Adductors: Caring for the Unsung Heroes of the Lower Body
This is a two parter blog on how to care for and train the adductors (inner thigh, groin muscles... take you pick of their name). We'll talk about keeping adductors healthy and happy (and hopefully prevent groin pulls/strains, I'm looking at you soccer players...) today and then in the next installment, we'll talk about how to train the adductors (ladies (and guys, I've seen a few!), get off the baby-maker machines...) Part 2 is here.
First, a little anatomy lesson just so you know what the adductors look like:
So these are the major players: Adductor magnus, add. longus, add. brevis, pectineus and gracilis. (there's also a muscle called the satoris, it usually works in conjunction with the gracilis but it's attached to front angle of the hip bone (instead of the pubis bone like the gracilis) and it helps flex the hip and externally rotate the femur: like when you sit and cross your ankle over your knee.)
All of them adduct the femur (brining it closer to the body) but that's not their only function! The adductor magnus helps extend the hip (important in understanding groin strains) along with the hamstrings and glutes. The adductor brevis and pectineus assist in breaking hip flexion (like a little extra umph in flexing the hip). Adductors are the sidekicks of the big guys: quads, glutes and hamstrings.
The adductors are also 1/3 of Team Frontal Plane Stabilization: keeping hips and femurs stable everywhere!
In case you were wondering, as I'm sure you are, the other two players are the glutes (especially glute med) and the opposite side quadratus lumborum. So, for example, if you were to lunge forward, the adductors help prevent your hips from shifting up/down and the knee from collapsing inwards.
Ok, with all the awesome-at-multi-tasking the adductor complex is, it's a area that gets really nasty. It gets clogged with knots and fibrotic tissue so it needs a healthy dose of SMR. While you can use a foam roller on the floor, it's not ideal. You can't apply a whole lot of pressure (due to the angle) and your essentially nose-on-the-floor and again, not very comfortable.
I recommend elevating your leg on a table or a bench to eliminate this issue. You can use a foam roller but I've found that medecine balls work wonders on the nasty gunk up in your adductor trunk. You can apply force over a smaller area, thus making it more effective, and it's easier to pinpoint super-nasty areas. See video below:
Notice how I go along the fibers (from knee to hip direction) as well as across the fibers (front to back). And when you find a angry bit, hang on it for about ten seconds then continue the delightful process of that we know of as SMR.
After that, drills like adductor rock backs, Cressy has a good video of standing rock backs, and static side lunges to bring the rolled-out fibers back to a desirable length.
Now, go forth, roll your adductors and be prepared on Friday to learn some ways to train the Sidekicks of the Lower Body.
Common Exercise Corrections
I'm starting an on-going series of common fixes to common pains that arise during exercises. Most of the time, it's not the exercise that's causing pain, it's the execution that's the problem
It's not the appratus, it's the application.
*Note* These are general solutions that fit about 90% of the population and for those who don't have any injury that would cause pain inherently.
First up: Anterior shoulder pain or elbow pain during push ups.
Solution(s):
1. Pull your elbows in to 45 degrees from the body (as opposed to 90 degrees from the body). The smaller angle of elbow-to-body allows for the shoulder blade to glide correctly along the rib cage. When the elbows flare, the shoulder blade tends to slide up towards the neck and can pinch things within the ball-and-socket part of the shoulder. It also places a fair amount of torque on the glenohumeral joint (the shoulder) and inhibits the scapula's ability to glide correctly.
2. Speaking of gliding shoulder blades, if the blade doesn't glide = big ouchie. Watch for scapular "winging." See below video.
Check out Mount Everest arising on the athlete's back. That's the scapula sticking up and not sticking down close to the rib cage as it should. This winging (or Mt. Everest-ing) results in pain in the shoulder and possibly the elbow too as the stress of the push-up is transferred down the chain. In a push up we want scapular retraction (think of pinching a pencil between your blades). Like thus:
How does one go from "winging" to "retracting" and thus from push up fail to push up success? There are two cues I generally give. One is to "pull yourself to the floor." Don't let gravity take over; be in charge and lower yourself on your own terms, not gravity's. The second is, "pretend your hands are on two peanut butter jars and you need to open the lids." Essentially, you're trying to twist your hands out (but don't actually move them). Both these cues activate the scapula retraction muscles (example: serratus anterior and lower trapezius).
Typically, those are the two cues that "fix" shoulder and/or elbow pain during a push up. (to say nothing of squeezing the butt and abs... different tale for a different day.)
SMR: Self-Myofacial Release, Magic Without a Wand
For us Muggles, a foam roller is more effective than a wand.
Yes, SMR is more important than a wand is to Harry Potter. Why? The short answer is we have a lot of gunky junk in our muscles that are impeding movements and causing aches and pains. And who wants to feel like a bag of junk?
Those in the fitness-know-how have probably heard of self-myofacial release (SMR) or at least have seen foam rollers lying around a lot of gyms (or, if you're us, lying around the house). A little rolling here and there does magical things for the body! One can instantly feel the difference even after only one time on that foam roller. What is this witchcraft? Let us delve into the magical world of SMR.
What SMR does NOT do:
- Lengthen tissue/muscle- you'll hear this occasionally and SMR does NOT lengthen the tissues because a) the joint position doesn't change b) the SMR modality (aka foam roller) applies compression at a 90 degree angle to the muscle. Unless force is applied more along the length of the muscle, no lengthening will occur.
- Allow more fluid to the muscle- what? SMR is not open a flood gate of fluid to rush into the muscle.
SMR does not equal flood of Isengard
What SMR DOES do:
- Releases tension in the muscles. How does it do that? Let's say there is a knot in the muscle (ball of fail, junk, gunk... pick you favorite term) and you sit on a foam roller or lacrosse ball and apply pressure to the knot.This provokes the ball-of-fail enough to cause it to release the tension. Kinda like a pesky little brother, he pokes you in the shoulder (SMR modality) until you finally explode out of annoyance (release tension).
How does that happen?
Our muscles are encapsulated in a tissued called fascia (there are SO many trails and tangents I could go on regarding fascia, but we'll stick with this for now). The fascia has little receptors (rufini corpuscles and pacini receptors for those who want to know stuff like that, they sound like Italian food.) that generate and relieve tension in a slow, deliberate pace.
*Side note* Our muscles also have similar receptors, the golgi tendon apparatus and muscle spindles, that react much more quickly to changes in length and tension in the muscle. For example, when the doc tests your reflexes by tapping on your knee, what he's doing is stretching the tendon quickly, which causes the muscle spindles in the quad to react, a signal is sent to the brain and the quad contracts (thus extending the knee a bit). It's actually really cool.
Anyway, these slower receptors also have neural components that govern them. What foam rolling does is short-circuit the neural components and the fascia-imbedded receptors (usually) freak out, shut down and take the tension with them.
Since they're slow-acting receptors then we need to foam roll/use a lax ball s-l-o-w-l-y. Hang out on those junky spots and you should feel them release a bit, then you can move one. Check back on Friday for Part 2 and I'll have some videos of how to roll the various body parts.
Until then, just sit on a lacrosse ball. Your glutes will thank me.
SAPT Exercise of the Week: Double-Arm KB Farmer Walk with Towel
As soon as I completed my first-ever farmer carry, the exercise was indelibly cemented into my memory as an all-time favorite, and one that I privately vowed to use on a weekly basis both within my own training and in that of our athletes and clients at SAPT.
You'd be hard pressed to find to find a better exercise that simultaneously develops core and hip stability, grip strength, shoulder health, structural soundness of the musculoskeletal system, promotes fat loss and lean body mass gain, gets you "yolked," and takes the cake for overall conditioning.
Not to mention (and stealing a phrase from my friend Tony Gentilcore), a heavy set of farmer carries will make any woman within a two-block radius spontaneously conceive. How about that one, science?
And, with large thanks to Dan John and his article, The Secret of Loaded Carries, the farmer walk has grown in popularity and an increasing number of people are appreciating how valuable they are.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of loaded carries is that they are SCALABLE. You can literally use them with anyone, for virtually any training goal:
- An overweight client who's brand new to the weight room and seeking fat loss.
- A football player looking to pancake some unsuspecting soul on the opposing team.
- Wrestlers and MMA fighters desiring augmented grip strength and cardiovascular fitness.
- A powerlifter looking to improve his squat, bench, and deadlift.
- A fitness model preparing for a photo shoot, or college student fancying a sexy bod for the upcoming Beach Week.
- A mother or father simply preparing for "Life"; wanting to better prepare for the ability to get through a day of yard work without crippling back pain.
- And, while I have yet to find a specific research study on the matter, I'm convinced that a healthy dose of farmer carries, more than any other exercise modality, improves your sex life, along with making coffee taste even better than it already does.
I'm not kidding, you can use them for a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g. At SAPT we have 11-year olds carry 10lb kettlebells, practicing good posture and walking mechanics; some of our high school athletes carry upwards of 410lbs with the implements. You can see the video below for a boatload of kettlebell (or dumbbell) variations you can use as part of a warm-up or conditioning circuit:
And while I LOVE the farmer walk implements, which allow you to really ramp up the weight (and subsequently, superhero status), I realize that many of you reading train in a commercial gym, and don't have access to the wonderful world of farmer walk handles. Enter....
Double-Arm KB Farmer Walk with Towel
This exercise was invented by your fellow wizards at SAPT, when, upon opening the facility back in 2007, the power racks didn't arrive forfour freaking months due to the company being complete dunderheads delay in shipment. What appeared to be a curse quickly metamorphosed into a blessing, as it forced the coaches to be creative with exercise selection. The KB farmer walk with towel happened to be one of the offspring of this surge in forced creativity.
Here it is in action:
(Note: If your gym doesn't have very heavy kettlebells, you can stack weight plates on top of the KB, as shown in the video.)
I really like this exercise because you can do it nearly any gym, and while it will provide nearly all the benefits of farmer carries (listed in the beginning of this article), this particular variation really, and I mean really, hammers grip strength. You'll literally have to "unpeel" your fingers from your palms when you finish. Not to mention, these really make for fun competitions among the competitive crowd, to see who can go the heaviest and longest before allowing the towel to slip out of the hands.
In fact, even though we now have the luxury of implement handles at SAPT, we still use this variation with near reckless abandon in our athlete's programs.
I like to do these for 2-3 sets of 30-80yds. (If you train in a gym without much walking room, you can just walk back and forth in a 5-10yd square. Who cares if you look funny.)
Give it a shot and hope you enjoy.
Deadlifts: Is It One Size Fits All?
The other day I found myself in discussion with a buddy of mine (he trains at a gym/training chain that shall remain unnamed), and the topic naturally steered toward moving heavy objects around. His tone of voice became quickly disgruntled as he told me:
"Yeah, I hate deadlifting. I love squatting though! But I utterly DESPISE deadlifts."
This obviously perked my interest, so I asked him to elaborate.
Friend: "Well, I just can't get down there and grab in a good position. It doesn't feel comfortable and my back always hurts when I do the lift. The instructors are yelling at me 'Hey, do this, do that, get your back flat' and I'm thinking to myself 'I know, I know!' but I physically can't do it since I'm so tall." (he's well over six feet tall)
Me: Ah, yeah, I know what you mean. I'm guessing you're pulling conventional style, with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart?"
Friend: "Yep."
Me: "Well, did the instructor ever have you try using a SUMO stance for your deadlifts?"
Friend: "......What's that?"
Me: "Where you put your feet out pretty wide, and then grip the bar with your hands inside your legs, as opposed to outside your legs. I find it's a bit easier for people with your type of build to get into a good deadlift position that way"
Friend: "Oh, no, they won't allow us to use any stance other than conventional. We're all forced to use the same stance."
Me: "Excuse me? I thought I just heard you say that they force you to pull conventional, and then they murder innocent little kittens."
Friend: "Yeah, that's 'cuz that is what I said."
Me: "So you have no other option? What about elevating the bar a bit to help you get into a more neutral spine position?"
Friend: "No. They don't let me do that. I have to pull from the floor. Conventional. And it hurts my back like crazy, especially when I have to perform 10 freaking reps for multiple rounds in a row."
I think it goes without saying that hearing this made me completely incensed. What's next, are we going to take young, beginner lifters and throw them under a 400lb barbell, telling them to 'just squat it'? Or do something else as equally useful as handing out free tickets to an all-you-can-eat poop buffet?
And this is why you continue to hear people spouting off that deadlifts are bad for your back. Of course deadlifts are bad for your back. If you're an idiot with them.
The very beauty of deadlifts is you can fit them to the individual, no matter the person!
Here's just the tip of the iceberg with options we have at our disposal, starting with the variation that initiated this entire discussion:
Conventional Deadlift
While conventional pulling arguably looksthe coolest, these require the most ankle mobility, thoracic (upper back) mobility, and hip flexion range of motion (ability to bend at the hips without compensating at the low back)in order to get into position safely. Conventional pulling should typically be reserved for those who've had fairly extensive practice with how to achieve and maintain a neutral spine under load, as this variation places the most sheer stress on the spine (bar is positioned furthest away from the body's center of gravity, compared to other deadlift variations).
SUMO Deadlift
Taller individuals (such as our friend from the conversation above), and those with longer torsos are going to find this variation easier to utilize, as less mobility is required to execute the pull with a neutral spine. In addition, the total range of motion of the lift is decreased, meaning the distance the bar has to travel from start to finish is shortened.
SUMO pulling is the most common variation we will progress our athletes to after they have learned to deadlift with the trap bar.
(Note: The only caveat I'll note with SUMO pulling is that it can really beat up your hips if you use a super wide stance, and if you fail to intermittently cycle them in and out of your training.)
Trap Bar Deadlift
This variation is usually the easiest to for all people to "sit into" while keeping a safe and sound position. The high handle setting makes it so you don't have to dip down so low to grab the bar (thus less mobility is required), and the fact that you're positioned INSIDE the bar typically makes the lift easier to execute, given that the weights are lined up with your center of gravity.
This is usually the first barbell deadlift variation we use to teach our athletes and clientele at SAPT. After they have developed proficiency with the trap bar, we'll move on to the appropriate straight bar variation, depending on their body type and other morphological concerns.
Conventional Deadlift with Barbell Elevated
The beauty of this set-up is that you can adjust the height the barbell is elevated - using mats, bumper plates, or whatever - so that the lifter can utilize the straight bar but at a height that is appropriate for them as an individual.
Oftentimes, I find that someone may know what they're supposed to be doing (such as our friend above), and kinesthetically aware of where their body is in space, but they just can't physically get into a solid position when the barbell is on the ground. No worries! Elevate the bar just as high as necessary to get them into a neutral spine position (and no compensations elsewhere), and, as their mobility and stability improves, they can lower the height of the bar over time.
Kettlebell Deadlift: Conventional and SUMO
With our younger athletes, and sometimes with our adult clientele, we'll have them initiate the process of learning the deadlift by using kettlebells, as they may not ready to use a 45lb barbell, even with the luxury of 10lb bumper plates in order to get the bar at a proper height yet keeping the weight down.
These can be done either conventional or SUMO style, and the weight of the kettlebell will obviously be chosen depending on the person.
Stop Trying to Force Square Pegs Into Round Holes
As you can see, we virtually have an endless supply of deadlift variations to fit the lift to the individual, not the other way around. If someone can't pull conventional from the floor, why force it??? They can simply use another variation (or elevate the bar a bit) until their necessary qualities improve in order for them to pull from the ground safely.
Conventional deadlifting from the ground looks awesome and is "hard core," I get that. But I also don't see what's hard core about forcing someone into a position that perhaps they're just not ready for yet.
All deadlift variations are going to hammer the glutes, hamstrings, upper back; "pull" people into better posture, improve the structural integrity of their bone and soft tissue (Wolff's Law and Davis' Law), all the while teaching them to resist sheer forces and elevating their superhero status. Try not to get so caught up in what "all the cool kids do" and instead focus on the larger, and more important, picture at hand.
How to Fix Anterior Humeral Glide During Horizontal Pressing
One of the first articles I wrote was on Anterior Humeral Glide during horizontal rowing which you can find here. I won’t spend a great deal of time going over what AHG is as that would just be overkill and I’ll leave the area of redundancy up to the creators of American Idol.
In the following video I’ll take you through how to prevent AHG during horizontal pressing, namely during the bench press and pushup. Thanks to our intern Jarrett for volunteering for the video even though I kinda through him under the bus; sorry man! Also for another great cue to boost your bench and to stay out of AHG check out Stevo’s article, Quick Tip to Improve Your Bench Press: The other 50%+ of the Equation
