Today’s episode features Pat Davidson, Ph.D., director of training methodology and continuing education at Peak Performance NYC. He is the author of MASS and MASSII and is a sought-out expert in the field regarding all things training and human performance. Pat has competed as a 175-strongman competitor, and was a 2x world championships qualifier, and also has experience in competitive submission wrestling and mixed martial arts. Prior to his current work, Pat served 5 years as an assistant University profession in exercise sciences.
Pat’s areas of expertise are many, and some of my favorite podcasts I’ve listened to had him as a guest discussing the nervous system and the brain. If you’ve listened to earlier episodes of the Just Fly Performance Podcast, with Justin Moore or Cody Plofker, you’ve probably heard them mention Pat as a mentor to them, particularly in the universe of Postural Restoration Institute, and its relationship to strength and conditioning and athletic performance training. In the world of writing, one of Pat’s recent articles really got my wheels turning, where he discussed the dynamics of the knees traveling inwards in a squat, and how simply cueing everyone to “shove their knees out” in squatting can set them backward.
I’m always fascinated by Pat’s writing and work, and I’m delighted to have him as the next podcast guest, as his thoughts on the big lifts have an impact on everything we see in our athletes training movements. Today’s episode centers around breathing, and dissecting posture and setup in squatting and deadlifting, as well as other common bodyweight training exercises. So often we coach and cue movements thinking that an athlete’s presentation that movement can simply be cued “in the other direction”, but there are much deeper ramifications to be aware of. Other topics include muscular vs. impinging strategies in movement, internal rotation in squatting, neck alignment and breathing, training mindset, 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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:07 — 71.2MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Pandora | iHeartRadio | JioSaavn | Podchaser | Gaana | Email | Deezer | Anghami | RSS
View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.
Key Points:
- Discussing “butt-back chest-out” cues in squatting and benching
- Muscular versus impinging strategies in barbell training
- Pat’s thoughts on internal rotation of femurs and “knees coming in” while squatting and its relationship to the gait cycle
- Setting up a deadlift and its relationship to the breathing, function, and the gait cycle
- Neck alignment and breathing in common exercises such as deadlifts and pushups
- Performing loaded functional squats in the PRI methodology for maximal hamstring contraction in a squat pattern
- Sensory vs. training mindsets
“When bones move away from each other we create instability, and when they move towards each other we create impingement, so it’s all a case of where do I want to be unstable, and where do I want to create impingement”
“If I can lift weights, get strong and add muscle, while still being able to manage respiration and utilize the diaphragm for inhalation, then I am probably decreasing deleterious physical cost while building fitness”
“A lot of people need to learn how to be more unstable, they need to learn how to let bony elements move away from each other”
“Adduction is not valgus, valgus is not adduction.”
“If you want to know what a PEC pelvis is, look at chimpanzee gait mechanics”
“If I can’t abduct and internally rotate my femurs, then I’ll just go further into abduction and external rotation so I can relatively adduct and internally rotate to come back to the top (of a squat)”
“I’m fine with knees coming in, as long as on a table you show me that knees can adduct and internally rotate”
“When it comes to the sagittal plane I don’t really like this term “neutral spine””
“I don’t coach people on day one, I just make people do bent over rows, and see if they can talk to me”
“I don’t cue people to hinge with their hips, I cue people to hinge with their ribs”
“They are shooting their head forward in space, because their ribs aren’t in the right position to give themselves to be able to give their diaphragm a chance to inhale air for them, so by putting their head forward in space, they are giving themselves a chance to be inhalers via mouth breathing and neck strategy and back strategy, and that’s all they got left, and if you take that away from them, they can’t do anything”
“There’s a time to feel and be cognisent of where your body is in space, and then there is another time to be an absolute savage and try to destroy everything”
Show Notes
Chimp Walking
“Bad” Knees in Squat (You know it when you see it)
Adduction Drop Test (To assess the mechanism of adduction vs. valgus in squatting)
About Pat Davidson
-Director of Training Methodology and Continuing Education at Peak Performance, NYC.
-Author of MASS and MASSII
-Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College, 2009-2011
-Assistant Professor, Springfield College 2011-2014
-Head Coach Springfield College Team Ironsports 2011-2013
-175-pound Strongman competitor. Two-time qualifier for world championships at Arnold Classic
-Renaissance Meat Head
Free Speed Training eBook - Velocity 101
Improving speed is one of the most popular topics in the athletic performance equation. Where there are many ideas and thoughts out there, as to particular training exercises, or setups, the more core aspects of speed training often go without mention. These include the fundamental aspects of what makes an athlete fast, specific sprint-power concepts, the relevance of "3D" motion, motor learning and more.
Velocity 101 will help you take a leap forward in understanding of what makes athletes fast, and how to train it effectively