Are you Ready for Fall?

With September just around the corner, many conditioning coaches and fitness professionals invested in their professional development and attended Twist sessions at conferences across North America this month. While many took vacation, the Twist Presenter Team was busy educating about the “in demand” Twist training style to enthusiastic crowds at every event. Twist training methodology was delivered at DCAC Washington for the first time this year with Douglas Brooks teaching an enthusiastic group of new Twist advocates. The 2 biggest events of the year – IDEA World Anaheim and Can-Fit-Pro Toronto were both a huge success for the Twist team. For the first time, the Twist Team hosted 5 sessions and a tradeshow booth at IDEA World and received rave reviews for the education / training / product presence. Identified as a hub of activity and fun, many delegates came by the booth regularly to try some Twist tools, take the Smart Muscle Board challenge, ask questions of our expert team and investigate their long term education strategies to get more in-depth experience with the training style. If you missed IDEA and need ACE CECs, Peter Twist recorded 4 new live video workshops for IDEA to sell out crowds (check out http://www.ideafit.com/conference/idea-world-fitness-convention-2009)

To help BCRPA celebrate their 25th anniversary, Twist presenter Arielle Nash delivered 2 exciting sessions on Smart Muscle™ training to eager new Twist advocates while the Twist Team provided training advice, demos and products at the Twist booth. Douglas Brooks continued to wow the Canadian crowds at Can-Fit-Pro with his Twist inspired sessions while the Twist Team networked with delegates at the Fitness Source booth. To cap off the summer in North America, Douglas and Janice are off to Sara City Workout - Dallas Mania to sold out crowds on Aug 26 – 30. With a novel way to celebrate Labour Day weekend, VP Training Dean Shiels is off to the Planeta Barcelona 09 conference in Spain on Sept 4-6 to inspire the Spanish crowds with a progressive training style for athletes and clients.

Committed to educating and creating new Twist advocates worldwide, the Twist presenter team is busy creating new topics, skills and drills for the fall conference season in preparation for a phenomenal 2010. Need your Twist education fix? Register for the Twist Sport Performance Toronto Summit today and we will see you there for a full day of brand new Twist education to create your competitive edge! http://www.twistconditioning.com/learn/performance-summits/locations/Toronto-Summit-2009.asp

At Twist Conditioning we always ensure our curriculum and training style is supported in current day research. Every Month we will be showcasing some of the literature we have come across. This weeks literature review focuses on Static Stretching vs. Dynamic Warm Up pre-training.

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SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF STATIC STRETCHING OF THE GASTROCNEMIUS ON VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCE

WALLMANN, H.W, J.A MERCER, J.W MCWHORTER

Stretching should be incorporated into warm-up routines to prepare muscles for physical activity, enhance performance and prevent injuries. Much of the research surrounding stretching has examined the benefits and effects on flexibility, however there is little evidence on its effect on dynamic muscular performance. Previous literature states that there are negative short-term effects on vertical jump performance following static stretching. Vertical jump performance has been shown to decrease with PNF and passive stretching techniques (Nelson et al., 1996; Church et al., 2001).

Purpose: To investigate the effects of static stretching of the gastrocnemius muscle on maximal vertical jump performance through a vertical jump task and EMG measurements.

Methods: Fourteen healthy adults (8 men, 6 women) age 18-34 years participated in the study. Each participant was familiar with the vertical jump task. Each participant performed three baseline maximal vertical jumps following a warm-up, then rested for 15 minutes, prior to three 30-second static stretches on both the left and right gastrocnemius muscles. Following the stretching session the participants then performed three maximal vertical jumps. The vertical jump performance was measured using a vertical height measurement and EMG activity of the left and right gastrocnemius muscle.

Conclusion: Jump height was decreased from the pre-stretching session when compared to the post stretching session by 5.6%, however the muscle activity was 17.9% higher post stretch to pre-stretch. The results indicate that even though muscle activity is increased following a static stretching session; the muscular performance is decreased as seen with a decrease in vertical jump height.

Practical Implications: Coaches and athletes should be aware that vertical jump performance could be negatively affected when static stretching is performed prior to performing their sport

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EFFECTS OF STATIC STRETCHING FOR 30 SECONDS AND DYNAMIC STRETCHING ON LEG EXTENSION POWER

Yamaguchi, T, K. Ishii

Stretching is performed prior to physical activity in order to prevent injuries and enhance sports performance by improving flexibility. There are numerous types of stretching: static, ballistic, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) and dynamic stretching. Many coaches and athletes adopt static stretching due to it’s ability to be performed safely and quickly. However static and ballistic stretching prior to exercise has been linked to a decrease in muscular performance. Dynamic stretching is said to cause an increase in muscle temperature, and cause post activation potentiation which is a transient improvement of muscular performance, both outcomes resulting in an improved muscular performance.

Purpose: Compare the effects of static stretching for 30 seconds to dynamic stretching on muscular performance

Methods: 11 healthy recreationally active male college students participated in the study (average age 22.8 years). Each participant was pre tested for leg extension power using a leg extension power measurement system (Anaero Press 3500). Participants then performed static stretching, dynamic stretching and non-stretching in a randomized order on separate days measuring leg extension power before and after the stretching session. The stretching session were designed to target each muscle being records. The static stretching session included stretches for all muscles and was held for 30 seconds.

Five muscles in both of the lower limbs were measured using EMG; plantor flexors, hip extensors, hamstrings, hip flexors, and quadriceps femoris in order to compare the pre and post muscle power results. Stretching was performed to isolate and target each of the five muscles for the dynamic and static stretching.

Conclusions: Static stretching when compared to no stretching did not alter the leg extension power pre to post test, however, the leg extension power was increased with dynamic stretching when compared to no stretching or static stretching

Practical Implications: If dynamic stretching is performed prior to physical activity as opposed to static stretching the muscular performance (strength and power) can be increased.

Logical Progressions That Build Postural Strength and Fine Tune High Velocity Rotation

To drive up your skill velocity, build for power through athletic rotation. After that, all you need to do is practice celebrating points and victories! To begin, safely, follow the progressions below that first build postural strength and as a last step fine tune high velocity rotation.

Progressions

1. To achieve desired results as well as prevent lower back injury, athletes are cued to ‘set their core’. The easiest way to explain this is to experience the ‘clenching’ or ‘bracing’ of the core when someone unexpectedly fakes a punch to your stomach. This corset effect is a set core that prepares the region to contract and exert force as well as absorb forces.
2. Initially prescribe static hold supine and prone positioned exercises. Lengthen the duration of holds and add loading and/or instability to those positions to gain full core strength.
3. Shift static core stability hold exercises to closed kinetic chain positions.
4. Add slow tempo full ROM rotation through the transverse plane with emphasis on loading the eccentric deceleration phase. Use a 2:4 rep count (2 seconds concentric, 4 seconds eccentric).
5. Increase the intent of power initiation at specific ranges of motion.
6. Increase the loading, movement velocity and rep counts for a given exercise.
7. Decrease eccentric-concentric coupling time at the point of direction change to generate power.

The Twist Team!

Challenges to Athletes, Clients, Coaches and Trainers

To instill positive physical change, the body must be challenged beyond the current comfort level. Athletes / clients and coaches / trainers must all commit to engage in this style of workout to maximize results and guarantee safety. Coaches / trainers must be fully engaged using a critical mechanical eye that instantly corrects errors using well established cueing techniques and demands precision over repetition.

During Smart Muscle™ exercise, we have carefully designed exercises which are actually combinations of several lifts, some concurrently, some sequentially. For example, a lateral bound with deceleration loading (on a BOSU if ability permits) into a dumbbell lateral raise with unilateral hold is a simpler 2 layer combination exercise that challenges several ingredients to perform (lateral movement, eccentric lateral loading, single leg balance, core stability, shoulder as prime mover).

As coaches / trainers graduate through the coaching methodology to safely teach Smart Muscle™ exercises, 3 and 4 layered combination sequences are possible. These heighten the metabolic cost, deliver the most variety of challenges to the human system, make the body fully alert, and keep your athlete / client fully engaged, present in the moment, focused every inch of every rep.

Interesting exercises gain much greater adherence than simple repetitious exercises. Safe interesting whole body challenges at a pace adult clients are comfortable attempting produce a powerful combination. This develops a strong yet responsive and skilled body for a client who enjoys the exercise experience and lives the results.

The Twist Team!

Human Machine and Sport Conditioning Paradox

In the not so distant past, efforts at training athletes relied on expensive and bulky equipment which was designed to either isolate muscles or replicate mechanics in an attempt to “develop” the bodies of players into their specific sport. Today we know that only the athletes themselves are the machines. It is through a method of teaching the athlete to exploit their machine’s natural affinity for movement and reactivity that we can train both the physiology and mechanics needed to optimize skillfulness. Today we also use portable sport-fitness tools that combine for thousands of movement-oriented drills, getting our machine moving!

The Paradox

The bottom line however is that there is a sport conditioning paradox. Epidemiological studies reveal that high velocity direction change commonly leads to injury on the field, court and gym floor. Likewise, braking and stopping are also common causes of injury, especially in collision sports like rugby, football and tennis. Ironically, explosive braking and high speed direction change are also key determinants of sport success. These attributes must be trained. Deceleration, velocity and direction change also add risk to training programs, but are a requisite component if we are to help players perform better and prevent injury. The trick is to do it with a systematic process, proven drills, effective guidelines, and with confidence that players are training in an aggressive yet safe and effective manner. Nowhere is this truer than when applying forces across the abdominals and the lumbar spine.

The Twist Team!

Smart Muscle™ Training Workout Application

Combining Strength with a Balance Challenge - BOSU® Balance Trainer up, up, down, down
Begin in a plank position with forearms in contact with BOSU Place one hand on the BOSU, press up through the BOSU and place the other hand on top until shoulders are directly over hands and the body is flat from shoulders to toes. Establish stability before lowering one arm down placing forearm on the BOSU followed by the other arm to return to the starting position all the while moving with balance and torso control.

Combining Movement with Strength - Smart Toner™ Push Pull Combination
Using 2 Smart Toners™ the goal is to perform a Row with the pulling arm and a Press with the pushing arm. Cue the athlete into athletic ready position with a split stance (front foot contra-lateral to pulling arm). Pushing arm - Grasp one handle at shoulder level with elbow up. Pulling arm – Grasp the handle with palm facing in and the elbow in tight to the body. Core is set and upper body is strong. Successful execution involves linked rotation, pivoting of the feet while performing a rowing and pushing movement with the upper body. The pulling arm performs a row action that finishes with the elbow in tight to the body, the hand at hip height. The body rotates as a whole and pivots in the same direction as the pulling arm. The pushing arm performs a press action and finishes extended at shoulder height. Keep the core strong throughout the entire execution. During the recovery phase the whole body simultaneously returns to the start position through reversing the pivot, pulling action and pushing action.

Integrate Movement, Balance and Strength – Smart Toner™ BOSU® Balance Trainer 2 Foot Lateral Jump Row
Begin beside the BOSU® in athletic ready position with triple flexion of the hips, knees, ankles grasping the Smart Toner™ handles with arms extended, core set. Cue the athlete to explosively triple extend through the hips, knees and ankles and jump laterally while simultaneously performing a row with the upper body. Land on the dome side of the BOSU® using triple flexion of the hips, knees and ankles to decelerate the body, absorb power and maintain balance, maintain the row position.

The Twist Team!

Smart Muscle™ Training, Adaptations for All Ages

Twist Smart Muscle™ exercise captures the essence of elite athlete training and applies level appropriate programming to kids and aging boomers.

Active Adults of all ages benefit from Smart Muscle™ training methodology by awakening movement patterns, activating extensive muscle groups, re-energizing neuromuscular communication pathways and restoring total body function mentally and physically. The result is enhanced mobility, reduced incidence of injury and a youthful sense of athletic confidence that brings new excitement to every recreational pursuit. Adult clients do desire appearance changes. The high metabolic cost of Smart Muscle™ strength training nets a massive caloric expenditure but while also teaching all the muscles in the body to work harmoniously.

Children and youth gain balance, movement and strength through motor experiences and with each repeated exposure to foundational movement patterns (running, jumping, kicking, throwing) neuromuscular references are established and enhanced. The brain thinks in terms of movements not individual muscles and neuromuscular communication pathways (sensory and motor commands) become faster and more efficient over time leading to more coordinated, precise and athletic movement. Rather than teaching children and youth to isolate muscles, exposure to whole body, sequential movement patterns with ability specific balance challenges builds a solid foundation for sport specific skill execution for their lifetime. The key to safely utilizing Smart Muscle™ training with these age ranges is understanding the growth and development stages along with the individualized needs of each child as they progress through the dynamic challenges of neurological, skeletal and muscular changes of adolescence.

From a performance enhancement perspective, success in sports demands Smart Muscle™ training. The nature of sport creates an environment that requires exceptionally fast read – react – respond abilities where an athlete can quickly interpret a game situation, evaluate the opponent (or the terrain) and apply the correct strategy to create an advantage for themselves or a team mate, all with a focus on winning. Sport is won or lost in small fractions of time and precision frequently determines outcomes. Developing the physical attributes that support sport skill requires that athletes have exceptional movement skills (speed, agility, coordination, quickness), dynamic balance (core strength, proprioception) and diverse strength (endurance, capacity, power). Layering complex movement, balance and strength challenges develops a smart athlete that is well prepared for the unpredictable demands of sport.

The Twist Team!

What is Smart Muscle™ Training?

Success in the fitness and sport industries is measured by results. Professional athletes maintain sizable contracts by working diligently with well organized sport coaches who plan every aspect of the performance process from intricate workout design through to extensive season long cyclic training programs. Personal trainers in the fitness industry are hired and fired based on their ability to inspire clients to create short and long term tangible physical change. In a society that changes in an instant, moves at a lightening fast pace and provides access to information in a heartbeat, the ability to deliver real results quickly is paramount. Time to shift gears from training harder, to training smarter using Smart Muscle™ training!

Smart Muscle™ Training

Smart Muscle™ training is a recommended methodology that combines appearance goals with real life function and sport performance goals. Using a blend of dynamic balance challenges, multi directional movement skills and whole body strength exercises, an efficient and effective workout is built. The training style creates a maximum metabolic cost that activates various muscles from prime movers, to synergists and stabilizers to create complex, purposeful movement that occurs sequentially from toe to fingertip. Executing whole body movement relies on excellent proprioception and coordination built from rehearsed mind to muscle communication pathways. Referring to the Olympic motto, the outcome is bigger, faster, stronger and smarter muscles.

The Twist Team!

Transfer from the Gym to Game Action

Throwing (football, softball, lacrosse) striking (hockey, tennis, golf), and kicking (soccer) sports all can benefit from stronger and more effective torso rotation. Examining the mechanics needed to optimize sport skills, rotary power is the key link from the weight room to the playing field. Preferred exercises use a closed chain position (standing up on your feet), weight shifts both laterally and horizontally (to pre-load the rear leg) and transfer of weight to lead leg at a high velocity.

When working movement around the spine, through a transverse plane, initial exercise prescription uses slow controlled movements, for time under tension to optimize strength and hypertrophy gains. Moreover, slow controlled movements on both the positive (concentric) and negative (eccentric) phases of the lift decrease the risk of injury.

Think of swinging a tennis racket or throwing a ball from your hand. The commonality is loading the legs to sum power from the legs, through the hips to the core and onwards to the shoulder complex. ‘Triggering’ the hips will transfer explosive power through the core. We like to use weighted medicine balls, 6 foot long covered strength tubing, and partner resistance exercises that allow powerful explosive strength training without having to decelerate at the end of the range of motion as is necessary with free weights. These accommodate full ranges of motion, whole body skill movements and explosive, high velocity training. Core rotation begins with a strength emphasis and controlled speeds, and finishes (later in the program cycle) with quick countermovements focused on power initiation. At this stage, athletes are performing core plyometrics.

The Twist Team!

The Core Connection to All Sports

The sport skills of kicking a football, swinging a tennis racket, shooting a hockey ball, getting air and spin on snowboards, spiking a volleyball, driving a golf ball and hitting a baseball are all dependent on a highly developed torso capable of explosive rotation. The paradox continues in that most exercise professionals, with their good intention of ensuring core exercises are safe, prescribe very limited exercises that ultimately under prepare their clients for sport demands and actually set them up to be injured.

In the fitness world, ‘core’ strength has become a very common buzzword. In sport, you are definitely only as strong as your weakest link, and for most athletes this is the core or speed center, which includes abdominals, low back and hip musculature. For a solid base of support which is capable of transferring power through the kinetic chain, you need to build strength from the center of the body out to the periphery, as opposed to preferentially working on the muscles you can see in a mirror. However, enhanced skill execution and sport power cannot be optimized with traditional floor based sit up exercises.

In the past, core development has been attempted through the utilization of floor based exercises such as crunches, sit ups, leg raises, rope crunches, and back hyperextensions which predominantly isolate abs muscles.

However, the speed centre must be developed with the intent of improved performance. Nothing on the court, field or ice is done in isolation. Isolation exercises will hurt your sport performance and lead to injury. Strength exercises must incorporate the entire body and accelerate through various joints, activate all muscle groups and move through varied planes.

The Twist Team!

Balance Your Sport

The evolution of athlete conditioning established roots in individual sports where coaches turned to physical development to get the most out of each athlete's performance. Individual sports like track sprinting found they could benefit from enhanced leg strength and power. Head coaches were the first trainers of athletes, taking them into the weight room with an eye on improving performance.

The systems and strategies in sports such as football, cricket and tennis can best be described as organized chaos; during competition no one knows what will happen in the very next second. Multi-directional sports are a read-and-react game where success hinges on individual tactics – the toolbox of creative moves on offence and the mobility and reactivity on the defensive side.

Many other sports directly draw upon balance for skill execution. Snowboarders and skiers make endless adjustments relative to changing terrain, jumps and tricks, requiring a highly trained balance system to make their body more reactive to unpredictable events. The joy of the sport is exploring how to coordinate the body to become more competent at increasingly more difficult technical maneuvers.

The bottom line: fitness and strength are only useful if they are developed with an exercise style that actually improves the physical tools game action draws upon. Integrating strength, movement and balance helps athletes build muscle and strength levels in a manner that will better transfer on to the playing field.

The Twist Team!

Welcome to Twist Sport Conditioning's Blog Page!

This blog will be updated on a weekly basis, so we encourage you to check back weekly for the latest post, or choose to "follow" this blog to get regular updates sent to you. Contributions to this Blog will come from a variety of sources- Peter Twist, Douglas Brooks, Janice Hutton and Twist Coaches and staff- from a variety of standpoints including; whats hot in the industry, current research reviews, upcoming events, discussion boards, training tips and more...

We encourage you to provide your comments, ask questions, create discussion topics and make suggestions.

Sincerely,
The Twist Team!