Saturday, May 21, 2011
"It's tight" - what does that mean anyway and what can we do about it?
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Have you ever worked out with someone - or said this yourself perhaps - "ya my hamstrings are tight" or my ITB is tight or my achilles is tight or god knows what but it's tight? Then a whole lot of warm up or stretching or foam rolling ensues? And for awhile the "it's tight" lets go a bit, but only to return before the next workout? Recognize any of this? Ok so what's that about? What does it mean when we say something is tight?
As has often been said before here at b2d, we're complex systems, so there isn't a single all powerful answer to this question of "what's tightness anyway" - but there may be an approach shot. So let's try to unpack the tightness concept a wee bit.
Tightness - this is usually experienced as a muscle that feels tight to touch. Intriguingly, we generally experience tightness not in the muscle per se, but around how that muscle acts on/crosses a joint: we note that our range of motion is compromised: the lunge is not getting deep, the heels are up for a squat, we can't touch our toes or fully flex our shoulder with a locked elbow. Whatever "it's tight"
Muscle tightness is not a bad thing. That contraction of muscle fibers lets us lift stuff up or put stuff down. And that's what that's called: contraction. Voluntarily shortening the muscle fibers.
Involuntary Contractions: There are two types of involuntary contractions that we don't generally enjoy. One is a spasm or cramp (what we've discussed over here about muscle cramps when running, and how that's not about electrolyte balance but strength). The other type is contracture - that's the involuntary contraction of a muscle too.
EMG. The technical difference between spasm and contracture is electrical activity in the muscle. In spasms, its elevated. And it's more intense. You've heard perhaps about electrical impulses - shock - stimulating intense muscle contraction such that it can break a limb? In contracture, there isn't this continual EMG elevation across the muscle - but there can be a bit of increased EMG at what are often refered to as trigger points. To be brief a contracture may occur at one spot (or several) in a muscle, where that part of the muscle just can't seem to un-contract.
Contracture - So contracture - the involuntary contraction of some fibers (not all) within a muscle is pretty much what we talk about as "tight" - perceived tightness in a muscle; restriction in range of motion across a joint.
Knotty Problem? The approach to this sensitive bundle of neurons that is contracting and holding a whole lot of a little section of muscle fiber is often to apply a roll of hard foam rubber. Why? supposedly to force the knot to cry uncle and "let go."
Now i suppose if i was tense and freaked and someone hit me with a brick bat, i'd suddenly relax too, but, i gotta aks, is that approach optimal? I mean is that the best way to help a person to relax? Or is it just radically dealing with the symptoms rather than any part of a cause?
So why the contracture? Maybe if we get at some of that, we'll have some other options to help reduce or release the contracture.
Direction of Contracture: Protect the Squishy Bits
The interesting effect of contraction here is that it seems most of the time to reduce our range of motion which reduces our perfromance, which actually reduces our risk. If we can't bend as deeply, we can't pick something up as heavy as otherwise. If we can't flex our ankles well, it's hard to go as fast to drive the sprint; if we can't lift our sturnum, and extend our thoracic spine, it's harder to press a big weight over head. More contracture means less wieght, less load, less speed, less risk to us.
Startle. This kind of performance reducing contracture is pretty similar to a reflexive response known as startle (see above). In adults, when we see/hear something that is sudden and perceived as a threat, we involuntarily move to protect our squishy bits. Threat response.
If we understand contracture as a threat response - a bit more lasting than typical startle - that suggests that there may be SOMETHING happening in our environment that our nervous system (the nerves control the muscles) perceives as Not Right with the World.
So perhaps the knott or tightness or reduced range of motion is only a symptom, so attacking the symptom is like throwing oil into the engine all the time rather than finding and fixing the leak. Both solutions work, but one is less optimal and more costly than the other.
Finding the Leak
The tricky part about a threat response - a muscle contraction to keep us under performing in the presence of threat for our own protection - is that it may not be a muscular issue. It may not be that we haven't stretched enough, aren't warmed up enough. It may be that we have the wrong glasses, or are not getting enough sleep, or have a balance issue. It may be that our feet - which have a whopping 24% of the joints in our bodies - are not moving very well so out bod feels less stable than it ought.
Movement. So finding the oil leak, finding what may be causing the contracture, may be a rich process of analysis and assessment, something that a movement specialist can help to check visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems. In the meantime, what can help usually and immediately is a bit of movement.
Ah, you say, but with contracture one's movement is restricted, yes? Yes, exactly. But, one can pick a joint and focus very deliberately on making quality movements at that joint: the ankle, a finger, the neck, a knee. Go ahead, give it a go. If you feel you have something that's "tight" try moving a not tight joint through range of motion that is as perfect and lovely as possible, and then try the movement again. Any difference?
Why does a movement work? The nervous system is about the whole body, not about a joint. It seems that feeling quality movement anywhere helps soothe the threat response for the whole system. Safer system means less need for contracture to protect system. We've seen this before in the example of the arthrokinetic reflex. Something that effects one part of the system is experienced on some level in the rest of the system; something that improves performance at one part of the system helps the rest of the system. Isn't that wild?
And yet it makes sense: everything is just signals turning on and off in the brain. Everything looks the same in the brain, so something that makes part of the body happy, it tells the brain and may just feed back to tell the rest of the body we're doing fine-r? Why not?
Alternative to the foam roller? Towards cause and away from Symptom.
So that foam roller may seem like a fast (and cheap) solution to a problem, but is it a last(ing) solution? Why not give our brains a chance to work with the rest of us? a great way to do that is with movement to get to nerves to get to the brain to get back to the body.
If you'd like to learn more about movement to help with that nasty contracture problem, there are at least three options:
Bottom Line:
Those contractures are speaking to us. They're trying to tell us something about how we're doing. We can try to silence them by knocking them out till they pass out and give out (ie, squish them into shock release with a tennis ball), or we might try to find a way to improve our performance so that the contractures don't need to warn us we're in threat.
Related Posts
, Vol 1, 2nd Ed. 
As has often been said before here at b2d, we're complex systems, so there isn't a single all powerful answer to this question of "what's tightness anyway" - but there may be an approach shot. So let's try to unpack the tightness concept a wee bit.Tightness - this is usually experienced as a muscle that feels tight to touch. Intriguingly, we generally experience tightness not in the muscle per se, but around how that muscle acts on/crosses a joint: we note that our range of motion is compromised: the lunge is not getting deep, the heels are up for a squat, we can't touch our toes or fully flex our shoulder with a locked elbow. Whatever "it's tight"
Muscle tightness is not a bad thing. That contraction of muscle fibers lets us lift stuff up or put stuff down. And that's what that's called: contraction. Voluntarily shortening the muscle fibers.
 | |||||
| pvc laced foam roller: not quite as sensitive as human touch? |
Contracture - So contracture - the involuntary contraction of some fibers (not all) within a muscle is pretty much what we talk about as "tight" - perceived tightness in a muscle; restriction in range of motion across a joint.
Knotty Problem? The approach to this sensitive bundle of neurons that is contracting and holding a whole lot of a little section of muscle fiber is often to apply a roll of hard foam rubber. Why? supposedly to force the knot to cry uncle and "let go."
 |
| Hitting one into unconsciousness with a stick; foam rolling: do you see a difference? |
So why the contracture? Maybe if we get at some of that, we'll have some other options to help reduce or release the contracture.
Direction of Contracture: Protect the Squishy Bits
The interesting effect of contraction here is that it seems most of the time to reduce our range of motion which reduces our perfromance, which actually reduces our risk. If we can't bend as deeply, we can't pick something up as heavy as otherwise. If we can't flex our ankles well, it's hard to go as fast to drive the sprint; if we can't lift our sturnum, and extend our thoracic spine, it's harder to press a big weight over head. More contracture means less wieght, less load, less speed, less risk to us.
 |
| Startle reflex in action. And perhaps beer, too. |
If we understand contracture as a threat response - a bit more lasting than typical startle - that suggests that there may be SOMETHING happening in our environment that our nervous system (the nerves control the muscles) perceives as Not Right with the World.
So perhaps the knott or tightness or reduced range of motion is only a symptom, so attacking the symptom is like throwing oil into the engine all the time rather than finding and fixing the leak. Both solutions work, but one is less optimal and more costly than the other.
Finding the Leak
Movement. So finding the oil leak, finding what may be causing the contracture, may be a rich process of analysis and assessment, something that a movement specialist can help to check visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems. In the meantime, what can help usually and immediately is a bit of movement.
Ah, you say, but with contracture one's movement is restricted, yes? Yes, exactly. But, one can pick a joint and focus very deliberately on making quality movements at that joint: the ankle, a finger, the neck, a knee. Go ahead, give it a go. If you feel you have something that's "tight" try moving a not tight joint through range of motion that is as perfect and lovely as possible, and then try the movement again. Any difference?
Why does a movement work? The nervous system is about the whole body, not about a joint. It seems that feeling quality movement anywhere helps soothe the threat response for the whole system. Safer system means less need for contracture to protect system. We've seen this before in the example of the arthrokinetic reflex. Something that effects one part of the system is experienced on some level in the rest of the system; something that improves performance at one part of the system helps the rest of the system. Isn't that wild?And yet it makes sense: everything is just signals turning on and off in the brain. Everything looks the same in the brain, so something that makes part of the body happy, it tells the brain and may just feed back to tell the rest of the body we're doing fine-r? Why not?
Alternative to the foam roller? Towards cause and away from Symptom.
So that foam roller may seem like a fast (and cheap) solution to a problem, but is it a last(ing) solution? Why not give our brains a chance to work with the rest of us? a great way to do that is with movement to get to nerves to get to the brain to get back to the body.
If you'd like to learn more about movement to help with that nasty contracture problem, there are at least three options:
- see a movement coach who's up on visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems
- develop a movement practice - i recommend starting with R-Phase (more on why and differences with other mobility approaches)
- get more into the theory and self-assessment (like fatigue testing) by working through the Essentials of Elite Performance mini course DVD - or actual event. Let them know mc recommended you.
Bottom Line:
Those contractures are speaking to us. They're trying to tell us something about how we're doing. We can try to silence them by knocking them out till they pass out and give out (ie, squish them into shock release with a tennis ball), or we might try to find a way to improve our performance so that the contractures don't need to warn us we're in threat.
Related Posts
- What is z-health anyway?
- How train for the Sprain?
- Free foot massage with vibram five fingers
, Vol 1, 2nd Ed.
PDF
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Rannoch Donald's pathless land of Resilience (including his latest tool test, the war machine)
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Rannoch Donald is an explorer and facilitator. In the UK, simplestrength's monk of the north is known for bringing to his back yard of Edinburgh the interesting edge of functional fitness culture.
When he's interested in an idea someone is exploring, whether its myofascial manipulation or bodyweight movement (or hitting people with sticks), his response is not to peek at it in isolation, but to have a workshop for interested souls to check it out.
When Steve Cotter kicked off his IKFF organization, Rannoch had him over. Mike Mahler has been up to talk about kettlebells and hormones. Frank Forencich of Exuberant Animal has visited as has Erwin Le Corre of NatMov has also been through. Alvero Romano's hung out and taught.
Rannoch's no snob of the "it's better from further away" school of thought: he's had up Jonathan Lewis up from London to do a trigger point workshop, and awhile ago, i got to make the trip to talk about tuning the perfect rep. Rannoch also offers his own kettlebell workshops and combat ready sessions. He's also the guy behind the simple if infectious 100 Reps Challenge. And anyone who's visited with him wants to come back again for more, which is a pretty good indicator of how welcome they felt and how well the events go.
The Host with the Most Cool Tuls to Share The interesting thing - least ways for me - is that being a fitness workshop czar is not RDonald's main gig. It's a passion. So who better to have a wee chat with about what the man calls truth as a pathless land?
And i confess, knowing Rannoch to be a big explorer of Cool Tools that Actually Work, i wanted to find out about his affinity with a new suspension trainer, the War Machine, as he's managed to help bring that to the UK, too.
Rannoch, what's "truth is a pathless land" that is the tag line at Simple Strength? where does that come from.
Cool recommendations. But you don't just read and absorb these sources; you put them back out there. Why are you doing Simple Strength? This is part time-ish for you - what made you decide to start getting folks in for workshops?
So let's talk about daily practice for a bit. How do you train right now, cuz i've known you to do KB's, martial arts and indian clubs and likely more.
Ya - i'm trying to get a walk through with him of the best video i've seen for having fun working out. I love this vid (pictured above).
So among all the stuff you do, where does the WM fit into your training mix?
My fave is the rope climbing simulation. With Mike Saffie's Grappler Grips. That for me is the unique total wonderful win - for someone who doesn't have room to sling a rope.
Is there anything that you find you can do with the WM that is unique to it that has become core to your work?
How will the WM be factoring into any of your workshops, Rannoch? That's a little more of an investment for workshop gear than kbs?
That's super. Thanks R. Let's wrap up on lessons to share. What's the most important thing you've taken away from your practice that you think folks should know?
Aside
Related Posts
When Steve Cotter kicked off his IKFF organization, Rannoch had him over. Mike Mahler has been up to talk about kettlebells and hormones. Frank Forencich of Exuberant Animal has visited as has Erwin Le Corre of NatMov has also been through. Alvero Romano's hung out and taught.
Rannoch's no snob of the "it's better from further away" school of thought: he's had up Jonathan Lewis up from London to do a trigger point workshop, and awhile ago, i got to make the trip to talk about tuning the perfect rep. Rannoch also offers his own kettlebell workshops and combat ready sessions. He's also the guy behind the simple if infectious 100 Reps Challenge. And anyone who's visited with him wants to come back again for more, which is a pretty good indicator of how welcome they felt and how well the events go.
The Host with the Most Cool Tuls to Share The interesting thing - least ways for me - is that being a fitness workshop czar is not RDonald's main gig. It's a passion. So who better to have a wee chat with about what the man calls truth as a pathless land?
And i confess, knowing Rannoch to be a big explorer of Cool Tools that Actually Work, i wanted to find out about his affinity with a new suspension trainer, the War Machine, as he's managed to help bring that to the UK, too.
Rannoch, what's "truth is a pathless land" that is the tag line at Simple Strength? where does that come from.
The full qoute is "I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect." It is taken from a speech made by Jiddu Krishnamurti. At a young age he was was singled out as a vehicle for some sort of "second coming". What his patrons didn't realise was he was wiser than they could have imagined. He made this speech to the gathered masses of the "Order of the Star", disbanding the organisation and in order to simply live and teach without dogma, encouraging people to find their own way. His writings are exceptional. At their core is the plea that we find our own way, create our own path. If you are a fan of Bruce Lee you will find much of Lee's philosophy comes from Krishnamurti's writings. I have seen many intelligent, articulate people lose themselves and their critical faculties to some coach, trainer, guru or teacher. At workshops I simply tell people - "This is what I do, it works for me, it might work for you. Take what is useful, discard that which is not, add what is your own" (You can credit Bruce Lee with the "Take what is useful..." part!)
Truth is a Pathless Land by J Krishnamurti, 1929. The Dissolution of the Order of the Star.
"I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect."
And while we are on the subject, I have to recommend "The End Of Faith" by Sam Harris. It is a book for our times.
What I do is all about general ability, general health, general wellbeing. We don't spend enough time working on those fundamentals.
Cool recommendations. But you don't just read and absorb these sources; you put them back out there. Why are you doing Simple Strength? This is part time-ish for you - what made you decide to start getting folks in for workshops?
Simple Strength is my home. A place where I can do what I want. A place that lets me come in, sit down and think, write, experiment and share.
As for workshops, I started as a way to share what knowledge I had and to solidify my own experience. I have gained so much from the opportunity to work with others. As Robert Heinlein said "When one teaches, two learn". In time it became clear that there was an appetite for what I do, perhaps my take on things and it grew from there. I am particularly average, I am not some high performance athlete. What I do is all about general ability, general health, general wellbeing. We don't spend enough time working on those fundamentals. But again this is one of the problems of the fitness "industry". It is too busy telling people what to do when it should be focusing on what they are capable of. And my experience is that their capabilities are far more interesting that some arbitrary set of reps and sets.Ok speaking of arbitrary sets and reps, what inspired the 100 rep challenge?
The 100 Rep challenge came about as a piece on Simple Strength. The 100 rep website grew out of that. The concept certainly isn't new. The idea is to simply practice 100 reps of some activity every day. It can be as easy or as difficult as you want it to be. The key is to do something that in some way makes up for the fact that we get so little movement in our day compared to our grandparents who walked more, ate less and who relied a lot less on the kind of convenieces we take for granted. It has not begin to reach it's potential as a vehicle for simple daily practice. I have various folk who've contributed but I can see it needs to care and attention to bring it to a wider audience. Cj Swaby is using it as part of the Pheonix Project with Janey Madden which is aimed at helping women in abusive situations. Dr G of the Bartendaz has supported it with the outreach programs he delivers to schools in New York. The idea is to promote something that is free, simple and inclusive and has it roots in movement and daily practice.
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| Rannoch inspiring 100 more reps |
Good question! My training is non-specific. I have problems with the whole “train like an athlete” mentality. If you are an athlete, great, go for it. But for most of us, general is better. Better in terms of application, better in terms of sustainability.
I really want resilience - the ability to bounce back. Bigger, faster, stronger – as you get older these are all subject to decline, any disregard of that fact it an invitation for injury and pain. On the other hand, if you can cultivate resiliency it is timeless. The next year for me will focus on building that quality in everything I do.
My practice consists of, in order of importance –
Breath work, from simple breathing to specific Qi Gong drills I learned from Steve Cotter of the IKFF and the various martial arts teachers I have been lucky enough to study under. Next comes
Mobility, breath work segues nicely into this and you can combine them easily. At workshops we teach Mandatory Mobility which I consider a daily non-negotiable practice of Toe to Head joint mobilisation.Next up is Bodyweight, really the cornerstone of physical resiliency, with a focus on basics: push ups, pull ups, dynamic whole body drills combined with the War Machine Suspension trainer and band work.
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| krav maga in edinburgh with RD |
Finally, Kettlebells and the Ultimate Sandbag feature two or three times a week. I tend to focus on snatch and clean + jerk. With the Sandbag I work complexes. I set the Gymboss timer and off I go. With kettlebells I generally work intervals, messing around with work vs rest. I am not really interested in the competition aspect but I love the lifts, the intensity and the focus. Most of all I try and move, keep a little gas in the tank and keep it playful! That is the key.
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| Keeping it Playful with the new toy, the war machine |
When did this workout part of your life kick off, Rannoch? Has it phased and cycled, or always been as regular as it is over these past few years?During the week I will take the odd short run or rollerblade to keep things loose. When the opportunity presents itself I will work the heavy bag for rounds. I also do what I call shadow play, like shadow boxing but incorporating all sorts of movement, letting the body shift effortlessly through various combinations, improvising floor work, rolling, tumbling, generally messing around!
To be clear, all of the above are done as brief, intermittent bursts of activity with widely varying degrees of intensity.
The training model for everything I do is practice, incremental progress and very occasional performance. Performance is the arena and we only go there occasionally because the price of admission is the potential for injury.
On the flip side I make recovery an equal to training. So sleep, meditation, eating cleanly and of course Mandatory Mobility all play key roles.
In the last year I’ve been inspired by Frank Forencich’s excellent “Change Your Body, Change the World” which focuses on the “infectiousness” of our lifestyles. Also Mark Lauren’s superb “You Are Your Own Gym” which is the best bodyweight training book I have come across, by far. Both authors are emblematic of their approach which is hugely important to me.
I understand you got formally certified as a kb swinger in 2007 - how'd that start - why kb's?I have always loved just moving. As a kid I wanted to be a stuntman. Once I got in to martial arts we started to incorporate that natural athleticism into everything we did. Growing up, my friend Alec and I would throw ourselves around, jump walls, kick, punch, and cartwheel. There’s really is nothing new. When I look at Parkour is see amazing skill but in essence, it’s no different from the freedom of expression all kids should have.
Over the years I have been lucky enough to train with all kinds of people and every single one of them has informed what I do in some way. The common thread is always natural movement. In the last year I have worked with and been inspired by Jonathan Lewis of Balance Performance, Erwan Le Corre creator of MovNat and Alvaro Romano of Ginastica Natural all of whom display beautiful, dynamic, natural movement. I am a big fan of Tom Myers definition of fitness as “The ability to adapt to the demands of your environment with ease and imagination”I worked in the music business for years, not the most conducive lifestyle for staying healthy. My training ebbed and flowed but I never stopped. It took a broken leg about six years ago to get me back on the track of regular training and wellness. I guess I had my moment of clarity and realised there was an opportunity to achieve and sustain a decent level of health and wellbeing.
After I broke my leg I had physiotherapy and rehab on the National Health. Nothing they did or spoke about seemed focus on anything but the bare minimum in terms of recovery. So I went back to my roots, combat style conditioning. I came across some bodyweight drills by Pavel Tsatsouline which led me to a couple of articles in Muscle Media. I loved the simplicity of it. There was an article about pull ups, push ups and pistols which showed some Kettlebell drills. I picked up a kettlestack initially and then worked my way through various kettlebells eventually going on to certify with Pavel in Denmark.
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| Rannoch with Steve |
The hard style approach made sense to me, particularly the similarities with Karate in terms of power generation. Then I met Steve Cotter of the IKFF and realised, for me, a lot of what I had been doing was really entry level stuff. I had a similar experience when I moved from Karate to Wing Chun. I realised that the real art is making the difficult appear effortless.You've also been going a little nuts on vertical standing jumps. what's that about?
That is fun! My friend, S+C coach, Joel Proskewitz (of the strength company) made the mistake of posting a 37” jump on Facebook. I went to the Gym with my son Pete who’s 16 and he proceeded to hit 40”. Andy McKenzie from IronMac joined in and the next thing we knew Andy hit 47”. Since then we’ve been pushing it trying to beat the current Guinness Book record of 50”.
As a result of all this, Joel is hosting the Podium Gold Jump Challenge at Body Power at the NEC in May. So that simple little clip morphed into a healthy competition and I am confident someone will break the record on the day. You should come up and join us.Uh huh. Ok, now let's talk a little bit about this passion for the intriguingly named War Machine? How did you first hear about it?
I came across a clip of the War Machine on line. I thought it looked like tremendous fun so I contacted Brendan Cosso from Crosscore in the USA and the moment I spoke with him I knew I had to have one. He’s a guy who trains for the sheer joy of moving and shares a very similar philosophy when it comes to training.
don't you just want one? start to play now?
Ya - i'm trying to get a walk through with him of the best video i've seen for having fun working out. I love this vid (pictured above).
So among all the stuff you do, where does the WM fit into your training mix?
The War Machine is the missing link for me. It adds a whole new challenge in terms of stability and rotation. As a bodyweight fan it is fantastic to have a piece of equipment that allows us to challenge traditional movements. It is also very scalable, allowing you to practice and progress simply by changing body position. Once you get the basics you Pull the Pin and a whole other world opens up!Pulling the pin meaning that you're letting the wheel in the pulley run free. Pin in, the cables are pretty static, a la regular suspension trainers. It is truly a different experience. Had you trained with suspension trainers before?
I have and I love them. I had a TRX which I replaced with the Jungle Gym. Both good pieces of gear. But as Andy McKenzie says “The TRX is a warm up for the War Machine”.You've been instrumental in getting the WM to the UK - there's lots of cool gear out there. Why the WM?
As you know, I like simple. The War Machine fits the brief but it is a really flexible piece of kit. The pulley system is unique in terms of the challenge it provides. You can take very capable, conditioned athletes and they will struggle with simple suspended push ups when the Pin is Pulled and the pulley is free. It encourages play, it encourages imaginative movement. You have to really engage the whole body rather than going through the motions and it’s easy to simulate the push and pull of competitive sports.I own it's taken me time to find my way into this tool. Now i'm kinda hooked. Mentally it's been challenging not to be frustrated by surprisingly how hard it can be to find the not too hard, not too easy work out. Putting in the time is worth it though. I'm very surprised by the effectiveness and transference effects from it.
My fave is the rope climbing simulation. With Mike Saffie's Grappler Grips. That for me is the unique total wonderful win - for someone who doesn't have room to sling a rope.
Is there anything that you find you can do with the WM that is unique to it that has become core to your work?
Yes i have tried wall walking in so far as doing two walls at a time (kinda splits position) - haven't had a set up to go against a wall yet ... but as that's the in thing, now, welll i'll just have to give it a go.It is an incredibly versatile piece of kit. You can attach stretch bands and use it as a pulley system. You can attach different handles or grips from gymnastic rings to Gi sleeves to Fat Gripz (another very cool piece of kit by the way). And it’s not limited to strength training, I work various drills to open my hips, shoulders and lower back. The possibilities are fantastic, have you tried wall walking on it? That is one serious challenge!
How will the WM be factoring into any of your workshops, Rannoch? That's a little more of an investment for workshop gear than kbs?
I think, within our community, people will be keen to get a taste of the War Machine. I plan to simply get folk along to try it out and make an informed decision. It not a piece of kit you will outgrow. I see it as part of the training continuum.I'm really intrigued the way you've had this immediate click with the gear. Personally it's taken patience on my part to shift from a "lift heavy thing. unk" to exploring the challenges it can open up. Way to go. Now i understand you're going to be heading to BodyPower. What is that, and how does the WM fit into that?
War Machine is making its official launch at Body Power, "the UK’s foremost Health and Fitness Expo at the NEC in Birmingham (May 21/22)." Jonathan Lewis of Balance Performance in London will be there along with Andy McKenzie of IronMac to demonstrate the War Machine and let folks get their hands on with it. Beaver Fit are supplying their Spartan Rigs for presentations in the Work Out Area and on the Main Stage where Andy will be showing everyone the unique properties of the War Machine.If folks in the UK want to get this cool tool, and pull their own pin, where do they go??
You can order it from Balance Performance in London and Beaver Fit are supplying it as part of their preferred kit for their amazing rigs.
"Resilience. Resilience - the ability to bounce back- that is the key. Everything else is subject to entropy."
That's super. Thanks R. Let's wrap up on lessons to share. What's the most important thing you've taken away from your practice that you think folks should know?
Resilience. Resilience - the ability to bounce back- that is the key. Everything else is subject to entropy. We may aspire to be bigger, faster, stronger. But somewhere along the way we will become smaller, slower, weaker. Resilience is available for the duration of the journey. The ability to bounce back in the face of obstacles, injury, change and uncertainty. It breeds humour, generosity, gratitide and buckets of strength. It is the most important thing we can develop, mentally, physically, emotionally. And if in doubt...MOVE.Thanks kiddo. Awesome. Best with Body Power and your zen time at the Simple Strength Shack.
Rannoch with indian clubs and Kali sticks, moving
Aside
Why WM at b2d. I don't promote stuff on b2d unless i've worked with it for awhile and have confidence in it. i'm at that place with cross core's war machine (as with kettlebells and bands and pull ups). So i'll have more on the WM on b2d in coming posts. Just for context, i first interviewed the WM's creator and company president (Brendan Cosso and JP Brice) in the summer of 2010 after seeing Rannoch post about it on facebook; i've been playing and working with the tool since then so feel comfy now bringing out those interviews and posts. It's been a revelation to me; hope it will be fun for you, too.
In the meantime,
If you're in the UK and interested in the War Machine, please contact Rannoch or Jonathan via their european site
If you're in the US, you can contact CrossCore directly at the WM site - and please check out the vids.
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Monday, April 25, 2011
Sprint Technique as Slow (or Fast) Active Recovery within a Run
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So i was out for a longer run yesterday, it being Sunday and all, and some new shoes to test out (the ls version of the bikila - in a word, love any bikila any time; best runners ever) and at various points i was sucking a bit of air.
As i've written about before, i like to gait my regular run tempo for the most part by being able to breath in and o ut through my nose for the most part or in through nose, out by mouth if not. But what happens when hitting an "i'm breathing through my mouth" patch - and the only choice is seemingly to slow it down? How about change it up, instead?
What i did was work on sprint technique during a few of these jags: i don't mean SPRINTing; i mean sprint technique: getting the knees way up and heels in right under the butt, dorsiflexed way up, nice round turn over with some A/B/C march/skip work.
That technique work is slower than my current (pretty slow already) pace, but it's a different set of muscles getting moved in different ways, and you try knees way up for 50m and see how you feel. The benefit i found was that i could keep moving, practice form, and recover. Which for me means getting my breathing back under control.
At another point, when i started breathing harder, i started running harder putting that form practice to the test. After all, wanted to do something to warrant that extra 02. I'm not sucking wind; i'm sprinting - i have a right to breath hard.
If i'd done this kind of switch around in the weight room, we would be talking about Active Recovery - where the benefit of the exercise is increased if - when not doing maximal work - one does another movement rather than nothing at all.
So that's a double kind of tempo shift in one long run - both for the sake of recovery from fatigue while getting some quality work thrown in: technique on the one hand and energy system work on the other.
When i was running cross country in uni, we'd go for fartlek runs, but the "ok run hard between these two points, then do recovery" or "run an 800 fast then do two 800s for recovery" always felt like work, and very arbitrary. I'm sure it's a great idea; lots of great results from switching stuff up. HIIT intervals on a specific schedule for instance also show results.
But heck, i was just going for a quality long run on a sunday. I felt happier and more successful in terms of finding these possibilities within a run - again, gaited around breathing quality - that i can only say, as with so much else in health and fitness practice - i'd had such insights (or the coaches had) when i was doing this "seriously."
If you'd like to check out more drills, check out the Complete Athlete DVD, vo1 1 (review here)
In the meanwhile, if you give this kind of breathing-oriented tempo/technique shift up / shift down a go during a run, let me know, please what you think/find.
best
mc
Related:
 |
| Vibram Fivefingers Bikila LS - happy feet. |
As i've written about before, i like to gait my regular run tempo for the most part by being able to breath in and o ut through my nose for the most part or in through nose, out by mouth if not. But what happens when hitting an "i'm breathing through my mouth" patch - and the only choice is seemingly to slow it down? How about change it up, instead?
What i did was work on sprint technique during a few of these jags: i don't mean SPRINTing; i mean sprint technique: getting the knees way up and heels in right under the butt, dorsiflexed way up, nice round turn over with some A/B/C march/skip work.
Nice wee sample of A, B and C skips for sprint practice.
That technique work is slower than my current (pretty slow already) pace, but it's a different set of muscles getting moved in different ways, and you try knees way up for 50m and see how you feel. The benefit i found was that i could keep moving, practice form, and recover. Which for me means getting my breathing back under control.
At another point, when i started breathing harder, i started running harder putting that form practice to the test. After all, wanted to do something to warrant that extra 02. I'm not sucking wind; i'm sprinting - i have a right to breath hard.
If i'd done this kind of switch around in the weight room, we would be talking about Active Recovery - where the benefit of the exercise is increased if - when not doing maximal work - one does another movement rather than nothing at all.
So that's a double kind of tempo shift in one long run - both for the sake of recovery from fatigue while getting some quality work thrown in: technique on the one hand and energy system work on the other.
When i was running cross country in uni, we'd go for fartlek runs, but the "ok run hard between these two points, then do recovery" or "run an 800 fast then do two 800s for recovery" always felt like work, and very arbitrary. I'm sure it's a great idea; lots of great results from switching stuff up. HIIT intervals on a specific schedule for instance also show results.
But heck, i was just going for a quality long run on a sunday. I felt happier and more successful in terms of finding these possibilities within a run - again, gaited around breathing quality - that i can only say, as with so much else in health and fitness practice - i'd had such insights (or the coaches had) when i was doing this "seriously."
In the meanwhile, if you give this kind of breathing-oriented tempo/technique shift up / shift down a go during a run, let me know, please what you think/find.
best
mc
Related:
- Vibram Five Fingers Article Index
- S-phase - sports training - the complete athlete DVD review
- Should i do this next set - fatigue testing.
- muscle cramps in calves - dealing with it - esp with vff's
- dealing with side stitches.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Resources for Stickiness: Packaging Ideas for Success
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How do we present ideas to help other people hear them? That's a challenge, and not just for folks whose day job is teaching. Fortunately there have been a couple nifty books in this zone, that if you're interested in creating a message that not only will be heard, but might inspire change, these are for you and me.
Sticky Substances in Stories
The first book is "made to stick
" (amazon uk || amazon us) by Dan and Chip Heath
This text goes WAY into detail about how different ways of presenting information work, and why the hooks in those presentations work. These researchers really want to get at the simple but intriguing question "what sticks?"
They look at the question from a variety of angles - why are urban legends so sticky, for instance? What are the properties of the story of the guy in the bar who gets asked to a girl's room for a drink, wakes up in a tub filled with ice with tubes coming out of his back and a cell phone beside him telling him to call 911 because of what's happened to him while he was unconscious (do you know the rest of the story?).
Components of the Stick. From this page turning beginning, the authors check out stickiness from a variety of angles:
what is the power of simplicity to stickiness? the unexpected? the concrete? what about credibility and emotion? and especially, stories?
Indeed, a key focus in each section is that most of the layers of stickiness are delivered via some kind of narrative. What kind of narrative is most sticky? And so we discover how each of these attributes previously explored comes into play for an excellent sticky story.
The discussion of the successful strategy to reduce littering in texas alone is worth the price of admission. It stresses that especially when going for behaviour change, the goal of many trainers, is the importance of connecting with the values of the culture involved is key, as per the Don't Mess with Texas campaign that's been running for 20 years now.
Cultural Values to Motivation to Simple Behaviours I can testify to this cultural values aproach for motivation: i have myself been struggling to find a way to motivate the 20something researchers i work with to give various health ideas a go. Fun last summer at the end of a work day was an initial motivator to go out and play frisbee. The winter rains of the UK were not so kind to encouraging this activity. So what could be done indoors to convey the value of movement?
Finally got the first inkling of a hook for this group since there's little perceived need to work out: we're too robust at this age to feel driven by health. The clue is a kind of competition that professional research geeks have. There are only so many opportunities in my field to get a paper accepted in one's area in a year. And papers in the right place are part of one's CV. Without them, jobs in the same field are much harder to come by. So every opportunity is precious. If one wants to be as sharp as possible and be able to endure the rigours of the run up to submission without crash and burning, one needs a base. Being faster of thought, as well as being able to push back on fatigue to work longer/harder were motivators to bring folks out to give a few ideas in movement and visual/vestibular skills work a go. Some of these approaches are overviewed in this "commercial" for the approach, in the vid below:
The book Made to Stick offers some tasty insights into how to tune content for such effectiveness.
The title Made to Stick, the authors say, is inspired by the concept of "stickiness" proposed in 
(Canadian) Malcolm Gladwell's "Tipping Point"(amazon uk || amazon us). Another recommended book/audio book.
Tipping Point to go Epidemic
Gladwell's book looks more at what the factors are in having something catch fire - to move from, in market speak, a vertical to a horizontal. Gladwell's term is more amazing: he talks about something picking up the characteristics of an epidemic - whether that's the sudden popularity of a type of footwear or the popularity of a restaurant.
People Power
Intriguingly, the roles of various types of people are shown to be really key in things going epidemic.
One type is the person who knows everybody, has many secondary connections, and can reach out effectively to everyone and are themselves great socializers. I was at a talk the other day by Nicole Ellison about social networks online, and this factor was described as "social capital" - so these folks have high social capital and can make it work.
Another type is the maven - someone who is passionate to share their knowledge about something - whether it's how to get a great deal on a tv or how get a great rate at a hotel or how to fix something - they just love to share the info.These folks inspire uptake of a practice or product because they KNOW the space so well and their passion conveys their knowledge.
Little Things Count. Then there are types of people that connect knowledge with action. Gladwell presents the example of crime in NY in the 80/90s and how the theory of broken windows is actioned by the person tasked to make New York subways safe again. Essentially, the theory goes, a small ugliness sets up a signal of tacit approval to create a bigger ugliness: an unrepaired broken window sets up a climate for more decay or destruction to follow. Nip the little things in the bud right away, the signals don't get sent that it's ok to vandalize/ruin an environment.
The kind of person involved here is one who was intrigued enough to look at transferring this hypothesis from one domain - neighborhoods - to another: the New York subway system. At the time this was apparently seen as what was an ass backwards approach to dealing with "real crime" and missing the big picture. Intriguingly, sometimes the big picture it seems can be addressed from the bottom up; focusing on the little things.
Some of the methods described in these parts of the book left me cold - rounding up homeless squeegee guys may address the irritant of squeegee guys, but does it do anything to address the issues that create homeless squeegee guys in the first place?
That question aside, Gladwell looks progressively at the strategies that lead things from products to practices to reach epidemic proportion.
One other discussion Gladwell has - related to the Cultural Value connection in Made to Stick - is his discussion of using the best knowledge we have at the time, and testing and reassessing our understanding of the group we want to reach. He uses two examples: one revolutionary and the other evolutionary. He discusses the advent of sesame street, and generations later, the development of Blue's Clues.
The Best of What we Know NOW
With Sesame Street, he notes that a kids psychologist took the best understanding of how kids learn and, violating current wisdom, believed that television could be an effective medium for pre-schooler education. The key element for me of this story is the constant test and reassess the producers of the show carry out (still) with each show to make SURE there's a strong interaction between the show and the kids. Because the show tuned its delivery to map the attentional practices of kids as best as they were understood, the show became sticky, successful.
The next lesson of this piece, however, is it seems, never stop learning. The show Blue's Clues is very different in pace and focus that Sesame Street, but is largely developed from the same methodology that lead to Sesame Street's development. The differences in the show benefit from new knowledge based on years since Sesame Street of working with how pre-schoolers learn. By the same measures that Sesame Street uses to test its shows, Blues Clues does better with its target audience: it has a higher stickiness with the kids watching - their attention wander less. We're talking small but meaningful differences: 90% attention rather than 80%, but that's still something.
Evolving the Even More Sticky: The take away for me from this section is never assume we can't get better at what we do, and that better might look very different than what we're doing right now.
Simple, Fast, Testable Success. One more lesson from Tipping Point, similar to Made to Stick: make it dead simple for people to act. The lesson of how to get folks to mail in coupons or get an important health test is amazing. Like all elegant solutions, these seem obvious in hind sight.The mental exercise however of trying to come to that solution in the first place is well worth exploring.
Take Aways
best
mc
Related Stories
Sticky Substances in Stories
The first book is "made to stick
" (amazon uk || amazon us) by Dan and Chip HeathThis text goes WAY into detail about how different ways of presenting information work, and why the hooks in those presentations work. These researchers really want to get at the simple but intriguing question "what sticks?"
They look at the question from a variety of angles - why are urban legends so sticky, for instance? What are the properties of the story of the guy in the bar who gets asked to a girl's room for a drink, wakes up in a tub filled with ice with tubes coming out of his back and a cell phone beside him telling him to call 911 because of what's happened to him while he was unconscious (do you know the rest of the story?).
Components of the Stick. From this page turning beginning, the authors check out stickiness from a variety of angles:
 |
| don't mess with texas |
Indeed, a key focus in each section is that most of the layers of stickiness are delivered via some kind of narrative. What kind of narrative is most sticky? And so we discover how each of these attributes previously explored comes into play for an excellent sticky story.
The discussion of the successful strategy to reduce littering in texas alone is worth the price of admission. It stresses that especially when going for behaviour change, the goal of many trainers, is the importance of connecting with the values of the culture involved is key, as per the Don't Mess with Texas campaign that's been running for 20 years now.
the original Don't Mess with Texas ad that the Heath Bros discuss
Cultural Values to Motivation to Simple Behaviours I can testify to this cultural values aproach for motivation: i have myself been struggling to find a way to motivate the 20something researchers i work with to give various health ideas a go. Fun last summer at the end of a work day was an initial motivator to go out and play frisbee. The winter rains of the UK were not so kind to encouraging this activity. So what could be done indoors to convey the value of movement?
Finally got the first inkling of a hook for this group since there's little perceived need to work out: we're too robust at this age to feel driven by health. The clue is a kind of competition that professional research geeks have. There are only so many opportunities in my field to get a paper accepted in one's area in a year. And papers in the right place are part of one's CV. Without them, jobs in the same field are much harder to come by. So every opportunity is precious. If one wants to be as sharp as possible and be able to endure the rigours of the run up to submission without crash and burning, one needs a base. Being faster of thought, as well as being able to push back on fatigue to work longer/harder were motivators to bring folks out to give a few ideas in movement and visual/vestibular skills work a go. Some of these approaches are overviewed in this "commercial" for the approach, in the vid below:
After getting the motivation right (one's paper has to be better, sharper than the competition's), it's having the tools packaged in a simple way that is acceptable to that crowd. With the Don't Mess with Texas campaign, it's put the trash in the can. Simple. For the research geek of academia, it has been short, fast, doable drills as close to one's work area as possible and where performance improvements are perceivable immediately.Cultural Values Connection, take one: improved visual, vestibular, proprioceptive and cognitive performance with s-phase combo drills for geeks(from z-health s-phase/essentials) to get to the photocopier faster (transfer effect - to printer).
If one's looking to develop motivation for behaviour change, cluing into the cultural context seems an effective first step to get to the big second step: actions that are doable.
The book Made to Stick offers some tasty insights into how to tune content for such effectiveness.
The title Made to Stick, the authors say, is inspired by the concept of "stickiness" proposed in (Canadian) Malcolm Gladwell's "Tipping Point"(amazon uk || amazon us). Another recommended book/audio book. Tipping Point to go Epidemic
Gladwell's book looks more at what the factors are in having something catch fire - to move from, in market speak, a vertical to a horizontal. Gladwell's term is more amazing: he talks about something picking up the characteristics of an epidemic - whether that's the sudden popularity of a type of footwear or the popularity of a restaurant.
People Power
Intriguingly, the roles of various types of people are shown to be really key in things going epidemic.
One type is the person who knows everybody, has many secondary connections, and can reach out effectively to everyone and are themselves great socializers. I was at a talk the other day by Nicole Ellison about social networks online, and this factor was described as "social capital" - so these folks have high social capital and can make it work.
Another type is the maven - someone who is passionate to share their knowledge about something - whether it's how to get a great deal on a tv or how get a great rate at a hotel or how to fix something - they just love to share the info.These folks inspire uptake of a practice or product because they KNOW the space so well and their passion conveys their knowledge.
Little Things Count. Then there are types of people that connect knowledge with action. Gladwell presents the example of crime in NY in the 80/90s and how the theory of broken windows is actioned by the person tasked to make New York subways safe again. Essentially, the theory goes, a small ugliness sets up a signal of tacit approval to create a bigger ugliness: an unrepaired broken window sets up a climate for more decay or destruction to follow. Nip the little things in the bud right away, the signals don't get sent that it's ok to vandalize/ruin an environment.
The kind of person involved here is one who was intrigued enough to look at transferring this hypothesis from one domain - neighborhoods - to another: the New York subway system. At the time this was apparently seen as what was an ass backwards approach to dealing with "real crime" and missing the big picture. Intriguingly, sometimes the big picture it seems can be addressed from the bottom up; focusing on the little things.
Some of the methods described in these parts of the book left me cold - rounding up homeless squeegee guys may address the irritant of squeegee guys, but does it do anything to address the issues that create homeless squeegee guys in the first place?
That question aside, Gladwell looks progressively at the strategies that lead things from products to practices to reach epidemic proportion.
One other discussion Gladwell has - related to the Cultural Value connection in Made to Stick - is his discussion of using the best knowledge we have at the time, and testing and reassessing our understanding of the group we want to reach. He uses two examples: one revolutionary and the other evolutionary. He discusses the advent of sesame street, and generations later, the development of Blue's Clues.
The Best of What we Know NOW
With Sesame Street, he notes that a kids psychologist took the best understanding of how kids learn and, violating current wisdom, believed that television could be an effective medium for pre-schooler education. The key element for me of this story is the constant test and reassess the producers of the show carry out (still) with each show to make SURE there's a strong interaction between the show and the kids. Because the show tuned its delivery to map the attentional practices of kids as best as they were understood, the show became sticky, successful.
Evolving the Even More Sticky: The take away for me from this section is never assume we can't get better at what we do, and that better might look very different than what we're doing right now.
From above vid: Example Drills combining speed movement and vision
work for fast testable cognitive performance improvements
- simple, repeatable, in one's own culture / context - stickier?
Simple, Fast, Testable Success. One more lesson from Tipping Point, similar to Made to Stick: make it dead simple for people to act. The lesson of how to get folks to mail in coupons or get an important health test is amazing. Like all elegant solutions, these seem obvious in hind sight.The mental exercise however of trying to come to that solution in the first place is well worth exploring.
Take Aways
- From Made to Stick we get that a sticky message is in large part a good story. The qualities of a sticky story all seem to share these key elements: the unexpected, the concrete, simplicity, credibility, emotion?
- Connecting with cultural values to motivate behaviour change in a story seems a big personal take away.
- Getting a message to move, to be taken up such that it turns epidemic, we learn from Tipping Point, is often down to types of people, both as message movers and as innovators willing to break with at the time's received wisdom
- Test and re-assess all the time: is it working NOW? Developing methods for instant feedback about uptake of a message seem potent ways to assess effectiveness rather than wait and see.
- Imagine the even-stickier: staying fresh with best knowledge about a subject of stickiness, and testing and retuning that knowledge can lead to an even stickier solution.
best
mc
Related Stories
- Overview of S-Phase: The Complete Athlete, Vol. 1 DVD
- Should i do this next set? Fatigue Testing - (with discussion of essentials for elite performance mini course)
- The other side of the weight room: visual, vestibular and proprioceptive performance
- What's a movement assessment and why have one?
- WHy not look for more time to move rather than less?
- Do we enjoy all our workouts? Why not?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Shoulder ReHab pt 3: Only Skin (or Fascia) Deep? Yes, It's a money move
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Tweet
Last week, in part 2 of the right shoulder rehab story, we looked at how a nerve running past the liver and into the diaphram might be adding to shoulder noise. That was - for me - a very new idea in looking at right shoulder rehab. This week, we're back stepping from the edge of the new to some of the lessons learned in my left shoulder revelation might apply on the right and accelerate right side recuperation. In particular, we're focusing on the Skin and Fascia - and their movement.
One of the key things i learned in that dramatic (to me) treatment session on the left shoulder was an object lesson in the site of pain is not the source of pain. Frickin Doh!. Muscularly, this meant that while i was having a big biceps tendon issue, the thing firing up the biceps was around the extensors and brachioradialis. We'll look more at muscle investigation and muscle work, next time.
But a related lesson to this muscle work was skin and fascia work: that sometimes if we don't assess and work with the skin and fascia - while doing all the other good movement stuff - we miss an opportunity to accelerate a path to performance increase (pain decrease).
Only Skin Deep - or a little deeper.
So, today, looking at lessons from the left shoulder and my actions from that on the right shoulder, lets consider the stuff above the muscle that connects the muscle, guts, bones, etc. In other words, let's look at the both the skin and under skin, the fascia.
Sometimes working these layers can be an incredible way in to performance improvement, as i learned with my left shoulder and have seen again with my right.
A little about Skin. Skin is called the biggest single organ of the body. Like the heart is an organ, the skin is an organ. It's also the biggest component of an entire system in the body, the integumentary system (one of 11 systems we run). On the organ side (like the heart that pumps blood or lungs to refresh our air supply) the skin is far more than a single function organ. It is deeply involved with managing homeostasis: it contributes to regulating system temperature, and also protecting us from abrupt temp changes; it is a barrier to infection; it is a waterproof casing; it is a protective wrapper to more delicate tissue beneath it. The skin is where the action is for getting vitamin D out of the sun.
On top of these roles, the "cutaneous distribution" of nerves means that we feel things through the skin that affect our position in space, and how we respond to our space. We feel heat, cold, pressure, and so on at the skin layer. Many nerves that have motor functions also have sensory functions - and a cutaneous distribution - so sometimes just working at the skin level of a muscle's nerves or related nerves can have a powerful effect. How deep is the skin? How hard can you press without your cuticles going white? That's all skin stuff.
How the skin feels is important. Signals go in; signals go out. There are directions to skin movement that tell us a lot about its healthy or not movement, too.
A little about Fascia. Beneath the skin layers are fascial layers. The role of the fascia is a new country for discovery. Many folks are coming to the fascia via the book Myer's Anatomy Trains. Myer's work seems highly influenced by much earlier German work by Hoepke in 1936, Das Muskelspiel des Menschen - showing that the under wrapping of the body the layers that connect muscles and groups of muscles to each other along with other tissue, organs, bones, is a neurologically active wrapping. That means it's responsive. Nerves innervate tissue for a purpose; nerves run into the fascia. What's happening?
Some very interesting contemporary work at Ulm University in Germany at the Fascia Research Project is focusing on the active contractility of the fascia. Muscles contract. These researchers, in particular Robert Schleip, are looking at how fascia has active properties to act *actively* in a muscle-like way (their pdf describing this model of fascia).
Indeed, part of anatomy trains is that the fascia is plastic: it can get wound (as in fascia-as-sheet(s), hence fascial winding) in a direction that has effects along the line of its connection through the body, pulling the rest of the body along to comply with this dissonant shape. Thus, the fascia must be likewise be unwound (often manually is the suggestion) to get back to an appropriate form to enable appropriate mechanical function.
That view kinda presents the fascia as more like playdough: the fascia takes the shape of the stresses upon it and holds that shape.
The Fascia Research Group suggest that fascia is more (re)active in its responsiveness to movement. Likewise they suggest that there is a nociceptive function to fascia - that when it is damaged, it may connect to musculoskeletal pain (pdf review).
If fascia is actively engaged in our bodies' structural integrity and it's responding actively to movement issues, and if there is this direct component around nociception, then perhaps working actively with the fascial layer in movement for improving performance is a good idea.
Skin and Fasica - so what? Well, it's part of a path. How many folks when they go see a physio or chiro have that specialist check the movement of the skin or fascia layer around the nerves of a given muscle firing up a pain cry? Or, even if there's no pain, but say one's shoulder press is seemingly stuck, think to check skin/fascial barriers to multi-directional movement?
Turns out that often a little bit of checking of skin/fascia restrictions can yield a whole lot of improvement in range of motion, performance, decrease in pain. It's worth knowing if your coach or carer or therapist works with skin/fascia in a pain free way.
No Pain, No Pain. Why do i say pain free? After all, some folks LOVE a massage that just reefs into the deep tissue (i.e. muscle) and just makes one grit one's teeth until the muscle or whatever just lets go. Like pounding one's head against a wall, it feels so good when it stops. Well, yes, that's 
one way to freak out the nervous system. But pain - and that's what that kind of presure can be - causes startle. Startle's a threat response; it's a shut down/protective response. And who or what performs better under threat, while freaking out?
It seems there are alternative ways to work with skin and fascia that achieve the same ends - even actively to get good motor learning - that do not induce more startle, more threat.
If you're curious about why such pain free tissue work is "just as good as" the stuff that makes one weep, i'd recommend Eyal Lederman's Sciene and Practice of Manual Therapy
. It has a lovely discussion of how tissue moves, and how working with that - actively and necessarily without pain - creates positive performance benefits.
A part of such an active (vs manual) approach to engage with the skin or fascia - once a direction of effective action has been detected - a next step may simply be to bring active awareness to that part of the body.
Enter Kinesio Tape.
There is a well known process in physical therapy that talks about this kind of skin based stimulation - just rubbing gently on an area to bring awareness to that area. Sometimes that's all one needs to help sort out a movement issue. It's a powerful tool for helping address muscular amnesia, for instance - where a muscle just doesn't fire when it should - the body has developed what's become known as sensory motor amnesia, as Thoman Hanna puts it.
Sometimes one needs simply to bring a little awareness to an area to get it to turn on again. With my left shoulder, working with skin and fascial movement assessments showed that there was relief and improved range of motion with just a little bit of a shift in an area of fascial action. How was this tested? Gosh - gently holding the fascial layer in that direction while moving: is range of motion improved? Pain go down? Great, let's bring some awareness to that area.
With my right shoulder, knowing from various Z-Health courses like 9S: Strength and Suppleness and from T-Phase a bit about skin stim, muscle activation and various neural connections, and remembering my own left side rehab, i started exploring myself if there were directions in moving or stimulating either fascia or just skin in my shoulder or arm or neck area (going with all the nerve pathways that can affect the shoulder) that allowed greater range of motion/less pain. Yes. There were. Quite a few.
And so also using some knowledge of the application of kinesio tape
- an amazing stuff that supposedly works with the skin/fascia to support movement (what they call lifting) in a given direction - i applied a wee bit of it to an area with appropriate directional testing, and then immeidately retested my arm. Improvement. I'll take it.
I've made the soggy error of laying down a bit of tape after testing direction only to have missed the spot. This stuff does not like being relaid. So ya grit your teeth and chuck that expensive bit of therapy assist and try again. Measure twice as they say. It's this retesting immeidately that is SO important.
Over the next couple days i had a wee pattern of tape - about three pieces - deployed with this test/retest approach to see what was working to support improved movement/performance. The tape stayed on for three to five days, and seemed to help deliver what was on the tin.
Active Skin Stim? The kinesio tape - it seems - whether it's designed to work this way or not - seems to have the effect of bringing a low level but constant awareness to an area where skin level direction of movement has an effect. It seems to offer a way to get reps in - to help the skin and perhaps underlying fascia move in a more optimal direction - or perhaps being taped towards a given direction that tests well is just opening up better neural awareness so that Good Things Happen.
Take Aways: Respect the Fascia
For me, working with just the fascial/skin layers was not the total killer ap for my left shoulder or my right, but it was a HUGE contributor in opening up performance by especially opening up the range of pain free movement in my shoulder. Checking out how your coach/trainer/therapist works with skin/fascia as part of their (active) rehab work is a Good Idea. If they don't include such consideration, maybe you want to find someone who does - pain free.
It's remarkable to me that sometimes such a gentle stimulation can have such a potent and immediate effect.
My caveat in this space is as always: test and reassess immediately. Knowing how to apply this stuff is as nothing to knowing how to test *immediately* whether the application has had a positive effect.
Next time, promise: exploring end range of motion work with bands for super potent rehab and performance restoration like you would not believe.
Other Posts in this series:
Related posts:
Related Resources
- here are some awesome cadaver dissection images of the muscles of the shoulder Tweet Follow @begin2dig
 |
| Superficial dissection showing fiberous fascial layer of shouler, head, neck. |
But a related lesson to this muscle work was skin and fascia work: that sometimes if we don't assess and work with the skin and fascia - while doing all the other good movement stuff - we miss an opportunity to accelerate a path to performance increase (pain decrease).
Only Skin Deep - or a little deeper.
So, today, looking at lessons from the left shoulder and my actions from that on the right shoulder, lets consider the stuff above the muscle that connects the muscle, guts, bones, etc. In other words, let's look at the both the skin and under skin, the fascia.
Sometimes working these layers can be an incredible way in to performance improvement, as i learned with my left shoulder and have seen again with my right.
Aside: i KNOW this stuff - about skin and fascia work as part and parcel of muscle/joint/visual/vestibular work - what i'm describing below is the kind of work i do regularly with clients. Somehow, sometimes, when we're looking at ourselves we forget our own deliberate practice. Pain, i think, makes us stupid. So i offer the following thoughts for all of us coping with our own pain who mayn't be thinking straight about it.
A little about Skin. Skin is called the biggest single organ of the body. Like the heart is an organ, the skin is an organ. It's also the biggest component of an entire system in the body, the integumentary system (one of 11 systems we run). On the organ side (like the heart that pumps blood or lungs to refresh our air supply) the skin is far more than a single function organ. It is deeply involved with managing homeostasis: it contributes to regulating system temperature, and also protecting us from abrupt temp changes; it is a barrier to infection; it is a waterproof casing; it is a protective wrapper to more delicate tissue beneath it. The skin is where the action is for getting vitamin D out of the sun.
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| skin deep: it's actually pretty deep. |
On top of these roles, the "cutaneous distribution" of nerves means that we feel things through the skin that affect our position in space, and how we respond to our space. We feel heat, cold, pressure, and so on at the skin layer. Many nerves that have motor functions also have sensory functions - and a cutaneous distribution - so sometimes just working at the skin level of a muscle's nerves or related nerves can have a powerful effect. How deep is the skin? How hard can you press without your cuticles going white? That's all skin stuff.
How the skin feels is important. Signals go in; signals go out. There are directions to skin movement that tell us a lot about its healthy or not movement, too.
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Myers's anatomy trains isa popular intro to fascial layers, connections and movements |
Some very interesting contemporary work at Ulm University in Germany at the Fascia Research Project is focusing on the active contractility of the fascia. Muscles contract. These researchers, in particular Robert Schleip, are looking at how fascia has active properties to act *actively* in a muscle-like way (their pdf describing this model of fascia).
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| Fascia Between Muscle Fibers |
That view kinda presents the fascia as more like playdough: the fascia takes the shape of the stresses upon it and holds that shape.
The Fascia Research Group suggest that fascia is more (re)active in its responsiveness to movement. Likewise they suggest that there is a nociceptive function to fascia - that when it is damaged, it may connect to musculoskeletal pain (pdf review).
If fascia is actively engaged in our bodies' structural integrity and it's responding actively to movement issues, and if there is this direct component around nociception, then perhaps working actively with the fascial layer in movement for improving performance is a good idea.
Skin and Fasica - so what? Well, it's part of a path. How many folks when they go see a physio or chiro have that specialist check the movement of the skin or fascia layer around the nerves of a given muscle firing up a pain cry? Or, even if there's no pain, but say one's shoulder press is seemingly stuck, think to check skin/fascial barriers to multi-directional movement?
Turns out that often a little bit of checking of skin/fascia restrictions can yield a whole lot of improvement in range of motion, performance, decrease in pain. It's worth knowing if your coach or carer or therapist works with skin/fascia in a pain free way.
No Pain, No Pain. Why do i say pain free? After all, some folks LOVE a massage that just reefs into the deep tissue (i.e. muscle) and just makes one grit one's teeth until the muscle or whatever just lets go. Like pounding one's head against a wall, it feels so good when it stops. Well, yes, that's one way to freak out the nervous system. But pain - and that's what that kind of presure can be - causes startle. Startle's a threat response; it's a shut down/protective response. And who or what performs better under threat, while freaking out?It seems there are alternative ways to work with skin and fascia that achieve the same ends - even actively to get good motor learning - that do not induce more startle, more threat.
If you're curious about why such pain free tissue work is "just as good as" the stuff that makes one weep, i'd recommend Eyal Lederman's Sciene and Practice of Manual Therapy
. It has a lovely discussion of how tissue moves, and how working with that - actively and necessarily without pain - creates positive performance benefits. A part of such an active (vs manual) approach to engage with the skin or fascia - once a direction of effective action has been detected - a next step may simply be to bring active awareness to that part of the body.
Enter Kinesio Tape.
There is a well known process in physical therapy that talks about this kind of skin based stimulation - just rubbing gently on an area to bring awareness to that area. Sometimes that's all one needs to help sort out a movement issue. It's a powerful tool for helping address muscular amnesia, for instance - where a muscle just doesn't fire when it should - the body has developed what's become known as sensory motor amnesia, as Thoman Hanna puts it.
Sometimes one needs simply to bring a little awareness to an area to get it to turn on again. With my left shoulder, working with skin and fascial movement assessments showed that there was relief and improved range of motion with just a little bit of a shift in an area of fascial action. How was this tested? Gosh - gently holding the fascial layer in that direction while moving: is range of motion improved? Pain go down? Great, let's bring some awareness to that area.
With my right shoulder, knowing from various Z-Health courses like 9S: Strength and Suppleness and from T-Phase a bit about skin stim, muscle activation and various neural connections, and remembering my own left side rehab, i started exploring myself if there were directions in moving or stimulating either fascia or just skin in my shoulder or arm or neck area (going with all the nerve pathways that can affect the shoulder) that allowed greater range of motion/less pain. Yes. There were. Quite a few.
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| Kinesio Tape - the origintal: accept no substitutes |
And so also using some knowledge of the application of kinesio tape - an amazing stuff that supposedly works with the skin/fascia to support movement (what they call lifting) in a given direction - i applied a wee bit of it to an area with appropriate directional testing, and then immeidately retested my arm. Improvement. I'll take it.I've made the soggy error of laying down a bit of tape after testing direction only to have missed the spot. This stuff does not like being relaid. So ya grit your teeth and chuck that expensive bit of therapy assist and try again. Measure twice as they say. It's this retesting immeidately that is SO important.
Over the next couple days i had a wee pattern of tape - about three pieces - deployed with this test/retest approach to see what was working to support improved movement/performance. The tape stayed on for three to five days, and seemed to help deliver what was on the tin.
Active Skin Stim? The kinesio tape - it seems - whether it's designed to work this way or not - seems to have the effect of bringing a low level but constant awareness to an area where skin level direction of movement has an effect. It seems to offer a way to get reps in - to help the skin and perhaps underlying fascia move in a more optimal direction - or perhaps being taped towards a given direction that tests well is just opening up better neural awareness so that Good Things Happen.
Take Aways: Respect the Fascia
- For some, some level of guided skin or fascial support is sufficient to let them "fix" their issue. I've seen this numerous times with mine and others clients, and it always amazes me.
- This layer or suites of layers covering our bodies and interconnecting other systems (muscular, skeletal, visceral) is not to be underestimated or forgotten in treatment.
- Learning how to work with these layers - a big focus of zhealth t-phase as one example for where such education happens - can lead to potent results.
- Sometimes, as an awareness assist, a bit of kinesio tape it seems can help the body learn this new movement pattern at the skin/fascial level. Kinesio tape is an active movement support. Sometimes, that tape isn't necessary, but it's a nice tool when it is.
For me, working with just the fascial/skin layers was not the total killer ap for my left shoulder or my right, but it was a HUGE contributor in opening up performance by especially opening up the range of pain free movement in my shoulder. Checking out how your coach/trainer/therapist works with skin/fascia as part of their (active) rehab work is a Good Idea. If they don't include such consideration, maybe you want to find someone who does - pain free.
It's remarkable to me that sometimes such a gentle stimulation can have such a potent and immediate effect.
My caveat in this space is as always: test and reassess immediately. Knowing how to apply this stuff is as nothing to knowing how to test *immediately* whether the application has had a positive effect.
Next time, promise: exploring end range of motion work with bands for super potent rehab and performance restoration like you would not believe.
Other Posts in this series:
- Rehab Journal Part 1: overview of a journey
- Rehab Journal Part 2: the phrenic nerve and thinking other site/source thoughts
Related posts:
- The Shoulder: Scapula engineering
- Shoulder Engineering: the g/h joint
- tendon - opathies and eccentric contractions for repair
- Fish oil and being anti-inflammatory.
- One less rep: the differnece between injury and success?
- What's a movement assessment?
- Active vs Passive Therapy - what's it mean and why care?
Related Resources
- here are some awesome cadaver dissection images of the muscles of the shoulder Tweet Follow @begin2dig
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