Topics: Art Horne, Brian McCormick, Brijesh Patel, Devan McConnell, Charlie Weingroff, Adriaan Louw, Bruce Williams, Cal Dietz, Bill Knowles, Bobby Alejo
With the return of student-athletes to campus, it’s important to remember that not all of these high performing athletes have matching movement IQ’s when it comes to the fundamental hip hinge pattern. In a previous post, The Hip Hinge: The Best Exercise You're Not Teaching In Your Rehabilitation Program, we discussed the need for this fundamental movement pattern within your current rehabilitation program and detailed a solid progression from the simplest of patterning exercises to high level Kettle bell training.
Yet, with the return of classes there appears to be a need for a much easier starting point to begin this fundamental pattern from for those athletes that continue to have difficulty performing this pattern, or for those that require feedback when you are not around (ie: home program).
For the most challenging patients, begin this pattern facing a simple office desk chair. Place your knees to the front edge of the chair while allowing feet to sit underneath. Continue to utilize a broomstick or PVC pipe to ensure your patient maintains a neutral spine while maintaining ALL THREE POINTS OF CONTACT (head, back, butt crack). By demanding all three points, the athlete is forced to hinge at the hips and NOT perform a squat pattern in an effort to satisfy the exercise request. Refer back to the previously mentioned article for additional teaching points and progressions.
Stand facing chair with knees pressed either directly against edge with feet underneath.
While keeping your spine straight and cervical spine in a neutral position, push hips backward.
Forehead should travel directly towards top of chair. Eye gaze should be directly at this point and not upwards which increases likelihood of cervical extension and loss of important joint centration along with neck neutrality.
Perform hip hinge pattern without pushing chair forward and/or touching chair edge with knees. Chair should not move during the execution of this exercise.
Be sure to maintain three points of contact with PVC pipe.
Start position End position
Topics: Charlie Weingroff, Hip Hinge
Question to Charlie via charlieweingroff.com:
I wanted to know your opinion on training without shoes or using the Vibrams or other brands.
Also I have extremely flat feet. How do you think this will impact me?
As a blanket statement, I’d like to think and say that I’d like to get everyone doing as much as possible in most general physical preparedness barefoot.
And that statement is vague and non-committal intentionally. I often wrestle with the list of benefits that make so much sense but then there are some antagonistic thoughts that also make a lot of sense too.
1) My favor for training barefoot does not include running without progression. I am not well schooled in running form and the effects of different footwear. Part of this is whenever I seem to read something, even of alleged substance, there is anecdotal success in every option. Maybe this is why I can’t get into these topics because everybody has something different to say in terms of heel strike, etc. Some say bad; others say no difference like the research we see coming out of the US Army. I wasn’t particularly moved by their presentation at SOMA as they had no control for the rest of the body in terms of the default pattern that the subjects were coached to use.
Bottom line is I think running barefoot should be progressed into with great caution, and it may not be for everybody. This is just not a topic that has a lot of gravity for me in all honesty.
2) What does have gravity for me is training barefoot. Eliminating the sole of a shoe allowing for uptake of tactile proprioception is a very big victory. Variables such as improved technical proficiency of fundamental and training patterns and subjective recovery are things that stick out as often remarkable changes from training barefoot.
Continue reading article by clicking HERE.
Learn more about barefoot training, barefoot pitfalls, and how to best incorporate barefoot work into your existing training programs by reading, BAREFOOT IN BOSTON.
Topics: Charlie Weingroff, BSMPG Summer Seminar
On Oct 25-27, Charlie Weingroff will be filming his second DVD while delivering his integrated evaluation, treatment, and strength approach to those lucky enough to attend this Boston based seminar.
This is the long-awaited sequel to Charlie's initial DVD release and is sure to be an absolute monster!!
Charlie's first DVD, Training=Rehab, Rehab=Training was a 12+ hour, 6-disc set shot on-location over a weekend at an Equinox Fitness Club in New York City and documented Dr. Weingroff’s continuing efforts to reinvent and redefine the language between the rehabilitation and performance enhancement training landscapes.
This seminar, which will be shot on-location at IRON BODY STUDIOS in Needham, MA looks to build off of Charlie's first DVD while exploring new depths of strength and performance - A must for any sports medicine or performance coach looking to catapult their clients to new levels.
Charlie is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, a Certified Athletic Trainer, and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. He was most recently the Director of Physical Performance and Resiliency and Lead Physical Therapist for the United States Marines Corps Special Operations Command in Camp Lejeune, NC. He is also Director of Clinical Education for the Vibraflex Whole-Body Vibration and Andante Medical, the makers of the SmartStep, mobile force plate. He graduated from Ursinus College with a degree in Exercise and Sports Science in 1996, and went on to earn an MSPT in 1999 and DPT in 2010 from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Prior to returning to his home state of New Jersey in the Fall of 2006 after 12 seasons of professional basketball, he was the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach and Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA. Among the highlights of his tenure in Philadelphia was being part of the medical staff that ranked 1st in the NBA in Player Missed Games in the 2005-06 season.
Through rehabbing patients, he subscribes to a movement-based approach popularized by the works of Dr. Vladimir Janda, Dr. Shirley Sahrmann, Dr. Stuart McGill, and Gray Cook. In training athletes and clients, he champions the principles of the Functional Movement Screen and sound, evidence-based training principles. Some of the methodologies Charlie is formally trained in include DNS, ART, Dry Needling, Graston, FMS/SFMA, and the RKC.
Aside from working with patients, athletes and clients, he is also under the bar himself. In 2007, he achieved AAPF Elite status in the 220 weight class with a total of 1915 pounds. His best powerlifting competition total is 800 squat, 510 bench press and 605 deadlift.
Currently Charlie is training and rehabbing clients of all types at Drive495 in Manhattan, NYC and Fit For Life in Marlboro, NJ. Charlie often teaches and speaks internationally and consults regularly with Nike, the Roddick-Lavalle Tennis Academy, Perform Better, and Equinox Fitness Clubs.
Charlie lives with his wife, Kristen, and dog, Rumble, in NJ. You’re welcome to email him at charlie@charlieweingroff.com with questions for the Q&A section, to offer a comment, or to discuss a potential workshop at your facility.
Enjoy this clip from Charlie's first DVD set - The Core and Diaphragm
Topics: Charlie Weingroff
Click below to see highlights from our 2013 BSMPG Summer Seminar featuring Bill Knowles.
More highlights are set to come in the next few weeks so stay tuned!
A special thanks again to our SPONSORS!
Topics: Charlie Weingroff, BSMPG Summer Seminar, Bill Knowles
Click below to see highlights from our 2013 BSMPG Summer Seminar featuring Marco Cardinale.
More highlights are set to come in the next few weeks so stay tuned!
A special thanks again to our SPONSORS!
Topics: Charlie Weingroff, BSMPG Summer Seminar, Marco Cardinale
"In an experimental study designed in part to measure fear-avoidance behavior, 50 patients with chronic pain were randomly divided into 2 groups prior to performing a leg flexion test. One group was informed that the test could lead to a slight increase in pain, whereas the other group was told the test was painless. The patients who were told that there would be an increase in pain reported stronger pain and performed fewer leg flexion repetitions than those who received neutral instructions."
Pfingsten M, Leibing E, Harter W, et al. Fear-avoidance behavior and anticipation of pain in patients with chronic low back pain: a randomized control study. Pain Med.2001;2:259-266.
"Moerman and Jones have suggested thinking about placebo in a new and different way, a way that can help clinicians foster positive desired effects. They explain their contention by analyzing 2 fascinating studies. In the first, a group of medical students are asked to participate in a study of 2 new drugs, one a tranquilizer and the other a stimulant. Each student was given a packet containing either 1 or 2 blue or red tablets. The students were not told that all the tablets were inert and contained no medicine. After taking the tablets, the students' responses to a questionnaire indicated that the red tablets acted as stimulants, whereas the blue ones acted as depressants; taking 2 tablets had more effects than taking just 1. The students were not responding to the inert tables. Instead, they were responding to "meanings" in the experiment, specifically that red generally means up, hot, or danger, whereas the blue means down, cool, or quiet; and the 2 pills will be twice as strong as 1."
Blackwell B, Bloomfield SS, Buncher CR. Demonstration to medical students of placebo responses and non-drug factors. Lancet.1972;299:1289-1282. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(72)90996-8.
“The practice of medicine, including physical therapy, is infiltrated with meaning, from the vernacular of medical language to the tradition of dress, rituals, paperwork, waiting room, and formality, each of which can exert positive or negative influences on our patients. Furthermore, clinician mannerisms (enthusiastic or lukewarm) and language (positive or negative) impart meaning to the patient and can influence outcomes.” Flynn, p.440
Topics: Charlie Weingroff, BSMPG Summer Seminar
Click below to see highlights from our 2013 BSMPG Summer Seminar featuring Val Nasedkin.
More highlights are set to come in the next few weeks so stay tuned!
A special thanks again to our SPONSORS!
Topics: Charlie Weingroff, Adriaan Louw, Val Nasedkin, Joel Jamieson, Marco Cardinale, Stuart McGill
“Foot Musculature in Relation to Pelvic Cuff Rotator: Intrinsic foot function is coordinated with pelvic muscle function via striated muscle nerve innervations from sacral nerve roots 2,3,4 % 5. These nerve roots are responsible for innervations of the external urethral and anal sphincters, pelvic and urogenital diaphragm, obturator internus, gluteal and foot intrinsic muscles.
The human embryo reabsorbs the tail during weeks five and six. During this caudal regression process, asymmetrical or symmetrical neuronal loss may occur affecting sacral roots 2,3,4 & 5. It is common that motor deficits in the feet can be correlated with dysfunction in the PRC. Asymmetrical or symmetrical inability to abduct the toes or intrinsic muscle atrophy in the feet can indicate pelvic muscle dysfunction with neurological origin, as describe by Galloway.
Intrinsic foot musculature is also interconnected with the PRC via fascial planes. The PRC interconnects with the sacrotuberous ligament, which connects to the biceps femoris, a hamstring muscle. The biceps femoris interdigitates via fascia with the posterior tibialis and peroneal muscles. The posterior tibialis and peroneal muscles have fascial links to the foot intrinsic muscles.
In theory, strengthening the intrinsic foot muscles and stimulating sensory nerve fibers in the foot can improve PRC strength and function. Strengthening the PRC muscles may improve foot and ankle strength. Abnormal gait and standing posture can contribute to significant pelvic muscle dysfunction and vice versa.” (pg 32-33)
Solving the Mystery of the Pelvic Rotator Cuff In Human Function and Movement
-Janet A. Hulme
Topics: Charlie Weingroff
"As with many interventions intended to prevent ill health, the effectiveness of parachutes has not been subjected to rigorous evaluation by using randomised controlled trials. Advocates of evidence based medicine have criticised the adoptionof interventions evaluated by using only observational data. We think that everyone might benefit if the most radical protagonists of evidence based medicine organized and participated in a double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, crossover trial of the parachute."
- Smith & Pell, 2003
Topics: Charlie Weingroff, evidence based medicine
“The residents who live here, according to the parable, began noticing increasing numbers of drowning people caught in the river’s swift current and so went to work inventing ever more elaborate technologies to resuscitate them. So preoccupied were these heroic villagers with rescue and treatment that they never thought to look UPSTREAM to see who was pushing the victims in.”
Learn what is hurting your feet and your performance, and how to finally train your feet the way they were meant to be.
