Amazon.com loves me.

I buy quite a few books each month.  Some are technical, some business, some just for fun.

I remember being in Don Corrigan’s office when I was in grad school at Purdue.  He had no walls.  Just bookshelves filled with books.  It must have taken decades to accumulate his library.

You may have heard the quote along the line’s of “You can measure the success of a man buy the size of his library.”  I’ve also heard one that goes something like “You can tell how successful you are based on the comparison between the size of your TV and the size of your library.”

Well, last year we got a really big-assed TV…Good thing my library is still bigger.

Anyway, as I write this, it’s Sunday and haven’t posted anything in while, so I thought it might be of interest to see my home library.

I have books and reference materials spread out over several locations like my PT clinics and IFAST, but my largest portion of my library is at home.

So am I a “success?”  Hmmm?  Yes and no.  Last year was my most successful financially.  IFAST was named on of the top ten gyms in USA by Men’s Health Magazine.  I was asked to speak at the Perform Better Functional Training Summit AND was asked back this year (thanks Chris!).  Thanks to many of you Assess and Correct has quickly become a top resource in the fitness and sports training category.

Am I where I want to be?  Not yet, but I’m getting there and will continue to read, learn, and apply?

So what are you reading and where do you want to be?  How can I help you get there?

Here’s a great “big bang” active thoracic mobilization.  I’d seen it done with the shoulder in internal rotation, but those that are prone to shoulder impingement couldn’t tolerate it. 

So we tweaked it a bit.  You’ll see that Mark brings his fingertips together and actually pushes the shoulders into external rotation.  This small modification relieves the sensation of impingement and makes it an even better mobilization.  Stiff internal rotators like subscapularis, pecs, and lats are put on a more effective stretch, AND you’ll be able to drive the scapula into posterior tilt to help with the thoracic extension.

Because it’s an active mobilization, the thoracic extensors are working to balance the stiffness of the anterior trunk.  If you’ve got athletes with a lot of anterior stiffness as a result of “crunch happy” school-based training programs, try this out. 

Here’s how you do it:

1.  Sit on a low bench in front of the wall
2.  Place your elbows on the wall and the hands, palms facing, behind the head.  Pushing the hands apart with the fingertips will increase the external rotation
3.  Using the wall with an assist, actively extend the thoracic spine and pull the elbows up and back.
4.  Exhale as you extend to protect against lumbar extension compensation.
5.  Hold the extension for 3-5 seconds and release.
6.  Repeat for 5-10 reps every few hours.

If you need more great mobilizations and corrective exercises, pick up a copy of Assess and Correct.

Have a great weekend!

Bill

Recovery days are just as important as kick ass workout days.  Yesterday was a hard ”Arm Day” (chins, rows, and close grip fat bar floor presses) at IFAST, so today is a day off.

To help you relax, here’s a little bit of Chickenfoot to lead you into a productive weekend.

So why the concern over having greater hip and core strength in the cases of athletes with femoral anteversion?

There’s evidence that femoral anteversion results in a decrease activation of the gluteus medius and VMO. There’s also evidence from simulated hip modeling that the hip abductors need to increase force output to maintain a level pelvis during activity when the distal attachment of the hip abductors is positioned more anteriorly as in the case of femoral anteverion.   This will then potentially affect lower extremity alignment and stability in the frontal and transverse planes. 

The end result is greater potential for non-contact knee injuries.  As femoral anteversion is more prevalent in females than males, and considering that the incidence of serious knee injury is higher in females than in males, it stands to reason that developing greater hip and core strength in your female athletes as well as all athletes with femoral anteversion is essential.

Here’s a video of Craig’s Test that we use in our assessments at IFAST.

Position the athlete prone.  Flex one knee to 90 degrees.  Rotate the hip internally and externally while palpating the greater trochanter until the trochanter is most prominent laterally.  Measure the hip rotation angle at the point where the trochanter is most prominent.  Norms for males is 8 degrees of internal rotation, females up to 14 degrees.  Anything greater than 15 degrees would be considered excessive.

References: 
J Bone Joint Surg. Am.  1965 Apr; 47:  462-76.
J Electromyogr Kinesiol.  2004 Apr; 14(2):  255-61.

By now you should have a general understanding that having good hip mobility is important for health and to maximize athletic performance.

Loss of hip extension has been shown to accelerate degenerative changes in athletes as young as 17 years old.  A loss of hip internal rotation alters normal hip proprioception and makes it difficult to effectively stabilize the hip.

When you’re screening your athletes’ hip range of motion you may come across some athletes that present with excessive femoral anteversion. 

Femoral anteversion is the angular difference between the axis of the femoral neck and the transcondylar axis of the knee.  In males, it’s typically about 8 degrees of anteversion and in females about 14 degrees.  In the photo, the femur on the left is considered normal, and the femur on the right shows excessive anteversion.  You’ll typically use Craig’s test to determine the degree of femoral anteversion, however, if you aren’t trained to use Craig’s test, you can get a good idea from assessing hip rotation in prone.

Hip internal rotation of 70 degrees would be considered abnormal and may indicated excessive hip anterversion.  You’ll also find a loss of hip external rotation.

Because this is a structural adaptation, the rotation is not something that will change with typical hip rotation mobility exercises and attempting to do so will only result in injury.  If you should have an athlete with excessive hip internal rotation as in the video, developing a stronger core and glutes is essential.

(part 2 coming)