Success in Training: Type I Motivation

Drive and Motivation are the points of my post for this Friday (the Friday that happens to usher in the week before the New Year). I recently began working with someone to help improve my performance with SAPT – he actually specializes in the mental preparation of athletes and, believe it or not, the way athletes approach competition is the way I prefer to approach each one of my days.

In our meeting last week we spent time completing a simple exercise about strengths and weaknesses. I had to come up with 10. At the end he asked why I didn’t list “Drive” – I paused for a moment and told him I didn’t consider my “Drive” to ever waiver. Thus it’s always a given. He accepted my answer, but this exchange stuck with me.

So, when I saw the book Drive by Daniel H. Pink sitting on my bookshelf a couple days ago, I was intrigued and thought I’d use my ***flip-through technique to see what I could learn:

Page 190: “Type I insight: It’s not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine-to-five. It’s whether our work fulfills us. If I offered you a choice between being an architect for $75,000 a year and working in a tollbooth every day for the rest of your life for $100,000 a year, which would you take? I’m guessing the former because there is a complexity, autonomy, and a relationship between effort and reward in doing creative work, and that’s worth more to most of us than money.”

This struck a chord with me. After all, if I told you what I earned from SAPT in 2009 (or 2010 for that matter) you’d probably see I strongly gravitate towards “creative work” as a primary motivational factor. Flipping back to Chapter 3, I was curious what the heck Type I means.

Type I people are those who are intrinsically motivated. Their counterparts are Type X, or extrinsically motivated individuals. Of course most of us have tendencies in both realms, but [Pink claims] there is some interesting research that shows not only are Type I’s more successful in the long-term (think Oprah Winfrey), but they are also healthier!

Because Type X’s live in a world driven so strongly by outside rewards and, coincidentally, are often Type A personalities, too, they are “significantly more likely to develop heart disease.” Wow.

So, how does changing your motivational approach make a difference in your training? In just a few works, it seems to boil down to “Slow and steady wins the race.” Pink highlights these points as Type I factors (Pink’s points are in bold, my comments follow):

• Type I’s almost always outperform Type X’s in the long run. In the end, the most successful people (by traditional standards) weren’t directly pursuing conventional notions of success along the way. Instead they choose to focus on working hard and persisting through challenges to learn about the world and achieve something that endures.Think about every infomercial that promises six-pack abs or dropping three dress sizes in a finite amount of time. Who do you know that has ever achieved the goals set out by the fitness marketing geniuses? I must know at least 3-dozen people that have dropped money on the P90x system. Guess how many people have made it through the 90 days? Z-E-R-O. Why? Because it’s too difficult, unrealistic, and in the end, the promise of a six-pack simply isn’t enough motivation for most people. They need support, feedback, a sense of community, and real human guidance (not a guy on a DVD telling you “good job, keep it up” style non-sense).
• Type I behavior is a renewable resource. Taking comfort in small victories on a day-to-day basis is incredibly motivating. Something as simple as executing your first plank for 3x:15 in week 1 (while your muscles shake violently trying to figure out what the hell you want them to do…) and then noticing in Week 3 you execute 3x:25 while feeling solid as a rock is HUGE. Acknowledging these victories is how you learn to become a Type I trainee.

• Type I behavior promotes greater physical and mental well-being. Why? Because it depends upon autonomy, mastery, and purpose.A Type I trainee is devoted to becoming better and better at something that matters. I hate to break it to you, but abs or a great posterior don’t matter. What does? The sense of building confidence, a healthy body, and a functional body. If a nice ass and a six-pack result, even better, but Type I’s will let that be a happy by-product. The end of the year is naturally, I suppose, the time of year when everyone audits himself or herself. For me, in terms of SAPT, it is an extremely exciting time when I get to assess the previous year and set up a “map” for us to follow in the upcoming year. The same approach can be taken with a new fitness or performance training plan. There are no quick fixes – not in business and certainly not when dealing with the health and functionality of the human body.

Take comfort in the process and rejoice with every small victory!

*** I have a bit of a penchant for book collecting. I’m not exactly sure when this happened, but I constantly have to stop myself from buying books in stores and online. The main problem being that I buy them and then – usually – don’t actually read them cover-to-cover. I tend to use them to browse through and reference. For me, it’s a brand of fun: you never know what you’ll learn randomly flipping through a book.

Increasing thoracic mobility to improve pitching velocity…

While the majority of the adolescent pitching population is busy this offseason shortening their pec minors on the pec-deck, we’ve got our guys and gals performing thoracic mobility drills aimed at actually improving pitching performance and velocity.  Besides just improving the overall functionality of the student-athlete, incorporating thoracic mobility drills (both extension and rotation) are going to improve their abilities in the “cocking” or “layback” phase of the wind-up. 

Some indicators that suggest the pitcher in your life is in need of some thoracic mobility drills:

1)      He or she spends the vast majority of their day slumped over a desk, then at home on the computer, and then on the couch in front of the TV creating a strikingly similar posture to this cute little fellow…

2)      He or she has complained of, or have battled chronic, elbow, shoulder, and lower-back pain throughout their career.

3)      His or her fastball couldn’t breakthrough a wet paper-bag.

Only about 10-weeks remain until high-school tryouts.  Slowly step away from the bench press, and request a free consultation with the experts at SAPT, so we can “get you right.”

But what do we know…

Chris

Elbow Pain? I’ve Got Your Fix

Did you know that approximately 1/3 of all workday illnesses are the result of elbow/wrist/forearm injury? That’s 33.3% for those of you who prefer percentages. In fact, these injuries account for a greater loss in wages and productivity than ANY OTHER ANATOMIC REGION (i.e., the lower back that always gets so much attention)!

What’s the Function of the Elbow?

The true function of the elbow is to transfer energy from the shoulder to the hand. This transfer then allows for extremely precise and forceful movements to occur simultaneously. So, the elbow’s ability to function pain and restriction free is pretty darn important for daily living.

Risk Factors and Common Diagnoses

Most of the time there is some sort of tendon related issue causing the problem in the elbow, wrist, or forearm. The risk factors for all of these injuries are similar and include virtually any repetitive, hand-intensive, and forceful tasks. Some examples include electrical work (I know this first-hand as Ryan had an extremely painful bout with elbow pain about 7 years ago), barbell bench press, tennis, golf, rowing, baseball, softball, basketball, all throwing, construction work, gardening, etc, etc, etc.

The aim of injury prevention and treatment is to attempt to limit range of motion temporarily, limit the repetitive task causing the pain, to strengthen the area, and address muscle tissue and tendon quality in the immediate and surrounding areas.

Associated Muscles

Muscles about the elbow, forearm, and wrist can simply be divided into elbow flexors and extensors and wrist flexors and extensors. The key muscles involved are:

• Biceps brachii
• Triceps brachii
• Brachialis
• Brachioradialis
• Pronator quadratus
• Pronator teres
• Supinator
• Wrist flexors
• Wrist extensors

Elbowpain2

The Most Common Injuries

1. Tennis Elbow: the lateral epicondylitis becomes strained and inflamed
2. Golfers Elbow: the medial epicondyle becomes strained and inflamed
3. De Quervain Syndrome: an inflammation or a tendinosis of the sheath that surrounds the two tendons that control thumb movement.

Solving the Problem

No doubt a comprehensive and focused corrective exercise program is in order to address issues of the elbow/forearm/wrist. But, to arrive at a solution, a number of assessments should be conducted to uncover the root of the problem. Several common assessments include: Brachialis Limitation Assessment, Long Head of the Biceps Limitation Assessment, Active Wrist ROM Assessment, and a simple Wrist Limitation Assessment.

Once you have an idea where the problem lies. The targeted solution can be constructed. Generally, this will involve:

1. SMR to addres tender spots on the brachialis, biceps brachii, and wrist extensors or flexors
2. Static stretching for the biceps brachii and wrist flexors or extensors
3. Isolated strengthening for elbow flexion, elbow extension, wrist flexors or extensors, and wrist supination and pronation – these selected exercises should be heavy on tempo with great focus on the eccentric and isometric portions.
4. Integrated dynamic movements – these are basically more complex movements that, depending on severity of pain, may need to be worked into after addressing steps 1-3 over the course of several weeks.

As with all other portions of the body, dysfunction at one joint is often linked to dysfunction at other joints. In the case of elbow/forearm/wrist dysfunction, one should always look up the kinetic chain to the shoulder and check to find out if there is any impingement syndrome or instability, as these will often be found in conjunction with lower arm problems.

I said, FREE TRAINING...and some pre-meet inspiration...

I wasn't sure if last Thursday peoples fingers were too slippery to type from all the turkey grease, or maybe it was the crippling effects of the tryptophan, but in case you missed it, we are offering some FREE TRAINING; to learn howyou can garner some free SAPT goodness, click HERE!!! Last, the video montage below of Chuck Vogelpohl is aimed at inspiring former SAPT interns John and Shawn, who'll be competing in their second powerlifting meet this weekend.  This video is also applicable to anyone who needs a swift kick in the backside this Thursday morning.

Chuck Norris ain't got nothin' on Chuck Vogelpohl,

Chris

Six Degrees of a Sterling SAPT-EE & FREE TRAINING!!!

Greetings, Six degrees of...say wuh????  You know the game where, for instance, you’d attempt to connect Will Smith to Kevin Bacon in 6 degrees of separation or less…Will Smith was in “Men in Black” with Tommy Lee Jones (1); Tommy Lee Jones was in “JFK” with Kevin Bacon (2)…I win, I’ve done it in less than three degrees…however, there’s still 18 hours left in our cross country road trip…I spy something…sorry, wrong game…anyways you get the gist, right?  Great, stay with me!

Many of you know, and maybe some of you don’t, that we’ve set-up shop out in Sterling.  It’s a shop of humble beginnings, much like SAPT Fairfax was merely 4 years ago…

Well, we’re coming-up on about a year out in Sterling, and enrollment is still moving a bit slower than anticipated.  Maybe it’s something in the protein powder?  Or, maybe it’s because Fairfax has grown almost entirely on referrals (yup, not a dime spent on marketing), and, well, it’s hard to grow on referrals when you’ve only had a couple handfuls of people experience “the SAPT goodness,” out here in Sterling…

So, here is my respectful plead to you, in honor of “Small Business Saturday” we’re asking that you think of SAPT…we’d like for you, and those that surround you this long Thanksgiving weekend to play a little game called “Six Degrees of a Sterling SAPT-EE…”  You ready?  Here it goes:

I am married to my wife (1); my wife works with Tom Shultz (2); Tom Shultz was complaining about back pain when he plays golf, and has three athletic, motivated kids…and the kicker…he lives in Leesburg…8 miles from SAPT Sterling(3)…That’s less than four steps, you win, pat yourself on the back…Next, immediately locate Tom Shultz’s email address and write it down…Repeat the game 4 more times, with the goal to compile a list of 5 of your contacts who could benefit from our services, and live in Loudoun County.

What you choose to do with this list is completely up to you.  You can use it to dab the wine stain on the carpet after Uncle Chuck has had a bit too much to drink.  Maybe you shoot those 5 people a quick email letting them know that you’re thinking of them in this time of gluttony, and if they’re looking for a training service to help them shed a few after Turkey Day, you’ve got just the place.  Or, maybe you email your list of 5 contacts and their respective email addresses to Chris, at chris@studentathletept.com and earn yourself, or your son/daughter, a training session on us (FREE SAPT TRAINING!!!)…I think the latter sounds pretty sweet…Don’t worry, we aren’t going to hound them with spam mail and promises of free “enhancement” pills…we just want to briefly, and politely, let them know we’re out in here in their neck of the woods…This promotion will end on December 31^st.

We appreciate you taking the time to read this email, as well as participating in our silly little game.  We wish you and your loved one’s a happy and healthy holiday season.  Please know that you are one of the "things" we are thankful for this year.

Appreciatively,

SAPT

Our take on "sport specific"

Quite frequently we're asked, "Is this (insert sport here) specific training?"  Here's our take: Understand that all athletes, no matter what sport, need to engage in general movements to enhance their global strength so to speak; these exercise include squats, deadlifts, rows, unilateral movements, horizontal pressing and pulling, vertical pulling etc.  These are, and should be, the bread and butter of every good strength training program.  

We also blend drills that have a bit more dynamic correspondence, or specificity, to one’s sport.  For instance, with our baseball players we incorporate various overhead and rotational drills with light medicine balls to improve velocities on these various planes of motion. 

These occur primarily in the offseason as competing for the energy to develop technical abilities is not as significant.  When implementing, we're careful to not too closely mimic the intricate movement patterns required by sport, i.e. throwing a baseball, as this can lead to a hindrance in the actual development and create inconsistencies with that particular skill.  Read that again; yes, mimicking too closely, or inappropriately weighting a particular movement can actually prohibit technical mastery of specific sport skill.  This is why as one gets closer to a competitive season, and certainly as one is engaged in-season, we wean these drills from the student-athletes program as the acquisition and refinement of sport skills are of paramount importance during this time.

From an injury prevention stand point, we are very cognizant of the stressors placed on the body during various sports, and understand that many of these stressors transcend sports.  As such we tend to focus most of our efforts on these areas in an attempt to combat the repetitive and asymmetrical nature of sport.  Our efforts are also aimed to improve the shortcomings of the individual as each present their own intimate challenges.

Getting strong all day long,

Chris