Deload – 4.21.10

Hi, Charlie. Greetings from across the pond. While there are a number of great physiotherapists and strength coaches here, I am not one of them, just a bloke with a life-time love affair with the iron game (in my early 30’s now and been training since I was a lad). I mention that to frame what I will now direct your way…….

In my brief time following your “snapshot” training entries, I have come to appreciate that you’re far more than just a brilliant therapist and coach, you’re also a man who loves “sound intense training” (to borrow your own phrase when describing part of Steve’s skill set
).

Now you possess the base to be able to delve into many areas that would be deemed as esoteric and beyond by your average ordinary meathead like me. So I wanted to ask where some of these types of things fit in the bigger picture for someone who doesn’t have a background like yours? (or the mental capacity, since I absolutely have to acknowledge your innate ability as much as the work you have done to deeply cultivate said abilities………….To me, minds are like athletes in that with sufficient effort, they can always be better today than yesterday, but some are destined to be HOFers, some all-stars, and others simply role players. You’re a first-ballot HOFer, and I’m just a guy riding the pine, hah, hah)

From the outside looking in, it would obviously be impossible for me to truly appreciate some of the more nuanced or obscure (to the lay population, at least) stuff able to be bandied about by folks like you, Gray Cook, and others who can have a deeper appreciation and understanding of certain stuff, whether it’s Z Health or concepts from the Prague School that are starting to crop up in more discussions these days.

I admit that proper breathing patterns and rolling are very basic things by their very essence, so I only lump them under the esoteric umbrella because general population guys like me, while I can appreciate the basic concepts, are not privy to the details that make these types of elements topics that are now starting to take a more prominent focus. Likewise with certain Z Health drills………….I can appreciate the basics, but having not attended courses nor worked with anyone of significant proficiency (like your friend Steve), they just end up being mostly Greek to me.

It may sound silly of me, but I am often left feeling like for all that I (think I) know regarding the many facets of training that seems sound (along with some stuff clearly revealed as having been misguided), I am usually left feeling like I don’t understand 1-percent of what I thought that I did and that I am missing the boat by either not exposing myself more deeply to these more advanced areas of training or putting myself in a location where I am able to work with someone who already possesses proficiency in them.

Whether it’s talk of respecting the joint-by-joint approach, rolling, breathing, drills integrating the visual and vestibular systems, the short foot (an assist to Dr. Craig Liebenson since I found an article by him that at least partially explained a bit about this), or what have you, I’m usually left questioning just about everything that I do, even when it seems rather sound compared to most of what is out there.

Given my tendency to be a bit obsessive, this usually saps some of the joy out of the training process for me. For some reason I now end up focusing on what I think I may be doing that may actually be considered wrong (or at least incomplete) by those on the cutting edge or on whatever I feel that it is I don’t know enough or much at all about. That’s one unfortunate side-effect of having cement for a cranium………..even when you recognize a problem, it can be hard to rewire the thought process. This is in direct contrast to the past, when I would simply try to blend common sense, hard work, a trust in quality before quantity, and solid nutrition and never gave a second thought to what I may or may not know. In those days training was always an absolute joy, so I suppose ignorance was bliss, as terrible as that may sound (In that respect, the internet has been both blessing and curse, since it exposed me to many things I would not have otherwise encountered in my humble hamlet.)

Well now that I’ve sufficiently rambled on, I should probably cease clogging up your comments section in case some of your scholarly colleagues want to pop by and have a legit discussion……..they don’t need my junk taking up space 🙂 And just for the record, I’m an auto mechanic, so that probably lets you know I must be out out of my gourd and on a weekend pass to be posting such a lengthy post related to stuff that isn’t even in the same universe as my scope of practice, hah, hah.

Rest assured that I won’t be littering your blog entries with many more comments of monster length!

Thanks for the updates Charlie!

Glad to hear you are trying the Z-Health drills and interested in how it works out for you.

Everyone needs to use what works best for them and test it to make sure they know it works.

What the heck is Dermoneuromodulation? I probably should know, but I have to admit I have not heard that name before.

If you want a better answer, you need to start with a better question.

Great work again on the before and after pics! Nicely done!

Rock on
Mike T Nelson PhD(c)

Mike – Dermoneuromodulation is a non-painful manual therapy championed by the like of Barrett Dorko and Diane Lee. It is the Soma Simple approach of managing superficial nerves. I think Dr. Cobb has a fake ripped off name for what his version of it is. It is probably best described by how John Barnes describes his version of myofascial release.

Thanks for the follow up Doc!

Is it just checking in 3 layers of tissue at various directions and holding slight pressure into them until they release? That is my understanding.

Do you use idoemotor work at all?

Thanks!
rock on
Mike T Nelson PhD(c)

I have no experience with Ideomotion………yet.