The Art of Nutrition Coaching – I thought this guest post from Dr. John Berardi at PT on the Net was outstanding.  He highlights a counseling approach called Motivational Interviewing. I’m anxious to look into it myself.

Strength Exercise: DB Bulgarian Split Squat from Deficit – Since my “Strength Exercise of the Week” column has been very popular over the past few weeks, I thought I’d highlight an old one that has slipped to the archives.

6 Questions About Tempo Training – Mike Robertson published this at T-Nation recently, and it made me realize this commonly misunderstood strength and conditioning topic has never really gotten the in-depth analysis or explanation it deserves.

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The first, Shoulder Assessment, Corrective Exercise, and Programming, will be geared toward personal trainers, rehabilitation specialists, and fitness enthusiasts alike.  It will take place in Palo Alto on Friday afternoon, February 17, from 12-3pm. Here’s the agenda:

12-1PM – Inefficiency vs. Pathology
1-2PM - Training the Injured Shoulder During and Post-Rehab
2-3PM- Upper Extremity Assessment and Mobility/Activation Drills
3-3:30PM – Q&A to wrap up

The fee is $79, and registration will close on February 12.  However, it is limited to 50 spots, and because it began as a continuing education event for a personal training staff in the area, 30 of those spots are already taken – so please register ASAP if you are interested.  You can reserve your spot online HERE.

The second event, Fitness on the Field, will take place in Santa Cruz on Sunday morning, February 19, from 9am-12pm.  This clinic is geared toward players (ages 13-18) and coaches, and we’ll cover everything from baseball-specific mobility warm-ups, to sprinting progressions, to arm care, to core stability, to rotational power.  The fee is $50, and you can get more information or sign up by emailing Joey Wolfe, the event organizers, at joey@paradigmsport.com.

Hope to see you at one of these events!

Why then, do we not give the hands any love when it comes to soft tissue work?  We’ll foam roll our hip flexors, lats, and other large muscle groups (which are certainly valuable), but we’ll ignore one of the most sensory-rich parts of our body – and one that is constantly active (and overused, in some cases) throughout the day.  We grip, type, and flip people the bird – but we never really pay attention to soft tissue quality in this region…until today, that is.

If you look at the structure of the hand, you’ll see that it has a large fascial, the palmar aponeurosis (we’ll call it the palmar fascia to keep things simple).  This structure has an intimate relationship with the muscles/tendons and ligaments of the hand, and serves as a link between the forearm and fingers.

Based on the size alone, you can see that it has plantar-fascia-caliber importance even if it isn’t weight bearing.  You see, of the five muscles that attach via the common flexor tendon on the medial epicondyle at the elbow, four cross the wrist joint and palmar fascia on the way to the hand, where they work to flex and abduct or adduct the wrist, and flex the fingers.

Loads of people have tendinopathies going on up on the medial elbow (Golfer’s Elbow), but they only work on this spot (called a zone of convergence).  Meanwhile, the soft tissue quality might be just as bad further down at the wrist and hand, adding tension on an already over-burdended common flexor tendon.  Think about it this way: if you had a pulled hamstring up by your glutes, would you only work to improve tissue quality at that spot, or would you work all the way down to the posterior knee to make sure that you’d improved some of the poor tissue quality further down as well?

Below, massage therapist and Cressey Performance coach Chris Howard talks you through two different ways to work out the kinks in the palmar fascia and surrounding regions, but keep in mind that it’ll always be more effective to have a qualified manual therapist do the job – and that’s certainly someone you should see if you have any symptoms whatsoever.

We’ve found that quite a few of our pitchers comment on how the ball seems to come out of their hand easier after this work.  Usually, they’re the guys who have the most stiffness along the forearm, particularly into wrist extension and supination.

Give it a shot at your desk at work and see how it feels.

Note: Chris’ video here is a sample of what comes in his Innovative Soft Tissue Strategies contribution to Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better.

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You’d be surprised, however, at how many collegiate and professional players get genuinely worried about how they’ll be managed once they get back to school or their organizations.  In the private sector, we can individually manage guys with their unique needs in mind, but in collegiate and professional, because of the larger volume of athletes (and fewer coaches per athlete), limited training time, and additional competing demands (i.e., practicing and playing games), player development can be quickly stunted.  Believe it or not, 2012 is the first year that Major League Baseball has mandated that every minor league affiliate have a strength coach on staff; many teams didn’t have anyone (in-person, at least) watching over their highly-touted prospects during critical minor league development periods.

That said, though, there are some colleges and professional organizations who are doing a solid job of managing guys – and I wanted to use today’s post to highlight four areas in which they’re getting the job done effectively.

1. Synergy – As I outlined in Weight Training Programs: You Can’t Just Keep Adding, we have a limited recovery capacity, so if you’re going to add something to a program, you have to take something away.  Unfortunately, this “give and take” gets overlooked in some team settings.  As an example, a strength and conditioning coach, athletic trainer, and pitching coach might all prescribe different rotator cuff exercises for their players without knowing that an overlap is taking place. Or, a strength coach might prescribe a challenging lower body lift, then have a pitching coach send his players to run poles – only to have the head coach tack a very taxing practice on top of an already hefty workload.  If you’re always adding, but never taking away, it’s only a matter of time until athletes break down.  As such, communication among coaches, medical and strength and conditioning staffs, and players is absolutely essential for optimal synergy.

2. Individualization – I’m constantly amazed at how – even at the highest levels – players aren’t managed on a case-by-case basis.  That is, of course, until they get hurt and need unique rehabilitation prescriptions.  Just imagine how much less rehabilitation would be needed if players were simply managed more individually on a proactive basis so that injuries didn’t occur nearly as often.  Additionally, we’d be much more likely to see late-round draft picks and undrafted free agents become MLB superstars if they were managed differently than already-talented players who are just coddled on their way to the big leagues. I think you’d see more stories like Tim Collins’.

I also see this as a huge competitive advantage for college coaches on the recruiting side of things.  Not everyone can boast beautiful weather, an amazing baseball complex, a pristine academic reputation, and beautiful girls everywhere when recruiting prospects, but being able to guarantee an individualized approach to development goes a long way in making up the difference.

3. Specificity – You’d be amazed at how many folks in the baseball world have absolutely no knowledge of exercise physiology or the unique demands of baseball – but are still prescribing strength and conditioning programs for baseball players.  Some of what I have seen is so atrocious that the players would have been better off doing absolutely nothing.  I’ve seen programs with 10+ mile runs, kipping pull-ups to failure, 1-rep max bench presses, and high rep clean and presses.  I seriously can’t make this stuff up.

The most common justification for this type of garbage is that coaches want to build mental toughness.  Well, I’m here to tell you that there are much better ways of doing that, as your mental toughness won’t mean much when your pitchers are having surgeries or throwing 74mph and well on their way to those surgeries.

When we discuss throwing a baseball, we are talking about the single fastest motion in all of sports. General training is absolutely valuable, but if you don’t have the specific nature of that throwing motion – and the adaptations it creates – in mind when we implement that general training, you’re asking for problems.

4. Effort – The best program on the planet won’t do any good if it isn’t executed with loads of effort and attention to detail.  If you have issues like players skipping warm-ups, athletic trainers refusing to do manual therapy, and coaches showing up late to practice, whatever is written on the paper doesn’t matter at all.

At the end of the day, these four factors are just a few of many that will ultimately determine how effective a baseball strength and conditioning program is.  Unfortunately, many of these factors are outside of a player’s control, so what do you do?

Very simply, control what you can control.

Educate yourself so that you can be your own best coach.  Optimize your nutrition and get plenty of sleep. Write down what has and hasn’t worked for you so that you can refer back to it down the road and avoid making the same mistakes twice.

Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!

Sodium intake is a highly controversial topic within the fitness industry, mainstream media, and even the medical community.  Very simply, everyone wants to know: “Is salt bad for you?” Nobody seems to have a clear-cut answer.

While many are quick to demonize the tasty mineral, I’ve long wondered if the evils associated with salt are the result of poorly constructed and misinterpreted research or actual cause for concern.

In an attempt to settle the debate once and for all, I began to dig up all the research I could find pertaining to sodium intake, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and general health.

To make things as simple as possible, I’ve outlined my findings below. I think the results may surprise you!

Sodium Intake: What Does the Research Say?

First and foremost, high-blood pressure is perhaps the most prevalent risk factor associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Bearing in mind that CVD is currently the world’s leading cause of death, any information we can find to aid in reducing the risk of CVD is of the utmost importance.

Therefore, considering it is well established that diets excessively high in sodium may result in increased blood pressure (BP), it should come as no surprise that doctors and health professionals alike strongly encourage maintaining a low-sodium diet in the long-term.  Epidemiological research suggests high-salt diets may not only affect blood pressure (BP) and thereby cardiovascular disease (CVD), but could also “increase the risk of stroke, left ventricular hypertrophy and renal disease.”

Perhaps worst of all, great sodium consumption tends to cause water retention, thus giving leaner individuals a noticeably “softer” appearance. In other words, their abs won’t appear to be as cut-up.

What the hell, salt!?!?

Based on the information provided above, it would appear as though high-salt diets are the primary cause of illness, death, and guys making excuses for why they don’t look as lean as they should.

We should probably cut it out of our diet, right?

Not so fast.

While high BP is certainly a major risk factor of cardiovascular disease, recent research has clearly shown the ratio of sodium intake to potassium intake within the diet has a much greater effect on BP than sodium (or potassium) alone.

Other studies have confirmed this finding and even the USDA recommends individuals place an emphasis on increasing potassium-rich foods and/or lowering sodium intake in order to lower BP.

While excessive sodium consumption can have a negative impact on BP (thus increasing one’s risk of various diseases), simply increasing the amount of potassium consumed on a daily basis holds the same benefits as lowering salt intake.  As low-sodium diets are rather difficult to maintain in the long-term, placing an emphasis on potassium-rich foods may help individuals keep BP in check without causing undue stress notably in social situations.

In addition to the ratio of salt to potassium within the diet, other factors such as age, gender, genetics, activity level, and body fat are tremendously significant in determining ones risk of high BP, CVD, and other related illnesses. Not surprisingly, exercise and weight loss significantly reduce the risk of CVD. As such, rather than solely focus on reducing salt intake, beginning an appropriate training routine and maintaining a healthy body weight would most likely be the ideal first step in preventing CVD.

Finally, one need only look at the extremely high amounts of sodium in processed foods to understand why greater sodium consumption is associated with high BP and CVD. I’d venture to guess that those individuals who base their diets largely on processed foods are not only consuming too much salt, but are also not eating enough potassium, neglecting to exercise, failing to get an adequate amount of sleep, not maintaining an appropriate body weight, nor living a healthy lifestyle in general.

Taking the above into consideration, is it really the heavy sodium consumption causing high BP and CVD? Or, could it possibly be the overall sedentary lifestyle, overconsumption of processed foods, being overweight, etc?

I bet it’s the latter.

If otherwise healthy individuals are eating a diet largely consisting of whole/unprocessed foods, consuming adequate potassium, regularly exercising, and maintaining a healthy bodyweight, they can probably stop worrying over the minutia and feel free to add a dash, or two, of the ever-so-tasty mineral.

My General Recommendations:

Individuals should maintain a diet largely consisting of whole/unprocessed foods and make a concerted effort to acquire enough potassium on a daily basis. Examples include, but are not limited to, baked potatoes, cooked spinach, bananas, oranges, and cooked beans. For a detailed list of potassium-rich foods, click HERE. Additionally, I encourage individuals to follow an appropriate strength and conditioning program designed specifically for their individual needs.

Note: those who already have high blood pressure, first and foremost, you must consult with your primary care physician and follow his/her directions, as various anti-hypertensive medications can interact differently with food and exercise.  Plus, you want to find out why you are hypertensive in the first place in order to individualize your treatment approach.

I hope you enjoyed this article, and if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

About the Author

Jordan Syatt is a strength training and nutritional consultant out of Boston Massachusetts. He is Westside Barbell Certified, currently interning at Cressey Performance, and studies Health Behavior Science at the University of Delaware. In addition to actively competing in various Powerlifting Federations, Jordan works with a diverse population of clientele, focusing on fat loss, mass gain, and athletic performance.  Jordan is the owner and operator of www.syattfitness.com. Feel free to contact him directly at: jsyattfitness@gmail.com.

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How Much Strength Do Our Athletes Need? – I thought this was an outstanding piece from Rob Panariello at Bret Contreras’ blog.  It’s a question I’ve asked myself a lot over the past few years, and Rob does an excellent job of discussing how the answer is likely different for every athlete.

Paula Deen’s an Idiot – On the surface, this blog post from Dean Somerset seems to be a rant on this outrageous example of hypocrisy with respect to Deen’s announcement that she had Type 2 Diabetes.  While that would have been spot-on, Dean kicked it up a notch when he busted out some great statistics to show that her “it was my genetics” argument was bogus.  Wildly entertaining; well done, Dean.

What a Puppy Can Teach You About Resistance Training Progress – I came across this article while I was searching for another one in my archives. I wrote it shortly after we got our dog (who is now about 1.5 years old), but the message still resounds.

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Fortunately, though, there are exceptions to this trend; I also get some outstanding stuff sent my way, and that’s the stuff that I share in this blog for the benefit of my readers.  One such example was Metabolic Cooking from Dave Ruel.  This is a healthy cookbook that absolutely blew me (and my wife, Anna, the ultimate judge) away.  If you’re interested, you can read my review of it here.  While this blog was posted almost a year ago, I still get emails from people thanking me for recommending it.  And, Anna and I utilize these recipes all the time.

More specific to today’s post, though, is that Dave just launched a new edition of his other product, Anabolic Cooking, and it’s on sale for $40 off (more than half off) through Sunday, 1/29.

This e-book has over 200 recipes from a variety of categories: breakfast, chicken/poultry, beef/pork, seafood, salads/soups/sides, snacks/bars, and desserts.  It comes in an easy-to-navigate format, and all the recipes utilize ingredients that you can buy conveniently at any grocery store. And, of course, because it’s all about creating health food options, the nutrition information is presented for each recipe.

What excites me above all else, though, is it has a meatloaf recipe!

With Dave’s permission, I’ve reprinted the healthy meatloaf recipe below. I’ve already made it, and it’s fantastic.

Dave’s Famous Turkey Meatloaf

Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients
• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 diced onion
• 1 tsp garlic (optional)
• 1⁄3 cup dried tomatoes
• 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1 whole egg
• 1⁄2 cup parsley
• 1⁄4 cup low fat parmesan
• 1⁄4 cup skim milk
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp oregano

Directions

1. Cook the onion with olive oil separately
2. Mix everything together in a big bowl, add the cooked onions
3. Put the mix in a big baking pan
4. Bake at 375-400°F for about 30 minutes.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
393 Calories
46g Protein
14g Carbohydrate
17g Fat

For 200 healthy recipes along these lines, I’d encourage you to check out Anabolic Cooking while it’s on sale at this great price.  If you’re anything like me, you’ll use it a ton.

• February 19, 2012: Fitness on the Field Baseball Clinic – Santa Cruz, CA. Email joey@paradigmsport.com for details.
• March 30-31, 2012: International Youth Conditioning Association Summit – Louisville, KY. Click here for more information.
• April 14, 2012: NSCA Maine State Clinic – Saco, ME.  Details TBA.
• May 18-19, 2012: JP Fitness Summit – Kansas City, MO.  Click here for more information.
• June 29 – July 1, 2012: Perform Better Functional Training Summit – Chicago, IL. Click here for more information.

I hope to meet some of you there!

First, with the trailing leg positioned appropriately, it’s a static hip flexor stretch that is even more effective because the athlete is cued to activate the same-side glutes and brace the core, so you’re effectively increasing stiffness at an adjacent joint to help “solidify” the newly acquired range of motion into hip extension.  As I’ve written previously, increasing stiffness can be a good thing.

Second, the core stability benefits occur in a number of contexts.  Because the load forces the athlete to resist extension, it serves as a great anterior core stability exercise.  And, because it’s loaded asymmetrically, it serves as a great lateral and rotary core stability exercise.

Third, I like all asymmetrical-loaded upper-body strength exercises because they train thoracic mobility and dynamic stability of the scapula, which you simply don’t get on the same level with push-up variations and bilateral upper body exercises (although those categories do provide unique benefits in their own right).

Fourth, because of the thicker handle at the end of the barbell, you’re getting a different grip and forearm stimulus.

Key Coaching Cues:

1. Set up so that there is a subtle (but not aggressive) stretch on the trailing leg hip flexors.  Activate the glutes on that side as well.
2. Brace the core tightly to resist extension and rotation.
3. Press straight out, not across your body.
4. Don’t allow the elbow to “migrate” past the body too much. Instead, pre-tension the scapular stabilizers to make sure that the shoulder is not anteriorly tilted as the humerus (upper arm) extends back to neutral on the eccentric.
5. Keep the chin tucked so that the cervical spine is in neutral.
6. Load with weights smaller than 25, as the 45-pound plates tend to get in the way.

This is a great exercise for loading the upper body without really beating up on the joints.  I particularly like it with some of my throwers who have gotten stronger in the upper body, as it’s a good alternative to having baseball guys throwing really heavy dumbbells around, particularly as they are getting more aggressive with their throwing programs.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

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The 2012 Sports Rehab to Sports Performance Teleseminar Series – I’m extremely honored to be one of the interviewees featured in this free 10-week program.  The other nine are Shirley Sahrmann, Cal Dietz, Charlie Weingroff, Pavel Tsatsouline, Patrick Ward, Kyle Kiesel, Greg Rose, Mike Reinold, and Craig Liebenson.  This is an outstanding resource that I’d strongly encourage those of you in the health and human performance fields to review; it begins Tuesday night, 1/17.

Break Up Those Hips – This was an excellent article from Adam Vogel that did a thorough job of outlining some of the potential factors that can limit squat depth.

Box Squat vs. Squat-TO-Box – This was a video my business partner, Tony Gentilcore, filmed during our staff in-service last week.  He discusses a few different approaches to squatting and when to use each.

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