Weekly Recap 2/2-2/8/2020
We are back with some of the best articles and social media posts that we came across this week. Keep reading on for articles about the bettering health and social policies in the US and what to do when you start feeling pain while training, an Instagram post from Eric Cressey, and a Facebook post with some awesome takeaways from Dustin Lebel. And make sure to keep up-to-date on all the happenings at Resilient by reading about our upcoming events at the very end of this post.
We have also opened up the comments at the end of each blog post so let us know what you think and post any questions you have there. We would love to hear from you all.
Check our part 3 of our training load series on our very own blog: https://www.resilienttraininglab.com/blog/training-load-3
Articles of the Week
Pain in Training: What do? Written by Austin Baraki
Austin Baraki of Barbell Medicine wrote this extremely interesting article on the steps to take when you experience pain during training. Many people experience some sort of ache, pain, and injury at some point in their training journey. It is important to take a calm, sensible approach to the recovery process rather than one of fear and catastrophe. Our bodies are not machines and are highly adaptable. Dr. Baraki covers the steps to take to start the rehab process with a smart, non-fear-based approach. The four steps that he highlights are finding a place to start, embracing the process, managing expectations, and returning to your sport. Give this article a read to get all of the details on the hows and whys of rehabbing those aches, pains, and injuries.
Our best weapons against cancer are not magic bullets Written by Vinay Prasad
Nature posted this great article that highlights how there needs to be a change in health and social policies and how we need to take steps to maximize our own health to aid in the prevention of disease. Of course, it is great that technology is improving and the advancements are helping to decrease cancer incidence and mortality. However, it would be even better if overall disease and health risks were prevented by taking better care of ourselves, staying away from known products and ingredients that increase health risks, and being active. Although the basics of staying healthy aren’t as exciting or captivating, it is the first line of defense against disease. I hope this article helps to inspire you to take charge of your own health and to advocate for better health and social policies.
Social Media Posts of the Week
The Instagram post from this week comes from Eric Cressey of Cressey Sports Performance. Cressey goes over why imaging is only a small piece of the puzzle and focusing on improving movements patterns is more beneficial to improving symptoms and rate of injury. This post also highlights why getting imaging, especially done in the absence of symptoms, can do more hard than good.
@ericcressey
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*You “Kneed” to Know*
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It’s well established that you can have significant structural pathology in asymptomatic individuals. I’ve written at length about this with respect to how bad most low backs and shoulders look on diagnostic imaging such as x-rays and MRIs. These “normal” structural “abnormalities” also take place at the knees.
🤯
In 2010, Flanigan et al. reviewed studies that collectively examined the (1,862) knees of 931 athletes (40% of whom were professional athletes) using arthroscopy and MRIs. They found that 36% of these knees had full-thickness chondral defects, but 14% of these subjects had no symptoms when diagnosed. The researchers concluded that, “Over one-half of asymptomatic athletes have a full-thickness defect.”
😳
Previously, Cook et al. (2000) had screened 134 elite junior basketball players (268 total knees) for patellar tendinopathy. At the time, only 19 (7%) of the 268 tendons presented with symptoms (pain) of tendinopathy. Surprisingly, though, when examined with ultrasound, researchers actually found that 26% of all the tendons could be considered tendinopathy based on the degenerative changes observed. In other words, for every one that actually presents clinically with symptoms, more than three more go undiagnosed because people either haven’t reached threshold, or they move well enough to keep symptoms at bay. 🤭
On the “move well enough” side of things, Edwards et al. (2010) showed that athletes with asymptomatic patellar tendinopathy actually land differently – both in terms of muscle recruitment and sequencing – than asymptomatic athletes without tendinopathy. Fix that movement pattern and strengthen folks in the right places, and those issues never reach threshold. Leave it alone, and it’s just a matter of time until they present with knee pain. 😬
This is really just the tip of the iceberg, though. You’ll see loads of chronic ACL and meniscus tears that folks never realize they have. The take-home message? Yet again, diagnostic imaging is just one piece of the puzzle, and how you move matters just as much (if not more).
This week’s Facebook post comes from Dustin Lebel of My Training Plan. He highlights the importance of focusing on the big picture in order to reach your health goals. He emphasizes that consistency over a long duration of time is what will help you reach your goals. As nice as it would be to do something once and then reach your goal, the reality is that consistently performing habits and tasks are what will really get you to your goals.
Making progress in fitness is a matter of action over time. The longer you can consistently execute a behavior, the more likely you are to accumulate the body of work needed to see a desired result come to fruition. Unfortunately for our ADD instant gratification monkey brain, these process are on a delayed time clock.
Often times we fall victim to the "1:1" mentality - we did a thing (an input) and automatically get an outcome (output). Where as it actually might take many many (many many) inputs to finally get the output that you're looking for.
You don't walk outside and get instant sun tan, do you? No - you slowly increase sun exposure over a period of time and depending on your skin tone, sensitivity, and of course the actual time spent in the sun, you will end up a nice golden tan - or at least tan relative to you.
Training and nutrition are no different. You need to gradually increase the exposure of a specific signal so that you're brain figures out what the heck you're trying to do and makes the necessary adaptations for your continued survival. Sending inconsistent signals, mixed signals, or just straight up wrong signals only further delays this from happening.
So where does this leave us?
1. Find the behaviors (signals) that will bring you closer to your goal and do those things. But most importantly, layer them into your life so that they are sustainable and you can be consistent above all else.
2. Measure the right things. If you're not measuring stuff, how do you know what went "wrong" and how to correct course? Your food intake, your body weight, your resting heart rate, and your training are a good start. You need to know what's consistently going in, what's going out, and how your body is responding to your environment (internal and external).
3. Long term trends > short term spikes. To the above, learn to be neutral to those outcomes and take the 30,000 foot view. If something is off, simply reverse engineer and ask yourself: Am I consistent with the behaviors that will bring me closer to my goal? Am I measuring my inputs, outputs, and response to my environment? Therein probably lies your answer.
Upcoming events at Resilient Training Lab
Saturday, February 22nd: Powerlifting Meet- Lightning Fitness 9:00 am
We will have a crew going down to compete in a powerlifting meet at Lightning Fitness in South Windsor, CT. It would be great to get a crew down to support your fellow Resilient Athletes! Lifting will start at 9:00 am and will finish around 2
Saturday, February 29th Bench Press Seminar 11:00 - 12:30 pm
We will be continuing our monthly seminar series with a seminar on the bench press. We will go over the ins and outs of bench press technique and spend a significant amount of time with hands-on coaching. This seminar will be at Revolution on Saturday, February 29th, at 11:00 am and will run 90-120 minutes. This seminar is free of charge to all. Everyone is welcome to attend a Resilient member or not.