Improved Performance Is Only 2 Minutes Away - Part 4: The First Drill's Results

MONDAY, AUGUST 9TH, 2010
9am / 10am / 5pm / 6pm

NOTE: Wednesday will be a morning-only schedule and there will be no classes Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.

Part 4 of...?

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

What we’re trying to do here is tie a mobilization into a movement. Keep in mind that a lot of the stretching we’re doing here is called physiologic range stretching. To further this, if I move my arms through a range of motion I’m gonna’ stretch and mobilize whatever is tight in that range but I may not actually be changing the joint intrarticulations of the joint and the joint capsule. In other words if I have a knot in the system and I just stretch there may still be a knot in the system.

Also keep in mind that I am only presenting a few ways of determining progress in this article. However, even though the scope of this article isn’t broad-sweeping in this aspect, you may not need further your testing. See how you do with this before you decide to pursue other options.

Here’s the first case study. His name is Jake and he self-admittedly has incredibly tight shoulders and even has an old shoulder injury that prevents him from doing many things overhead including overhead squatting. Jake has never been able to perform an overhead squat before in his life. Check this out.

Step #1: Identify the Problem
“Hello, my name is Jake and my shoulder hurts. Because of my shoulder pain I can no longer overhead squat.”

Step #2: Test the Problem
“Do I have adequate flexibility and ROM to perform a painless overhead squat?”

Certainly wouldn't seem so.

Step #3: Start with What You Know
“I know that I already have tight shoulders and that the pain is most prevalent when I do anything overhead – like squat, press, jerk, handstand, etc., which Coach Justin makes me do all the time because he likes to see me look bad. I also know from Wednesday’s blog post “Improved Performance Is Only 2 Minutes Away – Part 2: The Steps” that my thoracic region could affect my shoulders…
To further drive this point I would like to tie in some connections so as to better understand the relationship between the thoracic region and the shoulder.

Athlete’s who have a stiff thoracic spine often also lack the ability to achieve good thoracic extension (as if you were laying back over the hood of a car and sticking your chest up in the air). And, because they don’t extend well, their shoulder blades literally have no place to go when they should be moving back and out of the way of the raising arm. Thoracic extension facilitates scapular retraction. Having your shoulder blades get out of the way of your arms effectively eliminates a potentially boney block to your overhead movements.


Step #4: Treat What You Find
“If I ever want to overhead squat efficiently again I will perform the 2 minute shoulder drills that Coach taught me at least 2-3 times per week.”

Step #5: Give It At Least 2 Minutes
“I need to perform each exercise for at least 2 minutes to allow for sufficient change. If I am doing one arm/shoulder/side of my body for 2 minutes then I must also do the other side for 2 minutes as well.”

Step #6: Retest the Problem
“Now that I am only one step away from completing the 7 steps, do I have my shoulder flexibility under control enough that I can now overhead squat”?

Step #7: Perform
“I Jake, am now competent enough to overhead squat efficiently without pain.” Do you think Jake is now a better athlete because of the 2 minutes he spent rolling around on two hard balls? Will this help him perform at his job, compete in a sport, maintain good posture as he ages, go through life with less pain, have more confidence, look good naked, etc. (you think I'm joking...I can tie that last one in if I need to)? Heck yeah!

Congratulations Jake! You made it through the 7-Step Program with flying colors. Know that I will always be here for support if you ever fall on hard times again. Do your best to steer the good course.

Some side-by-side comparisons of Jake before and after the 2 minute drills. All of the "Before" pictures are on the left and all of the "After" pictures are on the right.

Coach-I'll-Be-Damned-Justin

PerformanceQuestFitness@gmail.com