I thought you might like to see some true results of our corrective programming at IFAST. I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, so I apologize for the delay.

This is Rich. Rich was training for the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon that we have each year in May as part of the activities associated with the Indy 500.

Rich came to us in February and had been running since Christmas. He’d recently recovered from his second knee surgery (one on each knee) and was having a lot of morning stiffness and some chronic calf tightness on the right.

Rich’s assessment showed some rather significant deficits in hip rotation and especially hip extension on the left as you can see. He was literally stuck in hip flexion which resulted in some pretty poor glute function.

His malalignment was so significant that you can see the pronounced cervical extension that he was totally unaware of.

Basically, here’s what we did to produce the current correction:

Identified activities that negatively influence Rich’s alignment

Rich must drive a lot for his job and he tends to sit in a crooked alignment in the car. We had him jam a pillow between the console and his hips to improve his alignment while sitting. He also made an effort to stop and get out of the car more frequently. Had Rich not been compliant with this part of the program, I’m certain that we wouldn’t have seen such a powerful change.

Identified range of motion limitations and the source such as short or stiff musculature or weakened musculature

For shortened tissues we utilized eccentric quasi-isometrics and appropriate exercises that emphasized a range of motion to that would promote restoring muscle length. Stiffened muscles received more standard stretching protocols and mobility exercises followed by strengthening the antagonist to improve balance of stiffness around the affected joints. You can learn more about this type of programming HERE.

In regards to his strength training, not only did it reinforce his mobility, but it also emphasized regaining stability, first proximally and then peripherally.

All of Rich’s gym time was done under supervision of one of our coaches to assure proper technique was emphasized at all times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see in the comparison, Rich made some outstanding progress in his realignment. We’re currently working on a physical challenge for his upcoming 50th birthday and continuing to work on his corrective programming.

Bill

We had a very special guest this week at Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training.

Grant “Rufus” Gardis came by for visit. Yes, THAT “Rufus”. The one from the “Rufus” Complex in Inside-Out:  The Ultimate Upper Body Warm-up.

Rufus is an outstanding Olympic weightlifting coach in the Indianapolis area who works primarily with middle school athletes from all sports. I hope these kids appreciate and take advantage of his vast knowledge of weightlifting and athletic development as you’ll not find a better coach.

While it was initially a social call, conversation quickly turned to talking training. Rufus even ended up working with our intern and a couple clients on their power clean technique. It was truly remarkable to see how quickly their technique changed for the better.

As a friend of IFAST, Rufus has an open invitation to visit the gym any time, so if you see him, make sure to introduce yourself(he doesn’t bite).

Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training (IFAST) is Top 10 Gym

Pick up a copy of the September 2009 issue of Men’s Health Magazine to check out their list of Top 10 gyms in the country. You’ll see that IFAST is on that list. Not bad for our first year in business. We just celebrated our first anniversary and we’re making some serious impact in the fitness and sports training industries. We’ve had clients from Chicago, Michigan, Florida, California, New York, Missouri, Bulgaria, and even two from Japan. Throw in some of the most serious fitness enthusiasts and top athletes in the area and you’ve got the best gym in Indianapolis and one of the Top 10 in the country.

Bill

Lyle McDonald has a really good analysis of the original Tabata study.

Here’s the link:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/effects-of-moderate-intensity-endurance-and-high-intensity-intermittent-training-on-anaerobic-capacity-and-vo2-max.html

Bill

I got an email from Pete Monchek today.

Pete’s a distance client as is his daughter Maia.

He wanted to tell me that Maia was just named to the First Team All-State Softball Team in California.

Just to let you know how good she really is…on the season, Maia lead the team offesively in almost every statistical category with a .550 batting average, 55 hits, including 13 doubles, 5 triples, and 3 homers. She drove in 45 runs and scored 42 herself.

She’s going to be attending my alma mater, Purdue University, on a softball scholarship proving that she’s also a smart one (she has a 3.9 GPA as well).

Pete sent me the email at 11 PM California time. He sent it because Maia was busy. She was finishing her workout.

What are you willing to do to succeed?

It’s interesting how some athletes are put down for relying on their obvious talent. Those who are critical of others successes never see the hours of work that many athletes put in just to make it look easy.

Maybe the criticism gives people an excuse. The excuse not to do the hard work necessary to succeed.

You too can be successful. Just quit making excuses. Stop comparing yourself to others. Take responsibility for where you are now and do the work to get you to where you want to be.

Bill

Yesterday’s training:

60 min of The Dark Knight at 131 bpm average
Hip mobility

If you’re having anterolateral ankle pressure or pain with dorsiflexion, give this mobilization a try.  We’ve used this a lot in the last week at IFAST and have seen some outstanding results.