Exercise of the Month

Thrusters

Muscles Targeted:Full Body

Setup & Execution: Begin standing with feet shoulder width apart, back in a neutral set, shoulders retracted back and head up. Next squat down keeping good squating technique (1)by not leaning too forward with the torso, heels in contact with the ground, knees over feet and not caving inward. Then perform a push up keeping with good push up form (2, can be performed on impliment or just a normal push up) by having the body flat and completely lowering the body towards the ground. Retrun to the "hole" position of the squat (1) and return with good squatting form to a standing position. Then press over head (4)and that is one repitition.

This exercise can be done with just bodyweight or a variety of objects like sand bags, medicine balls, dumbbells, plates, etc.

Benefits: Great for warm-up and conditioning applications

Thank you to Elite FTS for photos and introducing me to this exercise.

Quote of the Day 10/31/07

"The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."

-Roger Bannister

-First man to run a sub 4 minute mile and Olympic Gold Medalist

Ullucci Strength & Conditioning Univeristy Announcement

Ullucci Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy is excited to announce The Ullucci Strength & Conditioning University. The mission of the Ullucci Strength & Conditioning University will be to offer courses designed towards educating High School Athletes in the Art and Science behind Strength & Conditioning. It is our belief at Ullucci Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy that the educated Athlete is far ahead of the uneducated athlete in their ability to achieve optimal performance gains. For the average high school athlete seeking appropriate advice on sports performance training can be very expensive and not all of the advice out there is appropriate. We are very excited to announce that the Ullucci Strength & Conditioning University will offer a series of evening, one day, and one week courses designed towards High School athletes. Ullucci Strength & Conditioning University will offer affordable courses for the High School athlete to become smarter and more efficient with their training. It is our hope to empower athletes with the information and teach the proper techniques in many different modes of sports performance training. It is our belief that an athlete empowered with being educated in proper strength & conditioning philosophy for their sport and given the advice on how to train with proper technique coupled with being educated on proper nutrition, recovery, program design and stress management will enable an athlete to reach their optimal performance. This principle is what we call the Ullucci S.T.R.O.N.G. Principle. S.T.R.O.N.G. stands for Smart Training Results in Optimal Natural Gains. What it means is that by Proper Strength Training and athlete can achieve benefits naturally with training hard and training smart without the need of artificial and illegal performance enhancement methods.

To learn more about the Strength & Conditioning University and the Ullucci STRONG Principle contact Ullucci Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy at (401) 433-1500 or email Jason Price at jprice@risportsmed.com

Quote of the Day 10/30/07

"It's a kind of philosophy of my own life, to create the energy enough to keep on going."

-Ernie Banks

-Mr. Cub and MLB Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 10/29/07

"Always educate yourself."

-Donovan Baily

-2x Gold Medalist at 1996 Olympics

Quote of the Day 10/26/07

"Whatever muscles I have are the product of my own hard work and nothing else."

-Evelyn Ashford

-Four Time Olympic Gold Medalist

Quote of the Day 10/25/07

"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation."

-Arthur Ashe

-Tennis Champion

Take Down Wrestling Injuries with 5 Simple Exercises

Injuries are bound to happen in the sport of Wrestling. By design the sport pits two athletes to grapple until the victor shows physical and/or technical dominance by pinning their opponent or scoring more points. In order the most common areas of injury are the lower extremity, upper extremity and the head & neck. Most of these injuries occur during matches and most commonly during the take down. Also the sport of wrestling requires athletes to meet weight restrictions determining what class they will compete at. Often this requires rapid weight loss by caloric and hydration restrictions. All though this is not the recommended procedure for making weight it is often the path chosen by wrestlers of all levels. This type of weight loss has been shown in studies to be accompanied with decreases in strength, power, anaerobic and aerobic capacity. So, while decreasing weight is the desired result all of these will have a negative impact on a Wrestler’s ability to achieve optimal performance on the mat.

Here are five simple exercises which will help reduce the risk of injury during wrestling.

1. Single Leg Romanian Dead lift

Procedure: Start with weight balanced to one leg with a Dumbbell in the opposite hand. Keep your stomach tight by pulling the belly button towards the spine. Keep your shoulders back and maintaining an upright chest. Your spine should be in a neutral position and all movement should be at the hip with NO spinal flexion. Keep you head up and your hips and shoulders should remain parallel to the ground. There should be NO rotational movement by the hips and shoulders. All movement should be at the hip and should go through the full range of motion or until technique begins to breakdown by inability to maintain balance or rotation begins with the pelvis.
Works: on single leg strength along with athletes hip range of motion and more primarily the athletes’ balance. Muscles being worked are the glutes, hamstrings, gastrocs primarily. Secondary muscles being worked are the quads, hip and ankle stabilizers.

2. Single leg Vertical Jump
Procedure: Stand on a single leg maintaining balance before initiating movement. Explosively push off the single leg and try to achieve maximum vertical height. Land softly on the same leg absorbing the force of landing through the ankle, knee and hip. Regain balance before initiating the next repetition.

Works: Helps to develop explosive power. Eccentric loads of landing helps to strengthen the knee and hip joint to absorb force.

3. Push Up with Rotation

Procedure: begin in a standard push up position with a flat back and hips forming a straight body position. Perform a standard push up lowering the chest towards the floor maintaining a straight body position. Return to the start position and initiate rotation by lifting one hand and arm of the floor and rotating the body maintaining a straight body position until the up arm is perpendicular to the ground. From the up position lower the body by rotating back to the start position in a controlled fashion. Then perform another standard push up and perform a rotation on the other side.
Works: Core stability and upper body strength and shoulder proprioception. Helps to train the body to be in a single arm supported position.

4. Plyometric Push up
Procedure: Assume a standard push up position with a flat back and hips forming a straight body position. Keep your body straight as you lower your chest towards the floor. When you reach the lowered position push yourself away from the floor explosively. Your hands should leave the ground and the as you begin to descend absorb the landing through your wrists, elbows and shoulders. Assume a standard push up position and repeat.
Works: On upper body explosive strength, core stability and ability of the upper body proprioceptors to absorb force.

5. Neck Bridging (flexion and extension)
Procedure: (Flexion) Begin on your hands behind your back with your forehead resting on the ground on a towel. Hold this position for a determined period of time. (Extension) Begin with the back of your head on the ground resting on a towel. Your feet are towards your butt and your hands are at your side. Perform a bridging exercise lifting your hips and shoulders off the ground. Your weight should be distributed between your feet and your head.
Works: On strengthening the muscles of the neck and preparing them for bearing weight during wrestling activities.

All of these exercises will not guarantee that injuries will not happen in wrestling. Wrestling has the second highest incident of injury second to football. But, by performing these exercises hopefully the risk of injury will go down and if injury does occur the severity will be less than if the exercises were not done.

References

Grindstaff, T. and Potach, D. Prevention of Common Wrestling Injuries. Strength and Conditioning Journal. Vol 28, #4 page 20-28.

Verstegen, M. and Williams, P. Core Performance. USA: Rodale, 2004.

Chu, D. Jumping Into Plyometrics. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1998.

Boyle, M. Functional Training for Sports. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2004.

Quote of the Day 10/24/07

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."

-Lance Armstrong

-7x Tour De France winner

Quote of the Day 10/23/07

"Look at misfortune the same way you look at success. Don't Panic! Do your best and forget the consequences."

-Walt Alston

-5x World Series winning Manager of the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers

The ABC's of Expolisve Training

Every athlete in every sport will tell you that without proper training you will not reach your full potential in your sport. Over the past twenty plus years explosive training by using modes like medicine balls, plyometrics and Olympic Style Weightlifting have become the cornerstone of program design for sports performance. Almost all sports have an explosive component to it and all of those can be benefited by training explosively.

But, training explosively is not as easy as just deciding to train for explosive power and then going to do it. These modes of training are highly technical and must be performed appropriately to gain the full benefits from the training. When thinking about training explosively the classic sang of “Its NOT about the quantity but it ALL about the quality” holds true. When thinking about how to jump into explosive training it is as simple as ABC.

A) Add weight after technique is mastered – The benefits of explosive training are directly correlated with the flawlessness of the athlete’s technique. Whether it is medicine ball training, polymeric training, or Olympic style weightlifting with out proper technique optimal benefits will not be achieved.

B) Be Explosive – It is not called explosive training for a cool name. If you want to become more explosive in your sport you have to train explosive in the weight room. No matter the mode explosive training trains the Nervous system primarily and the muscular system secondary. By creating a training environment where the nervous system will need more recruitment of muscle fibers will make the athlete stronger by increasing the body’s ability to call more muscle fibers to contract to overcome a resistance.

C) Coaching, Coaching, Coaching – Explosive training should not be self taught. But, with proper coaching and understanding of the basics any athlete can learn proper technique which they can carry over to their training. Alone an athlete will not be able to tell when they have a technique flaws. Proper coaching will find technical flaws and correct them.

At Ullucci Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy we have trained professionals ready to coach athletes in the theory and application of all modes of explosive training. When it comes to sports performance training choose to train smart and train hard.
Jason Price is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, Licensed & Certified Athletic Trainer, USA Weightlifting Certified Club Coach, and a Certified Personal Trainer. He is the Director of Strength & Conditioning at Ullucci Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy

At Ullucci Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy we use Eleiko Bars and Weights. Eleiko is a Swedish company which for 50 years has been the top Olympic Weightlifting and Powerlifting equipment supplier. The equipment we have stocked our weight room at Ullucci Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy with multiple tons of this high quality weight and international competition calibrated bars to assure our athletes optimal quality equipment to help them attain their optimal performance.

Quote of the Day 10/22/07

"I hated every minute of training, but I said, don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

-Muhammad Ali

-World Champion Boxer

Quote of the Day 10/19/07

"You have to be very fit to be competitive"

-Michael Andretti

-Race car driver

Quote of the Day 10/18/07

"You gotta be careful with your body. Your body is like a bar of soap. The more you use it, the more it wears down."

-Richie Allen

-7x Major League Baseball All-star

Program Spotlight: An Inseason Strengthening Program for a Middle School Cross-Country Runner

At Ullucci Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy we are very staunch supporters of youth resistance training. Studies have shown that with proper coaching and program design that youth resistance training is very safe and advantageous. We also support in season resistance training for all athletes. It not only aids in recovery but it helps maintain strength during the season. Studies have shown that athletes that resistance train during their season will maintain off season strength gains longer and at higher rates that athletes who do not perform a resistance training program.

We have put these two philosophies to the test when we were presented with a 14 year old middle school cross country and distance runner who was recommend to us this summer by her coach to evaluate for any hip weakness which was effecting her gait cycle while running. What we found was some mild glute weakness which we addressed and progressed her to more traditional resistance training. After her physical therapy to address the glute weakness she was transferred to the Strength and Conditioning program for further strengthening. When her season began it was recommend that she continue with a one day a week strengthening program to maintain her strength during the cross country season. She has maintained with the program and has won two Middle school Cross Country meets so far this season.

Her In season program is one day a week for one hour and involves mostly lower extremity exercises. We train her with two separated workouts which she performs every other week. So week one she performs workout one, week two will be workout two and week three would be back to workout one and so on. The focus of the program is on glute strength and core strength for running.

Workout One:
5 min general warm up on a stationary bike
10 min dynamic warm up
Back squat 5 sets of 4-6
Ham / Glute extensions 3 sets of 10
Single Leg Dead lifts with a Dumbbell 3 sets of 10
Stability ball Hamstring curls 3 sets of 10
Marching glute Bridges 3 sets of 20
Illiopsoas Pushes with Thera band 3 sets of 10
5-10 min Static Stretching

Workout Two:
5 min general warm up on a stationary bike
10 min dynamic warm up
front squat 5 sets of 4-6
Romainian Style Dead lift 3 sets of 10
Single Leg Squats 3 sets of 10
Monster Walks 3 sets of 10
Clam Shells (hip abduction) 3 sets of 10
Marching glute bridges 3 sets of 20
5-10 min static stretching

This program will be continued till the conclusion of cross country season and then after a short transition period she will then be transferred to a more intensive program to prepare her for the outdoor track season in the spring.

Quote of the Day 10/17/07

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

-Muhammad Ali

-Champion Boxer

Quote of the Day 10/16/07

"Concentrate, play your game, and don't be afraid to win."

-Amy Alcott

-LPGA Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 10/15/07

"I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to Sacrifice."



-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar



-6x NBA Champion & National Basketball Hall of Famer

Quote of the Day 10/12/07

"It starts with hard work and enthusiasm; there is not trick, no easy way to achieve competitive greatness and success in basketball or life."

-John Wooden

-10x NCAA Basketball Coach

-Basketball Hall of Fame Player & Coach

Happy 97th Birthday Coach

October 14th

Quote of the Day 10/11/07

"Stand Up for what you believe - even when you stand alone."





-Ward "Piggy" Lambert


-Former Purdue Basketball Coach

Quote of the Day 10/10/07

"Two thirds of what we see is behind our eyes."



-Old Chinese Proverb

Article Review: All in the Hips

In the December 2005 issue of Training & Conditioning Magazine the article "All in the Hips" by

Jim Kielbaso peaked me interest enough that I have reviewed it several times since it came out in that issue. His interpretation of core strength is very similar to my own phylosiphy on the subject. As he states in the article "Without powerful hips and flexible hips, core strength will not be fuctional for most sports." As an athletic trainer working in a wide viriaty of sports and with numerous coaches and strength coaches and doing my own research on the subject of Core Strength and Stability the one thing that has stuck out to me is without flexibility in the hips and strength thoughout the entire hip joint the athlete will have a faital flaw that usually will lead them to either under produce in their sport or wind up injured and visiting the Athletic Training Room. As stated in the article the hip is a very dynamic joint with over 20 Muscles that directly infulence the movement of the joint. On top of the muscles that act on the hip their are several other muscle groups that act as synergists to hip movement (abdominals, Quadriceps, and Low back muscles). Weakness in the hips is often associated with these synergists picking up the slack. Just like the shoulder the hip is a ball and socket joint with the ability to produce great ranges of motion in all three planes of motion. This being said the hip does not have anywhere near the range of motion the shoulder has. The hip has ranges of motion of 110 to 120 degrees in flexion, 10-15 degress in extension, 30-50 degress in abduction, 30 degress of Adduction, 40-60 degrees of lateral or external rotation, and 30-40 degrees of medial or internal rotation compared to the shoulders ROMs in the same motions (flex 160-180 deg., ext 50-60 deg., abduct 170-180 deg., adduct 50-75 deg., lat or external rot 80-90 deg., med or internal rot 60-100 deg.) (2). The main reason for the descrepancy of these range of motions are that the hip has much more musculature surrounding it and the pelvic girdle has more fixated joints as compared to the mobile joints in the shoulder girdle. Now, the hip needs to be a strong and stable structure and that is why its range of motion is decreased even though it is a ball and socket joint like the shoulder. The Hip needs to be able to withstand significant forces associated with standing, walking, and running. Standing on one limb puts 2.4-2.6 times the body weight through the hip joint and running will put a whopping 4.5 times the body weight or greater.(2)

What I loved about this article is that it talked about how the hip moves in the three planes of motion and how it is typically exercised in only two. The three planes of motion are frontal, sagittal, and transverse. The hip is primarly worked in the frontal and sagittal planes. But, injuries that occur from hip weakness primarly happen from being weak in the motions taking place in the transverse plane. These would be the Internal or Medial and External or lateral rotation. Most athlets are weak and also tight in these movements. Training these movements as the article states will greatly decrease the change of injury to the hip, knee, thigh, and low back. It is the deficiencies in the rotational motions of the hip that the author trys to stress the importance of recognition and addressing in the workout plan. The author gives six reasons why these exercises should be implemented into a training program. They are:

• Help to prevent injuries, especially at the knee.
• Can be used to teach proper movement mechanics
• Take less than 30 seconds each
• Require no equipment
• Have numerous variations so athletes won't get bored
• Incorporate many other muscles that help assist in the proper function of the hips
  

What I also like about this article was how the author presented the matiral. He did not come out and say you MUST add these exercises to prevent injuries. He explained that there is so much out there that it can become difficult to implement everything into a program. The short of it is that when you have x amount of time and z amount of stuff to get accomplished sometimes things like y have to get cut out. Most of the time y is the injury prevention and flexibility exercises. But, where more and more athletes and coaches are taking the time to implement a general and specific dynamic warm up there is a place where these exercises can be implemented. The following are the exercises that the author recommened for training the hip in the transverse plane.

• Single Leg Hip Twister - To improve strength and mobility within hip rotation
• Single Leg Lean Back - stretch and strengthen the hip flexors and abdominals
• Hip Flexor Stretch - just what it says a hip flexor stretch
• Leg swings - gets the legs moving in different planes. The movement and slowing down for countermovement helps to strengthen the muscles eccentricly and also works on ROM
• Twisting Lunge - Engages the glutes more than the standard lunge due to the twisting
• Cutting in Place - teaches cutting and planting mechanics
• Jumps in place - Keeps the athlete emphasizing quickness of the ground.

To learn more about these exercises and to read this great article go to the Training & Conditioning Magazine website or click here for the hyperlink to the article.

References:

1. Kielbaso, Jim. All in the Hips. Training & Conditioning, December 2005.
2. Magee, David. Orthopedic Physical Assessment Third Edition. WB Saunders Company. 1997.

Quote of the Day 10/9/07

"No Matter who you are and what you do for a living, there will be instances in your life when you'll have to show courage and be strong."

-Tedy Bruschi
-New England Patriots Linebacker
& Stroke Survivor

Quote of the Day 10/5/07

"In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins."



-Ulysses S. Grant



-Leading Union Army General during the Civil War

-18th president of the United States

Quote of the Day 10/4/07

"There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination and wonder."

-Ronald Reagan

-40th President of the United States

FREE ONLINE PUBLICATION

It is our Mission at Ullucci Strength & Conditioning to provide resources to improve the education of Athletes and people who work with athletes on subjects pertaining to Strength & Conditioning. One of the resources we use to educate ourselves and our clients is the NSCA's Performance Training Journal. It is offered for free and is an online publication that is bi-monthly. As a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)want to promote their mission. The NSCA's mission as the worldwide authority on strength and conditioning is to support and disseminate research-based knowledge and its practical application, to improve athletic performance and fitness.

I believe that the online Performance Training Journal does a nice job disseminating information in a manner which is easy for athletes and coaches who may not have a great background in exercise science or the art and science of strength and conditioning. The articles are written by individuals out in the field of performance training and their researched based articles are designed to provide information to athletes and coaches which the can incorporate into their practice. Their readers are readers much like the readers of this site, people that want serious, in depth information about strength and conditioning.

To receive your copy of the NSCA's Online Performance Training Journal go to www.nsca-lift.com/perform and sign up. All that is required is an email account and you can receive this valuable resource.

Book Review

I recently Read the book "Never Give Up" by Tedy Bruschi with Micheal Holley. It was released earlier this year and it is Tedy's story of how he recovered from his stroke in February of 2005 to play in the NFL again. Now this book is not going to make you a better athlete, coach, athletic trainer, etc. But, this book was very inspirational and it was filled with lessons that many athletes and people who work with athletes can take away from the book and teach them how to deal with set backs and challenges. It is over coming these set backs and challenges that gives sports and athletics the ability to build character in people. Ask anyone what the benefits of athletic are and one of the first things they will tell you is that is builds character and confidence. But, it can also destroy character and confidence as well, that's why sports psychologists have jobs. Never Give Up is filled with Tedy's point of view on how he accepted the set backs and the challenges of being a stroke survivor and was able to not just return to normal neurological and physical health but also return to his vocation, which just happens to be playing middle linebacker in the NFL.

I took away from this book three major points that will help me except the challenges of my career and in my life. These three points are:

1. Educating is Empowering. In the book Tedy talks about how he meet with Dr. Aurthur Day at Brigham & Women's hospital. It was Dr. Day who told him exactly what the stroke did and how he could continue to live his life. What Dr. Day explained to Ted was, "I'm tyring to empower you here, Education is a very powerful thing." Most athletes are not Exercise science experts. This is especially true with youths and high school athletes. Most athletes will understand and have a great amount of knowledge of the tactics and technique of their sport but will have no idea of how their body works or how to prepare their body for sport. Ask anyone and they will tell you how to maintain a car, computer or any other piece of equipment or technology. No ask that same person how to properly maintain their own body and they will not have the slightest clue. So, it is the job of the individuals who work with athletes to empower them by educating them.


2. Don't live your life by paralysis by analysis. Ted was able to get back to his normal life and return to his job, which just happens to be playing in the NFL by not paralyzing himself by worrying about what he can't do as a stroke survivor. He talked about a great quote he keeps. If you have read any of this site you know I am a quote nut with the quote of the day. He keeps a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt in his wallet where she says, "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do." I feel that the the stance Ted takes on this quote and how he applied it to his battle overcoming the debilitation from the stroke and how he now lives his life is a great stance to take as a person, an athlete, or a person who works with athletes. He wrote "No matter who you are and what you do for a living, there will be instances in your life when you'll have to show courage and be strong." This is so true for athletes, coaches, and people who work with athletes. Athletes will always have to overcome obstacles whether they are mental, physical or something else they will be there and the successful athlete always find a way to overcome them and if they don't at least they tried. As an individual who works with athletes as either a coach, athletic trainer or strength and conditioning specialist you have to overcome many things yourself and many times you have to overcome challenges with your athletes. Tedy in his book gives so many lessons that one can take and apply in their own life.


3. You have to keep going forward. Ted talks about how once he made up his mind to return he had trouble going forward. He talked about a book he read by Trisha Meili. She has her own story about hope and possibility. She was the Jogging in Central Park and was a victim in a horrible attack by a group of men. She was left scared both physically and mentally but she has moved forward and become a top notch motivational speaker and a best selling author. Her story with Ted's are ones of moving forward. Ted's message of moving forward through set backs and challenges is motivating and inspirational.

I took these three things from this book and plan on keeping them as part of my life and my coaching. As a self proclaimed football junkie I loved this book as well because it was filled great football commentary and insight into a great NFL player while explaining his great comeback story.

I found this book to be a very quick and easy read which was tough to put down. I think it is a great read for anyone involved or not involved in athletics.

Quote of the Day 10/3/07

"Always Bear in Mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing."



-Abraham Lincoln



-16th President of the United States

October Newsletter

If you already have not receive the Ullucci Strength & Conditioning Newsletter and would like to please email me at jprice@risportsmed.com.


The Ullucci Strength & Conditioning Newsletter will hit topics that all Athletes, Coaches, Athletic Trainers, and Strength & Conditioning professionals will benefit from. We will hit topics like the following: Youth Resistance Training, Injury Prevention Exercise, Science and Theory behind Strength Training, Nutrition, Exercise Prescription, and much much more

If you are interested in contributing to the Newsletter please email RE:Contributor Here. We are looking for qualified authors who would like to reach a broad audience of individuals interested topics related to Strength & Conditioning.

Quote of the Day 10/2/07

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."

-Thomas Jefferson

-3rd President of the United States

-Principle Author of the Declaration of Independents