Brian Schiff’s Blog

In the previous post I discussed the importance of integrating single leg squats to improve strength and running performance. Today, I will reveal 3 different variations of single leg stability ball training to increase hip drive, acceleration, and overall running economy.

In addition, these exercise can be used for hamstring strengthening, rehab and speed enhancement for any athletes. The three exercises are as follows:

1. Straight leg bridge lift
2. Straight leg bridge with leg curl
3. Knee bent bridge lift

All three are very effexctive for improving strength and performance.  The best part is that using the stability ball adds an element of stabilization and core training as well.  I think you will find this is truly the best way to train your hamstrings independently if your goal is improved running performance.  If the stability ball is too challenging at first, you can opt to do the straight leg and knee bent bridge lifts with the support leg on the floor.  Click on the video below to view the exercises.

I am beginning a video series of 3 exercises for running performance. Check out today’s video on the importance of using a single leg squat in your program.

Please click on the link below below for a video message from me.  I must openly admit I am still trying to master this whole video thing. As such, you will need to turn your volume all the way up to hear me as my facility has high ceilings and the acoustics are not ideal. But hey, it is the content that matters most, right? I look forward to sharing many great tips, exeercises and strategies with you in 2009!

In my last post, I spoke of lunging and the stress on the knee joint.  Today, I thought I would speak about muscle strains.  Keep in mind you strain muscles and sprain ligaments.  The most common muscle strains I see are hamstring, quadriceps and groin injuries.

They typically occur with a deceleration movement in sport or recreational activity.  In my experience, I notice that some athletes tend to be more prone to these than others.  This particular group of athletes seems to be those with a predominance of fast twitch fibers (more of your sprinters) and those lacking good flexibility and mobility (no surprise there).

Proper warm-up, strengthening, plyometrics and acceleration/deceleration training all play a role in preventing these injuries.  Recovering from such an injury is often a tricky thing.  Athletes often are fearful of pushing the injured tissue 100% (they fear re-injury) and coaches may not sufficiently gauge how long to hold the athlete out of full participation.  More importantly, the athlete often under reports the pain associated with the injury.  I have included a great recovery article HERE that gives you 3 R’s to go by. 

I also included a picture of one of my favorite rehab exercises for rehabbing high hamstring strains below.  It is the single leg Romanian dead lift and provides n excellent way to elongate the hamstrings functionally.  Pain or the absence thereof during full range of motion will indicate the relative healing of the injured tissue to date.  One should be able to do this equal to the non involved side without pain.

RDL - Descent

Ever have knee pain in the gym with lunges?  I work with so many clients who find their strength program limited by knee pain.  It is very common for women to suffer from Patello-femoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) as they get older.  It commonly begins affecting them around age 30.

Essentially, the cartilage behind the kneecap may soften (often referred to as chondromalacia) or break down exposing the subchondral bone (below the cartilage) to excessive stress.  There are many pain receptors in the subchondral bone region that let you know quickly when the knee is unhappy.

Activities like stair climbing, kneeling, squatting and impact exercise often bring this pain on.  Therapists and trainers have long debated whether one should lunge or squat with the foot beyond the toes.  To date, little research has been done to support the notion that allowing the knee to extend beyond the toes dramatically increases PF joint stress.

That is until now.  In a recent study in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (JOSPT November 2008), researchers compared a short and long step lunge both with and without a stride (stepping out and back).  The results in a nutshell confirmed that indeed a short lunge (allowing the knee to extend beyond the toes) produced more force and stress on the PF joint than a long step lunge (knee remains over the foot).  The stride with a short step and long step also produced more force than it did with a stationary lunge indicating a stationary lunge is less stressful, especially at lower knee flexion (bending) angles.

The angles where the forces really increased on descent were from 60-90 degrees.  This research would suggest that people with anterior knee pain would be better served to lunge less than 50 degrees with a  longer step length in a stationary position while rehabbing or until they build enough strength to move safely into a deeper lunge without pain.  The big takeaway here is to find the range of motion that works for you, but ultimately lengthen the step length to avoid increasing PF joint stress with lunges.

With all that said, I still believe we were designed to move in ways that the knee does extend beyond the toes.  It happens with step-over-step stair descension and sprinting/acclerating for sure.  Yet, doing 2-3 sets of weighted lunges 1-2x/week on a regular basis for strengthening in this fashion may lead to problems long term.  For those with documented PF problems, the safer route is to side with the research and listen to the body.  I hope this info serves you well in the gym moving forward!