Fall and October Goals

Posted on September 24, 2013 by kmichaud87

Let’s be clear. I don’t function in life without goals. I’m Type A through and through. Since I’m not training for anything big right now, I don’t really have any immediate goals to accomplish. However, with a new job and a new career path on the horizon I definitely have some professional goals I’m currently working on. Normally I set my goals at the beginning of a new year. Here’s a list of my 2013 goals:

1. Become an Ironman! Check!

2. Learn to piss on my bicycle! Fail! Perhaps in 2014…

3. Increase my bike fitness and finally achieve the perfect VI so I can get an A from my coach! I definitely saw a lot of improvement in my VI (aka riding steady), but my power just plain sucked compared to 2012.

4. Focus on doing at least 10-15 minutes a day dedicated to mobility, soft tissue work, and core strength. Uh yea, partial fail. Definitely a focus this Fall.

5. Continue learning and seeking out knowledge and advice from the leading health and fitness professionals so I can continue helping my clients and athletes reach their health and athletic goals. Always on going! 🙂

6. Continue working on achieving a healthy body composition through proper nutrition and training. Always on going too!

Since there is a little over three months left in 2013 I still have time to reach my 2013 goals. Well, maybe not the whole pee on my bike thing since it’s a bit cold for that now…

Here are my Fall Goals:

Learn and do well at my new job! I’m excited to begin my new job because it’s a first step in my future career. I am finally leaving the behind the lab rat life and moving into the office world. I’m excited to be able to use my public health education and learn new skills such as project management and grant-writing and management.
Get more involved with my local community! I recently joined the Junior League of Portland for multiple reasons with the main one being getting more involved and volunteering in my local community. The Junior League also is great for networking and leadership development skills. Also, a majority of the most powerful women (i.e. political figures, CEOs of companies, etc.) are Junior League members. Just saying… I’m also currently looking for an opportunity in the Greater Portland area to volunteer in the HIV/AIDS and/or access to clean water and sanitation fields since they are my passions in public health.
Learn French! I want to work in the global public health field which requires me to be fluent (or close to fluent) in a second language. I took a years worth of Spanish in college so I have some basic understanding of the language. I read it way better than speak it! Languages are not my forte. Probably because I had some speech issues as a child, which is why I was always drawn towards science and math. However, I need to overcome my fears and challenges to become bilingual. Not only is it a necessity in my future career path, but it has become almost necessity in everyday life due to rapid globalization. I chose french because it is spoken in Western Africa and Africa is calling my name. This Fall I’m focusing on learning French through the Instant Immersion program I picked up at the bookstore (similar to Rosetta Stone but at the fraction of the cost) and the website Duolingo (which is totally awesome and free!). In the spring I’m going to take lessons at The Language Exchange in Portland.
Run two Half-Marathons! My run season was pretty pathetic this year due to my knee/IT-band/hip issues. I’m slowly beginning to build up my running fitness with a lot of zone 2 runs. I’m sooooo slow it’s not even funny, but I know it will be worth it in the end. I’ve decided to run the All Women & One Lucky Guy Half Marathon on November 3rd and the Jingle Bell Half Marathon on December 14th.

Now, in order to reach my “big” goals of the Fall I’m going to break them into smaller monthly goals. So, here are my October goals:

Continue building my running fitness with zone 2 running. About half way through the month I’ll begin adding more speed and Half marathon specific runs to my training plan. The November half is not an “A” race and thus my time goals are not anywhere close to setting a new PR.
Work on core strength and improve my overall mobility and stability. I enjoy trying new things so I plan on trying out BarSculpt at Pure Movement, hit up some yoga classes and also some boot camp-like classes at some of my favorite studios.
Devote at least 30 minutes each day to work on my french learning skills.
Clean up my eating and focus on making a majority of my meals at home. With the new Fall weather I can break out my crock pot and make lots of yummy soups and stews! Yay!
Find a place to volunteer at and make contact once I figure out my new work schedule.
Write and update my blog on a regular basis! I’ve been slacking lately, but I have some really awesome ideas for posts. They just haven’t happened yet. I wish I come just connect my brain to my computer and write posts as I think about them (which happens a lot during my training sessions).
Grow my coaching and personal training business. Hint hint: I’m accepting new athletes and clients!
Anyway, that’s what my Fall season entails. What are your Fall goals?

~ Happy Training!

Hip Stretches for Athletes

Posted on June 18, 2013 by kmichaud87

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Stretching is actually a controversial topic in the exercise physiology research world. There are several types of stretching. The two most common are active and passive stretching.

Active stretching – Is accomplished by contracting the antagonist muscle (the one opposite the target muscle you are trying to stretch). For example, to actively stretch the hamstrings, the quadriceps must be contracted.

Passive stretching – Uses gravity or force from another body part or person to move the body segment to its end range or motion or beyond.

The October 2009 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research published two different studies on the potential hazards of stretching. The first study showed that muscular force was diminished in those who performed static stretching just before activity. Static stretching can be performed both actively and passively. Actively is much safer than passive. The second study showed that sprint ability may be compromised following static stretching in young male athletes.

Dr. Richard Dominguez, the author of The Complete Book of Sports Medicine and Orthopedic surgeon at Loyola University Medical Center, says the most damaging static stretches to the body are the yoga plow, hurdle’s stretch, toe touching, and stiff leg raise.

However, yoga when performed correctly can greatly improve “whole-body” flexibility. Yoga poses should be performed using a slow, deliberate, and easy motion and not be performed in a hurry. Many athletes tend to perform the poses too fast and hard potentially causing more harm than good.

My chiropractor shared a few really good yoga poses to help me stretch out my tight and problematic hips. So far they seemed to have helped a lot better than the more traditional static stretches that I have been taught in the past. Many runners and triathletes are extremely tight in the hip region and I thought I would share these in hopes that the poses/stretches may help you with any pain that you may have. Enjoy!

Hold each pose for 3 minutes at a time for each side.

1. Child’s Pose – Start in kneeling position and then drop your butt to your heels as you stretch the rest of your body down and forward. Take your knees out wider than “normal” child’s pose.

2. Frog Pose – Start in a table top position. Walk your knees out as wide as possible. Flex your feet pointing the toes outward and bring the inside of your feet to touch the floor. Bring your hips down and backwards.

3. Shoelace Pose – Start in a table top position. Bring right foot under left buttock and left foot over right knee and sit back on foot. If sitting on your feet hurts then try to pick them away from the body as far as possible.

4. Modified Pigeon Pose – Start in a table top position. Bring right leg forward and bend leg in front of you. Right leg should be bent in a 90 degree angle with lower leg against the floor. Lay upper body over front leg.

5. Firelog Pose – Get in a seated position with both legs in front of you. Bend the knees, bring your legs one at a time under you stacking your legs one at a time. In a perfect flexible world, the hips, ankles, and knees of each leg should form a 90 degree angle. Lengthen your spine and lean forward over your legs. If two legs are uncomfortable, then put one leg straight forward as in a reverse modified pigeon pose.

Stay tuned for some hip strengthen exercises this week!

~ Happy Training!

Muscle Imbalances – What You Need to Know!

Posted on June 12, 2013 by kmichaud87

Image credit: magiceyes / 123RF Stock Photo

In order to fully understand muscle imbalances, let’s first look at normal muscle function. There are three types of muscles in the body: smooth, cardiac, and skeletal. We, of course, are investigating skeletal muscles – or the muscles that move our bodies through the swim, bike, run movement patterns. Normal muscle activation is a combination of contraction and relaxation of muscle fibers. The technical terms are called facilitation (contraction) and inhibition (relaxation). When muscles contract, they get tighter and do more work. When muscles relax, they do less work and allow their opposite muscles to contract better. Muscles in the body generally work in pairs.

Let’s use the examples of your biceps and triceps. Let’s imagine that you are sitting on a bench with a dumbbell in your right hand about to do a set of biceps curls. What happens when you move your right hand towards your shoulder? Place your left hand over your right bicep. In the rest position your biceps is pretty relaxed. The same with your triceps. Neither should feel tight or loose. Just relaxed. Now move that dumbbell up towards your shoulder and do a biceps curl. Now feel that biceps in the top hand position. Feels pretty tight now doesn’t it? The biceps muscle is contracting to pull the dumbbell towards your shoulder. Now feel the triceps. The triceps muscle should feel loose because it must relax in order for the biceps to contract. Now lower the dumbbell to the start position. The biceps muscle should be relaxed (loose) and the triceps contracted (tight). The same thing happens as you are running. As you lift your leg to propel yourself forward, your quadriceps (front of tight muscles) must contract to lift your knee forward and the hamstrings (back of thigh muscles) must relax. When the muscles are balanced in the body, they have the right combination of inhibition and facilitation during movement.

Wikimedia Commons

If muscles lack the right combination of inhibition and facilitation during movement muscle imbalances can occur. Muscle imbalances may lead to injuries, biomechanical inefficiencies, and wasted efforts. Muscle imbalances can also occur due to poor static posture, joint dysfunction, and myofascial adhesions (think “knot” in muscle). These altered length-tension relationships between muscles may lead to altered muscle recruitment patterns (altered force-couple relationships). This is caused by altered reciprocal inhibition. Altered reciprocal inhibition, defined by NASM, is the process by which a tight muscle (short, overactive, myofascial adhesions) causes decreased neural drive, and therefore optimal recruitment of its functional antagonist.

Let’s look at an example of this. A majority of people work 9-5 desk jobs in front of a computer. Thus they tend to have tight hip flexors, or iliopsoas muscles. Tight psoas muscles decrease the neural drive and therefore the optimal recruitment of gluteus maximus (your butt muscles). The gluteus maximus muscles are the prime movers for hip extension and an important muscle in running. According to a 2006 study in The Journal of Experimental Biology, the gluteus maximus works primarily to keep the torso upright during movement and it is involved in decelerating the swing leg as it hits the pavement. Since the glute is a hip extender muscle, it also functions to extend your hip-joint as your foot pushes off the ground to propel your body forward. Weaknesses in the gluteus maximus can lead to compensation and substitution by the synergists (hamstrings) and stabilizers (erector spinae). This can ultimately lead to potential hamstring strains and lower back pain.

According to one study, over the course of any given year approximately two-thirds of runners will have at least had one injury that has caused an interruption to their training. For those training for marathons, the rate as been recorded up to 90% of runners. The most common running injury involves the knee. The most common running related knee problems are patellofemoral pain syndrome, Iliotibial band (IT-Band) sydrome, tibal stress syndrome (spin splits), and plantar fasciitis. Guess what? These common running injuries are overuse injuries generally caused by muscle imbalances!

Some researchers and sports medicine professionals have argued that triathlon, as a multisport event, causes less overuse injuries than single sports, because of the more even distribution of loads over the body’s muscluar system. However, triathletes still suffer from a high degree of overuse injuries. One of the most common is actually lower back pain. Triathletes tend to be over-developed in larger muscle groups, such as the quadriceps, hamstrings, and shoulders. Triathletes tend to be weak in the smaller stability muscles, such as the lower back, core, adductors, and abductors. Again, these muscle imbalances are caused by movements that we do in each sport. For example, many triathletes, especially if they come from a cycling background, will be overdeveloped in the quadriceps region, but have these tiny, underactive hamstrings. This is a muscle imbalance caused by cycling. Runners are very weak in the hip stability muscles, such as the gluteus medius, tensor fascia latae (TFL), and adductor complex, which leads to weak lumbo-pelvic stability and the potential development of common running injuries. The sport of triathlon is conducted in one plane of motion – the sagittal plane. We rarely move in the frontal and transverse planes. Many of the hip stability muscles are targeted by movements conducted in the frontal and/or transverse planes.

Wikimedia Commons

Muscles can be divided into two types: postural and phasic. Postural muscles are used for standing and walking; whereas, phasic muscles are used for running. During the gait cycling of running, there is a double-float phase during which both legs are suspended in the air – one at the beginning and one at the end of the swing phase. Running biomechanics requires efficient firing patterns from the postural muscles while the phasic muscles do the actual work of propelling the body forward. Since the postural muscles are constantly be activated in the body to fight the forces of gravity, these muscles have a tendency to shorten and become tight. The postural muscles that tend to become chronically tight in runners are: gastroc-soleus, rectus femoris, ilipsoas, tensor fascia lata, hamstrings, adductors, quadratus lumborum, piriformis, and satorius. Phasic muscles typically may remain in an elongated or weak state. Common phasic muscle that have a tendency to be weak or become inhibited in runners are: the tibialis anterior, vastus medialis, long thigh adductors, and the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus.

So, key points from this post:

Muscle imbalances are caused by the lack of the right combination of contraction and relaxation of paired muscles
Common triathlon and running injuries are generally caused by muscle imbalances, mainly in the lumbo-pelvic region
Postural muscles tend to become short and tight; whereas phasic muscles tend to become weak and inhibited
Stretch your psoas muscles! 🙂

Now, how do you identify muscle imbalances? Well, I did a post a while ago on why functional movement screens are important. Go read that! Or go see a sports medicine professional, such as a chiropractor or physical therapist. This is especially important if you are dealing with a common running-related injury. Then find yourself a good personal trainer to help set you up on a good strengthening routine to correct those imbalances. Remember, I am certified to help you correct muscle imbalances. Of course, you should always seek permission from your doctor before starting any new exercise routines. Stay tuned next week on some good hip stretching and strengthening exercises to help you prevent those pesky running injuries.

~ Happy Training!

PS – Feel free to contact me with any questions at katelyn@bigskymultisportcoaching.com

References

1. Maffetone P. The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing. New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing. 2010.

2. Clark MA, Lucett SC. NASM Essentials of Corrective Exercise Training. New York, NY: Wolters Kluwer Health. 2011.

3. Liebermna DE et al. The human gluteus maximus and its role in running. J Exp Biol. 2006; 209: 2143-55.

4. Manninen JSO, Kallinen M. Low back pain and other overuse injuries in a group of Japanese triathletes. BR J Sports Med. 1996;30: 134-139.

5. Fredericson M, Moore T. Muscular balance, core stability, and injury prevention for middle – and long-distance runners. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 2005;16: 669-689.

USAT Triathlon Coaching Level I Clinic

Posted on May 30, 2013 by kmichaud87

Ok, so this post is a little late. Like 6 weeks late. But, on the good news… I’m officially a certified USAT Level I Triathlon Coach! Yay!

It’s Official!

Back in April Jen and I took a road trip down to Short Hills, New Jersey for the two-day clinic. I’ll be completely honest, I was dreading the New Jersey location. I was thinking it was going to be in a super sketchy part of NJ and all the people living there were going to be right out of Jersey Shore. My worst nightmare! I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Short Hills is an absolutely gorgeous part of NJ! The streets were lined with sidewalks and trees. The houses were cute and nice. And holy heck the town was hilly! I always thought that NJ was pretty flat, but I guess not. Hence the town name of Short Hills. However, those hills were anything but short!

Day one of the clinic included lectures by all three of our presenters: Jesse Kropelnicki of QT2 Systems, John Petrush of Bay Shore Swim, and Shelly O’Brien of Icon One Multisport. The morning started off with two lectures on exercise physiology and nutrition by Jesse. I was super pumped when I first saw that Jesse was going to be a presenter at our clinic. He is one of the top coaches in the country and is someone who I highly look up too. I must admit that I was a wee bit disappointed with his lectures. Not because they were boring or bad, but because both topics were review for me.

Jesse Kropelnicki

After lunch Joe came in and discussed strength training and cycling skills and training with us. Joe is from Long Island and was your stereotypical Long Islander. He was very interesting to listen to. He was funny, but also very opinionated. His lectures were good. However, I disagreed with him on his view of strength training. He told us up front that we were completely welcomed to disagree with him on the topic since strength training for triathletes is still a rather controversial topic. His view was that “if it ain’t broke than don’t fix it.” He generally prefers not doing traditional strength training with his athletes unless they are injured. His approach with strength training is to do it within the swim, bike, run realm. For example, run or bike hill repeats to build leg strength. I can see where he is coming from. I agree that some strength building within each discipline is important, such as running hill repeats. However, I believe that traditional strength training should be part of an triathlete (or any endurance athlete)’s training plan. I don’t mean they need to do traditional body building style training. That would actually not be a favorable way to train. Can you see Arnold doing an Ironman? That poor carbon fiber bike doesn’t have a chance…

Joe Petrush

I much prefer functional training with bodyweight and TRX. Anyway, now that I have left on my tangent I will get back on track! The last lecture of the day was on swim skills and training by Shelly. Shelly is an amazing person to listen to and just a wealth of information. She was by far my favorite person to listen to (which is a good thing because she did all the lectures on the second day). Shelly made each lecture more interactive, which was awesome because sitting in a chair for 10+ hours a day is not my thing. I couldn’t sit for much of the time and kept shifting about in my chair. Secretly, I think all that sitting played a role in my IT-band/Knee/Hip issues.

After the first day Jen and I headed back to our hotel. I headed out for a quick 50 minute run. It was a bit drizzly out, but quite humid. The main roads in the area were busy and we found out quickly that New Jersey drivers were crazy so I headed out to run around the neighborhoods. The neighborhoods were cute and situated on some massively steep hills. Holy cow was my pace slow, but it was fun to run, essentially, hill repeats. After my run we hit up the Cheesecake Factory. It was my first time! Yum yum yum! I had the salmon with mashed potatoes and asparagus. And of course, Jen and I split some Cheesecake, cause ya know it was my first time and all…

Shelly O’Brien

The second day was another very long day of sitting. On the second day we discussed running, sports psychology and mental training, and how to build training plans. Unfortunately, most of the time Shelly ran out of time during each lecture because she just had so much to tell us. She gave us a bunch of awesome drill ideas for running and swimming. Some of which I have been trying on my own since then and also have incorporated some of them into my own clients training plans.

Everyone at the clinic came from various backgrounds and reasons why they were attending. Some were already experienced coaches and some are complete newbies. We had a few sports doctors and physical therapists too. It was fun to talk to different people and hear their thoughts on the sport and training. USAT recently changed their criteria to get into the clinic. It used to be the first 40 people to register would get into the clinic. Now you have to apply. Over 70 people applied for our clinic and they accepted 40 of us. I’m glad I made the cut!

Here are some interesting tidbits I learned while at the clinic from the various presenters:

There is generally a 4-16 beat difference in heart rate between running and biking (average is about 10 beats)
It usually takes about 20-30 minutes for the heart rate to settle down after the swim
Heart rate is important for training and power meters are important for racing
Train movements not muscles (aka functional training!)
When working with youth athletes (under age 10) work anaerobic first then aerobic capacity
Develop speed and endurance together
Develop various skill sets in each sport (i.e. drills)
There is no such thing as a good bike and a bad run in triathlon, especially long course!

My favorite is the last bullet point. It is the one that I have been learning over the past year with my coach. If you go out too fast and hard on the bike and burn all your matches then your legs and body are toast for the run. Words of wisdom right there kids!

Crossing the GW Bridge in NYC

~ Happy Training!

PS – If you’re looking for a triathlon coach then I hope you will consider me! 🙂

IT-Band Updates

Posted on May 28, 2013 by kmichaud87

I left off last time stating that I was going to do my first run in over 8 days. It went okay. I made it a mile relatively pain-free and then the pain started in during the second mile. That Saturday I had a client early in the morning and then headed out for my 2 hour ride. I attempted my 15 minute t-run, but made it about a minute before the pain set in and this time it set in with a vengeance. My biotech job and my gym are right across the street from each other so I had purposely brought my keys with me to stop into the lab to grab ice. On my return to the gym both my bosses were in their office looking at each other and then at me. As I approached them, one of them asked the other who was going to spank me. I then succeeded to get a lecture on how I shouldn’t run on an injured knee. Opps! I guess at 26 years old “mom and dad” will still spank me for misbehaving. Yikes!

Later that day I also got a Restore massage at Athlete’s Touch. The massage was focused primarily on my IT-band, Quads, and hip region. The therapist told me that my knee region and hip region were quite inflamed. I could definitely tell that my knee was. It was a bit swollen and sore. I had removed all my KT tape a few days prior because it was irritating my skin and I think it was irritating my knee too.

Anyway, fast forward to this week. I saw my chiropractor on Wednesday and reported back to her my failed attempt at running. She did some massage and stretching work on my knee region. She’s beginning to think that my IT-band is probably okay. We both agree that it is part of the issue, but the real issue is my quad muscles are overactive and causing all the problems. Of course, the root cause of all my issues is my right hip. Every time I go in to see her my pelvis is always twisted.

The past couple of weeks I have hit the gym hard with some rehab exercises to strengthen my hips. Lots of clam shells, lateral legs raises, mini-band work, and donkey kicks. I’ve started to slowly add in some hamstring curls and wide-stance squats to strengthen my hamstrings and adductors.

I’ve spent a lot of time icing, heating, and also self-grastoning my quads and IT-band. It’s been great fun. My boss asked me the other day why I was “scraping” my quad muscle with Biofreeze and the handle of a butter knife. I love Graston! At least I have the proof to show my chiropractor that I listened to her advice – a few lovely bruises.

Lot’s of icing!

Saturday afternoon the nor’easter rain decided to take an afternoon siesta so I decided to test my knee out. I laced up my new Mizunos and hit the flat, paved trail behind my house. I walked down the giant hill to the trail and then succeeded to run. The first mile wasn’t bad. There was a little soreness, but no sharp pain like previously. I kept going. Soon enough the pain started to ease back into my knee. When it got bad I just walked. When I felt okay again then I jogged. I did this for 3.2 miles. My running was super slow. I’m pretty sure the turtle I saw crossing the trail was moving faster than I was, but I was running. And running relatively with no pain. Now that’s improvement and I will take it.

Yesterday after my 4 hour ride I decided to try out my legs by attempting my 25 minute T-run. I took my time transitioning from bike to run clothes. I started out slow and took short strides. I wore my IT-band strap this time too. Guess what? I actually ran pain-free!! Initially I was just going to try for 10-15 minutes, but I felt good and I continued the full 25 minutes. Granted it was extremely slow, but running pain-free was a blessing. I’m hoping that I am on the tail-end of this injury mishap and I’ll be back into the full swing of training ASAP. I will still continue with my icing, heating, and self-grastoning in hopes that I won’t relapse!

In other news, Ironman Lake Placid is exactly 2 months from today and they got 3 feet of snow this weekend! Seriously, what the heck Mother Nature?!

~ Happy Training!

IT-Band Woes

Posted on May 17, 2013 by kmichaud87

The IT-Band – eMedicineHealth.com

I spent the last 8 days swimming, biking, and doing core work. No running. Why? Stupid and annoying knee pain. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I had developed knee pain in my right knee making running a very unpleasant chore. I managed to compete in my first tri of the season and actually place well, but not without facing the consequences afterwards. Perhaps I should have DNF? Nah….

After the PolarBear I had a 60 minute endurance run in my training plan for that Wednesday. I was feeling pretty good and really wanted a good run. I haven’t had a good run in a while. The weather was beautiful out and I was pumped. I laced up my shoes, turned on the Garmin and did my dynamic warm-up while my watch was searching for the satellites. I swear my watch takes forever to find the satellites. Then it was off. My house is situated on a hill. Either way I have to ride or run down before I hit any flat-ish pavement. I took the hill easy because I knew it would irritate my quad. The hill went okay. About two minutes into the run the sharp nagging pain returned on the bottom outside of my knee rendering me to my little hobble/jump run gait. It’s quite the sight to see I’m sure.

I stopped, stretched (maybe prayed a little) and then began again. I managed to jog very slowly for 10 minutes but still had that nagging pain. After about a mile I knew I needed to stop. The pain intensified leaving me in tears. I turned around and hobbled/walked myself back home crying. Yes, I fully admit that I cried. After my 18 minute mile home I sat myself down in the chair with an ice pack and my laptop. I succeeded to email my coach (while crying of course) letting her know that I could not run and I had no clue how the heck I was suppose to do an Ironman in 10 weeks! Perhaps I was being a bit dramatic, but I was very frustrated.

Not being able to run while training for an Ironman is not good. Normally I would be the idiot and try to run through all the pain. However, the past couple of years I really have learned the value of rest and listening to my body. My body was telling me to stop running and figure out what the root cause of my knee pain was. Mary quickly replied to me to tell me that I would take a full week off from running and let my knee heal. We would see how it feels the following week and slowly build my miles back up. I still have plenty of time till Lake Placid.

I saw my chiropractor again on Monday and we both agree that my knee pain is being primarily caused by my IT-band. My quad muscles are also suspect in the situation too. Along with that pesky little piriformis muscle that I strongly dislike. We’ve been taping my knee and IT-band with kinesiology tape for the past three weeks. It seems to be helping. I’ve been very religious about icing and rolling out with my foam roller, stick, and lacrosse ball. That has seemed to help a great deal too.

Sweet Taping Job

I think the most important aspect of healing my IT-band is rest. I’ve done some research online and most sports medicine professionals recommend anywhere from 3-10 days of rest from the problematic activity (i.e. running in my case). I’m lucky that swimming and cycling doesn’t bother my knee and/or quad and IT-Band. Tonight is going to be my first night running again. Just an easy 30 minute run. If the knee bothers me then I will stop and continue to rest again. When dealing with injuries you have to be smart. I’m going to be smart this time. Let it heal and then strengthen it. I’ve been discussing with my boss at the gym the ideal strength/rehabbing plan for my IT-band to ensure going forward I don’t have chronic issues with it. Hopefully I’m on the road to recovery!

Here’s to hoping my run goes well!

Anyone have any advice on treating IT-band issues? What’s your worst sports-related injury?

~ Happy Training!

Part IV: The Core – Plank Progressions

Posted on March 14, 2013 by kmichaud87

Personally I believe that the plank is the best core exercise because it engages more than just the abdominal muscles. Often times people think they have to do a million crunches/sit-ups to get those mythical 6-pack abs that we all dream about. Sadly, the development of our 6-packs is based mostly on our diets. You might have those killer 6-pack abs, but they are probably buried under a layer of fat.

The plank is an isometric exercise meaning that the muscle length does not change through contraction and/or is in a static hold. The plank is a great exercise because it focuses on muscle endurance of the abdominal muscles while using solely your bodyweight. You can do a plank anywhere! The planks targets the following muscles:

Rectus abdominis
Transverse abdominis
Pelvic floor
Erector Spinae
Multifidus
Quadartus Lumborum
Gluteus minimus/medius
Gluteus maximus

How to perform a plank:

1. Lie face down on an exercise mat or floor with your elbows at your sides facing towards the floor (you always want to keep a neutral neck/spine position).

2. Lift your body up by engaging your core and gluteals, supporting your weight on your forearms and toes. Think about SUCKING IN THE BELLY BUTTON to engage your core and keep the hips up and inline with your back. Think dinner table flat back!

3. Concentrate on maintaining a straight line through the hips and core. Don’t forget to breathe!

4. Hold to position for about 30 seconds or until failure to start. Over time you can build up to holding the position for more time and/or go through plank progressions.

: The Plank

Plank on knees – Start here if you are having a hard time holding a plank on your toes

Plank Progression #3: Yoga Plank – Make sure you keep arms right under shoulder where you are the most structually strong

Plank Progression #4: Single-leg Plank – Lift one leg up while maintaining the plank position

Plank Progression #5 – Single arm plank – Lift one arm up straight and reach out in front of you (keep your butt down lower and a straighter arm!)

: Plank Progression #6: Opposite arm/opposite leg lift – Lift opposite arm and opposite lift and hold for a set time. Switch arm and leg on next set.

: Plank Progression#7: Side Plank – Make sure you keep your hips up

: Plank Progression #8: Side Plank with Leg Raise – If a normal side plank is too easy then try lifting the top leg!

Of course, there are about a hundred more variations of the plank that you can do. Some of my favorite include the TRX plank progressions and using the cable machine and performing a row with the arms while in either a forward plank or side plank.

~ Happy Training!

Part III: The Core – A Case for a Functional Movement Screen

Posted on March 13, 2013 by kmichaud87

This post is the third of a multipart series on the Core. If you missed Part one and Part two then make sure you check them out HERE and HERE.

Have you ever worked with a personal trainer before? How about being treated by a physical therapist or chiropractor for an injury? Chances are (if you worked with a good and credentialed professional) that you underwent a functional movement screening.

What is a functional movement screen? Why should you undergo a functional movement screen by a trained professional? Let’s take a look at all the reasons why.

As athletes and fitness-enthusiasts we are constantly working harder to become stronger and healthier in our respective sports and life. We often spend countless hours working to improve in our activities by increasing our flexibility, strength, endurance, and power. However, a majority of athletes and individuals are performing high-level activities with inefficiencies in their fundamental movement patterns without even knowing it. In today’s ever-evolving training and conditioning market, athletes and individuals begin to specialized in a particular sport and/or activity early in life, which as a result, often creates muscle imbalances and weaknesses in the kinetic chain. A majority of athletes and individuals, including myself, will continue to train through injuries, which again can lead to muscle imbalances and poor movement patterns. When an athlete or individual becomes fatigued during activity they tend to lose form and their body will default to what it knows as its “normal” movement pattern, which often has weaknesses and imbalances and can lead to potential injury. Have you ever seen a marathon runner at mile 22? Chances are his running form has greatly deteriorated over the course since mile 1.

So what is a functional movement screen? A functional movement screen is an assessment of movement patterns that attempt to pinpoint weak links in the kinetic chain. Through corrective exercises you can alleviate and “fix” bad movement patterns and muscle imbalances.

According to Gray Cook, founder of the Functional Movement Screen, the intended purpose of the movement screen is to:

Identify individuals at risk, who are attempting to maintain or increase activity level
Assist in program design by systematically using corrective exercise to normalize of improve fundamental movement patterns
Provide a systematic tool to monitor progress and movement pattern development in the presence of changing fitness levels
Create a functional movement baseline which will allow rating and ranking movement for statistical observation

There are multiple ways to conduct a functional movement screen. For athletes I prefer using Gray Cook’s Functional Movement Screen because it provides a system of ratings and rankings of specific functional movement patterns that can be tracked over a period of time. For my general population clients I use the functional movement screen developed by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). When looking for someone to conduct a functional movement screen or if you are looking to hire a personal trainer then I highly suggest working with someone who is either certified through Gray Cook’s system (Functional Movement Systems) and/or NASM’s Corrective Exercise Specialist (NASM-CES).

I highly suggest working with a trained professional because they are trained to see muscle imbalances and deficiencies in movement patterns and can develop a corrective exercise plan to “fix” any problems to make you a stronger and healthier athlete. However, you can give yourself a quick and dirty functional movement screen. I suggest grabbing a friend and/or mirror to do this.

The best way to evaluate your movement pattern is through the overhand squat assessment. The squat movement pattern is part of many functional movements. The squat, especially an overhead squat, requires coordinated extremity mobility and core stability with both the hips and shoulders functioning in symmetrical positions. Through a squat, one can find any mobility and stability issues in the ankles, knees, hips, and shoulder regions.

How to Conduct Your Own Functional Movement Screen:

1. Stand in front of a large mirror, preferably with a friend and/or coach to view your movement patterns. Or have someone videotape or take pictures of your movement. It’s best if you do this barefoot too!

2. Place hands above your head in an overhead position. You can hold something such as a PVC pipe or broom. Nothing heavy.

3. Begin squat movement pattern. Do at least 10-12 reps. Continue to do more at different angles as needed (i.e. front, back, and side).

Overhead squat assessment front view.

Side view – If you have a trained eye then you can see that I have an anterior pelvic tilt (more on that later)!

4. Look for abnormal movement patterns that indicate weakness and/or muscle imbalances. Below are some common dysfunctional or faulty movement patterns.

Excessive Forward Lean

From the lateral (side view) you can see many major issues in the hip, lower back, and shoulder/upper back region. One of the most common movement compensations is excessive foward lean. The above picture shows an example of an excessive forward lean and also arms falling forward. Most people who lean excessively forward in the overhead squat assessment have tight calf muscles (Soleus and Gastrocnemius), Hip flexor Complex (Psoas muscles), Piriformis, and Abdominal Complex muscles. Muscles that are very weak, and often inactive in a majority of the population, are the Gluteus Maximus and Hamstrings. Muscles that are commonly tight for people whose arms fall forward are the Latissimus Dorsi, the Pecs, and Teres Major. Underactive and weak muscles are generally the mid/lower Trapezius, Rotator Cuff muscles, the Rhomboids, and Posterior Deltoid.

Knees Move Outwards

Knees Outward

One of the most common movement compensations that occur in the overhead squat assessment include compensations in the knees and feet. In the above picture two compensations are occurring: the knees are moving out and the feet are also turning out excessively. When the knees move outwards during the lower portion of the squat movement, the probable tight muscles are the Piriformis, Biceps Femoris (one of the Hamstring muscles), and the Tensor Fascia Latae/Gluteus Minimus. The probably weak and inactive muscles are the Adductors and Gluteus Maximus. A majority of people have a slight toed out position, but if the feet turn out too much then muscle imbalances most likely exist. The major contributor to the feet turned out position are the lateral (outer) calf muscles and the Biceps Femoris. Probable weak muscles are the medial (inner) calf muscles and hamstrings along with the Gluteus muscles.

Knees Move Inwards

Knees move inwards – (and yes I am sticking my tongue out to my friend taking the picture 🙂 )

Knees moving inwards is also known as knee valgus clinically. Knee valgus is fairly common, especially in young women in their growth and development stages. The reason for knee valgus is not fully understood. The most common theory is that weak gluteal activity allows for a greater degree of hip internal rotation and tibial rotation. One recent study has proposed that increased ankle stiffness leads to restricted dorsiflexion range of motion. They suggest that this leads to foot pronation and internal tibial rotation that ultimately leads to knee valgus. Either way, it’s not a good thing since knee valgus can increased chances of an ACL injury. Probable overactive muscles in someone displaying knee valgus are the adductor complex, Biceps Femoris, Tensor Fascia Latea (TFL) and lateral Gastrocnemius. Probable underactive muscles are the medial hamstrings and Gastrocnemius, the Gluteus Medius and Maximus, and the Anterior and Posterior Tibialis.

So now that you know what key dysfunctional movement patterns to look for (of course there are way more that are possible), you need to know how to “fix” them! We’ll discuss that in future blog posts so stay tuned!

~ Happy Training!

Part II: The Core – Mobility and Stability

Posted on February 19, 2013 by kmichaud87

Working at a gym allows me to watch people exercise. It never ceases to amaze me how wrong people exercise. One of the biggest concepts I stress to all my clients is stability and mobility and then strength. You have no idea how many times I have seen people add load to squats when they can’t even do a bodyweight squat correctly.

Part of core training should include mobility and stability exercises. Musculoskeletal pain is very common in the American population today. Most of it is due to lack of physical activity and lifestyle choices. Lower back pain is one of the major forms of musculoskeletal degeneration in the adult population, affecting nearly 80% of all adults. Research has shown that lower-back pain is predominant among those who work desk jobs and sit longer than 3 hours at a time. A majority of the age-group athletes competing in endurance sports work full-time jobs, often desk-based. Back and other joint injuries can cause muscle imbalances that will affect sports performance.

In the last post we discussed the kinetic chain and core anatomy. Impairment or injury to the human movement system rarely involves one structure. Impairment in one system leads to compensations and adaptions in other systems. For example, I have right hip issues that often results in my right foot developing plantar fasciitis. This happened to me this past fall and I was forced to take several months off from running to heal the injury before I embarked on Ironman training. It was not fun to say the least.

Now, what does this all have to do with mobility, stability, and core training? Everything. If you don’t have full range of motion and/or the stability required of your joints then you’re bound to end of getting injured at some point. Most athletes have muscle imbalances and faulty movement patterns cause by their respective sports. For example, many cyclists suffer from piriformis syndrome, where the piriformis (a muscle that externally rotates the leg) becomes weak because the gluteus maximus is being overworked and can lead to pain or numbness down the leg or in the hip. Runners often have IT band and knee problems.

According to Bill Hartman, mobility is the ability to produce a desired movement; whereas, stability is the ability to resist an undesired movement. When examining mobility of joints, one must observe the architecture of the joint, soft-tissue length, and neutral control of the surrounding muscles. Stability on the other hand is a blend of passive and active influences. Passive influences of joint stability include the anatomy of the joint – the capsule, ligaments, and the architecture of the joint. The active influences include motor control of the surrounding musculature and muscular strength.

Mike Boyle, one of my favorite trainers, has divided mobility and stability up in a “joint-by-joint” approach to training.

Joint	Need
Foot	Stability
Ankle	Mobility
Knee	Stability
Hip	Mobility
Lumbar Spine	Stability
Thoracic Spine	Mobility
Scapula	Stability
Gleno-Humeral Joint (Shoulder)	Mobility
Elbow	Stability

Now, this approach is not completely black and white. There is definitely some gray area, especially since everyone is different. Another way to look at mobility and stability is through the mobility-stability continuum. All joints need some degree of mobility and some degree of stability.

Stable				Mobile

Knee	Elbow	Scapula	Hip	Shoulder

Mike Robertson, another one of my favorite trainers, said that someone once told him that “strength training cements your posture and mobility” and whether that posture is good or bad is up to you. If you don’t have full range of motion of your hip joints then why are you going to add weight to your back squat? It’s better to work on hip mobility and activating weak hip muscles to get full range of motion and then add weight. Just because you want to look like a badass at the gym and back squat 150 lbs doesn’t mean you should because you’ll probably end up looking like a dumbass when you injury your back because you have tight hip flexors and your lower back arches.

Stay tuned for some posts on how to conduct a functional movement screen, corrective exercises to aid in good posture, and exercises to help with mobility and stability!

References

Clark MA, Lucett SC. NASM Essentials of Corrective Exercise Training. New York, NY: Wolters Kluwer; 2011.
Robertson M. Mobility-Stability Continuum. Available at: http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/mobility-stability-continuum/. Accessed February 9, 2013.

Quickies!

Posted on January 25, 2013 by kmichaud87

Thursday night’s are generally my strength training nights at the gym. I have a long-standing workout date with my fellow trainer and who ever else may decide to brave my shenanigans. Last night’s workout was a quickie, but rather deadly. If you’re looking for something quick and effective than here you go!

Have a Quickie!

1. Bodyweight squat + isometric squat – 20 secs of as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) of squats + 10 sec hold of squat in bottom position x 8 rounds (no rest between – trust me you WILL feel the burn!)

2. Push-ups + isometric hold – 20 secs of AMRAP of push-ups + 10 sec hold in upper push-up position or low push-up position (essentially a high yoga plank or low yoga plank) x 4 rounds (no rest between)

3. Planks + side planks – 20 secs of plank + 10 sec side plank alternating sides each 10 sec (if you’re looking to make it harder place your feet on a balance pad or Bosu ball and/or lift your top leg during the side plank) x 8 rounds (no rest between)

4. Burpess + T-push-ups – 20 secs of AMRAP of burpess + 10 secs of AMRAP of T-push-ups x 4 rounds (no rest between)

To complete a T-push-up, go down into a push-up and as you come up then rotate left arm up to form a “T” and then return to center to complete another push-up and then come up and rotate your right arm up to form a “T.” See below video.