Robertson Training Systems Newsletter 5.23

The Development of a Philosophy, Part II – Isolation Movements

This is Part II of a three-part series.  If you missed Part I, please check it out first.

Isolation exercises are not only at the forefront of the entire “corrective” exercise argument, but I think they’re grossly misunderstood as well.  Let’s more deeply examine not only the end-goals of corrective exercise, but also how to use isolative exercises properly within your programming to derive maximal benefits.

The Goal of Corrective Exercise

Before digging any deeper, I think it’s imperative to mention the primary outcome of corrective exercise.  The goal (for me, anyway) is to improve the quality of various human movements.

In the gym this could be a squat, lunge, or deadlift.

In real-life, this could be someone’s ability to walk (i.e. gait), climb stairs, or bend over to pick something up and then place it overhead.

On the field, it could be their ability to sprint, plant-and-cut, jump, or a host of other athletic movements.

So the goal is not to foam roll someone until their bored to tears, nor is it to have them lay on their back and activate their glutes for no reason whatsoever.

The goal, instead, is to promote better overall movement.  This improved movement will not only lead to better strength, power and performance on the field, but a decreased likelihood of injury as well.

Now that we have a base idea of what I’m aiming for, let’s see how isolation exercises fit into the equation.

Writing the Initial Program

After you have assessed someone, you now should have a basic idea of his or her movement limitations and/or restrictions.

What muscles are stiff, short, etc.?

What joints do/don’t have optimal mobility?

What isolated muscle groups have adequate strength?  And are they in proper sequence relative to adjacent muscle groups?

What compound movement (squat, lunge, push-ups, etc.) are being held back by these various restrictions?

This last question is critical:  In every kinetic chain, there is a weakest link.  Some are quite exaggerated even in basic bodyweight movements, while others are miniscule and only noticed during high-level performance.

A push-up could be held back by poor core stabilization patterns.  Or, a weak serratus could lead to scapular winging and an unstable scapulae.

A lunge could show signs of quad dominance, stiff/short hip flexors in the trail leg, or weak glutes which allow for knee valgus/collapse.

An overhead squat could show knee collapse, poor thoracic spine extensibility, quad dominance, poor ankle mobility, or a host of other limitations.

Quite simply, each “big” test tells us what needs to be addressed.  But does it make sense to simply train the test, or pattern, in an effort to look/move better?

I don’t think so – and this is where isolative exercises come into play.

The Role of Isolation Exercises

Let’s say you find the following flaws in a new client’s overhead squat:

–        Limited dorsiflexion ROM

–        Knee valgus

–        Lumbar rounding/poor hip mobility

–        Poor thoracic spine extensibility

Does it make sense to simply tell this client to train the overhead squat and assume that it will fix everything?

To me, it doesn’t.   A great coach like Dan John may be able to do this, and maybe I’m just not there yet.  Maybe you could have this person overhead squat every single day and it would improve, but my feeling is that many would simply give up.  If they can’t see some sort of change or response fairly quickly, then most will grow frustrated and simply quit.

Instead, think about breaking movements down into their constituent parts.  Maybe you include some specific ankle, thoracic spine and hip work into their dynamic warm-up to address limiting mobility issues.  You could incorporate activation /strengthening drills to develop their glutes to a higher degree.

Break it down, piece-by-piece, and then start re-building the pattern.  But I’m getting ahead of myself – that’s Part III!

Now many would argue that you don’t get anything out of isolation exercises.  This leads us to more questions:

–        Is there a transfer from isolated to integrated exercises?  I.e., will a glute-bridge improve your power clean or deadlift alone?

–        Why might you NOT be getting anything out of your isolation exercises?

–        When is enough, enough?

Will a glute bridge improve your deadlift by itself?  Probably not.

Will a glute bridge improve your ability to recruit your glutes in a pull-through?  And then in an RDL?  And then in a deadlift?  Yes.

Again, we’re getting into Part III a bit here, but the goal isn’t to perform one isolative exercise or drill and expect it to cure all ills.  Instead, that exercise is there to develop motor control and low-level strength, so that further exercises can be developed more appropriately.  If I were Joe Weider, I’d be talking about Weider Training Principle #9058 – The Mind-Muscle Connection, or something along those lines.

If anything, isolative drills may be more of a training regression than a drill in-and-of-themselves.

Another primary issue here is not that isolative exercises are invaluable, but that many flat out perform them incorrectly.  Let me explain further.

Watch someone who has weak glutes perform a glute bridge, or someone with poor scap stability strengh perform an I, T, Y series.  Look at how many different ways they try and cheat or compensate through the movement pattern.

It’s ridiculous – but we should expect it!

If someone is weak in isolation, it’s going to be difficult to engage those muscles appropriately.  In a glute bridge they will use momentum to get up.  They’ll hyperextend their lower back.  They’ll engage their hamstrings.

Basically, they’ll use every set of muscles except the ones we want them to use!   This is where coaching comes into play.  A good coach lays the foundation up front – you cue them mercilessly on their mobility and activation drills, knowing full well this will carryover to better movement patterns in the long haul.

Furthermore, if someone is that weak in isolation, how can we expect them to move appropriately in an integrated movement pattern?  Do you really think that loading them up with 300 or 400 pounds in a deadlift will magically make their glutes fire to extend their hips?

I don’t – you’re simply allowing more (and deeper rooting) compensations to manifest themselves.

The final questions becomes, when is enough, enough?  How do you know when you can remove isolation exercises from the programming?

In the programs I write for myself and my older clients, I view isolation exercises as a part of the warm-up.  More importantly, I view them as insurance:  You hope you won’t ever need it, but the last thing you want is to get into trouble without it!

Even in someone who is moving optimally, I don’t mind throwing in a set or two of glute bridges, clam shells, etc. pre-workout.  I view it as a logical extension of the warm-up, and something that gets clients/athletes dialed into their bodies pre-workout.  Again, the movement patterns of older individuals are much more engrained than those of younger athletes, and therefore need constant reinforcement of newer, more optimal patterns.

Two Final Points….

Before we finish up, I want to touch on two more topics briefly.  The first is the role of cuing.

Some will argue that you don’t need isolative exercises, you simply need to cue the client to perform the exercise correctly.

Maybe.  And maybe not.

If your client/athlete has the appropriate levels of strength/motor control, then this will work.  However, if they don’t, no amount of cuing/coaching will allow them to get into the appropriate positions.  You must bring up the weakest link first and foremost, and then coaching/cuing will further improve their movement.

The second point I’d like to discuss is the role of using isolative exercises with kids.  At IFAST, many of our younger athletes perform far fewer isolative exercises than our older clients do.

At first, I had to think long and hard about why I thought this was appropriate.  Here was what I came up with, although I’m ready to admit this is pure speculation at this point in time.

Adults have had many, many years to develop inappropriate or inefficient movement patterns.  Kids, on the other hand, have not.  Many kids still have their innate abilities to learn and develop appropriate movement skills without the need for isolative exercises.  This is why I love working with kids – they’re so malleable with regards to their motor learning.

Like we discussed above, with many kids you can simply “cue” them into the appropriate body positions and/or alignments.  It may take a couple of visits with a kid, but with adults, this same process could easily take months.

Instead of simply giving kids every isolative exercise under the sun, we can often “trick” them into using the right muscle groups by giving them exercises such as waiter’s walks, suitcase carries, etc.  If you’re interested in things of this nature, definitely check out Dan John’s latest DVD series.  It’s fantastic.

The goal, then, is to make their movement more reflexive in nature.  It’s not something they have to consciously think about – they just do it.

Summary

This concludes my thoughts on the roles of isolation exercises into programming.  In Part III, we’ll discuss how to use this new-found activation/strenth into better movement patterns.

And, as a teaser, start chewing on this for a moment.  Here’s the “traditional” scheme for improving movement:

Assessment –> Isolation –> Integration

But what if we are missing a step?  In fact, I think we are missing a critical final step that will help solidify our movement patterns and really take our performance and resiliency to the next level.

I guess you’ll have to wait one more week to find out!

Stay strong

MR