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Decades ago I had an employee whose response to everything was “Got it!” As soon as he uttered those words I was assured that a major screw-up was imminent. If he had said, and more importantly actually thought to himself, “I think I understand… (but I’ll keep attempting to interpret and be open to all the ways and scenarios in which this might apply… and when it might not)”, he might not have had to spend so much time each week apologizing to clients and peers for his actions, inappropriateness , etc. He was the proverbial “great guy… such a big heart”, but that should never be our justification for dismissing one’s repeated missteps (although it was his “great guy-ness” that fooled me into keeping him employed… obviously, I’m a slow learner!)

Afterward he always exclaimed, “…but I apologized!” almost as if it justified the situation. And I would respond, “Yes, and it was very sincere, but I don’t want you to every apologize again! …To anyone! Not because you shouldn’t, but because you shouldn’t be in a position to HAVE to!! …Not for something we’ve discussed either directly or indirectly and you should’ve learned by now!”

This applies to knowledge as well. One of my favorite quotes “without wisdom, knowledge is more stupid than ignorance.” -anonymous

In my experiences on my both sides of the podium, overconfidence is the enemy of both education and personal growth!

The number one way to be wrong… is to think you are 100% right. “Right” is contextual (situation dependent), therefore, without stating the context that makes something “right” it can just as often be wrong.

Exploration and self-questioning is a requirement of intelligence.

When you think you found an error in someone else’s work, the first person to question is yourself!

“You should do more biceps to balance out your triceps.”

“You should do more calves.

“You should do more upper and inner pecs.”

All suggestions made by idiots.

I used to overhear such recommendations everyday.

I’ve known Olympia contenders who had “weak calves” (relatively speaking). What do you think they “worked harder” than anything else in every conceivable manner? Yep! Calves!

Conversely most of them didn’t even bother to work their “best” areas!

Q: “What do you do for arms?” A: “I really don’t work them until about a month before the Olympia. I get enough arms with chest and back.”

WTF?!!!!!!

I know the world thinks it can overcome DNA, but it can’t. Don’t get me wrong!!! Genetics is not an excuse for not “working hard” (i.e., appropriate effort within one’s individual tolerances, which can and must be extremely high for many individuals). But why do we believe one has exceeded his/her genetic window of opportunity when we observe a previously unfathomable level of achievement? They are in fact exhibiting a point within their window! They may not have recognized the expanse of the window when living a former/lesser ability level, but no one has ever been bigger or faster than they could be. When they are bigger and faster than anyone prior, they have not exceeded their genetics through hard work… they have displayed the expanse of their genetics through hard work! Quite simply, if hard work was the only factor, literally anyone could achieve any physical level in any physical endeavor. There would no such thing as those built for basketball vs. football vs. marathons vs sprinting vs bodybuilding.

I have known too many people with crazy-awesome genetic ability that never learned to work hard because initially it was required of them. They were often surpassed by those with somewhat lesser genetics who did work hard. But if the gifted had busted ass…

Be more observant of a greater number of people in general. There are males and females sporting monstrous calves who have never seen a gym. There appears to be far more people with no calves who have tried everything. It’s no different than hair, eye color, height, or anything else. We are just deceived because while those other traits are not “trainable”, muscle typically responds to degrees of contractile challenge by increasing in ability to meet the new requirements or demand… with one side effect commonly being a degree of hypertrophy.

As a result of muscle being somewhat malleable, we have childishly come to believe that there is no end to this opportunity. And because some have a window of opportunity that exceeds that of those coming before them, we believe they must have exceeded their own DNA window. While we choose to limit our use of the word “exceptional” to the people and achievements things we think are “great”, we ignore the root word “exception”, i.e., “a case to which a rule does not apply” – Merriam-Webster.

Don’t stop working for the goal. Commitment, diligence, and perseverance are among the keys. Paint a panoramic mental picture of what not only the goal looks like, but include what it smells, sounds, and feels like. But injury and over-training produced by not monitoring the fine line between hard work and intolerance will certainly not allow you to explore the expanse of your window of opportunity.

Got a shoulder problem?
“It’s your rotator cuff”!

Got a hip problem?
“It’s bursitis”

Got sciatica”?
“It’s the piriformis!”

“Sciatica” a term used to describe pain that may either radiate down the posterior lower extremity or remain localized to the gluteal region with no correlating findings on imagery of the spine. This leaves the default diagnosis: piriformis syndrome. Practically since my first semester in PT school (August 1981) I’ve heard the same things that are still taught today: due to its anatomical relationship with the piriformis, the sciatic nerve can become entrapped and irritated when the piriformis spams (i.e., “gets tight”). You can stretch all you want. It may help… temporarily. It commonly returns in short order. massage, e-stim, ultrasound, if they help it again is temporarily. It commonly returns in short order There are even extreme cases when a “piriformisectomy” is surgically performed!!! Seriously???? WTF? Talk about permanently annihilating hip function! It’s not like there won’t be lifelong fallout from that.

OK. Let’s think about this. While this anatomical situation appears to be unique in that the sciatic nerve runs through or under a specific muscle, muscular compression of nerves occurs everywhere all day. ALL major nerves are deep to muscular tissue! All are compressed when we lift a weight… or ourselves from a chair! Envision the tension requirements of the posterior hip musculature in a powerlifter squatting or deadlifting 500, 600, 700 pounds. The far more musculature than just the piriformis is compressing the sciatic nerve! Now consider that if the piriformis alone was under enough constant tension to create a problem that wasn’t a regular occurrence in a squat when all the geographically associated muscles are compressing the sciatic… why isn’t the that hip in a constant and irretrievable position of externally rotation.

Is tension the cause, or is it a symptom??!!

Stop blindly assuming!

Start questioning unfounded traditional beliefs with reason and skill thought!

Stop treating symptoms!

And if treating the symptom feels better, and they’re off the ledge, then we have bought some time to look for the cause.

Dude!!!!! There’s no such thing!! They’re ALL effects!

The drug is unaware of its job!

“Side effect” is just the way pharmaceutical companies and doctors “spin” it!

Whether it’s what WE want or don’t want, expect or don’t expect doesn’t change the multi-layered effects and outcomes.

In 2012 I was honored to be asked to present at an international conference in Mexico City. As a presenter it was, quite frankly, just another pain in the ass trip away from home (four days in yet another hotel, long airport lines, and upwards of my 2 millionth-ish mile in another neck-crippling airplane seat). But it was sitting in a couple of others’ presentations as well hanging with these other presenters at and after dinners (at the hotel bar… where all profound things occur) that made this a truly unique and memorable experience. They were brilliant, full of experiences at levels most only hear about in an HBO Sports documentary, and extremely eloquent in the communication of their wisdom. I jotted down some quotes (on bar napkins of course) that were not only profound, but were also very “RTS” in that they were outside of the untoward paradigms, rhetoric, and sound bites that are epidemic in the exercise industry. Here are a few of my favorites:

Jack Roach, US Olympic swim coach,  US Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, CO:

“The only way to swim fast is to have great technique. The only way to have great technique is to swim slow enough to work on your technique.”  (vs the only way to be fast is to train fast, which ignores the influence of skill on speed)

“In swimming there is what is known as the “anaerobic threshold graveyard.” I was guilty of this in my younger years. We’d spend years pushing the limits during training and I literally swam the speed out of guys by the time they were 16 and they were done! They never returned to their former ability.” (vs the idea that more is always better; strategically appropriate is the key)

Gregory Haff, PhD, Senior Strength Scientist, Edith Cowan University, Australia:

“Athletes should wait several years to even begin plyometrics. They must have a foundation of strength first. In fact, strengthening alone will increase power in the first few years.” (progression of internal performance/function, i.e., the contractile ability/output of the tissue we use to jump or to exhibit power; you can improve power without the activity having “power” in the name or behind the protocol)

“Strength is a requirement for performance. Look at it this way: regardless of your level of skill, if your strength declines your performance declines.” (again, contractile output/internal function/performance is the foundation for every activity)

“There is a saying I learned: ‘New coaches copy. Good coaches modify. Great coaches innovate.” (i.e. they stray from tradition via sound principles)

“Sports and fitness have nothing to do with each other. In sports we try to ring every drop of performance out of an athlete that we can. In fitness you’re supposed to be concerned about the long term. It’s supposed to be sustainable.” (vs Crossfit’s tagline: “the sport of fitness” and all the performance training promoted as the path to health, weight loss, etc. for people of any age, goal, or tolerance)

“Most people cannot distinguish between: 6+2=8 and 8=6+2. The difference can be rather important.

The addition of 6 and 2 cannot produce any answer other than 8. But 8 can be made up of combinations other than 6 and 2 (5+3, 4+4, 7+1). Why is this important? Because people start to believe that if you have a ‘right’ answer there is no need to think further because you can never be more than right. Having the right answer means you do not have to listen to other answers because they can never be ‘more than right’. The result is a severe limitation on thinking.”

-Edward de Bono

“The thing we don’t realize is that statistics have nothing to do with the prognosis of a patient. It’s like saying that the average temperature in San Diego for the year is 75°, doesn’t tell me what today’s temperature is. Or if the average income in La Jolla is $100,000 it doesn’t tell what your income is. Statistics never apply to the individual. At the risk of being sexist, in medical school one fellow told the joke that statistics are like a girl in a bikini. What she reveals is obvious, what she conceals is much more interesting. -Deepak Chopra, MD

“Most people use statistics like a drunk man uses a lamppost; more for support than illumination” -Mark Twain

“Don’t train muscles, train motions.” – Vern Gambetta

Simply not possible.

Ultimately, motion is produced via an inequality in opposing torques. In the case of exercise, the net is determined by the muscular torque vs. resistance torque at each and every individual joint involved/loaded… regardless of whether each is moving or not. Therefore, human motion is internal force production in response to external force application (and intention, which can alter the resultant, and even the source of resistance).

So, motion is produced by the orchestration of motor recruitment, i.e. the organization of contractions. The direction of resistance determines which muscles are required at any point in the range. The amount of torque created by the resistance influences the required/changing tension production required at any point in the range of motion.

Regardless of the motion or motions performed, the tissue required to produce it will be determined solely by how that motion is loaded.

Shoulder abduction does not determine which tissues are utilized nor their roles/influences. If the direction of resistance is pulling upward like a cable from above, then the “adductors” are required eccentrically to perform (control) abduction! I.e., while they may play other roles, the abductors are not the movers challenged.

Performing shoulder flexion and elbow extension simultaneously does not determine the traditionally designated name for the exercise. It is named for the muscles utilized in response to the resistance direction. I.e., when performed in the same plane, a “press” and a “pull” are in fact the exact same motions. We change the name based upon the direction of resistance… and knowingly or unknowingly, the muscles required.

While Mr Gambetta generated an eloqent sound bite that thousands have repeated like a bible verse, it is in fact a ridiculous statement and an impossibility.

“Tight hamstrings lead to low back pain.”

This is a common assumptive prediction offered by the medical and rehab communities. While someone complaining of back pain may present with “limited hamstring flexibility”, why do we assume a specific relationship?

It is true that these often correlate, but we MUST reconsider the assumption of causation… at least the relationship of causation historically presented.

Over the decades many athletes have trained at my facilities (combining conditioning and rehab). Over the years several individuals incurred injuries such as ACL tears during Friday evening football game or a Saturday afternoon soccer. While presenting with “normal hamstring flexibility” (a phrase like the above, so wrought with misstatement that it’s painful to write) the day before the game, they unanimously displayed dramatically limited hip flexion when assessed while concurrently in knee as close to full extension as currently available, what the world labels as “tight hamstrings”. So we must assume that one of the body’s responses to the ACL tear is to increase tension in the musculature that would appropriately limit post injury knee motion.

So what about back pain? I’ve seen the same scenario. Now this doesn’t qualify as research, merely observation. But it is a scenario to which virtually zero physicians and PT’s are privy… because they never see the individual until after the injury occurs! They have no opportunity for pre-injury assessment in order to make a remotely reasonable conclusion of much less prediction that “hamstring” tension leading to back pain.