Move Like This

Check out this video of 63 year old athletic coach Johann Martin. Apparently he coaches athletes and weightlifting in Hamburg, and quite obviously athletics have been a serious life-long pursuit for him.

Moving well at that or any age takes consistent effort. Get up and move.



And why not listen to a tribute mix to Guru while your watching? R.I.P.

Throw Away Your Chair

This week there was an interesting article in the New York Times Magazine concerning what role exercise plays in fat loss in relation to diet. The first half of the piece discusses what role, if any exercise plays in fat loss (I prefer fat loss to the more generic term "weight loss"). This jist of it is this from an American College of Sports Medicine study:

The newest science suggests that exercise alone will not make you thin, but it may determine whether you stay thin, if you can achieve that state. Until recently, the bodily mechanisms involved were mysterious. But scientists are slowly teasing out exercise’s impact on metabolism, appetite and body composition, though the consequences of exercise can vary. 

 It goes on to say that in a study those that reduced calories by 25% alone lost the same amount of weight as those that reduced cals by 12.5% and increased caloric expenditure through exercise by 12.5%.

In other words calories in calories out.

But here is the problem. That doesn't differentiate between the intensity, and suggests that the exercise in question was low intensity cardio. And as we know from other research higher intensity exercise tends to raise your metabolism significantly and thus produce greater caloric expenditure over time.

I'll further quote a longer passage from the article that addresses higher intensity exercise and differences in male and female reactions to low intensity cardio:

In one study presented last year at the annual conference of the American College of Sports Medicine, when healthy young men ran for an hour and a half on a treadmill at a fairly high intensity, their blood concentrations of acylated ghrelin fell, and food held little appeal for the rest of that day. Exercise blunted their appetites. A study that Braun oversaw and that was published last year by The American Journal of Physiology had a slightly different outcome. In it, 18 overweight men and women walked on treadmills in multiple sessions while either eating enough that day to replace the calories burned during exercise or not. Afterward, the men displayed little or no changes in their energy-regulating hormones or their appetites, much as in the other study. But the women uniformly had increased blood concentrations of acylated ghrelin and decreased concentrations of insulin after the sessions in which they had eaten less than they had burned. Their bodies were directing them to replace the lost calories. In physiological terms, the results “are consistent with the paradigm that mechanisms to maintain body fat are more effective in women,” Braun and his colleagues wrote. In practical terms, the results are scientific proof that life is unfair. Female bodies, inspired almost certainly “by a biological need to maintain energy stores for reproduction,” Braun says, fight hard to hold on to every ounce of fat. Exercise for many women (and for some men) increases the desire to eat.

In other words low intensity cardio, the kind I see the vast majority of women doing at the gym, has even less of an affect on fat loss than it does in most men. Ironic isn't it?

But research suggests that for those already thin even low intensity exercise can be effective in maintaining weight. No surprise there.

One final interesting bit is that a new ACSM study suggests that standing has big advantages over sitting regarding burning calories:

In a completed but unpublished study conducted in his energy-metabolism lab, Braun and his colleagues had a group of volunteers spend an entire day sitting. If they needed to visit the bathroom or any other location, they spun over in a wheelchair. Meanwhile, in a second session, the same volunteers stood all day, “not doing anything in particular,” Braun says, “just standing.” The difference in energy expenditure was remarkable, representing “hundreds of calories,” Braun says, but with no increase among the upright in their blood levels of ghrelin or other appetite hormones. Standing, for both men and women, burned multiple calories but did not ignite hunger. One thing is going to become clear in the coming years, Braun says: if you want to lose weight, you don’t necessarily have to go for a long run. “Just get rid of your chair.”

I couldn't agree with his last statement more. Sitting for extended periods everyday has shown to cause a multitude of back, neck, and hip problems. And it hinders our efforts at having a good physique.

Stand up, move around, stretch. Common sense prevails.

Staying on the Ground

My last post talked about the importance of the foot and how it affects everything up the chain. To add to that many therapists and movement specialists have been recognizing the importance of getting people back down on the ground.

What PTs such as Gray Cook have been finding is that patients coming to him with dysfunction often lack the ability to perform fundamental human movements such as squatting or getting up off the ground. In response, by working on mobility, flexibility, and relearning basic movement patterns such as those in the Turkish getup they have gotten good results. Even strength and conditioning coaches such as Mike Boyle have been getting their athletes on the ground.

Among my clients I constantly see the need for improves mobility and flexibility. Particularly in the hips, lower body, and back. When the hips and back improve there are less restrictions which equal better results and less injury.

I have dug back in my martial arts background for some drills we used in Judo/Jiujitsu/Karate, but some are a bit too rough or impractical for use in the gym. Ginastica Natural however has some pretty interesting movements that could prove beneficial for clients.

Here is an interesting video of a Ginastica Natural flow drill. Some of this is specific to grappling but there are some interesting ideas in there nonetheless.



A famous proponent of this sort of movement is Rickson Gracie, who aside from being a legend of Brazilian Jiujitsu, possesses incredible kinesthetic awareness and control. And reportedly even now well into his 50's he can go in circles against guys 30 years his junior.

From The Ground Up

Over the past two weeks I've had the opportunity to attend eight hours of workshops by a couple of smart fellas, Dr. Lenny Parracino of the Gray Institute, and Michol Dalcourt. The topics of discussion were human movement in a macro sense, but both Lenny and Michelle addressed the importance of foot function and how that interesting part of the body affects movement quality to a large degree.

The Gray Institute calls the foot/ankle the "switch that turns on the engine." Or in other words if your foot is not functioning optimally then movement at the knee, hip, back, and on up will be compromised, and long term may cause dysfunction.

Without proper talus (ankle) function torque cannot be converted into power in the lower body. Or in other words if your ankle is messed up it will affect how you walk or run. Common sense right?

Then think about how that may affect your fitness training. If you are running on shoes that are worn out or unstable, or if you train in the gym and in poor footwear, at the very least you are compromising progress. At worst you are causing injury to yourself. For those with flat feet or high arches, wearing the wrong shoes will hinder conversion of torque into power at the hip, which ultimately means compromising strength at the very important hip joint.

But aside from shoes if the ankle and foot is not able to function well in all degrees of motion, lacks stability, or if there is excessive fascial tension then ground reaction forces will not transfer properly into movement. For example if one's ankles do not dorsiflex or evert properly then restrictions there mean there will be increased stress on the knee in order to produce movement. Over time this may lead to knee pain and possibly injury.

But as physical therapist Bill Hartman points out here issues may not be only physiologic but neurologic. In other words long term ankle stiffness may lead to neurologic adaptations that negatively affect movement quality even after stretching the ankle. Other areas have been taking up the slack for the ankle and must now be retrained along with the ankle in order to produce good movement.

Let me explain with a little demonstration.

Take your shoes off and stand up…I’ll wait.

Now,  keep your knees straight, stay tall, and slowly lean forward until the moment you feel like your heels will come up off the floor and hold that position.  Do you feel it?

Do you feel your toes grip the floor?  Do you feel the tension move up into your calves?

In an effort to maintain stability, your nervous system turns on your calves and the deep posterior compartment musculature and on up the kinetic chain.  Many athletes have the exact same problem. 

Your mobilization and stretching may have addressed the physiologic stiffness that would prevent normal ankle mobility, but if your athlete has poor control of his center of gravity, the stiffness will persist to maintain stability.  The result is a neurologic barrier to performance and greater risk of injury.

Got an athlete with plantar fasciitis, anterior knee pain, groin pain, piriformis syndrome?

Consider looking at the factors that influence center of gravity and the associated alignment and muscular activation patterns.

Here’s a hint…start from the ground up.

Check out this video of Lenny talking about functional and structural work.

The final take home point is this. I see many people in the gym wearing shoes that appear to hinder their training. Take the time to find a great pair of shoes, or go barefoot if that is appropriate. If you are not sure what type of foot you have - flat, normal arch etc... than find someone qualified to help you. Doing so now may save you a lot of pain and money down the road. Same as eating well.

Funny how everything is connected isn't it?

Kettlebell Compound Movements

Men's Health UK graciously asked me to do another article on "unconventional" muscle building methods using compound movements, and when talking with the editor he mentioned that kettlebells are the hottest topic on their forums. Lightbulb.

So here it is:

• Build the body you want with this four-week workout programme

• Compounding your isolation

• In our recent article on the top 10 muscle-building mistakes, personal trainer Chris Bathke lamented the scores of gym-goers who spend every session pounding specific muscles with ineffective movements while ignoring the bigger picture. Escape from your isolation and use his compound kettlebell exercises workout to build full-body muscle fast. "After four weeks not only will your shoulders and back be more injury proof, but they'll look substantially better," says Bathke.

• Programme loading…

• "This type of workout will work shoulder, core, and hip stability that exercises done lying on a bench won't," says Bathke. Do it twice per week for four weeks and choose weights that are challenging but that you can complete with perfect form. Together with chin-up and squat work on another day you'll see good progress.
  
  Sets and reps
  Kettlebell clean and push press: 3x10 each side
  Renegade rows: 3x5
  
  Turkish get-ups: 3x3 reps each side
  
  (Rest 60 seconds in between sets.)
  
  "Each consecutive week add one rep per set until you can comfortably do an extra 4 reps per set, then increase the weight and drop the reps back to the initial level," says Bathke.

• Kettlebell clean and push press

• Begin with the bell in front of you on the floor. Perform a swing and clean the weight up into what’s called “the rack position” with the bell resting in the crook of your elbow between your shoulder and wrist. Next, drive the weight overhead ending with the elbow locked out and arm next to your ear. “Initiate the overhead portion of the lift with a slight dip and leg drive,” advises Bathke. To finish the lift, drop it back into the rack position, then down into a swing and repeat. Try to look as cool asthis guy throughout.
  
  See an example of this exercise here.
  
  Works 
  This movement just about does it all. “The posterior chain is used in the clean portion, while the press hits your pushing muscles. Grip endurance, shoulder flexibility, and shoulder stability will all really be taxed,” says Bathke. 

• Kettlebell renegade row

• Assume a press-up position with each hand on the handle of a kettlebell. Do a full range press-up, then while holding your torso and hips still row one KB at a time. Row each side once. This is one rep. “The goal is to not allow your hips to move, nor your body to twist while rowing,” says Bathke.
  
  See an example of this exercise here.
  
  Works
  “The renegade row is a great movement to work both core strength and horizontal pushing and pulling muscle groups.”

• Kettlebell Turkish get-up

• Start lying on the floor. Bring the kettlebell into a locked out position straight up with your right hand. Your right shoulder should be pulled back into the floor to stabilise the joint. Your right leg will be cocked, with your right foot alongside your left knee. Pushing off your right foot, roll onto your left hip and up onto your left elbow. Push up onto your left hand. Holding yourself up on your left hand and right foot, raise your hips up off the ground, and thread your left leg back to a kneeling position. You should now be in a lunge position, right foot on the floor, and KB locked out overhead. “Make sure that your elbow is not flexed,” says Bathke. “From the lunge position brace your core and shoulder and drive through your front heel to rise up to a standing position.” To complete the movement, simply reverse the process until you are lying flat on the ground again.
  
  See an example of this exercise here.
  
  Works
  Turkish get-ups boost shoulder stability and strength, anterior core strength, and glutes/hamstring/quadriceps. “In other words it works pretty much everything, which is why experts such as physical therapist Gray Cook utilise it with everyone from average Joes to pro athletes,” says Bathke.

Machine vs. Progress

Research corner time. I've had some time to sit down with the latest Journal of Strength and Conditioning and peruse the latest topics. Everyone's favorite, the good 'ol bench press got a few studies this time around, and one of them caught my eye as it is applicable to many gym goers:

"Comparison of Muscle Activation Between a Smith Machine and Free Weight Bench Press"
Done at the Exercise Physiology Lab at Cal State Fullerton, this study looks at how hard certain muscles work during a bench press done in a Smith machine

and free weight bench press with a barbell:

Don't you love cool old school pictures?

Back to the study. They used EMG sensors attached to the deltoids, triceps, and pec major to measure how hard the muscles has to work to accomplish the task. Long story short the free weight movement elicited greater muscle activation than the machine version.

And as you can tell the dude above is way more jacked than the woman in the Smith machine.... ;)

But another important point is that the free weight exercise requires greater stabilization of the glenohumeral joint (shoulder) - which means that the muscles such as the medial deltoid that do the stabilization will get better at this task, which will help keep you healthy.

In other words, stay off the damn machines if you want to get stronger and have healthy joints.

And briefly, another study looked at the effect of stretching before pressing, and found that contrary to some beliefs, stretching had no effect on strength and power production.

Seeing as most guys have shoulders tighter than steel cable go ahead and get all the flexibility work in you can. Yeah yeah...if you are a powerlifter than you will want to refrain from a lot of stretching 2 minutes before you lift... otherwise keep working on shoulder mobility as it will pay off big time down the road.

The Arnold Madness

A week and a half ago I ventured to the Arnold Fitness Festival in tropical Columbus, Ohio. As you read in my previous post a recurring back injury prevented me from competing so instead I judged the kettlebell sport competition, which turned out to be very enjoyable and not as monotonous as it would seem.

The competition consists of 2 events, the biathlon which is a 10 minute jerk set, followed by a ten minute snatch set, and the clean and jerk (long cycle) event, which is a single 10 minute set.

This is a video of a colleague Londin Winters (on the left in the white tank top), whom I have been coaching for about a month. She stepped up and did a great long cycle set with a 12kg (25lb) bell, hitting 104 reps in 10 minutes with only one hand switch allowed.

Notice the smoothness of movement all the athletes display, which is really what separates good from great performances moreso than strength. The average gym goer or athlete could learn much from this. As I've heard from many collegiate strength coaches the strongest guys in the gym are rarely, if ever, the best players on the field.



Look to improve your movement quality along with other aspects of fitness. It's often more important than strength or endurance when it comes to keeping healthy in the long or short term.

After the competition is when one can really engage in some learning, and this time was no exception. The following is a video of my friend John Wild Buckley hoisting various people overhead with one arm in front of a Mongolian BBQ joint. Needless to say we got some attention from the people inside!

Getting back to movement quality, imagine picking up a 150lb dumbbell and putting it over your head with one arm. Now imagine doing that with something that is off balance and hard to hold onto, such as a person, and you'll have some idea how hard that is. And it's not only strength that makes it possible, but coordination and structural integrity - stability from the foot thru the shoulder.

In other words things people will never develop sitting on a machine, doing curls, or cardio classes. Get on your feet and pick things up.