Is this guy heading towards great shape or a great amount of pain?

Ok, I gotta break this down because I see people everyday running who simply have no business running.  One of the first things a ton of people seem to do when they decide that they are going to get in shape is run.  I'm talking long distance, slow and steady running. There is really no rhyme or specific reason for it, most people in America simply think that running is the way to get in awesome shape.  Why? I don't know, wish I did.  Heck, I've even had some athletes who used to run a mile to warmup before their lifting sessions.  Why? I doubt that their coaches would have a good answer if you asked them.

Don't get me wrong, running can be a great form of exercise IF you are ready for it and IF it is used at the right time.  I used to run all the time (and ended up with stress fractures because I wasn't ready for the amount I was doing and didn't have a proper understanding of what I was doing, back in high school) and still do on occasion.  Every time your foot strikes the ground during a run, you are putting multiple times your bodyweight of force through your joints.  Add up each of those foot strikes during an entire run and you end up with A LOT of stress going through those joints.  Now, if you do not have sufficient muscular support to help absorb that force, then you are asking for a world of hurt my friend.  Not only that, but if you have any kind of muscular imbalance in your hips, thighs, back, etc.  then you are asking for an injury and a whole list of problems. 

I glanced over at the treadmills the other day and noticed a girl running who had some nasty things going on in her hips and it was clear she had a major imbalance between each side.  I guarantee that if she doesn't already, she's bound for unilateral knee pain. 

So, if you want to run and insist that it is the exercise form of your choice, please do yourself a favor and make sure that you are in shape to run.  Most people simply are not.  Besides, if your goal is to lose fat and simply get into great shape, building muscle is the most important thing to do.  So lift some weights first and foremost, do some form of energy systems work that isn't murder on your joints like running is, and go from there.  Be sure to check out earlier posts about fat loss training and comparisons of different conditioning protocols if you want to know more.

Do you feel aches and pains in certain areas of your body?  Do you feel stiff and uncomfortable in your back, hips, or shoulders?  When is the last time you've done any kind of soft tissue work such as a massage or foam rolling?  What is foam rolling? Let me tell ya!

Foam rolling is a way to implement what is called myofascial release.  The human body contains what is called fascia.  Fascia is basically a webbing that holds all of our bones and muscles in place.  Through repetition, physical activity, and injury this webbing develops knots, adhesions, and scar tissue.  When you don't do anything to get rid of these things, tension, stiffness, and pain comes along and your movement and performance is restricted. 

Myofasical release basically allows our tissue to relax as we restore it to its optimal resting length and get rid of the knots that have built up.  Our bodies have what are called golgi tendon organs.  The GTO is a proprioceptor located between the muscle and tendon.  Its job is to relax muscle when it senses too much tension, in order to prevent injury.  When we perform myofascial release, we trick the GTO into relaxing our muscle tissue.  One of the best and most convenient ways to do this is foam rolling. 
Now that you know some of the science behind this awesome stuff, allow me to tell you when to do it. 

I have a majority of my clients foam roll before their dynamic warmups pre workout.  This gets everything feeling and moving better before their workout.  I also recommend doing some rolling at lease a few times a week outside of the gym.  You may need more or less depending on your current tissue quality.  Personally, I do some soft tissue work almost daily because it helps me recover faster from my workouts and keeps my feeling fresh. 

Rolling can be done on pretty much any part of the body including the hips, shoulders, and back.  A la crosse ball or tennis ball can be used to get into more specific or deeper areas.  You can also take a rolling pin and roll certain areas like the calves and hamstrings. 

I will get into the how in the next post.

Want your upper body to look like this?

Since I am currently training clients at a regular type of gym, I see multiple things being done every day that fire me up.  One common thing I've seen looks and sounds something like this between two guys.  "Man, my shoulder is killing me."  "Yea mine too, I don't know whats going on."  They then both procede to do multiple sets of bench press, decline bench press, incline bench press, pec deck flies, cable crossovers, and if they're feeling it, maybe even a couple sets of barbell curls.  Oh and this is only one of the multiple times a week they do this.  Hmm, I wonder what could be causing that shoulder to hurt. 
Well, when you do a bazillion sets of anterior dominant, pushing and pressing movements that internally rotate the shoulder joint, and not very many sets, if any, of pulling, scapular retraction, and external rotation movements, you are pretty much asking for shoulder problems. 

When you do so many movements that promote internal rotation at the shoulder joint, and not enough movements to balance it out, you decrease space within the joint around the acromion process, coracoid process, etc.  and create conditions for impingement and pain. 

If this sounds like you,  quit doing every version of pressing known to man and do more rows (all variations), face pulls, external rotations,  and trap raises.  You need to strengthen the muscles that stabilize your scapula, externally rotate your shoulder, and help to hold your shoulders back and down (rhomboids, middle and lower trapezius, infraspinatus, teres minor, etc.) 

Most gym rats just do not understand this concept.  I have a client I've been working with who fits this mold and he also has back issues stemming from a multitude of other issues with his hips, pelvic position, etc. 

As far as addressing his shoulder issues, we have cut out all pushing movements except for some light cable pushes to promote range of motion in his scapulae.  We do soft tissue work all around his shoulder with a la crosse ball, multiple variations of rows being sure to focus on getting quality scapular retraction, ITY's,  face pulls, and external rotation variations.  Since doing this, his shoulders have begun to feel much better.  Why? Because we are opening up his anterior muscles, giving his shoulder structure room to breathe, and finally are strengthening his posterior muscles that are needed to help balance out the shoulder joint and scapulae and keep things healthy. 

As frustrating as it is to see things like this, it reminds me that there are plenty of people who need help with their training/bodies, and helping people with things like this is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. 

A few sets of face pulls a day keeps the pain away.

As you may or may not know, I suffered a grade 2 strain in a couple of deep muscles on a spot in my lower back a little while back.  I backed off from most squatting and deadlifting movements for awhile and have recently been getting back into some lighter ones (Don't worry, I've found ways to train hard).  While it has been a pain recovering from this injury, it has forced me to take a step back and look at what weaknesses contributed to this problem.  A couple of them were in my hips.  My psoas and my glutes were both weaker than they should've been.  While my back has been healing, I have been doing exercises to bring up weak points and facilitate recovery.  Here are a couple of hip exercises that I've been doing a few times a week either as part of main workouts or as smaller extra workouts.  They have helped me and maybe they can help you.

Knee Raises-  The psoas major is a unique hip flexor that attaches to the femur and all of the lumbar verterbrae.  With its attachments to the vertebrae, it has some control with the low back.  If its too stiff, it can pull on it and bring it into hyperextension. If its too weak, the back will have less support and help from it, causing it to round easier.  The psoas is most active in hip flexion above 90 degrees.  Looking at this fact, guess where it might be of assistance.  In the bottom of the squat.  Where have I been weakest when squatting.  In the bottom.  A simple exercise like this can help a lot.  I usually do them for 3-5 sets of 12-20 reps.  I am using 20 lb ankle weights in the video but some people can start with just their leg weight and it will be plenty difficult.  Notice how I focus on the top half of the hip flexion to emphasize the psoas.

Kneeling Hip Extensions-I do these to strengthen my glutes with the added benefit of strengthening my low back without loading it much.  Abdominal stability also comes into play with these. I've talked about the importance of having strong glutes many times before so I won't get into it too much here.  I usually do these for 3-5 sets of 12 to 20 reps as well. 

While injuries suck for the most part, they do make you smarter.  I have brought up weak areas now with plenty of different exercises and my hips feel stronger and more stable than ever since I've started doing some regular lifts again.  If your squat, dead or anything else has stalled, or if you have an issue with pain or posture problems, maybe special exercises like this could be what you are missing. 

P.S.    I've been adding more videos to my youtube page so be sure to check them out! 

Static Hip Flexor Stretch (If you sit a lot you better be doing these)

Leg Swings, a dynamic stretch/mobility drill

I recently glanced in at a tae kwan do class being taught at the gym I train clients at, and noticed that to begin their class,  they went through a whole variety of static stretches.  This motivated me to write this post as there are still plenty of people who are uneducated about proper stretching protocols.

Did you know that static stretching (a stretch where you hold a position for a set time) can actually inhibit your workout performance and make you more susceptible to injury if done pre workout? It is something that people have done for years, especially in team sports and gym class settings.


Our muscles contain protein filaments called actin and myosin. These filaments form cross bridges and pull on each other during muscular contractions. This brings us to what is called the length tension relationship.


Basically, there is an ideal level of overlap between the actin and myosin filaments that is best suited for optimal movement. With a static stretch, the muscle is lengthened past this ideal level of the length tension relationship and can actually inhibit optimal muscle function. That being said, most static stretching is better to perform post workout in order to maintain, improve, and/ or restore flexibility at certain joints. However, under certain circumstances, there may be a very stiff or short joint that needs to be stretched pre workout to get it moving better. For example, there are many people who have very stiff hip flexors and performing a stretch for them pre workout can help. Everybody is different.


Moving on, dynamic stretching means moving muscles through an active range of motion. This gets blood flowing, warms joints up, loosens up stiff areas, and gets the body moving much more efficiently. Mobility exercises for the hips, thoracic spine, shoulders, and whatever is needed are performed and prime the body not only for the workout ahead, but for everyday activities.

There has been tons of research done that support the practice of dynamic stretching pre activity over static stretching.  In a study done (there are lots of them) in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in Sep 2008, Acute Effects of Static and Ballistic Stretching on Measures of Strength and Power Subjects by Samuel, Holcomb, and others, subjects demonstrated less lower extremity power following static stretching and performed better following dynamic stretching.

In conclusion, perform dynamic stretches before your workout and perform static stretches for areas that need it after your workout or at another time (there are certain exceptions as I mentioned before.)