The Fat Epidemic

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Jay Ashman posted on Facebook about and article stating by the year 2030, 39 states will have obesity rates over 50%. Alarming indeed. Don’t forget every state in the U.S. is currently at least 50% overweight or obese. These numbers are based on the BMI, something I abhor. The BMI is just a ratio of weight and height and it doesn’t take into account body composition. It’s a way to quickly get a gauge of a body type from an epidemiological perspective. If you are lean, yet lift, you’re probably going to be overweight or obese. “Overweight” consists of a BMI 25≤x<30  whereas “obese” is x>30 (how many of you sprouted giant boners over that “greater than or equal to” sign? Edit: You probably had a limp wiener since I originally put the signs backwards…jeez louise).

America, reporting for duty, sir!

This topic has been dear to me for years, though I used to be a bit more rabid about it. For example, in my senior English class we studied Jonathan Swift, one of the greatest, most ballsy, and badass satirical writers in history. We had to write our own “Modest Proposal”. I don’t have a copy any more, but my proposal consisted of placing all of the world’s fat people a space vessel and shipped directly into the sun. Despite my logical, well thought out validation, my overly obese teacher was not amused and clearly disappointed.

The truth hurts, yet truth is real. We don’t have to tip-toe around this subject; “overweight” and “obese” are faulty versions of saying “fat”. It isn’t offensive to state someone has a particular characteristic, especially when it’s something they can control. If your friend is being an asshole, then tell him politely he’s being an asshole and discuss how you can mitigate his assholeish tendencies. If someone is complaining like a baby, then explain to them why whining about it isn’t going to help themselves or the group. Note that you shouldn’t say, “Cry me a river you fat fucking baby,” to adolescents dressed like gangsters in a dark parking lot, even if it’s a quote from “Varsity Blues”, because then you’ll get punched in the back of the head like I did when I was in high school.

Sugar coating the fat issue is only going to make it worse (oh my GOD I’m on fire!). It’s not derogatory, because it’s fact. Not to mention there are scientific tests like “body FAT measures”. I’m not suggesting we go around declaring people fat and insulting them, but we shouldn’t have to feel obligated to search for a less “hurtful” term. If anything, being objective will act as a motivating factor.

Why is western civilization so fat? It’s undoubtedly a combination of many factors. Since the ’70s, the government has recommended carbohydrate rich diets. Each decade arrives with more unhealthy processed food. With technological advancement, more people have un-active, white collar jobs resulting in low activity levels. The lengthy work weeks and numerous forms of entertainment mean people don’t take the time to exercise. And even if they do, the fitness industry had adapted to try and bank on achieving results by “quick and easy” short cuts. Desirable body image has been reduced to frail, gaunt celebrities — possibly as a result of the white collar and technology societal shift. Society’s mindset has lost the concept of hard work and revolves around the “gimme now” mentality.

Regardless of the underlying cause, people simply don’t care. If they did, then they would do something about it and not be fat. Sure, it’s not easy; nothing of worth ever is. The lack of care and effort is my biggest issue with the fat epidemic. People are so irritatingly quick to say, “Well, some people can’t help it.” That’s bullshit. There might be a tenth of a percent of people that legitimately can’t help it (I think it’s much lower); everyone else is just making an excuse. Type II Diabetes is a result of destroying proper hormone function through poor habits. Can there be lasting damage? Definitely. Does it prevent the person from exercising and eating healthy? In almost all cases, no. If a kid grows up with an unhealthy family and is fat by 11 years old, he is definitely in a hole, but eventually has the autonomy to make a decision to live a different life.

I honestly think that society has bred a helpless mindset that looks to other people to resolve problems. As a result, motivation and habitual change are nonexistent. I know; I’ve been a trainer for a “Biggest Loser Challenge”. It’s so hard for a very fat, unhealthy person to do make a change like removing soda from their diet. It’s so hard to not sit on the couch and eat snacks. At the end of the day, some people are just not willing to do what they need to do to change their life. This is why Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped personal training; you can’t help someone who isn’t willing to help themselves.

What are we supposed to do? Honestly, there isn’t much you can do. Perception across an entire society is dependent on decades of change and influence. We can’t save the world at once. The best we can do is educate and help people that enter our social circles. Facilitation is always brought up when trying to motivate behavior change, but facilitation means precisely dick. It’s easy to spend 15 minutes, three times per week exercising. There are 96 blocks of 15 minutes in a day; 672 in a week. When someone can’t take 3, 6, or 9 of those 672 weekly blocks, they just don’t care, no matter how much you facilitate it.

Instead, do your best to educate in very simple and direct ways. Don’t create a mountain, just a hill. For example, suggest going for a walk around the block on a daily basis and tell the person to mark it on their calendar. Consecutive days make a chain on the calendar, and suggest that they don’t break the chain. Give them smaller goals in their diet. Stop drinking soda. Eat breakfast. Suggest simple things instead of lecturing them about insulin sensitivity and the paleo diet. “Crawl-walk-run” them through the process, but be concise and supportive. The support is probably most important. This “me generation” cares what other people think. It’s not common for someone to generate their own resolve and determination, but it can be contagious in groups.

Support is the only way you can help your family and friends. Don’t preach; ease them into it. Coaches and gym owners have even more responsibility to reach out to new clients and retain them. This, of course, is normal “business duty”, but you should only be in this business if you care. Shit heads that own local gyms that thrive on signing un-used memberships are only part of the problem. Be a part of the solution. Make a difference in helping people lose fat. Teach the basics, but be personable. Welcome them, make them laugh, and challenge them as much as their personality can handle. Give every client a chance. You’ll always have a few that aren’t ready to commit, but you can always help the folks on the bubble.

For the ladies.
You don’t have to be a monster like Vince Urbank to set an example.

Gym owners and coaches also need to set an example with their physiques and lifestyle. No, you don’t need to be a bastion of rippling fitness, but you shouldn’t be a frumpy mess. The same goes for all of you other readers, trainees, lifters, and competitors. About 60% of this nation is at least “overweight”. Don’t allow yourself to represent this unhealthy, lazy part of the population. 70’s Big has never been about sheer mass due to fat accumulation, even through the “Adult Males > 200 lbs” phase. It’s not a mistake when the guys in the Hall of Fame are lean and jacked. Unless you’re highly competitive in your sport, you’re not doing anyone any favors by carrying excess fat. I’m not suggesting you work to be under 10% body fat, but aim to look like you’re strong while being strong. It’ll set a positive example, even if you don’t actively help people. For example, I’ve had many people over the years tell me, “I started exercising and lifting weights after seeing you around here.” You can’t complain about the problem if you look like you’re part of it.

Yes, the development of fat acceptance in the Anglosphere is disgusting, unfortunate, and even scary. There are always complaining discussions attributing blame, but the truth is that real change starts within the mind. It isn’t easy to be lean, strong, powerful, or fit. It isn’t easy for a fat person to change their habits and behavior. It takes hard work, will power, and commitment. Pride yourself on the ability to do these hard things and set an example. There will soon come a time when you meet someone that says, “I can’t.” Become a part of the solution, as you wear short shorts, and teach them this foreign phrase: “I can.”

 

 

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.

Why Females Lift Less Efficiently

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In “Peculiarities of Female Training” I talked about how females respond to training differently than males. Specifically I looked at how women tend to more efficiently grow muscle with higher reps or volume and how they can lift a greater percentage of their max for reps.

The following statement was made in the last post: Women can lift more reps with higher percentages than men because they aren’t as neuromuscularly efficient as men. It left some people scratching their heads. If women are less efficient, why can they do more? These terms are relative.

You don’t have to fully understand the physiology behind “neuromuscular efficiency”. The concept of it is a gauge for how efficiently the nervous system innervates muscles to contract to apply force. When it’s genetically efficient, the process is an orchestra that results in fast, powerful, and strong athletes. When it’s genetically inefficient, it results in people who can’t jump well or gain strength slowly. Despite genetic predisposition, this physical attribute can be influenced through training. A person with poor neuromuscular efficiency may not ever have a 40 inch vertical, yet they can still improve their vertical jump several inches.

Neuromuscular efficiency also has to do with the fluidity and skill of movement. When someone hasn’t played sports throughout their life, they lack the motor programs to execute gross movement patterns. Squats or power cleans will usually be “herky jerky” and awkward, but after accumulating experience in training (i.e. practice), they become more efficient. Lastly, neuromuscular efficiency is relative to recent training adaptation. If someone is sedentary for years, they won’t have a symphony of muscle contraction during a squat.

All of that being said, females have a lower neuromuscular efficiency than males. This is a result of the hormonal differences between males and females. It doesn’t mean that females need special training programs, it just means that their program may need to be modified to achieve their goals.

When a female is less neuromuscularly efficient, it means that her nervous system cannot innervate muscles properly to achieve her true 1 rep max (1RM). True max is what she could do if she had the hormone profile of a male. Actual max is what she can do as a result of not having the hormone profile and neuromuscular efficiency of a male.  Note that this inefficiency primarily affects maximal force production or power, because it is under these circumstances in which the body will try to maximize the utilization of motor units (nerves and their associated muscle fibers). In other words, the limitation due to neuromuscular efficiency is seen when a female is trying to complete a 1RM. This causes the actual 1RM max to be lower, so when she performs a 5RM, the weight is closer to her actual 1RM than a man’s. Observe the figure below.

1. A female’s actual max is lower than what her true max is. The true max is theoretically what she could lift if she had a male’s hormonal profile and neuromuscular efficiency.

2. Therefore, a female’s 5RM is a greater percentage of her actual max compared to the percentage of a man’s 5RM and his max.

This is why we conclude, “Women can lift more reps with higher percentages than men because they aren’t as neuromuscularly efficient as men.” For example, if a guy’s 5RM is 87%, then a female’s 5RM might be 92%. No, this can’t be altered through training because it’s a result of a female’s biochemistry. Experts from detox in Los Angeles has stated that this quality could probably be effected by hormonal steroids, but I would still assume a female on drugs could not emulate the hormonal profile of a man.

In “Peculiarities of Female Training” I noted how this would affect a female when they are going for 1RMs, especially in a meet. The above explains why a ten pound jump is the difference in a smooth rep and a miss at a meet — there’s a small window between what a female can lift for reps and a 1RM. It also explains why females would need to use higher percentages on volume work. I alluded to how a female’s Volume Day on the Texas Method would approach 90% of her Intensity Day (not her 1RM) whereas a male wouldn’t typically go over 85%.

Yet this also makes sense as to why higher reps or volume is necessary for a female to grow muscle. The observation of females gaining muscle from lots of reps with sub-maximal loads is also result of the disparity in neuromuscular efficiency (e.g. doing CrossFit makes women muscular). In order to receive the same relative amount of work as a guy to grow muscle, she will either need to use more reps or more sets because she is handling a lower percentage of her true max than a male. Sub-maximal training isn’t affected by neuromuscular efficiency like maximal force or power production is.

If the female’s goal is to get stronger, she will either need more volume or more intensity (heavier weights) on her volume work. The same is probably true for power development. If the female’s goal is to gain muscle, then she will need sets with higher reps and/or more volume compared to a male. These are important points to understand regarding female strength and conditioning program.

Hopefully this post clarifies the confusion on this issue. If you have any questions, please drop them in the comments below.

Q&A – 42

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PR Friday is a celebration of training, a chance for you to exalt in your weekly triumphs or to simply share your hardships. Chances are that hardly anyone in your life understands what you do in the gym. Come, tell us your story, because we fathom and appreciate your trials.

Weekly Challenge

Last week we urged you to purchase a quality pair of short shorts and proudly do your part in The Revolution. Report your experiences and continue wearing them until winter forces you to prevent testicular freezing.

Next week’s challenge is to do something manly. A man is respectful, strong willed, and multi-talented. Build a fire without matches, grill a meat and potatoes meal, or help those in need. The person with the most manly deeds will win a t-shirt. Deeds will be judged by the readership and/or me. You can probably get some inspiration from The Art of Manliness website.

Week In Review

The week started with The Short Shorts Revolution…oh wait, that’s EVERY DAY. On Monday we started a discussion on the effect of birth control (and hormonal supplementation) and its effect on female training. There was also an admirable vid of Summer Krasinski front squatting 100kg for 3. Tuesday was the 11th anniversary of 9/11. Wednesday had some cool pictures. Thursday was a descriptive post on the treatment, prevention, and anatomy of shin splints.

Q&A

Hey Justin big fan of the blog and the layout of your S&C Program in FIT intrigues me. I am curious if your current layout would work, but with a TM bent where Monday and Tuesday act as a volume day to drive Thursday and Friday to keep conditioning in?

 

Also would throwing power snatches in before power cleans be counter productive? Don’t really want to run myself into the ground.

 

Also my conditioning would simply be barbell complexes and then jump rope on the optional Saturday conditioning day.

–Rory B.

 

Dear Rory, 

Yes, the S&C program can be tweaked in many ways to facilitate an intermediate approach to the strength training. The simple way to do that is to shift the Monday squats to Volume Day and the Thursday squats to Intensity Day. All of the options and peculiarities of different rep schemes are in the two Texas Method Books. The only potential problem I see is whether or not Tuesday’s conditioning will have an effect on the Intensity Day, but this is easily modified.

I don’t think power snatches prior to power cleans would be a problem. It would depend on your overall goal. Is the goal to get as strong as possible while maintaining or improving conditioning? Then keep an eye on whether the additional power snatches interfere with the strength work later in the week. Also note that I’m more of a fan of power cleans than power snatches for general S&C programs. One reason is that power snatches seem to reinforce a “vertical jump” component in the lift which is a terrible method if efficient Olympic weightlifting is a goal in the future. Un-learning the “jump” is possible, but difficult (I know, because I have had to do it).

Lastly, your conditioning approach is fine given that I don’t know what your goals are. It’s easy to modify what you do to support your goals. This “S&C Program” is a really good template that can be modified in so many ways.

 

Hey Justin,

I keep whacking myself in the dick when I Power Clean. Is the bar too high or too low on my thigh, when I jump? Looking at some Pendlay Clean instructionals on Youtube, he seems to indicate that the bar should be very high on your hips, which would be above the dick. But, in Starting Strength Rippetoe seems to indicate that the bar should be significantly lower on the thigh – probably a couple of inches below the dick. Could you help clarify this for me?

 

Thanks!
Tom

 

Dear Tom, 

As someone who has hit their dick before. I sympathize. Check it out:

The first thing to note is that the way Pendlay and Rippetoe are teaching the clean are very different. This post (“Jump/Shrug” vs “Catapult”) may help differentiate between the two. First I’ll point out that the position Pendlay shows you — in which the knees are bent, the hips are not bent, and the bar is high on the hips, isn’t something you’ll slowly arrive at. I would have to guess that one of two things is happening: 1) you are not “staying over the bar” when at the second position. This position is where the bar is right at or below the knee and the shoulders are out over the bar. This stretches the hamstrings out right before they violently contract to complete the pull. If you are more vertical here, with the knees bent and shoulders behind the bar, then finishing the pull won’t be efficient and I could see the bar travelling directly into your downstairs mix-up. 2) Maybe the bar is out front. I’d have to see the lift, but I suggest this because that’s what happened to me in the video above.

Regardless of which style of lifting you’re attempting to do — jumping or “getting under the bar style” — you shouldn’t be whacking your baby maker. Stay over the bar.

 

John P asks:

Quick question if you don’t mind.

What do you think of using a Heavy/Light set up (Starr Model) for an athlete (rugby) during the season with one training day and one game day?

 

Mon- Heavy
Wed- Light
Thur- Practice
Saturday- Game
(Not sure whether swapping the heavy/light days around would be better)

 

Heavy –
Squat 5×5
Bench 5×5
High Pull 5×3

 

Light –
Squat 4×5 (Top set 80% of Heavy top set)
Press 5×5
Power Clean 5×3
Weighted Chins 3×5

 

Ramping sets (60,70,80,90,100%).
Every 6 weeks alternate between 5′s and 3′s on the squats and presses.
Deload every 4-6 weeks.

 

Is it unreasonable to think an athlete could progress throughout the season using this method in the given situation?

 

Dear John P,

First, I’ll point out that Sousa directed John P to IronGarm because Shaf has some good in/off season rugby programs. Shaf is a good dude and I’ve always liked the things I’ve seen him write. Regarding the question, I’ll address the specifics of this proposed program briefly and then talk about in/off season programming generally.

I like the weekly approach you have to the program where the Heavy session is early and the Light session is second. If you were beat up from the games, you could always reverse the two if it didn’t interfere with your practice. I do not like High Pulls in the program. I suspect you have a reason for their inclusion, but I’d rather you do something else like power cleans. I wouldn’t have a problem if you power cleaned both days. You could even do them first on the “Light Day”. On both days you could add in some band pulls or side planks as quality prehab accessory work. Feel free to vary the power clean work to doubles or singles. Use a watch and do them on the clock if you feel they take too long.

As for programming in-season, it would be nice if you could make progress and strength train on this set up. But an in-season program should primarily aim to prevent the body’s degradation. In high school I would routinely get stronger regardless of in or off season of football, but I was 14 to 18 years old and full of puberty. Your goal is to get training on your body to help it hold up over the season (i.e. prevent injury), prevent performance degradation as a result of the pounding of the season, and, as a cherry on top, get stronger. I’d love to be wrong and have you not really get beat up from your rugby season and have a really great strength increase, but you need to prepare to be in the mindset that training serves a different purpose. This is the same thing for deployed soldiers or any other athlete.

 

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.