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Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Study Spotlight: Effects of 8 Week Stabilization Exercise Program on Lumbar Multifidus

By: Joel Luedke


Low back pain can be debilitating and very frustrating.  Research has shown in many studies that activity and rehab can have a significant impact on improving outcomes.  That being said, what are the exact mechanisms that these exercise programs work through.  This study takes a look specifically at a couple of levels of multifidi to see how a stabilization program affects them.


What They Did: 
Researchers used an 8 week LSEP to look at how that program would directly effect the size and function of the multifidi muscles that play an important role in helping with general spinal stabilization.  There was 34 patients with non-acute low back pain and 28 healthy controls to compare muscle size and function to.  The researchers used RUSI to measure thickness of the multifidi muscles both at rest and during some movement to track and changes.

What They Found:
The patient group did not produce systematic changes in RUSI measures when compared to the controls even though RUSI impairments were observed at baseline and that patients had significant improvements in pain and disability.  It was also found that the LSEP did not normalized the impairment of muscle activation compared to the controls.

What It All Means:
As with a lot of research the findings can be confusing and also make you think that nothing worked and that makes doing the exercises not worth it but don't let it deter you too much.  While this particular study did not find the exact results they were looking for there were some silver linings.  There were increases in ability to move and decreases in pain even without the corresponding changes in muscle thickness but improvements in these areas are always welcome.

I think the other thing this study shows is that while a 'standardized' back rehab program can be useful and effective there is nothing that is one size fits all.  I think it also shows that these programs can be more effective when administered by a trained professional that can help customize them to your specific needs and also help correct in real time.  This is paramount to find someone you trust that has the knowledge to dig into the root cause and address it.

Don't write off all the programs but make sure to be very aware of how things are coming along and find a rehab specialist to help increase your performance.

Abbreviations:
-Lumbar stabilization exercise program (LSEP)
-Rehabilitative ultrasound imaging (RUSI)

Source: Lariviere, C. The effects of an 8-week stabilization exercise program on lumbar multifidus muscle thickness and activation as measured with ultrasound imaging in patients with low back pain: An exploratory study.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Friday Food: Raw Apple-Cinnamon & Chia Breakfast Bowl

A tasty change up to everyday breakfast that does a good job of getting you going but not filling you up with a lot of extra 'stuff' that you're not looking for when you start your day off.  Give it a try coming up.

Ingredients:
  • 3 honey crisp apples, peeled and cored, divided
  • 4-5 medjoll dates, pitted
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp chia seed
Toppings:
  • raw walnuts
  • raisins
  • dried cranberries
  • hemp seeds

The Game Plan:
  1. Finely dice one of the honey crisp apples and add to an airtight container
  2. Take two of the honey crisp apples and cute hem into large pieces.  Add the apple pieces to a food processor along with the dates, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Pulse the mixture several times and then let it process for 2-3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape the mixture down the sides.  Pour the apple-date mixture into the container with the diced apple and stir in the chia seed.
  3. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
  4. Divide the apple mixture between two bowl and top with raw walnuts, raisins, cranberries, and hemp seeds.
  5. Serve and enjoy.
  6. Refrigerate leftovers.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Study Spotlight: Preventative & Regenerative Foam Rolling on Reducing Fatigue of Muscles

By: Joel Luedke


Foam rolling can have many benefits.  Often we talk about it helping with your movement and mobility to loosen up muscles and help restore more motion to the joints.  In this Study Spotlight we take a look at some other areas that foam rolling can help with, mainly muscle strength and fatigue.


What They Did:
Forty five health adults (men & women) were broken up into three groups.

  1. Foam Roll of the lower limb muscles prior to induction of fatigue
  2. Foam Roll after induction of fatigue
  3. No treatment; control
These participants were put through a neuromuscular exhaustion protocol that was meant to elicit functional agility short-term fatigue.  The measurements they were looking at was max isometric (not moving) voluntary force of the knee extensors (quads).  They also looked at pain perception and reactive strength (RSI).
The foam rolling protocol they used was the following: Muscles focused on were the quad, hamstrings, adductors, calf muscles and the IT band tract.  Each group was treated for 30s each with slow and constant movements at constant pressure between the origin and insertion of the muscle.  A metronome was used to keep consistent pace and a goal of 7 of 10 on a pain scale (mild to moderate discomfort) was used to try and standardize intensity.


What They Found:
When it came to decreasing the loss of strength both the preventative and regenerative foam rolling sessions showed significant results.  Upon further analysis there was a trend toward regenerative foam rolling as the best time to restore strength but this was not statistically significant.

What It All Means:
The researchers do a great job in the discussion and conclusion stating how nothing in this study was perfectly definitive and that more research will be needed in order to know for absolutely certain how foam rolling can affect these things.  That being said the data they did find is interesting.  The use of foam rolling and when to use it can be confusing and depending on your application it can be very helpful and may harmful.  We recommend reading Dr. John Rusin's article, 'Stop Mindlessly Foam Rolling Like a Jackass' for more information.

What this study does tells us is that you should be doing some form of self soft tissue mobilization can be very beneficial for you when it comes to restoring strength and minimizing fatigue as much as possible.  Now whether you do that before or after is up to you but the data seems to be trending in focusing on doing it as a form of regeneration.  This can be useful after workouts and/or competition. The other area this can open up to is potentially using a foam roller at breaks in your competition to potentially help reduce fatigue and enhance performance for the second part of the competition or workout.

Bottom Line: You should probably become friends with a foam roller.


Source: Fleckenstein, J. Preventative and Regenerative Foam Rolling are Equally Effective in Reducing Fatigue-Related Impairments of Muscle Function following Exercise. journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2017) 16, 474-479.

Friday, December 15, 2017

Friday Food: Dark Chocolate Nut Cluster w/ Sea Salt


Something a little more sweet this week as we keep getting closer and closer to the holiday season.  Just because you want to enjoy a snack doesn't mean it has to put you completely off the rails of trying to eat healthy and keep your nutrition moving in the right direction.


Ingredients: 
-20 almonds (around 20 grams)
-20 pecan halves (about 20 grams)
-20 walnut halves (about 20 grams)
-1 package Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers (or your favorite kind)
-Sea salt

The Game Plan

  1. Place chocolate wafers in a medium, microwave safe bowl.  Melt in 30 second increments, stirring until melted, about 1 1/2 minutes total.
  2. Working quickly, dip a walnut into the melted chocolate with a fork and shake excess off.  Transfer to a piece of wax paper.  Do the same without the pecan, then lay the pecan on top of the walnut.  Repeat with the almond, finishing the cluster.  Repeat with the remaining nuts.
  3. Finish each with a pinch of sea salt, to do this you will want to sprinkle it on top once they are almost dry so it doesn't absorb, but not to dry or it won't stick.

Source: Skinny Taste

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Study Spotlight: Physical Methods of Lymphatic Drainage on Post Exercise Recovery of MMA Athletes


By: Joel Luedke

To train hard you have to recover hard.  That being said what is the best method to recovery?  That question isn't so easy to answer.  It is very case dependent and really you have to look at the goal you are wishing to accomplish and then find the medium that works best for that desired goal.  You also have to take into account the personal feeling each person has with recovery. 


This study took a look at a couple different recovery techniques and how the affected the forearms off MMA guys.  That may not seem like it applies to you but please read on.

What They Did:
Researchers looked at 80 MMA athletes and split them into four groups.  Three of those groups received some type of physical method of recovery (see below) and one group received a sham treatment as the 'control' group. Researchers looked at blood flow velocity, maximal strength of the forearm muscles, muscle tissue tension, pain threshold, blood lactate concentration and activity of creatine kinase at rest, after muscle fatigue, 20 minutes post, as well as 24 and 48 hour after the intervention.
Researchers used a standard forearm fatiguing test to create forearm fatigue across the 80 athletes (please reference study for full details)
Treatment Groups:

  • Manual lymph drainage of moving the lymph from the forearm back to the core of the body in order to help with elimination.
  • Electro-stimulation with the 'Bodyflow' device using electrodes distributed along the venous and lymph flow.
  • Deep oscillation using a 5cm head (90+/- 10 Hz for 18 minutes and 50+/- Hz for last 2 minutes)

What They Found:
What the researchers found that all of the physical methods of lymphatic drainage, whether using manual, electro-stimulation or deep oscillation there was an improvement in poster exercise regeneration of the forearm muscles of the MMA athletes. Specific effects varied deepening on the exact treatment but all showed improvements in recovery when compared to the control group.

What It All Means:
Not all of us are MMA fighters and not all of our forearms get locked up in our daily lives but at the risk of making assumptions not found in evidence I think what the researchers did find is promising.  It shows that the more active you are when it comes your recover and working to get the muscles to contract in whatever manner that may be can help with many areas of recovery.  

What that doesn't mean is just sitting in a cold tub, putting a bag of ice on or just laying around after a tough workout or competition is enough to get your ready for the next day.  You should get active and get your body to start the process on its own and optimize for the best response.  Take advantage of it.

Resources: Zebrowska, Aleksandra: Effect of Physical Methods of Lymphatic Drainage on Postexercise Recovery of Mixed Martial Arts Athletes.

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Mobility Monday: Recovery Your Anterior


If your quads start locking down it seems to be that everything starts hurting.  Your hips start talking to you, the glutes start getting extremely tight as they are trying to fight back and if you're like me, somehow your feet start hurting (yep its a thing).  It doesn't take much to get everything to loosen up and move again but the hardest part is just getting started.  This is the one you want to start with.


What It Helps:
-Tight Hips
-Tight Quads
-Recovery from a lot of Sitting


Thursday, November 30, 2017

Friday Food: Oven Roasted Chick Peas

Looking for a quick on the go snack that still packs a little bit of crunch?  We know that is typically our downfall with snacks is the salt and the crunch and this recipe is a great alternative and one that we will definitely be trying to utilize.  Check it out below.

Ingredients: 
-2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) thoroughly drained and rinsed (about 3 cups)
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 tsp ground cumin
-1 tsp chili powder
-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
-1/2 ts sea salt

The Game Plan:

  1. Heat the over to 400degF and arrange a rack in the middle.
  2. Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients until evenly coated.  Spread the chickpeas in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 30-40 minutes.
  3. THATS IT!!!



Source: Oven Roasted Chickpeas

Thanks to Kyle from Clinically Pressed for the recommendation.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Study Spotlight: Physical Recovery, Mental Detachment and Sleep as Predictors of Injury and Mental Energy

By: Joel Luedke

Exercise can be a great form of mental detachment from your busy life.  It can revive you with energy and really help your body get into an optimal state.  You can however take that overboard and all of the sudden the thing you were going to use to detach can be all consuming.  This study takes a look at how being able to detach yourself from physical activity can help you both mentally and physically.

What They Did:

Researchers did a survey guided by the Demand-Induced Strain Compensation Recovery Model of 161 recreational athletes.  What researchers were looking for as how people responded to physical recovery, mental detachment and sleep in injury rates and mental energy.  Recreational athlete were a previously unstudied population in regards to these factors.


What They Found:
Results showed that being able to mentally detach was related to both physical health and mental well-being.  Being able to mentally detach was strongly related to mental energy, more so than to injury.  It was also positively related to sleep quality and amount of sleep as well.

What It All Means: 
These results may not seem overly surprising, at least they weren't to me, but then I started thinking more about the actual application Mentally detaching from work and not taking things home with you  has been shown to be very helpful in helping with mental health and sleep quality.  Everyday people can use recreational sports and exercise as a 'release' from work and a form of detachment.

When people can potentially get themselves in trouble is when they begin to focus on the external activity too much and they aren't able break themselves away from those activities.  People can use these activities as a release and have them take over and then that can affect their ability to avoid injury and drain their mental injury.

The take home point is don't let something (exercise) that is supposed to be a release from mental stress become the focal point of more stress.  Allow yourself to mentally detach from these activities and also physical recovery in order to get the most benefits.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Inflammation and Your Life

By: Joel Luedke

The research continues to expand showing that a lot of the root causes of so many problems we are dealing with is excess inflammation in the body.  Inflammation has had a potentially confusing definition depending on what level of health and wellness you are at.  Here we are going to discuss a couple of the differences between 'good inflammation' as well as 'bad inflammation' and then talk about what are some steps you can take to control excess inflammation in your life.

"Good" Inflammation

Inflammation is the initial part of any recovery process that takes place in the body.  Whether you injure your ankle playing basketball or just have soreness from a hard workout inflammation is right there on the scene.  This is the type of inflammation that is natural and what we want to occur when these things happen.  Along with this inflammation comes the bodies defense system to start cleaning up and repairing the injured area.  This occurs to the same extent with hard workouts as your body is working to repair and adapt as you make muscular adaptations.  All that being said, we don't want too much.

"Bad" Inflammation
When inflammation stay around too long after an injury you can start moving into an area where it might be detrimental to your body.  When this occurs the inflammation can cause congestion in the area and not let the proper blood flow and corresponding nutrients make it into the area to finish up the healing process.  This is when ankles are swollen for far too long and delays in the injury recovery process occurs.

'Bad' Inflammation doesn't just occur with injury.  This can happen to your body over time if you are consistently putting in 'inflammatory' foods that tend to spike blood sugar and your body has to work harder to deal with and store away.  Along with this storage process can also come associated water storage and inflammation.  The foods that appear to be the biggest culprits for this are simple and refined carbohydrates.  Sugar taking most of the blame.  Long term ingestion of these foods leads to chronic build up of inflammation which we will talk about how clear up below.  The good news is to start the process doesn't take a long time.

Controlling Inflammation
Increase Water
These seems overly simple but it makes a huge difference.  Having enough water and fluid in your body to help keep your blood running smooth (think liquid vs. motor oil) makes a huge difference in how your body can handle everything in your body.  For me personally I know when I'm not hydrated as a vein in my lower leg disappears as fluid is sitting in the vessel space outside of it with no transport to leave (simplified, yes).  When I make hydration a focus everything functions better and your body is better able to handle the stress you place on it.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet
This is as much elimination as it is an addition diet.  The more you can limit 'inflammatory foods' such as simple carbs and sugar the better your body will respond.  Often times you can feel these differences in as few as a couple days if you eliminate quite a few things.  Replacing these simple carbs with vegetables or more complex carbs (i.e. sweet potatoes) as well as fruit (some debate on this but the fiber seems to help keep the spike in blood sugar relatively low) can make a huge difference in how your body reacts.

Other items you can add are monounsaturated and versions of polyunsaturated fat to your diet.  This could include things such as nuts, fish, avocados and utilizing more olive oil as a dressing or as an addition to your meal. By adding these you are helping up the anti-inflammatory aspects of your body and letting them work on a higher and more efficient level.

Movement
We have discussed movement when it comes to injury and evacuating swelling before and we want to echo that for control of general inflammation.  The lymphatic system in your body does almost all of the work with 'waste' removal throughout your body.  It processes all the junk and cleans it out but it is a PASSIVE system.  This means it needs something to make it function and how it gets that is through muscle contraction.  Think of the muscles as squeezing the excess fluid and junk out of the area in order to move it back to the core of your body to be processed and gotten rid of.

While this can help clear out a swollen ankle it is also highly beneficial when it comes to inflammation overall.  This doesn't mean going nuts when it comes to exercising and doing hours a day but it does mean getting up and moving throughout the day and also going for some walks to help keep your muscles contracting and that fluid moving.  This can make a huge difference.  Obviously you can add more exercise just be careful not to go overboard and great more inflammation than you are moving out.

These are just some basic areas to start but the basics can work wonders.  If you're looking to take your anti-inflammation to the next level try 'Flame Off' by Paragon Nutrition and use code "CP15" for 15A% off at check out.  This will help load your body with more things to help combat inflammation.  Let us know if you have any questions by reaching out at info@totalathletictherapy.com

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Mobility Monday: Mobilizing at the Point of Restriction


We know this one starts off a little strange but the information that eventually comes out of it is well worth listening too.  Dr. Starrett makes some great points about moving through some restriction areas and also on knee placement and movement and what can be good and bad for your knees.  Well worth making it through the awkward kayaking portion.



Things It Helps:
-Hip Mobility
-Finding the Best Position to Mobilize
-Reducing Low Back Pain

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Study Spotlight: Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling

By: Joel Luedke

Massage therapy is a lot of peoples favorite way to relax and recover.  If you ask those people I don't think you'll find many that would argue its positive effects.  All that being said there hasn't been a lot of compelling research out there to show the physiologic changes on how massage affects those things.  While feeling and 'knowing' it works is good evidence it is always reassuring to see the
physiologic research back up the 'know'.  Check this one out.

What They Did: 
IN this study the researchers were looking at how massage would get a response in inflammatory signaling vs. no massage treatment.  They used separate quadriceps of 11 male participants after exercise-induced muscle damage.  The way they looked at these inflammatory signals was using muscle biopsies (ouch) from the lateral quad at baseline, immediately after a 10 minute massage and then after a 2.5 hour recovery period.

What They Found:
Like we mentioned this article got very deep into the science but we wanted to make sure to sum it up here.  There was NO effect on muscle metabolites (glycogen, lactate) but massage attenuated several inflammatory signals that thereby mitigated cellular stress resulting from the muscle damage.  Those were inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interluekin-6 while reducing heat shock protein 27 phosphorylation.

What It All Means:
You don't always need to have all the science to know if something anecdotally works for you.  While this isn't the strongest type of research out there it can be effective.  What this study accomplished is looking at a physiologic reason to help explain why massage appears to be beneficial for recovery from muscle damage.  This remains an area that needs more research but these results are promising in favoring that you can help mitigate/control some of the inflammatory process that comes with breaking down tissue through workouts/competition.

There is more work to be done but if you believe in massage either as a client/patient or practitioner this study adds more science behind how it can be beneficial and why that is.  If you think massage works keep on going with it and like they reference in the article is may be a great alternative to some other pharmaceutical options.

Resource: Crane, Justin. Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Is the Turkey Really Making You Sleepy at Thanksgiving?

By: Joel Luedke

The big Thanksgiving meal (or meals depending on your day) is coming up and along with that comes the almost inevitable overconsumption of food.  It happens to the best of us.  Along with this meal comes the traditional Thanksgiving nap.  This nap has been long blamed on the turkey but is it really the turkeys fault?  He has had a rough enough day the way it is.

The idea that turkey makes you sleep due to tryptophan has been around for a long time.  While it is true that tryptophan is present in turkey and it is true that is a precursor to melatonin and can contribute to sleep it might not be the full on culprit to your post meal nap that you think.  The media boom around this idea is the same as the presence of resveratrol in wine.  While it is true that it is present in wine the levels at which it is might not have all the health benefits you were hoping for.


Now back to the turkey.  Again tryptophan is present in the turkey but there is another potential explanation for why you get so tired after you eat.  First, some basics in digestion.  The blood in your body concentrates where it is present most based on what activities you are partaking in.  In activity your blood focuses it work on the muscles as that is where most of your bodies activity is occurring. When you are eating your blood focuses is work to the digestive tract to help with the breakdown and  digestion of the food.


With all that being said your stomach is highly efficient but with some lines of thinking it can only handle so much of certain types of food at a time.  One line of thinking looks at both carbohydrates and protein as 'concentrated' foods and that the body can only really handle one of these at a time.  This line of thinking also looks at vegetables as very neutral and being able to combine with either food (fruits are another story for another day).

The idea behind this is when you consume large amounts of both protein and carbohydrates in a meal your stomach starts working overtime in order to try and break down both of these foods in combination and that is where things get difficult.  Your body basically starts working overtime in order to accomplish this task and while it doesn't feel like a workout your body is putting out a lot of energy to get this process accomplished.  By some estimates to fully breakdown that huge meal it can take 6-8 hours.

The bottom line of it all.  Do you have to skip Thanksgiving meal or completely change it around?  No that's not what we are saying.  Try this though.  After lunch do you get tired and feel like you need a nap?  What did you have for lunch?  Was it a huge sandwich with fries or a burger?  Did that make you tired at all around 2-2:30pm?  Try switching it up the next day and having a salad or just focusing on protein one carbohydrates for the day.  See how you feel and if that helps with that mid-afternoon 'lull'.

Don't blame the turkey for everything and try some mini-experiments to see how your body responds.  It may be as simple as the food combinations you put together.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 20, 2017

Mobility Monday: Highly Skilled Sitting

There are a lot of fun things to do around the Thanksgiving Holiday and unfortunately a lot of those things revolve around sitting.  While it is good to relax and take it easy you still don't want all of that to completely wreck your body by being stuck in a seated position all weekend.  Here is a great video to help break down how you can 'effectively' sit to make sure to not get yourself into a complete bind while you enjoy the holiday weekend.

Things It Helps:
-Reducing hip tightness
-Reducing low back pain
-Maintaining free moving hips


Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Process

By: Joel Luedke

Football season started for most back in the middle of August.  No more two a days this year but still plenty of time spent in the athletic training room, the sports performance center, meeting rooms and the practice field.  Take all those things and extrapolate it out over the next 3 months while adding school to the list and that has the recipe for a long season.


Our season at UWL has ended and each year we have the privilege of listening to the seniors talk

about their experience and pass on information and advice to not only the younger players but also the staff that will be back next year.  There seems to always be consistent themes going through those message and one is embrace the grind.  Another is buy into the 'process' and that is what we are going to talk about today, 'the process'.

Very little in life comes quick and almost never easy.  What you do on a daily basis will almost always be a direct reflection on the results that you will get.  Angela Duckworth in her book 'Grit' talks directly about this.  It is the micro improvements on a daily basis that leads to the results you are looking to achieve and the days you don't want to do those little things are the days you need to the most.  That is embracing the grind and adding to the process.

One of my favorite strength coaches out there, Nick Winkelman had the best description of looking at your "job".  In an interview Coach Winkelman discusses his two passions in life, his family and his profession.  He makes it very clear that it is not his "job" as he doesn't believe that description does his work justice.  He is very proud of his profession and embraces that he gets to be in a constant process of evolution and growth in his work.  This outlook has made him extremely successful and a highly respected coach.

I think we all too often forget to enjoy the day to day grind.  We look past what we can get done today in an effort to see what tomorrow might bring us.  Time goes by quickly and we often find out that we thought was going to last forever doesn't and we feel like it slipped away without any of our own control.  When it comes to your life and your pursuit of anything whether it be your profession, your family, or you health make sure to embrace every minute of it.

A phrase I've tried to work in this year and need to continue to improve on it "can I/we do it better".  I tried to work this in not to ever downplay what I/we/my team is doing, that isn't the purpose.  We implemented it as a way of constantly challenging ourselves of can we better the process.  Can we make small changes on a daily basis that will lead to much bigger outcomes.  I think if you add something like this to your life the improvement and success is almost sure to follow.

Embrace the grind, enjoy the process and when it comes down to it, get after it every single day.





Sunday, November 12, 2017

Mobility Monday: Heel Cords and All Their Tightness


Ever dealt with tight calves?  Yeah, us too and it can really put a lot of stress on other parts of your body directly tied to the muscle group.  Tightness through your calves can cause you all types of pain and issues in your ankles,  your knees and even going up to your hips.  If you go along with Anatomy Trains tightness in your calves can also contribute to potential headaches.  A long story short, make sure you get to work on these structures.


Things It Helps:
-Ankle Pain
-General Knee Pain
-Calf Tightness


Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Study Spotlight: The Efficacy of Repeated Cold Water Immersion on Recovery Following a Simulated Rugby Union Protocol


There are many ways to recovery and some are more expensive than others.  One of the easiest is hoping in a cold tub or some form of an ice bath.  Is it effective though?  This Study Spotlight takes a look at how cold water immersion could help you recover after a heavy duty competition.


What They Did: 
Investigators took a look at how male rugby players responded to cold water immersion (CWI) compared to a control group that did not do CWI after a simulated rugby match.  The markers that were tracked were creatine kinase, perceived muscle soreness, counter movement jump (CMJ) and maximal voluntary isometric contraction on the knee extensors.  These markers were looked at pre, post-exercise, 24 hour and 48 hours following exercise.

The protocol was 2 x 5 min immersions at a temperature  of 10degC (50deg F) separated by 2.5 minutes seater at room temperature. 

What They Found: 
There were several large effects sizes observed for muscle soreness at both 24 and 48 hours post exercise with lower soreness values in the CWI group.  These effect sizes were observed for CMJ at all points in time and at 24 and 48 hour post for maximal voluntary isometric contraction.  There was also a moderate effect size observed for CK immediately post exercise followed by larger effect sizes at 24 and 48 hours post exercise.

What It All Means:
Through all the effects the bottom line is that doing cold water immersion following a simulated rugby match appears to provide enhanced recovery compared to not doing anything. While this study looked only at rugby that basic premise can be applied to most contact sports even if they aren't as violent as rugby.  This is a very simple and easy way to recover and get a jump start on prepping for your next workout and/or competition.  Give it a try.

TAT Article: Cold Water Immersion on HRV 


Resource: Barber, Sean. The Efficacy of Repeated Cold Water Immersion on Recovery Following a Simulated Rugby Union Protocol

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Mobility Monday: "Knees Out" and Proper Foot Loading


Whether you think you should focus on the foot and work your way up to the knee or if you need to focus on the hips and work down this video is a great resource.  While often we get stuck in it has to be one way or the other this is an example of when you need to take the whole system into account and make sure that it is all working properly to get the results you are after.


Things It Helps: 
-Squat form
-Knee pain when squatting
-Patellar tendonitis



Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Study Spotlight: Foam Rolling and Muscle Activation


We talk a lot about foam rolling on the TAT blog.  We really do believe doing variations of your own soft tissue work can be highly beneficial in many aspects of your health.  It can help relieve tight areas and trigger points and in that way reduce pain.  It can help your body down regulate and settle in for the evening and recovery (think relaxing massage).  We haven't talked a lot though about the timing of foam rolling and when it could be helpful and also potentially harmful.  We focus on that in this Study Spotlight and also give some recommendations at the end.


What They Did: 
Researchers wanted to see if foam rolling the hamstrings and/or quadriceps would affect hamstrings and quadriceps activation in men and women.  The conditions included rolling of the hamstrings, quadriceps, both muscle groups and a control group (did nothing).  EMG activity was then analyzed in both the quad and the hamstrings on a single leg single leg landing from a hurdle jump.

What They Found:
After just foam rolling the quads the hamstring, biceps femurs, had its activation significantly reduced.  There was no significant change in quadricep activation when only the hamstrings were rolled out.  There was no effect on activation when both the quadriceps and hamstrings were rolled out.

What It All Means:
Is foam rolling now bad?  No, not at all we just have to be smart with the timing.   We don't recommend a lot of foam rolling pre-activity as you can do some muscle damage and in effect hurt your workout.  This was shown to a degree in this study where you can actually decrease the activation of your hamstrings by just rolling out your quads.  This could lead to potential for injury to increase and problems to ensue.  So what is the solution.

Our Recommendation:
If you feel the need to doing any rolling prior to a workout or competition make sure to make it general.  That means hitting a little bit of every major muscle group to make sure to not suffer the fate of your hamstring activity turning down and setting you up for more chance of injury.  A 'general' roll out can help this.

For after activity focus on the areas that are really tight and causing you some issues and at this point we don't worry as much about the potential decreases in muscle activation as we are done for the day and your body can set up for a chance to recover.


Resource: Cavanaugh, M. Roam Rolling of Quadriceps Decreases Biceps Femurs Activation

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Mobility Monday: Hips & Psoas


Hips and psoas.  I almost want to stop at that because it really is enough said.  Your hips and psoas can be such a contributor to everything in your body.  That can be both in things that cause pain but also loosening up in order to maximize performance.  We can't emphasize this enough that you have to get these areas moving and make sure they can handle the stresses you put them under.  Please get after these areas.



Things It Helps: 
-Hip Pain
-Low Back Pain
-Decreased Performance


Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Accountability....What's That?

By: Joel Luedke

This is a shorter post that I was inspired to writer after listening to Dr. John Curtis, author of "Mindset of a Winner", at a meeting today.  The power of your mind and controlling what you think and how you respond is extremely powerful and appears to often be the missing link in a lot of athletes and people working at a high level.


One of the areas that that really stuck with me was setting the example you want to see and also 

getting people to buy in from attrition.  It is really hard to get people to buy in to utilizing affirmations and visualizing their success in what they have done in the past and what they are hoping to accomplish in the future if you don't do it yourself.  The speaker also talked about how to people who may not want to be a part of something like this to join in and it is finding the people that do believe in it, reap the results and then get everyone to joint along.

All that sounds great but with that we are laying out a challenge to everyone with this post.  First off affirmations will be written by me and posted as soon as I get them done (check back for a #tbt and an update to this article).  The second option we are putting out there is tracking how well we are sticking to the things we need to do on a daily basis in order to get after the goals we set (along with those affirmations).  How we are going to do it is with the "Way of Life" app.  You can track 3 goals on a daily basis for free or for $2.99 you can do unlimited and run it on a daily basis.

Now for the accountability piece of it all.  you can export your results and I am planning to do so on a monthly basis so you can see how well I am sticking to my plan and actually getting closer to goals.

I'm all for anyone joining as it will only improve the system, let me know and find a way to hold yourself and others accountable.

There are a other options that work really well.  Often times setting a 'bet' or 'wager' with a friend or a family member can be the motivation you need to get yourself going.  Often times the fear of losing something like money can be what you need in order to jump start yourself and get the results you are looking for.

LINK: DietBet

APP: Way of Life

BOOK: Mindset of Wining

Monday, October 23, 2017

Mobility Monday: Sliding Surface Recovery


Not all soft tissue work has to be rolling around on a foam roller.  There are a lot of other exercises that you can utilize to help your body out after a heavy day of working out and squatting, deadlifting, etc.  This video also covers some of the rolling ideas that you need to take a look at when working on the junction of the the quads and the IT band and what is the most effective way to get that area taken care of.  You can save yourself a lot of time by utilizing these tips.


Things It Helps:
-General Soft Tissue Recovery
-Improving Sliding Surfaces
-Restoring Motion


Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Study Spotlight: HRV vs. Predetermined Block Training on Performance

By: Joel Luedke

Training plans are extremely important in any aspect of training both in strength and conditioning and in your running or sports.  In most cases these programs are planned out for the year and they adjust between low intensity and high intensity periods of training.  Coaches will often adjust on feel and based on the feedback of athletes but what if you could put actual numbers and science to it?  This study takes a look at how using Heart Rate Variability (HRV) vs. a predetermined training program
and how it affects performance.

What They Did:
Multiple measure including endurance performance, neuromuscular performance, HRV and serum hormone concentrations were measured before, in the middle and after an eight week training period in 24 endurance trained individuals.

What They Found:
Researchers found that both block style training as well as HRV guided training are very effective when it comes to HIT training with endurance athletes.  The degree to which they worked was the interesting part.  While both groups increased performance the HRV guided timing and number of HIT blocks seemed to provide greater endurance and neuromuscular adaptations compared to predetermined training.

What It All Means:
The good news from this study is your can do really well at improving performance by using predetermined block training when it comes to endurance.  The more exciting news (it may be obvious) is that when you personalize it to how you are feeling and how you are recovering you can increase your performance even more.  There are a lot of ways out there to do this monitoring and it can range from very expensive to almost not costing you anything and that is where it gets even more interesting.

You can use heart rate to help out with how you are feeling and training and track it yourself.  That is easily one way to go.  You can invest some more money and look into a HRV tracking system (i.e. OmegaWave or other options) which will give you the direct data you might be looking for but it can make it a hit to your wallet.  Another, and free, option is to use the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale to assess how hard you worked and also using the recovery scale in order to know how your body is bouncing back.  If you are serious about your training and honest with yourself there is plenty of research out there showing that this can be an effective option.

Bottom Line: Listen to your body and you can not only increase your performance but could do so more than if you just "stick to the plan" because it says so.  Happy Training.



Resource:
Olli-Pekka Nuuttila: Effects of HRV-Guided vs. Predetermined Block Training on Performance, HRV and Serum Hormones



Tuesday, October 17, 2017

The Short Cut to Success

By: Joel Luedke

Ok, I won't lie to you to start an article off there isn't a magical short cut.  If you've read along with us for awhile you know we aren't big on quick fixes and magic supplements.  On the road to your goals you have to make sure you are setting up success for the long run and that is what we are going to talk about in this article, different ways to change your framework to help set yourself up for success.

The first thing we want to discuss is the concept of "willpower".  Willpower is a finite resource.  There is a lot of information out there to support this concept and some of the most successful and influential people in the world know they can only have to much willpower and decision making.  You have to make sure that you are setting your day up for the chance to use those concepts when you need them most.  


The more you structure your day (particularly diet and exercise) the more control you can yield when it comes to making a decision on if you should eat the healthy food vs. the food that is calling your name that you know you should avoid.  If you have these structures in your life that decision making becomes easier and your results improve.

"Discipline equals freedom." -Jocko Willink

Set up your exercise routine and don't look at as something you 'have' to do.  Use it as your get away in your day and build your structure around it.  Not only will you have the on the day by getting your workout in, you now just made one less decision that you can utilize later.  This routine doesn't have to be 60 minutes of crushing exercise but getting up and being active.  Doing things you want to can get you not only the results you want but can also make it fun.

For your diet you want to find things that work out for you and again, avoid having to make decisions on a daily basis about what you want to eat.  The more you have things planned ahead the easier things are on decisions.  This falls into decision fatigue and avoiding it by using structure.  Another way to help yourself out here is to focus on keeping good and 'healthy' foods in the house.  Not only is it convienent but it applies to the 'decision fatigue' and limiting.  That can also help out if there is something unexpected that comes up in your day and you need to hold strong.

It has been said that creating a new habit takes anywhere from 30 to 66 days.  That's a long time.  Find things you can do that will create small victories.  Nothing happens quickly and when it comes to exercise and nutrition and if it does, it is extremely hard to hold on to and keep up that intensity.  Utilize things that can help you out and make you make less decisions on things you don't need to.

We are here to help so please reach out with questions if they ever come up.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Mobility Monday: Chair of Death Mobility Drills

We are big on sitting as little as you can to make sure your body doesn’t lock up and tighten down.  For this one we dug back into the Mobility WOD archives to find some of the basic yet highly effective mobility drills to help reverse the effects of sitting down.  These are great ideas and easy to implement to make sure you decrease the risk of hip pain and even low back pain that you don’t need.  


Things It Helps: 
-Hip Pain
-Low Back Pain
-Chronic Pain of Sitting


Sunday, October 1, 2017

Mobility Monday: Lower Body Mobility Routine-Squat/Deadlift


In a recent posts we took a look the squat vs. the deadlift and how it can affect the body overall.  That has profound effects on your programming for training but in order to make sure that you are ready to do all those squats and deadlift.  This is a good and solid routine to follow in order to get full mobility.


Things It Helps:
-Deadlift Form
-Squat Mobility
-Full Hip Mobility


Thursday, September 28, 2017

Friday Food: Ranch Er' No?

Keeping the nutrients up, processing down, and taste buds deceived, here is an alternative that Ranch lovers will enjoy.  Most people enjoy ranch dressing on just about anything and here is a good alternative that won't mess with your overall diet yet still give you the fantastic taste.

Provided by Corissa Conard

Ingredients:
-1/2 tub Whole Milk or Greek Yogurt
-1/4 c. Honey-2T. Parsley
-1-2 tbsp Garlic Powder
-1-2 tbsp Onion Salt
-1-2 tbsp Pepper
-1-2 tbsp Dill, optional

The Game Plan:

  1. Put all ingredients into a single bowl, starting at top and working your way down the list.
  2. Stir together and serve with veggies.
  3. I honestly just eye-balled the seasonings as I added them to the yogurt-typically, measuring cups are non-existent in the kitchen.
The Big Nutrients
  • Protein
  • Calcium
  • Pro- & Prebiotics