Started by yuri marmerstein, February 5, 2011 · 13 Replies · 6,413 Views
http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/r ... unctional/
more geared toward power lifters, but still very good information
I am especially a fan of the shoulder traction with the band, I've been using it for about a year now and have had no shoulder problems since.
Yes great information.
Two questions:
- Have anyone tried the EQI? I think it looks interesting. The primary movements in gymnastics is heavily geared towards internal rotation, and this might be another modality to prevent shortening of these muscles.
- Band traction, what kind of band would be good for this? Weak theraband obviously does not cut it.
no you need a flexband. I prefer the medium strength
off the top of my head I know you can get them from jumpstretch, eliteFTS, or iron woody
yuri when your doing the traction stuff are you pulling against the band or just sort of stretching it?
appreciate any help man
thank you
Fryk said:Yes great information.Two questions:
- Have anyone tried the EQI? I think it looks interesting. The primary movements in gymnastics is heavily geared towards internal rotation, and this might be another modality to prevent shortening of these muscles.
- Band traction, what kind of band would be good for this? Weak theraband obviously does not cut it.
EQI is great and I've used it with great success however for someone on rings, skin the cat hangs and/or manna work will accomplish the same thing while also training a specific movement.
Manna work especially has loosened my shoulders beyond belief.
My shoulders are all kinds of messed up from when I was younger and I've been using Robertson's and Cressey's stuff for years with great success, without it I doubt that I would even be able to train.
Timy7 said:yuri when your doing the traction stuff are you pulling against the band or just sort of stretching it?appreciate any help man
thank you
good question. I pull pretty hard myself, trying to get a deep stretch and move through the whole ROM of the shoulder
the theory is to pick an angle of shoulder movement, loop the band across the top of the wrist before grabbing it, step away to a point where it feels like your shoulder is being torn out of the socket, then move around organically in all ranges while continuously bending and pulling the band
I can tape my shoulder warmup and post it on here, I've been meaning to tape it for someone anyway
Yuri, I would love to see your shoulder warmup!
Your a gentleman and a scholar, I really appreciate the help.
Thank you sir.
Fryk said:Yes great information.Two questions:
- Have anyone tried the EQI? I think it looks interesting. The primary movements in gymnastics is heavily geared towards internal rotation, and this might be another modality to prevent shortening of these muscles.
- Band traction, what kind of band would be good for this? Weak theraband obviously does not cut it.
EQI is very similar to the Jay Schroeder LDISO. It is a long duration hold that is in a very low leverage position. There are a lot, and I mean a lot, of positions that this works in. German hang is a great example of a GB exercise that can and should be used for this. If anyone has kept up with Coach's recommendations for pre-requisites, you will see that a 30s GH is an absolute minimum.
These do produce strong connective tissue but more importantly they help encourage the process of muscle cell hyperplasia. No one is quite sure how this works but the simple hypothetical explanation is that muscle fibers need a certain amount of overlap in order to effectively transmit force to the tendons. At full or near full stretch there is not enough actin-myosin overlap across the myofibrils and this puts the body in a mechanically weak position, purely in terms of how much interaction there is between actin and myosin. It makes sense that the body will both split muscle cells longitudinally and also re-arrange muscle cells to be lined up end to end instead of side to side. Thus the old saying from the dancers that stretching lengthens your muscles! It does, over time, but just as importantly weighted isometric holds near the end of voluntary ROM can also cause hyperplasia. This has been proven in animals and strongly hinted at in humans. We can not prove it in humans because we would have to cut the entire muscle out and perform a fiber count to be sure of what is happening. That clearly steps over some important ethical boundaries and will probably never happen.
That's the lowdown on what those are. Eccentric actions place lots of stress on connective tissue within the muscle itself, so you also get a very strong stimulus in that regard as well. Thick fascia = strong muscles.
Off topic, but it is related to the german hang:
As part of a shoulder injury, I have a developed quite a tight pec minor. I have been doing a few sets of german hangs with feet supported this past week as part of my re-hab routine.
My reasoning goes something like this:
In german hangs the arm is maximally extended, which drives the shoulder blades back and up. The pec minor originates on the coracoid process, and inserts on the first couple of ribs. A tight pec minor, as far as I can see would be a limiting factor for full ROM.
I feel a certain stretch in the area of pec minor, so I cannot help but think, that german hangs might be good a pec minor stretch. To what extent is this true?
As someone with a notoriously tight pec minor, I have been struggling to find a good stretch.
They are not bad. Dead hangs with a properly straight body are also excellent pec minor stretches, probably the best ones honestly. GH does not allow the fullest ROM for pec minor. You'll need to use stall bars for the greatest effect, but just hanging from a pull up bar with whatever grip is comfortable, perfectly straight elbows, and a hollow body that is completely vertical should produce a pretty intense stretch. Handstand spacing is ideal, with the hands shoulder width or very slightly wider. Stall bars keep you honest and can force a larger range of motion, so they are a great too. If you don't have them, just hand a pipe off the wall with a 1" gap between the pipe and the wall, just enough for your hands. Lag bolts, a piece of drilled 2x4, two steel straps and a 3 foot steel pipe (RMC at the hardware store) is the easiest set up I can think of for home. You could also set up eye lags n the wall studs and use maybe 2-3" of chain or rope to hang a pipe off of them. That's even easier. That way you have the basic functionality of stall bars for 10 bucks. Can't beat that.
sorry it is late, here is an example of my shoulder warmup before I do handstands
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K-Star's MWOD stuff?
originally I got the concept from Dick Hartzell and I ended up adding a couple more things after I got some ideas from Kstar
yuri- Thank you very much for posting this!
Any chance we could get more info on how your pulling, I think I understand the concept but some of the positions your pulling from look odd(obviously I have no idea!) How did you decide on those positions ?
Sorry for so many questions but thank you again for all the help 