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The limitations of anatomical movement analysis, (AMA) eh? Kind of the same limitations as found when you bring a knife to a gun fight. You’re simply not ready to deal with the problem at hand.
While applying an anatomical understanding to the function of individual muscles gives us a basic view of their capacities, attempting to analysis movement on a per muscle basis completely misses the fact that all muscle action is DEPENDENT. All bodily movements, no matter how isolated they may seem, require the interaction of multiple muscles groups to flex, extend, rotate and stabilize joints. It is not a linear system, but a dynamic structure that produces and reduces forces at all angles. A single muscle may also act on multiple joints. Unfortunately, the AMA does not apply to multi-articular joint actions. (Siff, 2003)
Additionally, the AMA identifies primary muscle functions in an agonist-antagonist model. That model cannot be applied to situations where a single muscle group performs both stablilizing and moving actions or even act in the same contraction mode as its antagonist group. A muscle may also act on a certain joint during one movement, but not act the same joint in a different movement. This is because motions of one body segment may be initiated by another body segment.
Given the interdependency amongst muscles required to produce movement it may be more effective to develop an analysis that is built on muscle synergism instead of antagonism. Giving an athlete feedback that:
- Identifies the correct position they are working towards.
- Establishes the purpose for the movement.
- Shows them what they are working towards is an opportunity to get better in their chosen sport.
Is an effective method of accelerating their kinesthetic awareness, a huge key in transferring improvements made in training to the field. All muscle action is dependent on other muscles. A movement analysis system that takes that into account arms a coach more appropriately for the demands of their job. Kind of like Tony Montana at the end of Scarface….clearly, not a knife fighter.
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Deadbug Notes
Top down. Back of the neck into the ground, shoulder orientation depends activity that day.
Tells athlete to bring attention to the trunk. Mental intent for physical action.
Rotate your pelvis posteriorly. Is this an established position? Has it been demonstrated? Is it for the viewer’s benefit? Follow up instruction to paint lower back to ground seems to be a more pragmatic cue.
Paint your spine as long as you can on the floor.
Flex your quads and slight internal rotation. Try cueing the knee so that athletes do not make the change at the ankle.
Tactile cue for the foot prior to asking for dorsiflexion. Loved the cue of pulling the shoelaces to the shin instead of the toes.
Athlete’s left leg moves significantly ahead of right leg as legs lift.
Challenge hamstring flexibility without compromising it. What is position would be compromised?
Flatten the foot to a neutral position and then focus again on pulling the top of the laces of the shoe toward the shin.
Stress #1: Hold position for time actively as opposed to resting.
Explains to athlete that stress will be added through planes of motion.
Asks athlete to ‘fight that rotation’ and cover their ear with their bicep as they reach one arm overhead.
Check for imbalance with both hands overhead–tell athlete to feel for any imbalances.
Static hold, reminder cues for the heels to be up, ask athlete what they feel.
Imbalances lead to injuries–apply rehab evenly.
Awareness of lower body. Can you maintain home position with three limbs and move without rotation in another?
Breath. Oxygen is energy. Deadbug reinforces posture and breathing mechanics.
Turn that left knee in at your hip. Two part cue. Confusing or catch all for body awareness?
Tie in leg drop with trunk demands.
External rotation during leg drop means tight musclature.
External rotation during leg lift is mucscularture weakness.
Dorsiflexion is limited by endurance of tibialis anterior.
Ties length of hold to duration of athlete’s workouts.
Slows athlete down, has them repeat double arm drop so that they can feel stability (aka control through range of motion).
Athlete loses neck position when cued to “suck belly button through the floor”. Shoulders protract and neck extends to facilitate leg drop.
Reinforces need for controlled movement and breathing as leg drop is repeated.
Highlight imbalance seen in shoulders, reinforce to athlete the importance of their self-awareness.
Spiderman Complex
Combining primal movements — step up and lunge.
Top of a push-up position with wider than traditional squat stance with feet.
Step foot up to outside of same side hand.
Visual and spatial cue. Places foot alongside athlete’s so they have a clear goal position to acheive and feel. Front leg is established in lunge, extend trailing leg by locking out knee. A soft kick works great here.
Establish next step with challenge hip stability. Re-cue posture once inside hand is removed from ground. Rotation is explained as separating shoulders from hips, then another external target is given to encourage rotation.
Open palm works on wrist extensors. Make sure lunging hip is still in internal rotation. Internal rotation at the hip allows for force distribution throughout the entire body instead of just one joint.
Equal force distribution ties in to the goal of efficiency of movement in workouts.
Actively pull knee in against tricep and rotate arm and torso away from lunging leg.
Athlete defaults to externally rotated trail leg and propping up on thumb and fingertips of support hand.
External goal for trailing hip rotation. Athlete is significantly limlited in thoracic rotation to the right. Reminder cue to breath in a stressed position, allowing athlete to remain in position longer.
Position of legs allows for work on hip girdle stability. But keep breathing…
Athlete defaults to passive external rotation of right shoulder for stability during transition of legs.
Push-up in between sides to “reset posture”.
Knee aligned just inside instep allows for hamstring engagement.
Shaking, same as dead bug, is a sign that muscles are being challenged.
Same reminder cues and external targets to on opposite side.
Seesaw Walk
Top down alignment and hug the world orientation tie back to deadbug and spiderman. Helping athlete build connections across movements.
Stress awareness. Builds from hands to shoulders, so keep the hands loose.
Short rib cage prior to movement. Find your balance in right leg.
Turn the left knee in at the hip. Bend the right knee slightly as if you were doing a clean. (At what point?)
Kick your left heel straight back. Athlete begins to flex at the hip joint, then self corrects and starts again.
Chest movement is determined by how far the heel goes back. Athlete goes into global extension, has to reset to come back to a neutral spine.
Internal rotation of lifted leg in order to maintain a flat hip shelf.
Pin big toe of support foot into ground for stability. Actively grab the ground with your foot to engage the hamstring of the support leg.
The seesaw walk is a movement PATTERN. Complete the movement to rest–don’t just drop out of it haphazardly.
Ties trunk position to mechanics of a squat to allow athlete another means of understanding what should be happening.
Selling points of squat and clean efficiency.
Reach the top of the head through the shoulder blades?
Asks athlete if they are aware of the imbalance they are presenting.
Return to standing by digging heel in and performing a “bicep curl with the hamstring”.
At the end of all that….where was your breath when you got stressed?
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One thing to keep in mind with all of these resources is the difference between an assessment and a test. Tex’s article on Plyometric Training: Assessment refers to assessments in this way: “The assessments discussed below will introduce movements, provide proper execution, as well as the faults to expect to see from many athletes.”
Now that is particular to Tex’s intent, but I think that an assessment should give the coach insight into an athlete’s capacity for POSITION. The CrossFit Total, a 40 yard dash or a broad jump are events that I would define as tests of capacity in strength, speed or endurance.
I found a physical therapist who has his own system called the Dynamic Movement Assessment…which you have to pay a couple of hundred dollars for. So the best I can provide is a .pdf which advertises his system and the technology you need to run it.
http://www.aclprogram.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/3D_DMA-General.pdf
The cool thing about this program is that athletes are able to test position dynamically as opposed to the static test the FMS provides.
However, you need a computer, tv, a “skilled practioner” aaaaaaaaand an Xbox Kinect system. Which means you can only put one athlete through it at a time. Potentially information that is much more applicable than an FMS, but significant technology, financial and scalability limitations.
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I remember hearing @mcquilkin saying that he loved Supertraining and thinking “How is it possible to enjoy anything that dense?” and chalking it up to a childhood spent in Texas with nothing to do but watch sage brush roll through an abandoned landscape the first 18 years of his life. But I’m starting to come around to it as of late. There are three quotes I’d like to reference that I think can help bridge the gap between specificity and SPP.
“It is not only the exercise which modifies the body, or, MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE NEUROMUSCULAR SYSTEM, but the way in which the exercise is performed.” (Page 27)
“…increased performance is primarily a result of improved NEUROMUSCULAR SKILL…” (Page 28)
As Strength and Conditioning coaches, we select and instruct exercises with specificity that we believe most closely correlates with the demands of our athlete’s sport. Even though we know that there will never be a perfectly direct correlation. Sport coaches teach sport specific technique (or leverage) at the individual and group level. Even though they know that perfect technique alone may not be enough to attain victory. We bridge the gap between what may sometimes be regarded as mental and physical training objectives by realizing that
“…all training should be regarded as a way in which the body’s extremely complex computing systems are programmed and applied in the solution of all motor tasks…” (Page 27)
We can engage and educate our athletes in the WHY of the exercises and execution we are leading them through. When the athlete understands what is being replicated in a S&C training session and the intent of the performance improvement, we can accelerate the application of the adaptations and have them mirror as closely as possible the true demands of the sport.
Bridge the gap by coaching your athletes’ minds and bodies.
To quote @chobbs at the Symposium 2.0: “How you do anything is how you do everything.”
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We lift weights to become better. We lift weights because they cause our bodies to become more capable at things we want and need to do. We lift weights because of the mental fortitude and discipline in behavior they require. We lift weights to expose weaknesses and develop them into strengths.
Athletes lift weights to practice the skill of leveraging force against external resistance as Dr. Hatfield says. Injured people lift weights to return to functional levels of strength. Bodybuilders lift weights to create a physical representation of what their mind believes is a perfect body.
I loved @hashaw21 bringing in the primal need of humans to exert force against their environment. Moving, carrying, altering their physical surroundings. In many ways, moving weight is what we have evolved to do. It allows us to create (and pro-create) a more fulfilling life. To sustain that life for longer and against more circumstances. It makes us better.
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@chobbs Not bad yourself. I like the Dumb & Dumber reference. Can’t think of better source material for anyone to learn from.
What about replacing the constant “Ok?” query with: “Do you understand–yes or no?” Or “Nod if you know what I mean.” It’s a lot more to say, so you’ll be less likely to use it after every sentence and the specific response required from the athletes will help keep them engaged.
Or we just watch this as a group and take turns taking a shot for every “Ok” in the video.
Nice work homey.
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@menacedolan This is the video you’re looking for. I think.
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Used a bunch of people who were there for a free class as guinea pigs. They seemed to buy it.
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SAID Principle definition discussion begins at 18:10.
Includes reverse engineering and the 3 P’s. Purposeful, Practical, Prudent.
Discussion on performance based strength and conditioning program vs. metrics at 29:40.
Of Class 001 Week 1:B Part 2.
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@carlcase I like the poster underneath the whiteboard most of all.
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@menacedolan Killed it! Great job weaving in the linear progression man.
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@chobbs Thanks homey!
