Bill Hartman

Category: Professional Mentorship

  • Padawan Lesson:  Propulsion Concepts Applied to Cutting and Baseball Pitching

    Padawan Lesson:  Propulsion Concepts Applied to Cutting and Baseball Pitching

    We’ve been reviewing pressure and volume shifts throughout the pelvis that influence the pelvic diaphragm shape, position, and movement.

    In this video, we move up to the thorax to address the thorax movement, shape change, and airflow mechanics that occur with cutting to the side and a baseball throw.

    Just as we talk about propulsion, concentric and eccentric muscle orientation, and overcoming or yielding contractions in the pelvis, these same concepts apply to the thorax.

    Near the end of the video, we provide a visual representation of the thorax shape to help you understand the result of the conversation.

    If you have questions, please go to my instagram account and post them on the weekly Q & A request or email me at askbillhartman@gmail.com.

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  • How to Perform a Scapular Decompression Mobilization to Promote Dorsal-Rostral Expansion

    How to Perform a Scapular Decompression Mobilization to Promote Dorsal-Rostral Expansion

    Compensatory breathing strategies may result in an increase in the muscular concentric orientation that compresses the dorsal-rostral thorax.

    Common findings include limited ipsilateral lower cervical rotation, ipsilateral shoulder flexion, and limited horizontal shoulder abduction. In many cases, a diagnosis of shoulder or rotator cuff impingement may be associated as well.

    If your client is unable to achieve normal muscular orientation to allow dorsal-rostral expansion and normal scapular upward and downward rotation for active shoulder, this manual technique may be beneficial to provide a window of opportunity via manually acquiring eccentric orientation of the dorsal-rostral musculature.

    This technique should not be painful at any time. In cases of positioning issues, this technique may also be performed in prone.

     

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  • The How, When, and Why To Do a Suboccipital Release Manual Therapy Technique

    The How, When, and Why To Do a Suboccipital Release Manual Therapy Technique

    There may be multiple factors a play as to why any manual therapy may be useful. To simplify the model of application, right or wrong, we can just look at it as moving fluids in and out of a space or promoting concentric or eccentric orientation of muscles.

    A suboccipital release is a commonly applied tactic for various purposes and various diagnoses. How and when to apply it has always been rather vague, but over time, I’ve put together some reasoning and signs as to when it’s best to apply.

    A distracting technique can be applied if you find the following signs:

    • Limited ipsilateral hip flexion
    • Limited ipsilateral shoulder flexion
    • Greater ipsilateral mandibular lateral trusion
    • Greater ipsilateral upper cervical rotation

    When these signs are unilateral, use a compressive manual strategy on the contralateral side as shown in the video.

    For symmetrical presentations with the limitations mentioned above, apply the distraction manual technique bilaterally.

    If you find excessive upper cervical rotation, limited lower cervical flexion, and bilateral hypermobility of mandibular lateral trusions, then apply the compressive technique bilaterally.

     

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  • Weekly Update and Q & A for October 27, 2019

    Weekly Update and Q & A for October 27, 2019

    Videos on youtube this week:

    Last week’s Q & A:  https://youtu.be/IEoZmlJ2UUI

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    • Evaluate in context
    • Dorsal-rostral expansion
    • How to measure hip flexion
    • Peterson step-ups and low back RFESS
    • Eccentric orientation activities IG story saved.

    This week’s Q & A Topics:

    • Bill can you give a quick overview about the propulsion phases?
    • Can you explain eccentric/concentric orientation? Is it different than short or long
    • How do you approach rehabbing a core muscle injury/sports hernia?
    • Advice on handling current DPT education knowing that much of it is no longer best practices.
    • Bill, are you seeing any differences in typical presentations from the neck up (e.g. c-spine, jaw, palate) in people with an inhalation bias vs exhalation bias?
    • Is there any case where you would try to cue a position or action from the neck up along with biasing IR/pronation/extension/dorsiflexion or ER/supination/flexion/plantar flexion?
    • If the squat is an expansion pattern and deadlift is a compressive pattern, does that mean someone with a narrow infrasternal angle would generally be better at a squat since they have more space to expand into, or would they generally be better at a deadlift since they are already in an exhaled/compressed position?
    • Can you expand a bit more on what is going on in the suitcase carry you posted on your recent video? I tried it myself with a test-retest of internal and external rotation of my shoulders and there was a significant improvement.
    • Why a squat is an eccentric/expansive/inhale biased movement pattern?
    • Why a hinge/press/pull are concentric/compressive/exhale biased movement patterns?
    • Apart from the squat what are the other (if any) key expansive movement patterns – single leg/single arm movements?
    • if someone has an anteriorly rotated pelvis that is in an exhaled position with limited hip mobility, what will be the first step/exercise that you would use?
    • What is the most impactful philosophical book you have read?

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  • Coaching Conversation with Andy McCloy

    Coaching Conversation with Andy McCloy

    I had a chance to speak with a great human being, Andy McCloy, about some of his training challenges and issues associated with his new hips (we have this in common). We touched on a lot of topics in a 30-minute conversation. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.

    Topics of Conversation:

    • My benefits from drinking from The Fountain of Youth (what?!)
    • The secondary consequences of hard, intense training
    • Intrathoracic, intraabdominal, and intramuscular pressure
    • Muscle hypertrophy and gym strength
    • Genetic influences on adaptation and muscle hypertrophy
    • Self-assessment of movement and adaptability in the gym
    • The difference between a deadlift and the squat for compression and expansion
    • How heavy lifting creates a compressive, concentric strategy
    • The limitations of breathing exercises for big, strong humans
    • Are leg extensions okay for muscle hypertrophy?
    • A mature mindset for training
    • The importance of KPI’s (key performance indicators) for self-assessment

     

     

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    Find Andy McCloy:

    http://andymccloy.com/about-andy-mccloy/