PPC Structural Balance - Advanced Athletic Assessment
Over the past 5 years advancements in sports medicine and rehabilitation have evolved and athletes are able to return from injuries at a much faster rate. Despite the advancements in sports rehabilitation, the number of sport related injuries have actually increased.
PPC has been training Olympic, professional collegiate and high school athletes for over two decades, our experience has taught us that in order for an athlete to excel in sports and to minimize the risk of injury it is critical to identify any compensation patterns an athlete has developed from there sport as well as any structural, mechanical and muscular imbalances that athlete may have. It has been our experience that any athlete who chooses to ignore the importance of correcting these problems before starting a strength and conditioning program will limit their chance in reaching there full genetic athletic potential and will most likely suffer injuries-sometimes career ending injuries that could have been easily avoided.
Poliquin Performance has developed one of the most advanced screenings for athletes to identify any muscle weaknesses and compensation patterns which will increase the risk of injury and decrease performance, speed, power, strength and flexibility.
The following tests are an overview of PPC Structural Balance Assessment that we perform on every Olympic, professional, collegiate and high school athlete we train. The data obtained from these tests will allow us to prescribe corrective exercises to strengthen the weak muscles and active, static & functional flexibility exercises to ensure a proper length-tension relationship within each effected muscle. The correction of these imbalances will make the athlete faster, stronger and less susceptible for injuries and will set the foundation for more advanced PPC-C training techniques.
PPC Lower Body Structural Balance
PPC Klatt Test - Identifies weaknesses or inhibited or tight muscles in the knee, hip, pelvis and lower back.
Wobble Board Split Squat - Identifies faulty firing patterns (over dominant) in the quadriceps and glutes. This test will also identify weaknesses in the pelvic and hip musculature and tightness/weaknesses in the hip flexors and lower back.
Sit-Fit Split Squat - Checks for ankle stability “pronation/supination”
Rocker Board Squat - Identifies proper muscle balance between the glutes and the quadriceps and tightness in the hip flexors and lower back
Rocker Board L/R - Identifies strengths relationships between left and right side. Spinal compression
Overhead Squat- Identifies imbalances and mobility in the hips, knees and ankles, shoulders and thoracic spine.
PPC Structural Balance Strength
By working with hundreds and hundreds of elite athletes over the course of two decades, PPC has been able to collect normative data about how much an athlete should be able to lift, relative to his/her other lifts. The athletes who achieved those ratios will maximize their training efforts, perform better in their sport and will have the lowest incidence of injuries. PPC coaches will test each athlete on 4 weight room lifts that are most specific to there sport. The data obtained from those lifts will be used to develop the athletes weight training program.
Example:
Danny Richmond, Sport: Hockey. Team: Chicago Blackhawks. Position: Defense
Close Grip Bench Press: 228 lbs. maximum. Relative score: 100%
Supinated Chin-ups: 215 lbs maximum. Relative score __
External Rotation: 20.5 lbs. for 3 reps. Relative score __
Lower Trap: 25 lbs for 3 reps Relative score: __
This data will show us that his close grip bench press is low for his position in the NHL “228 lbs. max”. His antagonist muscles “chin-ups” test very high relative to his bench press “athletes should be able to chin __% of there maximum close grip bench, Danny performed at 95%. His external rotators of the shoulder and lower trap are very weak as he can only do 3 reps instead of the __ required reps. This information is critical to know before implementing a strength program because most trainers would focus on increasing his bench press, which would only increase his risk for a severe shoulder injury. 
PPC coaches know the best way to increase his bench press strength was to increase the strength of the limiting factor in his strength profile which, of course, was the external rotators and lower trap. Within 8 weeks we increased Danny’s external rotators and trap scores to 12 reps at the same test weight and re-tested his close grip bench press which was 263 pounds, a 15.5% increase without doing any presses. In a very short time we corrected his strength imbalances which will increase his athletic performance and allow him to make faster gains with a reduce risk of injury.
PPC Flexibility Tests
Active flexibility will tested during the structural balance movement test. Static flexibility is measured primarily to define the proper length tension relationship between muscle groups. PPC has developed specific ratios to determine if an athlete is at high risk for injury or is capable of training with his/her current flexibility. PPC will test for the following
Sagital Hamstring --- Medial Hamstring --- Lateral Hamstring --- Hip Rotators --- Hip Flexors Quadriceps --- Rotation --- Glutes --- Shoulder Mobility --- Shoulder Impingement
Some of these tests are standard fitness tests and others are unique to Poliquin Performance. Remember, any trainer or strength coach can duplicate and copy our tests. We run into this every day. The development of high caliper athletes does not come from the tests themselves, but comes from decades of experience and the ability of the coach to interpret the results properly into a strength and conditioning program.
DE Coaching Team
Krista Schaus PICP CPT
Ontario CANADA
krista@definingedge.ca
Kate Kline PICP CFT
Arizona USA
kate@definingedge.ca
DE Client Services
Upcoming Events:
Where you can find the Defining Edge team or athletes
- Janary 2010 - Strength & Beauty "Next Level" (Milton, ON)
- January 2010 - Ontario Powerlifting Provincials (St. Catharines, ON)
- March 2010 - Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding Championship (Columbus, OH)
- April 2010 - Canadian Powerlifting Nationals (Quebec City, QU)
- April 2010 - CFBB Canadian Natural Physique Championships (Laval, QU)