The Functional Path is a path that had been traveled many times before but had fallen out of use in favor of smoother paved roads that promised faster and easier results. Seeking to follow and better define the functional path is a continuing journey, fortunately it is a journey that many have traveled before. Functional Path training is getting back to the basics of movement. It is learning to tune into the body and it’s inherent wisdom to produce rhythmic flowing movement.
Because we play on one leg we should train and assess on leg. The picture is a powerful justification for single leg squats, lunges, hops and step-ups. In summary exercises that involve force reduction onto and off of one leg.
posted by Vern Gambetta @ 4/19/2008 02:31:00 PM
11 comments
Vern is currently is the Director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems. He has been the a conditioning coach for several teams in Major League Soccer as well as the conditioning consultant to the US Men’s World Cup Soccer team. Vern is the former Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox and Director of Athletic Development for the New York Mets. Vern is recognized internationally as an expert in training and conditioning for sport having worked with world class athletes and teams in a wide variety of sports. He is a popular speaker and writer on conditioning topics having lectured and conducted clinics in Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe. Vern's coaching experience spans 36 years at all levels of competition. Vern has authored six books and over one hundred articles related to coaching and sport performance in a variety of sports. He received his BA from Fresno State University and his teaching credential with a coaching minor from University of California Santa Barbara. Vern obtained his MA in Education with an emphasis in physical education from Stanford University.
11 Comments:
Preach it Brother!!
Jonathan Hewitt ATC
“Compete on one leg; train on one leg.”
“Train the sport specific way.”
It’s hard to miss the promotion of this training method or the self-promotion of its Gurus.
You can deep squat over 200kg, yet, when tested, you can’t do one unloaded single leg squat without starting to fall over. Amazed by your newly discovered ‘inadequacy’, you’re easily convinced that you must overcome it.
But that argument can be turned on its head. Since the formula for power output is weight times distance divided by time, it is precisely this same test that proves there will be training losses if SLS work is substituted.
Let’s get this straight from the outset. You will be hard pressed to ever lift one sixth as much with a single leg squat as you could with both legs, no matter how long you work at it, so there better be a convincing argument for its inclusion.
Supporters claim that you must be able to stabilize at least your own bodyweight to be optimally stabilized in motions specific to your sport.
But, like the gyroscopic effect of a bicycle in motion, the stabilization requirements for a body in motion are far less than when stationary, regardless of the direction of that motion.
Supporters argue that the single leg squat is more specific to the motion of the sport itself.
While that might sound reasonable at first, it doesn’t stand up to closer examination.
A study by Loren Chiu, a PHD candidate at USC, Dr John Garhammer of Cal. State Long Beach, and Dr. Brian Schilling of the Univ. of Memphis compared the movements of the single leg squat and other movements.
They found that the magnitude and direction of forces in a SLS were significantly different when compared to running to cut, backpedal and cutting to the left for both the hip and the ankle. In fact a bilateral squat was much closer to these movements than a SLS. (The Science of Specificity).
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Intersting how fast a 600 horsepower car CANNOT go when the lug nuts on the wheels are loose.
POwer is great but without stability, balance, coordination...
If a football lineman, bench presses 550lbs why in the world can't he push over the 350 lb guy across from him? 2 reason - he can't push him with 550lbs of force and the other guy is matyching his force application pound for pound.
Jonathan Hewitt ATC
Identify Yourself.
Anon 1
Is this the same charlie francis that believes in steroid in sports?
Chris B
"Let’s get this straight from the outset. You will be hard pressed to ever lift one sixth as much with a single leg squat as you could with both legs, no matter how long you work at it, so there better be a convincing argument for its inclusion."
How much force does it take for a male 175lbs to jump 24 inches off of 1 leg from a running start and land on 1 leg? I don't think he could squat on 2 legs the amount of force it takes for him to jump and land on 1 leg.
Jonathan Hewitt ATC
Jonathan,
Huh?
TC :)
TC,
I am 175lbs. The force I can generate and absorb from jumping and landing off of 1 leg is substantially greater than the amount I could ever squat on 2 legs. (I jump higher off 1 foot than off 2)
For example Landing from a jump (lay up)is 8.9 times your body weight. 175lbsX8.9= ~1500lbs. That's 1500 pounds the ankle, knee, hip etc have to absorb and sometimes on 1 leg. (Sometimes I land funny) THe most I've ever squated was 350lbs and it wasn't even a real squat. The femur alone will shatter with a vertical force of just 1000 lbs. (that's without the assistance of the muscles and other joints)
Jonathan Hewitt ATC
(I know I don't make sense sometimes)
Well have you?? And if so I'd like to hear how you would apply it.
Jonathan Hewitt ATC
I think the comments to Vern’s blog were blown out of proportion. Yes the forces are different in DL and SL squats and I’m not discrediting anyone’s research, but you completely ignored the part about lunges, hops, and step ups, not to mention skips, single leg squats in different planes, lunges in different planes, and rotational jumps with teaching the proper mechanics of landing on one leg, so on and so on. I think the point of the post is about functional training. We can't just stick to single plane, double leg exercises like double leg squats, dead lifts, and power cleans to train athletes in preparation for their sports and the prevention of injuries. They are essential for developing strength and power, but the stabilization and eccentric muscle actions in single leg squats, hops, and other plyometrics are important as well. Single leg exercises in multiple planes make sense basically because we do most things on one leg, it’s functional. Basketball for example: A crossover dribble shifting weight from on side to the other, a lay-up, pivoting, a defensive slide, a backdoor cut to the basket We don't just hop around 2 feet, sports have a lot to do with one leg. I think the bottom line about functional training is about taking a good look at the sport you are trying to train the athlete for and mimic the actions of the particular sport within your training.
Adam L
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