THE BOD DELUSION

Lately, I’ve done a lot of work with athletes outside my normal realm. Instead of the typical set of runners, triathletes and track athletes, I have been expanding my palette to include those in sports as diverse as ice hockey, volleyball and football (field goal kicking!). My family and friends get a kick out of my stories, me walking into unknown territory, yet being able to analyze the situation and show the athlete ways to improve their movement skills.

I could claim intellectual superiority (my wife thinks I’m smart!), but the truth is my mentor, Dr. R, helped me thoroughly understand that gravity exists in all situations and my job is to find the correct positions where this energy can be utilized. In most cases, it’s a relatively common sense (here’s that word again) thing, albeit conceptually one that cuts against the grain of many “experts” opinions. What it all boils down to is that we, humans, are always dealing with our bodyweight, which in essence, means gravity. The volleyball/ice hockey/football player must understand their bodyweight to efficiently, gracefully and explosively move, so not to excessively waste his/her muscle effort.

Being attached to our bodyweight is primordial. Our body mass becomes weight when we have support (a foot, a hand, our butts) on something (the ground, a chair) and feel that “pressure” imparted on said foot or butt. Think of the alternative. When are we most uneasy or scared ? When we’ve lost our ability to “feel” our weight (losing our balance). However, the irony is that the thing we’re most afraid of, falling (although children have less of this fear instinctively until they fall and an adult freaks out), is what we need to embrace to run faster, kick farther and jump higher.

It’s this fear of falling that leads to our downfall, our resistance in letting go, the tension that accompanies pain. Our ability to find support (Archimedes states “Give me a place to stand and Iwill move the earth.”), perception, allows us the anchor to which powerful movements can occur and gives us the emotional and psychological freedom to perform well.

COULDN’T HAVE SAID IT ANY BETTER

In lieu of our obsession with social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.), I’m “retweeting” (for all of you Twitterettes) a recent column by Dr. Romanov. I thought his perspective needed to be restated, hopefully shared with more readers. The topic was the “Importance of the Role of a Standard.” Far too often, training becomes about work – how much and how hard. However, the most significant aspect – how well – is often neglected because coaches and trainers fail to understand how to properly gauge the daily performances of their athletes. 

We use the word “standard” on a daily basis, we’re all very familiar with its meaning. A “standard” is an approved and generally accepted model of something, a rule or principle that is used as a basis for judgment, an average or normal requirement, quality, quantity, level, grade, etc.

What does having a “standard” offer us when it comes to human movement in sports, when it comes to running, swimming, cycling, etc.?

• PRECISE MODEL TO LEARN. With a standard model to learn, a student avoids the potential pitfalls of a wondering mind. Experimenting on top of a learned standard is quite different from experimenting without the basic foundation. While the first is full of advantageous discoveries, the latter is full of confusion and easily avoidable mistakes.
• PRECISE MODEL TO TEACH. If there was no standard, all teachings or attempts to teach would be disorganized, scattered, unfocused, etc. There would be no way to determine what’s a mistake and what is not. There would be no way to offer clarity of the subject to a student. Teaching would be an impossible task.
• ABILITY TO IDENTIFY & CORRECT ERRORS. This is probably one of the most important attributes of any model of any “standard”. When there is a clearly identified and put forth model for a standard, any deviation from that standard is easily seen. That is precisely the definition of an “error”. In order for something to be labeled an error there has to be a clear standard according to which something is classified as an error. One does not exist without the other.

The claim that there is no correct running technique or any other sport technique is unfounded and is not supported by science. Moreover it does not make any sense. Unless we figure out how to defy gravity or it suddenly changes the way it works – we will abide by its current standard of operation that has not changed since the dawn of humanity.

The laws of operation of all natural forces with gravity at the helm consequently lead to a particular set of rules in movement of a human body. This standard branches out into standards in human movement when participating in various athletic activities or simply moving around. Movement related overuse injuries and pain are our signals that we’re deviating from the existing standard of movement. Plain and simple.

Article by Dr. Nicholas Romanov

THE POWER OF POSE

In light of the usual wordspeak, I wanted to share this video clip of a clinic I recently did for Westside Wellness Chiropractic.

The first person is Rich D’Ambrosio of Malvern Prep performing a tapping drill. Then, there are 4 participant before and after clips. The final clip is of Dr. Todd Serinsky, performing good Pose in his dress shoes. As he said, “if my Pose is right, the shoes shouldn’t matter!” I was very pleased with the results during the two-hour session. It definitely shows how (running) mechanics can be adapted when there exists a standard for evaluation and correction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETAkeimY6d8

A Blog By Any Other Name…

As an irregular blogger, I feel that I break the blogger’s golden rule #1: Blog Daily. I normally have every intention to “sit down with pen” and give my loyal readers (Where are you?!) some insight into training that will help them catapult their performance into the stratosphere. However, my life gets in the way.

As I ‘tweeted’ a few moments ago, I spent the weekend watching, waiting and watching some more AAU basketball, players representing the finest hoopsters in the area. My oldest son (Tracy Jr.) plays for Team Phenom. When the dust settled, Phenom had won 2 of 3 chips (championships for those of you cool-challenged) – the 15U (where T led them) and the 16U (where he collected an unexpected amount of splinters). He (Tracy) more than anyone I know, has the most positive outlook on things and never let’s the low moments damage his resolve or confidence. He sat the bench, encouraged his teammates, never got mopey (afterwards, he was “fine”), shared in the celebration KNOWING that he would have, could have, contributed to the victory. It’s a lesson he’s had to (unfortunately) learn this year that the path to your goals are strewn with minefields, and that (as AI’s tattoo proclimates) “only the strong survive.”

In sport, as well as life, there are many things beyond our control (opinions, in team sports, being the most damaging). However, what we can control is ourselves: our attitude, work ethic, preparation, focus, commitment and unyielding drive. Coaches may bench you, teammates may desert you, fans may turn on you, but only you can continue to work hard and keep your goals in sight. What’s that cliche…”never say never.”

This week, for me seems promising. I’ve connected on so many viable levels that, as Malcolm Gladwell expertly discussed, hopefully “[I'm] about to tip.” tracypealspeed may soon be reaching a boiling point where all of my efforts may pay-off. It’s been a long journey (still not over), very similar to the journey my son is taking or the journey taken by most successful people. I’ve kept my head in the game, despite years of failed attempts, unreturned phone calls and leads to nowhere. So, we’ll see how the press release, multiple contacts, workshops, Texas lacrosse clinic (Rashad Devoe), Derrick @ Artizen Management Group, volleyball clubs, etc. work out. It could be a very good year. Or better yet, it’ll be another year I learn something valuable about myself and press on.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR

It’s usually at this time of year, especially in our corridor of the country, that people begin to get excited again about training outdoors. One or two of those balmy 60-70 degree days, the shorts bust out, everyone notices the trees budding and the feeling of being alive again is ever present. Many will feel encouraged to start working out, especially running, where some type of running shoe is the only necessity. Fortunately (or unfortunately as my family can attest), I’m often outside during these wonderful days, soaking in the rays while helping a client through a routine. Often, I find myself in Philadelphia, on the bike path below the Walnut Street Bridge, trying to focus on my client, without becoming too preoccupied with the myriad of runners before me.

This is where I’ve perfected my meditative, deep-breathing exercises (“Ohm, Ohm”), in an attempt not to tackle just about ever person that runs by and explaining to them their deficiencies. It amazes me that more people aren’t injured (although from working with Dr. Lee Cohen, podiatric consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles, I’m beginning to think differently) or stop running altogether. Maybe it’s the attraction to sunlight, that life-giving force that energizes people to forget common sense, their pain and put on their motion-controlled shoes.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been an athlete all of my life, traversing through basketball/powerlifting/running/duathlon/cycling careers, some long some short. I believe in the power and necessity of physical movement. And perhaps, because I’m one of those pain-in-the-ass overachievers (“if I can’t do perfectly, then why bother?”), I cannot begin to understand how people can just do something for the sake of doing it or doing a lot of something without asking themselves “How?”

Maybe I’m being too harsh and perfectionist. Maybe more therapy. Or maybe I’ll go to Kinko’s, get a sign and carry it around with me: Learn How To Run!

SAQ

I spend a vast amount of time, outside of actually coaching athletes and training clients, arguing, rather debating, with people. It seems that everyone has an opinion about how to train athletes to move faster. Speed training has become a watered-down catchphrase for anyone with slight credentials (“he’s a former Division III All-American”), good marketing skills and a willingness to herd as many kids they can into their facility. They dazzle parents with talk about how Johnny or Mary is now 125%  faster, 58% stronger and added an inch on his or her vertical jump. Parents gobble this up, because of course, their child is the next touted superstar. And these fitness factories (Parisi Speed School, Aspiring Champions, Velocity Sports Performance, Summit Fitness) use carefully planned testimonials and those aforementioned dazzling statistics to carve a competitive niche in today’s tough economy. So, overspeed treadmills, agility ladders, running sleds and parachutes, et. al., have become the norm. Without these high performance tools (you’re led to believe), how can anyone expect to even consider themselves an athlete?

According to Webster’s Dictionary, speed is the rate of motion, action, activity or performance,

agile{ity} is defined as the ability to move with ease and speed  and quick{ness} refers to someone performing with speed & agility or something occurring in a short period of time. In addition, quickness involves thinking, understanding or responding rapidly or easily. In other words, speed, agility and quickness (SAQ) means that an athlete performs with efficient nimbleness, acting swiftly to the changing demands of his or her environment. To achieve this end, athletes should not be corralled into self-serving training centers run be inadequately trained personnel or ex-jocks who have no understanding of physics, biomechanics or physiology. So many potentially-talented athletes are being mislead.

 

Athletes need to understand that in the hierarchy of faster movement skill, their body weight is the most important concern and changing support the most necessary action. Unfortunately, those treadmills, agility ladders and weighted sleds, ignore these facts and depend upon the over-emphasis of “hard work.” Remember our earlier definitions of SAQ – the common thread was the moving “with ease” or “easily.” Working hard to overcome some resistance or force does not lend itself to easiness – it’s about time we begin to learn to move with the grace and beauty that true athleticism warrants.

The Mental Edge

So often in sports, we hear the phrase “mental toughness.” I’m not sure who originally coined this phrase, but it’s easily become one of the most cliche sayings in our sports lexicon. But what truly is “mental toughness” and why does it gives the athlete an edge? According to Scholastic.com, in 2002 researchers Jones, Hanton & Connaughton determined that mental toughness was “having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to generally cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, and lifestyle) that sport places on a performer and to, specifically, be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, and in control under pressure.” Ok, be cool under pressure. I think all of us can agree that successful athletes, on any level, are the ones who play the game, with the score tied in the last two minutes, with a comfortability and focus that belies the pressure of the situation. But, how do the rest of us achieve this?

First, we must determine the source of stress. Two of my favorite young athletes I coach, continually have competition anxiety. One, in his first meet of the winter, was so intimidated by the pre-race vision of his competitors warming-up, that he was defeated long before his failed three attempts at the pole vault. The other, constantly fails to run his best whenever he’s not situated near the front of the pack during the crucial moments in the race. The sight of the leaders flying around the curve ahead of him instantly signals to himself that “the race is over.” These two athletes are unsuccessfully dealing with the mental skills necessary to perform well. To put it simply, they have fear.

Fear can be real (I’m being attacked) or imagined (what will people say if I fail), yet to the mind – the emotional distress, the anxiousness – it’s all real. Sporting competition isn’t a life or death situation (unless you’re an Eagles fan!). Competition is a time for performance, to show your abilities to the world. It should be an exhilarating experience as you unlock your potential. However, for every Tom Brady or Michael Jordan, there are innumerable people who don’t achieve personal greatness when the opportunity exists. Sports psychologists have delved into the human psyche for some time now, trying to determine what triggers our fears and how do we defeat them.

Dr. Romanov, in all of his clinics, has stated that “our thoughts and desires determine our actions.”  We will always do what’s necessary to satisfy those primordial concerns, which unfortunately, might not be what’s best for our success. For example, I was helping a college runner over the winter break. She was suffering with shin splints and calf pain from her daily runs. What I found was that because she was focused on the injury, she was forcefully landing on the ground, unaware that the ground impact was the source of her pain. However, since her thoughts were about her injury and her desire was to lessen the pain, she mistakenly ran in a manner that injured her further and made her situation less safe. Instead of running well, her fears of falling were hurting her.

All you can do, as an athlete, is focus on the aspect of your performance you can control – how to maintain a continuous flow of purposeful action. Get back to the basics, which in athletic movement is always dealing with your body weight. Your perception of proper movement action, in each fleeting space/time interval, has to be precise.  You can’t control the enormity of the situation, your opponent, the weather or temperature or the score. But you can control how you handle those situations. And when you break it down, you can only get into Pose and do an action – quickly and surely. Stay focused on that and you’ll be the one with the mental edge.

Holiday Wishes

First, I’d like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season. I hope that each of you finds success and fulfillment in 2009. This time of year causes most of us to reflect on the past and prepare for the future. While grinding through this process, let’s not forgot the present: being satisfied and happy with our current place in the world. The past has already occurred – there’s something to be learned, but events will not change. The future, obviously, is before us, but greatly influenced by our current mindset. Life is about learning, growing and dealing with our circumstances, not getting bogged down by the maze of our existence.

That being said, I watched my boys this morning, appreciative of their gifts, happy for the day, the moment. It’s a shame that our children have to grow old – so many of us have lost that innocence or joie de vivre.Unfortunately, though, our childhood is when we often lose that niavete.

I was working with a client the other day (throwing the medicine ball) and I could sense her apprehension. She finally admitted that she was afraid of the ball, remembering as a child, how she was thrusted into sport, unprepared. She never was given an opportunity to learn the game (I think it was volleyball) or gain confidence in acquiring a new skill. From that experience, she’s developed a mistrust and apathy {fear}towards sports. It made me think of the many thousands (or millions worldwide) of kids who have had similar experiences. How often are kids thrust into games, participate with the best of their capabilities and end up not enjoying it? How well do we prepare our kids for sport, instead of relying on natural ability or genetics to determine who “plays and who pays [to watch].”

Part of our focus, as coaches and parents, should be to provide the opportunity for our children to be successful at learning a sport skill, allowing sports to be positive episode in their lives. Not everyone will be elite, but everyone should be able to garner from their participation the beneficial aspects of competition, sportsmanship, dedication, effort and teamwork.

One way to achieve this would be a progressive, step-by-step system of teaching our kids how to run, jump and throw properly. Giving our kids a foundation of strength, flexibility and balance before rolling out the soccer ball for the proverbial mid-field scrum. Let our kids obtain a higher level of physical and mental fitness before the “distraction” of competition is introduced. Yes, that would necessitate pushing back the timing of youth competition. But with the high incidence of injury and burn-out, frustrated dreams and overbearing parents, I think we would all benefit. Finding a singular method of teaching would also help, but that may be a pipe dream, or rather, a Christmas wish for years to come.

Physics of Running

I have a client friend Phil, who I’ve been jousting with over the past few days [read the "Comments" section]. Phil found my name while searching for a way to avoid injury. He already had a coach, but sought my advice on his technique. We have periodically seen each other for awhile, and he recently (at age 57) qualified for the Boston Marathon! A very great personal achievement that couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. What made it even more rewarding was that it reinforced the concepts that I teach daily.

In today’s PoseTech E-Notes, Dr. Romanov explains, “How crazy is it that humans have studied all their muscles, bones, tendons and other parts, but completely overlooked a mighty force of gravity and its effect on human movement?” It does seem odd, I constantly argue, that gravity is a force great enough to move planets, but most of us fail to see its relevance in movement. Dr. Romanov further states that “Considering gravity – human movement is nothing more but change of support.”

Sounds good, but what does this mean. Again, I must defer to another brilliant mind – Leonardo daVinci:   “motion is created by the destruction of balance, that is, of equality of weight for nothing can move by itself which does not leave its state of balance and that thing moves most rapidly which is furthest from its balance.” So simple, yet so controversial. Think about it. Your body mass becomes body weight because of gravitational force. You are perceiving it as weight because of the pressure (if you’re standing) on your feet. Losing balance by a shift of body weight, along with the muscular effort in changing support, leads to movement. This chain of energy transformation is the same in walking as it is in running, swimming, cycling or jumping.

With this basic information, you should begin to understand how our muscles primary job is to serve our body weight. With the body weight as the primary focal point in movement, all of our energies can be directed towards efficiently serving this purpose.  Consequently, our primary goal in sports movement should be improving our ability to use gravity. It’s our technique that deserves the most circumspection – not time, distance, lactate, VO2 max or distribution of power.

Folk Wisdom

In the thought-provoking book Made to Stick, the authors (Chip and Dan Heath) describe the mystery of duodenal ulcers: “Conventional wisdom held that ulcers developed when surplus acid built up in the stomach, eating through the stomach wall. Such surplus acid could be caused, it was thought, by stress, spicy foods, or lots of alcohol. Ulcer treatments traditionally focused on mitigating the painful symptoms, since there was no clear way to “cure” an ulcer.” the story continues that to medical researchers from Australia, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, identified that a bacteria (H. pylori.) was the culprit. the significance of this was that if the bacteria caused the ulcers, then it could be cured. However, Marshall and Warren faced a significant obstacle: no one believed them. Besides lacking credibility as doctors (in fact, Marshall was an intern), common sense suggested that the potency of stomach acid would prevent any bacteria from surviving in that environment. Frustrated by the skeptics, Marshall, one day, drank a glass full of H. pylori and “within a few days, [he] was experiencing pain, nausea, and vomiting – the classic symptoms of gastritis, the early stage of an ulcer.” Not surprisingly, Marshall cured himself with antibiotics. In the fall of 2005, Marshall and Warren received the Nobel Prize for their “world-changing insight.”

Why do people hold so steadfastly to certain beliefs or ideas that are commonly accepted without any discernible evidence? Why continue to believe that the earth is flat when the evidence – if you actually stopped and looked – screams that this is not the case? My world of sports performance is cluttered with proverbial beliefs, conventional wisdom and common knowledge. To this day, millions still believe that movement is “natural” (athletes are born not made) and don’t realize that all movements, even the most basic, are skill sets that can be practiced and perfected.

Take running as an example. Common conventional blah, blah, blah says that running is bad for you. Injuries abound (according to a Runner’s World survey 80% of runners still suffer injury). It’s bad for your knees and feet. Basically, running is like having a beautiful home with an outrageously big hole in your roof and it’s monsoon season. Common conventional (you get the picture) running shoe clerk, physical therapist, physician, podiatrist, etc. have decided that the best solution for you is the biggest, deepest bucket to catch all of the water pouring inside. They want to treat the symptom (water overflow) instead of solving the primary issue: hole in the roof.

With running, the “hole in your roof” is your technique. Over 30 years ago, Dr. Romanov discovered that running efficiency required an acquiescence to gravitational acceleration. To run well, you must fall. This was that “world-changing insight.” Injuries (specifically overuse and/or non-contact) are occurring because we are fighting nature (gravity), not because Mother Nature is bludgeoning us with impact. Despite all of our common knowledge, conventional wisdom, etc., we don’t know a thing.

 

Next time, more of the science behind the Method…