Author: taro
By taro

Six Tips For Preventing Injuries and Staying Fit For Life

Len At Nearly Seventy

Len At Nearly Seventy

1. Periodize

Legitimate fitness programs are periodized. Periodization, quite simply, is change. Fitness programs must change to rotate stress. Continually stressing the same joints, muscles and physiology leads to injury. Make a plan that regularly changes your short-term goals, exercises, rest intervals, volume and intensity. Periodized exercise programs cannot be created haphazardly – too much change and you will lose sight of long-term goals.

2. Manage Your Posture and Muscular Balance

The foundation of musculoskeletal wellness is posture and muscular balance. A well aligned body with balanced strength will evenly distribute stress. This resilience is lost when the body shifts alignment to compensate for gravity. For example, when a load is held in front of the body the spine will curve toward the front. When a load is held to the right side of the body the spine will curve toward the right. A load to the left side of the body shifts the curve to the left. Finally, a load held behind the body results in the spine curving towards the rear. Spine movement is controlled by the coordinated action of muscles – some becoming tight while others relax. Unfortunately, shifts in alignment tend to persist causing a host of problems. Tight muscles become overused and injured. Uneven wear occurs on bony surfaces and joints become either too narrow or spread apart. A return to good alignment and muscular balance requires the introduction of corrective loads as well as a system of stretching tight muscles and activating relaxed muscles. Simple postural cuing (such as “keep your chest up with shoulders back”) will accomplish very little. Tarodo Gravity is the cutting-edge system for managing posture and muscular balance. Stay tuned to this website for seminars, videos and future articles.

3. Warm-up properly

The most effective warm-up rehearses target movements while activating weak muscles. For example, progressive squatting (multiple sets of squats which get incrementally heavier ) is the best way to prepare your body for high-intensity squatting. With each warm-up set, improve strain distribution by activating weak muscles (those that are specific to your posture). Warming up in this manner can turn a brutal squatting session into a workout that actually helps heal!

4. Eat Well

We all know eating well is essential for losing fat, gaining muscle and performing intensely. However, I believe many people fail to make the association between nutrition and injury prevention. A prudent diet should include quality whole-foods from both animal and vegetarian sources. Eat whole eggs, organic red meat, fish, dark greens and berries to ensure a vigorous quality of life! Specific foods and nutrients that have shown up in research regarding soreness and recovery include: tart cherry juice, caffeine, blue berries, curcumin and tomato. Cycle foods and nutrients into and out of your diet to discover which works best for you.

5. Find a Great Soft Tissue Practitioner

Not all soft tissue techniques are created equal and practitioner ability varies tremendously. Personally, I have found Active Release Techniques, as developed by Dr. Leahy, to be a great tool. Find a master of ART and stick with him/her. Combined with the concepts above, no soft tissue issue will be insurmountable!

6. Be Patient

Know when to delay striving for a goal in favour of rest and recovery. Value your longevity above all else. A planned short-term layoff is always better than an unplanned long-term layoff!
By taro

How to Achieve Goals and Make Changes

Reaching goals and making changes can be hard. Many won’t budge despite sitting in boiling water. This inertia is caused by a lack of emotional awareness. To begin growing strong enough to make progress, become aware of the following:

  1. Thoughts and feelings can change: Most people believe their thoughts or feelings are legitimate and immutable. In reality, with a little desire and insightfullness, large (even extreme) changes in how we think and feel are possible. For example, my ten year old son feared and hated water. He would dread every session his class would spend at the school pool. Tears would flow at the slightest splash! However, with a little exposure and the discovery he could swim (after some practice) my son now loves (!) going to pool class. As simple and innocent as this story seems, its lesson can applied to adults in most circumstances.
  2. Expectations can become a burden: In anticipation of a new job or reponsibility don’t demand perfection upon arrival. Set your mind to try your best but also accept that most new endeavours are works-in-progress. Every ability gets better with practice. Your current capabilities only apply to today’s version of you. Tomorrow’s version will be much more capable!
  3. All staircases have steps! Any plot to conquer the world should start with the recruitment of the first soldier. Similarly, take the initial steps when wanting to change jobs, careers, educational paths or even spouses! Discovering solutions for your first set of concerns greatly enhances confidence in your abiliy to make a change.
  4. You can build yourself: Many people are overly influenced by perceived weaknesses as opposed to personal strengthes. Practice taking stock of past achievements and use them as precedence for future challenges. Little victories should be celebrated. A small feeling of personal potential can initiate big progress.
  5. Wrongful associations: Here is a common scenario – John broke up with his partner three months ago. To move forward in life, John adopts an exercise and diet program. Two week in, John begins to feel lack lustre, off-kilter and a little anxious. He blames his new exercise and diet program for his feelings and promptly quits. In truth, John’s symptoms were the result of emotional issues caused by the end of his relationship. Although John was perfectly suited to his fitness program (it would have brought many great benefits!) it fell victim to wrongful association. If you feel uncomfortable, off-kilter or anxious, don’t automatically blame that which is new in your life. Check your emotional environment (composed of profound influences such as finances, relationships and the health of those important to you) for the real culprit. Emotional issues are sneaky. They show up at odd times in unexpected manners. This year, make sure your goals don’t become casualties!
By taro

How To Find a Good Personal Trainer

A personal trainer can have a profound impact on your quality of life. Exercise is the best medicine – capable of improving and maintaining physical and emotional health. Unfortunately, personal trainer quality varies tremendously. Luckily, good trainers leave clues. Due diligence begins by following the steps below!

STEP 1 Drop Your Biases

Physical Bias: Try not to immediately gravitate toward the prettiest or best built male or female in your gym. While this can be tempting, remind yourself that great genetics (and chemicals additives) can easily mask horrible training practices. Less spectacular looking specimens often have to fight tooth and nail to achieve moderate results. Genetically challenged individuals cannot make mistakes in their training and are intricately connected with methods that work.

Academic Bias: A degree or diploma does not automatically qualify someone as the best trainer for your goals. Even a trainer with a post-graduate degree may have little practical experience in your field of concern. Fitness and health information is evolving rapidly – trainers must keep their knowledge contemporary. Without maintenance, a degree quickly becomes obsolete! Balance your perspective and consider the tremendous value of experience as well as passionate, self-directed learning.

STEP 2 Observe

If you want to choose a trainer within your current gym environment, take some time to watch him or her in action. All behaviours give clues and you should take note of the following:

Professional Behaviour: How the trainer behaves with clients. Try to answer the following:

– Does the trainer arrive on time?

    • Are they preapared?
    • Are workouts preconceived or improvised on the fly?
    • Are observations and results documented?
    • Is their posture alert and attentive?Disqualify trainers that are consistently late, sitting, laying down, texting, preoccupied with themselves or their surroundings. Trainers should be active and engaged with their clients, either spotting, assisting with stretching, taking notes, mentoring or managing equipment.

Leisure Behaviour: How the trainer behaves when not with clients. Good trainers can often be seen doing the following:

    • working on fitness blogs (!)
    • creating programs
    • reading to improve their knowledge base
    • experimenting with exercises
    • managing their businessDisqualify front-desk flirters, perpetual phone-scrollers and general lollygaggers.

STEP 3 Interview

Speak to a few of the prospective trainer’s clients. Find out how long they have worked together and their general impressions. Good trainers have long-term relationships with many of their clients.

Most trainers will offer a free, initial consultation. Use this session to ask the following questions:

  1. Do you perform an assessment ? (to determine a client’s state of physical readiness, prescribe a course of action and to document starting statistics)
  2. What fitness skills and certifications do you have?
  3. How do you keep your knowledge current? (a great indication of a good trainer is an immediate ability to name several inspirational authors, fitness leaders and publications)
  4. Have you worked previously with someone like myself? (in terms of goals, attributes and circumstances)
  5. What are your goals for the future? (keen trainers have clear, industry related ambitions – half hearted trainers can’t wait to move on to becoming real estate agents, insurance brokers or interior designers)

STEP 4 Weigh Personality Wisely

Beware! First impressions are performances and the best performers are often miserable.

Even though your personal training candidate survived the first three steps of scrutiny make sure their personality suits yours. Throughout the years I have defined several trainer personality types:

  1. The Narcissist: Narcisists are drawn towards becoming personal trainers. They can be quite astute in their fitness knowledge but have the character of an overgrown baby. When you form a partnership with someone make sure there is at least one adult.
  2. The Cheerleader: These are the trainers which spew a continous loop of baseless, positive drivel. If you can tolerate a lack of meaningful insight from your fitness leader then the simplicity offered by this relationship is bliss!
  3. The Drill Sargeant: The type most featured in media, Drill Sargeants can be great motivators. However, constant shouting and dirision gets tiresome – you will probably want to drill the sargeant in the head after a couple of months. Great choice for short-term bursts of intensive fitness.
  4. The Fitness Nerd: Ususally underdeveloped trainers who compensate by having vast knowlege. Knowlege is great but if its application failed to render results in the Nerd it may also fail to render results in clients. Consider a nerd if all you want is a few sessions of basic, exercise information.
  5. The Believer: These personality types buy into every new trend and gadget that hits the fitness market. They love rubber, magnets, vibration, inflatables, electronics and other gizmos. Unfortunately, few trends stand the test of time and followers lose time, money and dignity.
  6. The Adaptive Personality: The very best trainers adjust their personality to best suit the changing needs of the client. They can be tough, gentle, loud, quiet, personable or professional. Their character and mood are consistent from day to day and workout to workout. The best personality for most.

Without regulating bodies or standards the responsibility of finding a high-quality trainer is entirely up to the consumer. Use the steps outlined above to cut through the fluff. Don’t commit to a large number of sessions at first and try several trainers. Look for honest referrals. Never underestimate the value of a good personal trainer!
By taro

Fallacies in Fitness – Episode III

1. The chin-up is a great exercise for the biceps.

Contemporary fitness articles are continuing to promote the chinup as a great exercise for building the biceps. This fallacy contradicts basic functional anatomy – the biceps are muscles which flex the shoulder joint, the chinup is an exercise which extends the shoulder! Every year, I set asisde a couple of months to target my pulling ability and devote myself to chinups and pullups. During this period of specialization I eliminate or greatly reduce all other upper body exercises, including biceps curls. Although my chin up performance improves, my upper arm girth always shrinks (by at least half an inch!). For further proof consider an independent study the next time you have biceps tendinitis (not brachialis or brachioradialis tendinitis). Despite the biceps soreness, performimg chinups and pullups will be tolerable. On the other hand, proper dumbbell curls will be excruciating (due to the superior level of biceps recruitment). Choose biceps curls if you want biceps development!

2. Compound movements are more functional than isolation exercises

This blanket statement drives me nuts for three reasons:

First, no exercise is universaly functional! Functionality is limited to a specific goal; that is, an exercise which improves one type of physical task may be irrelevent or even detrimental to another physical task. The chin-up, for example, is an invaluable tool for grapplers – strengthening sport-specific muscles, reinforcing key movements and serving as a tool for managing injuries. For boxers, however, the chin-up is largely irrelevent – it does not strengthen key muscles or reinforce any pertinent movements. In fact, weight gained from dedicated pulling would be detrimental to endurance and making weight.

Second, isolating and strengthening an individual muscle can unleash enormous potential in complex movements. Most clinicians (countless times I am sure!) have observed marked improvement in strength, power and efficiency when a single, performance limiting muscle has been activated. If your isolation exercises are not improving a specific ability you are probably not strengthening the correct muscle.

Finally, many people confuse complexity with function. An exercise is not automatically “functional” just because it requires inspiring skills. Physical tasks are made distinct by the muscles used, the physiology that is engaged, balance type, timing, co-ordination, environmental cues, state of mind etc. etc. Most flashy attempts at functional training are completely irrelevent to any goal.

3. Quadriceps to hamstring strength ratio is crucial for injury prevention

Incorrect notions in regards to muscular balance are often used to explain the occurence of injuries. Most often, it is the strength relationship between angonist and antagonist that is blamed. In truth, the strength relationship between synergists is much more important. The vast majority of muscular injuries (that are not the result of violent trauma) are the result of strain born from compensation. The hamstring has four heads – each reliant on the other to help with functions at the knee and hip. A weak or inhibited head (caused by postural issues) forces the active heads to pick up the slack. Overtime, the active muscle fibres become overstressed and tight. When the final straw imposes its stress the vulnerable heads are either strained or torn. Balance the strength amongst synergists and the incidence of injury will go down!

4. Just About Anything Overly Esoteric

Esoteric health and fitness trends often prove to be fallacies. When promised effects cannot be readily observed, experienced or logically validated there is good reason for strong skepticism. I am not sure where the threshold for skepticism exists for some followers of esoteric ideas but it seems to be way too high. Novel ideas are great (I hope to share a few!) and certainly don’t require published, peer reviewed data to at least be contemplated. However, reality tends to be grounded in the fundamental sciences of anatomy, physics, chemistry and biology. Some fitness and health trends that should provoke healthy skepticism:

  • breathing interventions
  • cold exposure (I would bet 20 minutes of sun exposure is more beneficial)
  • bowel interventions
  • physical therapies which don’t feature physical contact at the affected area
  • mostly anything that requires batteries or is made of plastic

5. Some types of exercise build long and lean muscles

Another fallacy that drives me nuts every time I hear it. Leaness is forever determined by the balance between caloric ingestion vs expression! No exercise will build a “lean muscle” in a fat environment. If special exercise classes built long muscles then the instructors would have muscles that exceed the length of their bones! Their muscular system would drag behind their skeleton like an oversized sweater or fallen socks. If I had a special power it would be to evoke a world-wide reflex to think twice before adopting any notion as a belief!
By taro

Program: Volume and Intensity Cycling

Good old VIC. Volume and Intensity Cycling programs have existed since people started counting reps and sets. VIC has been called many names – Heavy/Light, High Reps/Low Reps and even Oscillating Intensity Training. Regardless of name the basis remains the same; that is, alternating workouts of low volume and low tension (or low intensity) with workouts of high volume and high tension (or high intensity). While VIC is old, it can still kick the butt of most fancy pants programs out there. Adding advanced methods to the basic template make VIC invincible. Volume and Intensity Cycling is highly effective for several reasons:

  1. It frames a desired performance level. Let’s use sprint training as an analogy. Improving 100 meter time necessitates addressing aspects of endurance and strength. A sprinter would therefore train both 120 meters (to address endurance) and 80 meters (to address strength). Applied to resistance training, if your goal is to improve the amount of weight you can lift on an exercise for 8 repetitions, you would frame that goal by training aspects of strength (using 6 repetitions and relatively heavy load) and aspects of endurance (using 10 repetitions and relatively light load). With both high rep days and low rep days included every week, VIC addresses both ends of the performance enhancing spectrum!
  2. VIC uses multiple pathways to build muscle and strength. VIC causes metabolic stress, improves motor skill and imposes high tension on muscle fibre.
  3. By alternating long, heavy days with briefer, lighter days VIC smashes muscle yet facilitates recovery.
  4. VIC eliminates guess work. Every muscle has an “adaptive niche” – responding better to either higher repetitions, lower repetitions or a combination of both. Since all levels of repetitions are addressed with VIC, your target muscle is guaranteed to receive optimum stimulation (at least part of the time).

BELOW is a basic VIC program dedicated toward developing the quads, lats, chest and biceps. This example should be integrated into a properly periodized program.

MONDAY – Legs, Back

(Group A) – 3 sets each, 60 seconds between sets

Squats 10 reps

Pull ups 10 reps

Hamstrings Stretch 30 secs

(Group B) – 3 sets each, 60 seconds between sets

Belt Squats 10 reps

Pullovers 10 reps

Calf Stretch 30 secs

(Group C) – 3 sets each, 30 seconds between sets

Calf Raise 30 reps

Rear Delt Raises 30 reps

Pec Major Stretch 30 secs

TUESDAY – Chest, Biceps

(Group A) – 3 sets each, 60 seconds between sets

Barbell Bench Press 10 reps

Dumbbell Standing Twist Curls 10 reps

Rear Deltoid Stretch 30secs

(Group B) – 3 sets each, 60 seconds between sets

Dumbbell Bench Press 10 reps

Dumbbell Preacher Twist Curls 10 reps

Lat Stretch 30 secs

(Group C) – 3 sets each, 30 seconds between sets

Shrugs 15 reps

Laterals 15 reps

Wrist Curls 15 reps

WEDNESDAY – Off

THURSDAY – Legs, Back

(Group A) – 6 sets each, 60 seconds between sets

Squats 6 reps

Pull ups 6 reps

Abdominal Stretch 30 secs

(Group B) – 4 sets each, 60 seconds between sets

Belt Squats 6 reps

Pullovers 6 reps

Coracobrachialis Stretch 30 secs

(Group C) – 3 sets each, 30 seconds between sets

Calf Raises 30 reps

Rear Delt Raises 30 reps

Pec Major Stretch 30 seconds

FRIDAY – Chest, Biceps

(Group A) – 6 sets each, 60 seconds between sets

Barbell Bench Press 6 reps

Dumbbell Standing Twist Curls 6 reps

Rear Deltoid Stretch 30 secs

(Group B) – 4 sets each, 60 seconds between sets

Dumbbell Bench Press 6 reps

Dumbbell Preacher Twist Curls 6 reps

Lat Stretch 30 secs

(Group C) – 3 sets each, 30 seconds between sets

Shrugs 15 reps

Laterals 15 reps

Wrist Curls 15 reps

***Repetition speed should reflect the goals, abilities and status of the athlete. In general, strive for a tempo which allows maximal strength expression while maintaining good technique.

On paper, VIC may not seem very novel or impressive. It is an old program, which (like an old friend) reappears every once in a while. Don’t take VIC for granted, however, as it is powered by very important muscle and strength building concepts. Frame your performance goal, target multiple growth pathways and be aware of muscle specific adaptive niches – your ambitions will become achievements!
By taro

Change Your Posture

Somewhere I read (in an article, forum or dream), that holding a barbell behind the back could help manage excessive lower-spine curvature (known as lordosis). Initially, the idea failed to evoke any interest and it was filed into my subconscious. A few months later, while watching a huge construction crane in operation, I was suddenly struck by a moment of clarity: our skeletal system compensates for our center of gravity! When our center of gravity is consistently drawn forward of our hips (when we deadlift or lift boxes like a crane) our body maintains balance by shifting weight to our rear (behind our hips). Unlike a crane, with its huge counterweight blocks, the human body increases back-end load by tilting the pelvis forward. Anterior pelvic tilt, one of the hallmarks of postural lordosis, extends the moment arm behinds the hips and puts the glutes and hamstrings into a strong position to exert force.

To reduce lordosis, therefore, it makes sense to move the body’s center of gravity behind the hips. A load behind the hips (provided by a barbell for example) eliminates the need for a postural compensation. The pelvis would tilt toward the posterior and a more neutral posture would be restored.

 

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Anterior tilt of the pelvis caused by a load being held in front of the hips

 

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Posterior tilt of the pelvis caused by a load being held behind the hips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the crane model applies most obviously to a posture affected by lordosis, all levels of the skeleton will move to offset loads and create balance. The scapula, for example, shift in a manner similar to the pelvis. A load forward of the thorax shifts the scapula into anterior tilt and a load behind the thorax shifts the scapula into posterior tilt. Similarly, the spine, knees, elbows and feet will all change alignment to balance the effects of gravity.

The theory of skeletal compensation for center of gravity is a vital clarification. Posture, it seems, is a motor program controlled by the nervous system and not merely an arrangement of tight and loose muscles. Just stretching and strengthening individual muscles will not change the motor program and significant posture change will not occur! The ultimate solution to postural stress is to combine stretching and strengthening with modification of the body’s center of gravity. Come to a Tarodo Gravity seminar to learn emerging details of this process!

The ability to modify posture is a vital tool. Postural stress results in conditions which include tendinitis, muscle pulls, muscle tears, nerve impingement, osteoarthritis and inter vertebral hernias. These conditions can become chronic. Modifying postural tendencies can help relieve pain as well as improve resiliency, appearance and performance.
By taro

Strength and Conditioning for Punching Power

The development of punching power is largely the subject of lore. Lore dominates whenever valid scientific data is sparse. Rather than wait for the academics, I believe reasonable conclusions can be made using logic, dedicated observation and everyday tools. To answer the question “what physical attributes are required for great punching power” the real-world scientist can use a number of methods to find a reasonable solution. One method, popular in manufacturing, is reverse engineering.

Rather then build a high performance car based on pure theory or trial and error, the process of reverse engineering takes an existing vehicle and breaks it down to reveal its working components. Similarly, take an elite level athlete and put them in the weight room – their physical attributes become readily apparent. Having had the opportunity to watch and even train a few world-class muay thai athletes a few observations stand-out:

a. They are terrible on agility ladders and wobble boards. Even the most elite of strikers, gifted athletically to the highest degree in their sport, look inebriated when first introduced to these gadgets. Obviously, the skills required for powerful striking are completely distinct from the skills required to balance on a wobble board or run an agility ladder. Contrary to popular assumption, there exists many different types of balance and many different types of agility. Skill work needs to be highly specific to affect sport performance (this is especially true at the elite levels of sport). Strength and conditioning sessions should address the development of energy systems and not resemble a second-rate repeat of practice.

b. Performance on basic strength exercises is modest (though definitely not pathetic). Even with a little practice elite level strikers put up moderate numbers on the squat, deadlift, bench press and chin-up. Great strength in these exercises seems to be of little significance to great punching and kicking power.

c.They have tremendous knee flexion strength. Without prior experience, powerful strikers put out incredible numbers on hamstring curl machines. This makes sense as the calf and hamstrings are probably the most important muscles for launching the hips. It is no coincidence most muay thai practitioners have great calf development! Thick calves also serve as a club at the end of a shaft – providing the mass necessary to penetrate soft tissue and shatter bones. Hard kickers also have extremely strong thigh adductors – necessary for turning the hips and femurs. Absorbing impact against bodies and heavy bags also requires reinforced musculature.

d. Heavy hitters excel at biceps curls. The biceps are often dismissed as non-functional, beach muscles but they are well developed on fighters! I am graced with the opportunity to watch Jorge Blanco train (Spanish kick-boxing champion and trainer of many UFC champions). He has amazing biceps development. I have seen him playfully curl seventy pound dumbbells despite never having formally trained biceps. Strong biceps development makes sense on powerful punchers as upper-cuts and hooks perfectly match the functional characteristics of the biceps. Whether high levels of biceps strength is necessary for accelerating the arm or simply absorbing impact is unknown.

e. Strikers kick butt at situps. While this finding may be biased as situps are routinely performed as part of traditional practice, there is little doubt powerful abdominals, obliques and hip flexors are consistent attributes of great strikers. This makes sense as these muscles have to accelerate the significant mass of the upper body via a very long moment-arm (the spine!).

f. Heavy hitters tend to do very well at triceps exercises, especially skull crushers. Whether this is due to the hard elbow extension required to launch a fist or to absorb impact with a heavy target is unknown. Exceptional performance on skull crushers may also be due to the demands of holding targets for training partners – especially muay-thai pads.

Reverse engineering offers great insight into the physical attributes of powerful strikers. However, there exists much more to the process of training athletes than simply performing the exercises emphasized above. Always consider individual style as well as physical status. Focus on strengthening energy systems that still have capacity for training stress. Repair, or allow to recover, energy systems that are over-stressed. Mindless, debilitating workouts are the last thing hard-training athletes need.
By taro

Top Tips for Fat Loss

The heat is here. The desire to get in shape, buried deep within our unconscious mind, is suddenly uncovered by a lack of clothing. In the excitement, fat-loss folklore and marketing hype claim many victims. In brief, reject immediately any program which mentions “low-fat”, “aerobics”, “take three pills a day”, “fifty exercises in one machine” or “twenty easy minutes three times a week”. Continue Reading

By taro

Posture – The Foundation of All Exercise Programs

Perfect posture suggests a skeleton with perfect bone placement. Every bone would be optimally aligned and symmetrically spaced. All stresses imposed on the body would be distributed evenly – minimizing wear and energy expenditure. Unfortunately, perfect posture does not exist. Every human on the planet is off kilter! Differences in limb length and the need to maintain balance result in misaligned and asymmetrical bones. Features most people associate with posture include uneven hips, hunched shoulders and exaggerated spine curvature. However, posture also includes the position and status of the ankle, knee, scapula and hand. Off-kilter posture can cause a number of problems:

  1. Strength imbalances: A shift in posture requires a bias in muscle activity. Some muscles remain chronically active while others are turned off. Not only do active muscles bare the burden of postural maintenance they also tend to bare the burden of movement and physical work. Hard working muscles are prone to overuse conditions such as tightness, strains, tendonitis and tears.
  2. Development imbalances: When active muscles become tight they shut down the muscles opposite to them. “Reciprocal inhibition” stops muscles from firing optimally and creates “stubborn muscles” – muscles which will not grow or change shape despite dedicated exercise.
  3. Inappropriate bone on bone contact: Off-kilter posture means bones are out of optimal alignment. Poor alignment causes contact on sufaces not designed for high amounts of frictionor impact. The damage to bone and other connective tissue results in conditions such as osteo-arthritis and chondromalacia patella.
  4. Impingements: Nerves and tendons become squeezed when the spaces they occupy become narrowed by bone movement. This can cause a host of problems including shoulder impingement syndrome and sciatica.
  5. Intervertebral hernias: Curved spines result in vertebrae that are squeezed together on the concave side and spread apart on the convex side. High pressure between vertebrae on the concave side cause intervertebral discs to bulge toward the convex side (where intervertebral pressure is lower).

Since muscle tension affects bone position, these problems can be easily ameliorated or aggravated by stretching and strengthening programs. The key is knowing which muscles to stretch and which to strengthen! Programs which successfully manage the effects of posture improve muscular balance as well as bone alignment and symmetry. Athletes, clients, patients and workout warriors will experience enhanced recovery, resilience, performance and aesthetics. Posture, without a doubt, should be fundamental knowledge for anyone who designs exercise programs!
By taro

Micro Spiel: Exerhazing?

HAZING is the practice of rituals and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group (Wikipedia). I have witnessed many workouts where the coach, trainer or martial arts instructor pushes their athletes to extreme exhaustion.These workouts feature drills, skills, times and energy systems that obviously do not fit the goals of the victims. Without a foundation in exercise science, to whom is this type of practice benefiting? The needs of the athlete or the coach? At its best, hazing rituals in fitness can build team unity and bond individuals. At its worst, participants may get sick, injured, humiliated and discouraged. Coaches need to know where to draw the line. Hazing should not be confused with legitimate training!

Fives signs you’re being hazed:

  1. The workout features endless burpees
  2. The workout serves no purpose but to create extreme fatigue
  3. The ritual lasts five times longer than the actual event you are training for
  4. This is no evidence of a plan and no one is recording results
  5. The next time you workout you feel increased fatigue and fragility. You’ve also become weaker and slower.
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