Lean Bodies Consulting Newsletter

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Last year I had the opportunity to prepare (via training and nutrition) nearly 20 state pageant winners for the Mrs. America pageant. That means I was involved in the prep of nearly 40% of the competitors - not a bad gig if I do say so myself. It was a great experience and I had the pleasure of meeting some great people. One such person that I connected really well with was the 2006 Mrs. Michigan America, Jody Bernhardt. Jody, by the way, has also won the Mrs. Michigan United States pageant. Anyway, Jody has moved on and is now the Director of the Mrs. Michigan America Pageant. Where am I going with this? Well, I had the pleasure of being one of the five judges for this year's state pageant which was just held a couple weeks ago.

I headed down to Grand Rapids, MI for what was sure to be a fun weekend. One, I had the judging and two, I was looking forward to some fun time with Jody and her family as well as Ali Swanson. On Friday I had a chance to hit the gym with Ali to go over some form on a number of exercises. I had planned to workout, but well ... I didn't.

Saturday afternoon was the first part of the judging, which included the five judges sitting on a panel. There were 18 girls vying for the crown. It was definitely an interesting experience as I really didn't know what to expect. Jody had given me a huge list of pageant questions to look through just to get an idea of what kind of things they ask. I saw one in there that asked 'What would you do with a red crayon?' My questions however, centered around things like the obesity epidemic, childhood obesity, juvenile diabetes, health, fitness, nutrition, etc. You're not looking so much for their opinion, as much as you're looking for how well they present their opinion. It was interesting to hear some of the answers, as well as seeing the difference in how people present themselves. Saturday evening was the finals. This included an on-stage interview question, a swimsuit round and an evening gown round. After all the scores were tabulated, they called out the top five girls and they each had to answer one more interview question.

All in all it was a great experience. I was actually a part of the prize package, so now I'll be preparing the new Mrs. Michigan America for this year's Mrs. America pageant.

I also just returned from a weekend in Charleston, SC where I was attending the NPC Junior USA Bodybuilding and Fitness and Figure Championships with Noel, who looked downright incredible. You can read all about it in my new blog at www.leanbodiesconsulting.com/blog/ or in Noel's blog, which you can find here - leanbodiesconsulting.com/noelc/.

I'd also like to congratulate LBC client Patricia Dees on her 2nd place finish at the Ronnie Coleman Classic. This was Patricia's first show and she's already on her way to the NPC Junior Nationals in Chicago this coming June.

And another congratulations to Ali Swanson for taking yet another Overall title, this time in Grand Rapids, MI. So far this year she's placed 2nd in one show (losing by one point) and taken home the Short and Overall titles in her next two shows. She's quickly becoming a dominant force in the Michigan figure competition scene. She's definitely becoming one of the girls to watch out for. You can read Ali's blog and see some contest pictures leanbodiesconsulting.com/alis/.

Interview with Eric Cressey

First off, thanks for agreeing to the interview. We've known each other for a number of years now. I used to always refer to you as the 'Anatomy Guy'. You then became know for being 'The Shoulder Guy' and have since garnered another title, 'The Mobility Guy'. Who is Eric Cressey?

Good question. As you implied, it's the nature of this industry to try to pigeonhole guys into certain professional 'diagnoses.' Personally, even though I specialize in athletic performance enhancement and corrective exercise, I pride myself on being pretty well-versed in a variety of areas - endocrinology, endurance training, body recomposition, nutrition, supplementation, recovery/regeneration, and a host of other facets of our industry. To some degree, I think it's a good thing to be a bit all over the place in this 'biz,' as it helps you to see the relationships among a host of different factors.v Ultimately, I'd like to be considered a guy who is equal parts athlete, coach, and scholar/researcher.

All that said, for the more 'traditional answer,' readers can check out my bio: www.ericcressey.com/aboutec.html.

What are the three most underrated and underused exercises? Does it differ across gender?

Well, I'm not sure that the basics - squats, deadlifts, various presses, pull-ups, and rows - can ever be considered overrated or overappreciated in both a male and female population.

Still, I think that single-leg exercises are tremendously beneficial, but are ignored by far too many trainers and lifters. Variations of lunges, step-ups, split squats, and single-leg RDLs play key roles in injury prevention and development of a great lower body.

Specific to females, we know that we need a ton of posterior chain work and correctly performed single-leg work to counteract several biomechanical and physiological differences. Namely, quad dominance/posterior chain weakness and an increased Q-angle. Increasing glute and hamstrings strength and optimizing frontal plane stability is crucial for resisting knock-knee tendencies and preventing ACL tears. If more women could do glute-ham raises, the world would be a much better place!

What common issues do you see with female trainees in terms of muscular or postural imbalances that may predispose them to some kind of injury if not corrected? How would you suggest they be corrected or prevented?

1. A lack of overall lower body strength, specifically in the glutes and hamstrings; these shortcomings resolve when you get in more deadlifts, glute-ham raises, box squats, single-leg movements, etc.
2. Poor soft-tissue quality all over; this can be corrected with plenty of foam rolling and lacrosse/tennis ball work.
3. Poor core stability (as much as I hate that word); the best solution is to can all the 'turn your lumbar spine into a pretzel' movements and focus on pure stability at the lower back while mobilizing the hips and thoracic spine.
4. General weakness in the upper body, specifically with respect to the postural muscles of the upper back; we'd see much fewer shoulder problems in females if they would just do a LOT more rowing.

You've mentioned to me in the past the issues with the ever popular Nike Shox training shoe as well as high heels in women. What's are the potential problems?

When you elevate the heels chronically - via certain sneakers, high-heels, or any other footwear - you lose range of motion in dorsiflexion (think toe-to-shin range of motion). When you lack mobility at a joint, your body tries to compensate by looking anywhere it can to find range of motion. In the case of restricted ankle mobility, you turn the foot outward and internally rotate your lower and upper legs to make up for the deficit. This occurs as torque is 'converted' through subtalar joint pronation.

As the leg rotates inward (think of the upper leg swiveling in your hip joint socket), you lose range of motion in external rotation at your hip. This is one of several reasons why females have a tendency to let their knees fall inward when they squat, lunge, deadlift, etc. And, it can relate to anterior/lateral knee pain (think of the term patellofemoral pain ... you've got restriction on things pulling on the patella, and on the things controlling the femur ... it's no wonder that they're out of whack relative to one another). And, by tightening up at the ankle and the hip, you've taken a joint (knee) that should be stable (it's just a hinge) and made it mobile/unstable. You can also get problems at the hip and lower back because ...

Just as losing range of motion at the ankle messes with how your leg is aligned, losing range of motion at your hip - both in external rotation and hip extension - leads to extra range of motion at your lumbar spine (lower back). We want our lower back to be completely stable so that it can transfer force from our lower body to our upper body and vice versa; if you have a lot of range of motion at your lower back, you don't transfer force effectively, and the vertebrae themselves can get irritated. This can lead to bone problems (think stress fractures in gymnasts), nerve issues (vertebrae impinge on discs/nerve roots), or muscular troubles (basic strains).

So, the take-home message is that crappy ankle mobility - as caused by high-top shoes, excessive ankle taping, poor footwear (heel lifts) - can cause any of a number of problems further up the kinetic chain. Sure, we see plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinosis, and shin splints, but that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what can happen.

How do we fix the problems? First, get out of the bad footwear and pick up a shoe that puts you closer in contact with the ground. Second, go barefoot more often (we do it for all our dynamic flexibility warm-ups and about 50% of the volume of our lifting sessions). Third, incorporate specific ankle (and hip) mobility drills.

Oh, I should mention that elevating the heels in women is also problematic simply because it shifts the weight so far forward. If we're dealing with a population that needs to increase recruitment of the glutes and hamstrings, why are we throwing more stress on the quads?

Stay tuned for Part 2 ...

Lift Strong

Cancer - what a deadly disease. I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who's life has not been affected by cancer. Whether it be a member of your immediate family, extended family, or even a friend, most of us at some point have had to or will, deal with the effects cancer has on lives around us. My own father has been battling cancer and just had a complete stem cell transplant in January of 2007. If a cure for cancer is ever to be found, there needs to be research done, and research costs money. Lots of it.

Alwyn Cosgrove is a two-time cancer survivor who also underwent a stem cell transplant in June of 2006. Alwyn has captained a great project where 55 people in the fitness industry contributed a short article. The final product is an 800-page 'book' that has been released on CD. This is a gold mine of information.

Taken from Alwyn's blog ...

You are reading this today because I am alive after facing cancer twice. I am alive today because of advanced medical treatment. Medical treatment discovered by research. Research funded by money. Money sourced from donations. Donations from people like you.

Please help.

All proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
www.liftstrong.com/

'You just need determination, consistency and a good plan.'

If you know anyone you think would enjoy or benefit from this newsletter, please forward it on and pass on the newsletter sign up link www.leanbodiesconsulting.com/newsletter.html.

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Until next time, thanks for reading.

Erik Ledin
www.leanbodiesconsulting.com

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