Cycling Oklahoma
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Cycling Oklahoma
Transform Your Training and Recovery with Expert Tips with Dr. Kyle Griffith
Are your training routines leaving you sore, stiff, and struggling to meet your cycling goals? This episode promises to unravel the secrets of optimizing your athletic performance with insights from Dr. Kyle of Modus Performance. Dr. Kyle, a licensed chiropractor and expert in movement analysis, shares his holistic approach to treating pain and enhancing performance through personalized movement practices. His expertise in advanced physical therapy modalities, including soft tissue rehab, acupuncture, and dry needling, has made a remarkable impact on our health and cycling achievements—discover how he can help you too.
We delve into the intricate world of athlete movement, shedding light on the root causes of pain and the importance of evaluating movement patterns. Through personal anecdotes and professional insights, we explore common issues like overtraining, inadequate recovery, and the detrimental effects of modern lifestyles on our bodies, especially for cyclists. Dr. Kyle emphasizes the need for a balanced approach, incorporating strength, flexibility, and mobility work to prevent injuries and maintain optimal body function.
Finally, we discuss the foundational elements of athlete health, from proper nutrition and sleep to the importance of monitoring Heart Rate Variability (HRV) for recovery. As our bodies age, adapting training to manage stress and recovery becomes crucial. We highlight essential mobility practices for cyclists and the significance of building functional strength. Remember, form matters, and movement is medicine. Join us to gain valuable knowledge and practical tips to elevate your cycling performance and overall well-being.
Instagram @motusperformancetherapy
just making sure this is on the right side of Oklahoma.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for tuning in for another episode and we are cruising right along with the episodes and the great content to share, and I cannot think all of my amazing guests um enough for taking time out of their lives to uh, to share their stories and to share some information and knowledge with us all. So thank you guys so much. Uh, thank you to the listeners for tuning in. Uh, without you guys wanting this information and asking me about it, we wouldn't keep doing this. So I cannot thank you guys enough and, like I say every time, we have a lot of really fun things in the works. We just need to get them done. So, um, I want to say thank you to vanessa drummond. She is helping with the social stuff which I suck at, and if you guys follow um cycling oklahoma on instagram, you will understand that I am not good, and now it looks significantly better. So thank you so much, vanessa drummond, for helping out with that. And, um, we, of course, are brought to you by more overhead door. I say it every time how much I greatly appreciate, uh, more overhead door for their support and for stepping up and helping the cycling community and given back, and because of them we get to continue to try to push forward and do some really fun projects. Hopefully, we are recording our first um, I guess historical informational route video within the next couple of weeks. So whenever that comes up, I will keep you guys posted. Hopefully you will share it and, uh, that will get the ball rolling to some of these supporters and sponsors that we're going after for the big money that will help create more projects, more fun, uh, more events, more things back into our community, cause that's what all this is about with cycling Oklahoma is giving back to the cycling community, the dirt community, and growing, uh, what we have here. So I had a couple of people reach back to me about sponsorships and I am working on getting in touch with them right now and giving them some packages. So if you were interested, or you you know someone who is interested, please let me know. The more funding we get it does not go to my bills. It goes to Cycling Oklahoma bills and creating more content and creating some really cool things that we have planned. So if you're interested in stepping up and helping, thank you so much. Please get in touch with me and I guess that will be my. Enough of the shameless plug, but I am trying to get in touch with me and I guess that will be my enough of the shameless plug, but I am trying to get in touch with anyone that has to do with marketing companies, the tribes, some of the municipalities like, or local municipalities, also Oklahoma tourism. So if you have any connections to any of that, please let me know. I would love to make that contact. Then I'll take it from there and and tell them our amazing vision and our, tell them all about our amazing cycling community and hopefully we can get some support from them. So, thank you so much. It's a little bit different and I hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2:Dr Kyle is what I refer to him at Modus Performance, is an absolute game changer, legendary human in my mind. Um, kyle basically has my dream job. Uh, if I could pick one set of knowledge, um, and do it and make a living at it. It is exactly what Kyle does. And, um, I sent everybody that came through my doors at the fit studio who needed body work or body support. Um, I sent them to Dr Kyle at Modus performance, um, because he's a.
Speaker 2:He's a genius when it comes to movement practices, movement analysis. Um, he will. He's a Cairo by trade. But uh, he's. He doesn't just do Cairo. So he looks at you, he does a movement screen, he checks out what's going on with the body. He will treat the pain that you come in for. But then he will find the problem and where it's coming from and then almost send you through some like PT style movement practices. Sometimes it's weighted, sometimes it's not, sometimes it's stretching, sometimes it's weighted, sometimes it's not, sometimes it's stretching. It depends to help work on the actual root of the issue, not where the pain is coming out. I hope that makes sense and hopefully you'll get some more information out of this episode. So this is more of a tactical episode. It's more about the body, it's more about performance and recovery, those kinds of things. So hopefully you gain some information here.
Speaker 2:Again, I cannot say enough amazing things about Dr Kyle and I sent everybody to him. Um, he can handle anything and everything and the amazing thing about him is he is completely transparent and honest. So if he is not the best one to help you, he will completely tell you that and he will refer you to someone who maybe could be a little bit better fit for you and your problems and your needs and your desires. So, um, I trust him with everything when it comes to keeping me healthy. If it wasn't for Dr Kyle, I definitely would not have gotten to the start line at Cape Epic this year. Um, he did some amazing work on me and so, um, I highly recommend him.
Speaker 2:If you don't have someone that you go see currently, if you're having aches and pains, definitely give him a call. Talk to him. He works with all kinds of athletes. So, again, I can't stop bragging on him enough. Go see Dr Kyle, talk to him. I'll connect his Modus Performance Instagram account on the show notes and hopefully you'll give him a follow. And if he can help you, please, please, reach out to him again. Thank you so much for more overhead door. If you have any garage door needs this fall and winter, while you're getting the house ready for the cold winters that are coming, give them a call. It's 405-799-9214 more overhead door. Thank you, guys, so much and I hope you enjoy this episode. All right, I almost forgot.
Speaker 2:Guys, check out cyclingoklahomacom. Go to the website. This clicks it just, even if you're stopping by just for a minute and just looking at it. Please go do that. Those extra clicks that traffic will help us with our sponsorship asks Um, it's a great place for you to to look up gravel routes, find your next adventures around Oklahoma.
Speaker 2:You're traveling, you want to find a new route, or if you want to find a new route in your area, please go check out cycling at oklahomacom. There's some great blogs. We have more blogs coming soon, um, and this is a great hopefully will become an amazing resource for our dirt community in Oklahoma. This is where we're going to try to drive a lot of our content through and this is where our videos and podcasts all the stuff will be hosted. So, cyclingoklahomacom, go check it out.
Speaker 2:If you have amazing routes that you want me to upload that aren't currently on there, email them to me at cyclingoklahoma at gmail, so I can start, or so I can continue to grow our routes that we have on there. Um, you just join the club ride GPS club. If you do the free ride with GPS account currently, this will give you a couple extra features that you don't currently have. It's all free. You just need to click the tab cycling Oklahomacom. Please go check it out, um, again, and I will stop begging you now.
Speaker 2:Enjoy the episode. All right, kyle, let's get rolling on this. I'm super pumped to have you here. For one, I have exposed people to you by someone just my Instagram pictures and telling people that I come and see you For all of my stuff, and when I had the Fit Studio, I sent everybody that had a problem here that really didn't have somebody to go to. So I'm excited to be here, I'm excited for you to sprinkle your knowledge on this and hopefully we can get people moving better and stronger and in a much healthier way. So, kyle, introduce yourself, kind of tell people a little bit of a background on who you are, your credentials and kind of how we ended up at this point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thanks, ryan. Yeah, first I just want to say thanks for all that and I appreciate everybody you sent my way. And yeah, so I'm a licensed chiropractor. A lot of people think of me more as a physical therapist just because I include more soft tissue rehab. You know, I've always said I'm not a know-it-all, I'm more of a learn-it-all and I just try to learn everything I can. When one thing doesn't solve a problem, I'm going to try to learn something else to solve that problem. And I've been practicing about 20 years. My background was an athlete growing up. I've been injured many times, so I've been the patient as much as I've been the doctor, it seems like. So I've learned a lot through my own injuries. Uh, played baseball in college and just kind of understand the importance of you know you gotta be healthy, you gotta be moving well, or that doesn't translate well to your sport, so, um, but yeah, so I've just, I've just added a lot more tools to the toolbox and, uh, just keep trying to trying to get better to help people.
Speaker 2:I think that's, and whenever I try to explain to people, I'm like, well, go see Kyle, like well, what does he do? And I'm like, well, like he's like he's licensed a chiropractor, but it could be anything, it could be cupping dry, kneeling. So, like, what are the some of the, I guess, therapies that you use on on? I don't know if you call them patients, clients, what do you call them? But uh, what are some of the therapies that you have found yourself using?
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, so really, what it comes down to is is you know, I always say, if you're a hammer, everything's a nail right. So we all, we all have our own bias of whatever we are. And I and I'm proud to be a chiropractor I never want to say that that's not who I am, but what I've realized is that if, if I'm always in the chiropractic mode, the reality is that doesn't always get the result that I want. So really, uh, when I look at a client and I'm evaluating them, I take a step back and I try to remove any biases that I have and just watch them move, assess, and then I try to figure out what tools do I need to use to get that person better? And if it's just a quad stretch to get them better, then that's what I'm going to recommend. And, uh, or a lifestyle thing, or whatever. But as far as modalities, yeah, I'm certified um, through chiropractic school, I became certified in acupuncture, so I'm licensed to do acupuncture Later on, more dry needling.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit different from acupuncture in a sense that the focus is more on just more of the muscle release trigger points.
Speaker 1:Acupuncture is really Chinese medicine, so that's a whole different can of worms to talk about, but then you've got tools like scraping tools, graston, I've been trained in those Cupping. I like to think of cupping, as more of the course I took was myofascial decompression, so it's kind of like reverse massage. So sometimes if someone I just feel like we got to create some more space in their body or length, we can add the cups to the movement and then numerous hands-on soft tissue techniques active release technique, fascial distortion method, lots of things pertaining to the fascia and how that which that's a whole new thing as far as human movement we've been discovering over the last few years and how to incorporate fascia into the to the soft tissue treatment. So those are a few things and that's just kind of in a nutshell of what I'm doing. But most importantly, yeah, just looking at their movement and how can we improve that movement and through the use of these modalities and then get the athlete or the whoever to reinforce what I'm trying to do.
Speaker 2:So yeah, and I would love for us to sit down at some point and have a full episode on fascia and performance, because the fascia I think I think it's so interesting and I know the very tip of the iceberg. I know you've been going down that rabbit hole for a long time, uh, and really like getting in and going to courses and really digging into the research and doing that stuff. Um, but like even last year when I was training for Cape, if it wasn't for coming to see you like, I wouldn't have made it to the start line, cause I was pretty wrecked up, um, from just training and putting in miles and being in a really a crappy position, because you're, you're in a crappy position when you're on a bicycle, essentially, I mean, uh, and you're stuck there, right, so there's not a lot of movement throughout your two to three to five hours or whatever you're out there. So, yeah, the fascia stuff and whenever you would do fascia release, it's incredible the difference and doing, cupping and moving. We did that a couple times. I think that was some of the things that, like it was a complete game changer.
Speaker 2:So that's one of the things that I want people to like realize that there's a lot of treatments for one problem and sometimes it takes some time to figure it out. I mean, I've had lower leg issues and it took us a long time to figure out that it was my toes Like my calves were the problem, or my calves were was where the pain came out. The toe was the problem, which sometimes is super interesting, hard for people to wrap their head around. But I love that you go into it as a movement and look at the whole thing. I'm going to treat the pain, but we're going to find the problem and then fix that. So you have a beautiful space here. Thank you, what's your address here? And I'll put it all in the show notes I'm at 807 Northwest 72nd Street.
Speaker 1:It's that new development in Oklahoma City called Wilshire Point. Okay, so just on the edge of Nichols Hills, so yeah, and the space is awesome.
Speaker 2:I'll take some pictures and post those as well, because you can not only come in and get your treatment, but then you learn what you need to do to stay on top of the problem, which I like. So enough plugging you and bragging about you, because I will continue to do that always.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you. Yeah, let's move on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's get into and I know because.
Speaker 2:I know you don't enjoy that part of it, but I'll brag for you. So one of the things that I wanted to get into you work with a lot of athletes from a lot of different disciplines. Do you see a common issue among because I know you work with a lot of runners and things like that as well issue among, because I know you work with a lot of runners and things like that as well? But, um, and ball sports athletes do you see something similar in across all athletes or is it pretty segmented? Like people that do rotation sports or ball sports, they tend usually have these problems. Or people that are endurance athletes usually have these problems, or what do you see across the board?
Speaker 1:Um, I think the big problem I see a lot of times is these highly motivated athletes in all sports.
Speaker 1:It's like they just need help, uh, you know, pulling them back sometimes. You know that more is not always better and uh that. And so just kind of helping them understand how the body, the stress recovery cycle, how you know if you go really hard on a muscle it's going to take, you know, 48, 72 hours for that muscle to repair. That when we do these harder, intensive workouts, that creates more tightness in the body and we just want to make sure we're doing things to get the length back. You know, a lot of times everybody wants to get strong, strong, strong, and I agree. But at the same time help them be aware of where their tight muscles are at to get that length. So that way they're getting good joint position back and they're not just it's you're good for a while and then that repetition can start to break you down. And just really teaching athletes how to manage that and unfortunately, when those intensities increase they they will benefit from more soft tissue work and things like that to keep them healthy with the soft tissue work.
Speaker 2:I mean I try to do it almost there. I try to do it every day. Doesn't always happen, but the the soft tissue. Let's just talk cyclist endurance athletes um, everything we do is in a straight line and usually very front of the body, heavy, um, let's just with with mobility stuff and or soft tissue. Where do you see like common tight things, because injuries are pretty common for everybody kind of has the same problems tight lower back. You know, runners it's going to be shin splints, calves, things like that, or it issues Um, cyclists I saw a lot of it issues um, on their bike. Fits Um, um. So what are some of the areas that you would see that are like common and soft tissue work that can be they need to pay attention to?
Speaker 1:I would say that, um, if we kind of go back to the fascia thing just for a minute, um, what we know about the body is it's going to adapt to whatever we ask it to do and what positions we're in the most, and then it makes it harder to access other positions if we're not exploring those positions very regularly. And so if we just look at today's world and most human beings, we do a lot of sitting, we do a lot of driving and you know, even people will say, well, kyle, I stand all day, but then they forget that they're commuting, you know, an hour in the morning, an hour in the evening or whatnot, excuse me. And so routinely in those individuals you're going to find some tighter hip flexors their pelvis is not going to move as well as it should. Hip flexors their pelvis is not going to move as well as it should.
Speaker 1:And then you take that same individual that sits a lot and they're like, okay, I'm going to start biking and get healthy and I'm going to build strength and cardiovascular through cycling, but then once again, they're not really getting out of that position. So they're still going to have tight hip flexors that are almost getting stronger and pulling them more off center. That could put some pressure on the low back. So really educating that individual that hey, yes, it's great High five, we're moving. Movement is medicine. But we also need to make sure we're doing some things to maintain a good function of the human body and maybe get more length in those quads and hip flexors and maybe strengthening the glutes and the core and just maintaining good human function and not getting so out of balance from overcycling.
Speaker 2:Do you see a lot of the lower back pain in people that ride bikes a lot um come from a tighter hip flexor. Tighter hip Is that where the yeah, so.
Speaker 1:So and that's where kind of evaluation comes in, because it could be that, as you've seen, you know you're trying to help that individual get more into their hips. You may adjust the seat so that you can load the hips more than the back. So if the pelvis is not getting good anterior tilt on the bike and they're stuck in more of a posterior tilt from tight hip flexors, then they're going to overcompensate and flex too much through the lumbars and create some compression, and so if that posterior chain is really tight, then we can't really get them into the right position. That's optimal until we work on some mobility and get the hips moving so that that way they can get into their hips a little bit better.
Speaker 1:So, um, so yeah, it's really definitely um, could be tightness in the front, it could be, uh, lack of good control and getting the hips to move, and so, um, just kind of evaluating them and just finding out where you know where we can target to improve, and then sometimes, believe it or not, people actually need more strength and flexion through their lumbars to stabilize. Um, or maybe they're bending too much through their upper back and they're not getting enough uniform type curve throughout the spine. So really you kind of got to look above and below and just try to figure out what strategies we can use to improve, um, stability on the bike and um, so yeah, it's, it's, it can be, it can be different.
Speaker 2:And I think it's something for people to think about how it all works together, um, cause that's kind of where my problems were coming out. I was having really bad back problems, but it was super tight hips, um. So we worked really hard on that and then it's it's amazing, and people don't think about it. They're like, you know, their hips are tight. They kind of tuck the butt up underneath them while they're on the bike.
Speaker 2:So, they're shutting off the hip flexors, essentially, so they're losing power, right? So they're that things aren't operating the way they should, but not only in that you're rounding the upper back, which is cutting off your diaphragm, yeah, and now that's breathing, stuck to breathing. So now, when they go to sprint or climb that hill, their diaphragm and their lungs aren't filling up the way they should. Because you worked on my diaphragm, yeah, actually, and opened that up, which, if you've never had that dug into and you're so as man, prepare for that I think I always ended up like covering your table and sweat. But yeah, just talk about, like how the diaphragm, how that plays together, like one leads to another.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's a good point. Um, you know I always tell endurance athletes that the goal is to be less tired at the end. And to do that, you want to learn to create efficiency with your body, and we know that if we want to sustain a high output of endurance work, we've got to optimize our breathing mechanics. Dictates, function and we're in a shape that is not allowing the diaphragm to operate, then that's where we're working on all those mobility things and getting the body in a better position. But if we're, if we're too hunched over, basically from sitting every day like you're saying, that compresses the diaphragm and then we move more into a chest breathing state and then we're kind of over breathing, which believe it, or then that can dehydrate us because we're breathing too much out of the mouth and we're kind of taking these short breaths out of the mouth and it's like a more of a survival breath and your breathing mechanics are off. But your competitors are in a better position and they're nasal breathing and they're more comfortable than you are and they have a lower heart rate than you are. Then you're at a major disadvantage so many times.
Speaker 1:Step number one it sounds silly, but I do assess breathing a lot of times to breathe properly, to try to engage more especially zone two rides, be more in that nasal breath and just try to establish an efficiency of a breathing pattern where you're using less energy, you're getting a better quality breath, you're getting more oxygen, which is what the body needs, and that way you got more when you need it down the road and you haven't depleted yourself just from over breathing. And that's where another whole can of worms is, psychologically and everything else. But you got to learn to stay calm and breathe, uh, and that just allows your body to function with less energy, which, once again, that's what we're all chasing. So, once again, yeah, so breathing is is very important to learn to optimize that and you are very much into.
Speaker 2:I mean that's a perfect segue into it. Like you're, you're really big into the basics and keeping it simple. I mean we talked uh before we started you're, you're building out some, some zone, two training programs and classes here and kind of really helping people understand the fundamentals of health and fitness, which is what I think most people, almost everyone, needs more of. Um, so, like going into, let's just talk about the absolute. What do you think? The absolute basics and low hanging fruit that some of us probably know and or neglect? Um, but some of us may not, because they don't geek out on the stuff like me and you do.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, simply put, you know, this kind of goes back to my days of Chinese medicine and and they talked about. You know, there's four things that we need to do to to just just to be a healthy human being, and number one is is adequate sleep, adequate rest, and I think that's probably number one, low hanging fruit that a lot of people, they think they can out train a bad lifestyle. And you know, just because you can do a workout doesn't mean you're recovering from the workout. And I think a lot of people have this mentality of let's go, go, go, I'm going to out-train my opponent and I admire all that. But at the end of the day, when we're circling back to these basics, if you can check those boxes first, because you will see that the best of the best are masters at this and they, those are non-negotiables for them. And so back to what I was going to say. So number one would be adequate rest. Number two just make sure you're getting quality nutrition, you know, hydration, because if, if you're, if the fuel type's wrong, if you're trying to diet, that's not right for you. You're not going to recover very well and you're not going to be able to sustain and you might get injured.
Speaker 1:So we've got diet and nutrition, very low-hanging fruits, and really that's a whole other topic too, and I really think people just need to learn to individualize that. Just because Ryan eats a certain way, I eat a certain way. Don't try to copy that diet because it may not work for you, and diet is a whole self-experimentation for each individual, and we know that the best quality food we can find, the most nutritional, dense food, that's what I tell people. Try to eat foods that are fresh, that have life in them, that stay away from the middle of the grocery store as much as possible with all the processed foods, more chemicals, that's not going to help you. So just try to get good quality nutrition, which I'm sure you see that a lot of times with your athletes. Maybe they're not at. The timing of all that which you can help them with is very important. The timing of all that which you can help them with is very important. And then, third, yeah, we need exercise, but more is not always better too, and so that's another thing. That, once again, people, it's just for trying to find that right balance of where you're at in that time, so not overtraining.
Speaker 1:And then, lastly, a positive mental attitude and that wraps up the four things that we need to be a healthy human. And I think that that's just something we got to feed that muscle the brain muscle, just like the other muscles, with positive thoughts. And so I always try to post positive things to feed the mind. And I have to read things daily. I know you're big, you post the daily stoic there for a while. I love it, I love the stoicism and I think that stuff's important because, yeah, we got to stay positive and so those are kind of the four big blocks that I try to really get people to, to own and to if cause, if, if we're not checking some of those boxes, then that's going to bleed into their training and their performance somehow, and we're going to have into their training and their performance Somehow.
Speaker 2:We're going to have to circle back and make sure they're doing those things Whenever uh, whenever you're working with athletes, what are some of the kind of signs that maybe cause they're in it every single day, so it's a slow drip, so maybe they don't realize it until it's there? Um, but, like, overreaching is one thing, over training is completely different. So what are some signs that athletes might need to pay attention to? Whenever, especially right now, summer, it's super hot, um, they're probably go, go, go with family stuff, work stuff. Now they're trying to train because races are in full blast right now. Um, so they're, they're burning the candle everywhere and but then they're looking at their training plan.
Speaker 2:We're like, oh, I could train more, right, but they're not taking in full life stresses as an equivalent stress. They just see training stress and I think a lot of athletes get into the, the, the blinders on that training stress is the only stress. Um, until you go through like a major life thing of either like a work craziness, a family craziness, divorce, death, whatever it is, and then you feel like total trash and can't hear your workouts, and then you're like you have that realization. So, before it gets to that point, is there any like indicators in the body or in daily things that someone should like look at or pay attention to, um, like maybe something with their heart rate or their, if they're doing tracking with HRV or tracking sleep or anything like other signs, before it gets to that point.
Speaker 1:Great question. Um, yeah, I am a huge fan of HRV. I think that that's going to be your best marker and just look at your recovery scores and see how you're trending. And yeah, I think great point A lot of people think that they don't realize that physical stress, mental stress, emotional stress, the body perceives that stress as stress and you got to look at all those things and so, yeah, so, for example, they've done some research and they, they, you look at college athletics and when the injuries in the weight room are the highest, or during midterms and final exams, interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so people are under all this mental stress and then they're getting smashed in the weight room and they're not recovering, they're probably their sleep's probably off, they've got high stress, and so, looking at that, we just you kind of have to look at the big picture and look at your year, because if you say you know, hey, coach, I'm going to train for this race in six months and you know, maybe they're going through a divorce, they just lost their job and they have all this extra stress, that maybe we gotta try to balance all that stuff, because and sometimes you, you have to just experience it, to go through it. But you do. If anybody's listening, maybe they're connecting some dots of man. Maybe that's why I got injured, because I was actually trying to do too much during this stressful period and yeah, and sometimes we can't control those things. But I always just say control what you can control and remove these extra layers.
Speaker 1:And then it kind of goes back to make sure we're doing those basic things and just talk to your coach about adjusting your plan. Because a great example would be if you show up and your coach says we're doing max efforts today or we're doing a time trial, it's okay to say you know, hey, I had four hours of sleep last night, I was studying for a test or whatever. That day might not be the best day to do that time trial and it may not be a true expression of where you're really at. And so having a coach to listen to that and then will adjust things around your lifestyle, I think is crucial because that's that's going to keep you healthy too. So hopefully that kind of answers some of that. But you're a hundred percent spot on that. That's, that's that's a good deal.
Speaker 2:Perfect example for me like life stress has been pretty good lately. Uh, and I'm following a very structured training plan at this point and on Monday I had crazy work stress um all day, and Friday was a lot to the Friday before that, um, and then some other stuff happened, like personal stuff, um stress that's going on with with the dog, and so I got on to do my workout on uh Monday. When I got home, get on the trainer, I saw it. I'm like this is going to be hard. It was like it wasn't like a high end sprint workout, but it was like a really high, like high threshold workout. I was like a really high, like high threshold workout. I was like, oh, I don't know, we're gonna try. I made it 25 minutes on golf, the bike, like I couldn't physically, like my legs could turn over, like I could do the power output, but I was getting crushed and I was like, okay, I like could I finish?
Speaker 1:it probably had no interest in wanting to peek at the end and and so really listening to your body and saying, hey, is the juice worth the squeeze today? Should I just, you know, do zone two today and do some stretching and then get good sleep tonight and let's go for that tomorrow and adjust and recalibrate? Um, that's what I see the best of the best doing, and it's not a sign of weakness, it's just being intelligent and with an approach to your training and maybe, maybe because you didn't do that workout that day that you wanted to, maybe that will create more discipline in your lifestyle and say, hey, I could have done better and went to bed earlier and put some things aside. And that's really where I think I try to get people to weigh in is, once again, I'm such a huge believer on the lifestyle, because if the soil is not right, the plants aren't going to grow, and so you really have to work on those things to make sure you're absorbing your training.
Speaker 1:And what I'd like to say while we're talking about all this, is that you know it's very common to know that if you do a hard workout on a Monday, you're not going to be able to turn around and put out that same effort the next day. So I think most of us know, maybe two days a week, a majority of the people can handle a harder type workout right, and usually that's going to be like a Monday Thursday, maybe a Monday Friday or a Tuesday Friday. There's going to be two to three days of recovery in between. And so, knowing that, you know, especially with endurance athletes, if you go, if you go hard on a Monday and then you're like, okay, I'm going to go hard on weights the next day because that's something different than what I did.
Speaker 2:They view it as their off day.
Speaker 1:They view it as their off day and then they're going to go heavy strength the next day and then maybe Wednesday they're going to do a speed workout because they think that's different than the other two things out because they think that's different than the other two things. It really comes back to how did your body perceive that intensity? And try to group all the hard stuff on the same day and let a recovery day be a truly recovery day, whether that be, like I said, a lower threshold, aerobic type, zone two ride or coupled with some stretching. An easy day needs to be an easy day and just because it's something different that you don't think impacts but your body will perceive that intensity and then that's slowing down the recovery, that you can't hit that next workout the way you want to. So really knowing that stress is stress and setting up that week to allow yourself true recovery so that you can hit those workouts.
Speaker 2:And I think people see it like oh, I'm still able to hit my numbers, and then I still was able to do this. I was still able to. I'm like, right, you did today, yeah, but at some point you won't Exactly, and then it's a problem and I think that's something that I see and I mean, let's be honest, then it's a problem and I think that's that's something that I see. And I mean, let's be honest, like sport in general, but definitely endurance sports, it draws in a very specific type of individual. They're usually really driven Um, they usually have an addictive personality of some sort, um, and so more is better and that's just their natural default. Um, but at some point you're either going to plateau and maybe it's not an injury, you just plateau and you just don't get over it, or you do it until you can't Um. And the other thing and this is hard for me to admit, but I'm 45 now and I did this weekend I truly had a realization of like damn it, you're old, like it's starting to happen, like, relatively speaking, I'm not, but it. It happened to me this weekend. Saturday I rode a really hard ride, um, really fast group of people. I'm definitely the slowest one in the group. So it's a good test for me to kind of see where my fitness is. I love it, um, but it was hot, humid and stuff, you know.
Speaker 2:I got home I did not recover all day long Like. I felt like my legs were just trashed all day and was like hmm. So I did all the things. I did my recovery boots, I did my great nutrition. I was just laid on the couch. I was doing air because I wanted to ride a really hard ride on sat on sunday morning which doing back-to-back hard days has never been a problem and that night I was like man, I just don't think I can do it. So I texted a buddy. We changed to do a different ride. It was going to be a recovery ride.
Speaker 2:6 am that alarm went off. I just turned it off and went back to sleep. I'm like I gotta, I can't fight it like. And so I just had a complete day of worthlessness, like stayed inside, did groceries, did that kind of stuff, and it I need to do big days on the weekends because that's the the time to do it. But I just didn't want to go down that rabbit hole and it was the first time in my life where I'm like that heat and hard work like it took more out of me.
Speaker 2:And now I understand older athletes saying that, and older I'm a 45. And so I would consider that older athlete and what we do. So I think people need to pay attention to that, and we were briefly talking about women before we started this how different things are for them, and I don't know enough about that world, set to be to give real knowledge on it. But women in their cycles, uh, paying attention to that, so, um, I mean, I think just paying attention to all of the things is is huge, um, because it's going to come out to where you're going to be coming to see somebody like you, because something's broken.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I'll jump in and build on what you just said. As far as, uh, you know a lot of times, people, what you get away with in your twenties, you can't get away within your thirties. So the biggest thing I see is, when most people come to me, athletes with injuries um, let's say they're late twenties, early thirties, you know, and this circles back to a good injury prevention tip, but it's usually they're used to rolling out of bed, walking in the gym and just working out, eating McDonald's, you know, drinking a six pack the night before. They feel like a million bucks. They go in the gym and exactly what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:As we get older, it doesn't mean that we can't still perform at a decent level, but recovery is definitely different and we have to listen to our bodies. And so, once again, when it comes to diet, nutrition, you can get away with a lot of things in your twenties with certain diet, and then, all of a sudden, you can't in your thirties. And you and you learn that man, it's not I can't eat the way I used to, or man, I actually going to have to warm up now, and for sure, and that's a lot of it is just is is just learning that and I think as we get older, it just it, just it's going to. You know, I'm I'm a couple of years ahead of you and I've learned the same thing, but, um, so I can't relate. But I do work with a lot of older athletes but really, yeah, they can't handle the same training stress. They need more recovery days and if you try to keep up with the younger ones and do the same you know, same training plan it's going to be tough and really it all circles back to we're all different individuals. We have to figure out what works for us. But really just learning that people say, like you know, hey, I can eat this way or whatever. Well, like you said, you can until you can't, and so just just just learn that you do have to listen to your body and, like I said, every decade of life your nutrition is going to look a little bit different. You're going to be a little bit more disciplined and really kind of learning your limitations.
Speaker 1:You know I always circle back to Tom Brady. You know, here's a guy played at a high level for a long time and he learned lifestyle was number one. I mean, the guy was going to bed at nine o'clock every night. Sure, he had a chef cooking him food, but, like, he knew his limitations and he played within his limits. He didn't try to be a Patrick Mahomes or a Lamar Jackson he wouldn't have been able to do it.
Speaker 1:But he could be Tom Brady and he could stay within his limits and he put high emphasis on recovery and mobility and flexibility and all that and played at a very high level for a long time. But he adjusted his lifestyle and he adjusted the way that he played, and so I think we can learn lessons from that and we can still continue and compete in life. But we're going to. It's going to look different in your twenties than it did in your forties, right, and I think that's the big thing is just learning to don't just give up because you can't, because what you did in your 20s means oh, I think too many people just throw in the towel and they don't realize, hey, I could make a few things different, I could eat a little bit better and sleep a little bit better, and maybe now I could recover from some of these workouts, right.
Speaker 2:And that's something we talked about before. Just because you ride your bike for 10, 15 hours a week, or you you're a runner and you're running for you know, a hundred miles a week Like that doesn't mean you're healthy.
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly. Sports aren't always healthy, and I think that's what a lot of people think more. Well, if I just put my time in and do more and more and more, I'm going to. I'm a more healthy, healthy individual, and that's and that and that was an eye-opener for me. You know, in my early 30s I was trying to improve my health and do things, and so I thought, man, I'm going to start running more, I'm going to bike more, and I'll never forget this year I was in my early 30s and I signed up for a 50-mile ultra marathon. I ran the OKC Memorial. Three or four months later I did the Hotter Than Hell 100, and I barely trained for any of it. I just thought, man, I'm going to go do this. Mind over matter.
Speaker 1:My blood work was the worst that it ever was, and I think because I thought I could eat or drink whatever I wanted, because, man, I was exercising and shortly after I couldn't sustain, my body broke down and I had to take a deep, dark self-evaluation and say, hey, man, I cannot out-exercise this poor lifestyle that I'm living, and so I'm living proof, I've experienced it, and so you definitely. I'm speaking from advice, you're speaking from advice. I was a knucklehead, and so I can recognize those other knuckleheads that are trying to do the same thing. And so some listen, some don't, but sometimes then eventually they circle back and say, okay, yeah, you were right.
Speaker 2:And so anyway. So yeah, I learned the hard way, yep. So get wrapping up here. In the next few minutes I'd like to give people a few tangible things. So I kind of have a few notes written down on this. So take it however you want. So I would say, take away movements or mobility practices it however you want. So I would say, take away movements or mobility practices. What are a few, let's say, soft tissue things I don't know one to three that people could do on a regular basis or areas that they should hit with soft tissue or focus on as a cyclist, that would really not necessarily benefit their performance but overall, overall health and fitness, on being better human every day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. So. We talk a lot here about the big three, so I'm just going to go over the big three, and the big three are the ankles, the hips and then your let's just call it your rib cage, we call it the T-spine or the shoulders, and really most people those are the areas that we get stiff. You may not have pain in any of those areas and that's what I think. That's what deters people from working on those areas, and what happens is those are the areas that were tight, so we don't want to address them because it's not fun, and so we think the hamstrings need stretched, or the quads, in which those are great areas to target, but in general, working on the joints of the ankle, the hip and the rib cage so, for example, when we're hunched over computer all day, every day, and then on our bikes doing something as simple as laying on a foam roller and extending the spine maybe three to five cat cows and getting that spine moving, an open book, opening up rotation through the rib cage we need that extension and rotation because otherwise we just get too far out of balance.
Speaker 1:The hips, like you mentioned earlier, cycling is such a sagittal plane, single plane movement and the reality is the hips are designed to rotate and actually working on rotation might give you more mobility.
Speaker 1:And so 90-90, shin box, hip movements, things like that are what we use a lot with athletes to address that rotation and just making sure.
Speaker 1:Once again it circles back to if you want to be a good cyclist and perform, you got to have healthy joints, and if your joints are getting too out of balance from the repetition of life and your sport, then once again it back to you'll do it until you can.
Speaker 1:And then back to the ankles, like with you and when you get clipped into that that that you know that pedal all the time, the joint action of the ankles cycling versus running is a lot different. And so, once again, if the body adapts to that and then you go chase your kids around in the backyard and sprain your ankle or tear a calf or whatever, now you're out, so really making sure that we're working on that mobility of the ankles as well. So those are the three big areas that I assess on people and then, as you, as you mentioned, sometimes we got to look a little further down to the big toe as well, but those are the three big areas that I encourage. I encourage people to um, to, to just try to maintain good mobility, good range of motion, um what would be?
Speaker 2:give, give one. So you have the foam roller, uh, across the T spine, like kind of mid back, mid back area, just like laying on, that kind of going back and forth, just laying there. I do it every day. That feels. At the end of the day I lay on the floor for like 10-15 minutes and just roll like one vertebrae at a time down, yeah, and it feels so good. Um, what is something? What is one or two things that you would find good for the hips? Um, like that and people can youtube them and I'll try to find some of them and put them in there as well um, that would be a movement or either not necessarily soft tissue, but maybe a stretch or mobility that they could do for hips. You got the 90, 90s.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the 90, 90s. Some people call them windshield wipers. You could Google that or YouTube that half kneeling hip flexor stretch where you put one knee on the ground, one foot forward and really focus on kind of the knee that's on the ground. You kind of want to squeeze that glute, tuck the pelvis, engage your core and then just glide forward about two or three inches. You'll really feel the hip flexor stretch there.
Speaker 1:I think that was a cue that you gave me was flex the glute, and when you do man man, it instantly fires that hip flexor and it is it'll light you up and a lot of people tend to just glide forward when they hyper arch their back and they're just feeling their back, you know, tense up more. So we're not really. They feel a little bit of a stretch but they're not really getting the hip flexor. So that one little cue of actually activating the glute and almost posterior tilting the pelvis as you're moving forward and you only have to go about an inch or two and you're going to find it.
Speaker 1:And I always say that's kind of a good anti-sitting position, because you're actually that hip is now in the complete opposite position it is when it's sitting, and that's really what it comes down to is getting your body in the opposite position that it's in and just making sure you're not losing access to those postures, and so that's a simple one.
Speaker 2:You have a simple one for the ankle.
Speaker 1:I mean the ankle, same thing. You could be in that same hip flexor position with your knee on the ground and then the foot that's in front and just kind of rocking forward on that ankle, um, your knee will glide past the toe. You may want to bring that foot a little closer to your body and just rocking forward on that ankle, uh, and you'll feel. You'll feel the ankle, the calf, um, just some good mobility there, um, some people will add a little bit of weight like a kettlebell on their knee on that one Um, but there really is a lot of options there, and and I and a picture says a thousand words videos are good for that kind of stuff, um, but, but that's but that's.
Speaker 2:That's, I think, a good one, just that you didn't Tracy my brother. He was having some calf issues and he asked what we worked together on and uh, I showed him, like where you just, like, are rolling up on your toes, you're just kind of sitting down and just rolling up on your toes, uh, to get some mobility there, oh yeah because, when you think about cycling, our cycling shoes, carbon, so we wanted as stiff as possible.
Speaker 2:And then, if we have a good bike fit, we move a little bit from the ankle, but the foot never moves, uh, and then if you're have a fancy job and you wear these like stiff leather shoes or women in high heels, that arch doesn't do anything, the ankle doesn't really get the killies definitely doesn't. And uh, and if you're a mountain biker, I mean you really need tons of movement in the ankle and that leads to a lot of things and a lot of problems. First thing I look at in a bike fit is the feet. Every single time, there's a very first thing, cause if that base is not in a good position, nothing at your your knees going to go crazy, that which is going to cause problems in your hips, your lower back, so, um, I think, just doing these few little bitty things that typically cyclists don't think about, um, or endurance athletes don't think about, um, all right.
Speaker 2:Last thing, strength training and, uh, what are areas that you would think that would be weak for, um, a cyclist and what are like one or two movements that you would say? I don't know if it could be a kettlebell it could be. I know you like doing certain things here or just band work, um, just some really simple few things, cause cyclists want to be more explosive. Clearly they need endurance, but we need, um injury prevention movements, and then we just need sometimes they want that explosive movement for a sprint or a cyclocross race or or whatever it is. What are like one or two things that you would recommend for that, before we wrap up here?
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, well, typically what I always tell athletes, whatever sport they're in, it's, it's. It's usually simply that if they're not strength training, you know, strength training may not always make you a better athlete, but it's definitely going to make you more durable. And one thing that goes back to the aging process is, if we're not strength training, cycling is not enough to sustain what we're losing as we age from a strength perspective. Not enough to sustain what we're losing as we age from a strength perspective. Research is now telling us that once we hit 40, every decade of life after that, we're losing 8% to 10% muscle mass per decade. That's a lot, and so that's no ifs, ands or buts. We are literally wasting away. But as little as two days a week, 15, 20-minute session, you can offset that and sustain a lot of your strength, and it's even happening earlier. That's just a number that I know, but I know it even starts. At 30 years old we're starting to lose some muscle mass. So really it circles back to being a human being.
Speaker 2:It's a non-weight-bearing movement which does not help the bone health either.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. Bone, bone health either. Absolutely so bone density, yeah, absolutely, and that's what we need. So, yeah, we need power, but strength precedes power, and so you got to have a foundation of strength before you can do more power. And so it really goes back to when I when I'm helping people, put a plan together.
Speaker 1:I'm a big functional movement guy. You got to be able to hinge at the hips, which would be like an RDL or a deadlift pattern. And that's tricky for a lot of people because they need help with that and they need coaching with that, because they're going to have a back problem if they've got going back to the tight hips. So so, teaching them the right regression or progression for that individual, whatever that, if that's just dumbbells and they're bending over and doing RDLs, or if they're doing a kettlebell deadlift, or if they're going if their form's good, we can do a barbell or a trap bar deadlift, but just kind of finding where they are.
Speaker 1:You can do body weight single leg deadlifts for that as well. I mean, there's just a lot of variables. But some sort of a hinge to get into that posterior weight shift of the hip and get the glutes and hamstrings working really well, Some sort of squat pattern, whether it just be a simple body weight goblet squat or front squat. Just letting people know you don't always have to do a barbell back squat for the squat, because that's a very tricky movement, especially, once again, the big three If you've got tight ankles, tight hips and a tight T-spine it's going to be a really hard time doing a back squat with a barbell.
Speaker 1:So finding that right variation, helping them improve that pattern and then throwing some sort of a lunge as well would be good. Um, and then just just keeping it simple and picking one of those and hitting that a couple days a week. I mean that could be huge for a lot of people and, uh, just getting some basic function back and those those simple movements is is crucial.
Speaker 2:Is there one or two core exercises that you really like?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean really, before we get fancy with it all, I want to make sure they can do a plank without using their low back Cause. How many times have you go in the gym and you see someone in a plank and their hips are high, their low back sagging, they're holding it for two minutes but they never even felt their core come on? And when I tell people you should feel it in your glutes and in your core, they look at me like I'm crazy and so just making sure they know how to find that. So I'm a big fan of just a plank and a side plank to start out. Can you hold your body in this position and can you feel your core? Come on in this position and teaching them how to find that and that's a very simple thing to do Just can you keep your body in a straight line, get your body stacked the way it's supposed to be and feel the right muscles come on is a good start and working from there.
Speaker 2:So simple plank and I think that's a great one, because I mean talking about the feeling in your back, like there's times I've come here and you've had me do stuff and I'm like I do not feel it there, like exactly, I feel it completely the opposite spot, and then, and it's just really like getting in tune with your body and trying to get put it in the right position because, like the strength is there but I don't know how to use that strength, um, or find it absolutely, and it doesn't mean you're weak or this or that, it's just that your body could be compensating.
Speaker 1:And so I always say feel is the language of movement. If you don't feel it, then you may not be doing it right. And that's where you want to talk to your coach or your trainer or whoever, and say hey, I'm doing these planks, my back hurts every time, how do I fix this? And that's that's something that I enjoy helping people with.
Speaker 2:And and then, like I said once, they feel as like oh my God, I had no idea, I didn't know, I didn't know. That's what I was supposed to feel.
Speaker 1:It doesn't take. That's the biggest thing. Everybody, yeah, it's, it's. It's dropping the ego. And if you really want to get the benefit out of an exercise, you have to feel the muscles that you're trying to use in that exercise. And if you're not, you need to ask somebody or take a video of yourself or whatever. And that's really the key, because if you want to get the benefit, you got to make sure you're doing it correctly. So we live in a world where some people think form doesn't matter. I think it matters more than anything, as far as if you don't feel it and you're not in the right position, then we're wasting our time with that particular movement.
Speaker 2:So I agree. I think that's a good one to wrap up on. Do you have any final words outside of that Cause? That's pretty good.
Speaker 1:No, uh, just I, everybody I encounter. I say movement is medicine. I didn't encounter, I didn't create that quote, but that's something I live by. And so if I say movement is medicine, then it's all about the dosage which we talked about, and so more is not always better. So, if anything, just remember movement is medicine and a variety of movement and a variety of movement we got to keep moving. Motion is lotion, that's another thing I like to say. Those things will stay in your head, but you know so, yeah, no, I appreciate it, I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2:Maybe we'll talk again sometime. I hope we do, kyle, I appreciate your time, thank you Thanks.