Today’s episode features strength coach and educator, Michelle Boland, Ph.D.   Michelle is the owner of Michelle Boland training, and earned her Ph.D. from Springfield College.  She coaches at Northeastern University where she works with women’s ice hockey, field hockey and rowing, as well as assisting with men’s basketball.  She is one of the most intelligent and forward thinking coaches in the field, and I’m thrilled to have her on the show.

I’ve been interested in the work of the postural restoration institute for some time, having it first recommended to me years ago by Dr. Mike T Nelson.  Since then, I’ve taken three courses and hosted numerous experts on this podcast who are experts in both PRI practice and its integration into sports performance training as well as human movement and fitness.   

The core tenants of PRI that are a game changer for training humans is that the body is fundamentally asymmetrical and that the position of our breathing cylinder is of highest priority in making lasting changes in athletic balance and function.  This being said, most coaching cues and corrections that are in response to an “imbalance” such as shifting to one side in a squat or one arm rising faster than the other in the bench press, do not deliver results that fit with the true function of the body.

To that end, Michelle is a field leader in the integration of these concepts into performance training, and one of the smartest guests we’ve had (which is saying a lot given our incredible lineup).  Today I pick her brain on integrating PRI principles into core components of sport performance, including bilateral sagittal plane lifts (squat/bench), single leg training, trunk training, and frontal plane training.  Michelle’s work represents a science and practice based, practical application to getting athletes functional and strong for their sport.  

Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.  



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Key Points:

Michelle’s background and influences in the field
How postural restoration institute principles have impacted Michelle’s coaching of the sagittal plane bilateral lifts
Impingement versus muscle oriented lifting strategies
Single leg work in light of postural restoration ideals
Trunk and core based work
Percentage of training work based off of feel versus performance
Specific training thoughts on the frontal plane

Quotes:
“It’s about understanding proximal position, and how it prevents or promotes movement”

“There’s no absolute way to lift weights, but there is different strategies”

“If someone is doing a movement and feeling things in their joints, you have to question what they are using to move that weight with”

“Strategies are what people feel working during an exercise”

“I have a continuation of health and performance, health is very sensory based, incorporating a lot of frontal plane and transverse, athletes think a lot about what they are feeling.  On the other end of the spectrum is performance… going back to the big lifts, that’s where you would find the big lifts”

“If I have someone who isn’t feeling hamstring (in a position) it is pelvic position that is driving that”

“Some people perceive exercise as a feeling of fatigue or tired or soreness, and that’s how I get sensory information”

“Right now, we have two days of (big lifts)…. Then I have one or two days a week I call it a variability day, we are doing low threshold frontal plane and transverse plane focused activities… we are not trying to make them weightlifters or powerlifters, I don’t want to make that their only strategy… then the other two days a week are just conditioning days”

“Skating is not side to side, the slideboard is not skating”  

“I have to know what athletes are already getting,