Monday, December 27, 2010

The Dumbbell Coaches Association

Welcome to The Dumbbell Coaches Association


A learned, humble yet brilliant group of individuals training their athletes to be the best they can be. We coach every rep!

What is a Dumbbell Coach


The Dumbbell Coaches Association is made up of coaches of a different mindset. The true dumbbell coach relies on science, logic and common sense when designing and implementing dumbbell coach like regiments. A dumbbell coach is not a double certified master strength specialist or conditioning and flexibility functional movement pattern guru. We know as dumbbell coaches there is no substitute for HARD WORK. As dumbbell coaches we get the most effort out of our athletes because we coach every rep



TRAIN YOUR NECK


The Dumbbell Coaches Association advocates TRAINING the NECK and TRAPEZIUS REGION for Protection and Performance.




Optimumfitnessonline.com


Optimumfitness
Great blogs, pages and general information on strength training


Run the Rack


The tools of the trade.


Amazon

Cap Barbell 40-Pound Dumbbell Set

Amazon Price: $39.77 (as of 12/25/2010) Buy Now

Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells

Amazon Price: $333.54 (as of 12/25/2010) Buy Now

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Thursday, December 16, 2010

The Ralph Cornwell Files-- Female Neck Training

The Ralph Cornwell Files-- Female Neck Training

Ralph Cornwell is a Ph.D. candidate in health promotion/human performance at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Prior to pursuing his Doctoral Degree he was a collegiate strength coach. 


According to a study published in the Journal of Athletic Training in 2007, female high school athletes suffered almost 40 percent more concussions than males did. It estimated that female players suffer about 29,000 concussions annually with boys suffering 21,000.


A new study to be published in the Journal of Athletic Training found that in high school soccer, girls sustained this type of head trauma 68 percent more often than boys. Female concussion rates in high school basketball were almost three times higher then boys and the girls took longer to return to play.

When there is an Epidemic in The United States we don’t just inoculate one section of the population we give the antidote to all that need it. In light of research and just common sense our female athletes need to be protected.
 
There are women athletes that do train their necks.


Their  training is not dissimilar then the men who train theirs. They train  the flexor, extensors and trapezius muscles that allow for increased neck stiffness and high performance moves on the playing field.


Meagan is a ballerina and is very strong from head to toe.
I asked Meagan why she trained her neck. She simply said, “Ballerinas get put in awkward positions as they perform.  If your dance partner drops you while you are being pressed over his head, I want a strong neck.”

Ralph Cornwell Files

Ralph Cornwell Files

Thursday, December 2, 2010

The Ralph Cornwell Files-Does your Optometrist recommend neck training?

Does your Optometrist recommend neck training?  


Ralph Cornwell is a Ph.D. candidate in health promotion/human performance at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Prior to pursuing his Doctoral Degree he was a collegiate strength coach. 


Recently I came across a very interesting and thought provoking case study. The study examined deep cervical neck pain and the wearing of eye glasses. You wouldn’t think something so small in weight and structure could elicit any change or adaptation in the human body. Can something so small throw physiological homeostasis a curve ball? It can. And it did.  The subjects were suffering severe pain in the deep cervical muscles of the neck.

The probability of wearing eye glasses resulting in neck pain was researched. The research found that the weak neck muscles of the test subjects was the cause of the pain. They also discovered by just adjusting their line of sight changed the head angle and that resulted in a redressed neck angle, thus causing the pain.

So, what did they do about it? They got strong! The researchers designed a protocol to progressively overload the neck to increase strength. What happened? As the neck muscles got stronger the neck pain went away.


The average football helmet weighs between 8 to 10 pounds. If you have ever worn a football helmet for a period of time you know that a face mask changes the way you see things. The athlete must adjust the angle of his neck to tilt or nod the head if he wants to see what’s happening on the field.


If we now know you need a stronger neck to adjust to a few ounces then imagine the adaptation an athlete goes through to accommodate the extra 10 pounds his neck must support and the bio-mechanical adjustments he must make wearing the face mask.


We all know that a fatigued neck is prone to injury. So, what do we do? We protect the athlete by getting their neck strong before they wear the helmet and keep it strong while they are wearing it.









Strengthen the head and neck musculature and train it year-round. I don't think you need glasses to see its important to Get the neck Strong.

The Ralph Cornwell Files

The Ralph Cornwell Files

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

You Can Still Do Heavy Dips

You Can Still Do Heavy Dips

You can still do heavy dips                                                
The deep branch of the ulnar nerve runs through the center of the hand. Serious athletes who train heavy and are progressive eventually have to stop dipping or alter the way they do the exercise.  Pressure from the dip bar on the nerve causes numbness in the fingers, hand, forearm and elbow each time they lift big weights.
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The extra thick handles requested by the University of Indiana's strength coaches and developed by Rogers Athletic address the problem. The Rogers dip station allows the athlete to continue one of the great upper body exercises without discomfort.
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Josh Eidson does a series of dips with 135 pounds
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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Getting A Grip On Things

 Get Strong

 Getting A Grip On Things

Most people agree that combative sports require training your hands to reach your maximal potential.
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Little agreement exists among research studies on the optimum position of the wrist to facilitate optimal grip strength. Knowing the exact position would certainly aid in hand strength development. describe the image
Standardizing how you hold your wrist when applying force and how you deviate your ulnar or radius is a factor in replicating results.
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What researchers are in agreement upon, is that  standing and testing your grip strength is the strongest position to be in. Some studies have showed that there is not much different in sitting or supine gripping strength, all acknowledge that in a  supine position the grip is the weakest.
There is no real consensus whether gripping with your arm at 90 degrees or 180 degrees or somewhere between is the best.
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Yet 90 degrees of elbow flexion is the recommended testing position by the American Society of Hand Therapists for grip strength measurement.
Wrist position is another factor that affects grip strength. Wrist  extension somewhere between 15 and 30 degrees of the 70 degrees of movement with very little radial and ulnar deviation, seems to be the strongest position and most repeatable.
The bottom line is this: in order to maximize your hand strength you must keep your wrist extensors extremely strong to fixate the wrist providing a stable base for squeezing the hand closed.
Three excellent movements to maximize hand closing strength.
1). Start with a great gripper that allows you to stand. A gripper allows you to be systematic and progressive so you 'overload'.
2). Follow the gripper with wrist extension. Order of exercise is important in this series of exercises as you need the wrist extensors to remain strong when doing the gripper to maximize hand closing.
Wrist extension is the upward movement of the hand. The wrist movement starts and returns only a few degrees or so below parallel and extends upward.  Your forearm should be at  a 45 degree angle below parallel relative to the upper arm while seated. Start this exercise with a very light dumbbell. Slowly adapt to the movement.
3). The wrist roller is a great finisher to augment wrist extensions. Wrist rollers are notorious for being inaccurate in trying to be progressive. There are so many muscular groups that enter into the movement.You must have very strict form during this exercise.
describe the imageFirst select a thin wrist roller. Thin wrist rollers require a great deal of wrist extension.  Stand with your arms full extended with the roller directly in front of your chin. Select a weight you can roll up and down twice without bending your elbows or deviating from your beginning position. This means that your arms must remain straight and not drop or raise above parallel and your body must remain still with the exception of the movement of your hands.

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Monday, November 15, 2010

Sometimes You Don't See What Is Right In Front Of Yo

Sometimes You Don't See What Is Right In Front Of You

Sometimes You Don't See What Is Right In Front Or In Back Of You 
 
describe the imageMike Gittleson was the Director of Strength & Conditioning at the University of Michigan for 30 years and was a part of 15 Football Championships in that time. He explains, that Mothers know where to look.

My wife and I walk. On our outing we head by the local golf course down the street from our home. We collect golf balls for competition.  Who can find one first and not be obvious as we walk the same daily path is extra cool.  It is a contest which I seldom win which frustrates me. Yet I have resided to the fact that moms know where to look.
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What is amazing is that we find the golf balls in the same place every time almost everyday all summer long. The same place! How can all the golfers lose their golf balls in one area all the time and never find them  or at least pick up someones.
It is so simple just look around for a couple of minutes as you casually stroll and there they are! We have become golf ball rich.
Every Sunday during the football season I have several high school players who's moms bring their sons to my home to train their head and neck musculature. Their schools do not have neck machines.
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The moms look in the magazines and read about concussions, they look in the papers and read about head injuries and they look on TV and hear about helmet to helmet collisions. It is so simple to know what is going on as they look around.
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They  apparently can see the problem very clearly and respond. If I offered neck training at my house to all the moms on the local teams,  on Sundays I would have a house full of boys and would have to have more neck machines in my home.
I have visited over 300 colleges and have found very few neck machines.  Maybe no one reads and sees the media as moms do. Maybe the machines are there and I didn't see them. My wife says maybe they are like golf balls, the machines are there but I don't know where to look. My wife has offered to come hunt for neck machines with me. I should probably take her her up on it......Moms know where to look...
They found a neck machine at my house.....
If you want to impact concussions and protect kids look around for neck machines to Get them Strong.
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