Mark Wetzel's guest appearances

Mark Wetzel

Just Fly Performance Podcast

Justin Moore

Steven Kotler

Mike Boyle

Ben Askren

Nick Davis

Max Schmarzo

Mike Robertson

Matt Cooper

Tommy John

Mike Young

Jeff Moyer

Cory Schlesinger

Mike Salemi

Rafe Kelley

Doug Kechijian

OwlTail

Today’s show welcomes back chiropractor and neurology expert, Dr. Mark Wetzel.  Mark has been on this show numerous times talking about the effectiveness of long isometric holds, as well as digging into many aspects of their performance.So often in the training and performance field, we just look at exercises, sets, and reps, but then don’t desire to dig into the nuance of those movements we are programming.  With isometrics, we can certainly get results by simply having athletes hold positions indiscriminately, but we can multiply those results by understanding the underlying mechanisms that help make isometrics more effective.One of the beautiful things about isometric holds is that the lack of movement brings one’s awareness to a high level, and one’s ability to focus on things like breathing, posture, and muscle tensioning, on a higher level.  One’s mental and emotional state has an extremely close correlation with the length of time that you can hold the movement. Holding isometrics for extended periods of time also has an impact on the fascial lines of the body, and even the meridian lines (if your belief system takes you that far).  Isometrics are truly a “total body”, functional experience.On today’s show, Mark Wetzel gives his thoughts on how a positive mental state can increase one’s ability to hold an isometric position (or increase muscle endurance in general).  He’ll speak extensively on the postural and muscle-tone aspects of holding an isometric, as well as speak on the connections made between the fascial/meridian lines, electric signals, and organ function.  Finally, Mark gives his take on what he feels “neurological” strength truly is, and how this is manifested in a program.Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.Timestamps and Main Points5:24 – Mark’s thoughts on the mental and emotional aspects of fatigue (and perceived fatigue) during a difficult or taxing movement such as an isometric14:34 – What it means to be “in position” as an athlete gets into an isometric hold24:47 – Why some athletes have a lot of trouble “pulling down” into an isometric position and discussing the use of “constraints” such as a band around the shin, to help an athlete pull down into an isometric34:19 – Using a one-arm bench press hold to help improve the pushing ability and breathing of individuals who struggle with isometric pushup holds42:01 – What “good posture” means for Mark47:05 – Mark’s take on organ health, meridian lines, and reflexes, particularly in light of utilizing isometric exercises57:52 – What it means to have “neurological strength” from Mark’s perspective as a chiropractor with neurological training1:05:35 – Depth jumps and drop landings as an assessment of neurological efficiencyDr. Mark Wetzel's Quotes“When I am in those moments (of fatigue) I try to bring up some sort of happiness or joyful emotion to try and take my mind off of it”“The “fear based” mentality is almost a traditional way of training”“Posture comes back to the breath; typically when people have bad posture it is because they have bad breathing mechanics”“When you do a bunch of calf rebounds in a row, your body will position you in a way that (you have to be in to keep breathing under fatigue)”“You can accomplish so much in an isometric exercise by focusing on “where is my breathing””“I always back up (a chiropractic adjustment) with exercise”“The meridian lines are all connected to an organ”“What’s cool about an isometric is that you are creating a lot of tone throughout the whole body”“If the brain is telling a muscle to stay weak, then it is going to stay weak no matter what you do”“The more you can stay calm, breathe, smile to yourself while you are going through that d...

Today’s show welcomes back chiropractor and neurology expert, Dr. Mark Wetzel.  Mark has been on this show numerous times talking about the effectiveness of long isometric holds, as well as digging into many aspects of their performance. So often in the training and performance field, we just look at exercises, sets, and reps, but then don’t desire to dig into the nuance of those movements we are programming.  With isometrics, we can certainly get results by simply having athletes hold positions indiscriminately, but we can multiply those results by understanding the underlying mechanisms that help make isometrics more effective. One of the beautiful things about isometric holds is that the lack of movement brings one’s awareness to a high level, and one’s ability to focus on things like breathing, posture, and muscle tensioning, on a higher level.  One’s mental and emotional state has an extremely close correlation with the length of time that you can hold the movement. Holding isometrics for extended periods of time also has an impact on the fascial lines of the body, and even the meridian lines (if your belief system takes you that far).  Isometrics are truly a “total body”, functional experience. On today’s show, Mark Wetzel gives his thoughts on how a positive mental state can increase one’s ability to hold an isometric position (or increase muscle endurance in general).  He’ll speak extensively on the postural and muscle-tone aspects of holding an isometric, as well as speak on the connections made between the fascial/meridian lines, electric signals, and organ function.  Finally, Mark gives his take on what he feels “neurological” strength truly is, and how this is manifested in a program. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to <a href="http://lostempireherbs.com/justfly" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lostempireherbs.com/justfly</a>. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:24 – Mark’s thoughts on the mental and emotional aspects of fatigue (and perceived fatigue) during a difficult or taxing movement such as an isometric 14:34 – What it means to be “in position” as an athlete gets into an isometric hold 24:47 – Why some athletes have a lot of trouble “pulling down” into an isometric position and discussing the use of “constraints” such as a band around the shin, to help an athlete pull down into an isometric 34:19 – Using a one-arm bench press hold to help improve the pushing ability and breathing of individuals who struggle with isometric pushup holds 42:01 – What “good posture” means for Mark 47:05 – Mark’s take on organ health, meridian lines, and reflexes, particularly in light of utilizing isometric exercises 57:52 – What it means to have “neurological strength” from Mark’s perspective as a chiropractor with neurological training 1:05:35 – Depth jumps and drop landings as an assessment of neurological efficiency Dr. Mark Wetzel's Quotes “When I am in those moments (of fatigue) I try to bring up some sort of happiness or joyful emotion to try and take my mind off of it” “The “fear based” mentality is almost a traditional way of training” “Posture comes back to the breath; typically when people have bad posture it is because they have bad breathing mechanics” “When you do a bunch of calf rebounds in a row, your body will position you in a way that (you have to be in to keep breathing under fatigue)” “You can accomplish so much in an isometric exercise by focusing on “where is my breathing”” “I always back up (a chiropractic adjustment) with exercise” “The meridian lines are all connected to an organ” “What’s cool about an isometric is that you are creating a lot of tone throughout the whole body” “If the brain is telling a muscle to stay weak, then it is going to stay weak no matter what you do” “The more you can stay calm, breathe, smile to yourself while you are going through that d...

Dr. Mark Wetzel on Neurological Strength, Emotional States, and Isometric Mastery

Today’s episode features Chiropractor and neurology expert, Dr. Mark Wetzel.Dr. Mark is based in Nashville, TN and received his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Northwestern Health Science University in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He has a diverse experience and is an expert in the neurology branch of chiropractic care and sports performance.Last time on the podcast, Dr. Mark went in depth on extreme isometrics, their proper execution, function and physiology (particularly in regards to energy systems), as well as why the 5 minute mark is substantial marker in carrying out the training.  Extreme isometrics and all things related have been of substantial interest on this podcast, not only due to the athletic performance aspects, but also the tendon health portion of the work.When it comes to extreme isometrics, however, it is much more common to see athletes doing them wrong than right.  Extreme iso’s, as well as much of Jay’s work has almost a mythical quality to it, so nuts and bolts shows that dissect the method are a lot of fun for me, and highly relevant.On today’s show, Dr. Mark goes further down the isometric rabbit hole, highlighting not only technique, but practical results from his integration of the method into training a baseball team.  He’ll also get into the neurology of muscle compensation patterns, extreme iso’s and extreme slow work, a chat on central nervous system fatigue, breathing, and more.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.View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.Key Points 	What a “muscle compensation” is and what it means for athletic performance 	How extreme isometrics and extreme slows play into (correcting) compensation patterning 	The difference between “extreme slows” and traditional 5 to 10 second eccentric training 	Mark’s case study work using a series of long isometric holds with a varsity baseball team 	When the work of extreme isometrics/extreme slows is finished and you can move beyond them in training 	Concepts on tracking central nervous system fatigue 	The importance of the eyes in monitoring CNS fatigue 	How to perform correct breathing 	Ideas on tapering, the modern ideology versus a more progressive view“When I think of a compensation, it’s altering your movement to make your body breathe more efficiently”“A compensation: your body is altering homeostasis to make sure you survive in that given moment”“Our lifestyle is encouraging (muscle) compensations”“At a high velocity is when your compensation will come out, if we are going slow and steady, we can catch it before we injure ourselves”“When you look at an isometric, you can tell where their body is immediately faulty (what will materialize in dynamic movement such as sprints)”“You can use an extreme slow to learn exactly where their compensation is”“I’ve come to the conclusion that the “perfect position” doesn’t really exist”“The goal of an isometric is to be as centrally stabilized as possible… you can stabilize a LOT in the lunge, I think that’s what makes the lunge to beneficial you can get a whole body contraction in the lunge”“If you can hold 5 minute (isometric positions) then we can progress into the weight room”“We used wall sits, lunges, iso crunch, single leg raise, scap hang, pushup, and prone glute ham where you are laying on your s“When you do an isometric, you need to be really in tune with yourself and you need to understand what is going on with your body and why you are doing an isometric, and why you are constantly engaging and pulling yourself into position, and if you don’t understand why you are doing that, then you never really should progress out of isometrics”“An isometric, the purpose to me is that you are eliminating compensations”“Basically,

Today’s episode features Chiropractor and neurology expert, Dr. Mark Wetzel. Dr. Mark is based in Nashville, TN and received his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Northwestern Health Science University in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He has a diverse experience and is an expert in the neurology branch of chiropractic care and sports performance. Last time on the podcast, Dr. Mark went in depth on extreme isometrics, their proper execution, function and physiology (particularly in regards to energy systems), as well as why the 5 minute mark is substantial marker in carrying out the training.  Extreme isometrics and all things related have been of substantial interest on this podcast, not only due to the athletic performance aspects, but also the tendon health portion of the work. When it comes to extreme isometrics, however, it is much more common to see athletes doing them wrong than right.  Extreme iso’s, as well as much of Jay’s work has almost a mythical quality to it, so nuts and bolts shows that dissect the method are a lot of fun for me, and highly relevant. On today’s show, Dr. Mark goes further down the isometric rabbit hole, highlighting not only technique, but practical results from his integration of the method into training a baseball team.  He’ll also get into the neurology of muscle compensation patterns, extreme iso’s and extreme slow work, a chat on central nervous system fatigue, breathing, and more. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points 	What a “muscle compensation” is and what it means for athletic performance 	How extreme isometrics and extreme slows play into (correcting) compensation patterning 	The difference between “extreme slows” and traditional 5 to 10 second eccentric training 	Mark’s case study work using a series of long isometric holds with a varsity baseball team 	When the work of extreme isometrics/extreme slows is finished and you can move beyond them in training 	Concepts on tracking central nervous system fatigue 	The importance of the eyes in monitoring CNS fatigue 	How to perform correct breathing 	Ideas on tapering, the modern ideology versus a more progressive view “When I think of a compensation, it’s altering your movement to make your body breathe more efficiently” “A compensation: your body is altering homeostasis to make sure you survive in that given moment” “Our lifestyle is encouraging (muscle) compensations” “At a high velocity is when your compensation will come out, if we are going slow and steady, we can catch it before we injure ourselves” “When you look at an isometric, you can tell where their body is immediately faulty (what will materialize in dynamic movement such as sprints)” “You can use an extreme slow to learn exactly where their compensation is” “I’ve come to the conclusion that the “perfect position” doesn’t really exist” “The goal of an isometric is to be as centrally stabilized as possible… you can stabilize a LOT in the lunge, I think that’s what makes the lunge to beneficial you can get a whole body contraction in the lunge” “If you can hold 5 minute (isometric positions) then we can progress into the weight room” “We used wall sits, lunges, iso crunch, single leg raise, scap hang, pushup, and prone glute ham where you are laying on your s “When you do an isometric, you need to be really in tune with yourself and you need to understand what is going on with your body and why you are doing an isometric, and why you are constantly engaging and pulling yourself into position, and if you don’t understand why you are doing that, then you never really should progress out of isometrics” “An isometric, the purpose to me is that you are eliminating compensations” “Basically,

173: Dr. Mark Wetzel on Isometrics, Extreme Slows, Breathing and Survival Mechanisms | Sponsored by SimpliFaster

Today’s episode features Dr. Mark Wetzel.   Mark is a chiropractic neurologist with expert knowledge of the nervous system, reflexes and transference to sports training.  A running theme of this show has been digging into some unconventional training methods, one of which is long duration isometric holds and other exercises used by coach Jay Schroeder.  The more I’ve heard of Jay’s methods, the more questions I tend to have. One guy I’ve met who answered those in the best detail I’ve yet heard is Dr. Mark Wetzel, who is based out of Memphis, TN.  Many of those questions relate to training ideas such as: 	The thought that “Velocity recovers everything” 	Why 5 minutes could be a viable time suggestion for isometric holds 	That traditional barbell lifting can carry some neurological drawbacks in terms of muscle contraction and relaxation cyclesIf you are curious about the Jay Schroeder training methods, or just want a thorough explanation of why extended isometric training in the proper athletic position can carry huge benefits, you’ll love this podcast.  It’s actually been one of my favorites thus far, and that’s saying a lot as we’ve had lots of tremendous guests on this show. 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.  View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.Key Points 	Dr. Mark’s background 	The science of extreme isometrics 	Energy system cycles that isometrics done to fatigue go through 	Lactate as a friend or foe in training power athletes 	Thoughts on the idea that “velocity recovers everything”Dr. Mark Wetzel Quotes“When you are holding an (isometric position) the muscles are turning off and on very fast”“The 5 minute approach for the isometrics is that you want to get to failure, and you want to fail in an eccentric state”“When you get out of position in isometric holds, you are putting in more effort, but getting less gain”“If you can fatigue multiple times in that 5 minutes you are getting better adaptation"“To get to the lactate cycle you need to fatigue the previous three energy cycles”“When you get into a new energy cycle, it starts the recovery process of the previous energy cycle”“If you hold out long enough (in an isometric lunge) the burning will eventually get sucked in by the muscles, used as energy, and you can keep doing what you are doing”“The more you can push into the threshold, the more it will recover your other systems and create sustainable energy (in competition)”“Velocity training is your body’s ability to relax the antagonist muscle”“The squat (max) should be a test to see if you are training correctly (as opposed to being an end of itself)”“It requires more energy to relax a muscle than contract it”“The faster you can contract a muscle, the more you can create relaxation in another muscle”“70% of muscle strength comes from your brain telling it to work, 30% comes from the gym”Show NotesIso lunge Holdhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJYk9EeIaloAbout Dr. Mark Wetzel Dr. Mark Wetzel is a chiropractor based in Memphis, TN.  Mark has a diverse experience and is an expert in the neurology branch of chiropractic.

Today’s episode features Dr. Mark Wetzel.   Mark is a chiropractic neurologist with expert knowledge of the nervous system, reflexes and transference to sports training.   A running theme of this show has been digging into some unconventional training methods, one of which is long duration isometric holds and other exercises used by coach Jay Schroeder.  The more I’ve heard of Jay’s methods, the more questions I tend to have. One guy I’ve met who answered those in the best detail I’ve yet heard is Dr. Mark Wetzel, who is based out of Memphis, TN.   Many of those questions relate to training ideas such as: 	The thought that “Velocity recovers everything” 	Why 5 minutes could be a viable time suggestion for isometric holds 	That traditional barbell lifting can carry some neurological drawbacks in terms of muscle contraction and relaxation cycles If you are curious about the Jay Schroeder training methods, or just want a thorough explanation of why extended isometric training in the proper athletic position can carry huge benefits, you’ll love this podcast.  It’s actually been one of my favorites thus far, and that’s saying a lot as we’ve had lots of tremendous guests on this show. 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.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points 	Dr. Mark’s background 	The science of extreme isometrics 	Energy system cycles that isometrics done to fatigue go through 	Lactate as a friend or foe in training power athletes 	Thoughts on the idea that “velocity recovers everything” Dr. Mark Wetzel Quotes “When you are holding an (isometric position) the muscles are turning off and on very fast” “The 5 minute approach for the isometrics is that you want to get to failure, and you want to fail in an eccentric state” “When you get out of position in isometric holds, you are putting in more effort, but getting less gain” “If you can fatigue multiple times in that 5 minutes you are getting better adaptation" “To get to the lactate cycle you need to fatigue the previous three energy cycles” “When you get into a new energy cycle, it starts the recovery process of the previous energy cycle” “If you hold out long enough (in an isometric lunge) the burning will eventually get sucked in by the muscles, used as energy, and you can keep doing what you are doing” “The more you can push into the threshold, the more it will recover your other systems and create sustainable energy (in competition)” “Velocity training is your body’s ability to relax the antagonist muscle” “The squat (max) should be a test to see if you are training correctly (as opposed to being an end of itself)” “It requires more energy to relax a muscle than contract it” “The faster you can contract a muscle, the more you can create relaxation in another muscle” “70% of muscle strength comes from your brain telling it to work, 30% comes from the gym” Show Notes Iso lunge Hold <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJYk9EeIalo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJYk9EeIalo</a> About Dr. Mark Wetzel Dr. Mark Wetzel is a chiropractor based in Memphis, TN.  Mark has a diverse experience and is an expert in the neurology branch of chiropractic.