The one truly horrifying image that will make you reconsider wearing heels

There are often articles that pop up in newspapers and blogs, and on the health segments of television news shows that explain the health problems people who wear high heels will likely face. Inevitably they include a stylized x-ray image of a woman’s foot with highlights of the pain and damage points. Probably the people who write, produce, and share those images and articles think it will scare women into wearing more sensible shoes. I wonder if anyone has been convinced by those messages? My guess is very few.
Maybe there’s a better way. What if this was the message:

Skiing and knee injuries: can you train for them?

The following video is a clip from a presentation I gave at the Ottawa Ski Show two years ago about training for skiing. I’ll be sharing a few more clips on topics related to training for skiing over the next few weeks. Each one is less than 5 minutes (I think – or close to), and covers a topic related to skiing and training.

The 30 day The Core is the Core challenge

Every day for the next 30 days, you will do 4 exercises, one each for:

Anterior (front) core
Lateral/rotary (side) core
Posterior (butt!) core
Core plus – an exercise that is big on core but also works something else
Anyone see what I did there? Balance! When I think of core, I think of the many great trainers and educators whom I have learned from over the years. Virtually all of them advocate a strong core, but their definition of core goes far beyond “the six pack muscles”. We got obliques, we got transverse abdominus, we got glutes, we got multifidus, we got QL…There’s a whole lotta muscles in your core, and all are important in maintaining a happy, healthy, and high-performing body.

Plyometrics: Are they hurting or helping you?

Plyos without the less cool tools like weight training, muscle activation, foam rolling, and stretching, is almost always problematic. And unfortunately this is how they tend to be used. I can’t count how many discussions I’ve had or overheard about an awesome 45 minute plyo session. They may be fun 45 minute plyo sessions; and they may make you feel tired; but I guarantee they are not awesome.

Programming adjustment for single limb training

The primary reason that I love unilateral training is that it helps to identify strength and flexibility differences from side to side. I see these across all types of people, but especially among those who play a sport that uses one side more than the other. If you think about it, this is almost every sport with the exception of running, swimming and cycling (If I missed one please let me know in the comments below). Even those sports will tend to have a unilateral element to it: