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