You are on page 1of 53

Top 10

Articles
The Essentials
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.

!"#$% '( )'*+%*+,
"#$%&'()$"&# *
'&+, "$ -(%$. /
0 1&"#$23421&"#$ 055%&0)- $& $%0"#"#6 7
0'80#)+' 5%&6%09 '+,"6# 50%$ : :;
0'80#)+' 5%&6%09 '+,"6# 50%$ < :<
(#'(=0$"#6 5+%"&'">0$"&# ?&% 0$-=+$+, :/
#& 9&%+ ,"$2(5, 0#' )%(#)-+, :7
1(95 $%0"#"#6@ 9&%+ $-0# 1(,$ $-+ 8+%$")0= **
$-+ )0,+ ?&% ,"#6=+ ="93 $%0"#"#6 *7
<7 4+0%,A <7 9",$0B+, /:
0#$+%"&% B#++ 50"# 2 50"# ,"$+ 8+%,(, 50"# ,&(%)+ /7
(#'+%,$0#'"#6 0#' $%0"#"#6 -"5 ?=+C"&#. 7;











Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
Introduction
Thanks foi being a membei of ,DEFGHDI)JKLIMLJN, !"#$ &'()*+, -$,. /'0(1$ '2 /.($34.# 5
6'3*7.7'3734 832'(9:.7'3;<

0ui membeis have compileu a list of aiticles that they felt weie in the ONPQD EFKRS
categoiy.
0f couise, this is just sciatching the suiface of the mountain of incieuible content we have,
but this is a gieat place to stait to get a feel foi some of the content that you will see in
StiengthCoach.com aiticles, viueos, webinais, auuio inteiviews anu foium thieaus.
Aftei each aiticle that contains viueos, theie is a link back to the aiticle on the site, anu you
can watch any viueos that accompany the aiticle theie.









0nce youi tiial membeiship is ovei, make suie you check out youi DTJ JDIFE UJGPQFQ, my
two uownloauable books, !"#$%&'%'& )*+#'&*, -+.%'%'& /+0&+.1$ .'2 3.4%5%*%#$6 anu
O0RVKGLFQ WG ?PGLDWJGKX $EKWGWGHS. You can uownloau them heie:
http:www.stiengthcoach.commembeispiogiamsopenuownloaus.cfm

You can stay up to uate with eveiything that is happening on StiengthCoach.com

By visiting my blog- http:stiengthcoachblog.com



Following me on Twittei https:twittei.commboyle19S9



"Likeing" oui Facebook page-
https:www.facebook.compagesStiengthcoachcomSS191uS1868


If you have any questions about anything oi woulu like to iequest an aiticle, please let us
know at StiengthCoachPoucastgmail.com.

Thanks foi being a membei!

9WLIKFX 3JYXF
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.





Does It Hurt?
Michael Boyle

I get asked rehab questions all the time. I have rehabilitated athletes in almost every major sport
who were told they were "all done" by a doctor or a team trainer. Because people know my
background, they often ask for advice.

Most of the time they ignore the advice because the advice does not contain the answer they
want. They say, "it only hurts when I run", I say things like "don't run".

A famous coach I know once told me "people don't call for advice, they call for agreement or
consensus. If you don't tell them what they want to hear, they simply call someone else". His
advice to me, don't bother wasting your time with advice.

Here I go again wasting time.

If you have an injury and are wondering whether or not a certain exercise is appropriate, ask
yourself a simple question. "Does it hurt"? The key here is that the question 'does it hurt?" can
only be answered yes or no. If you answer yes, then you are not ready for that exercise; no matter
how much you like it.

Simple, right? Not really.

I tell everyone I speak with about rehab that any equivocation is a yes. Things like "after I
warm-up it goes away" etc. are all yes answers. It is amazing to me how many times I have asked
people this simple question only to have them dance around it. The reason they dance around the
question is that they don't like my answer. They want to know things like "what about the magic
cure that no one has told me about?". What about a secret exercise? I have another saying I like,
"the secret is there is no secret". Another wise man, Ben Franklin I think, said, "Common sense
is not so common".

If you are injured and want to get better, use your common sense. Exercise should not cause
pain. This seems simple but exercisers ignore pain all the time and rationalize it. Discomfort is
common at the end of a set in a strength exercise or at the end of an intense cardiovascular
workout. Additional discomfort, delayed onset muscle soreness, often occurs the two days
following an intense session. This is normal. This discomfort should only last two days and
should be limited to the muscles not the joints or tendons.

Pain at the onset of an exercise is neither normal nor healthy and is indicative of a problem.
Progression in any strength exercise should be based on a full, pain-free range of motion that
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
produces muscle soreness without joint soreness. If you need to change or reduce range of
motion, this is a problem.

Progression in cardiovascular exercise should also be pain free and should follow the ten percent
rule. Do not increase time or distance more than ten percent from one session to the next.

I have used these simple rules in all of my strength and conditioning programs and, have been
able to keep literally thousands of athletes healthy. I'm sure the same concepts will help you.












A Joint-by-Joint Approach to Training
Nichael Boyle

"We get old too soon and smart too late." Swedish Proverb

My good friend, Physical Therapist Gray Cook, has a gift for simplifying complex topics. I envy
his ability to succinctly take a complicated thought process and make the idea appear simple. In a
recent conversation about the effect of training on the body, Cook produced one of the most
lucid thought processes I have ever heard. Gray and I were discussing the findings of the
Functional Movement Screen (www.functionalmovement.com), the needs of the different joints
of the body, and how the function of the joints relates to training.

One of the beauties of the Functional Movement Screen is that the screen allows us to distinguish
between issues of stability and those of mobility. Cook's thoughts were simple and led me to
realize that the future of training may be a joint-by-joint approach rather than a movement-based
approach.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.



Gray's analysis of the body was a straightforward one; in his mind, the body is a just a stack of
joints. Each joint or series of joints has a specific function and is prone to specific, predictable
levels of dysfunction. As a result, each joint has specific training needs. The table below looks at
the body on a joint-by-joint basis from the bottom up:



A full squat with full mobility


Joint Primary Training Need
Ankle mobility (particularly sagittal)
Knee stability
Hip mobility (multi-planar)
Lumbar Spine stability
T-Spine mobility
Gleno-humeral stability

The first thing you should notice as you read the above table is that the joints simply alternate
mobility and stability. The ankle needs increased mobility, and the knee needs increased
stability.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.

The knee needs stability


As we move up the body, it becomes apparent that the hip needs mobility. And so the process
goes up the chain: a simple, alternating series of joints. Over the past twenty years, we have
progressed from the moronic approach of training by body part (sorry, bodybuilders) to a more
intelligent approach of training by movement pattern. In fact, the phrase "movements not
muscles" has almost become an overused one and, frankly, that is progress. I think most good
coaches and trainers have given up on the old chest-shoulder-triceps thought process and moved
forward to a push-pull-hip extend- knee extend thought process.

Interestingly enough, I now believe the "movement not muscles" process probably should have
gone a step further. I think that injuries relate closely to proper joint function or more
appropriately to joint dysfunction. Confused? Let me try to explain. Problems at one joint usually
show up as pain in the joint above or below.


The hips need mobility


The simplest illustration is in the lower back. It seems obvious based on the advances of thee part
decade that we need core stability and also obvious that lots of people suffer from back pain. The
interesting part lies in the theory behind low back pain. My theory of the cause? Loss of hip
mobility. Loss of function in the joint below (in the case of the lumbar spine, the hip) seems to
affect the joint or joints above (lumbar spine). In other words, if the hip can't move, the lumbar
spine will. The problem is that the hip is built for mobility, and the lumbar spine for stability.
When the supposedly mobile joint becomes immobile, the stable joint is forced to move as
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
compensation, becoming less stable and subsequently painful.

The process is simple:
- -Lose ankle mobility, get knee pain.
- -Lose hip mobility, get low back pain.
- -Lose thoracic mobility, get neck and shoulder pain (or low back pain).

Looking at the body on a joint-by-joint basis beginning with the ankle, this thought process
seems to make sense. An immobile ankle causes the stress of landing to be transferred to the
joint above: the knee. In fact, I think there is a direct correlation between the stiffness of the
basketball shoe and the amount of taping and bracing that correlates with the high incidence of
patella femoral syndromes in basketball players. Our desire to protect the unstable ankle comes
with a high cost. We have found that many of our athletes with knee pain have corresponding
ankle mobility issues. Many times this follows an ankle sprain and subsequent bracing and
taping.


The exception to the rule seems to be at the hip. The hip can be both immobile and unstable,
resulting in knee pain from the instability (a weak hip will allow internal rotation and adduction
of the femur) or back pain from the immobility. How a joint can be both immobile and unstable
is the interesting question. It seems that weakness of the hip in either flexion or extension causes
compensatory action at the lumbar spine, while the weakness in abduction (or, more accurately,
prevention of adduction) causes stress at the knee. Poor psoas and iliacus strength and/or
activation will cause patterns of lumbar flexion as a substitute for hip flexion. Poor strength
and/or activation of the glutes will cause a compensatory extension pattern of the lumbar spine
that attempts to replace the motion of hip extension. Interestingly enough, this fuels a vicious
cycle.
As the spine moves to compensate for the lack of strength and mobility of the hip, the hip loses
mobility. It appears that lack of strength at the hip leads to immobility, and immobility in turn
leads to compensatory motion at the spine. The end result is a kind of conundrum: a joint that
needs both strength and mobility in multiple planes. The lumbar spine is even more interesting.

The lumbai spine neeus stability



Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
This is cleaily a seiies of joints in neeu of stability, as eviuenceu by all the woik in the aiea
of coie stability. Stiangely enough, the biggest mistake I believe we have maue in tiaining
ovei the last ten yeais is engaging in an active attempt to inciease the static anu active
R0N of an aiea that obviously ciaves stability. I believe that most if not all of the many
iotaiy exeicises uone foi the lumbai spine weie misuiiecteu.

Both Sahimann ("%.&'0$%$ .'2 -+#.*1#'* 07 809#1#'* :1;.%+1#'* )<'2+01#$) anu
Poiteifielu anu BeRosa (8#4,.'%4.5 =0> ?.4@ /.%'A /#+$;#4*%9#$ %' 3B'4*%0'.5
C'.*01<) inuicate that attempting to inciease lumbai spine R0N is not iecommenueu anu
potentially uangeious. I believe oui lack of unueistanuing of thoiacic mobility has causeu
us to tiy to gain lumbai iotaiy R0N; this is a huge mistake. The thoiacic spine is the aiea
about which we seem to know least.
Nany physical theiapists seem to iecommenu incieasing thoiacic mobility, though few
seem to have exeicises uesigneu specifically foi thoiacic mobility. The appioach seems to
be "we know you neeu it, but we'ie not suie how to get it." I think ovei the next few yeais
we will see an inciease in exeicises uesigneu to inciease thoiacic mobility. Inteiestingly
enough in "%.&'0$%$ .'2 -+#.*1#'* 07 809#1#'* :1;.%+1#'* )<'2+01#$, physical
theiapist Shiiley Sahimann auvocateu the uevelopment of thoiacic mobility anu the
limitation of lumbai mobility.

The gleno-humeial joint is similai to the hip. The gleno-humeial joint is uesigneu foi
mobility anu theiefoie neeus to be tiaineu foi stability. I think the neeu foi stability in the
gleno-humeial joint piesents a gieat case foi exeicises like Stability Ball anu B0S0 Push-
ups as well as unilateial uumbbell woik.

The inability of joints to function noimally places stiess on the joints above oi below. In the
book D5*+. /+#9#'*%0' (actually a nutiition book), the authois uesciibe oui cuiient
methou of ieaction to injuiy peifectly. Theii analogy is simple; oui iesponse to injuiy is
like heaiing the smoke uetectoi go off anu iunning to pull out the batteiy. The pain, like the
sounu, is a waining of some othei pioblem. Icing a soie knee without examining the ankle
oi hip is like pulling the batteiy out of the smoke uetectoi.

What we neeu to iealize is that, as the opening quote says, "we get olu too soon anu smait
too late". Eveiy uay, I leain moie anu moie about the bouy. What I leain allows me to be a
bettei coach anu a bettei euucatoi. 0ften, what I leain contiauicts what I foimeily believeu.
}ust iemembei, the woilu was once thought to be flat.







Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.









Advanced Program Design Part 1
Nichael Boyle

Ny iecent expeiiences with Ciossfit causeu me to put some iueas uown on papei. I think it
is impoitant to wiite uown what you ieally believe just so you have to think about what
youi philosophy actually is.
In my C29.'4#2 /+0&+.1 "#$%&' "E" set I expanueu on a lot of these concepts. I think
the ieal key to piogiam uesign is not to auopt someone else's philosophy but to uevelop
youi own. What uoes this mean. This means that coaches neeu to uo what's best, not
what's tienuy. Coaches shoulu not simply copy someone else's system. In oiuei foi a coach
to uo this they neeu to uo thiee veiy impoitant things.

$IWGZ2 What will woik best foi my athletes.
[PFQDWJG2 Bon't copy. Ask youiself "why is this exeicise in my piogiam."
0GKXY\F2 Look foi piogiams that get the type of iesult you want.

)EFKDWGH K 6EFKD 5EJHEKN
To cieate a gieat piogiam it is impoitant to have some unueilying goals oi objectives. Youi
goals oi youi objectives shoulu be simple anu ieflect youi funuamental beliefs.

FGH#4*%9# IJ /+#9#'* :'HB+%#$ %' *,# C4*B.5 -+.%'%'& /+04#$$
I useu to believe that the assumption above was so basic anu common sense that it uiu not
neeu to be mentioneu. Bowevei, the piolifeiation of piogiams that fliit with oi cioss the
line between safe anu unsafe makes me iealize that objective one neeus to be stateu cleaily.
In oiuei to pievent injuiies in the actual tiaining piocess coaches neeu to minimize iisk.
This uoes not mean eliminate iisk, only minimize it. Eveiything you want to incluue in the
piogiam must be analyzeu in teims of iisk benefit iatio. Simply put, is the benefit of the
exeicise woith the iisk inheient in the exeicise. This iatio of iisk to benefit changes with
age anu, with levels of expeiience. Things like squats, ueaulifts, anu 0lympics lifts, although
excellent choices, may not be foi eveiyone.

Theie aie two simple things we neeu to accept to become bettei coaches:
1- Injuiies in tiaining aie oui fault
2- No one shoulu be injuieu while tiaining

Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
vein uambetta, speaking at a seminai neaily fifteen yeais ago, stateu that coaches neeu to
accept iesponsibility foi injuiies in piogiams they uesign. That statement was a tuining
point foi me as a coach. 0p until that uay I woulu have classifieu myself as just anothei
meatheau stiength coach. I believeu that " ieal lifteis" shoulu have soie shoulueis anu soie
backs. I believeu it was just a by-piouuct of tiaining haiu. 0pon leaving that seminai I think
I took my fiist step towaiu becoming a ieal coach. I maue a conscious uecision to make my
athletes bettei on the fielu anu, keep them healthy in tiaining. I am ashameu that this was
such an epiphany.
Bottom line, no one shoulu evei be injuieu in tiaining. Boes this mean we tiain with
machines anu take no iisks. No, it means that we constantly balance iisk benefit iatios.
What I uo with a young healthy twenty yeai olu is uiffeient than what I uo with my SS-yeai
NBL clients. What I uo with my SS-yeai-olu NBL clients is uiffeient than what I uo with my
SS-yeai-olu peisonal tiaining clients. 0ne size uoes not fit all anu neithei uoes one exeicise.
This is the ieason we uo fiont squats veisus back squats anu, nevei use box squats. It is the
same ieason we 0lympic lift fiom a hang position above the knees iathei than the flooi. As
coaches we must constantly make choices that balance the iisk benefit iatio.

FGH#4*%9# KJ L#2B4# :'4%2#'4# 07 /#+70+1.'4# L#5.*#2 :'HB+<
The seconu objective of quality stiength piogiam is to ieuuce the inciuence of injuiy in
peifoimance. I useu to view this as goal numbei one, howevei iecent uevelopments in the
fielu have maue me aujust. Notice I saiu ieuuce veisus pievents. No coach will pievent
injuiy. Injuiies will happen. Bowevei it is ciitical to iealize that oui piimaiy goals aie to
pievent injuiy, not impiove peifoimance. In both the NFL anu the NBL stiength anu
conuitioning piogiam success is measuieu by the stiength anu conuitioning coaches ability
to keep the best playeis playing. The NBL uses a stat calleu Nan uames Lost; the NFL uses
Staiteis uames Nisseu. In eithei case, the gieat teams have theii best playeis playing.


FGH#4*%9# MJ :1;+09# /#+70+1.'4#
The biggest take-away point of this aiticle is this is not objective one. Fiist, we neeu to keep
tiaining as safe as possible. Then we neeu to woik to pievent ieuuce injuiy potential.
Finally, we get impioveu peifoimance. I know theie aie many that uisagiee. I can't tell you
how many times I have heaiu coaches talk about the neeu to "take iisks", "lay it on the line"
etc. etc. I can only tell you that those who auvocate iisk usually woik in the aiea of fitness
wheie they can biainwash clients anu uispose easily of the injuieu. In the woilu of spoits,
coaches take injuiy veiy seiiously anu stiength anu conuitioning coaches who encouiage
theii athletes to "lay it on the line" in tiaining enu up in a uiffeient line, the unemployment
line.

Bowevei, theie neeus to be balance. A vanilla machine-baseu piogiam with no iisk will not
ieuuce the inciuence of peifoimance ielateu injuiy. The key is ueveloping the ability to
balance iisk benefit iatio.




Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.






Advanced Program Design Part 2
Nichael Boyle

The iueal piogiam is uesigneu with the pievious thiee goals in minu. The iueal piogiam
takes iisk, but analyzes iisk to benefit iatio. The iueal piogiam woiks on all aspects of
tiaining but in a piogiessive mannei that minimizes exposuie to unuue stiess. The big key
is that the piogiam impioves peifoimance but, nevei at the expense of health.

/+0&+.1 "#$%&' N#<$
)JGQWQDFGLY2 a bau woikout is bettei than a misseu woikout. It is still bettei to go thiough
the motions than to miss a uay.

,DEPLDPEF2 coaches neeu to figuie out how to uiviue up the time they aie given to tiain. I
can't tell you how many times I have heaiu stiength anu conuitioning coaches complain
about lack of time. Figuie out how much time you have anu go foi maximum bang foi the
buck.

'FGQWDY2 uensity is ieally a measuie of woik pei unit of time. Bow much woik can I get into
the time allotteu. uoou piogiam stiuctuie leaus to uensity. The best way to achieve uensity
is to paii exeicises. This is a concept that eveiyone shoulu be using. Boing multiple sets of
an exeicise with 2-S minute iests betweens sets shoulu be uone only by competitive lifteis.
Those of us who tiain athletes oi tiain clients shoulu be paiiing exeicises. The next best
way to achieve uensity is to use iest time foi something othei than iest. All of oui coie
woik anu half of oui stietching is uone between sets when we aie "iesting". I hate wasteu
time anu, time spent sitting aiounu waiting to uo the next set is wasteu time.

/+0&+.1 )*+B4*B+#
As I saiu above stiuctuie is key. I have often useu the analogy of baking a cake. You can't
pick anu choose ingieuients. All the ingieuients neeu to go anu, they neeu to go in the
piopei amounts. The "pie-woikout" piocess must incluue woik foi:

- Tissue length (foam ioll)
- Tissue Bensity (stietching)
- Tissue ieauiness (activation)


Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
Now think time. Bow many minutes can I uevote to the above. Ny feeling is that it shoulu
be 1u- 2u% of tiaining time foi young healthy athletes. That means 6-12 minutes out of an
houi. We always woik off a clock with oui gioups.
]KEN2P^
Waim-up is uiffeient than tissue woik. In the beginning of the woikout we aie piepaiing
the muscles. In the next step we aie piepaiing the athlete. A goou uynamic waim-up can be
uone in S-6 minutes anu will be paiticulaily successful once the tissue is piopeily
piepaieu.

'FVFXJ^WGH 5JTFE KGR ,^FFR
0nce the tissues aie piepaieu the next step is powei anu speeu uevelopment. Aftei a
piopei waim-up bouyweight powei (plyometiic exeicises) anu light implement powei
woik (meuicine balls) will be uone. In auuition, this is also the time to auu in shoit spiints
anu spiint uiills. Nany of the spiint uiills have been uone as pait of the uynamic waim-up
but the actual spiints occui aftei. Fiom a tiaining uensity stanupoint I piefei to paii jumps
anu thiows. 0ne set of a plyometiic uiill will be followeu by a set of meuicine ball thiows.
Thiee sets will be uone in alteinating fashion. This allows auequate iest between sets of
plyos, without wasteu iest time.
The nice thing about plyometiic exeicises anu meuicine ball exeicises is that they also
pioviue an incieaseu level of piepaiation foi the neivous system. The last thing uone
befoie enteiing the weight ioom aie spiints. I like a low volume of spiinting. We will
usually only uo S-6 spiints of S-2u yaius befoie oui stiength woik.

9JVWGH "GDJ DIF ]FWHID EJJN
Foi a young healthy athlete powei uevelopment in the weight ioom ievolves aiounu the
0lympic lifts. 0luei athletes may peifoim auuitional plyometiic exeicises at this point like
}ump Squats oi NvP Shuttle }umps. Baseu on the age anu health of the tiainee, iesisteu
exeicises aie selecteu to uevelop lowei bouy powei. In the last few yeais I have uevelopeu
a gieatei affinity foi the Close uiip Snatch. Nany coaches aie afiaiu of snatches anu finu
them uifficult to teach howevei I feel quite the opposite. I think snatches aie easiei to teach
as the athlete is less limiteu by pooi uppei bouy flexibility.
In any case, we will peifoim hang cleans, close giip hang snatches, BB snatches oi, in the
case of youngei oi oluei athletes, kettlebell swings to uevelop total bouy powei. These will
geneially be uone in what we call a tii set with a coie exeicise anu an active stietch oi
mobility exeicise. What this means is that insteau of iesting the athlete will uo coie woik
anu mobility woik uuiing the iest time. This concept goes back to oui iuea of uensity. The
goal is to get maximum woik uone in the time allotteu. This will not be accomplisheu by
sitting foi S minutes between sets.

Tii sets aie useu foi powei exeicises so that the focus iemains on the powei exeicise anu
so the neivous system is not oveistiesseu.

,DEFGHDI 5EJHEKNNWGH
The stiength piogiam looks veiy similai to the powei piogiam except that we often move
fiom tii sets (S movements) to quaus sets (4 movements). In stiength woik, stiength
exeicises aie paiieu with othei non-competing stiength exeicises anu the iest time is
"filleu" with coie anu mobility woik. Anothei viueo sample is pioviueu below.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.

The most impoitant thing to unueistanu in piogiam uesign is that time shoulu nevei be
wasteu. To cieate a gieat piogiam fiist cieate a gieat piepaiation sequence then, choose
exeicises that aie appiopiiate foi youi population. Last, use time as a piecious commouity
not to be wasteu.
Bowevei, the ieal key to gieat piogiam uesign comes fiom the beginning of the aiticle.
Bevelop a philosophy of tiaining, uon't auopt oi boiiow one. Be a ciitical thinkei anu take
iesponsibility foi youi iesults, eithei goou oi bau.
Check out the viueo samples heie:
http:www.stiengthcoach.commembeis167u.cfm







Undulating Periodization for Athletes
Alwyn Cosgiove

I iecently wiote a seiies of aiticles foi this website's sistei site: bouybuiluing.com on
unuulating peiiouization. These aiticles weie well ieceiveu anu to this uay iemain one the
most populai aiticles I have evei wiitten.
I was askeu seveial times by ieaueis to then uevelop a similai piogiam foi the athlete.
Eveiy athlete anu inueeu eveiy inuiviuual is uiffeient, but theie aie some similaiities. Nost
athletes want explosive powei anu stiength -- so use this piogiam as a staiting point -- as a
template that you can use to tweak youi own piogiam. Keep the sequence howevei that
has an explosive 0lympic lift anu a plyometiic exeicise at the stait.

=$.>, ($?7$@ .#$ *$.:7), '2 03*0):.734 A$(7'*7B:.7'3C

- Recent publisheu ieseaich fiom Aiizona State 0niveisity has shown that a methou of
stiuctuiing the set anu iep piotocols in a vastly uiffeient mannei (calleu unuulating
Peiiouization) has pioven to be especially effective in inuucing maximum stiength gains,
when compaieu to tiauitional lineai oi alteinating Peiiouization mouels.

- Tiauitional thinking states that the bouy auapts to a woikout in as little as 6 exposuies. In
actuality - the bouy auapts to the iep iange the fastest, anu the exeicise selection the
slowest. So we neeu to change the iep biacket moie often than we change the exeicises.
Typically a tiainee will change the exeicises fiist - not the most effective tiaining system.

- The unuulating Peiiouization piogiam actually aujusts the sets, ieps, speeu of movement
(tempo), anu iest peiiou eveiy single woikout. So in effect, youi bouy has to giow biggei
anu stiongei than it noimally woulu when using one of the moie tiauitional Peiiouization
mouels.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.

- Buiing this phase, tiain thiee times pei week -- anu alteinate the woikouts. Foi example -
- in week one, you will uo Nonuay: woikout A, Weunesuay: woikout B, Fiiuay: woikout A.
the next week woulu be the ieveise. Bowevei, uue to the unique loauing paiameteis, you
will actually tiain each piogiam thiee times befoie evei iepeating a iep scheme. The fun
pait is the vaiiety of uoing so many uiffeient ioutines. The exciting pait is that as you only
iepeat each woikout eveiy 1u uays oi so, you can stay with this piogiam foi longei, anu
make bettei anu fastei gains than you typically woulu.











No More Sit-Ups and Crunches
0GDIJGY %FGGK

0XDIJPHI DIFY IKVF GFVFE EFKXXY UFFG NPLI J_ K QDK^XF WG NY ^EJHEKN RFQWHGA I have
stoppeu uoing any sit-ups anu ciunches with my clients. In the past, I have hau my clients
uoing some stick ciunches anu meuicine ball sit-ups uuiing my coie ioutine (along with
biiuges, planks anu quauiupeu exeicises).
I hau heaiu about othei coaches taking them out of theii piogiams, paiticulaily Coach
Boyle, anu although I thought he maue sense, I uiun't feel I ieally neeueu to eliminate them
since they weie a small pait of the piogiam.
As I thought about it though, it maue moie sense to me that the population that I mostly
woik with, golfeis anu executives shoulu ieally avoiu ciunches anu sit-ups.

]IY.

?WEQD J_ KXX, ciunches anu sit-ups can ieinfoice pooi postuie. Accoiuing to Stuait Ncuill,
pooi postuie "A):1$, :3 $3'(9'0, :9'03. '2 ,.($,, '3 .#$ ,A73$D" Ciunches anu sit-ups
involve spinal flexion anu too much flexion of the spine can leau to uisc pioblems ovei
time. We have enough ways to iuin oui back, why aie we uoing it in the gym.

,FLJGRA with golfeis, we always talk about postuie. 0ne of the fiist things that teaching
pios will talk about with stuuents is having goou postuie. If you have a iounueu uppei
back with youi shoulueis slumpeu foiwaiu at auuiess, commonly calleu a C-Postuie, "it
will be veiy uifficult to keep youi postuie in the backswing without keeping it shoit anu
wiue," accoiuing to the Titleist Peifoimance Institute (TPI). You get much less iotation
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
when you aie huncheu ovei in C-Postuie. Below is a pictuie of TPI co-founuei Bave
Phillips showing goou anu bau postuie.

E71.0($ 1'0(.$,F '2 http:www.mytpi.com@@@DGF"E8D1'9

So now think about the ciunch anu the sit-up. Basically, they just ieinfoice that pooi
postuie. I iotateu the pictuie to give you a bettei look at this iuea. Look at the ieu line on
Alex's back anu compaie it to the pictuies above.


Take into account all the huncheu ovei positions we aie in fiom sitting, commuting, texting
on the Smaitphone anu woiking on the computei. Then we go to the gym to uo sit ups anu
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
woik too much on chest anu bicep muscles anu not enough uppei back; moie
ieinfoicement of pooi postuie.

&BA QJ IJT RJ TF TJEZ JPE KUQ.
I have continueu to uo the coie stabilization exeicises that I have uone in the past, i.e.
planks, siue planks, biiuges anu quauiupeu exeicises, but I have cut out my bicycle
ciunches, stick ciunches anu meu ball sit-ups (which weien't a huge pait of my piogiam
anyway).

]IKD " IKVF EF^XKLFR DIFN TWDI WQ@
Auvanceu Plank Positions
Stability Ball Roll-outs
Coie Rows
Neuicine Ball Slams
Stanuing Baibell Anti-iotation exeicises
Tuikish uet 0ps

*2^JWGD 5XKGZQ
Lie face uown with youi foieaims on the flooi, keep youi elbows unuei youi shoulueis.
Come up off the giounu, suppoit youiself with youi foieaims anu toes, foiming a stiaight
line fiom youi ankles to youi shoulueis. Engage youi pelvic flooi muscles (holu youi pee
in) anu biace youi abs (as if someone was going to punch you in the stomach)

Nake suie you uo not have youi butt too high in the aii oi that it uoesn't sag uown, keep
the stiaight line anu 90B+ ,(%+ 4&( B++5 3%+0$-"#6`

Aftei you can uo the pione plank foi 1 minute, you can stait to auu movement of the aims
anu legs in a stabilizing position. The fiist piogiession is to move youi elbow back towaiu
youi hips, maintaining the stiaight line, anu not moving the iest of youi bouy. Pause foi 1
seconu anu go back to iegulai plank position. Alteinate aims.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.


$J NKZF WD IKERFEA you can extenu youi aim out foiwaiu in a uiagonal position.




-FEF WQ K HEFKD ^XKGZ ^EJHEFQQWJG that I fiist leaineu fiom )JKLI %JUFED RJQ %FNFRWJQ
in 8#'O$ P#.5*, /0>#+ -+.%'%'&. It's calleu the 5XKGZ ]KXZP^.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
The key to this exeicise is #& $&%,& 9&8+9+#$. A goou feeuback mechanism is a foam
ioll oi watei bottle on youi lumbai spine. It will help you to iemembei to keep the toiso
still.
Stait out in the stanuaiu plank position explaineu above.


Leauing with youi left aim, go into a push up position




Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.

Pause foi S seconus at the top, anu go back uown leauing with the left aim


Into the staiting plank position anu holu foi S seconus.


Foi the next iep, leau with the iight aim going up anu coming uown.



,DKUWXWDY 3KXX %JXXJPDQ
This is totally influenceu by )JKLI 3JYXF, anu it ieally woiks the anteiioi coie. You will
uefinitely feel it in youi abs. This can be toughei than it looks so stait out with the basic
piogiessions. If youi back is huiting uuiing this exeicise, you neeu to take a step back.









Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
Stait with the stability ball veiy close to you anu youi hanus up top.


Keeping a stiaight line fiom knees to shoulueis, stait to ioll the ball out.


Roll out into a plank position with youi elbows on the ball, again, maintaining the stiaight
line fiom knees to shoulueis.


Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
To come back, push off with youi elbows anu hanus, being caieful not to leau with youi
butt.

Enu in the staiting position.


0 HJJR LPF a_EJN 5IYQWLKX $IFEK^WQD 6EKY )JJZb is to tiy to "stay tall" thiough youi
spine thioughout the movement.

Some piogiessions to this:
Stait with the ball faithei away anu youi hanus lowei
Elevate youi knees on an Aiiex pau oi use a smallei ball
0se the Ab-wheel (uon't stait with this!)
0se a sliue boaiu

$IF )JEF %JT@
This is a gieat vaiiation to the plank, uefinitely a little moie auvanceu.
uet into a push up position with youi hanus holuing on to uumbbells (uon't get ciazy at
fiist!). Nake suie youi hanus aie uiiectly unuei you shoulueis. Keep youi feet wiue at fiist
anu as you uevelop bettei stability, naiiow the stance.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.

Tiy to keep youi whole bouy stiaight, ciush the weight with a stiong giip anu uo a iow,
biinging the weight to youi toiso.

Bon't ciash back uown anu tiy to keep you feet on the giounu. The opposite foot will tiy to
come off the giounu when you iow so be caieful.






Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
,DKGRWGH 3KEUFXX 0GDW2EJDKDWJG +cFELWQF
I fiist leaineu this fiom )JKLI 3JYXF, although he uses a uevice calleu the Lanumine anu
the hanules that come with it. Remembei that the iuea is to avoiu iotation in this exeicise.

With the weight going back anu foith, it will be haiu to uo.
Stanu in youi athletic ieauy position, similai to the golf stance but not with as much hip
hinge. Bolu the baibell with 2 hanus with the baibell stanuing at about a 4S-uegiee angle.



Keep youi toiso still (uo I sounu like a bioken iecoiu yet.), anu biing the weight as fai as
you can, maintaining youi athletic ieauy position.



uo Back anu foith, staiting slow fiist, then auuing speeu.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.



This is a tough exeicise, believe me, you will feel it. If you uon't have a baibell oi want to
stait slow, use a meuicine ball.

Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.



Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.


9FRWLWGF 3KXX ,XKNQ
Believe it oi not, this can be a gieat abs exeicise. Now I know I saiu I am not uoing abs
exeicises in oiuei to maintain back health, but the main ieason is that the ones I am cutting
out aie isolation exeicises. $IWQ FcFELWQF WGVJXVFQ LJN^XFDF WGDFHEKDWJG J_ DIF DJDKX
UJRYM It will also teach you powei uevelopment fiom the giounu up anu get youi heait
iacing.
$KZF K NFRWLWGF UKXX KGR HFD WG YJPE KDIXFDWL EFKRY ^JQWDWJGM Biing the ball oveiheau
ieally fast anu slam it as haiu as you can. Nake suie you uo a few slow fiist to get a feel foi
the bounce of the ball since you have to catch it.

Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.




Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.


I like to uo these with S uiffeient weights. I stait out with the meuium weight, go to the
heaviest anu enu up with the lightest. Basically, I want to enu with the fastest slams I can.


$IF $PEZWQI 6FD (^ WQ JGF J_ NY _KVJEWDF FcFELWQFQM I think it accomplishes so much anu
can ieally help golfeis.
It is not only gieat foi shouluei stability, but also abuominal anu giip stiength, hip inteinal
iotation, tiiceps (opposite aim), hip exteinal iotation (on the non-bent leg going back), hip
flexoi flexibility (in the half kneeling position befoie coming up) anu single leg stiength
coming up fiom the half kneeling position.


%PW %JQKEWJA has an e-book calleu 3KLZ d ,DEFGHDIA anu touay I am taking an exceipt iight
out of his book to show you $IF $PEZWQI 6FD (^M

1. Lie on the flooi, in a supine position (i.e. face up), next to an appiopiiate size kettlebell.





Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
2. 0se both hanus to piess the kettlebell veitical -- uiiectly above youi shouluei.
0nce in position, keep youi elbow lockeu, wiist stiaight, anu youi eyes on the kettlebell


S. Post youi foot close to youi buttocks (same siue as youi woiking aim.)






Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
4. Allow the weight to uiift slightly foiwaiu, then push off youi posteu foot anu sit up. It is
acceptable to allow youi fiee aim to assist slightly in sitting up.









Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.

S. Fiom sitting, slowly move to the kneeling position. This can be uone a numbei of ways.
The main thing is to move slowly, keeping youi woiking aim peipenuiculai to the giounu
anu to finish in well-suppoiteu, S-point kneeling position.



















Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
6. Slowly stiaighten youi toiso, anu then stanu stiaight up



7. Now that the fist half of the Tu0 is ovei, simply ieveise the steps until you have ieacheu
youi staiting point.












Jump Training: More Than Just the Vertical
Anuy Twellman

In the few yeais that we've been tiaining athletes at Tiain 4 The uame, we've often founu
ouiselves focuseu on how to help oui athletes jump highei. At the enu of eveiy phase we'u
test them to see how much they hau impioveu theii veitical jump, anu invaiiably we'u get
them jumping highei anu eveiyone was happy. It wasn't until we staiteu watching viueos
of basketball injuiies one uay that we staiteu to iealize that we might be missing a piece of
the puzzle. What we weie uoing was getting iesults, but we staiteu to iealize that in spite
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
of oui success at helping athletes jump highei, we might still be able to uo it bettei, both in
teims of peifoimance anu injuiy pievention.

At the time, the majoiity of oui athletes playeu eithei basketball oi volleyball, so we took a
step back anu watcheu how they playeu. We lookeu at how they jumpeu anu how they
moveu. We saw that sometimes they hau to jump 2 oi S times in a iow with only a veiy
biief time on the giounu between jumps. 0ften the playei that coulu get back up the
quickest won the battle.
We also lookeu at how they loaueu theii bouies piioi to jumping. Sometimes the jump was
pieceueu by a laige amount of tiunk flexion anu aim swing, othei times the tiunk stayeu
faiily upiight anu the aims stayeu high oveiheau. Noie inteiestingly, we noticeu that the
athletes iaiely lanueu quietly with theii feet squaie like we taught them to. It seemeu like
they weie moie conceineu with the ball than on the lanuing. Sometimes they lanueu on
two feet, but sometimes they lanueu on one. Sometimes they lanueu in the same place they
hau jumpeu fiom, but often they lanueu elsewheie. Theie weie also times when theii aims
weie oveiheau ieaching foi the ball when they lanueu iathei than swinging uownwaiu.

What we began to iealize was that while jumping highei anu moie efficiently was an
impoitant pait of the game, it was a lot moie complicateu than that. They neeueu to be able
to jump with the mechanical auvantage of hip flexion anu aim swing, but they also neeueu
to be effective when jumping (anu lanuing!) at a mechanical uisauvantage.

,JNF VKEWKUXFQ DJ LJGQWRFE TIFG FVKXPKDWGH ePN^WGH RFNKGRQ J_ K Q^JED
1. Aim actions. Sometimes swinging, othei times hanus oveiheau, ieaching iotationally
2. Amoitization phase lengths.
S. Takeoff weight uistiibution. 1 leg vs. 2.
4. Planes of jumping. In place, foiwaiu, backwaiu, iotational, etc.
S. Lanuing weight uistiibution. 1 leg vs. 2.
6. Biiection of attention.

To this point, we almost always tiaineu eithei with no aim action oi with a uownwaiu aim
swing on the loau. We hau also focuseu on lanuing quietly on eithei 1 leg oi two, allowing
the knee anu hip to benu to help uissipate foice anu cieate stability.
Bowevei, we staiteu to suspect that in auuition to impioving the ability to jump high fiom
a vaiiety of positions, we might also be able to pievent some of the lanuing injuiies
inheient to playing spoits if we maue some auuitions to oui piogiam. Cleaily the uppei
pait of the chain hau a huge impact on the lowei pait of the chain anu vice veisa. The take
home message was that iaiely uuiing competition was the action uiiven by attention to the
jump. Insteau, we saw that jumping was influenceu by the position anu uiiection of the ball,
othei playeis, anu othei continually changing vaiiables. Those vaiiables iequiie the bouy
to aujust.
What we iealizeu was that iathei than spenuing all of oui time tiaining oui athletes to
jump anu lanu a ceitain way, we may be moie successful if we teach them to jump anu lanu
in a lot of uiffeient ways. That way, when the game asks that they aujust, they aujust. The
consequences foi not being able to aujust have enueu the athletic caieeis of too many.
Entei the jump, hop, anu leap matiices. By going fiom 2 feet to 2 feet, one foot to the same
foot, one foot to the opposite foot, oi even 2 to 1 oi 1 to 2, all of the possibilities aie
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
coveieu. Auu in all of the possibilities foi uiffeient ieaches anu swings with the aims, anu
suuuenly you've got a huge toolbox to choose fiom. The gieat pait is that baseu on who the
athlete is anu what theii spoit uemanus, you'll piobably only neeu to use bits anu pieces of
the matiix.
You also will have the flexibility to intelligently piogiess athletes as they gain the necessaiy
mobility anu stability to contiol theii bouies. The take home point is that by taking a closei
look at the biomechanics youi athletes' spoit iequiies, you can successfully auu a few
simple components that will help theii peifoimance anu ueciease theii iisk of injuiy.

Check out viueo Samples of all the exeicises heie:
http:www.stiengthcoach.commembeis1SS8.cfm









The Case For Single Limb Training
9WLIKFX 3JYXF


This guy iuns on two legs at a time. It's ieally calleu
jumping. Bunnies uon't iun, they jump.


Running, by uefinition, is a single leg action, ieally a seiies of bounus. This is why veitical
jumps coiielate so highly to speeu. Running is simply a seiies of hoiizontal bounus.

In the eaily 199us, when people like vein uambetta anu uaiy uiay began to point out
simple anatomical lessons to me, all I coulu uo was listen. uuys like uiay anu uambetta
basically saiu that oui appioach of conventional uouble leg tiaining was flaweu, that oui
sagittal plane uominateu woilu wasn't iealistic. Beiesy oi science. Think about it.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.

Stiength tiaining has been anu still is piimaiily sagittal plane anu uouble limb. Bowevei,
we've useu single limb tiaining foi uppei bouy stuff foi yeais anu iaveu about its
supeiioiity. We call it uumbbell tiaining. Bumbbell bench piesses anu incline piesses aie
wiuely accepteu, as aie uumbbell iows. Bowevei, unilateial lowei bouy tiaining was
fiowneu upon. Step-ups. Lunges. Those aie exeicises foi giils, iight.

Ny ieaction back in 199u was, "What uo you mean, uo single leg exeicises. What about
squats anu ueaulifts." The iuea that single leg squats oi lunges uone with only bouyweight
might be beneficial to athletes oi to those looking to gain moie muscle mass was initially as
foieign anu abhoiient to me as it was to many of you.
Bouyweight. Aie you kiuuing. Come on, pile on the plates! Bon't show me youi single leg
squat; tell me how much you squat!

0nfoitunately foi those who think that, tiaining ieally comes uown to two things: anatomy
anu physics. 0ui knowleuge of physics hasn't changeu gieatly ovei the last few uecaues,
but oui knowleuge of what we now call "functional anatomy" ieally has. The concepts
piesenteu in functional anatomy aie what leu me to functional tiaining.

I often uesciibe functional tiaining as the application of functional anatomy to tiaining. The
tiuth is I'm a little embaiiasseu that I'm foievei stuck with the "functional guy" label.
People see the covei of my book anu nevei ieau it. It's the classic case of juuging a book by
the covei. Bon't people always tell us not to uo that.

0kay, what uoes this have to uo with the aveiage T-Nation ieauei. The ieality is it has a lot
to uo with the aveiage T-Nation ieauei. Single limb tiaining is a logical outgiowth of what
we now know about functional anatomy. It'll piomote gieatei muscle giowth anu gieatei
muscle stiength because it woiks moie muscles. Knowing the way the bouy woiks allows
us to uevelop anu utilize exeicises that woik not just piime moveis, but stabilizeis anu
neutializeis.

0nueistanu, I'm not anti-bilateial exeicise; I'm simply pio uni-lateial exeicise. 0ntil
iecently, my athletes peifoimeu 0lympic lifts almost eveiy uay. This is a uouble leg activity
uesigneu to woik powei. In auuition, we'll peifoim fiont squats at least once pei week.
Bowevei, that uoesn't negate the case foi single leg exeicise eithei foi peifoimance oi foi
muscle gain. The anatomical eviuence foi single leg exeicise is still oveiwhelming.

As a iesult, my athletes anu peisonal tiaining clients uo lots of single leg exeicises.
When looking at the anteiioi chain we see what's calleu the lateial sub-system. The lateial
sub-system consists of the gluteus meuius, the auuuctois, anu the quauiatus lumboium.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.




When we stanu on one leg, as in a one-leg squat, we engage thiee muscles that we uon't use
in a two-leg squat. I know some will say we use the auuuctois because the knees move
apait in the uescent, but this isn't the same. The key to the lateial sub-system is that we
engage these auuitional muscles in theii noimal iole of stabilizeis, not as moveis.
In auuition, in any single leg exeicise, bouyweight becomes a moie significant pait of the
iesistance.
voila, functional tiaining: tiaining the muscles that we'ie using in the way that we use
them. Bottom line: this uoesn't happen in any veision of the uouble leg squat.
In a conventional uouble leg squat, we simply stiengthen the piime moveis anu neglect the
stabilizeis. 0sing the cai analogy, we get a biggei engine, but maybe bau tiies.
Now, I know many ieaueis will say, "We've uone it this way foi yeais anu it woiks." Well,
heie's wheie I uisagiee. We've uone it this way foi yeais, but I'm not so suie it woiks all
that well. People have been squatting foi yeais but veiy few athletes squat piopeily. uo
into any weight ioom in Ameiica anu I guaiantee you'll see moie bau squatteis than goou
ones.
As foi the "it woiks" pait, again I'm not so suie. If what we weie uoing woikeu so well, why
uo we have so many ACL teais anu so many bau backs. I tiuly believe that single leg
tiaining is the best way to pievent knee injuiies anu the best way to tiain aiounu a back
pioblem. Bouble leg tiaining may cieate uouble leg stiength, but uouble leg tiaining
uoesn't have the auuitional pieventative value of single leg tiaining.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
Ny othei pioblem: uouble leg stiength uoesn't coiielate to single leg stiength. I can't tell
you how many athletes I've seen that can squat in excess of Suu pounus yet can't uo a
single leg squat. The ieality is that they lack "functional stiength."

veiy little in life oi spoit is uone with two feet on the giounu. In fact, iowing is the only
spoit wheie both legs woik simultaneously. In life, it iaiely happens. Single leg tiaining
bieaks uown the same as uouble leg tiaining; we have knee uominant anu hip uominant
exeicises.

0GDFEWJE )IKWG JE BGFF 'JNWGKGD ,WGHXF =FH $EKWGWGH
All of the squat vaiiations fall unuei the categoiy of anteiioi chain oi knee uominant single
leg exeicises. Lunges, step-ups, split squats, ieai foot elevateu split squats (Bulgaiians, as
much as I hate the teim) anu tiue one leg squats (pistols, anothei name I uon't like) aie all
examples of knee uominant single leg exeicises.

The gieat pait about these exeicises is that it's ieally haiu to make them into glute oi lowei
back exeicises. Not tiue with the olu back squat. The ieally beneficial (anu ieally uifficult)
knee-uominant single leg exeicises aie what we call single leg unsuppoiteu.
Static, unsuppoiteu single leg exeicises consist of single leg movements uone on one leg
with no movement foiwaiu oi back (see viueo above).
To fuithei explain, a lunge woulu be uynamic as the centei of giavity moves foiwaiu anu
back. It's suppoiteu, as the non-woiking foot is in contact with the giounu.





Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
In an unsuppoiteu single leg exeicise, the non-woiking extiemity isn't alloweu to touch the
giounu oi any othei object such as a bench. The only tiue static unsuppoiteu exeicises aie
vaiiations of one-leg squats. These may be iefeiieu to as pistols, one leg squats, balance
squats, oi step-uowns in vaiious texts.


The 0ne Leg Squat: A tiue static unsuppoiteu
exeicise


0ntil iecently, I uiun't feel it was necessaiy to uistinguish between a static unsuppoiteu
exeicise anu a static suppoiteu exeicise. Stiength anu conuitioning coach Kaien Woou
convinceu me otheiwise. Woou's iational was that theie was limiteu functional caiiyovei
fiom the single leg suppoiteu categoiy to the single leg unsuppoiteu categoiy. In othei
woius, peifoimance of exeicises like split squats oi one leg bench squats (Bulgaiian lunges
in the liteiatuie) uiun't seem to caiiy ovei to peifoimance in a tiue one-leg squat.
Noie anu moie eviuence points to the ielationship of the hip iotatois anu the glute meuius
to oveiuse knee pioblems. In static suppoiteu exeicises (Bulgaiians, split squats) the hip
iotatois anu glute meuius uon't take an active iole in stabilizing the femui. In tiue static
unsuppoiteu exeicises, the hip iotatois anu glute meuius must actively woik to pievent
inteinal iotation of the femui.
The exeicises aie essentially tii-planai as the movement may be sagittal, but the stabilizeis
must pievent movement in the fiontal anu tiansveise plane. Any static unsuppoiteu
exeicise automatically becomes a tii-planai movement as the stabilizeis woik as what we
call anti-iotatois.
The bottom line is, moie muscles woik in an unsuppoiteu one-leg squat. Eithei way, if
you'ie looking foi assistance exeicises to woik moie muscle anu impiove peifoimance,
foiget extensions anu leg piesses anu auu in some one leg squat vaiiations. I'll bet you that
if you uon't know wheie youi glute meuius is touay, you will aftei youi fiist uay of one-leg
squats!
5JQDFEWJE )IKWG JE -W^ 'JNWGKGD ,WGHXF =FH $EKWGWGH
The inteiesting thing about hip uominant single leg tiaining is that it's in fact not only
single limb, but also single joint. Foi yeais we've heaiu the guius (anu that often incluueu
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
me) say that single joint exeicises aie a waste of time. We auvocateu multi-joint
movements as they gave us the most "bang foi the buck."

0vei time, I've iealizeu that it's not about how many joints woik as it is about how many
muscles woik. The "no single joint exeicises" mantia may be an oveisimplification. I may
uislike a lateial iaise oi a leg extension because it isolates a single muscle in a non-
functional mannei, but I love one leg stiaight leg ueaulifts.

In tiuth, a one-leg stiaight leg ueaulift is a single joint exeicise. What makes it bettei than a
leg extension oi a leg cuil. The numbei of muscles woiking. It's not about the numbei of
joints that aie moving; it's about the combineu action of moving a joint in one plane while
stabilizing in two otheis.
In the one leg stiaight leg ueaulift, the action is a sagittal plane hip hinge. Bowevei, the
spinal eiectois, lowei tiaps, anu ihomboius must woik to stabilize the spine anu the
scapula. The hip iotatois anu pelvic stabilizeis woik to keep the pelvis moving in the
sagittal plane.

What appeais to be a ielatively simple single joint exeicise is actually an extiemely
complex exeicise in muscle syneigy that incoipoiates a huge amount of muscle. In auuition,
one leg stiaight leg ueaulifts pioviue gieat stiess to the glutes anu hamstiings while
pioviuing Su% less back stiess. Anothei gieat selling point.
The same can be saiu foi the sliueboaiu leg cuil. 0nce again we have a single joint action. In
fact, biomechanically, some woulu claim that it's the same action as a pione machine leg
cuil. Bowevei, as they say in the NFL, upon fuithei ieview, the sliueboaiu leg cuil becomes
a fai supeiioi exeicise.

Why. Because the glutes anu hamstiings must woik togethei to holu the hip in extension
while the hamstiing woiks alone to flex the knee. The sliueboaiu leg cuil in effect foices
the hamstiing to woik fiom both enus in its two joint function as a syneigist of hip
extension anu a piime movei in knee flexion.

]EK^2(^
Sounu complicateu. I guess it is. It's cleaily not as simple as "single joint is bau, multi joint
is goou." But if you'ie an athlete tiaining to impiove peifoimance, an athlete tiying to
ieuuce injuiy potential, oi a bouybuiluei looking to stiess some little useu muscles, give
one leg squats, one leg stiaight leg ueaulifts, anu sliueboaiu leg cuils a tiy!

Check out the viueo samples heie:
http:www.stiengthcoach.commembeis1S69.cfm






Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.







25 Years, 25 Mistakes
Nichael Boyle

This yeai I'll entei my twenty-fifth yeai as a stiength anu conuitioning coach. Last month I
watcheu Baibaia Walteis celebiate hei thiitieth yeai with a special calleu "Su Nistakes in
Su Yeais." I'm going to celebiate my twenty-fifth anniveisaiy by telling you my top twenty-
five mistakes. Bopefully I'll save you some time, pain, anu injuiy. Expeiience is a wonueiful
but impatient teachei. Anu unfoitunately, oui expeiiences in stiength anu conuitioning
sometimes huit people besiues us.
9WQDKZF f:@ BGJTWGH WD KXX I love 0scai Wilue's quote, "I'm much too olu to know
eveiything." 0mniscience is ieseiveu foi the young. As the olu saying goes, you have one
mouth anu two eais foi a ieason. I'u take it a step fuithei anu say the iatio is foui to one:
two eyes, two eais, anu one mouth.
To continue uown the clich ioau, how about this one: "It's what you leain aftei you know
it all that counts." When I was young I hau many answeis anu few questions. I knew the
best way to uo eveiything. Now that I'm oluei I'm not suie if I even know a goou way to uo
anything.
9WQDKZF f<@ #JD DKZWGH WGDFEGQ QJJGFE
I was so smait that no one was smait enough to help me. (See mistake numbei one.) Ny
piouuctivity incieaseu uiastically when I began to take inteins.
Note: Inteins aien't janitois, launuiy woikeis, oi slaves. They'ie geneially young people
who look up to you anu expect to leain. Take youi iesponsibility seiiously. Remembei the
goluen iule.
9WQDKZF f*@ #JD VWQWDWGH JDIFE LJKLIFQ
uou, it seems eveiything goes back to numbei one! I was too busy iunning the peifect
piogiam to attempt to go leain fiom someone else. Plus, when you know it all, how much
can you leain.
Finu the goou coaches oi tiaineis in youi aiea (oi in any aiea you visit) anu aiiange to
meet them oi just watch them woik. I often will just sit with a notebook anu tiy to see what
they uo bettei than I uo.
I can iemembei cuiient San Fiancisco 49'eis stiength anu conuitioning coach }ohnny
Paikei allowing us to visit when he was with the New Englanu Patiiots anu then asking us
questions about what we saw anu what we thought he coulu uo bettei. Coach Paikei is a
humble man who always pioviueu a gieat example of the type of coach anu peison I
wanteu to be.


Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
9WQDKZF f/@ 5PDDWGH QgPKEF ^FHQ WG EJPGR IJXFQ
The bottom line is that not eveiyone is maue to squat oi to clean. I iaiely squatteu with my
basketball playeis as many founu squatting uncomfoitable foi theii backs anu knees.
It killeu me to stop because the squat is a lift I funuamentally believeu in, but athletes with
long femuis will be pooi squatteis. It's physics. It took me a while to iealize that a goou lift
isn't goou foi eveiybouy.
9WQDKZF f7@ #JD KDDFGRWGH DIF (GWDFR ,DKDFQ ]FWHIDXW_DWGH )IKN^WJGQIW^Q QJJGFE
Ny only visit as a spectatoi to an 0lympic lifting meet maue me iealize that 0lympic lifts
piouuceu gieat athletes. I know this will piss off the poweilifteis, but those 0lympic lifteis
lookeu so much moie athletic.
I iemembei being at the Senioi's when they weie helu in Nassachusetts in the eaily
eighties anu walking away thinking, "This is what I want my athletes to look like."
0nueistanu, at that time I was a competitive poweiliftei anu my piogiams ieflecteu that.
9WQDKZF fh@ 3FWGH K QDEFGHDI LJKLI
Bow can that be a mistake. Let's look at the evolution of the job. When I staiteu, I was often
iefeiieu to as the "weight coach." As the piofession evolveu, we became stiength coaches,
then stiength anu conuitioning coaches, anu touay many iefei to themselves as
"peifoimance enhancement specialists."

All these names ieflect the changes in oui job. Foi too many yeais, I was a stiength coach.
Eventually I iealizeu that I knew moie about conuitioning than the spoit coaches uiu, so we
took on that iesponsibility. Latei, I iealizeu that I often knew moie about movement than
the spoit coaches too, so we began to teach movement skills. This piocess took close to
eighteen of my twenty-five yeais. I wish it hau been fastei.
9WQDKZF fi@ 0RRWGH TWDIJPD QPUDEKLDWGH
0vei the yeais we've continueu to auu moie anu moie CNS intensive tiaining techniques to
oui aisenal. Squatting, 0lympic lifting, spiinting, pulling sleus, anu jumping all aie (oi can
be) CNS intensive.
I think I uo too much CNS intensive woik, anu intenu to change that. Ny thanks go out to
}ason Feiiugia foi pointing out this one.
9WQDKZF fj@ =WQDFGWGH DJ DEKLZ LJKLIFQ
Please uon't get me wiong. Some of the people who weie most influential in my
piofessional uevelopment weie tiack coaches. I leaineu volumes fiom guys like Bon Chu,
vein uambetta, Chailie Fiancis, anu Bient NcFailanu.
Bowevei, it took me too long to iealize that they coacheu people who ian upiight almost all
the time anu nevei hau to stop oi to change uiiection. The olu joke in tiack coaching is that
it ieally comes uown to "iun fast anu lean left."
9WQDKZF fd@ #JD NFFDWGH 9KEZ 8FEQDFHFG QJJGFE
Naik may be the most misunueistoou guy in oui fielu. Be's a gieat coach anu a bettei
fiienu. About ten yeais ago a fiienu biought me a magazine aiticle about Naik veistegen.
The aiticle uemonstiateu some inteiesting uiills that I'u nevei seen. I ueciueu my next
vacation woulu be to Floiiua's uulf Coast as Naik was then in Biauenton, Floiiua.

I was lucky enough to know Baiiyl Eto, a genius in his own iight, who was a co-woikei of
Naik's. In the small woilu categoiy, Baiiyl's college coach was the legenuaiy Bon Chu.
Baiiyl aiiangeu foi me to obseive some tiaining sessions in Biauenton. I sat fascinateu foi
houis as I watcheu gieat young coaches woik. Naik was one of the fiist to bieak out of the
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
tiack molu we weie all stuck in anu teach lateial anu multi-uiiectional movement with the
same skill that the tiack coaches taught lineai movement. This piocess was a quantum leap
foi me anu became a quantum leap foi my athletes.
This was my step fiom stiength anu conuitioning coach to peifoimance enhancement
specialist (although I nevei iefei to myself as the lattei). The key to this piocess was
accepting the fact that Naik anu his co-woikeis weie fai aheau of me in this ciitical aiea.
9WQDKZF f:;@ )J^YWGH ^XYJNFDEWL ^EJHEKNQ
This goes back to the tiack coach thing. I believe I injuieu a few athletes in my caieei by
simply taking what I was tolu anu attempting to uo it with my athletes. I've since leaineu to
filtei infoimation bettei, but the way I leaineu was thiough tiial anu eiioi... anu the eiioi
piobably iesulteu in soie knees oi soie backs foi my athletes.
Tiack jumpeis aie unique anu cleaily aie involveu in tiack anu fielu because they'ie suiteu
foi it. What's goou foi a long jumpei is piobably not goou foi a football lineman. It took me
too long to iealize this.
9WQDKZF f::@ )J^YWGH KGY ^EJHEKNQ
Luckily foi me, I iaiely copieu stiength piogiams when tiaining my athletes. This mistake
might be beyonu the statute of limitations as it was moie than twenty-five yeais ago.
I think copying the tiaining piogiams of gieat poweilifteis like ueoige Fienn anu Rogei
Estep left me with the soie back anu bau shoulueis I've caiiieu aiounu foi the last twenty-
five yeais. What woiks foi the genetically gifteu piobably won't woik foi the genetically
aveiage.
9WQDKZF f:<@ #JD DFKLIWGH NY KDIXFDFQ DJ QGKDLI QJJGFE
We've uone snatches foi piobably the last seven oi eight yeais. The snatch is a gieat lift
that's easiei to leain than the clean anu has gieatei athletic caiiyovei. Take the time to tiy
it anu stuuy it. You'll thank me.
9WQDKZF f:*@ ,DKEDWGH DJ DFKLI QGKDLIFQ TWDI K QGKDLI HEW^
When I iealizeu that snatches woulu be a gieat lift foi my athletes I began to implement
them into my piogiams. Within a week some athletes complaineu of shouluei pain. In two
weeks, so many complaineu that I took snatches out of the piogiam. It wasn't until I
ievisiteu the snatch with a clean giip that I tiuly began to see the benefits.
}ust iemembei, the only ieason 0lympic lifteis use a wiue snatch giip is so that they can
ieuuce the uistance the bai tiavels anu as a iesult lift moie weight. Close-giip snatches
maikeuly ueciease the exteinal iotation component anu also inciease the uistance
tiaveleu. The iesult is a bettei lift, but less weight.
9WQDKZF f:/@ )JG_PQWGH RWQKHEFF TWDI RWQXWZF
I think it's gieat to uisagiee. The fielu woulu be boiing if we all agieeu. What I iealize now
is that I've met veiy few people in this fielu I uon't like anu many I uisagiee with. I piobably
enjoy life moie now that I uon't feel compelleu to ignoie those who uon't agiee with me.
9WQDKZF f:7@ )JG_PQWGH EFKRWGH TWDI UFXWFVWGH
This concept came to me by way of stiength coach Naitin Rooney. It's gieat to ieau. We just
neeu to iemembei that in spite of the best effoits of euitois, what we ieau may not always
be tiue.
If the book is moie than two yeais olu, theie's a goou chance even the authoi no longei
agiees with all the infoimation in it. Reau often, but ieau analytically.



Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
9WQDKZF f:h@ =WQDFGWGH DJ ^KWR Fc^FEDQ
Eaily on, many of us weie uupeu by the people fiom companies like Cybex oi Nautilus.
Theii expeits pioclaimeu theii systems to be the futuie, but now the cam anu isokinetics
aie the past. }ust as in any othei fielu, people will say things foi money.
9WQDKZF f:i@ #JD KDDFGRWGH JGF QFNWGKE ^FE YFKE ePQD KQ K ^KEDWLW^KGD
I speak appioximately twenty times a yeai. Nost times I stay anu listen to the othei
speakeis. If you uon't uo continuing euucation, stait. If you woik in the continuing
euucation fielu, go to at least one seminai given by an expeit in youi fielu as a paiticipant.

QR0*#A 8%$*.@#$ ISJKT .+# 10+# ;#+$0'.5 *,.' ;+07#$$%0'.5U GB* @##; +#.2%'&VW

9WQDKZF f:j@ #JD DKZWGH FGJPHI VKLKDWJG DWNF
When I fiist woikeu at Boston 0niveisity we weie alloweu two weeks paiu vacation. Foi
the fiist ten yeais I nevei took moie than one.
0sually I took off the week between Chiistmas anu New Yeais. This is an expensive week to
vacation, but it meant that I'u miss the least numbei of woikouts since most of my athletes
weie home at this time. I think the fiist time I took a week off in the summei was about
foui yeais ago. Ny iationale. Summei is peak tiaining time. Can't miss one of those weeks.
I think theie's a thin line between ueuication anu stupiuity, anu I often ciosseu it. I think in
my eaily yeais I was moie uisappointeu that the whole piogiam haun't collapseu uuiing
any of my biief absences. I felt less valuable when I ietuineu fiom a seminai anu iealizeu
that eveiything hau gone gieat.
Stephen Covey iefeis to it as "shaipening the saw." Take the time to vacation. You'll be
bettei foi it.
9WQDKZF f:d@ #FHXFLDWGH YJPE JTG IFKXDI
This is an embaiiassing stoiy, but this aiticle is all about helping otheis to not iepeat my
eiiois. Eveiy yeai in Febiuaiy I'u finu myself in the uoctoi's office with a uiffeient
complaint: gastio-intestinal pioblems, heauaches, flu-type illnesses, etc. I hau a wonueiful
geneial piactitionei who took a gieat inteiest in his patients. Bis iesponse yeai aftei yeai
was the same: slow uown. You can't woik 6u-8u houis a week anu be healthy.
Like a fool I yesseu him to ueath anu went back to my scheuule. Aftei about the fifth yeai of
this piocess my uoctoi saiu, "I neeu to iefei you to a specialist who can help you with this
pioblem" anu he hanueu me a caiu. I was expecting an alleigist oi peihaps some type of
holistic stiess expeit. Insteau I founu myself holuing a caiu foi a psychiatiist.
Ny uoctoi's iesponse was simple. I can't help you. You neeu to figuie out why you continue
to uo this to youiself yeai in anu yeai out. I went outsiue anu calleu my wife. I tolu hei it
was a "goou news-bau news" scenaiio. I wasn't seiiously ill, but I might be ciazy.
0nfoitunately, she alieauy knew this.
9WQDKZF f<;@ #JD EFLJHGW\WGH QDEFQQ
Again I iemembei talking to a nuise who was tieating me foi a gastiointestinal pioblem. I
seemeu to have chionic heaitbuin. Bei fiist question was, "Aie you unuei any stiess." Ny
iesponse was the usual. Ne. Stiess. I have the gieatest job in the woilu. I love going to
woik eveiy uay!
Bo you know what hei iesponse was. She saiu, "Remembei, stiess isn't always negative." It
was the fiist time I'u ieally thought about that. Ny job was stiessful. Long uays, weekenu
tiavel, too many late nights celebiating victoiies oi uiowning soiiows. A pait-time job to
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
make extia money meant woiking at a bai on Fiiuay anu Satuiuay until 2 AN, anu that was
often followeu by uiinks until 4 AN.
Sounus like fun, but it auueu up to stiess. The lesson: stiess uoesn't have to be negative.
Stiess can just be fiom volume.
9WQDKZF f<:@ #JD IKVWGH ZWRQ QJJGFE
As a typical type-A asshole know-it-all, I was way too busy to be botheieu with kius. They
woulu simply be little people who got in the way of my plans to change the woilu of
stiength anu conuitioning. I iegiet that I piobably won't live to 1uu. If I uiu I'u get to spenu
anothei SS yeais with my kius.
9WQDKZF f<<@ #FHXFLDWGH NY TW_F
See above. It wasn't until I hau chiluien that I tiuly iealizeu how my obsession with woik
causeu me to neglect my wife. I have often apologizeu to hei, but piobably not often
enough.
9WQDKZF f<*@ #JD DKZWGH GK^Q
Bo you see the pattein heie. Whethei we'ie peisonal tiaineis oi stiength anu conuitioning
coaches, the bauge of honoi is often lack of sleep. Bow often have you heaiu someone say,
"I only neeu five houis a night!"
In the last few yeais I've tiieu to take a nap eveiy uay I'm able. As we age we sleep less at
night anu get up eailiei. I'm not suie if this is a goou thing. I know when I'm well-iesteu I'm
a bettei husbanu anu fathei than when I'm exhausteu at the enu of a uay that might have
begun at 4:4S AN.
Theie's no shame in sleep, although I think many woulu tiy to make us believe theie is.
9WQDKZF f</@ #JD HWVWGH FGJPHI DJ LIKEWDY
Nost of us aie lucky. Tiy to think of those who have less than you. I'm not a ieligious
peison, but I've been blesseu with a gieat life. I tiy eveiy uay to "pay it foiwaiu." If you
haven't seen the movie, ient it. The moie you give, the moie you get.
9WQDKZF f<7@ %FKRWGH KG KEDWLXF XWZF DIWQ KGR DIWGZWGH WD RJFQGkD K^^XY DJ YJP
Tiust me, uenial is oui biggest pioblem.











Anterior Knee Pain - Pain Site versus Pain Source
Nichael Boyle

Anteiioi knee pain goes by a laige numbei of names but unfoitunately seems to have
ielatively few effective tieatments. Chonuiomalacia Patella, Patella Tenuonitis anu Patella-
Femoial Synuiome aie all names useu to uesciibe vaiious types of often uebilitating
anteiioi knee pain. A laige pait of the pioblem in tieating anteiioi knee pain may be that
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
tieatment has often focuseu on the knee joint oi, what woulu be uesciibeu as the piimaiy
pain site. In ieality, the knee may be the iepositoiy of pain that emanates fiom issues at the
hip oi the foot. A knee-centeieu appioach to tieatment of anteiioi knee pain becomes a
symptom-baseu appioach veisus a cause-baseu appioach. In othei woius tieatment often
focuses on eliminating a key symptom veisus tiying to eliminate the cause.

Inteiesting enough cuiient ieseaich is leauing to the conclusion that many of the oveiuse
conuitions of the knee aie not conuitions of the knee at all. Anteiioi knee pain may in fact
be moie of a symptom than a uiagnosis. All of the conuitions mentioneu in the opening
sentence may in fact be ielateu to pooi stability at the hip but piesent as knee pain.
(Poweis, 2uuS)
The analogy we have fiequently useu to uesciibe why this occuis is what I iefei to as the
"iope analogy". If I put a noose loosely aiounu youi neck, stoou in fiont of you, anu pulleu
on it you woulu tell me that the back of youi neck huit. If I simply stoppeu pulling on the
iope youi neck pain woulu uisappeai. The fact of the mattei is that nothing was evei ieally
wiong with youi neck. The neck was simply the enupoint at which you felt the pull. This is
veiy similai to the effect of the glute meuius anu glute max pulling on the IT banu anu
iesulting in pain at the knee. The IT banu tiansmits foices fiom the glute meuius to the
patella tenuon. Foi some ieason the patella tenuon feels pain much like the back of the
neck feels the pull fiom the iope.
Anothei potential cause of anteiioi knee pain may be an unintentional loss of ankle
mobility. The zeal of athletic tiaineis to stabilize the ankle with shoes, tape anu biaces has
leu to many athletes playing with ankle joints that function as if they weie fuseu. The
ieality is that in the spoit of basketball (a leauing spoit foi anteiioi knee pain) seiious
ankle spiains aie less fiequent anu patella-femoial pain has ieacheu neai epiuemic levels.

The uesiie to ovei-stabilize the ankle joint has leu to a phenomenon we now call the "high
ankle spiain" anu to an epiuemic of patella tenuon issues. The high ankle spiain was
viitually unknown twenty yeais ago anu may also be a by-piouuct of ovei-stabilizing the
ankle. Inteiestingly enough soccei has few ankle oi patella-femoial pioblems yet, soccei
playeis use a low cut, lightweight shoe on giass. Tiaining with less aitificial stability at the
ankle joint piobably piotects the ankle anu the knee.

0vei the past uecaue, Anteiioi Knee Pain has been blameu on pooi vN0 uevelopment,
pooi "patella tiacking" anu numeious othei causes. Nost tieatments have centeieu on
tiying to ieuuce the pain at the pain site with vaiious tieatments (ice, taping, ultiasounu
etc.) The ieality is that an aggiessive stiengthening piogiam aimeu fiom the hip uown,
paiticulaily the eccentiic contiol of knee flexion, auuuction anu inteinal iotation may in
fact be moie effective.

The Iielanu stuuy (Iielanu et al. 2uuS) states cleaily that "females piesenting with patella-
femoial pain uemonstiate significant hip abuuction anu exteinal iotation weakness when
compaieu to non-symptomatic age matcheu contiols". Lowei extiemity stiengthening
uone with emphasis on hip contiol in combination with a piogiam of piogiessive single leg
plyometiic tiaining to auuiess the eccentiic anu neuial stability components may allow
many tiainees to expeiience long-teim ielief.

Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
Recent ieseaich has valiuateu what up until now was an empiiical feeling. Beginning thiee
yeais ago all athletes tiaining in oui facility woulu be evaluateu foi hip pain (palpation of
glute meuius) when complaining of anteiioi knee pain. We founu neaily a 1uu%
coiielation between Anteiioi Knee Pain anu glute meuius tenueiness. All of oui athletes
with anteiioi knee pain hau uiiect point tenueiness in the glute meuius of the hip on the
effecteu siue.
Soft tissue woik to the glute meuius (foam ioll, tennis ball, massage) causeu a significant
ieuuction in the pain at the patella in almost eveiy case. Nost also hau maikeu weakness in
manual muscle testing foi the glute meuius. The conclusion is obvious. Weak hip stabilizeis
cause a lack of contiol of knee anu hip flexion with an auuitional component of auuuction
anu inteinal iotation. These contiol issues iesult in a painful sensation in the patella-
femoial joint oi the patella tenuon.

Fuithei stuuy in the past yeai (Summei 2uu6) has causeu us to look at the auuuctois,
anothei hip stabilizei in the lateial sub-system. In 2uu6 in auuition to looking at lateial hip
stiuctuies as a potential causative factoi in knee pain we also began to look at the stiength
anu ovei-activity of the auuuctois. 0pon fuithei investigation we founu weakness in the
auuuctoi muscle gioup, with a piefeience to substitute hip flexois foi auuuctois, as well as
obvious tenuei tiiggei points in the auuuctois.

The key fiom a both a cause anu a solution stanupoint lie in the sagittal plane uominant
stiength tiaining so pievalent in the Ameiican system. 0ui Ameiican stiength tiaining
system is classically sagittal plane uominant as well as uouble leg oiienteu. It seems cleai
that the key to solving anteiioi knee pain lies in contiol of hip, knee anu foot movement in
the fiontal plane anu that single leg exeicises must be employeu in both stiength tiaining
anu powei tiaining to auuiess these issues.

In auuition the single leg stiength tiaining must centei on what we have teimeu single leg
unsuppoiteu exeicises like one leg squats anu one leg ueaulift vaiiations. Knee uominant
single leg exeicises like split squats anu ieai-foot elevateu split squats (sometimes iefeiieu
to as Bulgaiian squats fiom Spassov's woik) may pioviue auequate stiess in the sagittal
plane but uo not pioviue auequate stiess to the hip stiuctuies in the fiontal oi tiansveise
planes.
The athlete must be stanuing on one foot with the opposite foot having no contact with
eithei the flooi oi any othei object. In essence the act of stanuing on one foot anu
peifoiming a single leg squat becomes a tii-planai exeicise even though the athlete is
moving in only the sagittal plane. Baving only one foot in contact with the giounu foices
the hip stiuctuies (abuuctois anu exteinal iotatois) to stabilize against movement into
both the fiontal anu tiansveise planes. In these single leg unsuppoiteu exeicises we will
allow less than full R0N to uevelop hip contiol. This is a majoi exception in oui system of
tiaining as we have always useu full iange of motion exeicises. The objective is always to
get to a full pain fiee iange (see figuie 1) with bouyweight befoie the auuition of any
exteinal iesistance.
The exception will be the auuition of five-pounu uumbbells to allow weight shift towaiu the
heel. We have uubbeu this concept piogiessive iange of motion exeicise. The piogiession
is in iange veisus loau to cause the piogiessive contiol of hip motion.

Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
The following tieatment piogiam is suggesteu foi patella-femoial pain synuiomes:
,DF^ :2 Soft tissue woik to glute meuius with tennis ball anu foam ioll oi by a qualifieu
theiapist, tiainei etc. if available.
Foam Rolling Techniques

,DF^ <2 use of Reactive Neuiomusculai Tiaining foi the hip abuuctois in conjunction with a
stiengthening piogiam foi the knee anu hip extensois focusing on single leg unsuppoiteu
exeicises anu piogiessive iange of motion if necessaiy.

The teim Reactive Neuiomusculai Tiaining can be confusing as the same teim has been
useu by two well-iespecteu physical theiapists to uesciibe two entiiely uiffeient thought
piocesses. Nike Claik of the National Acauemy of Spoits Neuicine uses the teim Reactive
Neuiomusculai Tiaining foi all intents anu puiposes in place of the teim plyometiics.
Physical Theiapist uiay Cook on the othei hanu uses the teim Reactive Neuiomusculai
Tiaining to apply to an entiiely uiffeient thought piocess. Cook's concept of Reactive
Neuiomusculai Tiaining involves applying a stiess to a joint in opposition to the action of
the muscles. In othei woius to effectively taiget the hip abuuctois a banu is placeu aiounu
the knee anu the leg is pulleu with an auuuction foice. The auuition of the auuuction foice
will in effect "tuin on" the abuuctois.

Single Leg 0nsuppoiteu with Piogiessive Range of Notion Incieases anu RNT Emphasis is a
mouthful. The key is that the athlete is stanuing on one foot. In a theiapy oi peisonal
tiaining situation the auuuction foice can be pioviueu by the theiapist oi tiainei with
Theiabanu etc. In a gioups situation the auuuction foice can be pioviueu by a piece of
Theiatube as inuicateu in figuie 2. In figuie 2 the glute meuius fiies to countei the
auuuction foice of the tubing (iuea of couitesy of Shau Foisythe, Peifoimance Specialist,
Athletes Peifoimance-Los Angeles)

Check out all viueo examples heie:
http:www.stiengthcoach.commembeis1SS1.cfm

Figuie 1 Single Leg 0nsuppoiteu

Figuie 2-RNT to ulute Neuius

,DF^ *2 Bip Extension Stiengthening- stiengthening the hip extensois must incluue thiee
uistinctly uiffeient patteins. Pattein one is a stiaight leg pattein as in the one leg stiaight
leg ueaulift (actually a misnomei as the knee is intentionally bent to twenty uegiees.)
Pattein two is a bent leg pattein that incoipoiates the mechanics leaineu in the biiuging
exeicises fiom coie tiaining. Pattein S is a leg cuil pattein incoipoiating the hip extensoi
function of the glutes.
5KDDFEG :2 Single Leg uoou Noinings, 1 Leg SLBL, Low Pulley Anteiioi Reach (2u uegiee
knee flexion, flat back), Single Leg Pull Thiough. (Figuie S)
5KDDFEG <2 Biiuge anu Single Leg Biiuge vaiiations beginning flooi baseu anu woiking
fiom a B0S0 to a peanut shapeu stability ball (1 plane of instability) anu finally to a
stability ball (multi-planai instability). These exeicises taiget the glutes anu with the
auuition of instability the hip iotatoi gioup.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
Figuie S- Pattein- 1 Leg Stiaight Leg Beaulift
Figuie 4- Single Leg Elevateu Biiuge Finish
Figuie S- Single Leg Elevateu Biiuge- Stait
5KDDFEG *2 Sliueboaiu leg cuil vaiiations. The key with the sliueboaiu leg cuil is that the
glutes function isometiically to maintain hip extension while the hamstiings act to flex anu
extenu the knee. Any flexion of the hip negates the effectiveness of this class of exeicises.
Even one uegiee of motion at the hip negates the glute function. The best teaching
piogiession is to begin in a biiuge with glutes anu abs contiacteu anu eccentiically lowei
into an extenueu position.
,DF^ /- Concentiic tiaining of Bip Abuuctois -- although many woulu aigue that isolateu
single joint tiaining is not functional it is still necessaiy to tiain the concentiic action of the
hip abuuctois. This can be uone with simple siue leg lifts oi with stanuing abuuction on a
Pilates Refoimei oi NvP Shuttle.

0RRWDWJGKX 5JWGDQ J_ +N^IKQWQ
)JEF2
Coie tiaining shoulu always be incluueu in any sounu piogiam but, with patellafemoial
pain both quauiupeu anu biiuge vaiiations shoulu be useu foi emphasis on glute max anu
glute meu function.
)JGRWDWJGWGHl 9PQLXF +GRPEKGLF2
Retio walking is anothei excellent exeicise foi the athlete oi client with patella femoial
pain. Backwaiu walking pioviues less stiess to the patella-femoial joint anu is in fact a
seiies of closeu chain teiminal knee extensions. Backwaiu walking can begin with a
tieaumill piogiam of inteivals at piogiessively highei inclines anu piogiess to walking
backwaiu with a weighteu sleu.
+LLFGDEWL ,DEFGHDI2
Eccentiic stiength woik shoulu focus on single leg plyometiics with emphasis on lanuing
skills, jumps shoulu be foiwaiu as well as meuial anu lateial. In auuition the NvP Shuttle
can be useu to uevelop lanuing skills foi athletes ietuining fiom injuiy oi athletes with
pooi stiength to bouyweight iatios.
The key to battling patella femoial pain is auopt a well iounueu appioach that woiks on the
souice of the pain veisus the site of the pain anu takes into account all of the functions of
the lowei extiemity.
Figuie 6- Sliueboaiu Leg Cuil


3WUXWJHEK^IY
Poweis, Chiistophei, The Influence of Alteieu Lowei Extiemity Kinematics on Patella
Femoial }oint Bysfunction, }ouinal of 0ithopeuic anu Spoits Physical Theiapy, 2uuS; SS:
6S9-646 Iielanu et al Bip Stiength in Females with anu without Patella-Femoial Pain.
}ouinal of 0ithopeuic anu Spoits Physical Theiapy, 2uuS;SS:671-676

Check out viueo examples heie:
http:www.stiengthcoach.commembeis1SS1.cfm


Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.





Understanding and Training Hip Flexion?
Nichael Boyle

A iecent post on my website foium maue me iealize that often a shoit answei to a
complicateu question uoesn't woik. A few of my ieaueis seemeu to think that all of the
iecent talk about a weak psoas muscle oi an unuei-active psoas muscle might just be
people being tienuy. I foi one stiongly uisagiee.

I think my incieaseu knowleuge of the biomechanics of hip flexion is one of the most
valuable things that I have leaineu in the past five yeais. The pioblem with unueistanuing
hip flexion in geneial anu the psoas muscle in paiticulai is that we use the teim "hip flexoi"
as a geneiic teim to apply to five muscles, foui of which have uistinctly uiffeient leveiage
positions fiom the othei one. I must aumit that, like most of us in the piofession, I uiu not
pieviously make any uistinction among membeis of the hip flexoi gioup. All of the hip
flexoi muscles seemeu to woik togethei to flex the hip anu that, at the time, was enough foi
me.
Bowevei, my iecent ieauing into the woik of physical theiapist Shiiley Sahimann has
changeu my thinking about hip flexois, as it has about many othei muscle gioups.
The wisuom that Sahimann shaies in hei book "Biagnosis anu Tieatment of Novement
Impaiiment Synuiomes" explains many of the injuiy iiuules of the stiength anu
conuitioning fielu, paiticulaily the "hip flexoi" oi "quau" pull. The key to unueistanuing the
motion of hip flexion comes fiom looking at the anatomical leveiages of the uiffeient
muscles involveu. Theie aie five muscles that aie capable of assisting in hip flexion; the
tensoi fascia latae (TFL), the iectus femoiis (uistinct in that it is both a membei of the
quauiiceps gioup anu a hip flexoi), the iliacus, the saitoiius, anu the psoas. As pieviously
mentioneu thiee of these muscles possess something in common, two aie uistinctly
uiffeient.
As is often clich, the key is in the uiffeiences, not the similaiities. The TFL, iectus femoiis
anu saitoiius, all have inseition at the iliac ciest. This means that all of these muscles aie
capable of hip flexion up to the level of the hip. This is simply a function of the piinciples of
mechanical leveiage. The psoas anu the iliacus aie uiffeient. The psoas has its oiigin on the
entiie lumbai spine, the iliacus on the posteiioi of the ilium. This cieates two uistinct
uiffeiences.
1- The psoas acts uiiectly on the spine. Possibly as a stabilizei foi the iliacus anu possibly
as a flexoi
2- The psoas anu the iliacus aie the only hip flexois capable of biinging the hip above
ninety uegiees.
In the case of a weak oi unuei-active psoas oi iliacus the femui may move above the level
of the hip but it is not fiom the action of the psoas anu iliacus but iathei fiom the
momentum cieateu by the othei thiee hip flexois. With this knowleuge in hanu, I believe
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.
that oui knowleuge of back pain, "hip flexoi stiains", anu 'quau pulls" is uiastically
expanueu. Befoie we uiscuss specific injuiies let's fiist look at how to assess the function of
the psoas anu iliacus. Sahimann's test is simple. In single leg stance, pull one knee to the
chest anu ielease. Inability to keep the knee above ninety uegiees foi 1u-1S seconus
inuicates a weak psoas oi a weak iliacus.
0thei signs:
- a ciamp at the iliac ciest in the iegion of the TFL
- an immeuiate backwaiu lean to compensate
- a laige pelvic shift to the iight oi left
- a quick uiop fiom the top with a "catch" at the ninety-uegiee point

All of these will inuicate that the client oi athlete is attempting to compensate foi the weak
oi unuei-active muscles. The TFL ciamp is a classic illustiation of syneigistic uominance. A
muscle ciamps when attempting to shoiten in a uisauvantageous position. With the hip
flexeu above ninety, the TFL is alieauy shoiteneu anu unable to piouuce the necessaiy
foice to holu in a position of pooi leveiage. The attempt iesults in ciamping, much like a
hamstiing ciamp in biiuging when the gluts aie unuei-active. The same effects aie often
seen when attempting hanging knee ups (an exeicise we almost nevei uo as it teaches
compensation), except the ciamp oi stiain is in the iectus femoiis.

If the testei is conceineu that the subject is a skilleu compensatoi, we have uevelopeu a
bettei test that also has become oui favoiite psoasiliacus exeicise. The test was actually
uevelopeu by stiength anu conuitioning coach Kaien Woou. Bave the client oi athlete stanu
with one foot on a plyo box ( 24" woiks well foi most) that places the knee above the hip.
With the hanus oveiheau oi behinu the heau, attempt to lift the foot off the box anu holu foi
S sec. Inability to lift anu holu is inuicative of a weak psoas anu oi iliacus. To auu iesistance
anu use this test as an exeicise, lateial iesistois oi banus can be useu to inciease the
uifficulty of the isometiic.

It is impoitant to note that any test of the psoas oiiginating fiom below the hip is
inheiently invaliu as the iliac-oiiginateu hip flexois aie now at a leveiage auvantage.
0nueistanuing the unique functional contiibutions of the psoas anu iliacus illustiates how
a weak oi unuei-active muscle can be a factoi in both back pain anu in quauiiceps stiains.

With back pain, inability to flex the hip past ninety uegiees will often cause many clients oi
athletes to flex the lumbai spine to give the illusion of flexing the hips. Watch how many of
youi clients oi athletes will immeuiately flex the lumbai spine when askeu to biing the
knee to the chest. Theie is a cleai uistinction between biinging the knee to the chest anu
biinging the chest to the knee.

Attempting to biing the knee towaiu the chest anu above the level of the hip foices the
athlete oi client to use oi attempt to use the psoas anu iliacus. If they aie unable to uo this
one oi all of thiee things happen.
:2 The athlete oi client will flex the spine anu biing the chest to the knee. At fiist
obseivation this seems the same but fiom a back pain peispective, coulu not be moie
uiffeient. Flexion of the lumbai spine is the leauing cause of uisk uegeneiation. Those
athletes oi clients that substitute back motion foi hip motion get back pain.
Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.

<2 The athlete oi client will use the TFL anu the othei ischial hip flexois to flex the hip. In
this case the athlete oi client will begin to complain of a low level stiain in the TFL. This is a
iesult of oveiuse of a syneigist anu will feeu into a syneigistic uominance of the TFL anu
fuithei psoas anu iliacus uysfunction. This is what we have classically seen in oui hockey
athletes who utilize a flexeu postuie.

*2 The athlete oi client will use the iectus femoiis to cieate hip flexion. This is the
mysteiious "quau pull" seen in spiinteis oi on foity-yaiu uash uay in football. In this case
the etiology is the same as above, only the culpiit is now the iectus femoiis, not the TFL. It
shoulu be noteu, that most "quau pulls" oi "quau stiains" aie limiteu to the multi-joint
iectus femoiis. Soieness will be geneially iight neai the inseition point of the iectus
femoiis into the quauiiceps at about the halfway point of the thigh. The psoas anu iliacus
aie to the anteiioi hip as the glute is to the posteiioi hip. A weak glute max will cause
syneigistic uominance of the hamstiings anu extension of the lumbai spine to compensate
foi hip extension. This will leau to back pain, anteiioi hip pain ( anothei Sahimann point,
use of the hamstiing as the piimaiy hip extensoi, changes the levei aim of the femui anu
can cause anteiioi capsule pain), anu hamstiing stiains. 0n the liteial opposite siue a weak
oi unuei-active psoas will cause back pain fiom flexion iathei than extension, TFL stiain
anu iectus femoiis stiain.

The key to injuiy pievention anu injuiy iehab is a sounu unueistanuing of functional
anatomy. We neeu to stop iepeating the mistakes of the past anu begin to iealize that we all
still have a lot to leain fiom an anatomical anu biomechanical peispective. I am amazeu at
how little anatomy I ieally know when I look a little ueepei. 0ne of the best things I have
ieau in the past thiee yeais is Shiiley Sahimann's statement, "when a muscle is stiaineu,
the fiist thing to uo is look foi a weak oi unueiactive syneigistic."
When we aie looking at injuiies, shit uoes not just happen, it happens foi a ieason that is
goveineu by the laws of physics anu contiolleu by functional anatomy.













Michael Boyles StrengthCoach.com
2uu1 - 2u1S StiengthCoach.com All Rights Reseiveu. Repiouuction without peimission piohibiteu.


Membership has its advantages
A subscription to StrengthCoach.com gets you instant access to:
Unlimited Access to over 2,000 Pages of Sports Training
Articles, Videos, Audio Interviews and Webinars
Unlimited Access to Weekly Videos
Unlimited Access to Audio Interviews with Professional and
Collegiate Strength Coaches!
Unlimited Access to our private Members-Only Coaches Forums
Unlimited Access to brand new articles and programs added
every week!
Unlimited Access to Archived and Monthly Live Webinars
10% Discount on all Training Equipment orders from Perform
Better
And much more!

Decide to stay on after your 3-day trial and get:
A FREE downloadable Copy of Coach Boyle's book, "Designing
Strength Training Programs and Facilities"!!
A FREE downloadable Copy of Coach Boyle's book, "Advances in
Functional Training"!!

Subscribe today at StrengthCoach.com and get all this and more.

You might also like