Scoring Touchdowns Makes Sense, Scoring Movement Does Not

Let me preface this entry by saying that Gray Cook is an incredibly intelligent guy and he has been at the forefront of the "movement to movement", so for that I have to thank him.  He has definitely influenced my education in only positive ways.

That being said, I'm going to roll up my sleeves and get right into this.  The Functional Movement Screen system is a great tool for certain sectors of health and fitness, but it does not belong at the elite level of athletics.   FMS has positively started to shift the focus of performance training to that of proper movement patterns rather than trying to pile strength and power on top of a weak foundation.  In the injury rehabilitation world, tools like FMS and SFMA have helped practitioners look at injuries as a result of inefficient or poor movement throughout the body, instead of focusing solely on pain or the area of chief complaint.  For these reasons it has been a blessing to many of us.

A few years back Gray Cook, who is a physical therapist by education, wrote a book called "Movement" that introduced the FMS/SFMA screens.  The Functional Movement Screens are a group of movements that can be scored, and based upon standardized scores are deemed acceptable or not.  The Selective Functional Movement Assessments are tailored more towards movement screening for those people who already have an injury.  These screening protocols, and many that have sprung up just like it, have spread like wildfire through the fitness and healthcare industries.  The popularity is due in part to the fact that they really do help practitioners/trainers recognize true causes of injuries, and the fact that they can be taught and implemented in a weekend seminar.  Being a recent graduate of chiropractic school, I know just how "dangerous" a weekend seminar can be.  All of the sudden every patient presentation needs exactly what you just learned the past weekend, WHAT A COINCIDENCE!!!

Well, with out making too many enemies I believe that the FMS screening protocol is horrible...at the elite level of athletic or for those who are educated beyond an online certification.  Now let me explain.  Most everyone has heard of the NFL combine, a series of tests that are scored and then analyzed by scouts in order to take raw talent and make it somewhat measurable.  Some of the more popular tests in the draft are the 40-yard dash, the 225 bench press test and the vertical jump.  All of these tests can be boiled down to hard, fast numbers; numbers that can be improved upon by proper training and hard work.  Now compare this to the scoring done in an FMS screen, some of the more popular screens in this protocol are the overhead squat and the step-over inline lunge.  Now quantify these movements, provide them to a psychological fragile athlete (which we know all elite athletes are), and then try to get them to improve on something that may not be able to change.  There are some developmental issues, sports specific training and many other reasons why a certain movement pattern may not be achievable by all athletes.  So when you tell an athlete that they have failed a test, but they do not possess the ability to truly improve upon this area, you are setting them up for a shot to the ego that is not easily remedied.

Now I know some of you are saying, why does an athlete care if they fail a screen or not?  Well they do.  Elite athletes are notorious perfectionists, and when we place so much emphasis on something that may not be able to be changed, or more importantly that may not NEED to be changed.  Well, that is where the rubber meets the road.  So what do I propose?

While working with the Sports Performance department at Bradley University, one of the first things brought to my attention was, "we are using FMS, but what do we do when we get the scores?".  Now this is a perfect example of what I'm trying to convey here.  The Bradley Sports Performance staff is at the top of the collegiate training world, but even at that level they were a little lost as what to do with these "scores".  My job while at Bradley came to be one of integration between the athletic training staff and the sports performance coaches.  A marriage between injury prevention, proper injury treatment and cutting edge sports injury rehabilitation.  One day while performing a set of "screens" that I have developed on an athlete I was questioned by the athletic training staff as to where I "learned" this screening protocol.  My simple response was that these assessments were a culmination of 4 years of chiropractic education, 3 years of a masters in sports science and rehabilitation, and hundreds of hours of working with the top practitioners in the field of sports manual medicine.  I know it sounds like I'm bragging, but what I'm trying to say is that cookie cutter screening protocols, lead to cookie cutter diagnosis and treatment.

The most powerful tool in the toolbox of any practitioner or trainer is his or her education and experience.  The FMS is literally a step backward for most of the people that end up implementing it.  Then why is the popularity soaring?  For one, Gray Cook has the education and the experience needed to be a great practitioner, and he is a motivational and charismatic speaker.  That paired with the ease of implementation have led to an FMS take over.

Stop quantifying movement, and start qualifying it.  No two people are the same and in fact the left and right side of one person are never the same either.  So what does that mean?  It means that you have to be a student of human movement, an anatomy superstar and most importantly you must trust your knowledge and be supremely confident when dealing with athletes.  You have to treat each individual as an INDIVIDUAL.  Evidence based treatment will never fall out of favor, nor will there ever be a replacement for those professionals who go beyond the normal curriculum and beyond the norms of the their field.  Break the mold, if you have a hunch and can back it with sufficient data go with it.  That is how progress is made.

Until next time...

"All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward"
- Ellen Glasgow

Dr. Beau Beard, DC

The Most Important Muscle

First of all I apologize for missing a few weeks, we have been extremely busy trying to the get The FARM office open here in Birmingham.  Exciting stuff!

Since we are still in the infancy stages of this blog I really need start laying the groundwork on some major issues.

As more and more information pours out on a daily basis about functional training and as I call "the movement to movement" sometimes information easily becomes misinformation or missed information all together.  One of the central themes surrounding functional training, or at least it should be, is the importance of the THORACIC DIAPHRAGM.

And yes, this does answer the question, what is the most important muscle, and it doesn't matter if your a sprinter, a marathoner or any other sport.  The diaphragm is central, pun intended, to every athletic movement and the quality of that movement.  And yes it is the THORACIC DIAPHRAGM, there are actually 4 diaphragms in the human body; the CRANIAL, CERVICAL, THORACIC, and PELVIC.  All of these have play an integral role within the body and between one another.  At the foundation of the functional training and athletic training platform rests the thoracic diaphragm.

First lets discuss the action of the diaphragm, the human lungs work on a negative pressure system which essentially means that when we inhale we are essentially forcing air in and when we exhale we allowing it to escape, this is a very simple explanation but this is not meant to be a physiology lesson.  So when we inhale the diaphragm contracts and moves inferior causing a vacuum for the lungs and when we exhale the diaphragm relaxes and rises allowing air out.  During these same actions an incredible things happens, as the diaphragm contracts and moves downward it builds pressure between itself and the pelvic diaphragm or pelvic floor, this is known as intrabdominal pressure or IAP, this IAP is THE PRIME STABILIZER OF THE SPINE!  No not the lumbar musculature, not the abs and not the mystical CORE that everyone is training into oblivion.  Now in order for the diaphragm and IAP to properly stabilize the spine and in effect the rest of the body, we must first remember how to breathe.

"Remember how to breathe?"  This is a common patient response, and then they lose their minds when I tell them they can keep themselves out of back pain by learning how to breathe.  Stick with me, if you have ever watched an infant breathing, not in a creepy way, you have probably noticed that their giant Buddha-like belly expands and falls with little to no movement of the ribs or chest.  This is the exact opposite of how 90% of the adult population breathes.  Instead most adults, due to extended amounts of seated posture and general lack of movement start to breathe using accessory breathing muscles in the neck and shoulders.  These accessory muscles are only meant to be used for labored breathing, as in exercising.  Switching to these back-up muscles as the main breathing apparatus leads to shoulder tension, lumbar spine pain, headaches and a whole host of other problems.  Here is a video showing this type of breathing, also known as paradoxical breathing.

Now that we have discussed the general issues with the thoracic diaphragm, we will now move to why it is an athletes most crucial muscle.  For the purpose of this article I will use a distance runner, but this does not mean that the diaphragm is not equally important for non-endurance athletes.  

All runners have at some time probably heard that you should try to breathe in a 3:2 ratio (3 steps breathing in, 2 steps breathing out)  this is supposedly done to keep the runner from landing on the same foot with full exhalation.  This theory on breathing is absolutely right, but it needs more specification: 3:2 ratio of ABDOMINAL BREATHING.  

I'm sure some you reading this are saying, what about the glutes, they are the cannon or the powerhouse for running!  What about the quads, runners are always getting a bad rap for being quad dominant.  What about, what about, what about...all of these are true, but without the ability to properly breathe using the full potential of the thoracic diaphragm, you are working at poor efficiency  level and power output is decreased.  As I stated before when the diaphragm works properly a tremendous amount of IAP is built which acts as a balloon, or better yet as a WEIGHT BELT!  Yeah that giant leather belt used by powerlifters, well for some reason we were built with a spinal stabilizer that beats any bull-skin, belly-binding belt you'll ever find.  When a runner breathes properly through the abdomen, they link the upper body to the lower, they stabilize the spine, thereby stabilizing what is above and below, and most importantly the diaphragm is in essence the best shock absorber of the body.  I'm going to nerd out for a second but bear with me, when a muscle eccentrically stretches (relaxes), like those of the diaphragm when we exhale, the muscle fibers are introduced to almost double the vibrational load.  The muscle fibers do this with only 50% muscle activation, but what does this mean.  It means that by breathing via the diaphragm, we are muscularly more efficient, and the increased vibrational load capacity means that ground reaction forces are dampened through the entire body.  For an endurance athlete this is a HUGE deal, when we start running marathons or ultras, every step starts to take a toll, so why not get the most out of each stride.

Diaphragmal breathing does not only equate to increased efficiency, but also increased power.  If you have ever had the pleasure of reading Anatomy Trains, then you know that the body is now seen more as one giant muscle with multiple fascial pockets, rather than individual muscles encased in fascia.  For those of you who don't know, fascia is the connective tissue that is infused through EVERY structure of the body, it is much like the thin sinew you see in a nice marbled steak.  The importance of paying attention to fascia for training and treatment purposes grows as the body of research constantly mounts.  Back to the diaphragm, these fascial pockets or slings connect all parts of the body, but some areas have stronger connections, such as the fascia around the low back, abdomen and the glutes.  When we have the cortical ability to relax the abdomen while still breathing properly we allow for a tremendous power transfer from arm swing, to CORE (I just threw up a little), to the glutes and finally to the ground.  I'm not going into a huge amount of details on this, but think of it like a bull-whip, yeah the Indian Jones weapon of choice.  The supple leather of the whip is very flexible, with just a small flick of your arm, the power is transferred down the entire length, until it reaches the end with enough power to cut that rose in half that your beautiful side-kick has been holding in her teeth.  This transfer of energy in a runner cannot happen without this same type of supple energy transfer through the thoracic diaphragm.  Sure, good and sometimes great runners, who have poor breathing habits can make it to the peak of running, but this is true for all sports.  Athletes are tremendous compensators, and they always find a way to excel, but it is up to practitioners like myself and others in like fields to educate, treat and train people to maximize their performance and decrease injuries.

In future articles I will discuss different techniques, exercises and training protocols to work on the unicorn of proper breathing.  Until that time, if you are dealing with injuries you think are related to this or just want to increase your performance, I urge you to find a practitioner or trainer versed in this area, here are some links.

http://www.rehabps.com/REHABILITATION/Home.html

www.chirofarm.com

Until next time....

"When a man has lost all happiness, he's not alive, call him a BREATHING corpse"
-Sophocles

Stay light, stay fast.

Dr. Beau

Starting green and finishing green.

This weeks blog is going to be a little bit different...instead of a health related topic I'm going to explore the impact that trail races have on the environment, both good and bad.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of serving as medical and recovery staff for the Xterra trail race at Oak Mountain State Park.  Oak Mountain state park is located in Pelham, AL and it is an expansive and beautiful area that houses over 50 miles of trails, two accessible lakes, a wildlife education conservancy and a great golf course.  This type of park is rare and is a great asset to the local community.

While working the race I quickly became annoyed at how many Gatorade cups, Biofreeze packets and bandaids I was finding on the ground, and then I had to stop and think "how much have I cared where my cup landed after running an extensive distance trail race?".  This was a race of just 400 competitors, but between the vendors, support staff and runners, an immense amount of refuge was produced and all of it was left to the park crew to deal with.  Now to think that a state funded park, with government employees and sometimes volunteers, is eager to accept this increase in trash and more importantly work is something that never even crosses the mind of most runners.  Yeah, we might say, "well that's their job".  Yes, yes it is, but isn't it our responsibility to protect the areas where we train and race?

Thinking back to another race at Castlewood State Park in Missouri, I was working as assistant medical director of the Castlewood Cup and was put in charge of bringing a group of my grad school colleagues to help out with the race.  The night before the race it absolutely poured, and as most trail runners, who are sometimes more beast than human, we relish in a muddy frolic through the woods.  Well, on this day the trail took the brunt of all 600 runners, as did the grounds where the vendors and timing crew were located.  When I returned to the park two days later, the park staff was laying straw down throughout the open field and once I hit the trail it was clearly evident how much damage had been done.  A group of spandex-sporting puddle jumpers had caused as much erosion and washout as natural wear and tear would have done in 10 years.  This effects everything from the root systems, to ground animal habitats and even the watershed area at the basin of the Meramec river.

Situations like the aforementioned are obviously combated by grounds crews, trail preservation groups and clean up efforts.  I was fortunate enough during my 4 years in chiropractic school in St. Louis to hold a Castlewood Clean-Up for the park that I loved so much.  Much of the trail would be inundated with litter and trash, mostly from refuge carried in by flood waters after the spring thaw, but about 25-30% of what my group cleaned up came from hikers and runners leaving gel packets, water bottles and the occasional celebratory beverage container.  Each year we collected around a half ton of trash among the few volunteers (as you can see by our sweat soaked clothing, this group was dedicated helping with clean-up efforts in 100 degree weather) and this was just the tip of the ice berg for this park.

Castlewood Clean-Up

As trail runners, we face an interesting dilemma, but still a situation that is presented to each outdoor enthusiast, how do we make sure that our enjoyment of nature is not trumped by the footprint we leave on it.

I truly believe that as nature enthusiasts we bring far more to the table in terms of preservation and maintenance of our trail systems, rather than deterioration and littering.  Some of these areas are going to be facing human induced issues even if we were not running there, so through our awareness and more importantly action, we can help change the way these areas are used, maintained and enjoyed.

If you call yourself a trail runner, you probably like to think that you are fast, persevering and tenacious.  All of these qualities are key to being a competitor, and these same traits are crucial to ensure that our beloved trails remain something to behold and enjoy.  I challenge each runner to be an example of pristine nature conservancy, for both your own conscience and the next person coming down the trail.

"The tendency nowadays to wander in wilderness is delightful to see. Thousands of tired,

nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains

is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are

useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life."

—JOHNMUIR, Our National Parks, 1901

Beau Beard, D.C.

Running surface debate

In this blog my goal is to take mainstream media publications on fitness, health and the body and give my professional opinion on the article.  At a time in history when our health is at the forefront of every conversation, whether it is the Affordable Healthcare Act, obesity/diabetes epidemics or the growing number of elderly individuals in the healthcare system.  All of the media attention on our "health" is fantastic, but the inundation of information leads to misleading and sometimes downright false claims.  I help to shed some light on various subjects that are in my wheel-house.

For future blogs I ask you to please comment on here or email me an article, website or anything you would like me to review!

This weeks blog looks at an article form Outside Magazine titled, "The Best Running Surface for Your Knees": is running on hard surface really bad for your knees?

Here is a link to the article
http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/fitness-coach/The-Best-Running-Surface-for-Your-Knees.html

Dr. Daniel Ferris a professor of movement science (where was that major in college?) at University of Michigan's School of Kinesiology.  Ferris states that even though the common thought is that grass and dirt will lead to decreased injuries, the data actually doesn't support this theory.

This article highlights a research paper released in 2008 by Foot and Ankle International, which revealed that running on asphalt vs. running on sand leads to the same amount of overuse and strain injuries.

Well here is where the wheels fall off this article.  It is not detailed whether this paper looked at proper footwear, previous injuries, level of runner, etc...  Also, comparing running on asphalt to running on sand is a completely erroneous side-by-side as anyone who has run on a loose sand beach can tell you.  David Hasselhoff made it look easy, but running on loose sand is a tough workout, but does not lead to normal running mechanics.

Personally, I suffered from medial tibial stress syndrome or shin splints for almost a year, until I started to incorporate proper mobilization drills, stretching and switching from pavement to trail running.  Once I hit the trails I never looked back, and I've NEVER suffered form shin splints again!  Is the trail the answer for everyone, well no, but I do think that it should make a up portion of every runner's regiment.

In this article Dr. Bob Adams, Chair of the USA Track and Field Sports Medicine and Science Committee states that "the ideal would be to run some of the pavement, some on the trail and some on the track".  I think this is a good plan, but not always possible depending on where you live and time constraints.

I really believe that with proper running technique and warm-up you should be able to run injury free, so long as you train smart, which means not increasing mileage to quickly, no cross-training, choosing the wrong footwear, proper nutrition and adequate rest.

For those of you who do suffer from MTSS (shin splints), here is the gold mobilization drill that I personally do pre and post run.

Now this mobilization is not a magic bullet, but being diligent with this and adding in ice massage, proper footwear, possibly some rest, cross training and maybe even compression and some kinesio tape is powerful combination for shin splints.

Until next week...

"A full time job is a sure-fire way to live a part-time life"

(I'll leave you with a random quote each week).

Dr. Beard is in Birmingham!

Well I'm finally getting settled into my new home in Birmingham, and I have to say I'm loving it.  Today I would like to share a letter written by the Director of Sports Performance at Bradley University, Mr. Cody Roberts.  Cody was my director while doing my internship for my Masters in Sports Science and Rehabilitation.  The letter gives some insight on what I did during the internship, but more so it gives coaches, athletes, administrators and weekend warriors in the Birmingham area a better idea what I can offer them.  Enjoy!

Cody Roberts Director of Sport Performance Bradley University 1501 W. Bradley Ave Peoria, IL 61625 (309) 677-3788 (Office) cjroberts@bradley.edu

October 28, 2013

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to take this opportunity to enthusiastically recommend Dr. Beau Beard for involvement with your program.  I have known Dr. Beard for only a short time, but have had the opportunity to observe and evaluate his extensive knowledge and sincere passion in the field of chiropractic sports medicine through his involvement with our student-athletes and coaches at Bradley University.

It has been my privilege to have Dr. Beard working alongside my staff directly on the weight room floor where I am the Director of Sport Performance.  He has a wide-spread understanding of the necessary steps to properly develop an athlete in order to prevent injury and enhance performance.  He took initiative early in the semester in implementing his sport specific movement screening that evaluates the structure and function of the shoulder, spine, hip, knee and ankle relative to the actions of the respective sport; identifying poor or improper movement and firing patterns that limit performance and put an athlete at an increased risk of injury.  With Dr. Beard’s knowledge and guidance we were able to develop training and rehabilitation protocols that are more effective and efficient than previously imagined; addressing the individual needs of each of our student-athletes.  Through this process he has been extremely considerate of everyone’s (student-athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, etc.) responsibility within a department and knows how he can impact a program on a cooperative level.

Dr. Beard’s involvement with our program has proven to be vital, as he is decreasing the chance for serious injury and increasing the return to play through proper rehabilitation.  As I look to the future of our profession it would be an incredible opportunity to have someone of Dr. Beard’s caliber and familiarity to initially assess and evaluate student-athletes before they embark on a strength and conditioning program; truly bridging the gap between injury prevention and performance enhancement. The athletes that we work with often battle numerous developmental and environmental adaptations that limit their mobility and function in the weight room.  With Dr. Beard’s assistance we have been able to shore up any structural issues (i.e. tight hips, immobile ankles or feet, or poor firing patterns through the posterior chain) bringing a more prepared and truly ready athlete into the weight room or practice field. 

I have incredible respect for Dr. Beard, he has superior character and exemplifies the qualities of a medical professional.  His ability to evaluate structural/biomechanical issues and communicate with the student-athletes and coaches in explaining effective and purposeful training means make him an excellent asset for your program.  In addition, his insightful questioning and dedication to his education make him a leader among his peers, and these qualities make the others around him operate at a higher level.  Dr. Beard understands the dedication and urgency necessary in athletics, and he will undoubtedly work above and beyond expectations.  In view of his educational background, spectrum of experience, and desire for excellence, it is without reservation that I recommend Dr. Beard for involvement with your program.  I would be happy to discuss any further information support his involvement if necessary. 

Sincerely,

Cody Roberts MSE, CSCS, SCCC
Bradley University

Director of Sport Performance