Joint by Joint Approach to Training

Very interesting concept and one that I do believe in highly. Have personal experience with my son and his knee vs ankle for basketball. Thanks for the article!!!

This article is going to contribute greatly to the structure of my future training flexibilty programs for my clients and myself. It's very simple and makes a great deal of sense. It will, undoubtedly, set an even stronger stage for success with clients who are beginners in the gym.

Love your work Will, I was going to comment but you summed it up for me!

I have developed myself into a niche of corrective exercise specialist in my area of the world, and I work in a very large company which has almost 2000 personal trainers working in it. I work in a role which sees me face to face with many of our trainers all the time, many who personally bodybuild. This has actually now become the core of my own PT business, fixing up bodybuilders backs, knees, hips, spines and necks... I love the sport, its keeping me in business!

With all respect to body builders I do not think the author was "Lashing out" at body builders. I think you have personlised his observations as it is obviously a subject close to your heart. The reality of it is body building is actualy unhealthy and has now been proved to be so. The vast majority take illegal substances to enhance performance and muscular hypertrophy.
They have poor functional range of movement. Their actual strength to size ratio is comparitively very poor to say that of a functional athlete with less body mass.
Add to the fact that they are constantly yo yo dieting to acheive low body fat levels, thus placing immense strain on their renal system and kidneys. It is now a school of thought that body building can, in exterme cases, be classified as a similar psycological condition as anorexier nervosa I would say that the author has fair comment.
Fair play if Body building is your choice but you cannot complain when the obvious proven flaws are highlighted.

Another fantastic article by Boyle. It goes a long way toward adressing why the site of pain is not necessarily the site of the problem...
Great comment, Nicklen. There is nothing wrong with bodybuilding- but it's not a sport but a genre of art. This doesn't diminish it's value, necessarily. As a former (and recovering) bodybuilder, I know that as we train muscles with single joint movements, movements that duplicate nothing in daily life, are training for disfunction. We are training our bodies be slow and dumb- but great looking- to pose rather than do. Art is what it is for it's own sake- it is to be viewed but has no funtion (this is discussed in art schools everywhere) or else it's a tool or a craft-piece. A bodybuilder is a great looking piece of work, but he's not an athlete.

Bodybuilding is not athletic, it is anti-athletic. No offence, but its all show and no go.

I am constantly impressed by Mikes ability to interpret the work of physical therapy, functional anatomy and bio-mechanics and apply this information to the training realm. However in this article I am a little unsure about the idea of joints needing either stability or mobility.
Although the bone and ligamentous structure of the gleno-humeral joint are naturally unstable and therefore the shoulder requires a stability role from the surrounding musculature excessive stiffness in this joint also leads to dysfunction. Sahrmann explains how restriction of shoulder flexion due to a stiff lat dorsi can lead to compensatory movement at the lumbar spine. Sahrmann also explains how stiffness of the posterior joint capsule can contribute to an anterior glide of the humerus and associated shoulder pain.
McGill also suggests that shoulder stiffness during gait contributes to unwanted motion in the lumber region.
Surely optimal joint function is a result of the balance between mobility and stability as opposed to one or the other?

As a competitive bodybuilder, i am greatly offended by the following paragraph...

"Over the past 20 years, we have progressed from the moronic approach of training by body part (sorry, bodybuilders) to a more intelligent approach of training by movement pattern. In fact, the phrase “movements, not muscles” has almost become an overused one, and frankly, that is progress. I think most good coaches and trainers have given up on the old chest-shoulder-triceps thought process and moved forward to a push-pull-hip extend-knee extend thought process."

This statement is made with complete ignorance to the true science and dedication involved with all natural bodybuilding. The author obviously lacks the disclipline and scientific background that is necessary to achieve optimal physical development and health. It is a sad day when authors need to lash out at other respected forms of athletic performance simply to make themselves feel better.