Calling all Bosu owners/users

[alaski]

Also don't forget - there are many ways to get balance and stability training that don't require a bosu or other equipment. So by no means do you have to spend money on gadgets to get balance training (says the girl who just spent $70 on gymnastics rings.....).

Many people forgo free weights because they are a little intimidating, but really, good form with free weights will train all those stabilizer muscles. I think that as long as you're getting a good mix of everything with strength training and cardio at the base, it's all good.

Anyway, the Giannone Squat Progression:
# Position 1: Stand up with your feet placed slightly wider than your shoulders. Stick out your butt, and squat down until your knees are almost at a 90 degree angle. Keep your butt back and down. Put most of your weight on your heels. Hold that position for 30 seconds to begin with, and work up to 90 or 120 seconds. Your quads should burn, and you should feel slightly off balance, with your weight way back on your heels. It sometimes helps to spread your knees out just a bit to put more stress on the quads.

Position 2: After 30 seconds in position one, bend slightly forward with your arms extending out, flex at the hip so your chest is parallel to the floor, and keep your butt back and knees flexed about 90 degrees. Hold for 30 seconds. Bending slightly forward will take a little stress off the quads while still keeping them engaged, and will engage the hams and glutes more.

Position 3: After 30 seconds in position 2, reach back with your arms and head through your legs, and hold for 30 seconds. When you are ready to exit the position, put your hands on the ground in front of you, then straighten your legs (if you can, muah ha ha).

I have a handout with photos that I can scan and email if anyone's that interested. I learned this one from a PT who treats all the ski team folks around here.

I have another one for glutes that I came up with myself. I have to figure out how to write it up, then I'll post it. Er, I'm kind of getting off topic from the original question though...

 

[pinto]

Thanks, sounds good!

Now do it on a Bosu.

(j/k -- although I've done similar things on two dynadiscs ....)

 

[alaski]

Actually that is not a bad idea - learn the exercise, then try it on a bosu - you won't get the same burn or the same muscle engagement at all. The exercise will be worthless for conditioning. Then you'll see what I mean. :p


But seriously: I should have added to the description above - the point of the gianonne squat progression is to provide stable and joint-safe engagement of the large muscle groups of the legs without strain on the joints. So if you have injuries or can't do heavy leg exercises, the progression is a great addition to an exercise regime. It seems pretty simple but it takes a bit of fine tuning to get it just right, so let me know if you have problems with it.

OK, the glute exercise: I designed this exercise to take full advantage of the diagonal muscle fibers in the glutes. Traditional glute exercises engage these muscles at an angle to the fibers, reducing the beneficial effects of the exercise. So this exercise engages those neglected diagonal fibers by engaging them directly.

Stand relaxed with your legs shoulder width apart, holding a dumbbell in your left hand. Stand on your right leg and perform a slow squat with your right leg, while bringing your left hand with the dumbbell down and across your body until it's on the outside of your right foot. At this point you should be in a full squat (thigh should be parallel to the ground; don't go too deep) with your upper body twisted to the right and your left hand and dumbbell about shin level on the outside of your right leg. From that position, straighten your leg and stand up, while at the same time pulling your left hand and dumbbell back across your body. Now: the trick. When you are engaging your muscles to stand up, pivot your hips to the left and lift your left leg (the one off the ground) kind of like a dog at a fire hydrant. Really think about engaging the diagonal fibers of your right glute as you bring the dumbbell up and across while lifting your left leg. After a few reps your glutes should really be burning. This is also a great balance exercise, particularly with heavier weight. I usually have to use something for balance as I get tired. I did OK with this exercise when I had knee surgery, but if your knees are iffy, don't push it on this one. You will have to twist your knee to do it right.

It's a hard one to describe; I hope I got it right! And pinto, don't do this on a bosu!

 

[alaski]

One was a traditional blown ACL while skiing (fell backwards in bumps) about 9 years ago, the second was a blown ACL while mountain biking - I dabbed a foot in sand after landing a drop and blew the knee. No idea how that happened. My surgeon could only guess that with all the abuse my body takes from DH mountain biking it must have just been the "last straw" or something. Well, and then there were three other meniscus injuries, but both began with the initial ACL tear so I'm not sure how much of that is just a matter of doing a lot of wear and tear activities on something that can't really heal itself once it's messed up...

You might already know about this, but when I asked that I was curious because I had just read a study on ACL injuries in skiers. They found that there is a very particular body posture leading to ACL injuries:
* Uphill arm back.
* Skier off-balance to the rear.
* Hips below the knees.
* Uphill ski unweighted.
* Weight on the inside edge of downhill ski tail.
* Upper body generally facing downhill ski.

I just thought it was interesting.

 

[Gloria]

I haven't done that much of either recently... and this is just a thought, but:

Are the gains you make from doing machine/stable weight training really functionally as effective as "unstable" work?

I mean, isn't one of the problems some people develop that they overtrain some muscles in the gym without working the stabilizer muscles that go with them? Sure you can lift more weight and build muscle faster by just lifting weights on a machine... but does it leave you more prone to imbalances and injury when you go out to use that muscle in real life situations?

When I first read this I could hardly agree more, but couldn't come up with the right phrase to describe it. Thanks to Lisa Maries post, I got it. Where I wanted to say jarring, Bracing is probably a more correct way to describe it. I am sure that we have all been in positons skiing either those unexpected must make moves in the trees or simply skiing on variable conditions where we found ourselves in the backseat and needed to get back into the right position. For years I found myself using more of a bracing technique which essentially relied on major muscle groups individually to correct or evade a situation. Sure it works if you are strong, but doesn't necessarily feel good. I bought a Bosu ball this past summer simply because of air quality and fires and I needed something small to use indoors at home. I personally like it. Where I have always had excellent balance ( I competed on the balance beam ) I always seemed to brace alot in certain ski situations. I have found now after using the ball that instead of relying on larger stronger muscle groups to get me through, I am using multiple groups to accomplish the same goal. Which ultimately translates to more fluid less painful movements in these situations as well as a different head space. I guess if I were younger, it may not be an issue, but for me it's really helped balance out ( if you will ) alot of things that just come with age. I have regained alot of ground that I have lost over the past couple of years, simply because there were things that I was avoiding because they started to hurt, but am now accomplishing them more fluidly than I did at 25 or even 35.
This thread kind of reminds me of a conversation my husband and a professional kayaker had several years ago about strength vs finesse and technique. My husband was a very accomplished athlete of a certain sport and both he and the kayaker were into their 40's at this time. Their conversation of about 3 hours was about the newer athletes coming into their sports with newer high tech equip and just brute strength. They discussed the pros and cons of athletes that muscled their way through things as opposed to those that were more oriented to the finesse and technique of the sport and which was more noble. What they ultimately decided was that sure these younger guys were stronger and may be able to kick their asses right out of the gate, but they were uncertain how strength could overcome the headspace combined with finesse aspect of the sports to keep the athletes out of grave danger when the **************** truly hit the fan and they didn't really have the moves to back them up as they had been relying soley on their strength and had not dedicated as much time to technique becasue they didn't need it to muscle their way up or through. Personally I think AG has a really good point both in terms of injury as well as the knowledge to move herself forward in a sport by working the finesse angles as well. Where sure there are alot of better ways to become stronger, I wouldn't give up on my Bosu ball entirely, because hey, sometimes you do need a little finesse.

 

[Lisamarie]

You might already know about this, but when I asked that I was curious because I had just read a study on ACL injuries in skiers. They found that there is a very particular body posture leading to ACL injuries:
* Uphill arm back.
* Skier off-balance to the rear.
* Hips below the knees.
* Uphill ski unweighted.
* Weight on the inside edge of downhill ski tail.
* Upper body generally facing downhill ski.

I just thought it was interesting.

You're talking about the Vermont Ski Safety Study, which came out about eight years ago. Having read altagirl's posts for many years, I seriously doubt that she is guilty of any of these issues. In fact, this topic was actually discussed at a sports medicine conference I attended a few years ago.

They discussed the fact that pro athletes are obviously knowledgeable about proper technique. Than why do they have so many injuries? It has been postulated that these athletes either have an inherited muscular imbalance, or they have more strength than dynamic balance.

Gloria: I'm glad that my post was helpful! I recall that when I first began skiing, instructors would ask me if my legs were hurting. I would reply, "No! Am I doing it wrong?"

Since I was incredibly strong, I was unable to feel it if I was doing a skill in poor form.

 

[altagirl]

You might already know about this, but when I asked that I was curious because I had just read a study on ACL injuries in skiers. They found that there is a very particular body posture leading to ACL injuries:
* Uphill arm back.
* Skier off-balance to the rear.
* Hips below the knees.
* Uphill ski unweighted.
* Weight on the inside edge of downhill ski tail.
* Upper body generally facing downhill ski.

I just thought it was interesting.

Oh yeah, I've seen that. You learn all that stuff AFTER you blow a knee out. Before that injury it had never really occurred to me that I could get hurt. Ah, youth. ;)

Actually my first knee injury was truly a result of stupidity. I had been skiing for years but very sporadically. I went on a trip on Columbus Day weekend to ski a glacier at Soelden. The fourth day I was so sore and tired I could barely walk to the ticket counter to get a ticket - so what did I do on my first run? Skied some nice volkswagen sized bumps - who needs a warmup? Not me. The problem is that even if I knew not to do those things - which are pretty much just things you learn not to do anyway, I was so exhausted that I got out of control, flopped backwards, and pop, that was that. I think I was so used to having these gigantic quads that could pull me out of a fall, the overtired/not warmed up thing really did me in.

In the long run, finesse and technique have done better for me than muscling my way through stuff. Oh well. Live and learn!

 

[Gloria]

You're talking about the Vermont Ski Safety Study, which came out about eight years ago. Having read altagirl's posts for many years, I seriously doubt that she is guilty of any of these issues. In fact, this topic was actually discussed at a sports medicine conference I attended a few years ago.

They discussed the fact that pro athletes are obviously knowledgeable about proper technique. Than why do they have so many injuries? It has been postulated that these athletes either have an inherited muscular imbalance, or they have more strength than dynamic balance.

Gloria: I'm glad that my post was helpful! I recall that when I first began skiing, instructors would ask me if my legs were hurting. I would reply, "No! Am I doing it wrong?"

Since I was incredibly strong, I was unable to feel it if I was doing a skill in poor form.

One thing I think and maybe you can confirm or deny or enlighten this is that I have effectively changed some muscle memory. Back when I was young and stronger and almost hit that first tree or whatever, I learned to muscle through these incidents. After spending time on the ball I feel like putting my body in similiar posture positions and working with it without the fear factor has changed my overall muscular response to the situation, by retraining it or conditioning it to more effectively utilize more muscles at once as opposed to one major muscle group. My body just reacts differently and given the fact that I didn't go out and do anything significantly different other than use the ball, I am pretty sure this is why.

 

[Lisamarie]

LOL! You just learned one of the basic principles of the science of motor learning theory, which states that the brain memorizes movement patterns, as opposed to muscle groups. For example, in a given situation, your brain does not say, "Use your quads!" Instead, it "wakes up" a memory of a movement pattern that was effective in a similar situation.

This is why sports medicine experts use the slogan, "Train the Chain" as a mantra for sport conditioning. On the bosu, I can teach an edging pattern of the feet, and then add other elements. If I wanted to add angulation, I might add a side bend with a very light weight, which I've seen performed by Bode Miller. (keep in mind, I would only do this if my client had sufficient skill to perform this movement).

I might also alter a traditional exercise to make it more ski specific. When I first moved to Summit County, Jeff Bergeron, a local well known bootfitter came to my studio. As he watched me perform a series of squats, he said, "When would you ever use that movement in skiing? Is that your tuck position? If it is, it's wrong."

Much to my embarrassment, I knew that he was correct. While a skier's tuck might look like a squat, in the tuck, it's the pelvic tilt that makes the movement aerodynamic.

For this reason, after teaching a series of squats to strengthen the muscles, I now add a sequence that involves going into a slight pelvic tilt. That way, they get the strength as well as the ski specific action.

 

[Gloria]

That's so cool. Really who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? I got over 34 years of bad muscle movements from using this darn piece of equipment. It was definately worth the money to me. I highly reccomend it.

 

[SueNJ]

I have a handout with photos that I can scan and email if anyone's that interested. I learned this one from a PT who treats all the ski team folks around here.

Alaski, I'm definitely interested--I'll PM my email address. I'm doing the first part of this in a modified and abbreviated fashion (15 second holds at 3 different squat depths, the lowest with thighs parallel to the floor, and repeated 4-5 times without straightening up), and that's making a difference for me. The leg press and leg extension machines kill my knees, but static squats don't seem to bother them.

 

[ski now work later]

I took private sessions with a fitness trainer last summer and a ski/snowboarding conditioning class with him this Fall. The trainer (who is excellent) used the Bosu for a portion of each session and in the class, one of the circuit training stations (during that part of the class) was on the Bosu. It's a great tool, so I bought one for home use and did the Bosu work out. I noticed that my feet really hurt after those sessions, and that wasn't a good sign for me, so now I use it sporadically for balance and to challenge moves like squats, just as my trainer used it.

 

[alaski]

I seriously doubt that she is guilty of any of these issues.

That wasn't what I was implying - I wasn't trying to point out technique flaws. Don't know if it's the same specific study or not as there have been many but the methodology of the one I read was to examine videos of world class skiers (one of my ski team buddies was one of them) as they were injured, and were able to see that the list of risk factors was present in every ACL accident they investigated. My friend happened to blow his ACL at 90 mph at a World Cup event - and the list of factors applied to him, too. Pretty amazing to watch! Even if you're the world's best skier, if you get yourself into that predicament, knee injury is imminent. I just thought it was really interesting how precisely they were able to define body positioning that led to injury, and how many times I've gotten myself into similar situations without realizing how much trouble I could be in!

I know there have been lots of recent studies about the rate of ACL tears being much higher in female athletes than in male athletes. Does anyone happen to know if this is true in skiing as well? That would be interesting.

altagirl - OW! Yikes, that is a good cautionary tale for sure...one of the things that attracts me to backcountry skiing is that with all the climbing, you don't have to sit and get stiff on the chairlift in between runs. I must be getting old now, every run feels like I need a warm up before hand. Sigh...

Sue, I'll get it scanned and sent to you.

 

[Lisamarie]

I know there have been lots of recent studies about the rate of ACL tears being much higher in female athletes than in male athletes. Does anyone happen to know if this is true in skiing as well? That would be interesting.

There have been a bunch of studies on this topic. Female Q angle and joint laxity are two of the main culprits. Also, muscular imbalance between the hamstrings and quads is a huge factor, which is why women in particular should steer clear of the leg extension machine!

 

[tradygirl]

I haven't done that much of either recently... and this is just a thought, but:

Are the gains you make from doing machine/stable weight training really functionally as effective as "unstable" work?

I mean, isn't one of the problems some people develop that they overtrain some muscles in the gym without working the stabilizer muscles that go with them? Sure you can lift more weight and build muscle faster by just lifting weights on a machine... but does it leave you more prone to imbalances and injury when you go out to use that muscle in real life situations?

I kind of forgot about this thread, but I'll share my experience.

I think the most useful method I've found for strength training is multi-jointed exercises and doing a huge variety of exercises. Think about doing movements that involve more of your body instead of just one muscle (I think bicep curls are the stupidest waste of time). Do push-ups instead of bench pressing (gets your whole body, especially the core). Do push presses instead of shoulder press. Dips instead of tricep presses. Squats instead of evil leg extensions (those things will kill your knees!) Box jumps. Handstands for shoulder stability. Hold a heavy dumbbell over your head and walk around for a little while - serious shoulder stability. Turkish get-ups (look it up). Kettlebell training. Jumprope training.

Every one of these movements hits your core hard - you won't need to do much else. It's been great for my overall fitness, strength, and flexibility. I figure since I'm not a competing athlete and I like so many different sports, that I need to keep my strength very non-specific.

If you need more core stability, try this for a total core blast: the Renegade.

Get in push-up position grabbing two dumbbells (I would recommend starting light). Pull one arm back into a row without letting your body twist. Bring it back down and repeat with the other arm. Repeat until you cry. If that's not enough, combine each round with a burpee and do a handful to make your heart explode.

For some good ideas (and a great laugh - this chick rocks), check out this website: https://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php

 

[alaski]

ha, I totally love that site! She's awesome.

There are lots of fun things to do for abs from a push-up position.Three point, two point, leg lefts, etc. It all kills. I will try that renegade thing; it sounds cool!

 

[Gloria]

wow, I am totally shocked. I can actually do a renegade. I really didn't think I would be able to.

 

[altagirl]

Yeah, I've been a fan of Mistress Krista for years!

She's the reason deadlifts are one of my favorite exercises.

When I had my gym membership they had a good variety of medicine balls. I liked standing on the bosu ball and holding various medicine balls over my head and passing them back and forth hand to hand and holding them out with my arms extended out to the sides and front for as long as I could stand it, and then doing squats while moving the ball from over my head to out in front of me.


Also - I got my butt kicked in physical therapy yesterday. (That's what I get for saying it was way too easy last time...)

They had me stand on one leg and basically seesaw down to touch my fingertips to the ground, going around in a circle a couple feet away from my foot. Then do lunges with my feet going out to different directions in a circle. Then do side hops over cones. Then tied one of the stretchy bands around each ankle to do side steps in a squat, and then diagonal steps in a squat.

They win. Now I'm sore. ;)

We did discover that my leg I had surgery on is definitely lacking a bit in balance from the other leg. It's not horrible, but needs some work - especially since it should be my dominant leg.