There sits Maddux and Monica spending time on their phones and getting ready to go do a workout. All seems good, everything is in-line and each athlete is committed to becoming the best athlete they can be.
Sooo… is there a problem and WHY are we talking about Beach Muscles… otherwise known as Show Muscles. Not like “show off” or “let’s get pumped”, Show… like when you look in a mirror you can see them and you’re showing them to others when talking face-to-face. (Pecs, Abs and Biceps are Show Muscles).
Ok, so WHY are we holding Maddux and Monica up from crushing another workout?
Have you ever wondered why in baseball and softball the most muscular looking athletes are often not the best performing on the team? Why isn’t Johnny BENCH-A-LOT throwing the ball twice as hard as LANKY-ARM Larry? Fact is Larry is one of the top two pitchers for his team and Johnny makes fewer appearances on the mound these days…
Let’s take a moment to geek out together and identify the elephant in the room…the WHY:
Johnny BENCH-A-LOT has what we call UCS (Upper Body Cross Syndrome), but he doesn’t know it, nor do his coaches… because they love seeing Johnny set new milestones under the bench and his work ethic is great. Johnny even gets others to lift… and train like him.
Guess what, remember Maddux? … that is Johnny’s new lifting partner.
The Effects of Upper Body Cross Syndrome
KD Note: The overhead throwing motion requires an abundant amount of functional strength, stability and range of motion in order to be performed properly. The overhead throwing motion uses both “Show” and “Go” Muscles. (Traps, Lats, Rhomboids and Triceps are Go Muscles)
The KD Way: We’re creating training programs that are designed to maintain the balance of these muscles at all times to drive efficiency in movement.
The image displays how Johnny’s focus on Show muscles has created his UCS condition:
Did You Know: With cell phones, gaming, and computers becoming an ever constant item that we are looking at; we are sometimes driving our own bodies to muscular imbalance which can then lead to muscular dysfunction (such as Upper Body Cross Syndrome) in the upper half of the body.
Geek Talk: UCS can take the functional strength, stability and range of motion away from an athlete depending on the severity. The first way UCS affects the overhead athlete is by limiting the player’s range of motion in the shoulder. The shoulders range of motion now that it is limited can cause an athlete to have poor throwing mechanics which can lead to a loss in throwing velocity and heightened stress levels on the elbow. The second way UCS affects the overhead athlete is by narrowing the subacromial space within the shoulder causing impingement issues. The narrowing of the subacromial space can now lead to pain presenting in the bicep and rotator cuff due to inflammation.
Key Take-Away: The muscular imbalances within the body that are concerned with UCS (Upper Body Cross Syndrome) drive our shoulders to become rolled forward and our head to become jetted forward. To an overhead athlete, such as a baseball/softball player, this can pose many problems. Our everyday activities can affect performance in all athletes. The shoulder is a top priority for overhead athletes. We need to make sure we are constantly striving for balance and proper overhead mechanics so we do not predispose ourselves to an increased risk of pain or injury.
How We Can Help:
Kinetic Drive’s training programs place performance-improvement training and skills training together in a purpose-driven way.
All Kinetic Drive lessons, programs (VELO, SMASH, SPEED, POWER),camps and clinics are designed to share and train each athlete using sports science.
Pairing Kinetic Drive’s cutting-edge technology available at hand, allows us to tackle problems such as UCS, which other training facilities may not be equipped to handle.
Train With Kinetic Drive: http://kinetic-drive.com
Find out why Kinetic Drive programs are tailored towards the modern athlete and how training with us can help steer you away from unneeded obstacles in your athletic journey.
