Posts Tagged ‘flexibility’

How muscle works and why you get knots

Monday, November 1st, 2010
The other day my buddy Dr. Kareem Samhouri sent out an outstanding
email to his list about the concept of how muscle works and why you
get knots in them sometimes- something that ends up causing muscle
and joint pain.

It was so good that I asked him if I could use the newsletter
verbatim to share with our Workout Muse followers and thankfully he
agreed.

Please take the time to ready this message below for your own good.

Fitness SUCKS when you’ve got pain but it’s a BLAST when you’re
pain-free.

Trust me, Dr, K and I have been there and done that (myself with
debilitating knee pain and Dr. k with crippling shoulder pain) and
that’s why Dr. K and I put the MISSION: UNBREAKABLE (M:U) program
together so you too can experience the powers of all gains and no
pain!

Oh yea… those of you who ready the entire message will notice a
special 27% off sale on M:U to give you a little more incentive to
take action so you can feel better TODAY ;)

Crank it!
BJ

***
Muscles are made up of tons of mini-muscles, or muscle fibers.  Each muscle fiber has individual potential to grow or shrink, depending on how much it is being used, rested, etc.

When a muscle injury takes place, even in an effort to build strength, a small amount of scar tissue is released into the area.  If the injury is small and the scar tissue tries to lay down on a muscle that is moving well, the muscle pulls on the scar tissue and causes it to align with the muscle.  Essentially, you are left with a small amount of restriction from the scar tissue, but nothing too substantial.  Over time, if this is a repetitive cycle, the restriction can build and it can become symptomatic. This is one type of knot.

If the injury is a bit bigger and the muscle can’t be used in this area, the scar tissue has more time to lay down, and a matrix or web of scar tissue forms.  This forms a major restriction in the tissue and can even try to form bone at times, or calcify.  This restriction forms immediately and will continue to build in time if the scar tissue is not ‘broken down’ and absorbed back into your bloodstream through proper massage and exercise.  This is a second type of knot.

In both cases, the area of the muscle that has the knot does not receive good blood supply, because the scar tissue is suffocating it.  Without good blood supply, it’s hard for
anything to heal.

What’s worse?

We have pressure receptors in our scar tissue that cause pain any time you touch them.  Initially, this is meant as a protective mechanism to get you to stop bumping into an area that’s sore.  Over time, the need for these pressure receptors goes away, but the pain remains… and we choose not to make contact with that bodypart subconsciously.

After all, it causes pain.  What are we supposed to do?

Just the opposite, I’m afraid.  The only way to get rid of these pesky pressure receptors is by putting pressure on them.  Simultaneously, break up the scar tissue as a muscle shortens and elongates, pulling on the scar tissue and causing it to realign with the muscle fibers.

Because there’s so much blood flow, the restriction goes away and the area heals.  You restore your body.

This is just one trick included in MISSION: UNBREAKABLE, which, as you can tell, is going to be a great decision even when it’s at full price… but for the next 24 hours, it’s 27% OFF with the following coupon code (enter it prior to checkout):

feelbetter27sale

Fitness Professionals Click HERE —> http://www.workoutmuse.com/music/mission-unbreakable-for-fitness-professionals <— if you want to save 27% in the next 24 hours and help your clients and campers feel better, improve performance, and alleviate/eliminate nagging aches and pains

Fitness Enthusiasts Click HERE —> http://www.workoutmuse.com/music/mission-unbreakable-for-fitness-enthusiasts <— if you want to save 27% in the next 24 hours so you can feel better, improve performance, and alleviate/eliminate nagging aches and pains

This program works, and it works exceptionally well.  If you have old muscle tears, pulls, strains, or aches that you’d like to alleviate, now is the time to act.

You can restore your body, you can prevent injury, and you can move more freely.  Let BJ & I help you:

have a great day,

Kareem

PS – One of our new MU clients wrote BJ with a question, and I was so blown away by his response that I thought I’d just go ahead and share it with you… this is why I have no hesitation in telling you that BJ is a stand-up top fitness professional that went to all extremes to help make this product the best he could for you.  He even uses this exact program with his little brother, who he coaches to be a top football star at his local high school.

Anyway, here’s what BJ had to say when asked “How do you recommend I use MU?” – thought you’d be interested:

Hey M***,

On behalf of Dr. K and WM, thanks for your purchase and I hope the program is of much benefit to you as it has been to our other customers ;)

The provided program design cheat sheets outline the program as a nice reference point.

Here’s how my campers and I use the program and how I recommend you use it too:

1.) Our beginner campers do 3 weeks of M:U before moving into our regular
high-intensity program. We perform the tissue quality circuit, flexibility circuit,
and then the mobility/activation circuit in that order for a 30 minute workout. It’s
a phenomenal way to start off if you are a beginner. It will get you moving and
sweating without being overwhelmed, especially if you are de-conditioned,
overweight, or have any joint/health issues.

2.) M:U makes the perfect active recovery workout on off-days or off-weeks to
help compliment your high-intensity workouts as well. It gets blood flowing and
circulating throughout your body which will help mitigate soreness and prevent
your muscles from tightening up between resistance workouts. It also helps improve
posture and off-set the drawbacks of a sedentary job where one sits rounded at a
desk all day by working on mobilizing the 3 most important areas of the body:
the ankles, hips, and thoracic spine/mid back.

3.) In terms of how to use M:U on a high-intensity workout day, you can use the
pre-workout (warm-up) and post-workout (cool-down) circuits to book-end your
main workout or perform the M:U circuits later in the day to improve recovery
and provide an extra metabolic boost.

4.) Use the self-diagnostic checklists to build your own personal improvement
routine as well. If you find that your thighs are really sore on the foam roller,
then that becomes an exercise that you perform pre-workout and post-workout
to ensure that you don’t get any nagging aches and pains in your knees for example.
We all have certain areas of the body or muscles groups that need more attention,
so when time is tight, focus on these high-priority areas.

5.) What to do if you only have 10 minutes or time for 1 circuit? If you have
joint pain, the tissue quality circuit is your best bet. If you have tight muscles,
the flexibility circuit is your best bet. If you have poor strength, balance, and
stability, the mobility/activation circuit is your best bet. If you want an awesome
warm-up, perform the pre-workout routine. If you want a great cool-down,
perform the post-workout routine.

M***, does this all make sense?

PPS- Remember for the next 24 hours, M:U is 27% OFF without the following coupon code:

feelbetter27sale

Fitness Professionals Click HERE —> http://www.workoutmuse.com/music/mission-unbreakable-for-fitness-professionals <— if you want to save 27% in the next 24 hours and help your clients and campers feel better, improve performance, and alleviate/eliminate nagging aches and pains

Fitness Enthusiasts Click HERE —> http://www.workoutmuse.com/music/mission-unbreakable-for-fitness-enthusiasts <— if you want to save 27% in the next 24 hours so you can feel better, improve performance, and alleviate/eliminate nagging aches and pains

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My Favorite Physical Therapist

Friday, October 8th, 2010

One of the smartest guys I know in the fitness industry, and frankly in the world for that matter, is my good buddy Dr. Kareem Samhouri.

Some of you already know that I have teamed up with Dr. K to put together the ground-breaking MISSION: UNBREAKABLE program that features custom pre/post-workout interval training workout music tracks and instructional videos for tissue quality, flexibility, and mobility/activation circuits.

We put together 2 versions, one for fitness enthusiasts and one for fitness professionals. You can learn more and listen to audio samples by clicking one or both of the links below:

MISSION: UNBREAKABLE for Fitness Enthusiasts: “I LOVE to Workout!”

http://www.workoutmuse.com/music/mission-unbreakable-for-fitness-enthusiasts

MISSION: UNBREAKABLE for Fitness Enthusiasts: “I train people for a living!”

http://www.workoutmuse.com/music/mission-unbreakable-for-fitness-professionals

But Dr. K is more than a physical therapist… he is also a cutting-edge fat loss expert who is way ahead of the industry with his new “neuro fat loss” programming.

In essence, Dr. K’s program is all about activating dormant muscles within your body to allow you to work more muscles each and every workout and thus burn more calories and create a larger metabolic disturbance for greater fat-burning and muscle-building results.

It’s called Double-Edged Fat Loss and it’s one of the most complete rapid fat loss programs out there and I definitely recommend you at least check out the web site to learn more and to see if it’s the right fit for you:

http://www.doubleedgedfatloss.com/

BTW- that’s not an affiliate link, but rather an honest endorsement of one of the top minds in the fitness industry.

You can’t go wrong with Dr. K… not only is he brilliant, but he works his a$$ off!

When it comes to getting results, that’s a deadly combo ;)

Crank it!
BJ

PS- Here’s an excerpt from Dr. K’s Double-Edged Fat Loss explaining Neuro Fat Loss Training in greater detail:

What is Neuro Fat Loss Training and why does it work so fast?

Neuro Fat Loss training is the integration of nervous system and fat loss training all in one. Essentially, as a doctor of physical therapy, I created Double Edged Fat Loss 2.0 (based on the principles of Neuro Fat Loss Training) to solve a HUGE problem in the fitness community that literally no one else is addressing:

FACT: If you’re like 99.9% of exercisers, your nervous system is operating a very elementary level, and it’s absolutely holding you back from experiencing the most rapid fat loss results.

How and why?

Bottom line: most people simply do not understand how to properly communicate with their nervous systems, and as such are missing out on at least 60-80% of the metabolic potential of every single exercise they do. In fact, even advanced trainees tend to be “under-achieving” by at least 30-50%.

Can you just imagine how much faster you’d progress if you were able to double or triple the metabolic effectiveness of each and every exercise you do? The answer: A LOT FASTER.

Going back to the problem, inefficient nervous system communication results in:

  • poor signaling leading to decreased force output and sub-par muscular contractions
  • less overall motor units recruited
  • less weight used for every exercise, set, and rep (for a workout requiring 10 sets of 10 reps, that inefficiency is compounded 100 TIMES over)
  • overall less work done in any given session
  • neuro-muscular fatigue occurring before muscles even receive the necessary stimulus to grow and/or strengthen
  • fewer calories burned
  • overall decreased metabolic effect of exercise even when the same effort is put forth (the same effort for 1/4 of the results)
  • dramatically slowed results
  • dramatically less fat loss

On the other hand, an extremely efficient nervous system results in:

  • greater signaling, leading to greater, faster, more intense contractions
  • increased loads used for every single exercise, set, and rep (compound that improvement 100 times over for a workout requiring 10 sets of 10) – and that’s just one workout – imagine the effect this will have over 4 weeks worth of workouts!
  • increased motor unit recruitment
  • more stimulus from the same work
  • greater strength gains
  • greater lean muscle gains
  • greater metabolic cost of every single exercise you do
  • more calories burned (acutely/immediate)
  • exponentially greater fat loss over time

Legitimately, the difference in the rate of fat loss between the above two examples is the difference between getting in incredible shape for summer and being self-conscious all the way through August.

This is also the difference between hitting and maintaining your ideal body weight easily versus struggling for the rest of your life—period.

With Doubled Edged Fat Loss and revolutionary Neuro Fat Loss Training, you’ll find yourself in the latter group, progressing faster than ever before because the foundation of your training is built around strengthening what matters most to your results—your nervous system.

http://www.doubleedgedfatloss.com/

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10 Reasons Why You NEED Beginner Bootcamp

Saturday, August 14th, 2010
Here are the top 10 reasons you NEED beginner bootcamp, whether you are a camper or a camp owner:

1.) True fitness is about longevity and having fun through movement, not quick fixes and instant gratification. If you have pain in your joints you will hate working out and will quit at some point, no matter how much weight you lose in the short-term… and then all of that weight will creep back on.
2.) If you have tissue restrictions, you will never be able to properly perform the key exercises like squats, lunges, and push-ups in a pain-free, full range of motion. Thus, you will not be able to burn fat and build muscle at optimal rates. You simply CANNOT burn lots of calories with partial range of motion movements like quarter squats and lunges!!
3.) If you have ever had pain in your joints, then you need beginner bootcamp. It’s not about pain SITE, it’s about pain SOURCE! Most nagging aches and pains in your joints are caused by tightness and restrictions in the muscles above and below the joint in question.
4.) The research shows that you want about a 1:1 high-intensity work to active recovery/regeneration ratio. In other words, if you do an intense 30-minute workout then you need to do about 30-minutes of foam rolling, stretching, and mobility/activation work to prevent over-training and accelerate recovery. Having a beginner bootcamp allows you to teach campers how to do the regeneration stuff so they can eventually do it on their own to get the most out of their regular bootcamp workouts.
5.) Overweight and out of shape people need a lower intensity fitness program to build confidence and ease them into a higher intensity program. Tissue quality, flexibility, and mobility/activation circuits will be challenging enough and will bulletproof their bodies before they enter your more advanced bootcamp drastically reducing injuries and separating your camp from the competition.
6.) The vast majority of campers are men and women that are in their 30’s and 40’s. This is the age when your joints begin to naturally lose motion and lubrication thus making tissue quality, flexibility, and mobility/activation work of the highest priority.
7.) Total fitness is more than just about being lean and strong. To be truly fit you need healthy tissue, flexibility, mobility, strength, stability, power, endurance, and balance. Beginner Bootcamp provides you with your fitness foundation to build upon and it’s a step that cannot be skipped for best results.
8.) If you or your campers can’t do the front splits… then you NEED beginner bootcamp in a heinous way!
9.) Most bootcamps are simply about beating people to a pulp and making them tired- this is not a skill – this is not an art form. The group exercise world is evolving into group personal training. It’s moving away from the random, unstructured bootcamp workouts with no method behind the madness. And every solid group personal training program starts with a beginner bootcamp. You are either part of the problem or part of the solution… I hope you move away from the dark side sooner than later.
10.) It’s the right thing to do. I always like to ask myself this:
“What would the top professionals in the fitness industry think if they walked through the doors of my facility? Would they think we’re doing the right thing?

In other words, what would Boyle, Cressey, Hartman, Robertson, Cosgrove, and Dos do?
I think you already know the answer to that ;)
You have less than 48 hours to save $20 on the exact beginner bootcamp program we use in our MISSION: METABOLISM BOOTCAMP in Milwaukee, WI:

Crank it!
BJ
PS- This program is approved by one of the world’s best physical therapists… it’s the real deal:

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30-10 Tissue Quality Circuit Using Self-Massage Exercises with Foam Roller

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Almost all chronic joint pain or overuse injuries are caused by tightness and restrictions in the muscles above and below the joint in question.

In other words, it’s not about PAIN SITE… it’s about PAIN SOURCE!!

Knee pain is often caused by restrictions in the tissue of your calves and front/inner/outer thighs.

Back pain is often caused by restrictions in your glutes and hamstrings.

Shoulder pain is often caused by restrictions in your thoracic spine (T-Spine), chest, and lats.

Tissue quality describes the general health of your muscles and the interconnected web of fascia that surrounds them all.

Over time we develop scar tissue, adhesions, knots, and trigger points due to high-intensity training, overuse, and/or extended periods of sitting.

The best way to address this is to self-massage sore, tight, and restricted muscle groups of the body to regenerate tissue both pre and post-workout to promote injury reduction and allow for a smoother, more productive workout.

In addition, self-massage before stretching allows for a better, more complete stretch by smoothing out the knots and you should always precede flexibility work with tissue quality for best results (more on flexibility tomorrow).

In my personal experience, I have found the following 5 self-massage exercises to be of the highest priority for the general population:

1.) Quad/Rectus Femoris: Tightness in the middle of the front thigh is a primary cause of anterior knee pain, often referred to as jumper’s knee, or general patella-femoral issues like chondromalacia. From a personal standpoint as someone with a history of knee pain, I NEVER skip massaging this area before a workout.

2.) Mid Glute/Piriformis: Restriction in the outer hip often causes tightness in the lower back and in extreme situations leads to sciatica, that burning sensation one feels from their back all the way down to their leg. Since we sit on our butt all days at work, it’s critical to release the glutes before an intensive workout.

3.) ITB/Vastus Lateralis: Restriction and over-development of the outer thigh causes an unwanted lateral tracking of the patella that leads to lateral knee pain, often referred to as runner’s knee, and wearing of the knee cartilage. By and far, people will experience the most pain with this area of the body then any other upon introduction to foam rolling.

4.) Pec Minor: The pec minor (small chest muscle just inside the shoulder) is like the hip flexor of the upper body and when it gets tight/overactive it leads to excessive internal rotation of the humerus which leads to shoulder impingement syndrome or shoulder biceps tendinosis.

5.) T-Spine: When the upper/mid back is restricted, it leads to poor posture and a host of issues including shoulder and back pain. Plus, being in a hunched position at a desk all day makes this exercise an absolute must to best counteract kyphosis (excessive rounding) of the upper back.

Below is an outline of our 30-10 tissue quality circuit in our MISSION: UNBREAKABLE beginner bootcamp in Milwaukee, WI:

I. 30-10 Tissue Quality

1

Pec Minor (L)

2

Pec Minor (R)

3

Quad/Rectus Femoris (L)

4

Quad/Rectus Femoris (R)

5

Mid Glute/Piriformis (L)

6

Mid Glute/Piriformis (R)

7

VMO/Adductors/Femoral Triangle (L)

8

VMO/Adductors/Femoral Triangle (R)

9

ITB/Vastus Lateralis (L)

10

ITB/Vastus Lateralis (R)

11

Hamstrings

12

Calves

13

Shins/Peroneals

14

Upper/Mid/Lower Back/T-Spine

15

Lats/Rear Shoulder/Triceps (L)

16

Lats/Rear Shoulder/Triceps (R)

Watch the video below for a highlight reel of the self-massage exercises that we use:

I’m a big fan of a relative pain scale when it comes to self-massage, for example:

-       Using a relative pain/restriction scale of 1-10, “1” being no pain/restriction and “10” being the worst pain/restriction in the world, please check the appropriate box for each self-massage exercise below whenever you feel pain/restriction that is greater than a 5 out of 10

-       Your fitness homework is to religiously perform all self-massage exercises that were a 5 or greater on the pain/restriction scale both pre-workout and several times post-workout every day

-       For best results and injury prevention, perform this entire 30-10 tissue quality circuit at least once per week using a foam roller, tennis ball, softball, and/or massage stick where best applicable

Massage is one of those counter-intuitive things whereby you are actually actively searching for pain. In fact, it’s the only time to ever do so when it comes to proper training.

The best analogy I can give to people is this:

If it hurts that much when you put pressure on your muscles, just imagine how crappy your joints must feel!!

What are your favorite foam rolling exercises? Let us know by posting a comment to this blog post ;)

Crank it!
BJ

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Perform Better Summit Warm-ups Powered by Workout Muse

Friday, June 11th, 2010

This past weekend was the 2010 Perform Better Functional Training Summit in Providence, RI.

It was a great event and a very special weekend for Workout Muse as two of the presenters powered their presentations with our interval training workout music.

One of those presenters was the Coach Mike Boyle, the godfather of strength and conditioning.

Take a look at the two videos below where you’ll see over 200 fitness pros doing Coach Boyles 50-10 flexibility circuit and his 30-5 mobility and activation circuit:

Crank it!

BJ

PS- We just added a new product called WORKOUT MUSE CLASSIC to our store. It features all of our original soundtracks for ONLY $99.95. That’s over $100 of savings from its original retail value. Click the link below to learn more and to listen to some audio samples:

http://www.workoutmuse.com/music/workout-muse-classic-combo-package-digital-downloads

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