muscular balance

Six Revelations Towards a Solution for Elbow Pain

There is a lot of confusion in regards to elbow pain. Every purveyor of health products and services  has a different perspective. Don’t be confounded by all the clamour. Read the following six revelations and get on the path to clarity.

1.  The primary cause of most elbow pain is muscular overuse. Muscular overuse causes muscles to get tight. Tight muscles are vulnerable to inflammation (known as tendonitis or golfer’s/tennis elbow), cramps, strains and tears. Tension also pulls the skeleton out of alignment which can cause arthritis and/or neuropathy.

NOTE: While your case of elbow pain is most likely the result of overused muscles, always get a proper diagnosis from a medical doctor!

2.  Overuse injuries are caused by weakness.  Working muscles assist each other to create movement. Should some muscles within a group become weak, their lack of work has to be  assumed by those which remain strong. The burden of compensating for weak muscles causes strong muscles to become overused!

3.  Strength is the most powerful solution for overuse injuries:  End the burden of compensation by strengthening weak muscles and overused muscles recover. Recovery is fast and profound! Most people will feel an immediate reduction of pain and tightness. Often only two or three strengthening sessions are required for complete resolution. Strengthening weak muscles also increases tone helping to balance tension around joints. Improving skeletal alignment with strength is critical when managing arthritis, pinched nerves and ligament health. Strength is more powerful than stretching, myofascial release or rest! (however, the ultimate intervention combines all four).

4.  Weak muscles lie adjacent to the strong. If you have an overused elbow flexor its weak partner will also be found within the elbow flexor group. Likewise, if you have an overused elbow extensor the muscle you need to strengthen will also belong to the elbow extensor group. No need to venture far from overused muscles to find weak partners or synergists.

5.  Your left side must be trained in a manner opposite to your right side: If you are unlucky enough to have pain in both elbows – what you stretch on the left must be strengthened on the right and vice-versa. For example, if your extensor carpi radials is tight on your left it will be weak on your right! It does not matter if the pain feels identical. Only a very precise assessment can determine the exact needs of individual muscle fibres. Tarodo stretching actually isolates the individual heads within a muscle. The muscular needs of your body vary from front to back as well as side to side.

6.   Blame posture: Posture is the placement of bones to compensate for the effects of gravity. For a bone to move (and remain in position) some muscles need to be active while others need to be inhibited. Active muscles become strong muscles and inhibited muscles become weak. Stop blaming yesterdays workout for your pain! Postural stress is relentless – continuing even as we sleep. Gravity never ceases – victimizing our backs, necks, shoulders, hips, knees, elbows, hands and feet.

Seven Reasons Why You Can’t Build Muscle

Some people have a very difficult time developing muscle. Hardgainers, despite their greatest efforts, yield little progress. Conversely, “growers” reap amazing results despite what seems like minimal effort. The disparity between the two is often ascribed to genetics but the typical hardgainer has flaws in their approach to building muscle.  Below are ten of the most common.

  1. Conflicting Goals: Most of the hardgainers I meet want to build muscle and lose fat. While successfully addressing both goals at the same time is possible (especially for those new to exercise and gifted), the potential for change is smaller in comparison to addressing the goals separately. Maximum muscle growth requires increased calorie intake and minimal activity (especially aerobic activity) outside of muscle-building workouts. Maximum fat loss, conversely, requires reduced calorie intake and high levels of activity outside of muscle-maintaining workouts. To avoid nullifying their efforts, hardgainers need to go hard in one direction at a time. For example, they should focus solely on building muscle for three months and then switch to focusing on fat loss for three months. Separating goals into distinct periods of time (known as periodization) should be the foundation of all programs.

2.  Having a phobia of gaining fat. Clients often jeopardize their muscle building efforts to pacify their fear of gaining fat. Closet cardio and fatty food abstinence are common, highly counterproductive behaviours. The key to building muscle is to support your body’s anabolic drive. Aerobic exercise is catabolic and fats (as well as other nutrients) contained in meat, fish and whole eggs are necessary for a vigorous metabolism. Your self-esteem needs work If the thought of gaining half a percent body-fat frightens you. Favour the identity of a goal assailing beast as opposed to a pretty (and procrastinating) princess.

 

3. Pusillanimous Exercise Choices: If you need to find a group of hardgainers in your gym, just venture over to the functional trainers and inflatables – preoccupy yourself with these devices and just maintaining your physique will be a major victory! Pusillanimous exercises have common traits:

a. They occupy the extremes of the stability continuum. That is, they are either too unstable (involving wobble boards and balls) or too stable (involving machines). Too much instability limits target tissue strain by sacrificing load. For example, most reasonably strong people (with their feet well based on the floor) can strain their biceps with a curl equalling fifty percent of their bodyweight. However, if that strong individual compromises their base by standing on a wobble board their ability to curl will drop to pusillanimous poundages. Someone with good balance might be able to tax their biceps with twenty percent of their bodyweight – lifting toddlers requires more strength than that! (note: never lift toddlers while standing on an unstable surface) Too much stability, on the other hand, limits whole-body strain which is important for eliciting a general physiological response (the release of testosterone, growth hormone etc.). Machines, which feature benches, supports and guided resistance eliminate much of the muscular engagement necessary to control posture, base and movement.

b. They feature plastic or rubber.

c. Are often unilateral. The best leg exercises for muscular mass use both legs and both arms at the same time. Single limb leg exercises simply do not support enough load for hardgainers. Less load means less tension on postural and target muscles. No legitimate hardgainer will satisfy their need for leg development by using lunges, step ups, split squats or pistol squats.

Effective exercises also have common traits:

a. They occupy the middle of the stability spectrum (neither too unstable nor artificially rigid). Free weight and bodyweight exercises place an enormous demand on muscles. Maximal muscle engagement is required to support posture, base, movement and load. The high level of whole-body strain triggers a big physiological response. With little practice, effective exercises allow the use of functional loads – loads stimulating enough to cause growth in target muscles.

b. They feature bodyweight and iron.

c. Are usually bilateral. As mentioned above, static leg exercises should be supported by the optimal placement of both feet. You are most stable when you can support the most weight. Bilateral barbell deadlifts and back squats are the most important exercises for the hardgainer. There exists no other alternative.

 

4. Horrendous Technique: A hoisted weight does not mean successful stimulation of the target muscle. I am amazed at the ability of some individuals to complete a repetition despite completely bypassing the appropriate musculature. Watch out for inappropriate leg drive, swinging, bouncing, kipping, non-existant negatives and minimal change in target joint angle. The vast majority of exercisers need to reduce the amount of weight they are using and slow their tempos until they improve their technique.

 

5. Piss-poor programming: All muscles have an adaptive niche. That is, a specific level of stress that causes the greatest result. For example, the lats respond best to fairly frequent training featuring low reps, heavy weights and multiple sets. Don’t settle for the generic prescription of 3 sets of 10 reps. Find the adaptive niches for your muscles through careful planning, observation and documentation. These programming “sweet spots” will greatly accelerate your results.

 

6. Inconsistency: Gifted exercise responders can miss workouts, swing from program to program and still build an awesome body. Hardgainers, without consistency, will achieve nothing. If you are a determined hardgainer, missed workouts must be rare. Plan on having to grind (with joy) on effective programs for a long time before making a switch. Hardgainers, trying to build muscle, have to battle just as hard as overweight people trying to lose fat.

 

7. Lack of Aggression: The gym is society’s most important emotional outlet. Challenge heavy barbell and body-weight exercises. Dig out your life’s bane and use it to ignite fury just prior to your most demanding lifts. Stop interrupting your drive and focus with moments on the phone as well as social dilly-dallying. Not only will your results improve – your mind and spirit will thank-you!

 

Compared to those gifted, it is very challenging for hardgainers to change their appearance. However, every hardgainer I have worked with has built major muscle after addressing the flaws above. Have patience, be methodical and you will persevere!

Five Revelations Toward a Knee Pain Solution

Knee pain is the achilles heel of many sport, work, exercise and armchair warriors. Typical (and often unsuccessful) treatment consists of the big three: strengthening the vastus medialis, prescribing orthotics and taking anti-inflammatory medications. When they fail, consider the revelations listed below.

  1. Weak muscles cause most cases of knee pain! Weak muscles require strong muscles to compensate for their lack of function. This extra work causes strong muscles to become tight. Tight muscles can be painful and their tension changes joint alignment. Misaligned knees are prone to ligament and meniscus damage as well as arthritis.If your medial knee pain is being caused by a tight vastus medialis, the solution is to find out which of the remaining three quadriceps heads are weak and strengthen them. The vastus medialis will recover and lengthen once the burden of compensation is removed. Furthermore, strengthening weak muscles counters the pull of strong muscles and alignment improves.
  2. Your knee pain may be caused by tight hamstrings. Tight hamstrings, wrongfully associated with back pain, are too often overlooked in regards to knee health. An overworked lateral head of the hamstrings (biceps femoris) is often the origin of lateral knee pain. Tight hamstrings also shut down opposing muscles within the quadriceps and hips. This initiates the cascade of issues associated with compensation. Again, strengthening the weak heads (without affecting the strong heads) within the hamstrings group will reduce pain and dysfunction. As an aside, stretching the hamstrings as a group is a waste of time – each head must be isolated. The heads of the hamstring have very distinct functions!

3) Knee pain can originate at the hips. Their distance from the knees often precludes the hips from consideration in issues regarding knee health. However, a tight gluteus minimus or tensor fasciae latae can radiate pain far from their origins – extending all the way down the leg to the knee. Strengthening weak weak synergists as well as corrective loading restores hip balance and alignment. Using the foam roller on the IT band is a (less than) half-assed solution. Strength is the key!

 

4) The calves are a major key to knee health! Somehow health practitioners have forgotten that gastrocnemius crosses the knee joint. The calves directly affect knee health! Tight gastrocs alter knee alignment and reciprocally shut off heads within the quadriceps muscle group. Try stretching your medial and lateral gastrocs prior to squats or leg extensions and you will notice a significant improvement in strength – this practice alone can eliminate knee pain.

 

5) The look of your legs lends clues. Postural tendencies such as bow legs or knocked knees are part of the knee health puzzle. From the shape of your legs you can deduce which muscles will be strong and which will be weak. Ligament and meniscus stress is also predictable. Legs that tend to be knock kneed, for example, will feature a weak vastus medialis (a chief “anti-valgus” muscle) and will be prone to ACL and lateral meniscus injury. Postural tendencies are the result of the body balancing itself over its base. Corrective loading, which moves our centre of gravity, is crucial to the management of leg appearance.

 

The above revelations have their basis in very simple logic. What is obvious is very often overlooked. However, with fundamental knowledge in functional anatomy anyone can start to see the connections. If you want to learn more stay tuned to tarodo.com or connect with me via tarokurita@hotmail.com. Seminars and certifications are coming soon!

Fallacies in Fitness – Episode III

1. The chin-up is a great exercise for the biceps.

Contemporary fitness articles are continuing to promote the chinup as a great exercise for building the biceps. This fallacy contradicts basic functional anatomy – the biceps are muscles which flex the shoulder joint, the chinup is an exercise which extends the shoulder! Every year, I set asisde a couple of months to target my pulling ability and devote myself to chinups and pullups. During this period of specialization I eliminate or greatly reduce all other upper body exercises, including biceps curls. Although my chin up performance improves, my upper arm girth always shrinks (by at least half an inch!). For further proof consider an independent study the next time you have biceps tendinitis (not brachialis or brachioradialis tendinitis). Despite the biceps soreness, performimg chinups and pullups will be tolerable. On the other hand, proper dumbbell curls will be excruciating (due to the superior level of biceps recruitment). Choose biceps curls if you want biceps development!

2. Compound movements are more functional than isolation exercises

This blanket statement drives me nuts for three reasons:

First, no exercise is universaly functional! Functionality is limited to a specific goal; that is, an exercise which improves one type of physical task may be irrelevent or even detrimental to another physical task. The chin-up, for example, is an invaluable tool for grapplers – strengthening sport-specific muscles, reinforcing key movements and serving as a tool for managing injuries. For boxers, however, the chin-up is largely irrelevent – it does not strengthen key muscles or reinforce any pertinent movements. In fact, weight gained from dedicated pulling would be detrimental to endurance and making weight.

Second, isolating and strengthening an individual muscle can unleash enormous potential in complex movements. Most clinicians (countless times I am sure!) have observed marked improvement in strength, power and efficiency when a single, performance limiting muscle has been activated. If your isolation exercises are not improving a specific ability you are probably not strengthening the correct muscle.

Finally, many people confuse complexity with function. An exercise is not automatically “functional” just because it requires inspiring skills. Physical tasks are made distinct by the muscles used, the physiology that is engaged, balance type, timing, co-ordination, environmental cues, state of mind etc. etc. Most flashy attempts at functional training are completely irrelevent to any goal.

3. Quadriceps to hamstring strength ratio is crucial for injury prevention

Incorrect notions in regards to muscular balance are often used to explain the occurence of injuries. Most often, it is the strength relationship between angonist and antagonist that is blamed. In truth, the strength relationship between synergists is much more important. The vast majority of muscular injuries (that are not the result of violent trauma) are the result of strain born from compensation. The hamstring has four heads – each reliant on the other to help with functions at the knee and hip. A weak or inhibited head (caused by postural issues) forces the active heads to pick up the slack. Overtime, the active muscle fibres become overstressed and tight. When the final straw imposes its stress the vulnerable heads are either strained or torn. Balance the strength amongst synergists and the incidence of injury will go down!

4. Just About Anything Overly Esoteric

Esoteric health and fitness trends often prove to be fallacies. When promised effects cannot be readily observed, experienced or logically validated there is good reason for strong skepticism. I am not sure where the threshold for skepticism exists for some followers of esoteric ideas but it seems to be way too high. Novel ideas are great (I hope to share a few!) and certainly don’t require published, peer reviewed data to at least be contemplated. However, reality tends to be grounded in the fundamental sciences of anatomy, physics, chemistry and biology. Some fitness and health trends that should provoke healthy skepticism:

  • breathing interventions
  • cold exposure (I would bet 20 minutes of sun exposure is more beneficial)
  • bowel interventions
  • physical therapies which don’t feature physical contact at the affected area
  • mostly anything that requires batteries or is made of plastic

5. Some types of exercise build long and lean muscles

Another fallacy that drives me nuts every time I hear it. Leaness is forever determined by the balance between caloric ingestion vs expression! No exercise will build a “lean muscle” in a fat environment. If special exercise classes built long muscles then the instructors would have muscles that exceed the length of their bones! Their muscular system would drag behind their skeleton like an oversized sweater or fallen socks. If I had a special power it would be to evoke a world-wide reflex to think twice before adopting any notion as a belief!

Change Your Posture

Somewhere I read (in an article, forum or dream), that holding a barbell behind the back could help manage excessive lower-spine curvature (known as lordosis). Initially, the idea failed to evoke any interest and it was filed into my subconscious. A few months later, while watching a huge construction crane in operation, I was suddenly struck by a moment of clarity: our skeletal system compensates for our center of gravity! When our center of gravity is consistently drawn forward of our hips (when we deadlift or lift boxes like a crane) our body maintains balance by shifting weight to our rear (behind our hips). Unlike a crane, with its huge counterweight blocks, the human body increases back-end load by tilting the pelvis forward. Anterior pelvic tilt, one of the hallmarks of postural lordosis, extends the moment arm behinds the hips and puts the glutes and hamstrings into a strong position to exert force.

To reduce lordosis, therefore, it makes sense to move the body’s center of gravity behind the hips. A load behind the hips (provided by a barbell for example) eliminates the need for a postural compensation. The pelvis would tilt toward the posterior and a more neutral posture would be restored.

 

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Anterior tilt of the pelvis caused by a load being held in front of the hips

 

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Posterior tilt of the pelvis caused by a load being held behind the hips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the crane model applies most obviously to a posture affected by lordosis, all levels of the skeleton will move to offset loads and create balance. The scapula, for example, shift in a manner similar to the pelvis. A load forward of the thorax shifts the scapula into anterior tilt and a load behind the thorax shifts the scapula into posterior tilt. Similarly, the spine, knees, elbows and feet will all change alignment to balance the effects of gravity.

The theory of skeletal compensation for center of gravity is a vital clarification. Posture, it seems, is a motor program controlled by the nervous system and not merely an arrangement of tight and loose muscles. Just stretching and strengthening individual muscles will not change the motor program and significant posture change will not occur! The ultimate solution to postural stress is to combine stretching and strengthening with modification of the body’s center of gravity. Come to a Tarodo Gravity seminar to learn emerging details of this process!

The ability to modify posture is a vital tool. Postural stress results in conditions which include tendinitis, muscle pulls, muscle tears, nerve impingement, osteoarthritis and inter vertebral hernias. These conditions can become chronic. Modifying postural tendencies can help relieve pain as well as improve resiliency, appearance and performance.

Posture – The Foundation of All Exercise Programs

Perfect posture suggests a skeleton with perfect bone placement. Every bone would be optimally aligned and symmetrically spaced. All stresses imposed on the body would be distributed evenly – minimizing wear and energy expenditure. Unfortunately, perfect posture does not exist. Every human on the planet is off kilter! Differences in limb length and the need to maintain balance result in misaligned and asymmetrical bones. Features most people associate with posture include uneven hips, hunched shoulders and exaggerated spine curvature. However, posture also includes the position and status of the ankle, knee, scapula and hand. Off-kilter posture can cause a number of problems:

  1. Strength imbalances: A shift in posture requires a bias in muscle activity. Some muscles remain chronically active while others are turned off. Not only do active muscles bare the burden of postural maintenance they also tend to bare the burden of movement and physical work. Hard working muscles are prone to overuse conditions such as tightness, strains, tendonitis and tears.
  2. Development imbalances: When active muscles become tight they shut down the muscles opposite to them. “Reciprocal inhibition” stops muscles from firing optimally and creates “stubborn muscles” – muscles which will not grow or change shape despite dedicated exercise.
  3. Inappropriate bone on bone contact: Off-kilter posture means bones are out of optimal alignment. Poor alignment causes contact on sufaces not designed for high amounts of frictionor impact. The damage to bone and other connective tissue results in conditions such as osteo-arthritis and chondromalacia patella.
  4. Impingements: Nerves and tendons become squeezed when the spaces they occupy become narrowed by bone movement. This can cause a host of problems including shoulder impingement syndrome and sciatica.
  5. Intervertebral hernias: Curved spines result in vertebrae that are squeezed together on the concave side and spread apart on the convex side. High pressure between vertebrae on the concave side cause intervertebral discs to bulge toward the convex side (where intervertebral pressure is lower).

Since muscle tension affects bone position, these problems can be easily ameliorated or aggravated by stretching and strengthening programs. The key is knowing which muscles to stretch and which to strengthen! Programs which successfully manage the effects of posture improve muscular balance as well as bone alignment and symmetry. Athletes, clients, patients and workout warriors will experience enhanced recovery, resilience, performance and aesthetics. Posture, without a doubt, should be fundamental knowledge for anyone who designs exercise programs!

Learn to Stretch Like an Expert

Workshop!

Learn the fundamentals of expert stretching.

Stretching is far from dead. While new soft tissue techniques (such as self myofascial techniques, ART, Graston etc.) are becoming popular the utility of stretching still reigns supreme. Here is why:

  1. Stretching is the ultimate tool for improving the firing power of weak muscles (make stubborn muscles finally grow by stretching tight antagonists!)
  2. Stretching is the ultimate tool for improving muscular balance
  3. Precise stretching assesses tissue status and can be a reliable diagnostic tool
  4. Stretching predictably increases range of motion
  5. Stretching is non-invasive
  6. No special tools or technology are necessary. Ultimate convenience and portability.
  7. Stretching is pleasurable to most and adds tangible value to client/patient sessions
  8. Stretching will fit into the scope of practice of any health and fitness professional

Forget previous notions of stretching technique. This is an introductory workshop into how to isolate individual muscle heads. At a tarodo workshop a singular hamstring stretch does not exist. Rather, there are four stretches! (one for each head of the hamstrings). This workshop will give you unparalleled insight into muscular function. This is just the beginning – get a head start now!

Because this is a very short-notice workshop the usual cost of 200.00$ per person is being discounted to just 100.00 $ The remaining information is as follows:

Where: Openmat MMA, 593 Yonge Street, Toronto Ontario

When: October 24th 2 pm to 5 pm

Registration: email Coach Taro at tarodomuscle@gmail.com

Hope to see you there!

Coach Taro

The Stark Basis For Asymmetrical Exercise

Lateral bowing of the spine, often referred to as a “C” spine, occurs when muscles affecting the shape of the spine become imbalanced. In simplified terms, the muscles on the concave side are short and strong and the muscles on the convex side are long and weak. Obviously, a symmetrical approach to strengthening and stretching would simply maintain the status quo. Lateral bowing also makes obvious that a therapeutic approach solely based on stretching, rolling or releasing cannot be as effective as a program that includes also strengthening.

If your approach to managing muscoskeletal pain addresses your body symmetrically you are not using the most effective approach possible. Lateral bowing of the spine is more complex than represented in this article. Continue reading Tarodo or come to a workshop to learn specific details.

On the Path to The Most Effective Shoulder Workout

Prone Crank

On the subject of maximum deltoid development, three issues immediately spring to mind: Continue Reading