Friday, September 04, 2009

Getting caught up...

Nearly two weeks of continuous travel left me in a bit of a hole (which I am still trying to dig out of) but I am finally seeing the light at the top.

Training has had the usual travel interruptions and switch over to bodyweight exercises which is going well.
Recent KB training
on Tuesday
Prep - ASLR, Brettzel etc...
Get-up x 5+5
Goblet squat and swings with 16kg
10 GS + 10 alt. swings
9 GS + 10 alt swings
8 GS + 10 alt swings
7 GS + 10 alt swings
and on down to one with the GS but keeping the swings at 10.
Brief rest at 6 reps.

Thursday
Prep - ASLR , Brettzel, Ankle and hip mobility
MVO2 24 kg x 8 reps per 15 seconds x 20 sets
Inversion

I have also been making progress on my Club swinging (more on that soon).

Quick observation...
There are some that will tell you not to worry about symmetry (in relation to body shape and movement) - that it is marketing etc...
Unfortunately asymmetry in strength or flexibility is the only thing in the research that is correlated with risk of injury. Being just tight or just loose or just weak wasn't a risk but being asymmetrical (right vs. left) in strength or flexibility was a risk.
The proper perspective to keep on this is the rule of 10 percent and to keep in mind what we sacrifice for elite performance in a sport.
The Rule of 10 percent basically states that your body will compensate for a difference of about 10 percent between the right and left side. Beyond that the compensations can become problematic.
In leg length for example you only correct for 1/2 of the difference and you don't even start to do that until the leg length difference is greater that a 1/2 inch.
There is a certain level of sacrifice for elite level performance.
Something like golf or other "one sided" events can lead to a built in asymmetry but look at the injury rates for those sports. Know what you are sacrificing and then decide whether narrowing the asymmetries to 10 percent of so would make a difference.

2 comments:

Sean Schniederjan RKC said...

Brett, what do you think of that bottoms up squat? That is a keeper IMO, great tension exercise and the squat almost feels deeper than a GS for some reason.

Brett Jones said...

Sean,
It's even better as a double KB drill!
The increased tension allows for more of a pull into the bottom position.

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