Category Archives: Anatomy & Physiology

Warming Up

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In the three year history of this website, one of my main sources of writing material has been learning from my own mistakes. If I educate you about why something I did was stupid, then hopefully you won’t make the same mistake. Today is one of those days.

I strained my hamstring in the first couple minutes of a flag football game last night. I had done a couple of movement prep exercises, kick swings, some sprints, but it was all condensed into a several minutes. I returned a kick off with a full sprint. Then on the first play, I ran an out route, caught a pass, and was sprinting along the sideline when the left proximal (upper) hamstring yanked. I’ve never pulled a muscle during a sport. This was the second game and we’ve had a few practices, so it’s not like I just got up and started sprinting without any adaptation. I blame my lack of sufficient warm-up.


There is a traditional school of thought that says a good warm-up can prevent injury. There is another school of thought that would say the warm-up only serves a performance enhancement purpose and does not prevent injury or improve flexibility (this is actually the view point of Dr. Kilgore in the “Getting Ready to Train” chapter of FIT). It’s accepted in the physical therapy world that warm-up and mobility work can prevent injury. There are also many studies that show a decreased rate of injury after warming up (though the studies could be crappy or irrelevant). My experience in sport, sport coaching, and strength and conditioning coaching gives me the opinion that good warm-ups can prevent certain types of injury. At the very least Kilgore would have to concede that dynamic stretching can improve flexibility, because he experienced an increase in ROM after doing kick swings in the 4 week case study we conducted on high intensity conditioning!  

Warming up for a sport like flag football is different than warming up in the gym. Let’s briefly discuss the benefit of warming up, general warm-up methods, and some specific methods dependent depending on what activity you are about to do.

Benefits of Warming Up

The first part of a warm-up is a general warm-up. Traditionally this involves yogging, jump roping, or rowing and aims to physically warm the body up. At rest, the body holds most of the blood volume in the visceral cavity — primarily the trunk. The blood focuses on all of the organs and the digestive processes. This is why if you eat a meal in cold weather, you feel even colder after eating. It’s because the focus of the blood flow is in shifts to the gut area reducing the blood (i.e. warmth) in the extremities. During a warm-up, the body starts shunting blood to the extremities in response to their increased use and activity.

Adrenaline is released to increase the heart rate and dilate the capillaries to allow for more efficient oxygen transfer to the muscles. It increases synovial fluid production, which acts as a viscous lubrication between joints. There is a lot more going on — like increased metabolism, glycogen being broken down for readily available energy, and increased enzymatic activity — but the result is that the body is better prepared for movement and activity. Most importantly, it increases the extensibility and pliability of muscle fibers and increases force production and speed of contraction.

This can all occur from several minutes of general warm-up. Let’s look at a few different activities that would qualify as a general warm-up.

General Warm-up

The beginning of a warm-up doesn’t have to be limited to running or rowing. Anything that increases the body temperature and takes the joints and muscles through a full range of motion (ROM) will  work. Calisthenics are often used since they aren’t too stressful and usually include full ROM movements. Doing a short circuit of some push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and maybe some jumps will prep the body nicely. Personally I like to foam roll first, do whatever mobility I have planned (which isn’t a lot at this point), some movement prep, and then dynamic stretching.

Mobility is the term that means any specific manipulation that improves ROM or function to achieve better positioning for the workout (i.e. stuff like MWOD). Note that the ability to hit proper positioning, AKA efficient mechanics, is probably the single most important factor to reducing chance of injury. If you are sprinting, lifting, and moving with inefficient mechanics that place lots of stress on structures that aren’t designed to accommodate them, then it’s no surprise that injury will result. Good mechanics start at the feet and travel up through the body.

Movement prep is a term that I’m using to refer to non ballistic movements that would take joints and muscles through a full ROM. This would include stuff like walking and side lunges. I would include an example video, but almost everyone who teaches movement prep stuff is so god damn annoying and I don’t want to give them the traffic. (Edit: Here is an example from the USTA — just ignore all of the idiosyncracies).

Dynamic stretching refers to a stretching method that uses momentum to move the segments through the full ROM the joints would allow if it were done passively, but not exceeding the passive ROM (which would turn into “ballistic stretching”, which is forced beyond the passive ROM). This is pretty similar to movement prep, but faster. This would refer to torso rotations, shoulder circles, and kick swings (front/back and side-to-side). I’ve seen dynamic stretching poopoo’d, probably because it is interpreted to be ballistic stretching (which can be harmful). However, I’ve done it every training session for over a decade and have only once pulled a muscle in sport activity (which was last night). N=1 is irrelevant, but I think static stretching is effective at acting as that general warm-up through a full ROM, and I have always liked the way my muscles have felt after doing it. If there were a physiological explanation, I would expect the mechanism to be related to the muscular innervation associated with the fibers being stretched at speed followed by their immediate contraction. It’s not like it’s a training tool to improve the stretch-reflex, but in my opinion it helps prep that system for activity.

In reality, any of the above stretching techniques could probably be used by itself to act as a general warm-up. I pride myself on my mobility, how it allows for proper functioning, and how it acts as a preventative measure during activity, so I go through a few minutes of each of these phases. Again, n=1 doesn’t matter, but the length and type of your warm-up will be dependent on a) how sore and stiff you are, b) how immobile you are, c) the type of activity you are about to perform, and d) your adaptation to that activity.

Specific Warm-up

There is a lot of variability in what to do in a specific warm-up, because it’s relative to the planned activity. Barbell training will only require the standard light and progressive warm-ups with the bar. Even the strongest people in the world will begin with light barbell warm-ups. The number of warm-ups will be dependent on the person. For example, I know that I benefit from having a couple more warm-ups in my press and bench compared to my squat or Olympic weightlifting movements.

There are stories of guys walking up to a bar and deadlifting 600 pounds with no warm-up whatsoever, but consider them the exception. Warm-ups can’t prevent every injury, but they are still necessary for optimal performance. I remember a quote from either Starting Strength or Practical Programming that said, “If you don’t have time to warm-up, then you don’t have time to train.” This was in reference to the specific barbell warm-up, but good advice nonetheless.

Shari Onley of the Australian Lingerie Football League sprints in tryouts. American football has a good history of comprehensive warm-ups.

Whereas preventing injury in lifting activities is probably more dependent on general mobility, sports with aggressive movements (i.e. sprinting, starting and stopping, changing direction, etc.) are probably more dependent on a good warm-up to prevent injury. A structure like the hamstring is subjected to many more stresses and demands in a football, soccer, or rugby play than it will be in a back squat.

Specific warm-ups will need to include pieces or variations of the contested movements in a progressive manner. Start by using active movements in a controlled setting. Line drills are typically done in football or track and consist of walking frankensteins, high knees, butt kicks, and short sprints. Ladder drills could be used to prep the lower body for lateral and ballistic movements. (As a side note, I love the idea of programming ladder drills as a general warm-up. It helps maintain or improve athletic ability and allows a ballistic adaptation in the lower legs.) Follow these activities with short sprints, lateral shuffles that turn into a straight ahead sprint, and making cuts (i.e. changing direction) that turn into sprints. Had I had more time, I would have progressed my pre-sprint warm-up a little better (general warm-up, back pedaling, side shuffling, etc.), ran some passing routes (that include change of direction and sprinting), and done a few more sprints.

The drills that are used should be relevant to the sport or activity. A warm-up for volleyball would include more shorter, agility-focused foot work drills, jumping, and sport specific practice (passes, digs, hitting, etc.). Martial arts will probably have more movement prep and mat work before specific strikes or throws.

Note that the above strategy is the basic approach to every football practice and game warm-up. Good coaches combine “warming-up” with “skill practice”. Sure, injuries still occur in sports despite comprehensive warm-ups, but you can’t put a number on the injuries that are prevented. Not to mention many injuries are the result of external force trauma (e.g. a player falling into the side of a knee) or poor mechanics (e.g. player twisting their knee when the cleat is stuck in the turf). And who knows, perhaps if I would have warmed up better, I still would have strained my hamstring. However, are you willing to jump into aggressive movement without prepping the pliability and power production of your structures? It’d be stupid to do so.

Shin Splints

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Most trainees will benefit from some type of conditioning in their program once or twice a week. It’ll prevent them from becoming too unadapted to things they might need or want to do. That could include playing rec sports, chasing a dog, going on a hike, or running away from zombies and/or nuclear fallout.

Some trainees forgo conditioning because they hate it, are bulking, or are doing a linear progression. Then they’ll jump back into conditioning as if the layoff never occurred. This can easily result in irritated joints, strains, or muscle pulls, especially in “older” trainees. One common irritation is the shin splint.

Generic sources say that shin splints are caused by doing too much and give equally generic rehab advice. This post will teach you what mechanical issues lead to shin splints, how to avoid them, and how to treat them.

Causes of Shin Splints

“Doing too much” is a gross over generalization. Yes, subjecting your structures to stresses that they aren’t adapted to will have negative repercussions. In all of my books I’ve pointed out how new activities, especially conditioning stuff, needs to be easily progressed. If you haven’t been running, don’t sprint. If you haven’t been walking, don’t run. It’s pretty simple, but the “Tommy Tough Guy” mentality is prevalent. It’s better to ease into activity than inhibit training because of a stupid strain.

The same goes for “easing into more volume or intensity in a program”, especially with movements that you aren’t adapted to. I pointed this out in the “Transitioning to Olympic Weightlifting” post, yet I still know a lot of people who ignored the advice, had a high frequency of doing the Olympic lifts, and had elbow or shoulder irritations as a result. For example, don’t jump into a lot of running mileage to prepare for your PT test; ramp it up over several weeks.

Mechanics

Shin splints specifically arise from having poor mechanics, and this inefficiency is only exacerbated by ‘doing too much too soon’. To understand poor mechanics, you must understand foot anatomy. In Anatomy Without A Scalpel, Dr. Kilgore points out how Isaac Newton said, “The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.” It’s perfectly constructed — through natural selective evolution — to carry out it’s function of bipedal ambulation (i.e. two legged walking).

In the “Foot Awareness” post, I talk about how “navicular drop” (AKA flat feet that are probably habitually rotated out) has an effect on squatting, yet it also creates an inefficient loading on the foot and lower leg during movement. Running and hiking/rucking are activities where trainees usually see problems. Navicular drop is typically called “pronation of the ankle”. By looking at the picture (right), you can see that having a severe angle between the foot and shin would be problematic to efficient force distribution.

Even if the ankle is a healthy “neutral”, there still can be some mechanical issues. Dorsiflexion is when the toes are pulled up towards the knee. Plantarflexion is when the toes are pointed away, as if you are pushing down a gas pedal (see these and more in this beardless “Anatomy Motion Explained” video).

When running (with poor technique) or rucking, heel striking occurs with the ankle in dorsiflexion and the foot out in front of the center of mass. When the body shifts forward to be over the foot, the ankle plantarflexes, yet the dorsiflexion muscles on the front of the shin resist the motion (if they didn’t resist, then your foot would just flop to the ground uncontrollably). Said another way, the dorsiflexion muscles are eccentrically acting — the fibers are being elongated under a load. Eccentric muscle action is the most stressful, damaging kind and makes the muscle very sore.

Imagine doing several thousands of repetitions of a movement that eccentrically acts on the front of the shin. Now imagine that there is a significant additional force. Running slow applies three to four times the force of body weight (the fore foot phase can be between four and seven times body weight) whereas rucking is going to apply a force that is a multiple of the sum of body weight and the weight being carried. Now imagine being unadapted to this type of force in one instance of exposure. Now imagine being exposed to this several times a day, every day, until there’s a problem. It’s easy to see how people will develop shin problems, huh? I know a fella who was medically dropped from phase one of BUD/S (Navy SEALs’ selection and training) because he had severe shin splints…twice. They run six miles a every day just to go to the chow hall (one mile to and from), then whatever else they do that day. Yikes.

Ignore the “tibialis posterior” — that’s on the back of the leg and not labeled well. This ankle is pronated pretty bad.

Let’s specifically look at the musculoskeletal anatomy involved. The muscles that dorsiflex are the tibialis anterior and the muscles that extend (or pull “up”) all five of the toes (note that the big toe, the hallucis, has it’s own muscle that is separate from the other digits). This collection of muscles originate along the tibia (the bigger shin bone on the medial side), the fibula (the smaller shin bone on the lateral side), and the interosseus membrane (a fibrous tissue that fills the space between the tibia and fibula). The tibialis anterior is easy to see and palpate; simply dorsiflex your ankle and look at the muscle that bulges up a few inches below your knee.

Imagine those muscles attaching along the shin bones and the fibrous tissue in between them. The “heel strike followed by resisting the toes to the ground” eccentric movement is repeatedly yanking on those origin attachments. If you repeatedly yanked on a rope tied to a wall, eventually something is going to give, whether it’s the wall or the rope. The same thing happens with the muscles, except with repetitive stress the attachment sites are what get irritated. In this case, the interosseous membrane and the tendon/bone sites are stressed repeatedly and continued exposure prevents them from repairing the damage. Compounding harmful stress without recovery results in achy pain, and can continue to be extremely painful when more significant structural damage occurs. Without time to recover, the yanking tension will actually create little fractures on the shin called “stress fractures”. Worst case scenario it can get more damaged, reduce circulation, and cause anterior compartment syndrome where tissues die. And that, my friends, is the pain you call “shin splints”.

Note that this area can get sore from a single exposure, especially when the trainee isn’t adapted to it. Merely one exposure won’t be enough to cause long-term problems, but it can interfere with training if it’s really sore. Overt pain can alter mechanics since the body instinctually tries to avoid pain (e.g. limping is something that pulls weight off a sore joint). Also, sore and damaged muscles won’t be able to exert force as well as fresh, healthy muscles.

The above explanation focusing on dorsiflexion is the simple version, because when you add in the likelihood of the ankle being pronated, the arch being collapsed, and the toes pointed out, it will only make all of this worse. Especially with heel striking. Heel striking shoots the force right through the structures, and when the structures are out of alignment because of poor foot mechanics, it isn’t distributed up the leg and dispersed through the thighs and hips; it’s sent right into the foot and shin. Cleaning up foot and ankle mechanics can reduce the chance of injury.

Treatment

The best way to treat shin splints is to prevent them to begin with. Work to correct foot mechanics (“Foot Awareness“) and use exercises to help re-develop the arch and lower leg muscles (“Foot Drills“). Progress into new activity that would put a lot of pounding on the lower legs. If you know that stressful activity is imminent ahead of time, start a train-up program to prepare yourself (i.e. pepper your angus).

As for treating shin splints, you’ll have two likely scenarios: a) you did something stupid once and are sore or b) repetitive stress was applied. With the former, you should cease or reduce the activity that caused it, massage the area (including trigger point work), and ice. If you’re already sore, then the window for effective icing might be past, but it’s not really going to be harmful. If this is a “repetitive stress” issue, then also cease or reduce the activity significantly, and massage the hell out of the area. Focus on the muscle bellies all the way up and down the shin and dig into them with at least ten purposeful strokes with a hard object. Follow it up with the foot drills (links above) and ice after. This process could occur several times a day, every day. Feel free to use any ankle rehab exercises, especially ones that work dorsiflexion. Do ankle circles as much as you can, especially before activity.

Shin splints are usually an indication that you were unprepared. Now that you know how they are caused, prepare thyself. If you want or need to do a lot of running, learn the POSE/Chi/forefoot running technique (progress that slowly, too). If you want or need to do a lot of hiking/rucking, then introduce it several months before you hit the longer or heavier stuff. You can mitigate the problems from shin splints by strengthening your feet and lower leg muscles with the above drills. If you’re in a situation where you cannot help the activity, (BUD/S, Ranger School, multi-day backpacking, etc.), then massage the muscles whenever you’re off your feet and do your best. Remember: the best treatment is prevention.

Edit: For more on shin splints, read this post. 

 

Foam Rolling

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Several years ago foam rolling was the “in” thing and everyone used and praised it. Self “mobility” work has since evolved away from foam rolling — even to the point of poopooing it — but it can still serve a purpose.

This is from the new “Foam Rolling Porno” DVD set.

Most Tommy Tough Guys will say, “Ptsh, foam rolling is too light, I just use a a PEEH-VEH-CEE.” An actual foam roller won’t correct any real soft tissue problem, but that’s not its effective purpose. Foam rolling is best used prior to activity or training to loosen up the soft tissue (which can include fascia, muscles, or tendons) to be more pliable and allow a comprehensive range of motion (ROM). Think of it as a part of warming up instead of soft tissue treatment.

Trainees lament that a large portion of their day is spent sitting down. And if they’re standing up or doing manual labor, they’re still probably not going through a full ROM and spend time in problematic positions (bending over, crouched down, on knees, etc.). Either way, loosening up the body with a foam roller will prep those structures for activity, whether  applying force maximally or ballistically. This light soft tissue work will augment any movement prep like dynamic stretching or any “mob” that includes positional stretching. Heavy, invasive massages prior to training can have a deleterious effect on performance, yet light massages can make the structures more pliable, increase blood flow to the area, and even reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) quicker.

At worst you’re increasing your warm-up by five to ten minutes. At best you’re enhancing that warm-up, improving recovery, and prepping your structures to train better.

One reason that a PVC may not be as useful in the context of a warm-up is because it’s more invasive and painful. Tommy Tough Guy Mentality says, “I can take it. BRING ON THE PAIN.” Just because you can deal with pain doesn’t mean you’re a) cool or b) doing anything useful. In actuality it’s not easy to undergo pain and completely relax a muscle. The point is to get some light massage through the muscle belly tissue, not to tense up and contract the muscle because it’s experiencing pain and try to massage a taught muscle. By using foam, you can reach deep into the tissue without tensing up or disrupting the cellular environment too much.

When I googled “sexy foam rolling” to see what would come up, I found this picture of my jacked friend, Mark. Care to explain, Mark?

This isn’t to say that PVC is worthless, but it’s most likely inferior for warm-up purposes for most people. Note that over time your tissues will adapt to the foam roller and you’ll need a harder surface to receive the same effect. That means if you’ve been foam rolling daily for a couple of years, then no, this won’t apply to you. Foam rollers can cost 15 to $20 and PVC can cost a few dollars. I think they both serve a purpose, especially when you don’t have a servant to give you a rub down prior to training (yeah c’mon). In case you’ve haven’t gotten on the internet since 2005, here’s a video of a foam rolling protocol, specifically what I do before training. I aim to loosen tension on my back, hips, and knees. I could probably accomplish the same with a PVC, but I know it’d cause some “tensing up” in my thighs or around my knees. The PVC also crunches on the spinous processes of my vertebral segments when rolling certain positions on my back. If all you need is a light massage, and you have access to a foam roller, then it’s a better tool. If you’re interested in exploring different options, consider the benefits of therapeutic massage as well.

Learning About Strength and Conditioning

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I’ve been asked several times, “What books do you recommend for coaching and lifting?” A coach has a duty to continuously learn and improve. In all likelihood, that means a coach will amend or modify recommendations over time. I know that I can look back two, four, or six years and wish I could go back and re-program trainees differently. Clint Darden does an excellent job explaining this concept in this video.

To maximize your learning and growth, engaging with numerous coaches is key. Don’t hesitate to meet and converse with as many coaches as possible, including those who may not be considered as skilled as you. Even from them, you can gather valuable ideas and methods. Additionally, seek out coaches who excel and have achieved more significant success. While you don’t need to blindly accept everything they say, there’s always something to learn, even if their approaches differ from your own. Embracing a diverse range of perspectives can be as beneficial as using a hospital learning management system to enhance your knowledge and skills in the field.

Unfortunately it’s not possible to badger various people with questions. They don’t have that kind of availability and their time is valuable. The next best way to learn and get better is to read and study. This isn’t confined to training related resources; I’ve pulled coaching lessons out of communications, leadership, and history books. Read as much as you can from as many training methodologies as you can. If possible, read different sources about the same topic.

Keep an open mind about everything and be wary to fully commit to one person’s ideals. Unfortunately for me, that applies to me as well. My “style” or “methodology” is to adapt to what the individual needs. I could use a “CrossFitty approach” that has a lot of conditioning, a standard strength linear progression approach, an Olympic weightlifting focused approach, or a combination of all of them. Despite the fact that I don’t pump one method or program over another for the majority of situations and don’t subscribe exclusively to a single methodology, I am still not the gospel. I try to have a level view of everything and pick and choose based on what a person or group wants or needs, but you should still look to others for knowledge. Most of you do anyway, but I hope it helps everyone become a student of ‘strength and conditioning’ as a whole instead one coach’s disciple.

That being said, the best way to solidify a foundation in strength and conditioning knowledge is by starting with anatomy and physiology. The continuum of knowledge would look like this:

– Anatomy
– Physiology
– Biomechanics
– Classic Strength Training
– Endurance Training
– Mobility Training
– Sport/Exercise Psychology
– Advanced Classic Strength Training
– Advanced Endurance Training (specifically with a high intensity focus)
– Advanced Mobility Training (prehab/rehab, corrective maintenance, soft tissue work, etc.)
– Modern Advanced Strength Training

This starts with the fundamental properties of the body and gradually increases the knowledge base. It also prevents an unnecessary focus on the more advanced stuff before the basics are understood. For example, a trainee should understand how a beginner strength training protocol works — on the programmatic and phsyiological level — before worrying about comprehending the Westside Method. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to read and understand the Conjugate Method from Russian translations too. If a trainee, lifter, or coach doesn’t understand the concept of stress, recovery, and adaptation within the context of physiology, then he has no model to base programming on.

As a side note, I would love to teach classes on each one of these topics. Nerd boners galore.

The core of strength and conditioning lies with anatomy. The way to start learning anatomy is to hold a bone in your hand, feel it, and start learning its landmarks. Bones are always taught first, because if you know the attachment sites of the muscles, then the concept of how muscles work makes learning about muscles easier. It’s daunting at first, though. I can pick up an ulna and orient it to how it would fit into a forearm, but when I first touched an ulna I didn’t even know what it is. And it’s even harder if you’re not in a university class, because you won’t have a model to hold.

That’s why it’s important for you to use very good anatomy books to assist your coaching or training ability. Here are three anatomy books that I deem mandatory:

1. Trail Guide to the Body, 3rd Ed. (or 4th) by Andrew Biel

I carry this book everywhere. It’s with me at every seminar, and I even had it at the USAPL Raw National meet. There is no other book that has as clear, distinct, and well drawn pictures of musculoskeletal anatomy. Some people say Netter’s or Gray’s work is the best, but they pale in comparison to this book.

It’s made for physical and massage therapists, so the reader is taught how to palpate every structure in the book. This is immensely important because you can learn where these structures lie underneath your skin. It helps in diagnosing injury, learning how to rehab a muscle, seeing the action of muscles, and even what muscles are included in a given movement. Combine this with some basic understanding of musculoskeletal biomechanics, and you can analyze movement.

There’s really no excuse not to have this book. The 3rd Edition is available online for as low as $15 (the newer 4th Edition is a standard textbook price).

2. Anatomy Without A Scalpel, by Lon Kilgore

Yes, Dr. Kilgore is a friend. Yes, this book is partially full of pictures of me (this picture is the best). No, these two facts do not have any bearing on my recommendation. Kilgore isn’t a pretender. He has augmented the careers of countless people and consistently works towards a life-long goal of improving knowledge in the world of fitness. This book is the culmination of years of thought and teaching lessons that Kilgore synthesized for the purpose of teaching fitness professionals applied anatomy.

I am actually re-reading this book right for my daily “anatomy study” block; it’s a refresher, reminds me of forgotten lessons, and even is teaching me some new ones. The best part about the book is that Kilgore always brings the lesson into an applied format and avoids the conventional fitness trash that we usually see. Squatting, pressing, benching, and deadlifting are the examples instead of isolation movements and bosu balls. This is functional anatomy the way it should have always been. If I were a professor, this would be one of my text books (along with The Trail Guide to the Body).

3. The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, 2nd Edition by Clair and Amber Davies

This book has direct and indirect utility. Directly, it teaches you about muscular anatomy and how tightness in muscles or muscle systems can revert pain at another location. This can help you learn how muscle is integrated throughout the body instead of thinking about them working in isolation. Indirectly it is providing more repetition with (primarily) muscular anatomy. This will only help the S&C student learn about the body, but it will also teach them how to work on soft tissue.

Just keep in mind that the authors are obsessed with the “trigger point concept” that muscles have triggers that make them feel better. Instead, think in terms of tension. If there is a lot of tension on the quadriceps (due to their shortening from prolonged sitting, for example), then that would provide tension at the hip and cause pain in the hip or lower back. By using basic massage techniques, it’s possible to alleviate that tension and either reduce the pain immediately or over time. If we combine these soft tissue techniques with positional stretching and joint distraction, we can reduce a lot of pain, prevent injury, and improve mechanics in training.

This book will help with the basic anatomy stuff, but it provides very good information on what actions injure particular muscles and how to treat them.

More About Strength and Conditioning

In future posts I’ll point out books that can help coaches or curious trainees improve their knowledge. In the mean time, get to reading and studying 

Public Service Announcement: Toe Angle

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I wrote a post and filmed a video explaining “Hip torque, toe angle, and squatting” to explain why a more forward toe angle in the squat was beneficial. It helps distribute force across the front and back of the thighs more efficiently which results in more muscular applying force to aid the movement. I followed this with another post and video titled “Should I point my toes forward?” The TL;DR on this second post was, “If you do not have the mobility to point the toes forward, then don’t do it.”

Not only are there people squatting with their toes forward — when I deliberately told them not to do so — these same people are getting tweaks in their knee and don’t know why. The sum of the “why?” is that they don’t have the mobility to do it and aren’t listening to Justin.

This is a public service announcement saying, again: Do not point your toes forward unless you have the mobility to do it. I created the following video that explains what occurs anatomically to cause a strain or tweak in the knee if someone ignores this advice. I also provide a method to quantify the amount of mobility a person should have before pointing their toes forward on a loaded squat (hint: it’s doing the “paleo” squat barefoot, toes forward, and knees out without pain or falling over). I also provide some “mobs”, specifically soft tissue work, that can help relieve tension in that area to improve the mobility to eventually shift the toes more forward. It would have been to difficult to explain this stuff via text, and a video is much easier. I’ve split the video into two parts, because the anatomical portion is a bit long by necessity.

Part 1

Note that the popliteus gets strained because it isn’t extensible enough to handle the torque associated with the toes forward position. Also note that repetitive stress on the back of the knee from road marching, rucking, hiking, or high frequency or volume CrossFit movements can beat the structure down. If you try and apply torque on a crusty structure that is in a recovery deficit, then this is another reason why tweaks can occur on the back or side of the knee when doing knees forward squatting. If the structure is beat up, then give it more days of rest than you usually would before returning to squatting.

Part 2

Will everyone be able to squat with a toe angle of right outside of forward? No. Can most people improve their mobility to move their toe angle a little bit in from where it is now? Probably. Watch the videos and learn the reasoning that explains why shifting them forward too soon can result in a strain the popliteus (on the back or outside of the knee). This next video provides