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Pattern Overload

By Alex Nordach

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Published: 13Oct2011
Word count: 1910
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Let's talk about pattern overload.

Basically, pattern overload occurs when you perform too many repetitions of a particular movement. You don't necessarily need to be using a lot of weight to have pattern overload occur; your own bodyweight is more than enough…as is a one-pound dumbbell if the number of repetitions is high enough. Typing can even become a problem if you never change your hand/wrist/chair/keyboard position.

Most of the time pattern overload isn't too much of an issue, because even with high-rep activities like running or swimming, each time your foot strikes the ground or your hand cuts through the water, your body is going to use a slightly different "groove" to accomplish the movement. If you're a highly trained athlete you might be performing in more or less exactly the same groove for a while, but eventually, as you begin to fatigue, your groove will start to become looser and while this means your efficiency of movement will deteriorate, it's one way the body helps to prevent itself from getting injured.

But certain types of exercise can be worse for pattern overload than others. And this can produce pain in your tendons and fascia. One example is using gym machines too much. People who work out with free weights have a much lower incidence of pattern overload than those who work exclusively on machines. The reason is that when you're using a barbell or dumbbell the weight moves according to your body, but when you're using a machine your body moves along the machine's predetermined and set path. Even something like a Smith machine, which incorporates a small degree of flexibility, is much more limiting and allows for less "natural body adjustment" as you go through your sets than a free weight barbell.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is Crossfit. I'm not a Crossfit hater. I think that the main idea of Crossfit - do something different each day, and keep good track of your rest times - has a lot of merit, and certainly the training is fun. But there are some drawbacks as well, especially when you look at Crossfit in relation to tendon injuries.

Basically, a Crossfit exercise session involves choosing two or three exercises for distaff bodyparts, and then doing a lot of those exercises using a set weight for time. The rest time between sets is usually about ten seconds, and you alternate exercises. To give an example, one of the videos on the website shows three women doing bodyweight squats, then pull-up/presses on gymnastic rings, then hang cleans with a barbell.

If you just plain do too much of a movement, even if that movement is something completely "free", like swimming, you can develop tendon problems if you exercise so much that the volume exceeds your capacity to recover from it. This is where I have an issue with Crossfit. I know that on their site they place a lot of emphasis on not doing too much, but in practice they use technically difficult movements (like cleans) and push to the point where good form completely breaks down.

Of course, you have to push yourself to a certain extent if you want to improve your body. But there is a question of degree. Without getting into a long discussion about exercise theory, the bottom line is that the idea is to provide enough stimulation to create an adaptation response in the body, but not so much that it's too difficult to recover from the workout. As the great Lee Haney said, "Stimulate, don't annihilate." All too often, Crossfit crosses that line.

So if you're suffering from tendon pain and are using an exercise program (or doing some kind of work) that incorporates too much pattern overload, either through limited and unnatural movement or by simply having too much volume, think about ways that will allow you to reduce or get around the problem. You don't have to quit exercising, but you may well be better off if you find ways to vary your routine.

Alex Nordach has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 30 years and is an expert in the area of fascia and tendon structures. For cutting-edge information that isn't available anywhere else on the internet, click through to the Target Plantar Fasciitis blog at => www.targetplantarfasciitis.com

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