I got a few questions from someone who had bought New Functional Training for Sports
and Functional Strength Coach 6.0so, I figured, why not make it into a blog post? So, here goes.
1. What is your opinion about RFESS jumps? Can they be used to develop power?
I love rear foot elevated split squat jumps as well as explosive step ups as power exercises. We do both
2. Why do you emphasize a 5 second holds in quadruped opposite extensions and other exercises?
We use five second holds to eliminate momentum and cheating. My old friend Al Visnick ( a PT) once said “if you want to develop stabilizers, you need to give them time to stabilize”.
3. Why you do not want your athletes and clients to hold plank for longer than 30 seconds?
In a word, because it’s boring. I just can’t see any reason to do it.
4. What number exercise ratios would you suggest between anti-rotation, anti-extension and anti-lateral flexion exercises? Are there any recommended stability levels?
Ideally I’d love to have 2 of each per week. In a four day program we can generally do that. In a two day we might get one anti-extension and one anti-lateral flexion.
PS- if you want your questions answered every day, why not check out Strengthcoach.com ? It’s the best choice for strength and conditioning information on the internet.
I just got back from speaking at the Perform Better Summit in Orlando. Before my talks I took in Stuart McGill’s talk ( he is always one of my favorites and has greatly influenced me).
Recently Dr McGill has been vocal about Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats potentially causing back pain, particularly SI joint pain and as he calls it “pelvic ring” disruption.
We probably use the rear foot elevated split squat as much as anyone and, have not had any increase in SI joint pain or back pain in general. In fact, we switched to the split squat variations in response to back pain from heavy back and front squats. ( to finish reading, click here…)
A few weeks ago I went on the Power Athlete Podcast with John Welbourn and Luke Summers and talked training. Interesting conversation with the guys that developed Crossfit Football
Doug Pearson, one of our MBSC Thrive licensees, asked me to come up with an updated book list. I sat in front of my book shelf and wrote down titles to share. Here they are, with links for easy ordering.
Start with Why– Simon Senek – maybe my favorite of the last year and the motivation behind my new Functional Strength Coach 6 DVD’s
Talk Like Ted– Carmine Gallo, another big influence that really got me thinking about effective presentations.
You Win in the Locker Room First- Jon Gordon and Mike Smith – I just finished this and have already begun to buy copies as gifts. A must read for every coach as Mike Smith open’s up about what failed in Atlanta ( not many coaches are that candid).
Five Dysfunctions of a Team- Patrick Lencioni , another tremendous team building book. This is a must read for every manager and every staff.
Creating Magic- Lee Cockrell – one of my favorites of the last few years. I found myself repeating Cockrell’s quote “what if the way we always did was wrong” quite a bit.
The One Thing- Gary Keller – read this one and then really think about the message. It might change more than one thing.
Training Soccer Champions- Anson Dorrance and Tim Nash – this is one of my absolute favorite coaching books and the best I have ever read specifically about coaching female athletes. I have purchased and gifted at least 15 of these for friends that coach females.
No lower extremity rehab process is complete until the athlete or client can control eccentric actions on a single leg. Unfortunately, the process of getting an athlete to take off and land on one leg can be a difficult one. Frequently athletes are cleared to participate in sports who have not done any single leg plyometric activities.
In order to truly understand lower extremity rehab it is important to understand the difference between unilateral take offs and landings and bilateral takeoffs and landings. It is also important to understand that running is a just series of unilateral takeoffs and landings.
In rehab settings, unilateral strength exercises like step ups, step downs and various types of single leg squats are widely performed and widely accepted. However, the process of extending or expanding the rehab into the area of eccentric strength and power is more difficult and probably given less consideration.
To further clarify, think of eccentric strength as the braking system. Any client who has experienced a lower body injury or who is returning from a lower body surgery must be able to land effectively to avoid re-injury.
These landings take three forms:
Jumps- a double leg take off followed by a double leg landing
Hops- a single leg take off followed by a landing on the same limb
Bounds- a single leg take off followed by a landing on the opposite limb
What becomes difficult for therapists and athletic trainers is figuring out how to gradually return an athlete to jumping, hopping and bounding as a sequential part of the rehab process. Unfortunately in most rehab settings bodyweight is a constant that must be accounted for.
In order to counter the effect of bodyweight we utilize equipment like the MVP Shuttle and Total Gym Jump Trainer. Both pieces allow athletes to jump and eventually hop with loads that are less than bodyweight. With both pieces we are able to add velocity and a graduated eccentric load.
If you are involved in lower extremity rehab one or both of these pieces becomes a “must have” in your clinical setting. The great thing about both pieces is that you can work towards bodyweight jumps and hops in a very gradual way in conjunction with your lower body, strength oriented, rehab progressions.
It is important to remember that in sport what goes up, must come down and that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The patella-femoral issues we see so often in rehab are very likely caused, at least in part, by our inability to properly develop the essential braking system. Remember, restoring the ability of the system to move from zero to sixty is inconsequential when there is no braking system.
If your job is rehab, you owe it to yourself and your athletes to take the time to experiment with both the MVP Shuttle and the Total Gym Jump Trainer.
The funny thing is now the squat people are trying to paint the RFESS as dangerous ( damages the pelvic ring?). This seems to be a a totally unfounded Hail Mary pass as the results pile up.
Here’s 2 time Olympian Meghan Duggan with 160×10
PS- we have next to zero injury issues with RFESS vs, about 20% on average with back squats.
I had no idea when I decided to post yesterdays blog that I’d have such a quick follow up but, today’s post from Dr. Mercola is more scary than yesterday. I have always admitted to being a bit of conspiracy theorist so, if you’re like me you’ll love this article. It’s long but, read it all the way through.
and Functional Strength Coach 6.0
so, I figured, why not make it into a blog post? So, here goes.
Michael Boyle's Strengthcoach.com Blog 
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