Today’s episode features Chiropractor and neurology expert, Dr. Mark Wetzel.
Dr. Mark is based in Nashville, TN and received his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Northwestern Health Science University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has a diverse experience and is an expert in the neurology branch of chiropractic care and sports performance.
Last time on the podcast, Dr. Mark went in depth on extreme isometrics, their proper execution, function and physiology (particularly in regards to energy systems), as well as why the 5 minute mark is substantial marker in carrying out the training. Extreme isometrics and all things related have been of substantial interest on this podcast, not only due to the athletic performance aspects, but also the tendon health portion of the work.
When it comes to extreme isometrics, however, it is much more common to see athletes doing them wrong than right. Extreme iso’s, as well as much of Jay’s work has almost a mythical quality to it, so nuts and bolts shows that dissect the method are a lot of fun for me, and highly relevant.
On today’s show, Dr. Mark goes further down the isometric rabbit hole, highlighting not only technique, but practical results from his integration of the method into training a baseball team. He’ll also get into the neurology of muscle compensation patterns, extreme iso’s and extreme slow work, a chat on central nervous system fatigue, breathing, and more.
Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.
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View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.Key Points
- What a “muscle compensation” is and what it means for athletic performance
- How extreme isometrics and extreme slows play into (correcting) compensation patterning
- The difference between “extreme slows” and traditional 5 to 10 second eccentric training
- Mark’s case study work using a series of long isometric holds with a varsity baseball team
- When the work of extreme isometrics/extreme slows is finished and you can move beyond them in training
- Concepts on tracking central nervous system fatigue
- The importance of the eyes in monitoring CNS fatigue
- How to perform correct breathing
- Ideas on tapering, the modern ideology versus a more progressive view
“When I think of a compensation, it’s altering your movement to make your body breathe more efficiently”
“A compensation: your body is altering homeostasis to make sure you survive in that given moment”
“Our lifestyle is encouraging (muscle) compensations”
“At a high velocity is when your compensation will come out, if we are going slow and steady, we can catch it before we injure ourselves”
“When you look at an isometric, you can tell where their body is immediately faulty (what will materialize in dynamic movement such as sprints)”
“You can use an extreme slow to learn exactly where their compensation is”
“I’ve come to the conclusion that the “perfect position” doesn’t really exist”
“The goal of an isometric is to be as centrally stabilized as possible… you can stabilize a LOT in the lunge, I think that’s what makes the lunge to beneficial you can get a whole body contraction in the lunge”
“If you can hold 5 minute (isometric positions) then we can progress into the weight room”
“We used wall sits, lunges, iso crunch, single leg raise, scap hang, pushup, and prone glute ham where you are laying on your s
“When you do an isometric, you need to be really in tune with yourself and you need to understand what is going on with your body and why you are doing an isometric, and why you are constantly engaging and pulling yourself into position, and if you don’t understand why you are doing that, then you never really should progress out of isometrics”
“An isometric, the purpose to me is that you are eliminating compensations”
“Basically, CNS fatigue is just a fancy word for “too stressed””
“When you’re training and you are in that survival state… you are doing more harm than you are good”
“I use the breath to watch CNS fatigue”
“If they do that exercise and they can’t bring that breath back down (to the center of the body), then you now that they’ve reached their fatigue”
“(If you stay/continually train in a sympathetic state) you are making your body become more efficient in an inefficient way”
“I don’t think belly breathing is that efficient”
“(Breathing) is one big fluid movement”
“It’s really hard to go into CNS fatigue when you are doing an isometric…. it’s really hard to get into that fight or flight response (there is no threat to your survival like a heavy barbell on your back)”
“When you do an isometric (2,3,4 weeks of constant training), your body learns to recover so fast from doing it, that you are stronger the next day”
“You need to be able to eliminate all compensations using isometrics before you move on to altitude drops”
About Dr. Mark Wetzel
Dr. Mark Wetzel is a Chiropractor based in Nashville, TN. Dr. Mark received his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Northwestern Health Science University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Mark has a diverse experience and is an expert in the neurology branch of chiropractic care and sports performance. He completed his undergraduate studies from Indiana University while competing for the Indiana University Men’s Swimming and Diving Team. Dr. Mark has a passion for treating and educating people who want to achieve a healthier lifestyle, and enjoys helping them reach their health and fitness goals.
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