It’s often said that living a healthy lifestyle means staying active. Well, with springtime comes flights of fancy, rebirth, and (of course) spring sports, like golf and tennis. Along with spring sports comes their corresponding injuries and over the next few weeks I’d like to offer up some strategies to prevent these from becoming chronic problems.

Today’s installment: The Rotator Cuff.

1. Directly strengthen the external rotators.

First, some quick anatomy. The rotator cuff is a group of 4 muscles that act to hold your arm in your shoulder socket. They also have some secondary functions, namely internal and external rotation of the humerus (upper arm bone). Before your eyes glaze over, it’s important that we make this distinction because in training the rotator cuff, we only want to strengthen those muscles that perform external rotation, not the internal rotators (in fact, strengthening those may increase your chance of injury).

The external rotators are commonly overworked, since they have to resist the much more powerful pec major and latissimus dorsi groups (which also contribute to internal rotation).

The best way to work the external rotators is through (you guessed it) resisted external rotation. You can use either dumbbells or a band or cable machine to perform these exercises (follow links for examples).

2. Remember to keep the shoulders “tight.”

Hey, doing presses or pulls? Keep your shoulders tight - meaning, slightly retract and depress your shoulder blades. I cue my clients by saying:

“Keep your shoulders down. Pretend you’re squeezing a tangerine between your shoulder blades.”

Why tangerines? Because I like them. And because they’re small enough to have my clients do what I want them to do - squeeze the shoulder blades together.

Keeping the shoulder muscles “tight” activates the larger muscles of the shoulder girdle (deltoids, lats, pecs), which takes a great deal of stress off of the smaller, weaker rotator cuff muscles. In fact, if you do this:
your poor rotator cuff muscles are taking 100% of the strain of your bodyweight. Ouch.

Remember, keep those shoulders tight!

3. Adjust range of motion on upper body exercises so as not to compromise the rotator cuff.
It’s not just the stretched position on pull ups that you’ve got to be careful. That goes for the stretched starting positions of pushes as well - most notably, the bench press.

The starting position in the above picture sucks. Don’t allow your elbows to fall below the line of your body (i.e., less than a 90 degree bend), else you risk some serious shoulder trouble in the long-term. No, it won’t make you less of a man (or woman) not to bench all the way to your chest. Not being able to put on your jacket because of rotator cuff impingement syndrome, however, may cramp your style a bit.

4. Strengthen supporting muscle groups.

Like the deltoids, for example. Having strong shoulder muscles will go a long way in helping to improve the longevity of your rotator cuff. After all, someone’s got to take the strain when you return your opponent’s 107 mph serve or swing for that 350 yard drive.

5. Allow for adequate recovery of the rotator cuff muscles.
It’s quite easy to overwork the rotator cuff muscles since they’re involved in just about every single upper body movement. It’s not uncommon to see a recreational tennis player have an exercise schedule arranged so that they’re using their shoulders everyday (remember, tennis matches count towards “shoulder work” as well). If possible, see if you can consolidate your exercise routines so that you leave at least a day of rest inbetween (this includes matches and practices). Monitor and guard against the signs of overtraining: nagging little twinges that won’t go away, unusual soreness, etc. If you feel you’re going too far, back off.Life’s too short to sit on the sidelines because of an injury. Play it smart!

Besides, if you hurt your shoulder, I won’t be able to have you press heavy for awhile.

It is on rare occasions that I execute judo throws properly; rarer still for me to actually hit one during live sparring in Brazilian Jiujitsu class. Nonetheless, yesterday I successfully chucked a guy with a tai otoshi, and how sweet it was.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfvgJr7XoN8]

Above: What made it even better was that (unlike this clip) my tai otoshi was performed without a gi. Awesome.

I then proceeded to get submitted every which way by each and every one of my sparring partners. It was a trying time for my ego, to say the least; especially when that one guy submitted me with a guillotine choke four times in a row (yikes).

But that one tai otoshi throw gives me hope. It shows me that my jiujitsu is improving, since I typically can’t pull off throws to save my life. That I can see I’m making progress is motivation enough for me to keep trying and improving.

It’s disappointing when a trainee doesn’t reach their fitness goals. Often, it’s not due to lack of knowledge or ability - there are plenty of resources for free fitness and fat loss information out there - but rather, it’s due to a waning of desire, or lack of motivation.

What motivates you? Is it the desire to look better for swimsuit season? Is it the dream of a first place victory in the ADCC Submission Wrestling Finals? Is it the prospect of a pain-free lower back?

To help keep my clients focused on their results, I’ve always turned to one of Tony Robbins’ key concepts - Knowing Your Outcome (or in other words, setting specific goals):

1. “State your outcome in positive terms.”
Robbins says that it’s important to identify what you want, as opposed to what you don’t want, for the simple reason that it doesn’t give you an actual goal to shoot for. In other words, say “I want to lose 25 lbs of body fat and look and feel great” as opposed to “I don’t want to be overfat.”

2. “Be as specific as possible.”
Create a sensory experience out of your goalsetting: When defining your goal, see yourself in the situation, feel the clothes you’re wearing, hear what’s going on around you, etc. By defining our goal as specifically as possible, we’re doing two things. One; we’re firmly fixing in our minds a clear vision of what exactly it is we want to achieve. Two; by clearly seeing and experiencing the end result of our efforts, we give ourselves the drive and motivation to accomplish that goal.

3. “Have an evidence procedure.”
Know that your efforts are moving you in the right direction. As Robbins says, “If your goal is to win the game, make sure you remember to keep score.” Monitor your efforts closely and keep yourself honest by periodically assessing how much closer to your goals you’ve gone.

4. “Be in control.”
Simply, you can’t have a goal that depends on the actions of others, or on things you cannot change. If you’re built like Keira Knightley, it’s no use to lament that you’ll never look like Monica Belluci and curse your genetics. A more useful goal would be to shoot for the best condition you can make your own body into (see Pirates of the Caribbean).

5. “Verify that your outcome is ecologically sound and desirable.”
Is your goal actually good? If you’re determined to lose 30 pounds of scale weight no matter what, is it helpful if you drop 15 pounds of muscle to do it? Or if you’re required to adopt unhealthy behaviors to achieve it?

A simple exercise that works great is to write your specific outcome on a sheet (or sheets) of paper and post it prominently, where you’ll be sure to see it throughout the day. For example, one may choose to write, “Dress size 6 by the end of summer.” (Yes, be sure to set a deadline!) and post it on the side of your computer monitor, on the fridge, and over your bathroom mirror.

Seeing your goal continuously will help to keep it in the forefront of your mind, allowing you to make choices that serve you, rather than hurt you.

Constantly remind yourself what motivated you to start your workout program. You’ll need the added motivation when it’s 11pm and you’re tempted to cheat on your diet, or when you’re tired and thinking of skipping that trip to the gym.

I’m visualizing flying triangle chokes for tomorrow’s class as we speak. Abu Dhabi, here I come!

Thanks to Mike Hogan for this one.

What does redundancy have to do with strength training?

Plenty. The issue here is retracing your steps when you don’t have to; i.e., multiple sets and exercises for the same muscle groups.

(Note: I’m assuming here that your main goal in going to the gym is looking and feeling better, i.e., bigger and stronger muscles, a flat and trim midsection, etc. If you don’t care about aesthetics and your goal is moving loads better left for bulldozers and tractors, then you need to head over to Louie Simmons’ site.)

Case in point: It’s not uncommon to see an ambitious young lad walk into the power rack (my precious power rack) and perform set after set of barbell biceps curls. After which he’ll head over to the dumbbell rack and bang out a set or two (or, more likely, three) of concentration curls. A good, industrious young lad, but really - what did the concentration curls accomplish that the barbell curls didn’t?

In other words,

if you’ve already thoroughly fatigued a muscle group, why are you endeavoring to fatigue that same muscle group again?

Moreover, if you didn’t do the job the first time around, why not?

Redundancy. It kills me. It wastes the trainee’s time. The extra time he spent curling superfluously could have been better spent working another muscle/joint function that he needed to improve just as badly (like, say, legs!).

Studies show that in terms of strength gains, multiple sets offer no additional benefit over single set protocols, provided that quality effort (read: high level of effort) is used on that single set. Even the flawed “definitive proof” that multiple set training gives superior results to single set training capped the volume mark at four total sets per muscle group for maximum results (Yes, meaning four sets of bench for chest - that’s it; no flyes, no inclines, no dips. Or you could do a set of each).

But you’re not convinced, you say - what those ivory tower pencilnecks preach has no bearing in real world lifting! No problem, we’ll approach this scientifically, then, with an experiment:

Cut down on the volume of your current workout.

Even if you still use that outmoded model of “working body parts”, cut the amount of total work you do in half.

For example, if you do incline presses, bench press, and flyes for chest (say, 9 total sets), cut down to bench press and flyes (for 4 total sets), but don’t loaf! Work them just as hard; better to work them even harder - more weight, more reps if possible. After all, you’ll have more energy left to fight with. Push to the limit, seek to work your muscles to exhaustion - when either your form crumbles or forward movement stops.

I promise you your muscles won’t atrophy. I promise you won’t go from Charles Atlas to Charlie Brown.

The opposite is likely to occur, if your form is good and your recovery is taken care of properly. You’ll end up bigger and stronger, and with more free time on your hands which you can use to learn another language, spend more time with your loved one(s), or invent a cure for restless leg syndrome. Or anything else you care to do.

Spend less time at the gym working out with more quality effort. “Down with redundancy!”

An interesting news blurb I came across today.

Let me provide you with a quickie science lesson:

In humans, fat is mainly distributed in two different ways - subcutaneously and viscerally. Subcutaneous fat refers to the fat we all normally think of; belly fat, arm flab, etc. Simply, it’s fat that’s stored immediately underneath the skin. Visceral fat, on the other hand, is stored around the internal organs; in other words, it’s fat that pads your viscera.

Here’s the big distinction: You can see subcutaneous fat. You can’t see visceral fat. However, both of them together make up your total body fat.

What implications does this have for a fitness-minded individual who dreams of six-pack abs?

Plenty.

First off, understand that people store (and consequently, burn) fat in different spots. That doesn’t just mean belly vs. hips anymore - you know the science now. Some individuals will store more fat viscerally, while others will store it more subcutaneously. The flip side is also true.

Maybe this has happened to you, or a friend of yours:

Dutifully, you make the necessary dietary changes, exercise, drink copious amounts of water, etc. You apply these changes consistently, and over time, you end up losing 15 pounds of body fat. But, although you look a little smaller, your belly fat hasn’t changed, nor has the fat on your arms. What happened?

You might have lost mostly visceral fat. So right now, you’re walking around with the most-ripped kidneys and gallbladder ever seen, but the body hasn’t yet felt compelled to tap into those fat stores on your lower abdomen.

A friend of mine bemoaned the fact that he was measured as having 10% body fat, but had no visible abs to speak of. Shouldn’t he have an outline, a faint whisper of ab muscles? A “two-pack”, at least?

Not if all his remaining fat was stored subcutaneously rather than viscerally.

For illustrative purposes, I’ve posted a shot of UFC fighter Andre Arlovski, who is 12.7% bodyfat.

Genetics can truly be coldhearted sometimes.

Here is the reality of how to get six-pack abs:

1) Eat to sustain a fat-loss environment. For the very lowest levels of body fat, some unhealthy measures (severe restriction, repetitive menus, reliance on supplements such as protein shakes) might be required. During the lead-up to a contest, professional bodybuilders consume more vitamins and supplements than The Pump uses in a day because their diets are far too restrictive to support health.

2) Strength train. I wouldn’t expect to make too many strength or muscle gains during this time. When dieting down to extremely low body fat levels, you are primarily seeking to curtail your losses in both strength and muscle size.

3) As needed, maximize metabolism by performing adjunctive exercise, i.e., interval training, GXP, etc. If you’re not getting to your goal and your diet is no longer modifiable, then increasing your expenditure is the only alternative. Performing them in short and intense work bouts makes it a little better - at least there’s some metabolic load there.

4) Emphasize recovery. I can’t say it enough - your body makes its changes in the post-exercise period, not during or immediately after the workout. Microscopic damage takes time to repair. Overdoing it with 2x/day workouts or endless, useless cardio is counterproductive. Don’t forget to give the body the time it needs to rebuild. It helps to sleep, too.

5) Assess and stay focused. You need to set goals and make them. You need to track how far you’ve gone from your last baseline. These things need to be done and reviewed on a consistent, recurring basis. Don’t forget, getting results is the best motivator of all!

To make this crystal clear to you, here are some folks who possess six-pack abs, all attained through different training methods and diet approaches. Why do I make a point of this? Because I want to drive home the point that so long as it is scientifically sound and well-adapted to the individual, many approaches can get you to your goal. What is paramount is your motivation to achieve your goal and the will and discipline to stick to it.

Above: Andy McCutcheon, fitness model and martial artist - 3.4% bodyfat

Above: Mr. “Ripped” himself, Clarence Bass. He was 41 in this pic! 2.4% bodyfat

Above: 1971 Mr. America Casey Viator - test subject #1 in the Colorado Experiment - 3% bodyfat.

Above: Some random picture I found on the Web - 7.58% bodyfat

Whoops, almost forgot another important point: All these people have something else in common, other than six-pack abs - body fat percentages in the single digits (in fact, at 7.58%, I’m the “fatty” of the group). In order for the abs to show through, you simply must be at your leanest possible.

Ok, you’ve got the knowledge, now go for it!

It may be good for telling you which car is safest, or what high-end stereo gives you the best fidelity, but for diet advice, Consumer Reports gets a blank bubble (average score).

Recently, Consumer Reports ranked 8 clinically tested diet plans, with Barbara Rolls’ Volumetrics coming out on top. And as you may have guessed, Atkins came in last. Additionally, they ranked 7 diet books, and the winner was…Oprah’s trainer, Bob Greene.

Oh well.

So what metrics were they using? How closely the diet plans matched USDA guidelines and the results of published clincal trials (See Regina Wilshire on the wisdom of using current dietary guidelines as a basis for a so-called healthy diet). At first glance, they seem like good benchmarks, until one realizes that following USDA guidelines would eliminate low-carb approaches (like Atkins) from the top spot, since current advice includes eating several servings of whole grains daily. Indeed, the next highest-ranked approaches were Weight-Watchers, Jenny Craig, and Slim-Fast.

Slim-Fast? Consume this manufactured liquid shake for two of your “meals.” It’s a much better approach than eating real food.

Good.

Rolls’ Volumetrics approach is definitely a solid one. It’s based off the idea that people tend to eat the same volumes of food everyday, so to facilitate losing weight, substitute low-calorie selections for higher calorie ones (i.e., soup and salad vs. fried appetizer, etc.). She also conveys the importance of consuming fat for health and fat loss (something that Dr. Ornish still has yet to understand).

My favorite quote from Dr. Rolls: “We show that people who eat a high-fat diet — more than 30% of calories from fat — but who eat a high number of servings of fruits and vegetables, actually had a lower incidence of obesity than those eating a low-fat diet with few fruits and vegetables.”

Translation: Fat is not the enemy. I’m glad it only took 20 years of research for her to buck the status quo.

I’m surprised that given the clinical effectiveness of low-carb approaches that the Atkins plan and Mark Hyman’s book, Ultra-Metabolism, scored so low. Wait; no I’m not. Nowadays, science is cherry-picked depending on whether or not it advances the status quo, not based on clinical and biochemical reality.

Well, at least they knew that eating less than 10% of calories from fat is a bad thing.