A Real Pain in the Knee

“Runner's Knee” is a big problem for anyone in a running sport, but especially for the track and cross country athletes. For those of you unfamiliar with the problem, I will boil it down to it's essentials, medical personnel can quit reading here as you will certainly cringe at the simplicity of my explanation. Basically, the knee cap floats around. Some sports, combined with individual body types, form an imbalance in the muscles, ligaments and tendons around the knee, which will move the knee cap slightly off track during some positions in the range of motion of knee bending. The result is pain. This is also the “Not Good” type of pain.

Many doctors will tell the athlete to quit doing the sport until it gets better. Reality shows that this is not the best solution. Sure it will ultimately solve the problem, but it takes a long time. We are also battling psychology here. If this athlete has that problem, it is likely due to being an over achiever that pushes him or herself too hard, thus the problem. That athlete won't sit on the sidelines. Instead that athlete will go back to the offending motion and “push through it”, causing far worse problems down the road. I have seen this happen again and again.

The best solution is to actively solve the knee problem. It will engage the athlete in a physical activity. It will also be an activity which fixes the problem long term and get that athlete back out on the field. Otherwise, the athlete will just go right back to the same old habits that started the issue in the first place.

One solution comes by way of that classic training tool, the Iron Boot, or as Bob Hoffman called them, “Health Shoes”. Basically, they are dumbbells for the feet. Here is a link:

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=IBC

Until recently, the only option was the Iron version, which has an empty weight of about 5 pounds, depending on the straps being used. We now also have Aluminum Boots, which are only 1 pound. That may seem like a waste of time, but if the Runner's Knee pain is too extreme, that may be the athletes limit for some exercises. Here is that link:

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=IB2AL

We will get into more on this later.

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

Cargo Net Special

Anyone up for some boring cardio work?

Maybe we can stare at a wall and run like hamsters on on treadmill?

On the other hand, let's head outside and put together our own obstacle course!

Cargo net climbing is fun. Fun means interesting, which means that you, your buddies and/or your clients will NOT be skipping their summer training sessions.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=WBSS

That link is for our Weekly Bomb Shelter Special, which is CARGO NETS. These are the last few of our military surplus, real rope, cargo nets. I wanted one of these for years, but simply could not find one. Then I landed on several pallets of them. They are used, but in great shape. This is exactly the type of thing that I talk about on page 67 “Sport v. Reality: The Mental Game” in Traditional Training Legendary Strength .

Get yours before they are gone. When they are gone, they are gone.

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

PS. Remember you can always save on shipping if you pick it up at our warehouse/showroom!

Atomic Athletic Small Granite Ball Training

Giant Killer Returns

The Farmers Walk Event at the Detroit Highland Games had more competitors than I have ever seen! We had 25 competitors this year, but a local Detroit Police officer beat them all.

Atomic Athletic is a regular sponsor of the Detroit Highland Games Farmer's Walk Event. The games typically get around 15,000 spectators, but I am sure there were a lot more this year. I have never seen it so packed. This is a big event, but that 200 Pounds per hand is a little daunting for most people, so we regularly get about 15 guys trying it out, but not this year.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=SUT002

Our giant killer was Jared Spybrook. While Jared is no small guy, he does typically compete in Strongman contests as a lightweight, meaning under 230 pounds. My guess is that there were at least half a dozen guys who were much heavier than him. That included professional and amateur highland and strongman athletes. The talent really turned out this year.

Many of you have been wondering where Jared has been during the last year. Well, if you see him, you can also congratulate him on the addition to his family. During the last year, the Spybrooks had twins. As anyone with kids knows, it can certainly have an impact on contest participation as well as training. While Jared said he is only getting in about two good training days a week, he looked great on the field. He was strong and extremely fast. Whatever he is doing, it is working.

The Detroit Highland Games take place at the Greenmead Historical Park in Livonia, MI. It is located between 7 Mile Road and 8 Mile Road, on the East side of I-275. If you want to put it on your calendar for next year, it is always the first Saturday of August, or August 6, 2011.

See you there.

Live strong,

Roger

PS. The kettlebell handles were a hot topic at our booth this year. I think there will be a lot of guys buying them in order to make their own farmer's walk handles. We have a great diagram of the Kettlebell Handle Farmers Handles at this link:

http://www.atomicathletic.com/articles/detail.asp?ArtID=94

Aluminum Striker Boots

Our MMA customers have really been asking for an ultra light weight “Iron Boot”. Well, here it is:

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=IB2AL

We are calling this our Aluminum Striker Boot. Weighing in at only 1 pound 1 ounce, they are the perfect tool for high repetition kick work as well as those extreme position kick holds that would be simply impossible with a 5 pound Iron Boot.

All of your accessory parts that you may already have for the Iron Boots will work with our NEW Aluminum Boots.

They are being sold as Pairs and with the Ankle Stability Kit.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=IBAK1

Live strong,
Roger LaPointe

Hand Evolution

If you want to understand hand strength, then you need to look at the anatomy of the hand. This seems totally obvious to me, but I study strength training. Yet, a revelation happened as I drove to the coffee shop this morning.  

I routinely get questions about how to improve grip strength, as if grip training were as simple as putting different tires on your car. In fact, it is possibly the most complex question to be asked in strength training.

My revelation was thanks to an NPR Radio story on the evolution of our hands. Instead of merely looking at fossils, or other ape-like creatures, the premise of this concept was basically an economic one. These researchers are studying the skills that allowed the most successful humans to succeed, from a Darwinian perspective. The argument being that thousands of years of stone tool making helped the hand, wrist and forearm to evolve into what it is today. Therefore, they are studying the actions of modern “flint knappers”, as they make their stone tools, like knives, axes, and so on. As it turns out, archeological evidence of the complexity of various tools does correspond well with archeological skeletal evidence.

So you ask, “that is very interesting, Roger, but how will this knowledge get me stronger?”

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=BK90

As usual, the key is asking the right question. For his size, my Grandpa LaPointe has some of the strongest looking hands I have ever seen. He owned a small brick company and has laid tons and tons of bricks in his life. Conversely, Rolling Stone magazine had an outstanding photo of Keith Richards hands, from just a year or so ago. His hands looked like gnarled, old tree roots and incredibly strong, with powerful hand muscles I had never seen before. Neither of those men could do the other's job, merely from a hand strength perspective, let alone the skills required. At the same time, I am sure that few if any professional football players would be capable of the same.

General or specific strength, which one are we after?

Most sports require fairly general hand strength. As someone concentrating on Olympic lifting, or picking heavy weights up off the ground and putting them over my head, I would fall into that category. However, much like Keith, who needs to have fine motor control to bend those strings to the exact shape he wants, a baseball pitcher needs some unique and incredible specific hand strength as well.

Serendipity certainly struck. I was listening to the radio in my truck, which is a somewhat important detail, as my car radio is currently broken and that is what I typically drive around town. My mind is swirling with ideas and concepts. You never know where inspiration will come from. This radio story introduced more questions than it has answered, but I can guarantee that a program of traditional strength training is closer to the mark for hand strength than a fancy chrome weight machine which does not even require the use of the hands. Yes, they are out there.

Check out the link above and it will lead you to some awesome concepts.

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

Atomic Athletic Warehouse History