feel It

There's a lot of good in this article. Though the specific exercise recommendations in it are dubious in my mind.

 

The Good

The basic premise is that strength training is good for back pain. I have no doubt about the accuracy and helpfulness of this recommendation. A lot of back pain is caused not by structural defects but by movement defects. Pain and movement defects form a positive feedback loop. A little bit of pain causes a person to avoid certain movements and move differently. These modifications end up contributing to more pain - and so the circle goes round.

Many pain-free individuals have MRI scans that look like a back problem with herniations and similar structural abnormalities. The correlation between these scan results and actual symptoms are fairly poor. But these kinds of scans encourage the prescription of surgery and injections to treat the problem even though the success rate is only middling in some patients.

I don't want to give the idea that I'm discouraging surgery. I had back surgery myself and it was an amazing improvement for me. However, I had a severe herniation and it was possible to see on the scan that my disc was actively pressing against the nerve related to my pain. And I had sciatica. These are the kinds of problems for which surgery is clearly indicated.

 

Non-Surgical Treatment

Strength training and movement training will help correct many kinds of back pain. And I firmly recommend physical therapy referral for minor back pain. (I just wrote an essay for my Simmons application explaining my philosophy on how PT can better deal with back pain)

Joints are primarily stabilized by the muscles and not by the passive bones and ligaments. As such strengthening will improve joint stability and address some kinds of pain. Additionally, strength training will improve range of motion, which helps to address other causes of pain.

Movement patterns need to be fixed in people with pain. A good physical therapist or strength coach will be able to spot these movement errors and fix them. Creating new grooves for correct movement patterns. It takes time, skilled supervision and a lot of conscientious practice. So the 'boot camp' approach discussed in the article makes sense. I would gladly take this kind of approach with patients when I complete my DPT.

Personally, this is what I have done for my back. After the surgery I was back to the ACSM recommended amount of exercise within 2 weeks. I endeavor to place as few limits on my activity as possible. With ongoing back pain I still strength train, do conditioning work and martial arts training. The primary limitation I accept is on sitting. Sitting too much is bad for my back and I know it.

 

Pain-Killers

The article poo-poos pain-killers. And I disagree. But I disagree in the context of a complete program to address back pain which includes the above kind of training. If the only thing you are doing about back pain is pain-killers and avoidance then that is a problem. Pain-killers to improve quality of life and facilitate movement and strength training are a positive thing.

 

The Dubious

There are several specific exercises recommended in the article that I'm dubious about. This comes in part from recently reading Stuart McGill's "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance", as well as my own personal experiences and martial training.

As I've said before the primary role of the trunk (or core) muscles in most activities is to hold the torso stationary. Not to move it. Our back is well designed from this perspective. It can move but it is not well designed to move under a load. As such we can look at two categories of back movement:
1) Loaded and stiff
2) Unloaded and mobile

The combination of motion and high loads seems to be a primary mechanism of injury for the back. Exercises for the back should instead focus on holding the back stiff and stable while under a load. For instance planks. Weight or other challenges can be added to the basic plank exercise to increase the difficulty as you progress.

But the torso rotation machine that combines twisting with moving weight is probably a bad idea. Same with the back extension machine. Yet both of these exercises are included in the 'boot camp' program.

Stretching is also mentioned. Flexibility in the back is unrelated to back pain and it is mostly useless or even counterproductive to stretch the back. There are a few exceptions but they aren't the norm.

Alternately I could be suffering from a limited point of view based on what I've read and experienced so far. Time and a three year graduate degree program will afford me the opportunity to gain a more complete picture.

That being said I doubt that the kind of program Stuart McGill describes is bad for you. It just may not be the only kind of program that works.

 

The Bad

Like any popular science article it relies on personal stories and anecdotes instead of good research findings. Well done science reporting would look at literature reviews and meta-analysis as well as positions stands from reputable organizations (like the ACSM and NSCA). This is unfortunately typical and frustrating to me.

 

Conclusion

Strength training and movement training are more useful for typical back pain than surgery, injections or other invasive procedures. Get thee to a physical therapist!

Tight Hip Flexors and Squat Depth

Last night I was talking a to a HEMA friend about strength training and she showed me her squat. She could only get to about 1/3 of full depth with her heels flat. Letting her heels up she could squat to 'till her butt touched her heels.

This is a common kind of limitation when a person is new to squatting. There are a lot of possible reasons for this but the most common is that the person spends too much time sitting. You end up with shortened hip flexors and stretched, weak glutes and hamstrings. Correspondingly, the abs are weak* and the lower back is tight. This pattern is known as Lower-Cross Syndrome.

* The abs can be weak despite lots of crunches, because lots of reps per set of any exercise is about endurance and not actual strength.

Stretching

Just stretching the tight hip flexors won't do a good job of solving the problem - this friend told me she had been stretching her hip flexors for 9 years without the problem going away. First, the stretches being done could be insufficient. This article at T-Nation has a good run down of less common, advanced stretching approaches that can address this problem.

Strengthening

The other half of the equation though is strengthening the weak muscles. Most modern folks will have weak glutes, hamstrings and abs. Here are basic exercises for strengthening these muscles:

• Planks - once you can do this for  :60 seconds then you start adding weight. Place a plate on the small of your back.
• Bridges - same instruction as planks. Can also be made more challenging by putting your shoulders up against a chair, instead of on the floor.
• Leg Lowers - Keep your lower back flat against the floor - stop when you reach the point where you can't keep your back flat. Also, do them slower than the animated GIF shows.
• Bird Dogs - The point of this exercise is to activate hip extensor muscles that are underused.

These can be done for 3 sets each, cycling through the items. These types of exercises can be done everyday since they focus on muscle activation, or alternating days when adding weight.

There are a huge number of possible variations on these exercises, many of which will be covered  in later articles.

Don't Lift with Your Knees

The other kind of exercise for you hips is doing exactly what you've told not to do all your life. You've been told to always lift with your knees. And it's not bad advice. But: a) it's not always possible - try and get something out of the trunk of your car while lifting with your knees; and b) you don't do a good job of strengthening your glutes and hamstrings without these exercises.

So, straight-leg deadlifts. The most important aspect of doing these exercises correctly is keeping your back flat. Focus on this aspect first before adding any weight. It's useful to watch yourself in a mirror or have a partner to check your form while you develop this motor pattern. The above exercises will help you develop the muscles and skills for keeping your back flat.

Practice it both single-legged and double legged.

And here is what they look like with weight:
Barbell Double Leg

• The slight knee bend is acceptable, just make sure the action is being driven primarily with a hip hinge.
• Keep the weight close to your body. You should be just about scraping your shins and thighs. If you are wearing loose-fitting pants the bar should be touching those. This is done in part by engaging your lats and traps (and rhomboids), all of which also helps to keep your back flat.
• Don't worry about your range of motion when you start. Make sure that you keep moving to the limit of your range of motion with each rep and slowly your ROM will increase. 
• Note though that the depth of the motion is limited by keeping the back flat - don't curve your back to get the bar lower!

Single-leg Dumbbell

• Initially do this exercise with weight in both hands
• Gradually move to holding the weight only in the 'opposite' hand, that if your left leg is on the ground then hold the dumbbell in the right hand. This increases the demand on the external rotation aspect of the exercise.
• Begin the movement with your heel, not by lowering your torso.
• Keep your neck neutral, so you finish by looking at the floor. Arching your neck to look at fixed point will be too much strain on the neck.

As always, start with a light weight and develop good form first. Then gradually add weight to the exercises. These exercises can be safely up to an intensity of about 8RM, higher than that is too risky.

As a weight lifting exercise you should incorporate these twice a week.

Conclusion

Tight hip flexors are a common limitation in developing a good squat. Stretching alone is seldom enough, and advanced stretching modes are commonly needed. The tight hip flexor leads to other problems that need to be addressed with strength training.

Anti-motion and Isometric Exercises

I've been at my internship for six weeks now. I'd been planning to post each week on some topic within my internship, but I've been kind of swamped (with Iron Gate Exhibition, grad school applications, marathon training, 6am shifts at my internship etc.)

In this post I'd like to expand on the idea proper training for the trunk muscles AKA the "core". Researchers like Stuart McGill emphasize that the primary role of the trunk muscles is to stiffen the torso to prevent motion. This stiffening will transmit force from the lower body to the upper body more efficiently - obviously useful for both striking and grappling. Stiffening the torso will also reduce the stresses on the spine and therefore contribute to a healthy spine and back.

In addition to the trunk exercises that I've discussed before I'd like to add anti-motion exercises to the set of trunk exercises that should be done. And I'd reduce the role of conventional exercises like the weighted crunch.

Unlike McGill I am not convinced that exercises like the crunch need to be eliminated entirely. Firstly, I'll reiterate that I do not recommend a high volume of such training and instead focus on force production with a small volume of weighted exercises. Secondly, there are some limitations to the research that McGill has done which I have not seen addressed. Thirdly, I think McGill generalizes from the physical therapy to the sport training setting in ways that may not be valid.

Specifically, while a relatively sedentary office worker or cashier should focus on excellent posture and limiting spinal motion an athlete definitely needs to move their torso. Just look at the spinal motion, in three planes, of this pitcher. This is good pitching mechanics.

Source: http://www.drivelinebaseball.com/2013/08/16/disconnected-pitching-mechanics-a-good-thing/

So the martial artist will need to have strong spinal and core motion as well. To extend the torso with a lunge, to weave the head to avoid a strike, to cut through the target etc.

Overall a balance must be found in the program between these competing aspects of trunk training. And the balance will be different depending on the person. A new student may be hyper-mobile or have poor posture and so focusing on torso stiffening will benefit them most. Or they could be deconditioned such that the basic isometric exercises will be the most they can handle initially. But with a more advanced athlete the need will include more motion in the balance of exercises, as well as plyos and conditioning like the ropes or heavy bar.

Sample Exercises in the Anti-Motion category include:
Any of the planks and variants, though I will emphasize the value of adding weight or other difficulty to these exercises as building up endurance in these has diminishing returns.
Basic exercises also include the Pallof press and it's variation. An advanced version would be a Push-Pull exercise like this, except with the torso held motionless. Similarly, woodchoppers done with the torso still and reverse woodchoppers.
Anti-motion exercises can also include simpler core exercises like leg lowers, rollouts and deadbugs, when the emphasis is on keeping hips inline with the shoulders, spine neutral and hips stable.

Core/Trunk Training for Combat Sports

I seem to have an unusual position on what kind of trunk exercises are appropriate for combat sports. Most trunk exercises I see done are bodyweight and done with a large numbers of repetitions or simply isometric holds. While this is as good a way as any to do conditioning, I don't see it as benefiting the needs of a fighter very much.

In striking and weapon arts the primary ways in which the trunk muscles are going to be used can be divided into offensive and defensive. On the defense I might pull my head backwards quickly, arching my back as I do, so that I can dodge a strike; or duck to the side turning my torso and basically doing an oblique crunch while standing. On the attack my trunk is used to transmit force from my legs and hips to my upper body to make for more powerful hits.

Each of these applications have several important characteristics in common. The movement is sudden: it does not build gradually, it must be made in an instant; the movement is fast; and the movement is high intensity: that is rapid acceleration (and then deceleration).

To this end our trunk exercises should be geared towards producing sudden, fast, high intensity movements. We don't do that with exercises that are way out on the endurance end of intensity. Nor do we do it with isometric exercises.

I suggest four categories of trunk exercises for the fighter.

Conventional Strength Training - Exercises like weighted crunches, obliques, side bends and hyperextensions. The important part is to use enough weight that you can do only 8-12 reps max. Higher intensity i.e. 6RM or less, is not recommended for small muscles like those of the trunk nor for single joint exercises, which these effectively are. Lower intensity builds more strength than endurance and for our purposes we need strength.

For someone who is brand new, isometric exercises, like planks and bridges, can be a reasonable starting point, but only until a 30 sec. hold is possible. Then you need to move up to dynamic exercises. And if necessary start doing crunches and the like with no weight, but only until you can do more than 12, then you need to add weight.

I actually see machines as a perfectly good way to do these exercises. Things like an ab crunch machine, back extension machine or torso rotation machine. But I say that in the context of a person doing a program that includes four different kinds of torso training as well as their technical training. The advantage of a machine in this context is that it allows for higher weights, which builds more strength and power. And I wouldn't do machines all the time, I'd do them in the run up to a competition when I'm looking for max strength and power in my entire program.

Structural Loading - Structural loading is the demand on your torso muscles from lifting and carrying heavy weights. While doing exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges and step-ups* you have to stabilize your torso against the weight. The higher up the weight is held the greater the demand on trunk muscles, so racking weights at shoulder level in the clean position is more challenging than having dumbbells hanging down by your side.

For single leg exercises it's beneficial to hold the weight on the opposite side, such as doing right leg step-ups with a dumbbell in the left hand and vice-versa.

A variety of different exercises will provide a variety of different challenges to your trunk muscles allowing for some fairly complete training of the torso.

* This list isn't exclusive, these are categories of exercises with lot's of potential for variation. Additionally, a wide variety of non-conventional weightlifting options exist which will fulfill this objective. Examples include: sled drag/push, tire flipping, side presses and lots of other options.

Plyometrics - As the needs of our torso muscles are primarily these are important exercises for the program. The neurologic component of any plyometric exercise is driven by the reflex traveling from the muscle to the spine and back. For trunk muscles this is necessarily shorter than any other joint. As such it is most important with trunk plyometrics to minimize the contact time.

Suggested Exercises: Floor slams, Back throws, side throws, reverse/back side throws. As well as chest pass/bounce with a hip pivot.

High-Intensity Trunk Conditioning - There are several options for High-Intensity Interval Training that will also provide a valuable training load on the trunk muscles that stabilize your torso. Battle ropes, clubbells, sledgehammer and similar exercises.

My preference is for heavy bar cutting patterns. Taking a 9+ lb. exercise bar doing cutting patterns is a good high intensity exercises for intervals. Plus throwing around that weight at the end will challenge all of your balance muscles from the ankles to your upper back. This can be put together by buying a 4 foot iron pipe at a home improvement store, and then filling it with sand. The result is cheaper than a sledge hammer (or clubbell) but with similar characteristics.