A Peak Inside

Thought I'd share some of the goings on within the walls of Gain Line Performance

http://youtu.be/DD61kVkJSFI

Guess Who's Back

Guess who’s back, back again.  Gain Line’s back, tell your friends (sung in the whitest of white guy voices).  Well, the time has come to get back to business and start contributing to my blog again.  For those of you who don’t know, the reason behind my nine month hiatus and having to “get back to business” in the first place, is due to the fact that I finally took the leap and went into business.  Gain Line Performance is officially Gain Line Performance LLC!

Check it out yo!

 I’ll wait while the applause die down.  “Thank you, your support means a lot, thank you, thank you”.  “Thank you this is too much, really, thank you, I must, I must be moving on, thank you”.  Wow that was great, I never knew you all cared so much. 

In all seriousness, this has been a long time coming.   I’ve been harboring thoughts of opening my own place for years now.  The concept has certainly evolved a bit from its original form, but it has been there, ever present, none the less.  If I really think about it, this ambition (my wife would probably say obsession) to someday open my own facility was probably directly involved with why I’ve always found it extremely difficult to be happy, or maybe satisfied is a better word, with the majority of my previous positions within the fitness / sports training industry.   I mean “come on”, it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that one of my most endearing / enraging (those are synonyms, right?) traits is my uncanny ability to be an opinionated pain in the “you know what” where training is concerned, could it?  I mean that only lead to the occasional butting of heads.  Nah, couldn’t be.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, I simply couldn’t handle having to wade through considerable red tape any time a change was suggested or needed.  A new idea, red tape, want a new piece of equipment, red tape, a new program, red tape, a new place for corporate to stick it, wait what?  Yeah I said it, sue me. Long story short, I could no longer handle all the bureaucratic BS that comes along with working within the typical big box style gym. Yes the change from employee to owner/manager/employee/janitor/and a million other things, means a lot more work on my end.  However, I happily take on the burden of extra work in exchange for the ability to write what I want, program how I want, change things when I want, and buy cool new training items when I feel like it.

Over the better part of a decade now I have been slowly accumulating equipment and storing it away in my garage, basement and other various places around my house (and the houses of others on occasion, sorry) for when the time was right.   Turns out the time was right last summer, or at least I was feeling courageous enough to quit two of my three jobs at the time and dive into the process of making Gain Line Performance a reality.  Once the decision was made, the remainder of the summer was spent piecing together equipment I still needed and hunting for a home for the business.  Unfortunately I wasn’t born with a silver spoon so the budget was, well, small.  Money may not buy happiness, but it seems to be pretty important to anyone selling weight equipment (someone should inform them of how much happier they would be without my cash so that they may drastically reduce their prices). 

 

Lucky for me, free weights don’t need to be shiny and new to retain their effectiveness.  A 45lb plate is 45lb plate, a little rust just gives it character.  I scoured auctions, business closings, Craigslist, garage sales, and various other avenues in an effort to locate the best deals I could; come to think of it, the History Channel should have given me my own show, American Gym Auction Hunter Picker Star has a nice ring to it.  Anyhow, through a little extra work I was able to track down most of what I needed on the cheap and found a couple of small equipment manufacturers who did good work and offered affordable prices to purchase a few completely new items from. 

While my bargain shopping spree was taking place, I was simultaneously searching for a suitable building to house the business.  I was naive enough to think that this would be a relatively simple process.  I’m not sure I could have been farther off base with my thoughts.  My wife and I went out multiple weekends to look at various different properties around the Grand Rapids area that met the size and price requirements needed.  In most cases, we could only get one or the other, right size, wrong price or right price, wrong size, but we also ran into landlords who frankly didn’t seem very interested in unloading their listed properties, representatives of landlords who knew essentially nothing about the building or space they were supposed to be representing (is being aware of square footage numbers really too much to ask?) and in one case a city ban on gyms being located in commercial buildings.

About the time I was ready to just say screw it, I happened across an ad for a space for sale by owner, right size, right price and I was able to deal directly with the landlord (hallelujah!).  After a couple of visits and some contemplation, an offer was made and the rest is history.  I spent the rest of the summer, fall and into the winter moving equipment, cleaning, painting and setting up the gym.  Which brings us to today and me sitting at my desk writing this blog while looking out my window at the Alaskan or sorry, Michigan winter landscape.
 

 

So what is Gain Line Performance you ask?  Well, in its simplest terms, Gain Line Performance is a strength and conditioning / athletic development / fitness facility located on south end of Grand Rapids, MI.  Our main focus is helping athletes improve their on-field performance through off field training modalities (weight, plyometric, speed, agility, reaction, movement and mobility training).  If you’re not an athlete, but you have aspirations of becoming an overall more awesome human, enjoy the type of training environment on offer and aren’t afraid of hard work, we want you here too.  The end goal is to build not only a gym but a community of likeminded individuals helping one another achieve success. I know it sounds awesome right?  So why aren’t you a member yet? 

Beyond the general business themes, I’m also hoping to use Gain Line as a tool to help further develop the game of rugby in Grand Rapids / West Michigan / Michigan as whole.  Rugby has given me a lot over the years and I would like to help ensure that others are able to enjoy similar experiences, memories and friendships.  I’m still not exactly sure on all of the particulars of how I’m going to achieve this, but to start, Gain Line already serves as a potentially great avenue for rugby athletes and teams of all levels and aspirations to network, build relationships and recruit.  So basically what I am saying is that if you are a ruby athlete near Grand Rapids and you are not training here, you should be!  Get here!  Get it? Got it? Good!  

Looking to the future, I would also love Gain Line Performance to play a part in local rugby skill camps / clinics, high performance camps and a multitude of other things to help grow the game here.  I’m doing my best not to get too far ahead of myself, but I hope my excitement is infectious.
 

In closing I would like to pose a question.  What’s your Gain Line?  In the sport of rugby union, the gain line represents a hypothetical line beyond which the attacking team must progress to gain territory.  Once it has been achieved, the line is reset and the process of moving forward begins anew. 

The pursuit of enhanced athleticism / fitness should be approached much the same.  Once progress is realized, a new target must be sought to ensure the continuation of improvement.  So athlete or not, what’s your gain line?  Are you doing all you can to achieve it?

Progress

Ab-Natomy Volume 1

Ab-Natomy Volume 1

Originally I had planned on this being a single blog post.  However, as I wrote it became apparent that there were really two primary topics under the same umbrella idea that I wanted to touch on.  In order to avoid watering down the content for the sake of brevity, I decided to break this post up into a two part series. Below you will find Ab-Natomy Volume 1 which will include an introduction into the topic at hand (the ever popular abdominal training), info on the anatomy of the abdominal region, and finally some thoughts regarding abdominal training mythology.  In Ab-Natomy Volume two, anatomical structure will be revisited (from a different point of view) and abdominal related training for athletic performance becomes the focus.  So without further ado, onward to Ab-Natomy Volume 1, enjoy.

Today’s topic up for discussion is another one of those issues which I feel has been addressed ad nauseam.  However, sometimes I forget that not everyone drowns themselves in training based journals, blogs, podcasts and videos to the same degree that I do.  So for the sake of the present readership, I’m going to go ahead and rehash a few important concepts regarding the ever popular topic of abdominal training. 

 

Ah the abs, the eighth wonder of the world; or at least one might believe this to be the case with so many obsessing over midsection development these days.  It has become just about impossible to go anywhere without being bombarded by some sort of information claiming enhanced abdominal definition.  Turn on the T.V. for 15 minutes or walk through a grocery store checkout line, not the self scan but the one that actually has a human being stationed at it and you will see what I mean.  No, that was not a typo.  I do mean “the one” hidden randomly in the middle of 75 unused lanes (anyone else find this weird?). Go ahead, try and find it.  It’s kind of fun and good exercise, sort of like a treasure hunt with a not so rewarding ending.

Once you’ve arrived, take a look at the publications amassed around the entrance.  I caution you, keep it brief or you may come away a few IQ points lighter.  Apparently congress has passed some sort of law requiring at least one abdominal related article to be highlighted on a magazine cover in order to have it printed.  Good on them to come to a consensus on something.

Ah.... and it all comes together

While not all the content included in these articles is bad (some publications, emphasis on some, have actually begun to use educated and credible sources to write these things), the packaging tends to create problems.  Look I get it; it’s all about marketing and the bottom line.  Obviously “How to Get The Washboard Look” is a more enticing title than “Understanding the Functionality of the Trunk Musculature”.   However, in a lot of ways the title dictates the content and when you water down the title, well…….. I hope you’re catching what I’m laying down.

 

Inevitably what you often end up with is an eye catching title, a brief blurb from the author (this is generally where the knowledge gems on functional anatomy, proper technique and progression are usually located if the editor hasn’t cut them away, so please don’t skip over the words) followed by a picture list of exercises.  Here is how these are generally read (I use this term loosely here): title, “yuck words who put these things in here”, look at pictures, rip out pictures, head to the gym.  By the way, is reading still a skill taught in school?  Present company excluded, I sometimes feel the vast majority of our society could gain a lot from re-acquainting themselves with this capacity.

In the end, what’s left is a mass horde of misinformed individuals blindly chasing six pack dreams via daily bouts of endless repetitions of still photo based exercises.  To make matters worse, these exercises are generally butchered due to the fact that stills minus their word description counterpart are inherently poor teachers of anything requiring technique.  Furthermore, because of the titling issue mentioned above, as well as the media’s constant pandering to the public’s already deeply seeded training misconceptions, training of the abdominal region has been relegated to an outdated, poorly executed and potentially dangerous isolation only based approach.

Now that you know how I really feel, let’s move forward and examine the structures that make up what the abdominals, core, cheese grader (whatever you would to refer to the area as) and shed light on some of the more prevalently held misconceptions floating around out there.

When most people talk abs, more often than not they are referring to the rectus abdominus (RA).  The RA originates on the pubic symphysis (down low in your “no-no region”) and inserts on the 5^th – 7^th rib cartilage and the sternum.  It is split length wise by the linea alba and is quartered width wise by tendinous insertions which provide the famous “six pack” shape. When contracted it flexes the spine and pulls either the ribs closer to the pelvis or the pelvis closer to the ribs depending on which area is stabilized (Authors Last Name, Every Anatomy Text Ever Written, 1BC – Present).  While this is certainly true, In Ab-Natomy Part Deux, you will learn why this may be somewhat short sighted.  I know you probably just peed a little with excitement; please take a moment to compose yourself. 

 

Based solely on the information I just presented, the RA is effectively trained through exercises such as the crunch, reverse crunch, sit-up, v-up, straight leg sit-up, hanging knee raise, etc. 

Moving beyond the RA, we also have the obliques.  The obliques are made up of two separate muscles and can be further categorized into a number of different fibers, but we will postpone any discussion into that degree of depth for some other time.  The obliquus externus (external oblique) originates on the lower portion of the lower eight ribs and inserts along the iliac crest (think hip bones).  Generally speaking the external oblique can flex, laterally flex, and rotate the torso.  Lying under the external oblique is obliquus internus (internal oblique).  The internal oblique originates from the lateral inguinal ligament and iliac crest and inserts on the pubic bone, along the linea alba and on the 7^th – 9^th ribs (this can become more complex when fascial lines are taken into account).  Again from a basic anatomy tells us that the internal oblique has the ability to flex, laterally flex, and rotate the torso.

With this general knowledge, training the obliques can be accomplished through exercises such as the crunch, reverse crunch, side crunch, standing side crunch, Russian twist, etc. 

 

Last but not least, we have the transversus abdominis (TVA).  The TVA originates on the undersurface of the lower six ribs, the iliac crest and the inguinal ligament and inserts on the pubic bone and along the linea alba.  The TVA has the ability to flex and rotate the trunk and also acts as something of a girdle to help support and flatten the abdominal wall. 

 

Training the TVA can be accomplished through any of the various torso flexing and bending exercise already listed above.

Now let me emphasize again that what I have just discussed represents a pretty general overview of the abdominal muscles by design.  There could be many more thoughts, ideas and details included, but that is not the intent of this particular piece of writing (plus it would be sleep inducing for most of you).  A basic understanding of the abdominals should suffice for what we will be discussing next, as well as lay some solid ground work for what is to be presented in Ab-Natomy 2.0. 

 

To round out Ab-Natomy the 1^st, we now move on to examining a few of the more prominent abdominal training misconceptions.  Consider this a crash course in abdominal mythology 101. 

Myth # 1 - It’s possible to not have abs 

Here is something I have heard from a number of clients, “one of my goals is to have abs.”  I know what they are getting at here, but I always have to stop myself from laughing and saying, “great, we can check that one off the list right now, my job is done here”.  Let me let you in on a little secret, everyone has abs.  It’s part of your human anatomy.  Some people’s abs are just more visible than others (more on this to come), plain and simple.

Myth # 2 - Doing massive amounts of abdominal exercises is the best way to a six pack

True, training a muscle helps the fibers to grow therefore making the muscle more pronounced.  However, training is only one piece of the puzzle.  If said muscle is obscured by a layer of fatty tissue, additional training is going to do little make it more evident.  Mike Boyle, the strength coach for the Boston University Hockey team, put it well when he stated that the best exercise for developing abs was the table-push-away.  Getting rid of the fat sitting on top of the abdominals is the key to the washboard look, not some miracle producing exercise.  If you want great abs, start with your diet.

Myth # 3 – Abs should be trained everyday

First of all I don’t know why this would make any logical sense to anyone.  What makes the abs magically different than any other muscle in the body?  If we don’t promote this with anything else why do we do it here?  Secondly the abdominals are already receiving plenty of extra stimulation via other means.  Trust me on this one, your abs and spine will likely thank you (more on this topic in Ab-Natomy II). 

What happens when you train something every day......you start to look weird

Myth #4 – All abdominal exercise takes place lying down on a mat

I’m not really sure if this is a myth in the traditional sense, but from what I see at the gym I felt it ought to be touched upon.  Some basic physics concepts wipe this out rather quickly.  Same idea as to why standing pec flys make for a rather worthless exercise.  There are multitudes of ways to stress the core musculature in positions other than lying on the ground.  Many of which are likely to provide a more useful training adaptation.  See Ab-Natomy Dos for details.

Myth #5 – To progress an abdominal training program one should simply add more repetitions

The old more is better protocol.  This is the quintessential American way of doing just about everything.  Once again we see the abs receiving some sort of weird special training protocol that generally goes unused elsewhere.  In this case, it would make much more sense to train the abs as if we were training any other muscle group; by letting our goals dictate the programming.  For example, let’s say I was interested in developing my abs to stand out more (hypertrophy).  Most resources would say that I would be best served through programming which created an exercise intensity that held me somewhere around 6 to 12 repetitions or so.  This would obviously require weighting your traditional movements, something you generally don’t see much of in the land-o-ab training.  Let your training goals lead the way just as you would with any other muscle group and you will improve your likelihood of achieving said goals. 

To close out Ab-Natomy Volume 1, I would like to take a brief moment to highlight what we have learned here today:

• This is the first part of a two part series (read part two for all your performance based ab training needs)
• We as a society have an ab-normal obsession with abs (haha that joke was ab-solutely ab-surd)
  
• Checkout lanes with human cashiers still exist
• Although pictures are fun, if you possess the ability to read the words preceding them it would behoove you to do so.  Remember, those who don’t read are getting the same education as those who can’t read.
• A bunch of anatomy stuff (that part in the middle)
• We all have abs, I promise I’m not lying about this
• Diet plays a massive role in making your abs visible
• Your abs are not that special, they don’t need to be treated differently than every other muscle and showered with extra attention.  Do you really want your abs turning out like Lindsay Lohan? 
• Much like there are multiple ways to skin a cat, or so I’ve been told (I’m not exactly sure who is performing this research but I’m positive PETA is all over it), there are multiple ways to enhance the function and visual appeal of your midsection beyond that of countless crunches and sit-ups.  Tune in for Ab-Natomy # 2 for details.
• A bunch of different ways to refer to Ab-Natomy Volume 2

   To be continued…….

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Stairs, The Other Plyo Box

Apparently taking the stairs would have drained all motivation for the workout....

Not a lot of text to sort through here.  Just a quick video demonstration of how, with an open mind, your everyday surroundings can become an effective training tool.  

 

No plyo boxes?  No problem.

The Roll Down on Recent Foam Rolling Research

The All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby team, using various  foam rolling tools to complete a SMR session

Self-myofascial release (SMR), or foam rolling as it is often called, has become increasingly popular over the course of the past 5 to 10 years.  Implements once unique to the local physical therapy or chiropractic office are now common place in most commercial gyms.  The use of SMR as a means to enhance tissue quality and muscle function has slowly undergone a shift from a primarily rehabilitative tool to that of a “pre-habilitative” one.  Personal trainers, strength coaches and the like have begun to utilize SMR with their clients and athletes seeking improved movement, function and reduced muscular pain. 

SMR works with the theory that through sustained posture, injury, or repetitive movement, adhesions within the myofascial network are created.  These adhesions are thought to inhibit normal movement and therefore negatively impact muscular performance.  The use of SMR brings about localized muscular stretching, pressure, friction and temperature change.  It is believed that these changes help “break up” adhesive scar tissue and improve muscle extensibility and function.

Enhanced image of myofascia

Unfortunately, despite the abundance of anecdotal evidence supporting the inclusion of SMR into a well rounded training regimen, to date, little actual peer reviewed research has examined the effectiveness of the modality.  A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research is helping to change this.

Researchers at Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada) examined the effects of two, 1-minute bouts of SMR on knee joint range of motion (ROM) and Quadriceps force production.  ROM and force production measurements were taken at 2 and 10 min post SMR stimulus.  When compared to control findings, SMR demonstrated an ability to significantly enhance knee joint ROM without negatively impacting force production across both time conditions.  ROM improvements were found to be on par with those typically associated with conventional static stretching techniques.

In layman’s terms, two minutes of foam rolling on the Quadriceps improved their flexibility without diminishing performance.  Based on this particular study, and assuming its findings apply in a similar manner to other muscle groups about the body, foam rolling appears to represent a viable option for inclusion in a pre-training warm-up protocol.  While this view has already been promoted for quite some time, there simply has been little to no hard evidence to back it up.  Those claiming benefit from foam rolling (myself included) up until recently have essentially been sharing what equates to personal opinion only; and while one small scale study does not a consensus make, at least I now have something more credible than personal experience to point to when I direct someone to get their roll on.

References:

MacDonald, G. Z., Penney, M.D.H., Mullaley, M. E., Cuconato, A. L., Drake, C. D. J., Behm, D. G. & Button, D. C. (2013). An acute bout of self-myofascial release increases range of motion without a subsequent decrease in muscle activation or force. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 27(3), 812-821.