All The Small Things

By: Joel Luedke

In the time of the New Year and the corresponding resolutions that can lead to overwhelming senses of if things are going to work and how you're going to maintain the expectations that you have set for yourself.   This appears to be why these resolutions rarely ever workout for people.  You have the excitement to get started but the expectations to hold them becomes overwhelming.

This post is meant to try and relieve that stress and let you know that you're able to get so many thing accomplished in health, nutrition, fitness and performance without having to focus on to many things and that simple and small changes can make a huge difference in your life. Find a few examples below:

• Diet changes: simply removing one 'unhealthy' item from your diet (i.e. sugar beverages) can have a profound impact on your body and how it responds.  Often times this can be the start to a big roll in getting the diet you want started.
• With your squat form if you break at your knees prior to loading your hips you set your body up for a lot of stress through the quads and knees that doesn't need to be there.  By adjust this subtle change in movement you can relieve knee pain and also increase your squat ability.
• In my daily life we deal with a lot of athletes that have injuries on and off.  It seems like a vast majority of them are more chronic in nature and in my eyes, often preventable.  When I watch them perform their mobility exercises in the SPC there is often a lack of attention to detail.  Really focusing on these subtle movements can make significant improvements in how your body moves and therefore reduce your injury risk and also get you healthy faster.
• Not every workout has to leave you shuffling out of the gym and not wanting to get out of bed the next morning.  You don't need to spend hours upon hours in the gym in order to get the results you are looking for when it comes to body composition and appearance.  Focus on things that work and that have stood the test of time.  Experiment but go at what what feels good and works for you.  Watch out for fads.

Back to our original point, you don't have to make huge sweeping changes in your life in order to get results that you are looking for.  Simply focusing on the 'keystone' change that can have the most dynamic effect on your health and fitness.  Don't let yourself get overwhelmed with all the information that is out there.  Start with the basics and look to add as you see fit or as you get going and seek help from professionals when the time comes.

And for your listening enjoyment, a little Blink 182.

Mobility Monday: Low Back Ache Test

Low back pain is unfortunately one of the most common aches and pains people deal with on a regular basis.  It can often be overwhelming to try and figure out what is causing that pain because there are so many structures that have influence on the low back.

In this video Dr. Starrett takes a closer look at the anterior musculature around the hip and how it can play a role in low back pain.  He also discusses a very simple "test" to see what might be contributing  to that low back pain.

For ideas to help fix the mobility check out some of his other videos on Mobility WOD or send us a message on Facebook or email at joel.luedke@totalathletictherapy.com.

Things It Helps:
-Assessing Low Back Pain Root Causes
-Anterior Hip Issues and Tightness

Friday Food: Chicken Stir Fry

So think of this recipe as more of a guideline when it comes to the quantities and the ingredients.  You really can mix this one up to make it what you want it to be and what you'll enjoy but with that enjoy plenty of food and not a lot of guilt.

For the Marinade:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

For the Stir Fry

• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 large carrots, peeled and julienned
• 1 large red bell pepper, julienned
• 1 large yellow pepper, julieneed
• 1 cup snow peas
• 8 oz. button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 cups frozen broccoli, defrosted
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 4 cups minute white rice

The Game Plan

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, lemon juice, honey, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and red pepper flakes.  Add in the chicken, and toss to coat.  Let marinate in the fridge while you chop your veggies.
2. When you have all your veggies ready to go, heat a large wok over high heat.  Add one tbsp of the olive oil.
3. Drain the chicken from the marinade, reserving it.  Add the chicken to the wok and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about five minutes.  Remove the chicken to a plate.
4. Add the remaining olive oil to the wok, and then add in the garlic.  Cook for a minute or until fragrant.  Add in the carrots, bell peppers, snow peas, and mushrooms.  Cook until bright in color and just crisp cooked, about three minutes.
5. Add in the broccoli and cooked chicken.  Reduce heat to low.
6. Whisk the cornstarch into the reserved marinade, and then pour into the wok.  Bring to a simmer and cook until thick, about five minutes.  Serve on top of white rice.

Study Spotlight: Influence of Body Comp and Using Cold Water Immersion

By: Joel Luedke

We have talked about cold water immersion (CWI) before and how it has been shown to be a good recovery tool in many different ways (predominantly with nervous system regulation).  The question still hasn't been answered about how long you need to stay in the cold water in order to get the recovery response.  This study starts taking a look at that question by see how different body types respond to CWI, hot water immersion (HWI) vs. control.

What They Did:

27 male participants were split into three testing groups: 1) low mass and low fat 2) high mass and low fat 3) high mass and high fat.  Each participant did a standardized cycling workout and did so until core temp reached 38.5degC.  The participants then completed 15 minutes in one of the above mentioned interventions.  Core, skin, and muscle temperature along with limb blood flow were recored at baseline, post-exercise, and every 30 min following for recovery for 240 minutes.

What They Found:

Taken right from the study itself-Main Findings: 

1. CWI caused significant reductions in core and muscle temp and limb blood flow whereas there was no significant change in HWI and CON.
2. Muscle temp remained lowest during post CWI period in individuals with high mass and low fat compared to those with high mass and high fat and those with low mass and low fat.
3. Core temp after drop and muscle temp peak drop in response to post exercise CWI were correlated with the body surface area to mass ratio and all measures of adiposity.
4. Blood flow responses were not different between body composition groups in any recovery condition.

What It All Means:

What appears to be the result of this study is that the lower your body fat they more that the cold water affects you in the given 15 minutes.  While the authors of the study did not look at what would be 'optimal' times for given body types they did show that a difference did occur when using 15 minutes.  This can help guide your practice in potentially requiring larger individuals and those with varying body compositions to stay in the CWI longer to get a more desirable effect for recovery.

This will take some experimentation on your own as the study has not been out yet (we will keep looking) but perception can be a powerful tool to utilize and could make a small difference that could be big changes down the line.

Resource: Stephens, J. Influence of body composition on physiological responses to post-exercise hydrotherapy.  Journal of Sports Sciences.

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.