Evidence of Learning #16

Muscle Grade Chart

For the evidence of learning #16, I learned about the muscle grade chart. The chart includes rankings from 1 to 5. Each ranking is a way to measure the success of each muscle type. The definitions for 1 through 3 are only applicable without the force of gravity. To eliminate gravity, we can turn the the patient on their side and take gravity out of the equation. Mastering this chart allows physical therapists to communicate with little words in their report to other physical therapists.

1  *This ranking indicates a positive normal tone of muscle to trace muscle contractions. No movement, but we can see the patients is trying to move. Without gravity.

2-  *This ranking indicates there is a slight movement. Maybe only 50% of the patient's maximum range of motion is produced. Without gravity.

2   *This ranking indicates only 75% of the patients maximum motion. Without gravity.

2+  *This ranking indicates the patient can almost move all the way though their maximum range of motion. Without gravity.

3-   *This ranking indicates the patient can move all the way though their range of motion but has difficulty maintaining it because it is painful or weak. With gravity.

3 *This ranking indicates the patient can move all the way through their range of motion without any problems. If something as light as a fly lands on he/she the patient will drop almost instantaneously.  With gravity.

3+   *This ranking indicates the patient can move all the way through their range of motion. It is able to maintain a one to three second contraction. With gravity.

4-   *This ranking indicates the patient can move all the way through their range of motion, however he/she can only hold it up for 3-5 seconds. With gravity.

4   *This ranking indicates the patient can move all the way through their range of motion without any problems. The patient can hold their body part against the PT, but the PT will win.

4+   *This ranking indicates the patient is very close to full health. The only thing he/she is lacking is endurance. This is less than 90% of the strength compared to the opposite extremity.  

5   *This ranking indicates he/she is cleared and the patient is ready to resume normal activities.

Evidence of Learning #15

On January 22, 2015 I met with Lance to discuss change of direction. There are two different workout type days at Michael Johnson Performance Center, “A-Day” and “B-Day”. On “A-days” the coaches primarily focus on sagittal movement with their athletes. A-Days are often referred to as linear movement days, meaning they focus on forward and upward movements.  On “B-Days” the coaches focus on change of direction and angular positioning. The two different days allow the athlete to practice not only power, but also how to transfer their power into multi-purpose movements.

In many agility drill, coaches tell their athletes to run in a straight line then “cut” a sharp corner to change direction (this movement usually happens in football.) Lance explained how every time an athlete runs in a straight line and decelerates (the cut) it increases the athletes time tremendously. Instead of having the athlete “cut” and make the sharp turn, the athlete will have a faster time if he/she runs at a round curve. The science behind it is actually quite simple.  If the athlete has a large amount of momentum while running straight, then he/she will be unable to maintain the amount of momentum while changing direction (deceleration.)  Instead of decreasing the momentum it is more redirecting it to create a curved path. He/she will then maintain the speed throughout the run, allowing for a faster time.

Some coaches argue that if the athlete runs on a curve instead of a sharp corner than this will cause the athlete to run slower. This thought is incorrect. The athlete is actually running the same distance, it is just on a curve instead of straight line and then stopping to make a sharp turn. Pretend the athlete is running a “figure eight” as demonstrated in both figure 1 and figure 2. Figure 1 shows a path for an athlete who has a very little amount of deceleration, because the athlete is running on a constant curve. In figure 2 however, there are two points where there are straight lines and then a change of direction. Running in a straight line is bad because once the athlete gets to the point where he/she needs to turn, he/she will need to decelerate to stop themselves from flying forward. In figure 1, the athlete never decelerates because he/she is running on a constant curve which allows him/her to pick up speed and never lose momentum.

Figure 1                                    Figure 2

Before this meeting, I underestimated the time it took to positively impact someones sports performance. This is something that really goes unnoticed. It is much more complex than it appears to the average person. There is a lot of time and energy that goes into action when designing each workout.

Evidence of Learning #14 (Lance Walker NSCA State Clinic)

For this assessment, I watched a video of my mentor, Lance Walker. Lance gave a one hour long speech at the NSCA state clinic about physical therapy. There were many things I noticed when I watched him give his speech. One of the most interesting things I gathered from his speech was his ability to hold the audiences attention. Through the use of writings, videos, humor, walking around, and asking questions he always managed to keep the audience completely engaged.

In his introduction, Lance explained how physical therapy is not a 9am-5pm job. Many physical therapists work 10 hour days purely because they love their work and want to be the best at what they do. He said it's not about the number of hours you work, but the quality of the work that matters. It is important to “squeeze more out of the hours you put in.” If you only put “seven hours of work in and you barely get anything out of it than that is just pathetic.” Through the use of humor he managed to make the audience laugh. Once the audience laughed their body language shifted to an upright position. I believe this is because once Lance made a joke they subconsciously wanted to learn more.

One of the exercises Lance used required the audience to write down a few goals. Once everyone had their goals written down he had the group discuss good and bad goals. He made sure each person was paying attention by moving around the room. I found his techniques very interesting and they are something I plan to incorporate in my upcoming speeches.

During his speech Lance also used many short videos. There were a few videos of Michael Johnson running. One of the videos was in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Lance asked the audience questions such as: Do you know who that is? How fast do you think he is going? How many gold medals did he win? He kept the audience engaged the whole time. Even though the video clip was approximately 15 seconds, he managed to expand on each clip for almost 5 minutes through his explanations and discussions. It has always been difficult for me to think of ideas in a long speech and I think adding videos will allow me to add quality to my speech.

I really enjoyed watching Lance's presentation. I learned so many tips about public speaking that I will use in my presentations.