August 10, 2020

Physical Therapy, Fitness

Justin Ho

Progressive Performance Q&A

By Justin Ho PT, DPT, CSCS

I had a chance to sit down with Jimmy McCurry, head coach and owner of Progressive Performance Strength and Fitness in Woodinville, WA. I've had the pleasure of working with Jimmy in the past, helping our mutual clients and patients rehab from their aches and pains and return to lifting heavy and safely at his gym. Here is our conversation talking about Progressive Performance and how his community is adjusting with the pandemic.

Me: Jimmy thanks for taking the time to sit down and chat with me today. I'm sure you've been busy adapting to the ever changing environment due to COVID-19. To get started, please tell us a little about what makes Progressive Performance different.

Jimmy: Glad we could find a time to chat! Progressive Performance is for people who don't know what they should be doing for their fitness journey and don't really know where to start. Maybe they've tried different forms of training that hasn't worked for them, or they've been battling with nagging injuries. We work with people who are interested in strength training and those who are looking for a personalized custom approach to their fitness that’s tailored to their specific needs. We do this in a small group environment that is community based. We take pride in meeting people where they are at fitness-wise, getting them stronger, helping them lose fat, and getting them the body of their dreams while also feeling great doing it.

Me: I understand you emphasize your programs around resistance training. Can you speak on that?

Jimmy: Our program is, as you mentioned, resistance training based. What we found is that when you focus on the resistance element, you can get really great results in body control, injury prevention, metabolism, and the ability to gain muscle. Our typical age demographic is between age 40-65, where resistance training to compete against sarcopenia and osteopenia is important. No matter where our clients start from, we can position them with a custom training program that's going to work with them specifically and progress their exercises appropriately so they'll continue to see improved strength and performance.

Me: That's fantastic. There is such a negative stigma behind strength training, but it's so important for individuals entering their 4th and 5th decade because of sarcopenia and osteopenia (muscle wasting and losing bone strength). When working with new clients, I'm sure you have many people coming in from different walks of life and fitness history. Tell us how you find a person's starting point.

Jimmy: With every new member, we sit them down with a coach for 1 hour to start. The first half hour is centered around goal setting and understanding their movement background and then during the second half of the hour we do a general movement screen. From gross moments to individual joint ranges of motions and strength. We formulate a custom warm up routine to address any limitations that we find so they can be as successful as possible with their lifts in the safest way possible.

Me: I understand during the first few months of the pandemic, you quickly switched your platform to online coaching and are still offering that to many of your members. As we are continually adjusting to the new normal due to the pandemic, I anticipate you're making a great effort to make your gym a safe and clean space. Can you expand a little more on this?

Jimmy: We have 5 clients to one trainer. In our facility, we set up specific boxes where people would train in. We have protocols in place where higher-touched surfaces are only in contact with our coaches. All of our coaches are required to wear masks. We open the facility, clients come in wash their hands and then go to the area they are assigned. All the equipment for that session will be already set up in the box the client will occupy for the entirety of the session. Nobody shares the equipment. We have 45 minutes of the session and a 15 minute cleansing time. We're doing whatever it takes to make our clients feel safe while they train.

Me: One of my patients mentioned that you were at the helm of getting smaller gyms like yours to open up earlier than originally planned. How did this transpire?

Jimmy: Yeah we actually spearheaded this effort to get small group fitness gyms into the earlier phases of re-opening. Originally we, gyms, were placed in phase 3; however we knew that with our set up we could definitely operate in an earlier phase while following all the precautions and limitations. We submitted a petition with 6500 signatures and sent it to the governor. We were actually broadcasted on local news and on a local radio station. So we thankfully were successful in sharing our message to the government that people are missing and needing their fitness. This ultimately resulted in getting smaller gyms into what we'll call phase 2.

Me: That's some incredible work. Well done!

Jimmy: For us it was more about what makes sense by science. Okay if you can sell a car or open a casino within a phase 1 situation, why can't you do something that's healthy for people. Why can't we let people invest in their fitness and help their immune system versus doing other things that would degrade their immune system. We are also invested in our clients results and invested in bringing greater health in the greater Seattle area. For us to do that, we had to fight the fight and get people back into the gym.

Me: I'm so glad that you had great success with this. Switching gears, I want to share one of my concerns as a physical therapist. You have people who have been either doing home workouts or not exercising at all for a few months. I am concerned that when they return or start up exercising again that they'll injure themselves simply because they've lost some conditioning. How do you plan on approaching this with your returning and new members?

Jimmy: When you're coming back to the gym, we are paying particular attention to the training stimulus. Understand that lifting 40-50% of your maximum ability is where you're going to start. You'll likely also be very sore after that first session back. The main theme is thinking light and easy. This applies both to decreased volume within the workout session and less frequency per week. The muscles remember where they were before, they'll eventually get back to their previous state in 3-4 weeks with steady progressive load. Our clients will be focusing on more full body workouts including pull, push, legs before focusing on individual groups per training session.

Me: That makes a lot of sense to me. Getting people more conditioned first before getting into strength work seems like a great recipe. Say that I wanted to get into strength training with Progressive Performance now, but I don't have any experience in any of those lifts or even the terminology, how do I start?

Jimmy: This is what we have our Jump Start program for. We have everything laid out in a 28 day program. New clients will come in for a movement evaluation, a nutrition evaluation, and they can come in as many times as they want to our small group sessions over those 28 days. Through our interaction we curate that program that's most appropriate for the new member. We'd recommend starting 2-3x/week and then building up to 4x/week. Here we discuss lifting form and make sure you receive live feedback on how to perform each of the exercises safely. After those 28 days, obviously we'd love to keep you as members, but for those who want to lift on their own at their gym, this is still a great gateway to understanding how to lift properly and safely.

Me: That sounds like a great way to get people who are interested in resistance training to do it right and safely. I really do believe your gym provides such a unique opportunity and gateway for individuals who may otherwise never think they’d be able to engage in weight lifting. Jimmy, it was great to chat with you today. Thanks so much for taking the time to sit down and work with me here!

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You can find more information on Jimmy and Progressive Performance Strength and Fitness at https://www.progressiveperformance.com/

Woodinville, WA 98072

By: Jordan Bork, PT, DPT, CSCS

It is no secret that spinal health can make or break (pun intended) an individual’s overall life quality. I believe if you are investing precious time in the gym you should be doing it safely and in the most efficient way possible. For this reason I set out to answer two questions: Do you need a weight lifting belt, and if so, when should you use it?

Anatomy And Biomechanics:

Before we discuss the concept of a lifting belt you should have a brief understanding of the human body and the biomechanics behind spinal stabilization.

Functionally the human “core” is made up of several muscles that act to stabilize the spine throughout movement. For simplicities sake, we will focus on the group as a whole with an emphasis on the deep core muscles such as the Transversus Abdominis (TA). Attaching to the tissue at the center of your stomach near the belly button, the TA runs down towards your groin and then out and around your back. You can picture it as a corset or a wide belt. When contracted the TA functions to provide stability to the lower segments of your spine by compressing the contents of the abdominal cavity and increasing the tension throughout the muscular fascia that runs along the base of your spine. This is important because as you lift weights you want your spine to sit still, and not slide around under the external force of your work out. If you have weak core musculature than your spine is at an increased risk of excessive curvatures and harmful intervertebral movement.

Similar to other muscles, the Trasnversus Abdominis can be strengthened by actively contracting it. Just as doing bicep curls helps to grow your biceps, abdominal contraction while lifting, moving and during everyday life can help to grow your core strength.

Pro’s And Con’s of the Weight Lifting Belt

The good, The bad, and the strong.

Pro’s Include:

Supplying the core muscles with external assistance in their contraction towards the spine
Providing proprioceptive feedback to the muscles of the core, enhancing their contraction
Preventing excessive spinal curving or arching during a lift

Con’s Include:

Overuse resulting in:
Reduced training of the abdominal musculature that occurs with self-bracing and helps to improve overall core strength
Physical/Mental reliance on an external support system that will not always be accessible in life outside of the gym
Decreased contraction of your bodies own stabilizing belt, the core musculature

Bottom Line

My personal suggestions for who should wear a weight lifting belt, and when they should wear it.

WHO Should use it?

Beginning weight lifters: No.
Novice lifters should focus on technique. You should not be maxing out or performing exercises to fatigue that will result in form breakdown
You have lots to gain from focusing on core stability throughout all workouts, therefore providing your abdominal muscles with the stimulus they need for growth
Moderately experienced lifters: No.(For the most part)
You too have more to gain from focusing on core stability throughout the lift than by belting up for 1 or 2 extra reps
Experienced weight lifters: Yes. (If lifting heavy)
By now you are likely lifting at or near your max and will benefit from the supplemental stability of a belt
You can improve your heavy lifts by focusing more intently on form and specific muscle activation rather than focusing on solid core contraction

WHEN you should use it:

When performing maximal or near maximal lifts for muscle groups that directly impact the spine
Examples: Squats, Dead Lifts, Power Cleans, Snatches
Caveat: Some may benefit from wearing a belt even when performing a lift that does not directly impact the spine, such as while benching (see the side note section below)
When performing lifts for duration where fatigue and form break down are inevitable. Yes, that means you cross fitters!!!
If the WOD has you performing high volume exercises with little rest such as squats and deadlifts you should be wearing a belt. This is because even the most experienced lifters who are conscious of technique will begin to have decreased core contraction and form breakdown with endurance related activities and AMRAP exercises
When advised by your medical professional due to issues with spinal instability
Common Sense!

When you DO NOT need it:

When lifting accessory muscle groups
Simply put, the further away the target muscle is from the center of your body, the less you need a belt
Examples: Training of the biceps, triceps, shoulders and calves
When specifically targeting work outs for the back musculature
The core functions to stabilize your spine, AKA the back. So why not train the entire back and get a core work out while performing those lat pull downs?

Side Notes:

Bench Pressing and Belts:

Some would argue that if you are attempting your max during a bench press you should be utilizing an arched back in order to shorten the bench stroke, decrease the required range of motion and to prevent excessive internal rotation of the shoulders
If you are utilizing this technique, you may benefit from a lifting belt to help stabilize the lower spine as it arches backward toward the bench

No Belt, No Problem:

Individuals lifting heavy weight may reasonably choose to never wear a lifting belt if they have built up enough core strength to properly stabilize the spine throughout their exercise. Many successful Olympic style weightlifters choose to never wear a belt

In Conclusion:

A weight lifting belt serves to stabilize the spine throughout movement by enhancing your core contraction and increasing the pressure around your low back. It does not completely replace the need for active core contraction.

A lifting belt is a tool, and like many tools it can be used or misused. If you are training muscle groups that directly impact your spine at close to maximal weight or high volume, than you should wear a weight lifting belt.

If you aren’t doing either of those, then do yourself a favor and put those precious gym hours to their maximal use. Don’t use a belt, keep your abdominals tight, and get your arms and legs ready for beach season while simultaneously training your core!

To learn more on the core musculature, how to contract/strengthen it, and on topics such as the valsavla maneuver keep an eye out for our upcoming articles.

Weight Lifting Belts: A Physical Therapist’s Perspective