MR on PT

Mike,

What do you think of more advanced techniques like standing one leg and balancing for time w/your eyes closed?

Answers below bro:

[quote]BPC wrote:
Thanks for your answers Mike.

  1. That’s really interesting about the olifts.

  2. I feel you man. I partially tore a pec tendon while benching when I first began lifting. It is a long, sucky road ahead but you’ll get back to where you were and then some more I’m sure especially with your knowledge. So it looks like most of your rehab right now is geared towards: regaining rom, motor control and flushing the area w/lots of blood w/high rep stuff? Is that the thinking? I’m getting my general ed taken care of now, but I’d like to pursue Physical therapy and performance enhancement.[/quote]

Good luck with getting yourself fixed up! Knowledge is power bro, remember that.

Here’s my basic plan for getting healthy:

1 - REDUCE/CONTROL SWELLING (none of the other stuff works if you’re on swoll 24/7)
2 - Improve static/dynamic ROM
3 - Regain proprioceptive function
4 - Improve motor control/function
5 - Improve strength

I’m not looking at coming back the way I was, but coming back EVEN BETTER than I was with regards to the quality and strength of movements. In fact, I’m kind of looking at this as a time to re-build my body from the ground up (a lot like what EC talks about in his latest article).

Yeah, it sucks too cause he’s lighter :wink:

I feel like I would’ve pulled even more at my last meet if I hadn’t trained hurt for like the last 4 months; I had to remove some movements that were really helping. EC and I are putting some cool stuff into an article with regards to training for your body type; needless to say, it was really working for me.

Yeah, gotta love DJ; he gives it to you straight. I’m all for old-school strength and the knowledge he disseminates.

To an extent, yes I miss it, as I do all sports. In high school I lettered in cross country (had to run to play hoops), basketball, volleyball, and baseball. My school was very small so we didn’t have sports like wrestling or football. In college I pretty much played intramurals year-round.

The thing is, now that I’m out of it, the iron gives me that same feeling every time I’m in the gym. The competition is there AGAINST myself, versus against somebody else. As well, I got injured doing something recreational, and nothing like that is more important to me than lifting. The way I look at it now is “why risk it?” I love training and competing too much to have major setbacks like this. Hope it makes sense!

Stay strong
MR

To an extent, yes I miss it, as I do all sports. In high school I lettered in cross country (had to run to play hoops), basketball, volleyball, and baseball. My school was very small so we didn’t have sports like wrestling or football. In college I pretty much played intramurals year-round.

The thing is, now that I’m out of it, the iron gives me that same feeling every time I’m in the gym. The competition is there AGAINST myself, versus against somebody else. As well, I got injured doing something recreational, and nothing like that is more important to me than lifting. The way I look at it now is “why risk it?” I love training and competing too much to have major setbacks like this. Hope it makes sense

Mike,

I respect the fact that lifting weights is more important to you than playing sports or doing rec stuff. I mean I love lifting weights too!! I mean I LOVE it and plus I feel that lifting weights gives me an edge while I’m playing sports, doing rec stuff, etc.

I guess I look at it a little differently. First, weight training can help prevent these types of injuries (although not completely as evidenced by this thread). And I guess you can quit playing sports/hoops, etc to further prevent these types of injuries and put all of your emphasis/focus on lifting. However, you were having fun skiing not even playing b-ball. So what does that mean now? that you are going to quit all fun rec things? Me personally, I couldn’t do that. I love to be able to do many different things good and not just one thing plus competing in sports (even just playground hoops as opposed to college hoops) really tests all of your newly acquired strength/speed/rom etc that you’ve gained in the weightroom in the “real world.”

Again, I understand your point and respect it but I respectfully take a different approach.

I hope you understand.

They are great; just remember to walk before you run!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]BPC wrote:
Mike,

What do you think of more advanced techniques like standing one leg and balancing for time w/your eyes closed?[/quote]

I do and appreciate your opinion, and I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. You can’t forget that this is also how I make a living, so being injured isn’t really conducive to business!

Good luck with school and keep learning!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]Mike Robertson wrote:
I do and appreciate your opinion, and I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. You can’t forget that this is also how I make a living, so being injured isn’t really conducive to business!

Good luck with school and keep learning!

Stay strong
MR[/quote]

Thanks Mike.

Have a good one.

I’ll be on tonight from 8-10 pm EST, so feel free to leave questions here and I’ll get to them tonight (or sooner, if you’re lucky!)

Ok, so here’s a joke I heard the other night that I’m sure the T-Nation crowd can enjoy:

You say to someone: “Do you know any good vets?”

They say: “Why?”

You say: “Cause these puppies are sick!” (While kissing your guns!)

Well, I thought it was funny anyway!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]Mike Robertson wrote:
I’ll be on tonight from 8-10 pm EST, so feel free to leave questions here and I’ll get to them tonight (or sooner, if you’re lucky!)

Ok, so here’s a joke I heard the other night that I’m sure the T-Nation crowd can enjoy:

You say to someone: “Do you know any good vets?”

They say: “Why?”

You say: “Cause these puppies are sick!” (While kissing your guns!)

Well, I thought it was funny anyway!

Stay strong
MR[/quote]

Mike, thanks for the reply. I’ll give some of that a try and let you know what happens.

All right people I’m on and ready to rock!

Stay strong
MR

C’mon guys…did nobody like my joke? I got a few laughs out of it when I tried it out at work Monday!

Stay strong
MR

MR-how long did it take you before you “made” it in the industry, can you describe your early success and failures for us? such as working enviroment and clients

Mike, first of all I want to thank you for all of the help you have given me on here. I just recently got a ME Close Grip of 280 for a single (I was pretty happy with it considering my max before summer on regular bench was 295). Today I changed some things up on my warmup on my squat day (ditched the heavy abs and pullthroughs and concerntrated on some dynamic flex) and smoked 395 for 3 off a parrell box (not really a box squat i didnt really pause, it just set the depth). Pretty happy with that after 365 felt like a ton last week.

Ok, now to my question.

How do you warmup (you or your athletes) for an upper body workout. Currently I am doing an ext. rotation and a couple rear delt movements along with some med ball tosses to get ready. I read that it is not real good to do the ext rotater work before the bench work because it weakens them too much. Are there any dynamic flexibilty drills I can do for my upper body (shoulders, lats, pecs). I really like what dynamic flexibility has done for my legs and I would love to add some for my upper body.

PS: Any idea on when you and EC’s article on dynamic flexibilty is gonna be up? I have heard about it for nearly 3 months and really would like to check it out.

Have I “made” it? I guess that would depend on who you are asking!

Obviously, starting to write for T-Nation was a huge step forward. As well, other than the APC, my only other job in the field was as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Ball State. I don’t think I’ve had too many failures because I’ve always had great people around me.

As far as early successes go, I would think that had to be w/my girls volleyball team at BSU. I put a ton of effort into making them the best damn athletes I could, and I stil keep in touch with a few of them even 3 or 4 years later. I owe a lot to them b/c I ironed out a lot of my “coaching kinks” with them, and after that felt like I could do whatever I wanted in the field as long as I put my heart and mind into it.

Stay strong
MR

[quote]bigpump23 wrote:
MR-how long did it take you before you “made” it in the industry, can you describe your early success and failures for us? such as working enviroment and clients[/quote]

Mike give me some excercises to try with one kettlestack. i won an ironwoody kettlestack (up to 52lbs) from T-Nation and i need to write a review on it. i can think of some basic movements that i could also do with dumbells but i want something that i can do with a kettlestack with those weight levels that is challenging. just for your reference, i can do one arm snatches for 8 reps with 100lb db. any help will be greatly appreciated. thank you, pk

Hey mike, two quick questions:

I notice I get more hip activation when I squat while looking up during the whole movement(IE looking @ a spot above my head). Is this just a quirk of my biomechanics or is it for some specific reason? Just curious is all.

When you DL do you keep your shoulders infront of the bar or behind it? I sometimes find it hard to sit back on my heels while keeping my shoulders even/infront of the bar.

Buckeye,

I use simple stuff like forward and backward rolls of the shoulder, neck rolls, and simple horizontal abduction/adduction movements to warm-up (think the movement of a fly if you aren’t familiar with anatomy). As well, I’ll often go through a very light DB circuit to get the blood flowing. Here’s an example:

All 2x10
DB Bench
DB Row
DB Military
DB Curl

You get the picture; the goal is mainly to increase core temp and warm-up the musculature to be trained.

Not sure on the dynamic flex piece, but hopefully soon!

Stay strong
MR

Buckeye,

BTW, congrats on the lifts! I love to hear about people getting stronger and seeing progress.

Stay strong
MR

PK,

Are you doing any weighted core work with it? I love doing Windmills, Bent Presses, and weighted side bends with our KB’s. I believe they are outlined in my “21st Century Core Training” piece.

As well, you can do single-arm swings instead of pull-thru’s; focus on stretching the glutes in the bottom and squeezing at the top.

Do those work for ya?

Stay strong
MR

[quote]pkradgreek wrote:
Mike give me some excercises to try with one kettlestack. i won an ironwoody kettlestack (up to 52lbs) from T-Nation and i need to write a review on it. i can think of some basic movements that i could also do with dumbells but i want something that i can do with a kettlestack with those weight levels that is challenging. just for your reference, i can do one arm snatches for 8 reps with 100lb db. any help will be greatly appreciated. thank you, pk[/quote]

Hmm, depends on what you mean by “hip” activation. Typically when you extend the neck to look up, the rest of your back follows in suit. That means you have a tight low back curve and anterior rotation of the hips. Due to reciprocal inhibition, you would think this would DECREASE your glute activation. Not too sure on this one…unless we are talking about different “hip” muscles.

Not really sure, cause I’m not looking at myself in a mirror when I deadlift. I’m assuming my shoulders are probably even with the bar, and then when I initiate the movement I think of pulling back into my body. I also have a toe-lift built into my shoes so I can force more weight onto my heels without falling over (which would just look silly!).

Stay strong
MR

[quote]blam wrote:
Hey mike, two quick questions:

I notice I get more hip activation when I squat while looking up during the whole movement(IE looking @ a spot above my head). Is this just a quirk of my biomechanics or is it for some specific reason? Just curious is all.

When you DL do you keep your shoulders infront of the bar or behind it? I sometimes find it hard to sit back on my heels while keeping my shoulders even/infront of the bar.

[/quote]

err I made a major typo I meant hamstring requirtment/activation not hip, my bad.

It has been one long ass day.