Crawling & Rolling

I had the opportunity to learn about training/rehabilitation techniques that involve crawling and rolling patterns on the ground.  These types of exercises are appropriate for those who demonstrate poor stability and cannot perform basic movement patterns or exercises.  We teach the client to use muscles that have been turned off over the years by disallowing the use of the limbs when moving on the ground. 

Just something interesting to think about 

Anti-Inflammatory Diet

For the poster who asked more about the anti-inflammatory diet, here is a good article about the topic from about.com:

http://nutrition.about.com/od/dietsformedicaldisorders/a/antiinflamfood.htm

Buying into the System

I had a discussion with Jason Long, the Director of Performance at KP, on the following topic:

Many trainers are obviously migrating to a more functional approach to strength and conditioning, but the athletes are still two steps behind.  Bicep curls and bench presses are still the big ticket with many of them.  Educating the athlete on what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how it will help them is the key.  It should be done the second he or she walks into the facility.  The same idea applies for a team setting.  I’ve heard stories of trainers dealing with animosity from athletes because the focus wasn’t simply on muscle building (which there is nothing wrong with if a need is present).

Any method of exercise or any training philosophy should be well thought out and well articulated to the athletes… bottom line.

Make Music, Create Spaces

I’m a big fan of author Paulo Coelho and am currently reading The Witch of Portobello.  Coelho’s books are filled with inspiration and here is a quote that I found very meaningful:

“I dance whenever I can, but music only exists because the pauses exist, and sentences only exist because the blank spaces exist.  When I’m doing something, I feel complete, but no one can keep active twenty-four hours a day.  As soon as I stop, I feel there’s something lacking.  You’ve often said to me that I’m a naturally restless person, but I didn’t choose to be that way.  I’d like to sit here quietly, watching television, but I can’t.  My briain won’t stop.  Sometimes I think I’m going mad.  I need always to be dancing, writing, selling land, taking care of Viorel, or reading whatever I find to read.  Do you think that’s normal?”

There are a few individuals I’ve gotten to know quite well at KP Athletics who could benefit from this wisdom, myself included.  It happens so frequently today in our society.  Many of us always need to be doing something productive in order to feel secure, whether it be reading, exercising, sports training, or some other form of self improvement.  But we can only make music if we pause, and we can only write sentances if we create spaces.

Speed Camp

KP Athletics is running a speed camp until mid-August.  Today we tested the 40 yard dash, my least favorite test to perform on athletes.

Speed camps are popping up all over the country that promote great biomechanical running techniques.  We teach arm swing, knee drive, and triple extension to get the fastest times possible.  But what does it really mean?  To me, it doesn’t mean much unless a college/professional recruiter is putting too much stock into the time.  I first heard the idea from Vern Gambetta that sport is very similar to dance.  Sports, (with the exception of sports such as track & field, rowing and swimming), are a series of dance positions that require the athlete to use great core stabilization and strength to progress from one position to the next.

A common comparison that I commonly hear from Chris at work is to Walter Payton whose nickname was “Sweetness”.  He was called sweetness because everything he did was looked so smooth and fluid… like a great dancer.  Do you think it mattered it Walter Payton had good arm swing when he ran his 40 time?

I suppose the point that I’m trying to make is that your time in the 40 yard dash is of little importance to your performance on the athletic field.  Other predictors such as strength, skill, and mental aptitude are all of much more significance.

Details

Almost all people who exercise fail to pay attention to the details of their regimen. It’s no wonder that the need for physical therapy in this country is so high. For example, one detail in the push-up that most people forget is to squeeze the gluteals, or the butt muscles. This takes pressure off of the low back.

Look critically at every exercise you do and make sure you are doing it properly. If you go to your local gym to work out, asking the personal trainer may or may not be a good idea (many of these trainers have only taken a two day course to become certified). Find a resource that you trust to give you good information on how to do the exercise.

Exercise Spotlight: Crush Squat

Here is an exercise that I was exposed to today that I really liked:

Equipment needed:  Kettlebell or Dumbell… you can also use a medicine ball… or anything round and hard I suppose.

Body parts exercised:  Lower body (quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals), Latissimus dorsi, Core musculature.

Procedure:  Grab the kettlebell (or other object) in two hands.  Squeeze it between your hands hard, but do not aggravate your hands.  Now squat down (good squatting mechanics are a necessity before performing this exercise) while still squeezing the kettlebell.  Squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.  If there is pain when squatting down, only go down as far as you can without the pain.  Push up through the floor with your feet and come back to standing.

Explanation:  The reason that you squeeze the kettlebell is the activate your latissimus dorsi (a large back muscle).  All the deep abdominal muscles are also activated via reflex.  Imagine that… an exercise that targets the lower body, back, and core all at once!

**** Here is the link to a picture of what the squat should look like:

http://www.davedraper.com/site%20images/goblet-squat.jpg

Looking for Trans Fat

 

Just because the food you bought is labeled “No Trans Fat”, doesn’t mean it is without the dreaded additive.  If a company’s product as 0.5g or less trans fat, it is not required to say it has any in the nutritional facts. 

So how do we combat this?  Look at the ingredients list and see if the words “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” pop up.   These words indicate the presence of trans fat.  If it does, I recommend you put the food down.

Scratch Test

Here is something interesting I learned yesterday known as the scratch test:

Take your fingernail and scratch any area on your body.  Now observe the shade of red that develops.  Do this a few times on different parts of your body.  Perhaps you noticed that one area becomes a deeper shade of red than another.  Why is this?

The scratch test was developed in order to detect inflammation and possible mobility limitations to that area of the body.  A deeper shade of red indicates a greater histamine response and hence greater inflammation.  I first saw Chris perform this test on a client complaining of low back pain.  The scratch test was done on each side of the low back.  We saw that a deeper shade of red developed on the right side, indicating that the right side had more inflammation.

Nutrition

The inspiration for this post came from my camping trip this weekend.  It was a lot of fun but I came back feeling a bit heavy and groggy.  If a nutritionist were to stop by our site she would have been highly disappointed in our choice of food.  I think this is a good time to instruct on the importance of nutrition.  You can spend day in and day out in the gym but it will all be negated by poor eating habits.  The vast majority of the calories we burn come from the foods we eat, not how much time we spend on the treadmills.

But of course it’s always okay to splurge once in a while