It's interesting... as our knowledge and understanding of the details of everything health and fitness get deeper, our country (or Western society as a whole) becomes more 'unhealthy' everyday.
Just take things from a medication perspective; what's one of the greatest challenges modern medicine faces? Prescription adherence.
A major problem is that exercise programs are essentially a prescription, leaving traditional exercise in the same category as medicine. Prescription adherence is, once again, the barrier to healthy movement.
As a culture, we need to find new and different solutions to our lack of movement, and prescriptions of programs are probably not the answer. Sure some may enjoy their 'programs' but collectively I am not so sure this is a sustainable option, and while a motivated few adhere, many are back to a sedentary life shortly after the New Year. It's important to find movement that one enjoys and that other's may enjoy as well. A person must find ways to work movement into everyday life. Just as Daniel Goleman's new book Ecological Intelligence suggests of ways to be better ecological consumers by knowing what we buy, where it came from and what it's effects are on the world; our society needs a shift in consciousness towards a "movement intelligence" in which we understand the importance of movement on our health and well-being, and have the consciousness to be able to make viable decisions within our current environment to attain greater frequency and diversity in our daily movements. Even more important is finding opportunities to get more play into our daily lives... however this is a great challenge, and would be for another discussion entirely, as the speed of life continues to increase and leisure time drops, leading to a decrease in community, which leads to a decline in all things health...
Its education and it needs to come from all places and people. Maybe something similar to what was done with smoking in our country? ... not sure, but we need to work on something...
Personally, as a strength and conditioning coach, I spend much of my time on searching and testing for the most effective ways to get the athletes better (speed, strength, power, agility, mobility, conditioning, nutrition, FIXING DYSFUNCTION... both 'physical' and 'psychological' and the interplay of those two) and what psychology is necessary to get this done... but many times this effort seems very futile. I mean coaches (both sport and S & C) want athletes to perform better and better, yet so many of today's athletes are or have been affected by our sedentary culture; a large decrease in free play outdoors and have learned awfully poor nutrition ("diet intelligence") habits growing up that we are now, as sport and performance coaches, we are to some extent working with 'unhealthy' people.
The thing I continually see is every expert coming out with more and more abstract information and products to fix this, improve that, when all they are is symptom fixes. Maybe we as coaches need to be redirecting our efforts to where it's needed. If we as coaches, athletes and fans really want to see the BETTER performances, the physical culture in our country needs to improve collectively. It may seem selfish on a sport level, but it's really not, because an improved physical culture (as you and I know) isn't just about improving one's physical fitness; it's about improving community, and the likelihood that people/children will be more active physically and socially, leading to better, healthier humans... which in the end, is a much improved canvas in which to create 'beautiful art' in whatever it is one may choose to pursue.
Move.
AS
Monday, February 8, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Normal
In the history of humans, this is the way we are supposed to run. Absolute grace and beauty.
Move.
AS
Monday, February 1, 2010
Disconnect
The following was sent out last week after we had a snowstorm which started as rain/sleet and turned to snow, subsequently leaving everything ice covered... ahhh... North Dakota.What this brought to my mind, which is sad, is the fact that we have become so 'disconnected' with our bodies and ability to move that we need "experts" to tell us how to do EVERYTHING. (... and to cover everyone's ass so that no one gets sued because someone moved their OWN DAMN BODY wrong)
The weather has caused icy conditions on our parking lots, roads, and sidewalks. We will continue to salt and sand to reduce the slipperiness as much as possible. Please report any hazardous conditions to Facilities Management at ***-****. There are some things that you can do to help reduce the risk of falling on ice. Here are some helpful hints.
1. Wear boots or overshoes with grip soles. Slick leather or rubber soles on dress shoes are unsafe on ice.
1. Wear boots or overshoes with grip soles. Slick leather or rubber soles on dress shoes are unsafe on ice.
2. Don't walk with your hands in your pockets. This reduces your balance if you slip on the ice.
3. Take short to medium steps, or shuffle your feet in very icy areas.
4. Don't carry or swing heavy loads, such as large boxes or cases, which could cause you to lose your balance when walking.
5. When walking, curl your toes under and walk as flat-footed as possible.
6. Don't step on uneven surfaces. Step well over or avoid curbs with ice on them.
7. Place your full attention on walking. Don't allow yourself to be distracted by texting, talking on the phone, getting your keys out of your pocket, etc. while walking on ice.
Once again, observe young children. When it's icy they know what to do, or they learn real quick. Children who have yet to be 'scarred' by our culture, know to slow down and if they don't, they fall with grace and skill because of their excellent mobility... and can survive, to learn from their mishap, and play another day.
Move.
AS
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
WTF?!
Another apocalyptic sign...
Novel pharmacological approaches to combat obesity and insulin resistance: targeting skeletal muscle with 'exercise mimetics'.
Carey AL, Kingwell BA.
Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
andrew.carey@bakeridi.edu.au
Chronic diseases arising from obesity will continue to escalate over coming decades. Current approaches to combating obesity include lifestyle measures, surgical interventions and drugs that target weight reduction or the metabolic consequences of obesity. Lifestyle measures including physical activity are usually the primary strategy, but these are of limited long-term efficacy because of failure to maintain behavioural change. An alternative approach used to elicit the benefits of exercise training and overcome the problems of long-term compliance is to develop drugs that mimic aspects of the trained state. Elucidation of metabolic pathways responsive to exercise in various tissues, particularly skeletal muscle, was an important antecedent to the promising concept of drugs that may mimic specific aspects of the exercise response. From an obesity perspective, an important aim is to develop an agent that reduces body fat and improves metabolic homeostasis. This review focuses on promising metabolic signalling pathways in skeletal muscle that may yield 'exercise mimetic' targets.
PMID: 19547950 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Like everything else; there's money to be made.
"C'mon Man."
Move.
AS
Novel pharmacological approaches to combat obesity and insulin resistance: targeting skeletal muscle with 'exercise mimetics'.
Carey AL, Kingwell BA.
Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
andrew.carey@bakeridi.edu.au
Chronic diseases arising from obesity will continue to escalate over coming decades. Current approaches to combating obesity include lifestyle measures, surgical interventions and drugs that target weight reduction or the metabolic consequences of obesity. Lifestyle measures including physical activity are usually the primary strategy, but these are of limited long-term efficacy because of failure to maintain behavioural change. An alternative approach used to elicit the benefits of exercise training and overcome the problems of long-term compliance is to develop drugs that mimic aspects of the trained state. Elucidation of metabolic pathways responsive to exercise in various tissues, particularly skeletal muscle, was an important antecedent to the promising concept of drugs that may mimic specific aspects of the exercise response. From an obesity perspective, an important aim is to develop an agent that reduces body fat and improves metabolic homeostasis. This review focuses on promising metabolic signalling pathways in skeletal muscle that may yield 'exercise mimetic' targets.
PMID: 19547950 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Like everything else; there's money to be made.
"C'mon Man."
Move.
AS
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Exercise Corrective
There has been some very good answers to my Just Questions... post. What I was hoping to do was ignite some thinking, especially regarding the corrective exercise stuff that seems to be the latest way to make money in the health and exercise industry.
My biggest issue with the corrective exercise stuff, as all the bright folks who responded to the post also stated, is that any movement/exercise can be corrective. I think too many of the "experts" have been spewing too much pseudo rehabilitation stuff and now everyone is over-thinking/over-correcting symptoms and playing the role of therapist. I thought exercise in general was theraputic and pro-active. What about true expert coaching of basics and allowing these basic gross movement patterns to do the correcting?
It's important to not settle for average technique and try to patch everything up with "corrective" work. Let's allow for individuals to access their motor learning capacities. Language, quality demonstration, and effective coaching cues are important here. Using language with a little emotion goes a long way as well. Watch a group getting an energetic talk about correct lifting posture. What do you notice? The audience begins to straighten-up.
I have dumped much of the activation/prehab/rehab work from most if not all the programs I write now, and have had hardly any issues because of it. I've been demanding in the correct technique of the major barbell and dumbell lifts and bodyweight movement. I also make sure to leave the weightroom as a place to develop strength and power, and have done as much as I can to get more time of our training sessions outside the weightroom for movement/speed/agility work. What's been amazing is how "corrective" good quality movement training and basic strength and power lifts can be. Repetition and patience is important... the athlete needs practice and time, and it's amazing what happens when it is given.
The major point here is, if one gets much better at coaching the basics and has a thorough understanding of the mechanics and physiology of basic exercise, it becomes much easier to spot problems that need correcting/adjustments. Now every moment spent with an athlete or client becomes an assessment and less time needs to be spent on specific assessment sessions and filling an athletes time and energy with more exercises than needed. Every individual only has a finite capacity for attention and energy. Let's put it to use with the most effective methods.
Obviously there is a time and place for "corrective" type work, but let's not make and lead everyone to believe they are a patient.
Move.
AS
My biggest issue with the corrective exercise stuff, as all the bright folks who responded to the post also stated, is that any movement/exercise can be corrective. I think too many of the "experts" have been spewing too much pseudo rehabilitation stuff and now everyone is over-thinking/over-correcting symptoms and playing the role of therapist. I thought exercise in general was theraputic and pro-active. What about true expert coaching of basics and allowing these basic gross movement patterns to do the correcting?
It's important to not settle for average technique and try to patch everything up with "corrective" work. Let's allow for individuals to access their motor learning capacities. Language, quality demonstration, and effective coaching cues are important here. Using language with a little emotion goes a long way as well. Watch a group getting an energetic talk about correct lifting posture. What do you notice? The audience begins to straighten-up.
I have dumped much of the activation/prehab/rehab work from most if not all the programs I write now, and have had hardly any issues because of it. I've been demanding in the correct technique of the major barbell and dumbell lifts and bodyweight movement. I also make sure to leave the weightroom as a place to develop strength and power, and have done as much as I can to get more time of our training sessions outside the weightroom for movement/speed/agility work. What's been amazing is how "corrective" good quality movement training and basic strength and power lifts can be. Repetition and patience is important... the athlete needs practice and time, and it's amazing what happens when it is given.
The major point here is, if one gets much better at coaching the basics and has a thorough understanding of the mechanics and physiology of basic exercise, it becomes much easier to spot problems that need correcting/adjustments. Now every moment spent with an athlete or client becomes an assessment and less time needs to be spent on specific assessment sessions and filling an athletes time and energy with more exercises than needed. Every individual only has a finite capacity for attention and energy. Let's put it to use with the most effective methods.
Obviously there is a time and place for "corrective" type work, but let's not make and lead everyone to believe they are a patient.
Move.
AS
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wisdom
"We need to teach weight trainers to work HARD. Not the pseudo stuff. Not the artificial gimaces, grunts and groans, but what my friend Mike Thompson calls 'THE REAL THING." Once lifters learn what hard work is really all about, and what it can do for a man, they will drop the all day idiot routines and the marathon training schedules like they were last week's garbage on a hot day in August. They will become dinosaurs: savage denizens of dungeon gyms who live for that extra rep, that extra pound of iron, and the feral thrill of bloody combat with an iron bar.
Do your own part to aid the revolution. Train hard. Train ferociously hard. Train as though your life depended on squeezing every last bit of effort from your body. Train so hard that a couple of hard exercises will knock you into next Tuesday. Train so hard that the mere idea of going to the gym on less than 48 or 72 hours rest is an absurdity. Train so hard that the four hour a day, six day a week crowd will barf in their water bottles when they see you in action. Strike a blow for dinosaurs. Strike a blow for men. Have the courage to train HARD. Have the courage to use an abbreviated program. Be a DINOSAUR!"
-Brooks Kubik. Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength Development.
AS
Do your own part to aid the revolution. Train hard. Train ferociously hard. Train as though your life depended on squeezing every last bit of effort from your body. Train so hard that a couple of hard exercises will knock you into next Tuesday. Train so hard that the mere idea of going to the gym on less than 48 or 72 hours rest is an absurdity. Train so hard that the four hour a day, six day a week crowd will barf in their water bottles when they see you in action. Strike a blow for dinosaurs. Strike a blow for men. Have the courage to train HARD. Have the courage to use an abbreviated program. Be a DINOSAUR!"
-Brooks Kubik. Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength Development.
AS
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Just Questions...
1. Does corrective exercise work? If so, does context make a difference?
2. Does corrective exercise address the cause or the symptom?
3. If all you're looking for is movement dysfunction, is all you find is movement dysfunction?
4. What happens to the psychology of an athlete when they have to follow corrective exercise protocols vs. the regular heavy training that the rest of his or her teammates are doing?
5. Should my kids get the flu shot; or does it just depend on who you talk to?
6. Is what we know about human gait wrong because we have been skewed by footwear?
7. Athletic training staffs across the country receive information from Perform Better with the latest being a email newsletter: "The Death of the Squat". With Coach Mike Boyle's latest "thought process"... being an "expert" with Perform Better... does this mean that we, as strength coaches who still have our athletes squat, now have to deal with possibly added resistance from the sports medicine staff about 'what we do', because a very well-known coach now says they are bad?
I would love to hear anyone's thoughts to any of these questions. Thanks.
Move.
AS
2. Does corrective exercise address the cause or the symptom?
3. If all you're looking for is movement dysfunction, is all you find is movement dysfunction?
4. What happens to the psychology of an athlete when they have to follow corrective exercise protocols vs. the regular heavy training that the rest of his or her teammates are doing?
5. Should my kids get the flu shot; or does it just depend on who you talk to?
6. Is what we know about human gait wrong because we have been skewed by footwear?
7. Athletic training staffs across the country receive information from Perform Better with the latest being a email newsletter: "The Death of the Squat". With Coach Mike Boyle's latest "thought process"... being an "expert" with Perform Better... does this mean that we, as strength coaches who still have our athletes squat, now have to deal with possibly added resistance from the sports medicine staff about 'what we do', because a very well-known coach now says they are bad?
I would love to hear anyone's thoughts to any of these questions. Thanks.
Move.
AS
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