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New Functional Training for Sports
256 Pages
Michael Boyle, one of the world’s leading sport performance coaches, presents the concepts, methods, exercises, and programs that maximize athletes’ movements in competition. A series of functional assessments help in determining the design of a specific plan for each athlete. Self-reinforcing progressions in exercises for the lower body, core, upper body, and ultimately total body give athletes the balance, proprioception, stability, strength, and power they require for excelling in their sports. Sample programs assist in the customization process and cover each aspect of preparation for physical performance.
Boyle also draws on the latest research and his wealth of experience to offer programming advice and recommendations on foam rolling, stretching, and dynamic warm-ups.
New Functional Training for Sports goes beyond traditional exercise descriptions and explanations, incorporating full-color, high-definition composites of foundational movements as well as online access to video demonstrations, commentary, and analysis of key exercises.
New Functional Training for Sports is a refined and expanded version of Boyle’s original work published more than a decade previously. This edition offers the most current functional training expertise to apply to your specific purposes.
Note: A code for accessing online videos is included with all print books.
Chapter 2. Analyzing the Demands of the Sport
Chapter 3. Assessing Functional Strength
Chapter 4. Designing a Program
Chapter 5. Foam Rolling, Stretching, and Dynamic Warm-Up
Chapter 6. Lower Body Training
Chapter 7. Core Training
Chapter 8. Upper Body Training
Chapter 9. Plyometric Training
Chapter 10. Olympic Lifting
Chapter 11. Performance Enhancement Programs
Michael Boyle is one of the foremost experts in the fields of strength and conditioning, functional training, and general fitness. He is known internationally for his pioneering work and is an in-demand speaker at strength and conditioning conferences and athletic training clinics around the world.
Because of his expertise in sport performance training, Boyle has coached elite athletes on teams such as the Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, New England Revolution, and Boston Breakers as well as the U.S. women’s Olympic teams in soccer and ice hockey. In 2012, Boyle joined the Boston Red Sox coaching staff as a strength and conditioning consultant for the team, which later won the World Series. His client list over the years reads like a Who’s Who of athletic success, including retired American football defensive end Marcellus Wiley, 2012 Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison, and Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge.
Boyle was the head strength and conditioning coach at Boston University (BU) from 1984 to 1997. From 1990 to 2012 he was the strength and conditioning coach for men’s ice hockey at BU.
Boyle provides performance-enhancement training for athletes of all levels through his Boston-based gym, Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, which has been named one of America’s 10 Best Gyms by Men’s Health magazine. Boyle’s range of experience includes training athletes from the middle school level to all-stars in most major professional sports.
Boyle is the owner and editor of StrengthCoach.com, a website dedicated to educating strength and conditioning coaches and personal trainers.
“Michael Boyle has trained some of the highest-performing athletes on the face of the earth and mentored most of the strength and conditioning coaches and personal trainers on the planet. He's a true pioneer in our field and, quite honestly, a living legend. I'm proud to have learned from Mike and even prouder to call him a friend.”
—Alwyn Cosgrove, Cofounder of Results Fitness
“Michael Boyle is one of the greatest resources in the human performance industry. Using the best science, industry standards, and his innate ability to create efficient ways to apply the learnings at scale, he is continually improving his knowledge base. New Functional Training for Sports is a great foundation for a young professional and can be an additional perspective for the best in our field.”
—Mark Verstegen, President and Founder of EXOS, Performance Director for the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), and Author of Every Day Is Game Day and the Core Performance series
“As a two-time Olympian who has worked closely with Michael Boyle since 2009, I can say with absolute certainty that he is the best there is. Without his guidance, knowledge, and constant support, I wouldn't be half the athlete I am today.”
—Meghan Duggan, Assistant Coach at Clarkson University and U.S. Women’s Hockey Team Captain
“Mike Boyle is someone I’ve given my utmost respect to as a fellow coach, trainer, and fitness professional for more than 20 years. His latest book, New Functional Training for Sports, is a must-read for any fitness pro, trainer, or coach desiring maximum success for clients or athletes. If you are serious about being a great coach, read this book and you will stay on the forefront of program design, functional training, and the latest techniques for preventing injury and maximizing performance.”
—Todd Durkin, MA, CSCS, Owner of Fitness Quest 10, Lead Training Advisor for Under Armour, and Author of The Impact Body Plan
“Michael Boyle’s New Functional Training for Sports grants you access to one of this world’s elite strength and conditioning coaches.”
—Kayla Harrison, Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo
“Michael’s personalized program enables athletes to consistently perform at their best."
—Gosder Cherilus, Offensive Tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Three Questions to Define Functional Training
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions. 1. How many sports are played sitting down? As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions.
- How many sports are played sitting down?
As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
- How many sports are played in a rigid environment where stability is provided by outside sources?
The answer would appear to be none. Most sports are contested on fields or courts. The stability is provided by the athlete, not by some outside source. Reasoning again would tell us that most machine-based training systems are not by definition functional because the load is stabilized for the lifter by the machine. Proponents of machine-based training systems might argue that machine-based training is safer, but there is a clear trade-off for relative safety in the weight room.
Although in theory machine-based training may result in fewer injuries during training, the lack of proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely lead to a greater number of injuries during competition.
- How many sports skills are performed by one joint acting in isolation?
Again, the answer is zero. Functional training attempts to focus on multijoint movement as much as possible. Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray, two widely recognized experts on functional training, state, "Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non functional. Multi-joint movements which integrate muscle groups into movement patterns are very functional" (2002, paragraph 13).
From the answers to those three questions we could probably agree that functional training is best characterized by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines.
Resistance to the concept of functional training often lies in the idea that "we have always done it this way." But, as Lee Cockrell appropriately asked in his book Creating Magic, "What if the way we have always done it was wrong?"
How Functional Training Works
In its most basic application, a functional training program prepares an athlete to play his sport. Functional training is not about using one sport to train an athlete for another sport. That's cross-training. Many collegiate strength programs confuse the two and, as a result, train their athletes to be powerlifters and Olympic-style weightlifters as much as they do to excel in their primary sports.
Functional training on the other hand uses many concepts developed by sport coaches to train speed, strength, and power in order to improve sport performance and reduce incidence of injury. The key in taking those concepts from the track coach or powerlifting expert is to apply them intelligently to athletes. They cannot be applied blindly from one sport to another. Rather, a program should carefully blend concepts and knowledge from areas such as sports medicine, physical therapy, and sports performance to create the best possible scenario for that particular athlete.
Functional training teaches athletes how to handle their own body weight and, in that sense, somewhat resembles the calisthenics so popular in the early 20th century. The coach initially uses body weight as resistance and strives to employ positions that make sense to the participant.
Functional training intentionally incorporates balance and proprioception (body awareness) into training through the use of unilateral exercises. Gambetta and Gray (2002, paragraph 8) state, "Functional training programs need to introduce controlled amounts of instability so that the athlete must react in order to regain their own stability." The best and simplest way to introduce instability is to simply ask an athlete to perform an exercise standing on one leg. By design, functional training utilizes single-leg movements that require balance to properly develop the muscles in the way they are used in sport. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
Functional training involves simple versions of squatting, forward bending, lunging, pushing, and pulling. The purpose is to provide a continuum of exercises that teach athletes to handle their own body weight in all planes of movement.
A final point on this: Functional training programs train movements, not muscles.There is no emphasis on overdeveloping strength in a particular movement; instead, emphasis is on attaining a balance between pushing and pulling strength and between knee-dominant hip extension (quadriceps and gluteals) and hip-dominant hip extension (hamstrings and gluteals).
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Foam Rolling Techniques and Tips
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise.
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise. The nice thing about the foam roller is that it can be used on a daily basis. In fact, Clair and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain (2004).
How long an athlete or client rolls is also individual. In our setting we allow 5 to 10 minutes for soft tissue work at the beginning of the session before the warm-up.
Let's now look at the primary areas of the body where athletes most benefit from foam rolling and the techniques used to get the best results. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a general rule of thumb is to do 10 slow rolls in each position. Often athletes or clients are encouraged to simply roll until the pain dissipates or disappears.
Foam Rolling the Gluteus Maximus and Hip Rotators
The hip rotators sit below the glutes. To roll the hips the athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt toward the side to be rolled and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators more specifically, the leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group on stretch (see figure 5.1).
Gluteus maximus and hip rotators.
Foam Rolling the Low Back
After rolling the hips, the athlete rolls the lower back area (see figure 5.2), tilting slightly right or left to get into the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, a large triangular muscle layered under the spinal erectors. If you have any concerns about spinal injury, skip the low back. We have never had any issues with rolling the lumbar spine, but use common sense and proceed with caution.
Low back.
Foam Rolling the Upper Back
The athlete moves up the body, continuing to roll the spinal erectors, the large layers of muscle on either side of the spine. When the athlete reaches the area between the shoulder blades, instruct him to try to touch the elbows together in front to get into the area known as the thoracic spine (see figure 5.3). Putting the elbows together places the shoulder blades as far apart as possible, allowing the roller to impact the lower trapezius and rhomboids.
Upper back.
Foam Rolling the Tensor Fasciae Latae and Gluteus Medius
The TFL and gluteus medius, although small muscles, can be significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest (see figure 5.4a). After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position and works from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius (see figure 5.4b).
(a) Tensor fasciae latae and (b) gluteus medius.
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Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Rotational Throws
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action. Medicine ball throws develop hip power by teaching the athlete to better utilize hip internal and external rotation to draw power from the ground. The goal is not torso rotation but rather powerful hip rotation. The objective is to learn to transfer ground forces through a relatively stiff and stable core.
Much like some of our other core exercises, we progress from either tall kneeling or half kneeling to standing throws and eventually to stepping throws. The lunge position is difficult for medicine ball throws, so we often progress from a kneeling variation directly to a standing variation, skipping the lunge position.
Half-Kneeling Side-Twist Throw
Progression 1
As with our other core progressions, for most beginners we start with a half-kneeling version of the side-twist throw (see figure 7.28). This will be phase 1 in most of our athlete programs. As mentioned before, physical therapist Gray Cook popularized the idea of eliminating joints for teaching purposes. The half-kneeling position teaches hip rotation in the throws by effectively taking out the knees and ankles. By having the inside (closest to the wall) knee up, the athlete or client is forced to use the hips and the kneeling (back side) glute.
We teach a long-arm, long-lever throw with the inside hand under the ball and the outside hand behind the ball. Make sure this is a long-lever rotation and not a push. Encourage the mental link to a shot or swing to teach the use of the long lever arm, and watch for athletes reverting to more of a push. Also, make the clients aware it will feel awkward on their nondominant side.
- Begin while half kneeling in a short lunge position, two to three feet (.6 to .9 m) from the wall; shoulders are perpendicular to the wall.
- The arms are long, with the front hand under the ball and the back hand behind.
- Think about throwing from the back knee and hip with some hip "pop."
Medicine ball half-kneeling side-twist throw.
Standing Side-Twist Throw
Progression 2
As mentioned earlier, we skip the lunge-position throws for a very simple logistical reason. Our athletes and clients struggled to maintain the lunge position and to focus on the throw itself, so now we simply skip to standing. In certain cases we start younger or older athletes or clients immediately in standing (see figure 7.29). For high school and college athletes, we stick with a progression from half kneeling to standing to stepping, but with middle school kids and our adults, we begin in standing and simply say, "Throw the ball as hard as you can." This emphasis on a gross motor pattern often overcomes some technical hurdles. In much the same way, older clients may be too stiff through the hips and core to benefit from the half-kneeling position the way an athlete does and may also start in standing. Remember, progressions are fluid suggestions, not rigid rules.
Medicine ball standing side-twist throw.
Side-Twist Throw With Step
Progression 3
The next step in the progression is to add movement to the throw. In progression 3, step toward the wall with the front foot to increase the force being generated from the back foot. Emphasis is on shifting weight from the back foot to the front. All other aspects of the side throw remain the same.
Two-Step Side-Twist Throw
Progression 4
In our fourth progression, the athlete takes two steps toward the wall. Obviously the client or athlete now needs to be farther away from the wall. The two-step throw is more aggressive and violent and really mimics the actions of shooting on the move. The two-step throw also places greater stress on the front foot and hip.
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Overhead Pressing
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom.
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom. This is a huge plus over using a straight bar for overhead presses. Overhead work will begin in half kneeling to stabilize the lumbar spine and to force the lifter to use the shoulders.
The most common mistake in overhead pressing is creating a backward lean or a lumbar arch that effectively turns the overhead press into an incline press. The backward lean allows the upper pecs to become active as in an incline press. However, the trade-off is a large stress to the lumbar spine.
Half-Kneeling Alternating Kettlebell Press
Baseline
My choice for where to start overhead work is with a half-kneeling stance and kettlebells. The offset nature of the kettlebell produces a natural external rotation moment at the shoulder, and this seems to recruit the subscapularis (a key shoulder stabilizer). Often athletes or clients who complain of overhead presses being uncomfortable will find the alternating kettlebell version to be completely pain free.
Begin with both kettlebells at shoulder level with the thumbs touching the front deltoids. Elbows are about 45 degrees to the torso. Press up with one kettlebell, driving the shoulder into internal rotation (thumb toward the face) (see figure 8.14). Reverse the motion in the descent and switch to the opposite side. Perform three sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Half-kneeling alternating kettlebell press.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Three Questions to Define Functional Training
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions. 1. How many sports are played sitting down? As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions.
- How many sports are played sitting down?
As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
- How many sports are played in a rigid environment where stability is provided by outside sources?
The answer would appear to be none. Most sports are contested on fields or courts. The stability is provided by the athlete, not by some outside source. Reasoning again would tell us that most machine-based training systems are not by definition functional because the load is stabilized for the lifter by the machine. Proponents of machine-based training systems might argue that machine-based training is safer, but there is a clear trade-off for relative safety in the weight room.
Although in theory machine-based training may result in fewer injuries during training, the lack of proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely lead to a greater number of injuries during competition.
- How many sports skills are performed by one joint acting in isolation?
Again, the answer is zero. Functional training attempts to focus on multijoint movement as much as possible. Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray, two widely recognized experts on functional training, state, "Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non functional. Multi-joint movements which integrate muscle groups into movement patterns are very functional" (2002, paragraph 13).
From the answers to those three questions we could probably agree that functional training is best characterized by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines.
Resistance to the concept of functional training often lies in the idea that "we have always done it this way." But, as Lee Cockrell appropriately asked in his book Creating Magic, "What if the way we have always done it was wrong?"
How Functional Training Works
In its most basic application, a functional training program prepares an athlete to play his sport. Functional training is not about using one sport to train an athlete for another sport. That's cross-training. Many collegiate strength programs confuse the two and, as a result, train their athletes to be powerlifters and Olympic-style weightlifters as much as they do to excel in their primary sports.
Functional training on the other hand uses many concepts developed by sport coaches to train speed, strength, and power in order to improve sport performance and reduce incidence of injury. The key in taking those concepts from the track coach or powerlifting expert is to apply them intelligently to athletes. They cannot be applied blindly from one sport to another. Rather, a program should carefully blend concepts and knowledge from areas such as sports medicine, physical therapy, and sports performance to create the best possible scenario for that particular athlete.
Functional training teaches athletes how to handle their own body weight and, in that sense, somewhat resembles the calisthenics so popular in the early 20th century. The coach initially uses body weight as resistance and strives to employ positions that make sense to the participant.
Functional training intentionally incorporates balance and proprioception (body awareness) into training through the use of unilateral exercises. Gambetta and Gray (2002, paragraph 8) state, "Functional training programs need to introduce controlled amounts of instability so that the athlete must react in order to regain their own stability." The best and simplest way to introduce instability is to simply ask an athlete to perform an exercise standing on one leg. By design, functional training utilizes single-leg movements that require balance to properly develop the muscles in the way they are used in sport. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
Functional training involves simple versions of squatting, forward bending, lunging, pushing, and pulling. The purpose is to provide a continuum of exercises that teach athletes to handle their own body weight in all planes of movement.
A final point on this: Functional training programs train movements, not muscles.There is no emphasis on overdeveloping strength in a particular movement; instead, emphasis is on attaining a balance between pushing and pulling strength and between knee-dominant hip extension (quadriceps and gluteals) and hip-dominant hip extension (hamstrings and gluteals).
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Foam Rolling Techniques and Tips
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise.
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise. The nice thing about the foam roller is that it can be used on a daily basis. In fact, Clair and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain (2004).
How long an athlete or client rolls is also individual. In our setting we allow 5 to 10 minutes for soft tissue work at the beginning of the session before the warm-up.
Let's now look at the primary areas of the body where athletes most benefit from foam rolling and the techniques used to get the best results. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a general rule of thumb is to do 10 slow rolls in each position. Often athletes or clients are encouraged to simply roll until the pain dissipates or disappears.
Foam Rolling the Gluteus Maximus and Hip Rotators
The hip rotators sit below the glutes. To roll the hips the athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt toward the side to be rolled and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators more specifically, the leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group on stretch (see figure 5.1).
Gluteus maximus and hip rotators.
Foam Rolling the Low Back
After rolling the hips, the athlete rolls the lower back area (see figure 5.2), tilting slightly right or left to get into the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, a large triangular muscle layered under the spinal erectors. If you have any concerns about spinal injury, skip the low back. We have never had any issues with rolling the lumbar spine, but use common sense and proceed with caution.
Low back.
Foam Rolling the Upper Back
The athlete moves up the body, continuing to roll the spinal erectors, the large layers of muscle on either side of the spine. When the athlete reaches the area between the shoulder blades, instruct him to try to touch the elbows together in front to get into the area known as the thoracic spine (see figure 5.3). Putting the elbows together places the shoulder blades as far apart as possible, allowing the roller to impact the lower trapezius and rhomboids.
Upper back.
Foam Rolling the Tensor Fasciae Latae and Gluteus Medius
The TFL and gluteus medius, although small muscles, can be significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest (see figure 5.4a). After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position and works from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius (see figure 5.4b).
(a) Tensor fasciae latae and (b) gluteus medius.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Rotational Throws
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action. Medicine ball throws develop hip power by teaching the athlete to better utilize hip internal and external rotation to draw power from the ground. The goal is not torso rotation but rather powerful hip rotation. The objective is to learn to transfer ground forces through a relatively stiff and stable core.
Much like some of our other core exercises, we progress from either tall kneeling or half kneeling to standing throws and eventually to stepping throws. The lunge position is difficult for medicine ball throws, so we often progress from a kneeling variation directly to a standing variation, skipping the lunge position.
Half-Kneeling Side-Twist Throw
Progression 1
As with our other core progressions, for most beginners we start with a half-kneeling version of the side-twist throw (see figure 7.28). This will be phase 1 in most of our athlete programs. As mentioned before, physical therapist Gray Cook popularized the idea of eliminating joints for teaching purposes. The half-kneeling position teaches hip rotation in the throws by effectively taking out the knees and ankles. By having the inside (closest to the wall) knee up, the athlete or client is forced to use the hips and the kneeling (back side) glute.
We teach a long-arm, long-lever throw with the inside hand under the ball and the outside hand behind the ball. Make sure this is a long-lever rotation and not a push. Encourage the mental link to a shot or swing to teach the use of the long lever arm, and watch for athletes reverting to more of a push. Also, make the clients aware it will feel awkward on their nondominant side.
- Begin while half kneeling in a short lunge position, two to three feet (.6 to .9 m) from the wall; shoulders are perpendicular to the wall.
- The arms are long, with the front hand under the ball and the back hand behind.
- Think about throwing from the back knee and hip with some hip "pop."
Medicine ball half-kneeling side-twist throw.
Standing Side-Twist Throw
Progression 2
As mentioned earlier, we skip the lunge-position throws for a very simple logistical reason. Our athletes and clients struggled to maintain the lunge position and to focus on the throw itself, so now we simply skip to standing. In certain cases we start younger or older athletes or clients immediately in standing (see figure 7.29). For high school and college athletes, we stick with a progression from half kneeling to standing to stepping, but with middle school kids and our adults, we begin in standing and simply say, "Throw the ball as hard as you can." This emphasis on a gross motor pattern often overcomes some technical hurdles. In much the same way, older clients may be too stiff through the hips and core to benefit from the half-kneeling position the way an athlete does and may also start in standing. Remember, progressions are fluid suggestions, not rigid rules.
Medicine ball standing side-twist throw.
Side-Twist Throw With Step
Progression 3
The next step in the progression is to add movement to the throw. In progression 3, step toward the wall with the front foot to increase the force being generated from the back foot. Emphasis is on shifting weight from the back foot to the front. All other aspects of the side throw remain the same.
Two-Step Side-Twist Throw
Progression 4
In our fourth progression, the athlete takes two steps toward the wall. Obviously the client or athlete now needs to be farther away from the wall. The two-step throw is more aggressive and violent and really mimics the actions of shooting on the move. The two-step throw also places greater stress on the front foot and hip.
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Overhead Pressing
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom.
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom. This is a huge plus over using a straight bar for overhead presses. Overhead work will begin in half kneeling to stabilize the lumbar spine and to force the lifter to use the shoulders.
The most common mistake in overhead pressing is creating a backward lean or a lumbar arch that effectively turns the overhead press into an incline press. The backward lean allows the upper pecs to become active as in an incline press. However, the trade-off is a large stress to the lumbar spine.
Half-Kneeling Alternating Kettlebell Press
Baseline
My choice for where to start overhead work is with a half-kneeling stance and kettlebells. The offset nature of the kettlebell produces a natural external rotation moment at the shoulder, and this seems to recruit the subscapularis (a key shoulder stabilizer). Often athletes or clients who complain of overhead presses being uncomfortable will find the alternating kettlebell version to be completely pain free.
Begin with both kettlebells at shoulder level with the thumbs touching the front deltoids. Elbows are about 45 degrees to the torso. Press up with one kettlebell, driving the shoulder into internal rotation (thumb toward the face) (see figure 8.14). Reverse the motion in the descent and switch to the opposite side. Perform three sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Half-kneeling alternating kettlebell press.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Three Questions to Define Functional Training
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions. 1. How many sports are played sitting down? As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions.
- How many sports are played sitting down?
As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
- How many sports are played in a rigid environment where stability is provided by outside sources?
The answer would appear to be none. Most sports are contested on fields or courts. The stability is provided by the athlete, not by some outside source. Reasoning again would tell us that most machine-based training systems are not by definition functional because the load is stabilized for the lifter by the machine. Proponents of machine-based training systems might argue that machine-based training is safer, but there is a clear trade-off for relative safety in the weight room.
Although in theory machine-based training may result in fewer injuries during training, the lack of proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely lead to a greater number of injuries during competition.
- How many sports skills are performed by one joint acting in isolation?
Again, the answer is zero. Functional training attempts to focus on multijoint movement as much as possible. Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray, two widely recognized experts on functional training, state, "Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non functional. Multi-joint movements which integrate muscle groups into movement patterns are very functional" (2002, paragraph 13).
From the answers to those three questions we could probably agree that functional training is best characterized by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines.
Resistance to the concept of functional training often lies in the idea that "we have always done it this way." But, as Lee Cockrell appropriately asked in his book Creating Magic, "What if the way we have always done it was wrong?"
How Functional Training Works
In its most basic application, a functional training program prepares an athlete to play his sport. Functional training is not about using one sport to train an athlete for another sport. That's cross-training. Many collegiate strength programs confuse the two and, as a result, train their athletes to be powerlifters and Olympic-style weightlifters as much as they do to excel in their primary sports.
Functional training on the other hand uses many concepts developed by sport coaches to train speed, strength, and power in order to improve sport performance and reduce incidence of injury. The key in taking those concepts from the track coach or powerlifting expert is to apply them intelligently to athletes. They cannot be applied blindly from one sport to another. Rather, a program should carefully blend concepts and knowledge from areas such as sports medicine, physical therapy, and sports performance to create the best possible scenario for that particular athlete.
Functional training teaches athletes how to handle their own body weight and, in that sense, somewhat resembles the calisthenics so popular in the early 20th century. The coach initially uses body weight as resistance and strives to employ positions that make sense to the participant.
Functional training intentionally incorporates balance and proprioception (body awareness) into training through the use of unilateral exercises. Gambetta and Gray (2002, paragraph 8) state, "Functional training programs need to introduce controlled amounts of instability so that the athlete must react in order to regain their own stability." The best and simplest way to introduce instability is to simply ask an athlete to perform an exercise standing on one leg. By design, functional training utilizes single-leg movements that require balance to properly develop the muscles in the way they are used in sport. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
Functional training involves simple versions of squatting, forward bending, lunging, pushing, and pulling. The purpose is to provide a continuum of exercises that teach athletes to handle their own body weight in all planes of movement.
A final point on this: Functional training programs train movements, not muscles.There is no emphasis on overdeveloping strength in a particular movement; instead, emphasis is on attaining a balance between pushing and pulling strength and between knee-dominant hip extension (quadriceps and gluteals) and hip-dominant hip extension (hamstrings and gluteals).
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Foam Rolling Techniques and Tips
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise.
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise. The nice thing about the foam roller is that it can be used on a daily basis. In fact, Clair and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain (2004).
How long an athlete or client rolls is also individual. In our setting we allow 5 to 10 minutes for soft tissue work at the beginning of the session before the warm-up.
Let's now look at the primary areas of the body where athletes most benefit from foam rolling and the techniques used to get the best results. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a general rule of thumb is to do 10 slow rolls in each position. Often athletes or clients are encouraged to simply roll until the pain dissipates or disappears.
Foam Rolling the Gluteus Maximus and Hip Rotators
The hip rotators sit below the glutes. To roll the hips the athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt toward the side to be rolled and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators more specifically, the leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group on stretch (see figure 5.1).
Gluteus maximus and hip rotators.
Foam Rolling the Low Back
After rolling the hips, the athlete rolls the lower back area (see figure 5.2), tilting slightly right or left to get into the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, a large triangular muscle layered under the spinal erectors. If you have any concerns about spinal injury, skip the low back. We have never had any issues with rolling the lumbar spine, but use common sense and proceed with caution.
Low back.
Foam Rolling the Upper Back
The athlete moves up the body, continuing to roll the spinal erectors, the large layers of muscle on either side of the spine. When the athlete reaches the area between the shoulder blades, instruct him to try to touch the elbows together in front to get into the area known as the thoracic spine (see figure 5.3). Putting the elbows together places the shoulder blades as far apart as possible, allowing the roller to impact the lower trapezius and rhomboids.
Upper back.
Foam Rolling the Tensor Fasciae Latae and Gluteus Medius
The TFL and gluteus medius, although small muscles, can be significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest (see figure 5.4a). After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position and works from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius (see figure 5.4b).
(a) Tensor fasciae latae and (b) gluteus medius.
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Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Rotational Throws
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action. Medicine ball throws develop hip power by teaching the athlete to better utilize hip internal and external rotation to draw power from the ground. The goal is not torso rotation but rather powerful hip rotation. The objective is to learn to transfer ground forces through a relatively stiff and stable core.
Much like some of our other core exercises, we progress from either tall kneeling or half kneeling to standing throws and eventually to stepping throws. The lunge position is difficult for medicine ball throws, so we often progress from a kneeling variation directly to a standing variation, skipping the lunge position.
Half-Kneeling Side-Twist Throw
Progression 1
As with our other core progressions, for most beginners we start with a half-kneeling version of the side-twist throw (see figure 7.28). This will be phase 1 in most of our athlete programs. As mentioned before, physical therapist Gray Cook popularized the idea of eliminating joints for teaching purposes. The half-kneeling position teaches hip rotation in the throws by effectively taking out the knees and ankles. By having the inside (closest to the wall) knee up, the athlete or client is forced to use the hips and the kneeling (back side) glute.
We teach a long-arm, long-lever throw with the inside hand under the ball and the outside hand behind the ball. Make sure this is a long-lever rotation and not a push. Encourage the mental link to a shot or swing to teach the use of the long lever arm, and watch for athletes reverting to more of a push. Also, make the clients aware it will feel awkward on their nondominant side.
- Begin while half kneeling in a short lunge position, two to three feet (.6 to .9 m) from the wall; shoulders are perpendicular to the wall.
- The arms are long, with the front hand under the ball and the back hand behind.
- Think about throwing from the back knee and hip with some hip "pop."
Medicine ball half-kneeling side-twist throw.
Standing Side-Twist Throw
Progression 2
As mentioned earlier, we skip the lunge-position throws for a very simple logistical reason. Our athletes and clients struggled to maintain the lunge position and to focus on the throw itself, so now we simply skip to standing. In certain cases we start younger or older athletes or clients immediately in standing (see figure 7.29). For high school and college athletes, we stick with a progression from half kneeling to standing to stepping, but with middle school kids and our adults, we begin in standing and simply say, "Throw the ball as hard as you can." This emphasis on a gross motor pattern often overcomes some technical hurdles. In much the same way, older clients may be too stiff through the hips and core to benefit from the half-kneeling position the way an athlete does and may also start in standing. Remember, progressions are fluid suggestions, not rigid rules.
Medicine ball standing side-twist throw.
Side-Twist Throw With Step
Progression 3
The next step in the progression is to add movement to the throw. In progression 3, step toward the wall with the front foot to increase the force being generated from the back foot. Emphasis is on shifting weight from the back foot to the front. All other aspects of the side throw remain the same.
Two-Step Side-Twist Throw
Progression 4
In our fourth progression, the athlete takes two steps toward the wall. Obviously the client or athlete now needs to be farther away from the wall. The two-step throw is more aggressive and violent and really mimics the actions of shooting on the move. The two-step throw also places greater stress on the front foot and hip.
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Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
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Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Overhead Pressing
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom.
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom. This is a huge plus over using a straight bar for overhead presses. Overhead work will begin in half kneeling to stabilize the lumbar spine and to force the lifter to use the shoulders.
The most common mistake in overhead pressing is creating a backward lean or a lumbar arch that effectively turns the overhead press into an incline press. The backward lean allows the upper pecs to become active as in an incline press. However, the trade-off is a large stress to the lumbar spine.
Half-Kneeling Alternating Kettlebell Press
Baseline
My choice for where to start overhead work is with a half-kneeling stance and kettlebells. The offset nature of the kettlebell produces a natural external rotation moment at the shoulder, and this seems to recruit the subscapularis (a key shoulder stabilizer). Often athletes or clients who complain of overhead presses being uncomfortable will find the alternating kettlebell version to be completely pain free.
Begin with both kettlebells at shoulder level with the thumbs touching the front deltoids. Elbows are about 45 degrees to the torso. Press up with one kettlebell, driving the shoulder into internal rotation (thumb toward the face) (see figure 8.14). Reverse the motion in the descent and switch to the opposite side. Perform three sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Half-kneeling alternating kettlebell press.
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Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Three Questions to Define Functional Training
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions. 1. How many sports are played sitting down? As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions.
- How many sports are played sitting down?
As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
- How many sports are played in a rigid environment where stability is provided by outside sources?
The answer would appear to be none. Most sports are contested on fields or courts. The stability is provided by the athlete, not by some outside source. Reasoning again would tell us that most machine-based training systems are not by definition functional because the load is stabilized for the lifter by the machine. Proponents of machine-based training systems might argue that machine-based training is safer, but there is a clear trade-off for relative safety in the weight room.
Although in theory machine-based training may result in fewer injuries during training, the lack of proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely lead to a greater number of injuries during competition.
- How many sports skills are performed by one joint acting in isolation?
Again, the answer is zero. Functional training attempts to focus on multijoint movement as much as possible. Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray, two widely recognized experts on functional training, state, "Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non functional. Multi-joint movements which integrate muscle groups into movement patterns are very functional" (2002, paragraph 13).
From the answers to those three questions we could probably agree that functional training is best characterized by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines.
Resistance to the concept of functional training often lies in the idea that "we have always done it this way." But, as Lee Cockrell appropriately asked in his book Creating Magic, "What if the way we have always done it was wrong?"
How Functional Training Works
In its most basic application, a functional training program prepares an athlete to play his sport. Functional training is not about using one sport to train an athlete for another sport. That's cross-training. Many collegiate strength programs confuse the two and, as a result, train their athletes to be powerlifters and Olympic-style weightlifters as much as they do to excel in their primary sports.
Functional training on the other hand uses many concepts developed by sport coaches to train speed, strength, and power in order to improve sport performance and reduce incidence of injury. The key in taking those concepts from the track coach or powerlifting expert is to apply them intelligently to athletes. They cannot be applied blindly from one sport to another. Rather, a program should carefully blend concepts and knowledge from areas such as sports medicine, physical therapy, and sports performance to create the best possible scenario for that particular athlete.
Functional training teaches athletes how to handle their own body weight and, in that sense, somewhat resembles the calisthenics so popular in the early 20th century. The coach initially uses body weight as resistance and strives to employ positions that make sense to the participant.
Functional training intentionally incorporates balance and proprioception (body awareness) into training through the use of unilateral exercises. Gambetta and Gray (2002, paragraph 8) state, "Functional training programs need to introduce controlled amounts of instability so that the athlete must react in order to regain their own stability." The best and simplest way to introduce instability is to simply ask an athlete to perform an exercise standing on one leg. By design, functional training utilizes single-leg movements that require balance to properly develop the muscles in the way they are used in sport. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
Functional training involves simple versions of squatting, forward bending, lunging, pushing, and pulling. The purpose is to provide a continuum of exercises that teach athletes to handle their own body weight in all planes of movement.
A final point on this: Functional training programs train movements, not muscles.There is no emphasis on overdeveloping strength in a particular movement; instead, emphasis is on attaining a balance between pushing and pulling strength and between knee-dominant hip extension (quadriceps and gluteals) and hip-dominant hip extension (hamstrings and gluteals).
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Foam Rolling Techniques and Tips
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise.
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise. The nice thing about the foam roller is that it can be used on a daily basis. In fact, Clair and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain (2004).
How long an athlete or client rolls is also individual. In our setting we allow 5 to 10 minutes for soft tissue work at the beginning of the session before the warm-up.
Let's now look at the primary areas of the body where athletes most benefit from foam rolling and the techniques used to get the best results. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a general rule of thumb is to do 10 slow rolls in each position. Often athletes or clients are encouraged to simply roll until the pain dissipates or disappears.
Foam Rolling the Gluteus Maximus and Hip Rotators
The hip rotators sit below the glutes. To roll the hips the athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt toward the side to be rolled and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators more specifically, the leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group on stretch (see figure 5.1).
Gluteus maximus and hip rotators.
Foam Rolling the Low Back
After rolling the hips, the athlete rolls the lower back area (see figure 5.2), tilting slightly right or left to get into the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, a large triangular muscle layered under the spinal erectors. If you have any concerns about spinal injury, skip the low back. We have never had any issues with rolling the lumbar spine, but use common sense and proceed with caution.
Low back.
Foam Rolling the Upper Back
The athlete moves up the body, continuing to roll the spinal erectors, the large layers of muscle on either side of the spine. When the athlete reaches the area between the shoulder blades, instruct him to try to touch the elbows together in front to get into the area known as the thoracic spine (see figure 5.3). Putting the elbows together places the shoulder blades as far apart as possible, allowing the roller to impact the lower trapezius and rhomboids.
Upper back.
Foam Rolling the Tensor Fasciae Latae and Gluteus Medius
The TFL and gluteus medius, although small muscles, can be significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest (see figure 5.4a). After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position and works from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius (see figure 5.4b).
(a) Tensor fasciae latae and (b) gluteus medius.
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Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Rotational Throws
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action. Medicine ball throws develop hip power by teaching the athlete to better utilize hip internal and external rotation to draw power from the ground. The goal is not torso rotation but rather powerful hip rotation. The objective is to learn to transfer ground forces through a relatively stiff and stable core.
Much like some of our other core exercises, we progress from either tall kneeling or half kneeling to standing throws and eventually to stepping throws. The lunge position is difficult for medicine ball throws, so we often progress from a kneeling variation directly to a standing variation, skipping the lunge position.
Half-Kneeling Side-Twist Throw
Progression 1
As with our other core progressions, for most beginners we start with a half-kneeling version of the side-twist throw (see figure 7.28). This will be phase 1 in most of our athlete programs. As mentioned before, physical therapist Gray Cook popularized the idea of eliminating joints for teaching purposes. The half-kneeling position teaches hip rotation in the throws by effectively taking out the knees and ankles. By having the inside (closest to the wall) knee up, the athlete or client is forced to use the hips and the kneeling (back side) glute.
We teach a long-arm, long-lever throw with the inside hand under the ball and the outside hand behind the ball. Make sure this is a long-lever rotation and not a push. Encourage the mental link to a shot or swing to teach the use of the long lever arm, and watch for athletes reverting to more of a push. Also, make the clients aware it will feel awkward on their nondominant side.
- Begin while half kneeling in a short lunge position, two to three feet (.6 to .9 m) from the wall; shoulders are perpendicular to the wall.
- The arms are long, with the front hand under the ball and the back hand behind.
- Think about throwing from the back knee and hip with some hip "pop."
Medicine ball half-kneeling side-twist throw.
Standing Side-Twist Throw
Progression 2
As mentioned earlier, we skip the lunge-position throws for a very simple logistical reason. Our athletes and clients struggled to maintain the lunge position and to focus on the throw itself, so now we simply skip to standing. In certain cases we start younger or older athletes or clients immediately in standing (see figure 7.29). For high school and college athletes, we stick with a progression from half kneeling to standing to stepping, but with middle school kids and our adults, we begin in standing and simply say, "Throw the ball as hard as you can." This emphasis on a gross motor pattern often overcomes some technical hurdles. In much the same way, older clients may be too stiff through the hips and core to benefit from the half-kneeling position the way an athlete does and may also start in standing. Remember, progressions are fluid suggestions, not rigid rules.
Medicine ball standing side-twist throw.
Side-Twist Throw With Step
Progression 3
The next step in the progression is to add movement to the throw. In progression 3, step toward the wall with the front foot to increase the force being generated from the back foot. Emphasis is on shifting weight from the back foot to the front. All other aspects of the side throw remain the same.
Two-Step Side-Twist Throw
Progression 4
In our fourth progression, the athlete takes two steps toward the wall. Obviously the client or athlete now needs to be farther away from the wall. The two-step throw is more aggressive and violent and really mimics the actions of shooting on the move. The two-step throw also places greater stress on the front foot and hip.
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Overhead Pressing
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom.
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom. This is a huge plus over using a straight bar for overhead presses. Overhead work will begin in half kneeling to stabilize the lumbar spine and to force the lifter to use the shoulders.
The most common mistake in overhead pressing is creating a backward lean or a lumbar arch that effectively turns the overhead press into an incline press. The backward lean allows the upper pecs to become active as in an incline press. However, the trade-off is a large stress to the lumbar spine.
Half-Kneeling Alternating Kettlebell Press
Baseline
My choice for where to start overhead work is with a half-kneeling stance and kettlebells. The offset nature of the kettlebell produces a natural external rotation moment at the shoulder, and this seems to recruit the subscapularis (a key shoulder stabilizer). Often athletes or clients who complain of overhead presses being uncomfortable will find the alternating kettlebell version to be completely pain free.
Begin with both kettlebells at shoulder level with the thumbs touching the front deltoids. Elbows are about 45 degrees to the torso. Press up with one kettlebell, driving the shoulder into internal rotation (thumb toward the face) (see figure 8.14). Reverse the motion in the descent and switch to the opposite side. Perform three sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Half-kneeling alternating kettlebell press.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Three Questions to Define Functional Training
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions. 1. How many sports are played sitting down? As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions.
- How many sports are played sitting down?
As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
- How many sports are played in a rigid environment where stability is provided by outside sources?
The answer would appear to be none. Most sports are contested on fields or courts. The stability is provided by the athlete, not by some outside source. Reasoning again would tell us that most machine-based training systems are not by definition functional because the load is stabilized for the lifter by the machine. Proponents of machine-based training systems might argue that machine-based training is safer, but there is a clear trade-off for relative safety in the weight room.
Although in theory machine-based training may result in fewer injuries during training, the lack of proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely lead to a greater number of injuries during competition.
- How many sports skills are performed by one joint acting in isolation?
Again, the answer is zero. Functional training attempts to focus on multijoint movement as much as possible. Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray, two widely recognized experts on functional training, state, "Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non functional. Multi-joint movements which integrate muscle groups into movement patterns are very functional" (2002, paragraph 13).
From the answers to those three questions we could probably agree that functional training is best characterized by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines.
Resistance to the concept of functional training often lies in the idea that "we have always done it this way." But, as Lee Cockrell appropriately asked in his book Creating Magic, "What if the way we have always done it was wrong?"
How Functional Training Works
In its most basic application, a functional training program prepares an athlete to play his sport. Functional training is not about using one sport to train an athlete for another sport. That's cross-training. Many collegiate strength programs confuse the two and, as a result, train their athletes to be powerlifters and Olympic-style weightlifters as much as they do to excel in their primary sports.
Functional training on the other hand uses many concepts developed by sport coaches to train speed, strength, and power in order to improve sport performance and reduce incidence of injury. The key in taking those concepts from the track coach or powerlifting expert is to apply them intelligently to athletes. They cannot be applied blindly from one sport to another. Rather, a program should carefully blend concepts and knowledge from areas such as sports medicine, physical therapy, and sports performance to create the best possible scenario for that particular athlete.
Functional training teaches athletes how to handle their own body weight and, in that sense, somewhat resembles the calisthenics so popular in the early 20th century. The coach initially uses body weight as resistance and strives to employ positions that make sense to the participant.
Functional training intentionally incorporates balance and proprioception (body awareness) into training through the use of unilateral exercises. Gambetta and Gray (2002, paragraph 8) state, "Functional training programs need to introduce controlled amounts of instability so that the athlete must react in order to regain their own stability." The best and simplest way to introduce instability is to simply ask an athlete to perform an exercise standing on one leg. By design, functional training utilizes single-leg movements that require balance to properly develop the muscles in the way they are used in sport. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
Functional training involves simple versions of squatting, forward bending, lunging, pushing, and pulling. The purpose is to provide a continuum of exercises that teach athletes to handle their own body weight in all planes of movement.
A final point on this: Functional training programs train movements, not muscles.There is no emphasis on overdeveloping strength in a particular movement; instead, emphasis is on attaining a balance between pushing and pulling strength and between knee-dominant hip extension (quadriceps and gluteals) and hip-dominant hip extension (hamstrings and gluteals).
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Foam Rolling Techniques and Tips
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise.
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise. The nice thing about the foam roller is that it can be used on a daily basis. In fact, Clair and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain (2004).
How long an athlete or client rolls is also individual. In our setting we allow 5 to 10 minutes for soft tissue work at the beginning of the session before the warm-up.
Let's now look at the primary areas of the body where athletes most benefit from foam rolling and the techniques used to get the best results. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a general rule of thumb is to do 10 slow rolls in each position. Often athletes or clients are encouraged to simply roll until the pain dissipates or disappears.
Foam Rolling the Gluteus Maximus and Hip Rotators
The hip rotators sit below the glutes. To roll the hips the athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt toward the side to be rolled and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators more specifically, the leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group on stretch (see figure 5.1).
Gluteus maximus and hip rotators.
Foam Rolling the Low Back
After rolling the hips, the athlete rolls the lower back area (see figure 5.2), tilting slightly right or left to get into the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, a large triangular muscle layered under the spinal erectors. If you have any concerns about spinal injury, skip the low back. We have never had any issues with rolling the lumbar spine, but use common sense and proceed with caution.
Low back.
Foam Rolling the Upper Back
The athlete moves up the body, continuing to roll the spinal erectors, the large layers of muscle on either side of the spine. When the athlete reaches the area between the shoulder blades, instruct him to try to touch the elbows together in front to get into the area known as the thoracic spine (see figure 5.3). Putting the elbows together places the shoulder blades as far apart as possible, allowing the roller to impact the lower trapezius and rhomboids.
Upper back.
Foam Rolling the Tensor Fasciae Latae and Gluteus Medius
The TFL and gluteus medius, although small muscles, can be significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest (see figure 5.4a). After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position and works from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius (see figure 5.4b).
(a) Tensor fasciae latae and (b) gluteus medius.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Rotational Throws
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action. Medicine ball throws develop hip power by teaching the athlete to better utilize hip internal and external rotation to draw power from the ground. The goal is not torso rotation but rather powerful hip rotation. The objective is to learn to transfer ground forces through a relatively stiff and stable core.
Much like some of our other core exercises, we progress from either tall kneeling or half kneeling to standing throws and eventually to stepping throws. The lunge position is difficult for medicine ball throws, so we often progress from a kneeling variation directly to a standing variation, skipping the lunge position.
Half-Kneeling Side-Twist Throw
Progression 1
As with our other core progressions, for most beginners we start with a half-kneeling version of the side-twist throw (see figure 7.28). This will be phase 1 in most of our athlete programs. As mentioned before, physical therapist Gray Cook popularized the idea of eliminating joints for teaching purposes. The half-kneeling position teaches hip rotation in the throws by effectively taking out the knees and ankles. By having the inside (closest to the wall) knee up, the athlete or client is forced to use the hips and the kneeling (back side) glute.
We teach a long-arm, long-lever throw with the inside hand under the ball and the outside hand behind the ball. Make sure this is a long-lever rotation and not a push. Encourage the mental link to a shot or swing to teach the use of the long lever arm, and watch for athletes reverting to more of a push. Also, make the clients aware it will feel awkward on their nondominant side.
- Begin while half kneeling in a short lunge position, two to three feet (.6 to .9 m) from the wall; shoulders are perpendicular to the wall.
- The arms are long, with the front hand under the ball and the back hand behind.
- Think about throwing from the back knee and hip with some hip "pop."
Medicine ball half-kneeling side-twist throw.
Standing Side-Twist Throw
Progression 2
As mentioned earlier, we skip the lunge-position throws for a very simple logistical reason. Our athletes and clients struggled to maintain the lunge position and to focus on the throw itself, so now we simply skip to standing. In certain cases we start younger or older athletes or clients immediately in standing (see figure 7.29). For high school and college athletes, we stick with a progression from half kneeling to standing to stepping, but with middle school kids and our adults, we begin in standing and simply say, "Throw the ball as hard as you can." This emphasis on a gross motor pattern often overcomes some technical hurdles. In much the same way, older clients may be too stiff through the hips and core to benefit from the half-kneeling position the way an athlete does and may also start in standing. Remember, progressions are fluid suggestions, not rigid rules.
Medicine ball standing side-twist throw.
Side-Twist Throw With Step
Progression 3
The next step in the progression is to add movement to the throw. In progression 3, step toward the wall with the front foot to increase the force being generated from the back foot. Emphasis is on shifting weight from the back foot to the front. All other aspects of the side throw remain the same.
Two-Step Side-Twist Throw
Progression 4
In our fourth progression, the athlete takes two steps toward the wall. Obviously the client or athlete now needs to be farther away from the wall. The two-step throw is more aggressive and violent and really mimics the actions of shooting on the move. The two-step throw also places greater stress on the front foot and hip.
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Overhead Pressing
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom.
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom. This is a huge plus over using a straight bar for overhead presses. Overhead work will begin in half kneeling to stabilize the lumbar spine and to force the lifter to use the shoulders.
The most common mistake in overhead pressing is creating a backward lean or a lumbar arch that effectively turns the overhead press into an incline press. The backward lean allows the upper pecs to become active as in an incline press. However, the trade-off is a large stress to the lumbar spine.
Half-Kneeling Alternating Kettlebell Press
Baseline
My choice for where to start overhead work is with a half-kneeling stance and kettlebells. The offset nature of the kettlebell produces a natural external rotation moment at the shoulder, and this seems to recruit the subscapularis (a key shoulder stabilizer). Often athletes or clients who complain of overhead presses being uncomfortable will find the alternating kettlebell version to be completely pain free.
Begin with both kettlebells at shoulder level with the thumbs touching the front deltoids. Elbows are about 45 degrees to the torso. Press up with one kettlebell, driving the shoulder into internal rotation (thumb toward the face) (see figure 8.14). Reverse the motion in the descent and switch to the opposite side. Perform three sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Half-kneeling alternating kettlebell press.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Three Questions to Define Functional Training
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions. 1. How many sports are played sitting down? As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions.
- How many sports are played sitting down?
As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
- How many sports are played in a rigid environment where stability is provided by outside sources?
The answer would appear to be none. Most sports are contested on fields or courts. The stability is provided by the athlete, not by some outside source. Reasoning again would tell us that most machine-based training systems are not by definition functional because the load is stabilized for the lifter by the machine. Proponents of machine-based training systems might argue that machine-based training is safer, but there is a clear trade-off for relative safety in the weight room.
Although in theory machine-based training may result in fewer injuries during training, the lack of proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely lead to a greater number of injuries during competition.
- How many sports skills are performed by one joint acting in isolation?
Again, the answer is zero. Functional training attempts to focus on multijoint movement as much as possible. Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray, two widely recognized experts on functional training, state, "Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non functional. Multi-joint movements which integrate muscle groups into movement patterns are very functional" (2002, paragraph 13).
From the answers to those three questions we could probably agree that functional training is best characterized by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines.
Resistance to the concept of functional training often lies in the idea that "we have always done it this way." But, as Lee Cockrell appropriately asked in his book Creating Magic, "What if the way we have always done it was wrong?"
How Functional Training Works
In its most basic application, a functional training program prepares an athlete to play his sport. Functional training is not about using one sport to train an athlete for another sport. That's cross-training. Many collegiate strength programs confuse the two and, as a result, train their athletes to be powerlifters and Olympic-style weightlifters as much as they do to excel in their primary sports.
Functional training on the other hand uses many concepts developed by sport coaches to train speed, strength, and power in order to improve sport performance and reduce incidence of injury. The key in taking those concepts from the track coach or powerlifting expert is to apply them intelligently to athletes. They cannot be applied blindly from one sport to another. Rather, a program should carefully blend concepts and knowledge from areas such as sports medicine, physical therapy, and sports performance to create the best possible scenario for that particular athlete.
Functional training teaches athletes how to handle their own body weight and, in that sense, somewhat resembles the calisthenics so popular in the early 20th century. The coach initially uses body weight as resistance and strives to employ positions that make sense to the participant.
Functional training intentionally incorporates balance and proprioception (body awareness) into training through the use of unilateral exercises. Gambetta and Gray (2002, paragraph 8) state, "Functional training programs need to introduce controlled amounts of instability so that the athlete must react in order to regain their own stability." The best and simplest way to introduce instability is to simply ask an athlete to perform an exercise standing on one leg. By design, functional training utilizes single-leg movements that require balance to properly develop the muscles in the way they are used in sport. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
Functional training involves simple versions of squatting, forward bending, lunging, pushing, and pulling. The purpose is to provide a continuum of exercises that teach athletes to handle their own body weight in all planes of movement.
A final point on this: Functional training programs train movements, not muscles.There is no emphasis on overdeveloping strength in a particular movement; instead, emphasis is on attaining a balance between pushing and pulling strength and between knee-dominant hip extension (quadriceps and gluteals) and hip-dominant hip extension (hamstrings and gluteals).
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Foam Rolling Techniques and Tips
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise.
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise. The nice thing about the foam roller is that it can be used on a daily basis. In fact, Clair and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain (2004).
How long an athlete or client rolls is also individual. In our setting we allow 5 to 10 minutes for soft tissue work at the beginning of the session before the warm-up.
Let's now look at the primary areas of the body where athletes most benefit from foam rolling and the techniques used to get the best results. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a general rule of thumb is to do 10 slow rolls in each position. Often athletes or clients are encouraged to simply roll until the pain dissipates or disappears.
Foam Rolling the Gluteus Maximus and Hip Rotators
The hip rotators sit below the glutes. To roll the hips the athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt toward the side to be rolled and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators more specifically, the leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group on stretch (see figure 5.1).
Gluteus maximus and hip rotators.
Foam Rolling the Low Back
After rolling the hips, the athlete rolls the lower back area (see figure 5.2), tilting slightly right or left to get into the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, a large triangular muscle layered under the spinal erectors. If you have any concerns about spinal injury, skip the low back. We have never had any issues with rolling the lumbar spine, but use common sense and proceed with caution.
Low back.
Foam Rolling the Upper Back
The athlete moves up the body, continuing to roll the spinal erectors, the large layers of muscle on either side of the spine. When the athlete reaches the area between the shoulder blades, instruct him to try to touch the elbows together in front to get into the area known as the thoracic spine (see figure 5.3). Putting the elbows together places the shoulder blades as far apart as possible, allowing the roller to impact the lower trapezius and rhomboids.
Upper back.
Foam Rolling the Tensor Fasciae Latae and Gluteus Medius
The TFL and gluteus medius, although small muscles, can be significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest (see figure 5.4a). After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position and works from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius (see figure 5.4b).
(a) Tensor fasciae latae and (b) gluteus medius.
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Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Rotational Throws
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action. Medicine ball throws develop hip power by teaching the athlete to better utilize hip internal and external rotation to draw power from the ground. The goal is not torso rotation but rather powerful hip rotation. The objective is to learn to transfer ground forces through a relatively stiff and stable core.
Much like some of our other core exercises, we progress from either tall kneeling or half kneeling to standing throws and eventually to stepping throws. The lunge position is difficult for medicine ball throws, so we often progress from a kneeling variation directly to a standing variation, skipping the lunge position.
Half-Kneeling Side-Twist Throw
Progression 1
As with our other core progressions, for most beginners we start with a half-kneeling version of the side-twist throw (see figure 7.28). This will be phase 1 in most of our athlete programs. As mentioned before, physical therapist Gray Cook popularized the idea of eliminating joints for teaching purposes. The half-kneeling position teaches hip rotation in the throws by effectively taking out the knees and ankles. By having the inside (closest to the wall) knee up, the athlete or client is forced to use the hips and the kneeling (back side) glute.
We teach a long-arm, long-lever throw with the inside hand under the ball and the outside hand behind the ball. Make sure this is a long-lever rotation and not a push. Encourage the mental link to a shot or swing to teach the use of the long lever arm, and watch for athletes reverting to more of a push. Also, make the clients aware it will feel awkward on their nondominant side.
- Begin while half kneeling in a short lunge position, two to three feet (.6 to .9 m) from the wall; shoulders are perpendicular to the wall.
- The arms are long, with the front hand under the ball and the back hand behind.
- Think about throwing from the back knee and hip with some hip "pop."
Medicine ball half-kneeling side-twist throw.
Standing Side-Twist Throw
Progression 2
As mentioned earlier, we skip the lunge-position throws for a very simple logistical reason. Our athletes and clients struggled to maintain the lunge position and to focus on the throw itself, so now we simply skip to standing. In certain cases we start younger or older athletes or clients immediately in standing (see figure 7.29). For high school and college athletes, we stick with a progression from half kneeling to standing to stepping, but with middle school kids and our adults, we begin in standing and simply say, "Throw the ball as hard as you can." This emphasis on a gross motor pattern often overcomes some technical hurdles. In much the same way, older clients may be too stiff through the hips and core to benefit from the half-kneeling position the way an athlete does and may also start in standing. Remember, progressions are fluid suggestions, not rigid rules.
Medicine ball standing side-twist throw.
Side-Twist Throw With Step
Progression 3
The next step in the progression is to add movement to the throw. In progression 3, step toward the wall with the front foot to increase the force being generated from the back foot. Emphasis is on shifting weight from the back foot to the front. All other aspects of the side throw remain the same.
Two-Step Side-Twist Throw
Progression 4
In our fourth progression, the athlete takes two steps toward the wall. Obviously the client or athlete now needs to be farther away from the wall. The two-step throw is more aggressive and violent and really mimics the actions of shooting on the move. The two-step throw also places greater stress on the front foot and hip.
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Overhead Pressing
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom.
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom. This is a huge plus over using a straight bar for overhead presses. Overhead work will begin in half kneeling to stabilize the lumbar spine and to force the lifter to use the shoulders.
The most common mistake in overhead pressing is creating a backward lean or a lumbar arch that effectively turns the overhead press into an incline press. The backward lean allows the upper pecs to become active as in an incline press. However, the trade-off is a large stress to the lumbar spine.
Half-Kneeling Alternating Kettlebell Press
Baseline
My choice for where to start overhead work is with a half-kneeling stance and kettlebells. The offset nature of the kettlebell produces a natural external rotation moment at the shoulder, and this seems to recruit the subscapularis (a key shoulder stabilizer). Often athletes or clients who complain of overhead presses being uncomfortable will find the alternating kettlebell version to be completely pain free.
Begin with both kettlebells at shoulder level with the thumbs touching the front deltoids. Elbows are about 45 degrees to the torso. Press up with one kettlebell, driving the shoulder into internal rotation (thumb toward the face) (see figure 8.14). Reverse the motion in the descent and switch to the opposite side. Perform three sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Half-kneeling alternating kettlebell press.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Three Questions to Define Functional Training
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions. 1. How many sports are played sitting down? As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions.
- How many sports are played sitting down?
As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
- How many sports are played in a rigid environment where stability is provided by outside sources?
The answer would appear to be none. Most sports are contested on fields or courts. The stability is provided by the athlete, not by some outside source. Reasoning again would tell us that most machine-based training systems are not by definition functional because the load is stabilized for the lifter by the machine. Proponents of machine-based training systems might argue that machine-based training is safer, but there is a clear trade-off for relative safety in the weight room.
Although in theory machine-based training may result in fewer injuries during training, the lack of proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely lead to a greater number of injuries during competition.
- How many sports skills are performed by one joint acting in isolation?
Again, the answer is zero. Functional training attempts to focus on multijoint movement as much as possible. Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray, two widely recognized experts on functional training, state, "Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non functional. Multi-joint movements which integrate muscle groups into movement patterns are very functional" (2002, paragraph 13).
From the answers to those three questions we could probably agree that functional training is best characterized by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines.
Resistance to the concept of functional training often lies in the idea that "we have always done it this way." But, as Lee Cockrell appropriately asked in his book Creating Magic, "What if the way we have always done it was wrong?"
How Functional Training Works
In its most basic application, a functional training program prepares an athlete to play his sport. Functional training is not about using one sport to train an athlete for another sport. That's cross-training. Many collegiate strength programs confuse the two and, as a result, train their athletes to be powerlifters and Olympic-style weightlifters as much as they do to excel in their primary sports.
Functional training on the other hand uses many concepts developed by sport coaches to train speed, strength, and power in order to improve sport performance and reduce incidence of injury. The key in taking those concepts from the track coach or powerlifting expert is to apply them intelligently to athletes. They cannot be applied blindly from one sport to another. Rather, a program should carefully blend concepts and knowledge from areas such as sports medicine, physical therapy, and sports performance to create the best possible scenario for that particular athlete.
Functional training teaches athletes how to handle their own body weight and, in that sense, somewhat resembles the calisthenics so popular in the early 20th century. The coach initially uses body weight as resistance and strives to employ positions that make sense to the participant.
Functional training intentionally incorporates balance and proprioception (body awareness) into training through the use of unilateral exercises. Gambetta and Gray (2002, paragraph 8) state, "Functional training programs need to introduce controlled amounts of instability so that the athlete must react in order to regain their own stability." The best and simplest way to introduce instability is to simply ask an athlete to perform an exercise standing on one leg. By design, functional training utilizes single-leg movements that require balance to properly develop the muscles in the way they are used in sport. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
Functional training involves simple versions of squatting, forward bending, lunging, pushing, and pulling. The purpose is to provide a continuum of exercises that teach athletes to handle their own body weight in all planes of movement.
A final point on this: Functional training programs train movements, not muscles.There is no emphasis on overdeveloping strength in a particular movement; instead, emphasis is on attaining a balance between pushing and pulling strength and between knee-dominant hip extension (quadriceps and gluteals) and hip-dominant hip extension (hamstrings and gluteals).
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Foam Rolling Techniques and Tips
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise.
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise. The nice thing about the foam roller is that it can be used on a daily basis. In fact, Clair and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain (2004).
How long an athlete or client rolls is also individual. In our setting we allow 5 to 10 minutes for soft tissue work at the beginning of the session before the warm-up.
Let's now look at the primary areas of the body where athletes most benefit from foam rolling and the techniques used to get the best results. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a general rule of thumb is to do 10 slow rolls in each position. Often athletes or clients are encouraged to simply roll until the pain dissipates or disappears.
Foam Rolling the Gluteus Maximus and Hip Rotators
The hip rotators sit below the glutes. To roll the hips the athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt toward the side to be rolled and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators more specifically, the leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group on stretch (see figure 5.1).
Gluteus maximus and hip rotators.
Foam Rolling the Low Back
After rolling the hips, the athlete rolls the lower back area (see figure 5.2), tilting slightly right or left to get into the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, a large triangular muscle layered under the spinal erectors. If you have any concerns about spinal injury, skip the low back. We have never had any issues with rolling the lumbar spine, but use common sense and proceed with caution.
Low back.
Foam Rolling the Upper Back
The athlete moves up the body, continuing to roll the spinal erectors, the large layers of muscle on either side of the spine. When the athlete reaches the area between the shoulder blades, instruct him to try to touch the elbows together in front to get into the area known as the thoracic spine (see figure 5.3). Putting the elbows together places the shoulder blades as far apart as possible, allowing the roller to impact the lower trapezius and rhomboids.
Upper back.
Foam Rolling the Tensor Fasciae Latae and Gluteus Medius
The TFL and gluteus medius, although small muscles, can be significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest (see figure 5.4a). After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position and works from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius (see figure 5.4b).
(a) Tensor fasciae latae and (b) gluteus medius.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Rotational Throws
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action. Medicine ball throws develop hip power by teaching the athlete to better utilize hip internal and external rotation to draw power from the ground. The goal is not torso rotation but rather powerful hip rotation. The objective is to learn to transfer ground forces through a relatively stiff and stable core.
Much like some of our other core exercises, we progress from either tall kneeling or half kneeling to standing throws and eventually to stepping throws. The lunge position is difficult for medicine ball throws, so we often progress from a kneeling variation directly to a standing variation, skipping the lunge position.
Half-Kneeling Side-Twist Throw
Progression 1
As with our other core progressions, for most beginners we start with a half-kneeling version of the side-twist throw (see figure 7.28). This will be phase 1 in most of our athlete programs. As mentioned before, physical therapist Gray Cook popularized the idea of eliminating joints for teaching purposes. The half-kneeling position teaches hip rotation in the throws by effectively taking out the knees and ankles. By having the inside (closest to the wall) knee up, the athlete or client is forced to use the hips and the kneeling (back side) glute.
We teach a long-arm, long-lever throw with the inside hand under the ball and the outside hand behind the ball. Make sure this is a long-lever rotation and not a push. Encourage the mental link to a shot or swing to teach the use of the long lever arm, and watch for athletes reverting to more of a push. Also, make the clients aware it will feel awkward on their nondominant side.
- Begin while half kneeling in a short lunge position, two to three feet (.6 to .9 m) from the wall; shoulders are perpendicular to the wall.
- The arms are long, with the front hand under the ball and the back hand behind.
- Think about throwing from the back knee and hip with some hip "pop."
Medicine ball half-kneeling side-twist throw.
Standing Side-Twist Throw
Progression 2
As mentioned earlier, we skip the lunge-position throws for a very simple logistical reason. Our athletes and clients struggled to maintain the lunge position and to focus on the throw itself, so now we simply skip to standing. In certain cases we start younger or older athletes or clients immediately in standing (see figure 7.29). For high school and college athletes, we stick with a progression from half kneeling to standing to stepping, but with middle school kids and our adults, we begin in standing and simply say, "Throw the ball as hard as you can." This emphasis on a gross motor pattern often overcomes some technical hurdles. In much the same way, older clients may be too stiff through the hips and core to benefit from the half-kneeling position the way an athlete does and may also start in standing. Remember, progressions are fluid suggestions, not rigid rules.
Medicine ball standing side-twist throw.
Side-Twist Throw With Step
Progression 3
The next step in the progression is to add movement to the throw. In progression 3, step toward the wall with the front foot to increase the force being generated from the back foot. Emphasis is on shifting weight from the back foot to the front. All other aspects of the side throw remain the same.
Two-Step Side-Twist Throw
Progression 4
In our fourth progression, the athlete takes two steps toward the wall. Obviously the client or athlete now needs to be farther away from the wall. The two-step throw is more aggressive and violent and really mimics the actions of shooting on the move. The two-step throw also places greater stress on the front foot and hip.
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Overhead Pressing
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom.
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom. This is a huge plus over using a straight bar for overhead presses. Overhead work will begin in half kneeling to stabilize the lumbar spine and to force the lifter to use the shoulders.
The most common mistake in overhead pressing is creating a backward lean or a lumbar arch that effectively turns the overhead press into an incline press. The backward lean allows the upper pecs to become active as in an incline press. However, the trade-off is a large stress to the lumbar spine.
Half-Kneeling Alternating Kettlebell Press
Baseline
My choice for where to start overhead work is with a half-kneeling stance and kettlebells. The offset nature of the kettlebell produces a natural external rotation moment at the shoulder, and this seems to recruit the subscapularis (a key shoulder stabilizer). Often athletes or clients who complain of overhead presses being uncomfortable will find the alternating kettlebell version to be completely pain free.
Begin with both kettlebells at shoulder level with the thumbs touching the front deltoids. Elbows are about 45 degrees to the torso. Press up with one kettlebell, driving the shoulder into internal rotation (thumb toward the face) (see figure 8.14). Reverse the motion in the descent and switch to the opposite side. Perform three sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Half-kneeling alternating kettlebell press.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Three Questions to Define Functional Training
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions. 1. How many sports are played sitting down? As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions.
- How many sports are played sitting down?
As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
- How many sports are played in a rigid environment where stability is provided by outside sources?
The answer would appear to be none. Most sports are contested on fields or courts. The stability is provided by the athlete, not by some outside source. Reasoning again would tell us that most machine-based training systems are not by definition functional because the load is stabilized for the lifter by the machine. Proponents of machine-based training systems might argue that machine-based training is safer, but there is a clear trade-off for relative safety in the weight room.
Although in theory machine-based training may result in fewer injuries during training, the lack of proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely lead to a greater number of injuries during competition.
- How many sports skills are performed by one joint acting in isolation?
Again, the answer is zero. Functional training attempts to focus on multijoint movement as much as possible. Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray, two widely recognized experts on functional training, state, "Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non functional. Multi-joint movements which integrate muscle groups into movement patterns are very functional" (2002, paragraph 13).
From the answers to those three questions we could probably agree that functional training is best characterized by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines.
Resistance to the concept of functional training often lies in the idea that "we have always done it this way." But, as Lee Cockrell appropriately asked in his book Creating Magic, "What if the way we have always done it was wrong?"
How Functional Training Works
In its most basic application, a functional training program prepares an athlete to play his sport. Functional training is not about using one sport to train an athlete for another sport. That's cross-training. Many collegiate strength programs confuse the two and, as a result, train their athletes to be powerlifters and Olympic-style weightlifters as much as they do to excel in their primary sports.
Functional training on the other hand uses many concepts developed by sport coaches to train speed, strength, and power in order to improve sport performance and reduce incidence of injury. The key in taking those concepts from the track coach or powerlifting expert is to apply them intelligently to athletes. They cannot be applied blindly from one sport to another. Rather, a program should carefully blend concepts and knowledge from areas such as sports medicine, physical therapy, and sports performance to create the best possible scenario for that particular athlete.
Functional training teaches athletes how to handle their own body weight and, in that sense, somewhat resembles the calisthenics so popular in the early 20th century. The coach initially uses body weight as resistance and strives to employ positions that make sense to the participant.
Functional training intentionally incorporates balance and proprioception (body awareness) into training through the use of unilateral exercises. Gambetta and Gray (2002, paragraph 8) state, "Functional training programs need to introduce controlled amounts of instability so that the athlete must react in order to regain their own stability." The best and simplest way to introduce instability is to simply ask an athlete to perform an exercise standing on one leg. By design, functional training utilizes single-leg movements that require balance to properly develop the muscles in the way they are used in sport. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
Functional training involves simple versions of squatting, forward bending, lunging, pushing, and pulling. The purpose is to provide a continuum of exercises that teach athletes to handle their own body weight in all planes of movement.
A final point on this: Functional training programs train movements, not muscles.There is no emphasis on overdeveloping strength in a particular movement; instead, emphasis is on attaining a balance between pushing and pulling strength and between knee-dominant hip extension (quadriceps and gluteals) and hip-dominant hip extension (hamstrings and gluteals).
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Foam Rolling Techniques and Tips
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise.
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise. The nice thing about the foam roller is that it can be used on a daily basis. In fact, Clair and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain (2004).
How long an athlete or client rolls is also individual. In our setting we allow 5 to 10 minutes for soft tissue work at the beginning of the session before the warm-up.
Let's now look at the primary areas of the body where athletes most benefit from foam rolling and the techniques used to get the best results. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a general rule of thumb is to do 10 slow rolls in each position. Often athletes or clients are encouraged to simply roll until the pain dissipates or disappears.
Foam Rolling the Gluteus Maximus and Hip Rotators
The hip rotators sit below the glutes. To roll the hips the athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt toward the side to be rolled and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators more specifically, the leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group on stretch (see figure 5.1).
Gluteus maximus and hip rotators.
Foam Rolling the Low Back
After rolling the hips, the athlete rolls the lower back area (see figure 5.2), tilting slightly right or left to get into the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, a large triangular muscle layered under the spinal erectors. If you have any concerns about spinal injury, skip the low back. We have never had any issues with rolling the lumbar spine, but use common sense and proceed with caution.
Low back.
Foam Rolling the Upper Back
The athlete moves up the body, continuing to roll the spinal erectors, the large layers of muscle on either side of the spine. When the athlete reaches the area between the shoulder blades, instruct him to try to touch the elbows together in front to get into the area known as the thoracic spine (see figure 5.3). Putting the elbows together places the shoulder blades as far apart as possible, allowing the roller to impact the lower trapezius and rhomboids.
Upper back.
Foam Rolling the Tensor Fasciae Latae and Gluteus Medius
The TFL and gluteus medius, although small muscles, can be significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest (see figure 5.4a). After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position and works from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius (see figure 5.4b).
(a) Tensor fasciae latae and (b) gluteus medius.
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Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Rotational Throws
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action. Medicine ball throws develop hip power by teaching the athlete to better utilize hip internal and external rotation to draw power from the ground. The goal is not torso rotation but rather powerful hip rotation. The objective is to learn to transfer ground forces through a relatively stiff and stable core.
Much like some of our other core exercises, we progress from either tall kneeling or half kneeling to standing throws and eventually to stepping throws. The lunge position is difficult for medicine ball throws, so we often progress from a kneeling variation directly to a standing variation, skipping the lunge position.
Half-Kneeling Side-Twist Throw
Progression 1
As with our other core progressions, for most beginners we start with a half-kneeling version of the side-twist throw (see figure 7.28). This will be phase 1 in most of our athlete programs. As mentioned before, physical therapist Gray Cook popularized the idea of eliminating joints for teaching purposes. The half-kneeling position teaches hip rotation in the throws by effectively taking out the knees and ankles. By having the inside (closest to the wall) knee up, the athlete or client is forced to use the hips and the kneeling (back side) glute.
We teach a long-arm, long-lever throw with the inside hand under the ball and the outside hand behind the ball. Make sure this is a long-lever rotation and not a push. Encourage the mental link to a shot or swing to teach the use of the long lever arm, and watch for athletes reverting to more of a push. Also, make the clients aware it will feel awkward on their nondominant side.
- Begin while half kneeling in a short lunge position, two to three feet (.6 to .9 m) from the wall; shoulders are perpendicular to the wall.
- The arms are long, with the front hand under the ball and the back hand behind.
- Think about throwing from the back knee and hip with some hip "pop."
Medicine ball half-kneeling side-twist throw.
Standing Side-Twist Throw
Progression 2
As mentioned earlier, we skip the lunge-position throws for a very simple logistical reason. Our athletes and clients struggled to maintain the lunge position and to focus on the throw itself, so now we simply skip to standing. In certain cases we start younger or older athletes or clients immediately in standing (see figure 7.29). For high school and college athletes, we stick with a progression from half kneeling to standing to stepping, but with middle school kids and our adults, we begin in standing and simply say, "Throw the ball as hard as you can." This emphasis on a gross motor pattern often overcomes some technical hurdles. In much the same way, older clients may be too stiff through the hips and core to benefit from the half-kneeling position the way an athlete does and may also start in standing. Remember, progressions are fluid suggestions, not rigid rules.
Medicine ball standing side-twist throw.
Side-Twist Throw With Step
Progression 3
The next step in the progression is to add movement to the throw. In progression 3, step toward the wall with the front foot to increase the force being generated from the back foot. Emphasis is on shifting weight from the back foot to the front. All other aspects of the side throw remain the same.
Two-Step Side-Twist Throw
Progression 4
In our fourth progression, the athlete takes two steps toward the wall. Obviously the client or athlete now needs to be farther away from the wall. The two-step throw is more aggressive and violent and really mimics the actions of shooting on the move. The two-step throw also places greater stress on the front foot and hip.
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Save
Save
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Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Overhead Pressing
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom.
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom. This is a huge plus over using a straight bar for overhead presses. Overhead work will begin in half kneeling to stabilize the lumbar spine and to force the lifter to use the shoulders.
The most common mistake in overhead pressing is creating a backward lean or a lumbar arch that effectively turns the overhead press into an incline press. The backward lean allows the upper pecs to become active as in an incline press. However, the trade-off is a large stress to the lumbar spine.
Half-Kneeling Alternating Kettlebell Press
Baseline
My choice for where to start overhead work is with a half-kneeling stance and kettlebells. The offset nature of the kettlebell produces a natural external rotation moment at the shoulder, and this seems to recruit the subscapularis (a key shoulder stabilizer). Often athletes or clients who complain of overhead presses being uncomfortable will find the alternating kettlebell version to be completely pain free.
Begin with both kettlebells at shoulder level with the thumbs touching the front deltoids. Elbows are about 45 degrees to the torso. Press up with one kettlebell, driving the shoulder into internal rotation (thumb toward the face) (see figure 8.14). Reverse the motion in the descent and switch to the opposite side. Perform three sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Half-kneeling alternating kettlebell press.
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Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Three Questions to Define Functional Training
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions. 1. How many sports are played sitting down? As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions.
- How many sports are played sitting down?
As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
- How many sports are played in a rigid environment where stability is provided by outside sources?
The answer would appear to be none. Most sports are contested on fields or courts. The stability is provided by the athlete, not by some outside source. Reasoning again would tell us that most machine-based training systems are not by definition functional because the load is stabilized for the lifter by the machine. Proponents of machine-based training systems might argue that machine-based training is safer, but there is a clear trade-off for relative safety in the weight room.
Although in theory machine-based training may result in fewer injuries during training, the lack of proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely lead to a greater number of injuries during competition.
- How many sports skills are performed by one joint acting in isolation?
Again, the answer is zero. Functional training attempts to focus on multijoint movement as much as possible. Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray, two widely recognized experts on functional training, state, "Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non functional. Multi-joint movements which integrate muscle groups into movement patterns are very functional" (2002, paragraph 13).
From the answers to those three questions we could probably agree that functional training is best characterized by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines.
Resistance to the concept of functional training often lies in the idea that "we have always done it this way." But, as Lee Cockrell appropriately asked in his book Creating Magic, "What if the way we have always done it was wrong?"
How Functional Training Works
In its most basic application, a functional training program prepares an athlete to play his sport. Functional training is not about using one sport to train an athlete for another sport. That's cross-training. Many collegiate strength programs confuse the two and, as a result, train their athletes to be powerlifters and Olympic-style weightlifters as much as they do to excel in their primary sports.
Functional training on the other hand uses many concepts developed by sport coaches to train speed, strength, and power in order to improve sport performance and reduce incidence of injury. The key in taking those concepts from the track coach or powerlifting expert is to apply them intelligently to athletes. They cannot be applied blindly from one sport to another. Rather, a program should carefully blend concepts and knowledge from areas such as sports medicine, physical therapy, and sports performance to create the best possible scenario for that particular athlete.
Functional training teaches athletes how to handle their own body weight and, in that sense, somewhat resembles the calisthenics so popular in the early 20th century. The coach initially uses body weight as resistance and strives to employ positions that make sense to the participant.
Functional training intentionally incorporates balance and proprioception (body awareness) into training through the use of unilateral exercises. Gambetta and Gray (2002, paragraph 8) state, "Functional training programs need to introduce controlled amounts of instability so that the athlete must react in order to regain their own stability." The best and simplest way to introduce instability is to simply ask an athlete to perform an exercise standing on one leg. By design, functional training utilizes single-leg movements that require balance to properly develop the muscles in the way they are used in sport. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
Functional training involves simple versions of squatting, forward bending, lunging, pushing, and pulling. The purpose is to provide a continuum of exercises that teach athletes to handle their own body weight in all planes of movement.
A final point on this: Functional training programs train movements, not muscles.There is no emphasis on overdeveloping strength in a particular movement; instead, emphasis is on attaining a balance between pushing and pulling strength and between knee-dominant hip extension (quadriceps and gluteals) and hip-dominant hip extension (hamstrings and gluteals).
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Foam Rolling Techniques and Tips
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise.
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise. The nice thing about the foam roller is that it can be used on a daily basis. In fact, Clair and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain (2004).
How long an athlete or client rolls is also individual. In our setting we allow 5 to 10 minutes for soft tissue work at the beginning of the session before the warm-up.
Let's now look at the primary areas of the body where athletes most benefit from foam rolling and the techniques used to get the best results. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a general rule of thumb is to do 10 slow rolls in each position. Often athletes or clients are encouraged to simply roll until the pain dissipates or disappears.
Foam Rolling the Gluteus Maximus and Hip Rotators
The hip rotators sit below the glutes. To roll the hips the athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt toward the side to be rolled and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators more specifically, the leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group on stretch (see figure 5.1).
Gluteus maximus and hip rotators.
Foam Rolling the Low Back
After rolling the hips, the athlete rolls the lower back area (see figure 5.2), tilting slightly right or left to get into the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, a large triangular muscle layered under the spinal erectors. If you have any concerns about spinal injury, skip the low back. We have never had any issues with rolling the lumbar spine, but use common sense and proceed with caution.
Low back.
Foam Rolling the Upper Back
The athlete moves up the body, continuing to roll the spinal erectors, the large layers of muscle on either side of the spine. When the athlete reaches the area between the shoulder blades, instruct him to try to touch the elbows together in front to get into the area known as the thoracic spine (see figure 5.3). Putting the elbows together places the shoulder blades as far apart as possible, allowing the roller to impact the lower trapezius and rhomboids.
Upper back.
Foam Rolling the Tensor Fasciae Latae and Gluteus Medius
The TFL and gluteus medius, although small muscles, can be significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest (see figure 5.4a). After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position and works from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius (see figure 5.4b).
(a) Tensor fasciae latae and (b) gluteus medius.
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Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Rotational Throws
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action. Medicine ball throws develop hip power by teaching the athlete to better utilize hip internal and external rotation to draw power from the ground. The goal is not torso rotation but rather powerful hip rotation. The objective is to learn to transfer ground forces through a relatively stiff and stable core.
Much like some of our other core exercises, we progress from either tall kneeling or half kneeling to standing throws and eventually to stepping throws. The lunge position is difficult for medicine ball throws, so we often progress from a kneeling variation directly to a standing variation, skipping the lunge position.
Half-Kneeling Side-Twist Throw
Progression 1
As with our other core progressions, for most beginners we start with a half-kneeling version of the side-twist throw (see figure 7.28). This will be phase 1 in most of our athlete programs. As mentioned before, physical therapist Gray Cook popularized the idea of eliminating joints for teaching purposes. The half-kneeling position teaches hip rotation in the throws by effectively taking out the knees and ankles. By having the inside (closest to the wall) knee up, the athlete or client is forced to use the hips and the kneeling (back side) glute.
We teach a long-arm, long-lever throw with the inside hand under the ball and the outside hand behind the ball. Make sure this is a long-lever rotation and not a push. Encourage the mental link to a shot or swing to teach the use of the long lever arm, and watch for athletes reverting to more of a push. Also, make the clients aware it will feel awkward on their nondominant side.
- Begin while half kneeling in a short lunge position, two to three feet (.6 to .9 m) from the wall; shoulders are perpendicular to the wall.
- The arms are long, with the front hand under the ball and the back hand behind.
- Think about throwing from the back knee and hip with some hip "pop."
Medicine ball half-kneeling side-twist throw.
Standing Side-Twist Throw
Progression 2
As mentioned earlier, we skip the lunge-position throws for a very simple logistical reason. Our athletes and clients struggled to maintain the lunge position and to focus on the throw itself, so now we simply skip to standing. In certain cases we start younger or older athletes or clients immediately in standing (see figure 7.29). For high school and college athletes, we stick with a progression from half kneeling to standing to stepping, but with middle school kids and our adults, we begin in standing and simply say, "Throw the ball as hard as you can." This emphasis on a gross motor pattern often overcomes some technical hurdles. In much the same way, older clients may be too stiff through the hips and core to benefit from the half-kneeling position the way an athlete does and may also start in standing. Remember, progressions are fluid suggestions, not rigid rules.
Medicine ball standing side-twist throw.
Side-Twist Throw With Step
Progression 3
The next step in the progression is to add movement to the throw. In progression 3, step toward the wall with the front foot to increase the force being generated from the back foot. Emphasis is on shifting weight from the back foot to the front. All other aspects of the side throw remain the same.
Two-Step Side-Twist Throw
Progression 4
In our fourth progression, the athlete takes two steps toward the wall. Obviously the client or athlete now needs to be farther away from the wall. The two-step throw is more aggressive and violent and really mimics the actions of shooting on the move. The two-step throw also places greater stress on the front foot and hip.
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Overhead Pressing
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom.
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom. This is a huge plus over using a straight bar for overhead presses. Overhead work will begin in half kneeling to stabilize the lumbar spine and to force the lifter to use the shoulders.
The most common mistake in overhead pressing is creating a backward lean or a lumbar arch that effectively turns the overhead press into an incline press. The backward lean allows the upper pecs to become active as in an incline press. However, the trade-off is a large stress to the lumbar spine.
Half-Kneeling Alternating Kettlebell Press
Baseline
My choice for where to start overhead work is with a half-kneeling stance and kettlebells. The offset nature of the kettlebell produces a natural external rotation moment at the shoulder, and this seems to recruit the subscapularis (a key shoulder stabilizer). Often athletes or clients who complain of overhead presses being uncomfortable will find the alternating kettlebell version to be completely pain free.
Begin with both kettlebells at shoulder level with the thumbs touching the front deltoids. Elbows are about 45 degrees to the torso. Press up with one kettlebell, driving the shoulder into internal rotation (thumb toward the face) (see figure 8.14). Reverse the motion in the descent and switch to the opposite side. Perform three sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Half-kneeling alternating kettlebell press.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Three Questions to Define Functional Training
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions. 1. How many sports are played sitting down? As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
To better understand the concept of functional training, ask yourself a few simple questions.
- How many sports are played sitting down?
As far as I can tell, only a few sports, such as rowing, are performed from a seated position. If we accept this premise, we can see that training muscles from a seated position would not be functional for most sports.
- How many sports are played in a rigid environment where stability is provided by outside sources?
The answer would appear to be none. Most sports are contested on fields or courts. The stability is provided by the athlete, not by some outside source. Reasoning again would tell us that most machine-based training systems are not by definition functional because the load is stabilized for the lifter by the machine. Proponents of machine-based training systems might argue that machine-based training is safer, but there is a clear trade-off for relative safety in the weight room.
Although in theory machine-based training may result in fewer injuries during training, the lack of proprioceptive input (internal sensory feedback about position and movement) and the lack of stabilization will more than likely lead to a greater number of injuries during competition.
- How many sports skills are performed by one joint acting in isolation?
Again, the answer is zero. Functional training attempts to focus on multijoint movement as much as possible. Vern Gambetta and Gary Gray, two widely recognized experts on functional training, state, "Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non functional. Multi-joint movements which integrate muscle groups into movement patterns are very functional" (2002, paragraph 13).
From the answers to those three questions we could probably agree that functional training is best characterized by exercises done with the feet in contact with the ground and, with few exceptions, without the aid of machines.
Resistance to the concept of functional training often lies in the idea that "we have always done it this way." But, as Lee Cockrell appropriately asked in his book Creating Magic, "What if the way we have always done it was wrong?"
How Functional Training Works
In its most basic application, a functional training program prepares an athlete to play his sport. Functional training is not about using one sport to train an athlete for another sport. That's cross-training. Many collegiate strength programs confuse the two and, as a result, train their athletes to be powerlifters and Olympic-style weightlifters as much as they do to excel in their primary sports.
Functional training on the other hand uses many concepts developed by sport coaches to train speed, strength, and power in order to improve sport performance and reduce incidence of injury. The key in taking those concepts from the track coach or powerlifting expert is to apply them intelligently to athletes. They cannot be applied blindly from one sport to another. Rather, a program should carefully blend concepts and knowledge from areas such as sports medicine, physical therapy, and sports performance to create the best possible scenario for that particular athlete.
Functional training teaches athletes how to handle their own body weight and, in that sense, somewhat resembles the calisthenics so popular in the early 20th century. The coach initially uses body weight as resistance and strives to employ positions that make sense to the participant.
Functional training intentionally incorporates balance and proprioception (body awareness) into training through the use of unilateral exercises. Gambetta and Gray (2002, paragraph 8) state, "Functional training programs need to introduce controlled amounts of instability so that the athlete must react in order to regain their own stability." The best and simplest way to introduce instability is to simply ask an athlete to perform an exercise standing on one leg. By design, functional training utilizes single-leg movements that require balance to properly develop the muscles in the way they are used in sport. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
Functional training involves simple versions of squatting, forward bending, lunging, pushing, and pulling. The purpose is to provide a continuum of exercises that teach athletes to handle their own body weight in all planes of movement.
A final point on this: Functional training programs train movements, not muscles.There is no emphasis on overdeveloping strength in a particular movement; instead, emphasis is on attaining a balance between pushing and pulling strength and between knee-dominant hip extension (quadriceps and gluteals) and hip-dominant hip extension (hamstrings and gluteals).
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Foam Rolling Techniques and Tips
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise.
Rolling can provide great benefits both before and after a workout; however, rolling at the start of a workout is essential. Foam rolling before a workout decreases muscle density and sets the stage for a better warm-up. Rolling after a workout may aid in recovery from strenuous exercise. The nice thing about the foam roller is that it can be used on a daily basis. In fact, Clair and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain (2004).
How long an athlete or client rolls is also individual. In our setting we allow 5 to 10 minutes for soft tissue work at the beginning of the session before the warm-up.
Let's now look at the primary areas of the body where athletes most benefit from foam rolling and the techniques used to get the best results. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a general rule of thumb is to do 10 slow rolls in each position. Often athletes or clients are encouraged to simply roll until the pain dissipates or disappears.
Foam Rolling the Gluteus Maximus and Hip Rotators
The hip rotators sit below the glutes. To roll the hips the athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt toward the side to be rolled and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators more specifically, the leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group on stretch (see figure 5.1).
Gluteus maximus and hip rotators.
Foam Rolling the Low Back
After rolling the hips, the athlete rolls the lower back area (see figure 5.2), tilting slightly right or left to get into the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, a large triangular muscle layered under the spinal erectors. If you have any concerns about spinal injury, skip the low back. We have never had any issues with rolling the lumbar spine, but use common sense and proceed with caution.
Low back.
Foam Rolling the Upper Back
The athlete moves up the body, continuing to roll the spinal erectors, the large layers of muscle on either side of the spine. When the athlete reaches the area between the shoulder blades, instruct him to try to touch the elbows together in front to get into the area known as the thoracic spine (see figure 5.3). Putting the elbows together places the shoulder blades as far apart as possible, allowing the roller to impact the lower trapezius and rhomboids.
Upper back.
Foam Rolling the Tensor Fasciae Latae and Gluteus Medius
The TFL and gluteus medius, although small muscles, can be significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest (see figure 5.4a). After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position and works from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius (see figure 5.4b).
(a) Tensor fasciae latae and (b) gluteus medius.
Save
Save
Learn more about New Functional Training for Sports.
Rotational Throws
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action. Medicine ball throws develop hip power by teaching the athlete to better utilize hip internal and external rotation to draw power from the ground. The goal is not torso rotation but rather powerful hip rotation. The objective is to learn to transfer ground forces through a relatively stiff and stable core.
Much like some of our other core exercises, we progress from either tall kneeling or half kneeling to standing throws and eventually to stepping throws. The lunge position is difficult for medicine ball throws, so we often progress from a kneeling variation directly to a standing variation, skipping the lunge position.
Half-Kneeling Side-Twist Throw
Progression 1
As with our other core progressions, for most beginners we start with a half-kneeling version of the side-twist throw (see figure 7.28). This will be phase 1 in most of our athlete programs. As mentioned before, physical therapist Gray Cook popularized the idea of eliminating joints for teaching purposes. The half-kneeling position teaches hip rotation in the throws by effectively taking out the knees and ankles. By having the inside (closest to the wall) knee up, the athlete or client is forced to use the hips and the kneeling (back side) glute.
We teach a long-arm, long-lever throw with the inside hand under the ball and the outside hand behind the ball. Make sure this is a long-lever rotation and not a push. Encourage the mental link to a shot or swing to teach the use of the long lever arm, and watch for athletes reverting to more of a push. Also, make the clients aware it will feel awkward on their nondominant side.
- Begin while half kneeling in a short lunge position, two to three feet (.6 to .9 m) from the wall; shoulders are perpendicular to the wall.
- The arms are long, with the front hand under the ball and the back hand behind.
- Think about throwing from the back knee and hip with some hip "pop."
Medicine ball half-kneeling side-twist throw.
Standing Side-Twist Throw
Progression 2
As mentioned earlier, we skip the lunge-position throws for a very simple logistical reason. Our athletes and clients struggled to maintain the lunge position and to focus on the throw itself, so now we simply skip to standing. In certain cases we start younger or older athletes or clients immediately in standing (see figure 7.29). For high school and college athletes, we stick with a progression from half kneeling to standing to stepping, but with middle school kids and our adults, we begin in standing and simply say, "Throw the ball as hard as you can." This emphasis on a gross motor pattern often overcomes some technical hurdles. In much the same way, older clients may be too stiff through the hips and core to benefit from the half-kneeling position the way an athlete does and may also start in standing. Remember, progressions are fluid suggestions, not rigid rules.
Medicine ball standing side-twist throw.
Side-Twist Throw With Step
Progression 3
The next step in the progression is to add movement to the throw. In progression 3, step toward the wall with the front foot to increase the force being generated from the back foot. Emphasis is on shifting weight from the back foot to the front. All other aspects of the side throw remain the same.
Two-Step Side-Twist Throw
Progression 4
In our fourth progression, the athlete takes two steps toward the wall. Obviously the client or athlete now needs to be farther away from the wall. The two-step throw is more aggressive and violent and really mimics the actions of shooting on the move. The two-step throw also places greater stress on the front foot and hip.
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Overhead Pressing
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom.
As mentioned in the section on vertical and horizontal pulling, straight bars determine the bar path and the shoulder motion for the lifter. Like the individual handles on the newer functional trainers or the handles of a suspension trainer, dumbbells allow the shoulder to have more freedom. This is a huge plus over using a straight bar for overhead presses. Overhead work will begin in half kneeling to stabilize the lumbar spine and to force the lifter to use the shoulders.
The most common mistake in overhead pressing is creating a backward lean or a lumbar arch that effectively turns the overhead press into an incline press. The backward lean allows the upper pecs to become active as in an incline press. However, the trade-off is a large stress to the lumbar spine.
Half-Kneeling Alternating Kettlebell Press
Baseline
My choice for where to start overhead work is with a half-kneeling stance and kettlebells. The offset nature of the kettlebell produces a natural external rotation moment at the shoulder, and this seems to recruit the subscapularis (a key shoulder stabilizer). Often athletes or clients who complain of overhead presses being uncomfortable will find the alternating kettlebell version to be completely pain free.
Begin with both kettlebells at shoulder level with the thumbs touching the front deltoids. Elbows are about 45 degrees to the torso. Press up with one kettlebell, driving the shoulder into internal rotation (thumb toward the face) (see figure 8.14). Reverse the motion in the descent and switch to the opposite side. Perform three sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Half-kneeling alternating kettlebell press.
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