Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group, LLC Blog

Are you doing a good job?

One way to approach your work:

"I come in on time, even a little early. I do what the boss asks, a bit faster than she expects. I stay on time and on budget, and I'm hardworking and loyal."

The other way: "What aren't they asking me to do that I can do, learn from, make an impact, and possibly fail (yet survive)? What's not on my agenda that I can fight to put there? Who can I frighten, what can I learn, how can I go faster, what sort of legacy am I creating?"

You might very well be doing a good job. But that doesn't mean you're a linchpin, the one we'll miss. For that, you have to stop thinking about the job and start thinking about your platform, your point of view and your mission.

It's entirely possible you work somewhere that gives you no option but to merely do a job. If that's actually true, I wonder why someone with your potential would stay...

In the post-industrial revolution, the very nature of a job is outmoded. Doing a good job is no guarantee of security, advancement or delight.

They say the selection committee rewards those that challenge themselves early in the year.

The ones that seek out difficult opponents; the ones that never back down.

It’s true that the little guys may not win them all, but the effort and determination demonstrated is surely worth considering against someone of a “higher” stature but never challenges themselves.

So, while you’re enjoying the beginning of March madness and hovered around co-worker’s computers watching buzzer beaters and last second shots consider this:

Have you sought out difficult projects this past year? Have you volunteered to take on the massive assignment that everyone else refuses to do? Or are you happy with your numerous completions and office victories on sub-par tasks?

Would the selection committee choose you?

Art Horne is the Coordinator of Care and Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Men’s Basketball Team at Northeastern University, Boston MA.  He can be reached at a.horne@neu.edu.

As an athletic trainer I provide regular and constructive feedback to my patients.  Statements such as “Relax your traps and pinch your scapulas together,” or “Maintain this position,” or “Nope, you need to contract this muscle first,” routinely roll off my tongue.  All these corrections and advice are focused on getting my patients better.  Without supervision, oversight, and criticism of a patient’s treatment or rehabilitation plan I am doing them a disservice.

Observing a strength and conditioning session performed by a colleague the other day, I was quite impressed with the enthusiasm, motivation, and feedback he provided.  Echoing through the weight room are words of wisdom like “Don’t let your knees go over your toes,” or “Head up, chest out,” or my all time favorite “Do it right and we will get bigger, faster, stronger today.”  Immediately reflecting back on that day, I took away how much attention, education, and constructive criticism went into that one session.  All of these qualities demonstrated during the training were essential for the improvement of the athlete.

We owe it to our athletes to be critical of their performance.  We need to educate them all the time on items such as proper technique and appropriate activation of muscle. Without these pieces of feedback their recovery will be delayed or performance progression inhibited.  Going to extreme measures to provide appropriate feedback to our athletes are what quality athletic trainers and strength coaches do.  So I ask myself, why do we walk down a one way street?

When is the last time you critiqued your co-worker?  Can you recall correcting their treatment plan with validated research?  Have you changed a peer’s practice pattern by suggesting a more appropriate exercise?

As athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches are we doing a disservice to our profession by not providing timely and appropriate feedback of each other.  Why are we so afraid to be critical of one another, yet in the next breathe assess our athletes all for their benefit? 

Challenge yourself to not be defensive when a colleague points out something you are doing wrong, or shows you a better way (I mean we can’t be right all the time).  Embrace that opportunity as a way to get better.  Take some ownership in educating the person next to you; demand them to be critical of you.  If feedback is so important to those we service every day, it must be important for our improvement as well.

So ask yourself, can we make it a two-way street?

Scot Spak EdM, ATC, CSCS
Athletic Trainer
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

While many athletic trainers and strength coaches look to the summer as a time to relax, a few view this time to L-EARN. 

It’s not by accident that the most successful professionals that I know across both disciplines often spend their summers L-EARNing. 

They’re also the ones that EARN the most money.

Art Horne is the Coordinator of Care and Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Men’s Basketball Team at Northeastern University, Boston MA.  He can be reached at a.horne@neu.edu.

I remember walking into Gross Anatomy lab and seeing the cadaver stripped down to only bones and muscles - everything else was taken out and discarded. It just wasn't that important.

This initial introduction to the human body just never quite sat well with me-

It was too clean, too simple, too rudimentary.

""A" attaches to "B" and causes "Y" to happen. Don't worry about "D"", the professor would tell you, "that's for next class and it doesn't influence what we are talking about today or change "Y" anyway."

Is it any wonder why most of us still associate the human anatomy as a simple construct of levers, hinges and force vectors with little to no interplay between independent parts.  I've made plenty of mistakes in my career, but the one that kept me from truly understanding human movement and appreciating dysfunctional patterns was the role and influence of fascia.  It took a colleague many years ago to demonstrate how a simple pull on her sweater caused a change in tension far from where it was originally pulled. 

A simple, yet powerful example of how fascia influences our every move.

Interested in more information on fascia?

1. See author of Anatomy Trains, Tom Myers speak at the 2011 BSMPG summer seminar.

2. See information below for the 2012 meeting in Vancouver, Canada.  Read Leon Chaitlow's post below or read proceedings from the 2007 and 2009 Fascia Research Congress Meetings.

3. Read Leon Chaitow's post on fascia research by clicking HERE.

Click HERE for the 2007 Fascia Research Congress Proceedings Book Overview

Click HERE for the 2009 Fascia Research Congress Proceedings Book Overview

Patrick Ward writes a fantastic article on the SFMA Assessment and Anatomy Trains.  See Anatomy Trains author, Tom Myers at this year's BSMPG summer conference - June 3rd and 4th.

SFMA and Anatomy Trains: Concepts For Assessment and Treatment by Patrick Ward

.... you might just end up being fired with enthusiasm.

T.G.I.F - Thank Goodness I'm Fired-Up! 

Mark Toomey (right) pictured here with Pavel Tsatsouline.

I first met Mark at an SFMA course this past summer and although I signed up for the two day course and appreciated everything the course had to offer, I found myself returning for the second day solely to speak with Mark. To say Mark is electric and a true master of his trade would be a severe understatement – his energy and world experiences in elite level training along with his many experiences with rehabilitation is sure to enlighten and invigorate all those that hear him speak.  Along with Dr. Di Muro, Mark’s presentation will explore how best to approach pain management, rehabilitation and training from a truly integrated and patient centered approach.

Conference Agenda and Registration details for Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants, are coming soon.

Be sure to save the date and plan on joining us June 3rd and 4th in Boston this coming summer.

Art Horne is the Coordinator of Care and Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Men’s Basketball Team at Northeastern University, Boston MA.  He can be reached at a.horne@neu.edu.

Three ways to help people get things done

A friend sent me a copy of a new book about basketball coach Don Meyer. Don was one of the most successful college basketball coaches of all time, apparently. It's quite a sad book—sad because of his tragic accident, but also sad because it's a vivid story about a misguided management technque.

Meyer's belief was that he could become an external compass and taskmaster to his players. By yelling louder, pushing harder and relentlessly riding his players, his plan was to generate excellence by bullying them. The hope was that over time, people would start pushing themselves, incorporating Don's voice inside their head, but in fact, this often turns out to be untrue. People can be pushed, but the minute you stop, they stop. If the habit you've taught is to achieve in order to avoid getting chewed out, once the chewing out stops, so does the achievement.

It might win basketball games, but it doesn't scale and it doesn't last. When Don left the room (or the players graduated), the team stopped winning.

A second way to manage people is to create competition. Pit people against one another and many of them will respond. Post all the grades on a test, with names, and watch people try to outdo each other next time. Promise a group of six managers that one of them will get promoted in six months and watch the energy level rise. Want to see little league players raise their game? Just let them know the playoffs are in two weeks and they're one game out of contention.

Again, there's human nature at work here, and this can work in the short run. The problem, of course, is that in every competition most competitors lose. Some people use that losing to try harder next time, but others merely give up. Worse, it's hard to create the cooperative environment that fosters creativity when everyone in the room knows that someone else is out to defeat them.
Both the first message (the bully with the heart of gold) and the second (creating scarce prizes) are based on a factory model, one of scarcity. It's my factory, my basketball, my gallery and I'm going to manipulate whatever I need to do to get the results I need. If there's only room for one winner, it seems these approaches make sense.

The third method, the one that I prefer, is to open the door. Give people a platform, not a ceiling. Set expectations, not to manipulate but to encourage. And then get out of the way, helping when asked but not yelling from the back of the bus.
When people learn to embrace achievement, they get hooked on it. Take a look at the incredible achievements the alumni of some organizations achieve after they move on. When adults (and kids) see the power of self-direction and realize the benefits of mutual support, they tend to seek it out over and over again.

In a non-factory mindset, one where many people have the opportunity to use the platform (I count the web and most of the arts in this category), there are always achievers eager to take the opportunity. No, most people can't manage themselves well enough to excel in the way you need them to, certainly not immediately. But those that can (or those that can learn to) are able to produce amazing results, far better than we ever could have bullied them into. They turn into linchpins, solving problems you didn't even realize you had. A new generation of leaders is created...

And it lasts a lifetime.

In discussing a case of stress fractures with some friends recently, the concept of Load vs. Mechanics was discussed.

“It’s all load. Too much running, too much conditioning heading into the season,” suggested the athletic trainer in the room.

“No, no, no – that kid was set up to fail from the start. She’s got funny feet and that’s the reason. Everyone else ran the same distance and didn’t have a problem.”

The conversation ultimately boiled down to this:

Are you applying an unreasonable amount of load to normal mechanics or are you applying a reasonable amount of load to unusual mechanics?

Yes, too much load too fast will always get you there, but having “abnormal” mechanics will certainly ensure that you get there a whole lot faster.

My father would always tell me that every time you point your finger there are three others pointing right back at you.

So the next time your athlete walks in reporting a stress fracture don’t be so quick to point the finger at the group down the hall, and instead ask yourself if that athlete suffered their injury from load or mechanics and what you did to screen, monitor and address the problem BEFORE it sidelined them.

Art Horne is the Coordinator of Care and Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Men’s Basketball Team at Northeastern University, Boston MA.  He can be reached at a.horne@neu.edu.