Why we need outside training

[Bill Glasheen]

I live by example here. If you are prone to injuries, there's usually a reason.

Injury prevention is something that needs to be worked on at many levels. To start with, you learn not to do stupid things. Sometimes others tell you what those stupid things are, and sometimes you learn them the hard way.

Some people never learn...

Good mechanics prevent injury. Good balanced strength and structure help as well. The weight room is a place you can pick up a lot of this, providing you combine a balanced, thoughtful routine with proper stretching.

This article today makes me hurt thinking about it. However a certain Uechi senior was doing a demo onstage in Okinawa once, and had to be carried off. It happens...

'Real bizarre'
Kapler tears tendon rounding bases ... on home run

Posted: Wednesday September 14, 2005 8:57PM; Updated: Thursday September 15, 2005 2:05AM

TORONTO (AP) -- Boston's Gabe Kapler ruptured his left Achilles' tendon while rounding second base on Tony Graffanino's fifth-inning homer during Wednesday night's 5-3 win over Toronto.

Graffanino's ball went over the left-field wall, and Kapler fell to the ground. He got up on one knee but couldn't continue.


Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill looks on
after Gabe Kapler falls to the ground while
rounding the bases on Tony Graffanino's homer.
AP

After a five-minute delay, Kapler was carted off the field. Alejandro Machado pinch ran starting at second base and finished circling the bases.

"I felt like I got hit at the back of my ankle," said Kapler, who wasn't in pain after the game. "I just had seen the ball go over."

Kapler realizes he could be sidelined a long time.

"I'm sure there is going to come a time when reality is going to hit me and I'm going to know that it's going to be a while before I help my teammates," Kapler said. "That's going to be hard for me."

{snip}

- SI.com

[2Green]

"Graffanino's ball went over the left-field wall, and Kapler fell to the ground. He got up on one knee but couldn't continue."

That's odd: I've posted before about mechanical damage rendering a person unable to function despite their "will to continue" but was virtually laughed off the forum.

NM

[Bill Glasheen]

Neil

Nobody wants to admit (in public) that it can happen to them. It's a frightening proposition.

Personally in the case of Kapler's injury, I would have crawled my ass to home plate out of pride. But I'm an idiot, and a good trainer probably would have restrained me.

And a similar injury in a fight would spell death against a true predator. Forget the chest pounding; stuff happens.

And speaking of the ugly realities of life... I'm not sure what they did to fix the situation was "legal." All runners must go around the bases in order (one runner after the next) after a home run and touch every base. Otherwise the runner is out and doesn't get credit for the score. Replacing a runner in mid-play seems unprecedented to me. It was the umpire that told the manager just to have a pinch runner tag second and go the rest of the way home. Frankly I don't think that was "by the book." But maybe the umpire just used discretion and figured he could get away with it. Who knows?

Even Kapler was shown mercy on the baseball battlefield. That's about all you could expect in a real fight if this happened to you. Submit and take your chances. Tighten the sphincter muscles...

- Bill

[Gene DeMambro]

Hi Bill,

According to rule, if a runner is injured while proceeding to a base he is entitled to (say on a home run or walk), then a pinch runner can be substituted to finish the play. If the ball landed in play, then Kapler would have been a sitting duck. Interestingly, Kapler was running full tilt at the time, 'cause he couldn't tell the ball was out. Too bad, as word is he's a wicked nice guy.

Freaky thing, and it's not like Gabe Kapler is not fit.

Gene

[Bill Glasheen]

Thanks for the clarification, Gene. My father and I were debating this yesterday, and couldn't figure out if it was legit.

Freaky thing, and it's not like Gabe Kapler is not fit.

Gabe Kapler is a very nice guy with a great work ethic. However in years of training and in working with some of the best strength trainers in the business, I have come to learn that these kinds of "freak" accidents are not actually all that unpredictable.

The body needs to be in perfect balance if you want to redline it. One thing that used to happen a lot in football training is that guys would get quads much stronger than the hamstrings. They'd be sprinting down the field, and suddenly fall as if shot like a deer (by John Gamble's description - a professional strength trainer). In this case, whenever the strength of the quadriceps is more than 50% greater than the hamstrings, the risk of a hamstring pull goes up dramatically. A good strength trainer knows this, and works very hard to develop a balanced program for the athlete and address specific needs. Everyone is unique, and needs to adapt a program to their own strengths and weaknesses.

That kind of injury generally happens with poor conditioning of the calves. Some have them, and some don't. Arnold used to cut off his sweats at the knees to shame himself into doing more work on his calves to balance his appearance. I have the same problem. I need to work extra hard on this exercise, and work extra hard on my toes. I ran track for years with shin splints, and nobody could tell me why. It now pisses me off when I realize it was easily corrected. None of my coaches helped me on this.

The achilles tendon connects the calf to the heel. If you don't do specific training for the calf with both heel raises and calf stretches, you put yourself at risk for this type of injury. Some are more vulnerable than others, but it is not an unusual injury. Whenever I've heard someone who has had it, they usually say something like "Oh yea, I've had bad flexibility there all my life. And then one day..."

Food for thought.

I feel badly for Gabe. He's apparently a great guy with a great work ethic. The trainer should be chewed out for this one.

- Bill

[Gene DeMambro]

Funny muscles, the calves are. So small and one side can support your whole body weight.

Gene

[Dana Sheets]

In this case, whenever the strength of the quadriceps is more than 50% greater than the hamstrings, the risk of a hamstring pull goes up dramatically.

How do you know if your ratio is off?

[Bill Glasheen]

How do you know if your ratio is off?

The way I personally do it is to use two machines - the leg extension and the leg curl - made by the same company and see what weight I can move. I calibrate my leg extension exercises and leg curl exercises so that I never do more than 150% of my leg curl weight when doing leg extension. Since I do these exercises one right after the next (and I often alternate them), then I'm easily able to monitor this. I stopped having hamstring muscle and hamstring tendon problems once I got this right.

Karate instructors who have students do lots of squat/kick exercises in class are in danger of getting their students out of balance. They need to be sure that hamstring work is done as well, and that's very difficult to do without a machine. When you get students complaining of unexplained hamstring pulls, that's a sign that things aren't right. A good instructor monitors class injuries, and pays attention to what it might mean.

- Bill

[Norm Abrahamson]

Tony Graffanino, who hit the home run was heady enough to stop at second base and wait. He never passed Kaplar on the base path. Had he done that, I believe he would have been out.

Sincerely,

Norm Abrahamson
(nervous Red Sox fan)

[Dana Sheets]

Bleh. I hate the leg curl machine. Totally uncomfortable and puts weird stress on my knees. And feels totally unnatural to me to use. Any other way to build the hamstrings?

[Mary S]

The strange thing is Gabe didn't look like he was in all that much pain....I would have been screaming like a baby I'm sure.

So ... gone for approx. 18 months???

Mary S

(Another seriously nervous BoSox fan - who has put a shrine up at her desk - complete with one empty BoSox plastic ice cream cup from Fenway and a sweet picture of said author and dreamy Jason Varitek)

[Bill Glasheen]

I hate the leg curl machine. Totally uncomfortable and puts weird stress on my knees. And feels totally unnatural to me to use. Any other way to build the hamstrings?

Find another leg curl machine. They are not all created equal. Some are seated. Some have you on your stomach (like the old Nautilus - my least favorite). Some have you standing, doing one leg at a time (awkward, but you can get used to it).

My favorite is the Strive machine in my gym. It's a seated leg curl machine with an adjustable, variable cam. And you can control the seat back, where the machine contacts your leg, the starting point, and the finishing point. It's deluxe. The Strive deltoid machine is the best I've ever used, and allowed me to work through a decades-old rotator cuff problem and some shoulder tendonitis. I went from Tomoyose commenting on my age at my nanadan test to doing Olympic clean-and-jerks and power snatches.

They're getting better and better, Dana. Stay away from the older machines if they give you problems. And if all of them do or if you can't find a deluxe machine, use less weight and work your way up. Take you time...

One more hint... Make sure that the axis of rotation of the machine is in line with your knee.

So ... gone for approx. 18 months???

It depends upon how badly it is torn. I can't tell by the news reports, and the SI.com site says "Day-to-Day" on his status. Only the MRI will tell. If he needs surgery, it'll be at least until next spring. He's no DH; an outfielder needs to run.

The strange thing is Gabe didn't look like he was in all that much pain....I would have been screaming like a baby I'm sure.

Injuries are funny things. Sometimes when the tear is instantaneous, it doesn't hurt. When I separated my shoulder from a bad fall on a concrete floor (my Goju/aikido instructor doing The Matrix flip on my side kick for demo) the only thing I experienced was an "oh schit" feeling in my stomach. Then 2 minutes later, I puked. Then for the next few weeks, I couldn't find a way to sleep at night.

Often people who are shot don't know it at first.

If you tear at a nerve though, that's a different story altogether.

- Bill

[Stryke]

Karate instructors who have students do lots of squat/kick exercises in class are in danger of getting their students out of balance. They need to be sure that hamstring work is done as well, and that's very difficult to do without a machine. When you get students complaining of unexplained hamstring pulls, that's a sign that things aren't right. A good instructor monitors class injuries, and pays attention to what it might mean.

Been here , before my gym days .. while I never got a shocker , lots of little tears , very flexible but restricted in one range of motion ..... seemed strange but now makes sense .

squats , bench , deadlift ...... and whatever else you feel like , balance in my book

[Bill Glasheen]

The deadlift will work on the hamstrings to some extent. It's a pretty good whole-body exercise.

I actually thought of a few that would work on the entire back of your body from hamstrings to lumbar, Dana. Those would be "good mornings" and back hyperextension exercises in "the chair" with weight held on your head. Functionally those are similar exercises in terms of how they work your body. You just need to be careful to do them right so that you protect your lumbar spine.

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

These are "Good Mornings."





These are back hyperextensions done with a good "chair." This device has great support, and puts your body at the right angle WRT the force of gravity. I use anywhere from 25 to 35 pounds held on the back of my head when doing this (15 reps).




This is the older "Roman Chair" which is a little tougher to use. And you don't get much in the way of resistance until you're almost all the way up. Furthermore, you have to start completely upside-down, which makes you want to pass out after you are done and try to stand up.




- Bill