Posts Tagged ‘tissue quality’

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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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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MISSION: UNBREAKABLE

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

LISTEN TO THE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ABOUT MISSION: UNBREAKABLE WITH BJ GADDOUR, WORKOUT MUSE CO-CREATOR AND FITNESS DIRECTOR, AND DR. K, WORLD RENOWNED PHYSICAL THERAPIST:

http://www.workoutmuse.com/blog/MissionUnbREakABle/MU_Interview.mp3

Over the last 7-8 months, I have been busily working behind the scenes with my good friend Dr. Kareem Samhouri on developing a groundbreaking product called MISSION: UNBREAKABLE (M: U).

M: U features custom interval training workout music soundtracks for pre-workout and post-workout routines, with specific tracks for tissue quality (self-massage with foam roller, tennis balls, softballs, massage sticks, etc.), flexibility, and mobility/activation.

Our goal was to bring a corrective, physical therapy-based approach to the group exercise and fitness bootcamp world leveraging our individual specialties.

It comes complete with videos of all of the exercises, cheat sheets, and my exact beginner bootcamp template from my MISSION: METABOLISM BOOTCAMP in Milwaukee, WI (more on this over the next week or so as M: U launches next week at a special intro price!!).

If you don’t know who Dr. K is, well… he is possibly the most brilliant man in the fitness world.

What would happen if the most interesting man in the world (left) partnered with the most brilliant man in the fitness world (right)… it would be EXPLOSIVE!!

When he was 4 years old, he taught himself how to flex and extend his arm at the same time.

If your body hurts, it is because he missed lunch and he’s grumpy.

Where most people use 10% of their brains, he uses 10% of all of our brains at all times… plus 90% of his own.

His smile is so bright you can see it from space.

He talks so fast that he makes the old micromachine commercials seem like they take place in slow-motion.

When he goes swimming, he can communicate with dolphins via sonar.

If he looks at you hard enough, he can repair worn cartilage while standing on one foot… while grabbing his nose… and balancing his checkbook… while reading the Bible in Chinese.

If you have ever suffered from nagging aches in pains in your knees, hips, shoulders, or back, then you need to listen to this interview TODAY:

http://www.workoutmuse.com/blog/MissionUnbREakABle/MU_Interview.mp3

I’ve listened to a lot of fitness pros speak and I can honestly say that I learned more in this 1 hour+ interview than any other hour in the history of my fitness career.

But don’t take my word for it, LISTEN NOW:

http://www.workoutmuse.com/blog/MissionUnbREakABle/MU_Interview.mp3

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