Do you participate in extreme workouts? Here are some thoughts from Dave in his new Blog…

Posted 02/21/2012

What is it about people that make us love extremes? I’m not sure that I know the answer to that question but I’ve come to realize it is why we’re in business here at the Hruska Clinic. (If you’ve been reading some of the other blogs on our website, you’ve come to realize that we’re all right side dominant people, and when we’re too far out of balance-often to an extreme, you have a problem). I was recently discussing the topic (of extremes) briefly with one of my patients and we both wondered what drives people to participate in extreme training regimens that are beyond their ability to perform correctly. Often, patients come into the clinic after starting any number of these extreme programs, yet they don’t necessarily see a correlation between their new extreme activity and their pain. It’s not that participating in challenging activities has to be a bad thing, but where you may get into trouble with some of these activities is when your muscular balance is so far off, that you can’t do those activities without compensating. Another reason people may compensate in a way that will lead to pain is by trying to do an activity that is generally too challenging for you, or trying to lift more weight than you can handle.

For example, maybe you can normally handle doing dumbbell curls with a pair of twenty five pound weights, but if you go through an aggressive cardiovascular and/or resistance training routine and finish it up with dumbbell curls, you may only be able to handle ten or fifteen pounds at that time without cheating. The next thing you know you’re jerking your shoulders up and back and trying to get momentum to curl up those weights. Guess what? You’re compensating and putting yourself at risk of injury. Also, you’re not even getting the intended benefit from the activity. Can you believe this is coming from a guy who used to participate in competitions to see how much weight I could lift? Realize that I always worked out with people who wouldn’t let me lift a weight if I couldn’t do it right. I’ve never experienced a training injury because of this attitude.

So what’s the message today? I think being active and doing challenging activities can be a very good thing, but be sure if you do any activity, especially one of the many extreme workout options that are available today, that you do so with control over your body and the activity, or you’ll likely find yourself needing our services.

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Posted February 21, 2012 at 11:50am by David Drummer.
Tagged With: biomechanics, compensatory activity, Cross Training, Hip position, PRI Concepts, Squat, Weightlifting • 0 Comments

The television on my treadmill….what a great idea, but is it good for me? Check out Jen’s answer!

Posted 12/21/2011

I recently joined a new gym to begin my training for the Lincoln ½ marathon coming up in May. I definitely prefer to run outside, however the snow, ice, and freezing cold temperatures keep me confined to the gym in the winter months. O the joys of living in Nebraska, however the Husker football easily off-sets the weather!
A recent trend in exercise equipment in almost every gym is to have a television screen mounted directly to the piece of equipment (see picture below). Most people love this new feature because they can choose what they want to watch and directly plug their headphones into the treadmill and listen to the television program. As much as I enjoy watching television, I would prefer to run on a treadmill, elliptical or stair stepper without a screen 12 inches in front of my face because I feel better physically….this however is not an option at my gym (every piece of equipment has a television screen).
So, why am I concerned about working out with a television screen directly on the machine?
1) Staring at a television screen 12 inches in front of you causes your body to extend (your back to arch backwards). This results in compensatory activity of mechanics involving your trunk, hips, knees, etc. leading to possible injuries throughout your body.
2) Being locked into a visual stimulus this close and straight ahead of you results in focal vision, and eliminates your peripheral vision. Focal vision is your narrow, straight ahead vision (think of tunnel vision). Peripheral vision, which is the awareness of what is around you to your left and right helps to facilitate flexion of your body , whereas focal vision is associated with increased extension tone. Ideally I love for my patients to look around when they run (you should be aware of your surroundings, both to the left and right, rather than staring at the ground or something directly ahead of you).
3) Visual and audio stimulation can increase sympathetic activity of the central nervous system which also leads to increased extension tone.
So, I challenge you to avoid watching a television program next time you are working out. Your back, knees, hips, etc. may thank you! Maybe have it on, but only occasionally glance at it. Or glance at televisions around the area that are not so close to you. Try to look around the room or the gym. I find it enjoyable to look around the gym and analyze individual’s posture and mechanics, therefore taking my eyes of the television is not too difficult for me!

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Posted December 21, 2011 at 9:47am by Jennifer Gloystein.
Tagged With: biomechanics, compensatory activity, focal vision, peripheral vision, Running • 2 Comments