Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group, LLC Blog

Adaptation of the TMG parameters on the knee musculature in female professional volleyball players after four month of specific training

Figure 1: Δ% change on all TMG parameters of each muscle assessed after training

Visit and learn more from the TMG team at the 2014 BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 16 & 17th

How important is the contact? VERY IMPORTANT

As I was teaching this past weekend I made a mental note to put out a reminder as to how to take a proper tissue contact to avoid the dreaded skin burn/skin wedgie that "other" practitioners mistake for actual tissue tension.

I don't have to go over why shortening a muscle, taking a contact, lengthening the muscle, and repeating is NOT congruent with the currently literature regarding altering connective tissue states. I believe we have emphasized this quite a bit. Another reason why this is a problem is regarding taking a contact. If we take a contact while the tissue is short, we are much more likely to create the unwanted skin wedge which will ultimately restrict the range we are treating, cause unnecessary pain to the patient (for no beneficial reason), and will confuse us into thinking tissue tension is present….when it really isn't (the last point being of ultimate importance while performing tissue tension technique to assess for tension.

STEP 1: Identify a line of tension using Tissue Tension Technique (tension = force countering the direction of passive movement WITHIN the normal ROM of the articulation)

STEP 2: Back off ONLY 10-15 degrees - no more! If you shorten the tissue you risk losing the exact line path

STEP 3: Draw skin in the opposite direction that you will be applying tension (approximately a cm worth is usually sufficient)

STEP 4: Compress to the level of the tissue you want to treat….NO MORE/NO LESS. In other words, apply perpendicular force to the level of the 'lesion'

STEP 5: Apply pre-tension AT THE LEVEL OF THE LESION - switch from a perpendicular force (90 degree) to a 45degree force in the direction you will be treating. You can think of it as returning to the original position you were in prior to removing skin slack (step 3)

STEP 6: Move the articulation. If you palpated actual tissue tension, the force coming up into your finger will begin IMMEDIATELY. Ramp you counter force at the same rate and amount that you are feeling…overcome it by 5-10 percent

…then work within the tension SLOWLY. If you want to alter your angle of drive, do so while maintaining the tension. If you want a break, switch from an external input (your finger) to an internal input (a low level PAILs along the line of tension…then re-establish your contact and continue).

See Dr. Spina in Boston May 2-4th for SPINE module.

Register for this event by clicking HERE

1. Book your Hotel Now: The Colonnade Hotel has released additional rooms for our group. Book a room at the Colonnade which is just down the road from the seminar location using the link HERE.  Other area hotels have great accommodations and pricing BUT all hotels within the city limits are sure to sell out this year. In addition to BSMPG a number of college graduations and international seminars are also invading Boston in May so space is tight. Book your hotel TODAY!

2. Pick Your Learning Path: The one complaint that all attendees have year after year is that we bring in too many awesome speakers, and each year they are forced to choose between the best of the best from one discipline and the best of the best in another field. Listen, we're sorry we're not sorry. BSMPG is about bringing the best clinicians and performance professionals (that's you), the best speakers and information from across the globe - so deal with it!  The most up to date agenda is below (subject to change).

3. Be an Engergizer Bunny: BSMPG is not for the faint of heart. This is serious all day, kick you in the butt, splash cold water on your face, rock your world kind of learing. So grab your big boy pants and your coffee mug and get ready to learn from the best in the business.  We like coffee too, so you can count on plenty of that throughout the weekend as well.

4. Come to Boston Early - FAT-Tool Training: Dr. Mark Scappaticci joins BSMPG this year as both a speaker and as the presenter for our special pre-seminar FAT-Tool Training event.  Learn to manipulate fascia from a world leader in fascia work with a tool that is a complete GAME CHANGER!  If you don't know, now you know. Choose from purchasing both the FAT-Tool and day long training or just day long training by clicking HERE - use codes "BOSTON" and "BOSTON2" respectively to save $$$.  FAT-Tool training takes place on May 15th.

5. Live Patient Evaluations Added: You asked and we answered.  This year we asked three of our speakers to evaluate and suggest treatment options for three patients with chronic musculoskeletal issues.  Each speaker will evaluate and discuss with attendees what they see, specific limitations, and suggested treatment options followed by an interactive Q&A session. Just another way BSMPG is listening to you!

6. The CATAPULT Performance Directors Meeting: The mission of the BSMPG Performance Director Meeting is to provide the leaders in performance training and medical oversight an opportunity to engage with leaders of similar attitude, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit, while pursuing innovative strategies in performance methodology. This is an invite only event - click HERE to learn more. Yes - its going to be awesome!  This event takes place on May 18th.

BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 16-17, 2014 Boston MA

BSMPG is proud to announce MATT HERRING as a speaker at the 2014 BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 16-17th, 2014.  Last year was a sell out and the only difference this year will be us announcing a sell out a month in advance!  This will be one of the greatest performance and therapy seminars of all time!

Be sure to save the date and reserve your hotel room well in advance.

See you in Boston in May!!!  

BSMPG is proud to announce BRANDON BOVEE as a speaker at the 2014 BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 16-17th, 2014.  Last year was a sell out and the only difference this year will be us announcing a sell out a month in advance!  This will be one of the greatest performance and therapy seminars of all time!

Be sure to save the date and reserve your hotel room well in advance.

See you in Boston in May!!!  

Determining optimal exercise dose for the biceps femoris in rehabilitation training of sacro-iliac pain patients.

A link between sacro-iliac (SI) type pain and alterations in biceps femoris recruitment affecting lumbopelvic stability has been widely described. In TMG100 tensiomyography assessments of patients with SI complaints it is common to find significant bilateral differences in biceps femoris contraction properties. Most often the biceps femoris on the affected side will have a longer contraction time (Tc) than on the opposite side. This suggests that, during walking and running, the affected muscle produces its peak power later than on the opposite side potentially placing excessive stresses on the SI joint.

It is common practice to prescribe activation exercises to acutely and chronically decrease contraction time, with the aim to firstly increase fast motor unit activation and secondly to increase the fast fiber type ratio in the biceps femoris. During therapeutic exercise and rehabilitation training it is important to avoid excessive local muscle fatigue since this would only further increase the functional imbalance between both biceps femoris muscles, thus leading to a further deterioration of lumbopelvic stability and possible onset of discomfort.

In order to define the appropriate dose of exercises, i.e. number of repetitions and sets, TMG100 is used to monitor the muscle's response to the activation exercise. After each short set of repetitions TMG100 parameters are checked; a decrease in contraction time and increase in radial displacement suggest muscle potentiation, while an increase in contraction time and decrease in radial displacement suggest local muscle fatigue. When the latter is detected during this simple test, we can determine the dose of exercise that can be done before local muscle fatigue sets in, safeguarding the positive effects of rehabilitation training on lumbopelvic stability. TMG100 tensiomyography can also be used to monitor resting contraction times before each rehabilitation session; decreases in contraction time suggest chronic changes in muscle fibre type ratios towards fast fibre types, which should contribute to improvements in lumbopelvic stability in the long term. In these cases TMG100 tensiomyography not only provides deeper insights into possible disorder mechanisms, but it also serves as a tool to monitor the effects of rehabilitation training on specific muscles so that training programmes and schedules can be optimized for higher efficacy and efficiency in rehabilitation trainnig.

Visit and learn more from the TMG team at the 2014 BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 16 & 17th

Interview by Mike Robertson

Robertsontrainingsystems.com

DAVE TENNEY

SPEAKER AT BSMPG 2014 CATAPULT PERFORMANCE DIRECTOR MEETING

I am currently the Sports Science & Performance Manager for the Seattle Sounders FC of MLS. This is a new job title, and fairly unique role because it involves the management of all personnel, methodology, & philosophy related to fitness, strength & conditioning, and sports science.

In our performance & sports science group, I am lucky to have Ravi Ramineni (data analyst) and Chad Kolarcik (head of strength & conditioning) both on board in full-time roles as well. We are also considering adding a full-time youth performance coach sometime soon as well.

At what point in time did you realize you wanted to make soccer your life/career? Were you always into soccer growing up?

I think when I went down to Virginia Tech to play soccer, I began to think that this was something that I really wanted to do.

After my freshman year of playing there, I was fortunate enough to have a summer trial with the junior team of Bordeaux FC in France.Seeing that level of play, and being able to watch the absolute top level of soccer (France would soon dominate world soccer a couple of years after that), I was hooked, and convinced that this was something I would want to take seriously – as both a coach & player – for the rest of my life.

Tell us about your career arc – it seems as though you’ve been everywhere!

Well, following from my Virginia Tech and French experience, I must say that my actual playing career ended up being extremely average.

I ended up playing for a couple years in the minor leagues of Germany and then seven years in the various incarnations of the indoor professional leagues here in the US. At 29, I’d had enough of the minor league pro circuit, and found that my true passion may be coaching.

Click HERE to continue reading original interview on robertsontrainingsystems.com

Mission of the BSMPG Performance Director Forum: To provide the leaders in performance training and medical oversight an opportunity to engage with leaders of similar attitude, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit, while pursuing innovative strategies in performance methodology. 

Date: Sunday May 18, 2014

Location:  Boston, MA

Invitations & Enquiries: This is an invite only event. If you are interested in joining the leaders in performance training and medicine for a day of interaction, debate, and real insight, then please send an email expressing your interest in this limited capacity event to bostonsmpg@gmail.com.  

*Please note: The BSMPG Performance Director Leadership Forum is an invitation-only event and is limited to the top senior professionals in order to maintain the quality and relevance of attendees.  An invitation to the "BSMPG Performance Director Leadership Forum" is at the sole discretion of the organizers and the team of advisors.

Agenda: 

8:30-9:00 am  Registration and Breakfast

9:00-10:00 am Evaluation of the Elite Athlete - Fergus Connolly

10:00-11:00 am Monitorning the Elite Athlete - Dave Tenney

11:00-11:30 am Roundtable Discussion / Break

12:30-1:30 pm Networking Luncheon

1:30-2:30 pm Creating a Performance Team - Fergus Connolly

2:30-3:30 pm Developing a Vision with Management - Mike Zarren, Assistant GM, Boston Celtics

4:30-5:30 pm Sports Performance: What's Next? - Fergus Connolly

6:00-9:00 pm  Performance Directors Dinner   

To learn more about the 2014 Performance Director Forum click HERE. 

Dave Tenney Joins the CATAPULT Performance Directors Meeting  - May 18, 2014

David Tenney was named the Sounders FC fitness coach on January 9, 2009. He is one of Major League Soccer’s most respected and highly-regarded fitness coaches following two years in Kansas City. On January 1, 2014, Tenney was named Sports Science & Performance Manager for the Sounders. Tenney’s Sports Science & Performance department is the first of its kind in MLS — and is tasked with collecting and analyzing the physiological, physical, and tactical data related to performance, fatigue, and injury prediction. Prior to the Seattle Sounders, Tenney held similar positions with the Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting KC), the George Mason’s Men’s & Women’s teams, and the Washington Freedom (women’s professional soccer).

Tenney holds a Bachelor’s degree in Coaching Science from George Mason University (VA), and a Master’s degree in Exercise Science - Performance Enhancement/Injury Prevention from California University of PA. He also holds a European Soccer ‘A’ license from the Czech Republic FA, and an NSCAA ‘Premier’ diploma.  

Mission of the BSMPG Performance Director Forum: To provide the leaders in performance training and medical oversight an opportunity to engage with leaders of similar attitude, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit, while pursuing innovative strategies in performance methodology. 

Date: Sunday May 18, 2014

Location:  Boston, MA

Invitations & Enquiries: This is an invite only event. If you are interested in joining the leaders in performance training and medicine for a day of interaction, debate, and real insight, then please send an email expressing your interest in this limited capacity event to bostonsmpg@gmail.com.  

*Please note: The BSMPG Performance Director Leadership Forum is an invitation-only event and is limited to the top senior professionals in order to maintain the quality and relevance of attendees.  An invitation to the "BSMPG Performance Director Leadership Forum" is at the sole discretion of the organizers and the team of advisors.

Agenda: 

8:30-9:00 am  Registration and Breakfast

9:00-10:00 am Evaluation of the Elite Athlete - Fergus Connolly

10:00-11:00 am Monitorning the Elite Athlete - Dave Tenney

11:00-11:30 am Roundtable Discussion / Break

12:30-1:30 pm Networking Luncheon

1:30-2:30 pm Creating a Performance Team - Fergus Connolly

2:30-3:30 pm Developing a Vision with Management - Mike Zarren, Assistant GM, Boston Celtics

4:30-5:30 pm Sports Performance: What's Next? - Fergus Connolly

6:00-9:00 pm  Performance Directors Dinner   

To learn more about the 2014 Performance Director Forum click HERE. 

Sport Performance Team: A multidisciplinary applied sport science approach to athlete performance development provides the best foundation for success as strength and conditioning specialists, athletic trainers, physicians, dietitians, sport coaches, sport psychologists, and exercise physiologists are interconnected and work in concert. This approach creates a sound and effective sport training program based on scientific principles intended to produce outcomes that are sensitive and specific to the sport while accounting for any potential medical limitation and builds a foundation for long-term athlete development.

Register for the ONLY seminar that promotes and integrates the collaborative efforts of all SPORTS PERFORMANCE TEAM members.

BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 16-17, 2014 Boston MA

by Jeff Cubos

In November I had the privilege of attending the Functional Anatomic Palpation and Functional Range Release (spine module) course hosted by Somatic Senses.

This course was taught by Drs. Andreo Spina and Michael Chivers, and while I’ve known both of these bright individuals  for over 10 years, it’s always a treat to hear what they have to say.

Because it would be difficult for me to write a summary for those who were unable to attend (the course is full of contextual information), I thought I would do something a little different and recap some of Dr. Spina’s quotes from the seminar and directly ask him for follow up clarification.

He kindly agreed so enjoy!

.

“Don’t focus on the muscles, focus on the connective tissues”

“When you stop to think about it, what is a muscle?  Is a collection of components – proteins (actin, myosin, etc.), the innervating motor neuron, and the connective tissue encasements.  When one applies a ‘release’ technique what is the intent?  It’s not to pull apart Actin and Myosin cross bridges as that simply requires movement.  Its not to rip out the innervating motor neuron for obvious reasons.  So we are left with connective tissue, which is in fact where “fibrosis” or “scar” tissue develops as these two terms simply refer to disorganized connective tissue.  So if connective tissue is in fact the target, we must employ strategies that most strongly influence change in it.  This isn’t simply a matter of nomenclature.  The literature is quite clear about how connective tissue adapts to applied loads vs other tissues and thus, we cannot simply assume that our approaches are affecting it.  This change in mentality/focus is really at the heart of the FR Release® system.”

“Instead of flossing the nerve, load it”

“I don’t recall why I used the word ‘instead’… “Load the nerve in addition to flossing techniques” would be more accurate.  The reason for the loading comment stems from the fact that approximately 80% of neural tissue is composed of connective tissue.  Thus, as with all other forms of connective tissue, it will adapt to applied demands.  Very briefly, progressively loading neural tissue can produce beneficial results by way of improving the tissues resilience and load absorption capacity.  This will in turn decrease the likelihood of neural tissue damage during movement/physical activity.  Of course this doesn’t mean that one should utilize nerve loading on everybody…there are steps and progressions that one must employ to create the desired effect safely that you will recall we discussed at the certification seminar.

A quick note on ‘flossing’…I always found it bizarre that some practitioners prescribe flossing exercises on the first visit for patients with radicular symptoms.  If the premise is that there is some sort of “entrapment” or frictional irritation affecting the nerve, presumably due to the build up of scar tissue/fibrosis, why then would some recommend flossing the nerve repetitively along said irritant?  I would always recommend that the tissue should to be re-sculpted (by way of manual treatment…provided over a course of time) PRIOR to implementing such exercises.”

“The first job in rehab is to influence (aka normalize) the healing of damaged tissue”

“If you look at any definition of ‘rehabilitation’ you will find the word ‘restore’ which is to repair something so as to return it to its original condition.  When any injury/tissue damage occurs, the bodies inherent restorative systems are looking to do just that.  However, as we all know, these systems are far from perfect stemming from the fact that they were not created by design, but rather by the evolutionary process of natural selection that produces adaptations that are often imperfect.

 

Continue to read Jeff's article by clicking HERE 

 

 

See Dr. Spina in Boston May 2-4th for SPINE module.

Register for this event by clicking HERE