Foam Rolling Clinic 2012

Enhanced Performance is putting on two foam rolling clinics. During these hour long clinics we will be going over the the how and the why of foam rolling or self myofasical release (SMFR). Enhanced Performance has quickly become a leader in this area having presented at the 3rd International Fascial Congress as well as having research about to be published in the Journal of Bodywork and Massage. We've learned the science so that we can show you how to put it into practice. Both dates are limited to 8 people to ensure participants can get the most of of the session so be sure to register before it sells out!

Date: Sunday the 20th of May at 9.30am or Tuesday the 22nd of May at 8pm
Location: Creekside, 1 Athletes Way, Vancouver. (the Olympic Village).
Cost: $75 including a trigger point foam roller. $50 without a foam roller.
Register by emailing lynne@enhancedperformance.ca

Please pass this on to any interested friends or colleagues who may be interested in learning the correct methods for adding this great tool into your warmup and recovery.

Day 3 - Fascia Congress 2012

I arrived 5 minutes late for the third and last day of the congress after staying out late the night before. Hitting the snooze button one two many times was a big mistake as one of the best keynote presentations kicked things off. Dr. Carla Stecco's overview of fascial anatomy was simply top notch.

Side point: Fascial anatomy, I think, is the most important aspect in the world of fascia for trainers, movement therapist and strength coaches. The biochemistry and physiological changes that can occur are interesting, yes, but the anatomy of the fascial network is what gives use people that deal with movement the justification on a structural level for compound, multi-joint movements. From a structural point of view, we don't have any good rational for prioritizing these multi-joint movements if we just look at muscles and bones. In fact, if we just look and muscles and bones we'll conclude that machine based, isolation type exercises are the way to go. And that's exactly what happened in the eighties and nineties. It's why gyms are full of equipment and don't have open space to move. The academic textbooks that detailed the structure of the human body were (and still are) missing one key building material and it has fundamentally sent us down the wrong path. This is all changing now due to the work being done by people like the Stecco family.

Day 2 - Fascia Congress 2012

Day two, the 29th of March 2012, was one of the best days of my life! You see Thursday was the day I got to stand up in front of a packed out room and present my research. Needless to say, this simple fact completely changed my ability to take in the days activities.

I arrived just in time for Rolf Reed's presentation on burns and frostbite. In the interest of honesty, I will admit that I took in about 5% of it. I've no doubt that it was a interesting presentation, but not really in any way relevant to me. The combination of this, and the fact my brain was already running at 100% doing practice runs of my own presentation, resulted in me clapping at the end simply because everyone else was. Sorry Dr. Reed, but I was just too nervous to take anything in.

Day 1 - Fascia Congress 2012

I love having concepts and theories that I haven't quite yet figured out float around the back on my head. Sometimes its more viewpoints that anything else, but I love the feeling of working through, and slowly gaining a understanding of something complex. In the few weeks and even months leading up to the congress I was feeling as though there wasn't much information like this in my head. I was either hearing information that I already knew or information that didn't interest me. It was making me feel stale and stagnant and I didn't like it. I was really hoping that attending this congress would help fill up this depleted spot in my head-space, akin to topping up a glass of water. Needless to say, by the end of the second day I felt like I was standing next to this when all I asked for was to have my glass topped up....

My issue with "movement matters"

"Movement matters" is a slogan that has been going around the industry for a while now, but I can't help the feeling that we're missing something every time I read it.

My Quest for a Double Body Weight Deadlift

Dam you Dan John. Dam you. Why did you have say those things in “Never Let Go”?? Why did you have to go and get me all pissed off and focused like that??

For those of you who haven’t read his fantastic book about all things strength, he cuts all the BS and defines a novice lifter as anyone who can’t deadlift twice their body weight and bench body weight. Needless to say, that made be a novice lifter…and a pissed off one at that.

It was exactly what I needed. I entered this industry 3 years previous, and everything that the experts talked about was “corrective”. Strength and conditioning was reaching epidemic status as no one was allowed touch a weight unless they had near flawless primal movement patterns. Everything had to be working perfect, because there is no point in strengthening a poor movement pattern.

In fairness I’m giving Dan John all the credit in waking me up, but he was merely the “two” in a rapid one two combo. The “one” was from a Vancouver based S & C coach, Carmen Bott.

Get Rolling!!

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last 5 years you’ve heard of foam rolling, or more specifically, self myofascial release (SMFR). In my last blog I went through a detailed explanation of why it’s important, how it affects the target tissue (fascia), when to roll, how long to roll, where and where not to roll…basically everything but the actual technique.  If you haven’t read that yet I recommend that you check it out HERE either before or after reading this.

This blog is going to exclusively cover the technique and show how to roll pretty much every major muscle in the body. Below I go though each area individually and at the very end I’ve got a video of how to put it all together in a nice routine. This will save time as you can just smoothly move from one area to the next.