Kaylee Gittleson ran hurdles for Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. The team won three out of four Division I State Championships during her four years. Kaylee was told by her dad to write about training from her perspective on the Rogers Blog.
FROM THE COACH'S DAUGHTER
My Dad was a Strength Coach for 30 years. We literally live in a gym with furniture. I remember when my brother asked to play contact sports, my father agreed, but said, “You will have to train that neck.” Shortly afterwards a neck machine appeared about 8 feet from our living room couch.
“Little Movements Make Great Changes"".....he said
My Dad said this to me when I was running track,”Little movements cause great changes, make the little stuff count.”
When I first started hurdling, I had a lazy trail leg. I didn't have to bring it very far to make my step over the hurdle quicker, and lower my time. Of course, this took years to perfect, but the results were clear: small movements make great changes.
When my brother began neck training on our neck machine, my father also showed him an exercise for scapula retraction. He said, “KC, you need to include Kelso and Hise shrugs in your neck routine.”
He marched KC down the steps to the downstairs lat machine, I followed. Dad showed KC this little shrug movement that made me laugh; it seemed so silly.
He had my brother keep his arms straight and and try to pinch his scapula together, “Retraction” he called it. “Keep your arms straight. Now squeeze. Again squeeze. I began to giggle and crack jokes.” Dad got mad and went to his library, in what we call the. ‘gun room.’ You know the exercise-for-your-arms room. He threw KC this book, "Kelso's Shrugs". “Read it,” he said.
Materials exhibiting characteristics that are both solid and fluid-like, are simply categorized as viscoelastic materials. Most of the biological tissues, such as your muscle tendon unit, and ligaments, are viscoelastic materials. The human head-neck system is a fluid-filled spherical cavity supported by a viscoelastic neck.
Viscoelastic materials possess time dependent, or rate sensitive stress-strain relations. In other words, the stress-strain relationship will change as the loading speed, or strain rate, changes. The goal in a collision is to deflect and dissipate force, and effect the strain rate. Building up the size of the cylinder, that is, the upper neck muscles, is only part of the goal.
Strengthening the muscles that run down the cervical and thoracic spine, the rhomboids major and minor, middle and lower traps, are all tremendously important. Therefore, scapula retraction is a must-exercise for the dissipation of a deflected force. Remember, it's not easy being in head-on collisions.
Now that I am older, and have been in athletics, I don’t giggle when KC is doing his tiny lifts.
“Little Movements Make Great Changes”.....he said
G Force deflection and dissipation exercises for the cervical spine:
(1)Front of the neck
(2)Right side of the neck
(3)Left Side of the neck
(4)Back of the neck
(5)Shrugs
(6)Scapula retraction
(7)Hise shrugs. (KC does these on our Pendulum Squat Pro; it is in the garage. Dad asked if he could put it in my bedroom...seriously!)
My Dad says, “Do not contact me.” So I can’t address your comments.
Where: Hollman Center
When: Saturday, March 13th, 2010
Cost: Register $65.00 Mail In (due2/26/10) Student register $35.00 (Mail in copy student ID)
CSCS/NSCA-CPT Continuing Education .6
BOC/NATA Continuing Eduaction .6
Time Topics and Speakers
7:30 - 8:15 AM Registration / Check - In
8:15 - 8:30 AM Introduction and Welcome
Matt Balis, MSU, Director of Strength & Conditioning
8:30 - 9:30 AM Application to a Yearly Training Model
Scott Kellar, Xcel Performance, Director of Performance
9:40 - 10:40 AM University of South Florida Winter Off-Season Program
Ron McKeefery, USF, Head Strength & Conditioning Coach
10:40 - 11:40 AM Sports Nutrition
Rob Skinner, Univ. of Virginia, Director of Sports Nutrition
11:40 AM - 1:00 PM Lunch Provided / Sponsor Demos / Vendors
1:00 - 2:00 PM Heat Related Sickle Cell Prevention &
Soft Tissue Injury Prevention Scott Bennett, Univ. of Southern Mississippiead Strength and Conditioning Coach
2:00 - 3:00 PM Biomechanics and Corrective Exercises
Allen Thompson, MSU, Assistant Athletic Trainer
Joe Gray, MSU, Physical Therapist
3:00 - 4:00 PM Dynamic Flexibility
Dick Hartzell, Jump Stretch Inc., Inventor of the Flex
Band and Owner of Jump Stretch Inc., Strength Coach
Send Registration to (due 2/26/10):
Matt Balis, Mississippi State University
Director of Strength and Conditioning
Holliman Center
P.O. Box 5327
Mississippi State, MS 39762
For More Information Contact:
James Townsend, Mississippi State University
Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
Phone: office (662) 325-8582
Fax: (662) 325-5145
E-Mail: jtownsend@athletics.msstate.edu
Lower Concussive Forces the Pendulum 5 -Way Neck
The American Strongman Corporation calendar will feature three preliminary events for the America’s Strongest Man® US Nationals Qualifying Tour 2010. The first event will be in Orlando, FL on April 16th & 17th, 2010.
Here is the schedule -GET YOURSELF READY
America’s Strongest Man® US Nationals Qualifying Tour 2010:
Columbus, OH-March 5 & 7 (Arnold Classic)
Orlando, FL-April 16 & 17 (Europa Show of Champions)
Hartford, CT - July 23 & 24 (Europa Battle of Champions)
Hot Springs, AK-August 7 & 8 (US Nationals-Summit Arena)
Dallas, TX-August 13 & 14 (Europa Super Show)
Las Vegas, NV-September 24 & 25 (Mr. Olympia - America's Strongest Man®)
Push Yourself for or to the Event
Strength and Conditioning Coaches' Clinic
The Gator Way! February 26-27, 2010
Register Now
Registration: $80
Students (with valid college ID): $30
.7 NSCA CEUs | 7 NATA CEUs
Time Topic
Friday, February 26
6-7pm Steve Orris, Basketball Conditioning
7-8pm Mickey Marotti, Gator Program Design: The Thought Behind the Process
8-9pm Urban Meyer, The Value of Strength and Conditioning
Saturday, February 27
8:30-9:30am Karin Werth, Functional Training for Soccer
9:30-10:30am Frank Piraino, Strength Adaptations for Baseball
10:30-11:30am Scott Holsopple, Hands on Total Body Training for Football
11:30am-12:30pm LUNCH
12:30-1:30pm Matt Delancey, Strongman Implementation
Hotel Accomodations
Paramount Plaza Hotel & Suites
2900 SW 13th St.
Gainesville, FL 32608
(352) 377-4000
If you really want to
You will need a Pendulum T-Shirt..................
Ralph Cornwell is a Ph.D. candidate in health promotion/human performance at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is currently conducting a case study on neck injuries and the lowering and deflection of concussive forces due to strength training. Ralph has more than 17 years experience as a strength and conditioning coach, consultant and lecturer. Cornwell has worked with high-school, collegiate and professional athletes--including those in the National Football League, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer—as well as women’s soccer and lacrosse players, NFL Europe athletes, European and Russian basketball players, and several international players from Africa and Australia. He has been the head strength and conditioning coach at Radford University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and assistant coach at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
By Ralph Cornwell, Ph.D., Ph.D. Candidate, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
In a tradition that dates back centuries, physicians take the Hippocratic Oath before they practice medicine. In the original interpretation of the oath, a doctor would swear to “prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.”
This code of moral conduct offers up valuable lessons to strength coaches and athletic trainers who work with the “patient” in their world: the athlete.
Strength coaches are charged primarily with the duty of preparing athletes for the rigors of their chosen sport. Referring back to the Hippocratic Oath, one could argue that increasing the performance of an athlete should become the second priority for strength coaches because a great athlete standing on the sidelines injured does no one any good.
The top priority for strength coaches instead should be a training regimen targeted first at protecting their athletes from harm as their “patients” are tuned for competition. Strength coaches who help athletes achieve their goals while maintaining their overall good health ensure that these athletes are prepared for any and all possibilities they may face in competition. And just as amazingly, those coaches who have shifted their priorities have realized that performance is not diminished but rather enhanced by a more completely trained athlete.
Of course, it goes without saying that the chance of injury is always a possibility during sports competitions. Simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time can cause an injury despite the best of precautions. Strength-training professionals, however, who take their cue from that vital part of the Hippocratic Oath, can step to the forefront to strengthen any perceived weak links in the human chain.
If strength coaches look first to protect their athletes from potential harm and prepare properly and diligently the most vulnerable region of athletes’ bodies, one could also argue then that the number of serious sports injuries could be reduced or minimized.
And what would be the most vulnerable region of the body that if traumatized could lead to a serious, possibly life-threatening injury? Without question, it is the neck region (cervical spine).
The neck supports the head, which encases the hierarchy of human beings’ functions, the brain. The trapezius--either of the two large muscles that run from the base of the back of the skull to the middle of the back--makes it possible for persons to raise their heads and shoulders. In essence, all these muscles act as the foundation support the driving force at the top of the body—back to the brain. If the foundation is strong, then the head is better supported and the brain better protected.
Given the critical role these muscles play, one would think the neck and trapezius would be at the top of strength coaches’ regimens for their athletes. But maybe not. For instance, in a recent survey of over 200 college and university strength coaches that asked about their neck/trapezius training regimens, the results revealed this muscle region as low or no priority. This could be explained by the fact that many coaches are simply unaware of the importance of training the neck and the trapezius muscles on which the neck relies to dissipate forces.
Survey questions ranged from “does your weight room have a neck machine” and “do you do any direct stimulation to strengthen the neck” to simply “how important is training the neck in your program.” The results overwhelmingly pointed back to little emphasis and interest. If strength coaches knew of the vital role the neck plays in sports performance, as well as the importance of increasing neck strength, then these results may have been very different.
7' 1 Andrey from Russia doing a shrug...by his Senior year he could bench 300 lbs and squat over 500
Muscle regions other than the neck/trapezius area were emphasized in most strength-training programs. Does this sound familiar when examining many of the nation’s strength training programs: bench press for the upper body; squats and leg presses for the lower body; and some abdominal and lower back work. This is a complete regimen, as many would suggest, if the strength coach’s only priority is the performance of the athlete rather than protection of that individual.
But actually by training the neck and trapezius muscles, strength coaches can enhance both protection and performance of their athletes. A stronger neck increases the strength of an athlete, who then functions as a complete working unit. For example, consider that the trapezius muscles run from the base of the back of the skull all the way to thoracic vertebrae 12. Overlooking such a critical and major muscle group certainly would not enhance an athlete’s overall performance.
By neglecting the neck/trapezius area in training regimens, what could that lead to in the lives of athletes? While orthopedic surgeons can repair many soft-tissue and bone-related injuries that can allow athletes to compete again, the neck and cervical spine, however, are not areas of the body where successful surgical outcomes are likely, even with the advances in modern medicine.
If an athlete is fortunate enough not to sustain a catastrophic neck injury, there is still the very real danger of a brain concussion. For example, the Centers for Disease Control recently reported that approximately 300,000 sports-related concussions occur annually in the United States. (A concussion is an immediate and transient impairment in the brain’s ability to function properly.)
Concussions are not only a significant finding among professional and collegiate athletes, but they are occurring more often than necessary among younger players. For example, high-school football players suffer concussions more often than their collegiate and professional counterparts. Additionally, concussions are not gender specific. Studies have revealed that female athletes suffer concussions more often and with less impact than male athletes.
Moreover, researchers today are discovering that subconcussive forces over time can have a cumulative effect on athletes and can be just as debilitating as those who have suffered full concussions. Recent studies on brain trauma suggest that repetitive blows to the head over time—subconcussive forces—might cause a form of dementia known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive, degenerative brain disease.
Consider, for example, the medical condition known as “dementia pugilistica.” Once thought to afflict only boxers, dementia pugilistica is now at the forefront of brain research being done at several major universities. Subconcussive injuries are particularly dangerous because an athlete may not show any symptoms after receiving such blows—not until much later.
The problem with bruises to the brain is that they cannot be seen like the ugly, black and blue torn hamstring. But these hurtful injuries to the brain do exist, and with alarming frequency among a variety of athletes. To minimize these injuries, let’s revisit again the neck/trapezius area and how these muscles play a critical role.
Neck muscles act as springs and shock absorbers; bigger, stronger necks can better absorb with less deformation. Recalling the laws of physics, consider the neck as a cylinder. The larger the circumference of the cylinder, the more load it can support without buckling.
As training the neck area increases strength there, the soft tissue thickens and the neck becomes stiffer. Using physics again to explain the necessity for stiffness, view the neck as a coiled spring. The thicker the coils of the spring, the greater the stiffness ratio. A smaller, less stiff spring is easier to compress from an axial-loading standpoint. A stiffer spring—“stronger neck”—deflects greater frontal or side impact forces.
All variables being equal, if a given cylinder increases its diameter by two inches—say from six inches to eight inches--the deformation decreases 43 percent. Common sense, simple logic or even strong speculation would suggest that a bigger, stronger neck would give an athlete a better chance of avoiding serious injury when having to absorb impact forces during collisions.
And female athletes should not avoid training the neck area, as many think they will get a “fat neck” from such conditioning. Biologically, females do not achieve the hypertrophy that males do, but they can benefit greatly from the strength gained in this region of the body.
Training the neck area in four directions—flexion, extention, and left and right lateral flexion—followed by a shoulder shrug exercise offers the most effective direct stimulus to this region of the body. Neck machines are great devices to help with this training, but if strength coaches cannot afford these machines, they should educate themselves on the protocol of manual neck resistance, along with a barbell or dumbbell shrug.
Relating back to the original premise, if strength coaches truly believe their first priority is to protect the athlete and prevent injury and that the neck and cervical spine are at risk during competition, why would they not train this region of athletes’ bodies religiously? If strength coaches train all the agonist and antagonist muscle groups but neglect the neck and trapezius area are they truly preparing their athletes effectively for the rigors of their sport? Well-informed strength and conditioning professionals would see the logic in this premise and would want to help their athletes in any way they could.
Strength coaches need to find 30 minutes twice a week to train the neck and trapezius area. With effective time management and efficiencies, strength and conditioning program could meet this objective. In setting up a strength training facility, would it not make sense also that for every station, say, for squatting, there would also be a station for protecting the brain and turning the head?
As these questions tumble forth, again the Hippocratic Oath comes back into play—“to prescribe regimens for the good of my patients.” Maybe the essence of that document created long ago can have relevance in more ways than one to strength coaches everywhere today
TRAIN THOSE NECKS-KEEP SHRUGIN'
General Information
Who: Jr. High, Club, High School Coaches, College Sport & Strength Coaches, Athletic Trainers, Physical Therapists, Personal Trainers,Fitness Professionals
Where: Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, W.Va.
Milan Puskar Center Puskar Center Weight Room
When: Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010
Registration/Check-In: 7:15 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.
(Vendors Open)
Clinic: 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
(Lunch Included and Vendors Open)
Cost: Register - $60 (before Feb. 19, 2010)
- $65 (after Feb. 19, 2010)
Students Register - $35
(must mail in a copy of student ID; lunch is included)
Absolutely No Refunds
CSCS/NSCA = 0.5 CEUs
WV Continuing Education Course = 0.6 CEU’s
Register: Online until Feb. 19, 2010 or mail-in registration to: West Virginia University
WVU Strength and Conditioning Coaches Morgantown, WV 26507
Event Schedule
7:15 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. Registration (Vendors Open)
8:00 a.m. - 8:05 a.m. Opening Remarks/Staff Introduction
Director of Strength, Mike Joseph
8:05 a.m. - 8:50 a.m. Speaker #1 - Mike Joseph
“The Mountaineer Way”
9:00 a.m. - 9:50 a.m. Speaker #2 - Mike Gittleson
“Neck and Hand Training”
10:00 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. Speaker #3 - Jim Kielbaso
“Agility Training”
11:00 a.m. - 11:55 a.m. Lunch (Lunch Provided; Vendors Open)
11:30 a.m. - 11:55 a.m. Hershey’s Nutrition Presentation
12:00 p.m. - 12:25 p.m. Speaker #4 - Nettie Freshour
“Nutrition Question and Answer”
12:30 p.m. - 1:20 p.m. Speaker #5 - Scott Tusick
“Olympic Lifts”
1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m. Speaker #6 - Al Johnson
“Motivating Today’s Athletes”
2:20 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Closing Remarks
One of the great exercises you can do is the bodyweight dip. It builds your chest and arms. As you 'get strong' it usually requires the athlete to add weight by placing a belt around their waist.
Athletes have been known to use enormous weights such as 100 -150 pounds over their bodyweight.
Many strong athletes who dip as a part of their regular workouts notice a paresthesias caused from compression of nerves. Compression sends a tingling sensation to the fingers arms and/or elbows. It often feels as if their arms have fallen asleep. Many people even quit dipping or modify the exercise do to hand pain.
The thick handled Rogers Dip will help tremendously with this issue and help you to................
To begin, take your lifetime best forty yard dash time regardless of your weight or surface that it was performed on.
Add exactly 5/10ths of a second to it. If you run a forty in 5.0 seconds your target time will be 5.5 seconds.
Field set up:
Start your sprint from the 20 yard line and sprint 40 yards. Once finished walk to the opposite 20 yard line and sprint back.
Goal:
Your goal is to sprint 4 sets of 4 sprints within 5/10ths of your lifetime best forty. The rest interval is 15 second between sprints and 2 minutes rest between each set of four sprints.
Example: Lifetime fastest forty - 5.05
Set number one - Sprint 4 forties
Target time - 5.55 or under
Rest between sprints - 15 seconds
-Rest - 2 minutes -
Set number two - Sprint 4 forties
Target time - 5.55 or under
Rest between sprints - 15 seconds
-Rest - 2 minutes -
Set number three - Sprint 4 forties
Target time - 5.55 or under
Rest between sprints - 15 seconds
-Rest - 2 minutes -
Set number four - Sprint 4 forties
Target time - 5.55 or under
Rest between sprints - 15 seconds
How a timer counts the rest interval between sprints: As soon as the athlete crosses the forty yard line the rest interval begins. Immediately the timer records the time and begins 15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-hand on the line..2 -1- GO-GO-GO-GO
Counting the 2 minute rest interval:
After the fourth sprint of a set immediately begin the rest interval. At one minute and forty five seconds begin the above fifteen second count down.
University of Toledo Strength Training Facility
When you need a great place to train you must stop into the Iron Pit Gym in Bloomington, Indiana. Matt Andrews and Doug Ballard took a former gymnastics studio and turned it into one of the cool and unique places to train in America. Good guys. A great place. Stop in.
http://www.swarfworks.com/rogersathletic/powersquatpro/
