bLOG

Golfers Elbow for Non Golfists

Dave Hedges
Jun 24
4 min read

Over the last few weeks I’ve had a number of folk complaining of elbow pain.

Either golfers elbow or tennis elbow.

And while I do have a few Golfists on my client roster, I’m not talking

about any of them.

Where we’re seeing this is the lifting population, not necessarily the

sporting population.

And pain that shows up on pulling movements, particularly bent arm pulling.

What do I mean by “bent arm pulling” ?

Think of rows, pull ups, cleans etc where the elbow will bend.

As opposed to deadlifts, farmers walks, hanging scap ups etc where the

arms remain straight.

And in that definition we have our first clue.

The pain occurs commonly when the elbow is bending under load, but not

when we pull with a straight arm.

Why?

I view the body as a unit. Like a bike chain is a series of links, but

works as a single unit.

If one of those links jams up, the whole chain starts jumping, you

immediately feel it.

The body isn’t a chain, but that idea illustrates an idea.

Each joint is a link

If there is a link that isn’t doing its share, then the other links will

have to work harder.

And what surrounds joints?

Muscle.

So some muscles may get overloaded beyond capacity, or may contract and

“forget” to relax again.

Result: pain in the overloaded tissues but not where the problem

actually lies.

And maybe the beginnings of a muscle imbalance, which may or may not

become an issue.

So where does all this take us?

Overly tight forearm flexors and lack of scapula movement/strength

The forearm flexors tend to tighten as we’re constantly gripping,

especially if we’re gripping in the same manner all the time, which with

bars, dumbbells and machines being nice and ergonomically thought out,

tends to be the case.

Standardised kit does bring about its own problems, which is why I’ve

never been a fan.

I like variation in kit, as it goes somewhat to prevent the development

of some training scaps, such as golfers elbow or even psychological

attachment to certain kit.

Solution:

Stretch the flexors and strengthen the extensors.

Basically work on opening the hand as much as possible.

An old school way of doing this was to place your hand flat on a table

and rest a book on the back of the fingers, then lift the book by

lifting each finger up, one at a time.

Try it, if you do, let me know how you got on.

It’s harder than it sounds!

We can also use elastic bands around the fingers and simply open the

hand against it.

For stretching, with a strength element, try to use movement to release

the overly tight tissues, which is great for warming up and cooling down

for a grip intensive session.

The key is movement, these are pulsing type movements:

Finger pulses https://vimeo.com/335697243 - 10-20 pulses then go to palm

Palm pulses https://vimeo.com/335697424 10-20 pulses

This stuff:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLksAltASjwfUcJs9uLcfajaOOuuouy06v&si=vpvyy1vhdklzXNvk

So what about the Scapula movement/strength.

Several years ago I was introduced to this idea of “Scapula Strength” or

“Straight Arm Strength” which are terms used in the gymnastics community.

As I played with it and used it with select clients, I noticed any

shoulder issues started to dissipate.

Mobility in the shoulder improved, chest tightness reduced and the

ability to demonstrate strength skyrocketed.

It could well be the missing link in many people's arsenal.

Straight arm strength is moving weight in any way that keeps the elbow

straight.

This means the tissues that cross the elbow (golfers and tennis pain

muscles) aren’t being asked to do much, but the scapula on the other

hand, well that has to do everything.

Now, our Scapula is a big ole bone with around 19 muscles that connect

to it in some way.

Muscles that go from our pelvis (the lats), to our arm (bicep, tricep,

lats, the rotator cuff muscles) , our neck, our ribs, our spine. It is

the keystone of the upper body.

Yet, most people have no awareness of their scapula, never mind realise

how important it is for strength and health purposes.

So here’s what to do.

Push ups, rows, pull ups all done with no elbow bend. Yes, the motion

will reduce to almost nothing, essentially their shoulder shrugs in

different directions.

Turkish Get ups and Windmills, movements usually seen in kettlebell

workouts and questioned by the bodybuilding community. Do a few weeks of

these and see how your shoulder feel!

Band pull aparts, ensure the elbows remain straight!

Pull in a variety of positions and directions. People love to tell me

the “best” way to do these, and that’s simply fellatio of the ego

There are 19 muscles going in 19 different directions from the scap, and

you think there’s ONE best way to do pull aparts???

And if you really want smooth moving shoulders and elbows that are

loosey goosey

Then you must breathe well, with a rib cage that expands and contracts

in all directions.

Our accessory breathing muscles are often the same that are tight in the

shoulder girdle and neck, which affect the ability of the scapula to do

its job.

Ensure you are breathing primarily with the diaphragm and only using the

accessory upper chest breathing as needed.

Being able to breath into the upper chest is essential, as is breathing

down into the diaphragm.

It’s more about ensuring the ability is there.

Energy Drains & Glide Ratio

Dave Hedges
Jun 24
4 min read

You may have noticed there was no newsletter last week and not much SocMed activity from me over the last week.

That is due to a few things going sideways and time being very short supply.

However, I think we're though that and can get back to normal service.

And with my own struggles this last few weeks, it seems right that today's newsletter deals with Jacks question, which is relevant to where I have been:

"How do you navigate training whilst sick with things such as a common cold? When can it help? When can it hinder? What are some guidelines to look out for? What are the guidelines from returning from illness?

Context:

I have 4 "larger" "things" which cause a drain on my energy:

1) work,

2) parenting,

3) study,

4) gym.

I was sick end of last week (sat-wed). So gym got bumped (and always will over the other 3) and I decided to skip my last session for the week. Then this week, being the eager beaver I thought I was right to train yesterday - maybe felt 75=80% recovered....Low and behold by yesterday evening i felt pretty run down and sick again - almost perhaps back at square one. Its not a terribly bad illness, sore throat and sinuses - just feel run down.

Interested to hear your thoughts?

Cheers Jack"

So what happened to Jack?

Why did he feel like he relapsed after just one session back?

Exercise and training will over time make you stronger and more resilient, this includes your immune system. Fitter people tend to be sick less.

However, in the post training window, our immune system can be somewhat dampened, and that can open the door to whatever pathogens you have been fighting and let them run riot once more!

Long story short, you only have a limited amount of resources available to run the body. And if you've just had a hard workout, your resources are being redirected towards replacing the gylcogen used in the muscles and liver, repairing any muscle damage and hopefully building more muscle, growing some new cells, developing some more mitochondria and so on and so forth.

So if you are coming back from illness, please start back slowly. Cut back on volume especially.

A short and intense session may be fine, but the more you let that fatigue build with volume, the harder it becomes to recover from.

And just as the body has limited resources, so do we as human animals.

So we must manage our priorities and our expectations accordingly.

Times where this management really kicks in:

Kids are currently sitting GCSE's or A-Levels or your country equivalent for 16 & 18 year olds, so priority has to go there.

Jobs/Careers, especially if new, or looking a promotion

Family, new kids are a huge drain on resources, delightful, but hard work.

Gym.

That last one can be confusing.

The gym is both a drain on resources and a potential tool for increasing resources.

It increases resources by increasing our "Glide Ratio" which is an aviation analogy I was told by my old friend Wolfgang Brolley.

Wolf was on a plane travelling somewhere when he was talking to his companion about how planes have a thing called Glide Ratio.

Essentially that is should the engines fail, for every meter of forward motion you will loose a certain amount of height.

A house brick has a very poor glide ratio, it drops significantly more than it will travel forward.

A 737, a common passenger plane has a glide ratio of 15:1, so for every 1 meter loss in altitude, it travels 15 meters forward.

If we train well, and train in conjunction with our life's demands, consistently for many years, we become like that 737.

Not only are we able to fly higher, but also for longer.

This is the resilience we want to have, the baseline we want to build that will springboard us to higher level performance should we find a challenge we want to undertake.

Or simply keep us flying along until it's time to land.

Keeping with the 737, it will need to refuel, it will need parts serviced and repaired, it needs to change the crew, clean it inside and out.

It can't just go and go.

Neither can you.

So when life throws you a curve ball and you don't have the energy to get to the gym. Don't sweat it.

Refuelling, changing the oil, pumping up the tyres, are all part of building resilience.

You'll be back up in the air soon.

Rush the service, and you may just take off too early and that is when planes crash.

So for Jack, take the foot off a little bit. Start back slower, less volume, see how you recover.

Maybe instead of 3 sessions this week, just do 2.

Then as you feel good, increase it gradually until you are back where you were, and potentially even better.

For myself, it's just a case of refuelling and organising my flight plan.

What about you?

Do you need to step back and review, or are you cruising along just fine?

Hit reply and let me know.

And please send in your questions, they get added to my list and will be covered in future emails

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.davehedges.net

Flip Flopping, Movement, and He Who Should Not Be Named

Dave Hedges
May 23
5 min read

"Is there any issue with flip flopping on programmes for basic strength training, mobility & conditioning - of which is part of the programme (fast rep stuff) rather than adding in something such as running - which I really can’t stand!

My personal approach is targeting the same type of moves but with different implements.

E.g I may do a cycle or 2 on TRX with all the good stuff in there progressively overloading on each session.

Then I may go do a KB programme for a cycle or 2.

All the key moves plus the lovely TGU.

And right now I’m taking a more Functional Patterns (he who is a guru - from a previous post!) banded approach.

This resonates with me at the moment, lots of rotation, time under tension, but not so easy to progressively overload although I absolutely am doing that as best I can.

I train at home only, nice selection of bells, TRX and bands, in the fresh air.

That beats chasing numbers is my opinion.

Also I’m not training for a sport or specific skills.

Matt Wilsher"

Lots to unpack in this one, lets list the key points so we know what we're answering

Flip flopping on programs

Substituting exercises you don't like

Matching a plan with personal wants/needs

Basic periodisation / movement over muscles

Functional Patterns

Progress without chasing numbers

Each one of these is a full topic in itself, so I have copied this list into my newsletter topics list and will hit them up in detail down the line.

Today though, we'll give you the basics without too much detail.

Starting with:

1: Flip flopping on programs

Ask this to most S&C coaches than they'll have an aneurism, the program is the program is the program!

Unless, you're not an athlete and instead you are a regular person with a regular job, family etc and are doing your best to keep in shape while also being there for the family and job.

If that's you, then you're already a hero in my book.

And in this case, life will throw you curve balls and do it's best to derail any programming.

Which means flexibility is required.

Being flexible is not flip flopping, it is being adaptable. Adapting to circumstances.

Can I train once this week, but 4 times next week? Is that old shoulder injury at me and the barbell no linger suits but the TRX does? What are your stress levels like?

All these things matter, and if a program is driving hard and not suiting your lifestyle, then flip it.

2: Substituting exercises you don't like, Matt specifically mentions running.

The amount of people I meet who say they hate running astonishes me, if you are one of these people, do me a favour and write back to me with a few lines saying what it is you hate about running.

When it comes to exercise selection, it is a process of reverse engineering.

Start with the desired outcome, then look at the person, then figure out how to get that person that outcome.

So if we want cardiovascular / aerobic fitness, but that person hates to run. It makes no sense to ask them to run. We can go to our tool kit and look at the dozens of other methods we have to develop the aerobic system.

From the various Ergometers, stationary bikes, rowing machines etc.

Skipping, light kettlebells, bodyweight movements, mobility circuits, bag work and shadow boxing, the list goes on.

Outcomes are not exercise specific, I cannot think of a single exercise that is essential for every individual to do. Yes, some exercises are better than others, but nothing is essential.

Pick the outcome then work backwards to find the best tool for you to reach that outcome.

I think that covered 3: Matching the plan to the persons needs....

4: Basic Periodisation / Movements over Muscles.

Matt mentions using different kit to overload similar movements/muscles

Specifically the TRX and Kettlebells.

And this is all good, they key is knowing each piece of equipment's strengths and weaknesses.

The TRX is great for LOADING the upper body and UNLOADING the lower body, it's also great for "free scapular" moves and getting rotation in certain moves.

The Kettlebell is great for eccentric loading of the hips, grip endurance and is often a shoulder friendly option for various presses.

I'm loving the Bulgarian bag at the moment, largely because of the weather, but I know it's severely lacking when it comes to pressing movements, but for grip, pulling and rotation, it's perfect.

So once we know what our kit is and isn't good for, we can choose the exercise variant to get us to our desired outcome.

Corkscrew rows on a TRX, Bent over rows with a Kettlebell, Meadows rows with a landmine...

Split Squats with the foot in the TRX, Split Squats with 1 or 2 Kettlebells held suitcase/Racked/Overhead, staggered, Split Squats with a bar, Split squat jumps with the Bulgarian Bag

Who uses varied exercise selection like this?

None other than the world famous Westside Barbell under the late great Louis Simmons.

Westside is a powerlifting gym, Louis it's creative genius founder. He would have lifters use a different variation of each lift for a few weeks then swap it. I may be a stance change or a kit change. He knew that the changes would alter the movement just enough to challenge the muscles slightly differently and bring reduce any gaps/eliminate any training scars present.

Just don't change too frequently, give yourself 3-6 good weeks before making a change.

5: Functional Patterns

The less said about Naudi the better. However, in the spirit of "the stopped clock is right twice a day" he has some good ideas.

And setting up bands and moving in a variety of ways is always worth doing.

Go to Youtube and look up wrestlers and Judo players training with bands.

Right now I have a keen amateur golfer doing some banded wrestling drills simply to open up his movement vocabulary and help him rotate better through the thoracic spine.