Posts Tagged ‘stretching’

Are you a chronic sufferer of hip external rotator tightness.  You are not alone.  The good news?  There is help.

Pitching is a rotational activity, and the hips and core are the chief couplers of power to the arm.  As the stride foot lands the internal rotators of the hips, along with the core, rotate the midsection to face the plate.  The hip external rotators, if tight and inflexible, will impede this rotation.  (Remember that the hip internal and external rotators are antagonist muscles, which means they oppose each other and that one must stretch while the other contracts.)

So while the internal rotators fire, the external rotators relax and stretch.  If the external rotators are tight and do not stretch to their full and normal range of motion, the whole kinetic sequence is impeded.  This, in turn, makes the arm bear an extra burden by being in the valgus position longer while trying to catch up and get in the proper position to deliver the pitch. Dr. Morgan and others told me that they believe this leads to elbow problems, including UCL tears.

Ed Bach's arm laying back in the valgus position

Read the rest of this entry »

Pitchers are weird people, mostly because of the physical act of throwing.  The motion is so violent and powerful that it throws a pitcher’s body out of whack and causes major asymmetries in strength, size, flexibility and range of motion, bone structure, etc.  

One major adaptation of the pitcher is in shoulder range of motion (ROM). Pitchers have incredible, otherworldly external rotation.  The average person couldn’t dream of contorting his arm in such a way.

My buddy Andrew Germuth showing off his external rotation

 And what price do we pitchers pay for enjoying such lavish external rotation?  You guessed it! A tight rotator cuff and a subsequent deficiency of internal rotation. (there is always a catch!)

So what?  Does it matter if a pitcher has poor shoulder range of motion internally? 

The answer to this question is unequivocally “yes.” Any trainer or physical therapist will tell you that a lack of ROM in any joint is pathological and indicative of underlying problems.  Normal ROM should exist in all one’s joints, and if not, there is a probably a problem as to why.  In many populations these imbalances in flexibility might not impair day-to-day functioning, but for athletes and especially pitchers, inflexibility poses major problems.

Dr. Craig Morgan and colleagues are researching the link between elbow pain (up to and including full blown ligament tears requiring Tommy John surgery) and internal rotation.  What he is finding (as he found in me) is that a huge amount of pitchers coming to him have significant GIRD (glenohumeral internal rotation deficiency), and once that GIRD is reduced to an amount within 20 degrees of the internal rotation of the non-throwing shoulder, the pitchers very often return to throwing without pain.  Internal rotation deficits are caused by posterior shoulder capsule tightness, which can be alleviated using the sleeper stretch.  Restore your internal rotation ROM and you will be throwing healthier and harder. Read the rest of this entry »

As previously mentioned, I spent a fairly good amount of time in the studio of Bikram Yoga Baltimore both before and after my elbow surgery.  Eddie and Emily, the owners, are wonderful people are were super supportive of me.  The other instructors as well were terrific and I felt at home there.

Bikram Yoga makes a lot of health claims, some of which may or may not be true, but overall I think it’s a great practice and will improve the health, flexibility, and recovery time of those who might bring a chronic injury into the studio.

The Basics

My sister wrote a nice piece for school explaining the Bikram phenomenon, and it’s a good read.  But the class is relatively straight-forward : 90 minutes in a 105 degree, 40% humidity room which consists of 26 postures, each repeated twice.  If it sounds difficult, that’s because it is.  However, nothing worthwhile is easy and Bikram is no exception.  

To class one brings a large jug of water, a yoga mat and towel to cover the mat, and a scant outfit to allow ease of movement and a cooling effect.  One class costs about 14-20 dollars depending on the studio, which is actually pretty reasonable considering the length of the class (most yoga classes are an hour) and the intensity of the workout.  Buying class cards brings down the cost per class down even more. Read the rest of this entry »