Facebook Live #2: - Programming, Nutrition & Injuries!

Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC, SSC, and Dr. Alyssa Haveson, PT, PRSCC, CSCS, sat down with the listeners to answer all the questions submitted for our October 2022 live Q&A podcast show!

They covered an array of topics, but because these were questions asked directly, they were able to address individual cases while providing valuable insight for everyone.

These topics included:

☑️The intention of exercise selection and the purpose of variations. In addition to how to make changes to meet the needs of the individual.

☑️Technique cues you might be missing.

☑️Education on pain and injury during training with insight into the PRS algorithm. Specifically on low back/gluteal pain and what modifications made sense for the lifter who asked.

☑️Maintenance vs. Competition nutrition served with a dose of reality checks.

☑️Nuances of counting macros for all ages, genders, goals, and life phases

The EXACT Questions We Cover In This Episode:

Jeff Haggar - What exercises do you recommend for improving upper back strength which would best carry over into increasing my bench press max?
Steph Tracy - I am curious about when to pause or not pause on the chest with accessory bench work. I tend to gravitate towards a pause, because a pause is ingrained for comp bench, but a touch and go approach seems more appropriate for some other bench variations (like sling shot or larsen).
Anonymous - When’s the best time to inhale on OP, before or after the overhead shrug?
Katrina Taylor Injury question- so I’ve had a deep ache in my glute during the lockout of deadlifts for about a month now. the pain initially stuck to deadlifts, just a pinch and then an ache that lasted a few seconds once the weight came back down, but has since started irritating me in other leg day workouts (hack squats, single leg leg press), and then yesterday appeared in BB back squats, causing me to ”fold” and fail a weight i usually rep no problem. I’ve tried stretching, foam rolling, warming up better, only lighter deadlifts, and it keeps getting worse. Any advice?
James Hammons - There always seems to be confusion around this question and I feel like the diet apps and macros tracking apps are all over the place with how they deal with this…Let’s make this question easy and assume I’m making hamburgers for dinner. I like grilled burgers more than pan fried so I season my 90/10 ground beef and fire up my grill. While the patties are cooking the fat from the beef is dripping off the meat into the bottom of the grill. Does this mean that I have effectively lowered the fat content of my patty from 10% to “something less than 10%”? If so, I assume that we should be accounting for cooking styles when tracking macros or else we could end up consuming less fats than we need/should be consuming.
Trina - I get caught up in counting macros and wanting to maintain my prep physique well beyond a powerlifting meet. I find myself resistant to eating more during the maintenance phase. I know this is all psychological and would appreciate their thoughts on how to balance the mindset needed for maintenance vs prep.
Ed Perrucca - Approaching 60, I am wondering if I’m eating too much or too little. I eat 2800 calories per day broken into 40/30/30 macros. I’m sure to eat 200 or more grams of protein from Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Eggs, Fish and dairy. I’m 5’10” , 206 lbs. I’m at the start of NLP. Six weeks in after a long layoff from a ACDF and Lumbar discectomy. My lifts are 175 squat, 150 bench, 85 Press and 235 Deadlift. I have seen lots of articles and videos about diet for the 18-35 year old age group. Is it just trial and error?

To get your questions answered, PRS sends out a newsletter via email that you can respond to or join during the live event to ask and receive an answer directly from the knowledgeable PRS Clinical coaches!

To gain access to the live event, join our FREE Facebook group: the Secret Society of Barbell Mastery.

RESOURCES:

Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC, SSC: [00:01:43] Let's dive into the first group of questions.. We were originally going to answer the questions in the order in which they were received. But then we started to see that there were different types of questions we could group into injuries versus training and technique versus pelvic health versus nutrition. So we're going to dive into the training and technique questions first, then we'll do the injury questions, then the nutrition questions, and then the pelvic health questions that we got. We will answer in a separate podcast with our pelvic health specialist, Dr. Breanne. So let's see, what is the first question? Oh, this is a good question. So, Alyssa, I'm going to ask this question. I'm going to have you start. So this question comes from Jeff Hagger. And he said, What exercises do you recommend for improving upper back strength, which would best carry over to increasing my bench press max?

Dr. Alyssa Haveson, PT, PRSCC, CSCS: [00:03:06] So, Jeff, that's going to be any exercise that strengthens your shoulder stabilizers and upper back extensors. And you know, if you're deadlifting, you're in a good place. But also like, pull-ups and chin-ups are great exercises to add in there if you're looking to strengthen your upper back more. But usually, if you're deadlifting, that's going to be the precursor to being able to do pull-ups and chin-ups unassisted.

Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC, SSC: [00:03:40] Which we just had. This episode is airing in December, but we just our last ten-minute tip, we just had a ten-minute tip episode come out that was all about pull-ups. So Ten-Minute Tip 9, which aired on October 25th, would be a good episode for you. Jeff, to follow up on the questions that were the question that we're answering here because we talk about how to either get your first pull-up and chin-up or how to progress the stagnant or stuck pull-up and chin-up. After all, they're a challenging lift or exercise to progress. And we talk about all that in that episode, but to follow up. So that was Ten-Minute Tip 9 that aired on October 25th. So just to kind of follow up on the question and answer here, Alyssa, I think that you did the exercises that you're recommending are important because I think that a lot of people who are focusing on like developing their bench press or their overhead press, they think that they just need to press more. And we tend to see, especially from the perspective that we're coming from as rehab clinicians or clinical coaches, where we're usually dealing with people who either are injured and not progressing or just not progressing at all, you know. So when we see people with shoulder and elbow injuries in the bench press and the overhead press or are not progressing in those two lifts, we look at a dual program assessment. Usually, we find that they're just focusing on the pushing exercises, and to push from a strong foundation, our whole shoulder girdle has to be strong, and our upper back has to be strong. And we need to stabilize our shoulders on the bench, so we can push from a stable place. So pull-ups and chin-ups, as well as the strong deadlift and Pendlay rows, are really good. But developing that posterior shoulder girdle and the shoulder stabilizers are going to be key to developing a big bench that you can continue to progress with a lower risk for injury than if you were just like, Oh, well, I need to bench more, I need to increase my frequency, I need to increase my volume on the bench.

Download the Full Transcript

Join our Facebook Community for free form checks, live Q&As & more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PRS.Barbell.Mastery

Got questions or guests you'd like to hear on the show? Submit them here: https://forms.gle/7Vu2HmgHoeQY9xM59

Get in touch with the show!

Web: https://www.progressiverehabandstrength.com

Email: podcast@progressiverehabandstrength.com

Rori IG: @rorimegan_prs

Alyssa IG: @alyssahope_prs