What is it that makes us ignore the very clear signals our body provides? I talk about this without judgment, as I have been there. I know what it’s like to include “vitamin I” as part of my daily nutrition (in fact for me it evolved to Celebrex). But most of these long term injuries are completely preventable. If we listen to, and respect, the pain signals our body gives, we can avoid months (sometimes years) of pain and medical expenses. The irony of course is that our effort to not miss a few days or weeks of our beloved sport leads to missing weeks, months or even years of our beloved sport.
How much is your bench press worth?
This week I decided to put my body length theory to the test. Yvan is a friend of mine at the gym where I train. He has what I think are fantastic proportions for weight lifting: short arms and a fairly big chest. It is no surprise that he is very strong in the bench press, as you’ll see in this video. As you watch the video, take note of how much vertical distance the bar covers for a full range bench press.
Push-Ups!
The article has two distinct parts:
– an interesting discussion about proper push-up technique, and the muscle involvement and biomechanics of push-up variations
– a set of progressions (with video instruction) to help progress people to be able to do proper pushups. If you’ve struggled with them, or if your clients have struggled with them, you may find some new ideas here.
More Exercise Progressions: TRX Half Pendulum
I didn’t really think further about the TRX pendulum until yesterday when it hit me: Start with a half-pendulum. That is, only swing one leg out at a time. Add a brief isometric hold and we’ve got ourselves a great core exercise but one that is more accessible. It looks like this:
Use the TRX to Work Your Way up to Pullups
Raise your hand if you’ve seen people do pullups and thought “I wish I could do that”, but then you never tried it because you didn’t want to look like a weakling in front of all the other people in the gym (who probably would think “good for you for trying” but in our minds they would point and laugh).
Movement Assessment for Skiers
Have you ever wondered if your movement on land was limited? That maybe that was limiting your ability to move well on skis? If yes, try the movements in this video. If you find that you have trouble with any of these movements, or that they feel differently from one side to the other, you have a limitation. The key to this approach is recognizing that there are both functional and structural alignment issues. Assessment and exercise are your best option if the problem you have is functional. If the problem is structural, then that will not completely address your problem. Structural problems should be corrected with boot alignment.
What Is Your Margherita Pizza?
So we can judge a pizzeria on how well they make a Margherita pizza, and a coffee shop on their espresso. What about your profession? I am wondering this myself. There are a lot of personal trainers out there, and a lot of gyms. Each has their own menu of offerings, and their own specialties. But what is that basic, simple, product or service or behaviour that we offer that really defines our performance?
Shoveling as a workout?
For many, shoveling is the big frustration. It’s hard work if you have a big driveway. I’m not sure if this is a surprise to anyone, but emergency rooms fill up after big snow falls. Okay, I’m sure that doesn’t surprise anyone. Many of the visits are from falling injuries – slippery sidewalks, ski or snowboard tumbles, and of course toboggan injuries. But did you know there is also an increase in cardiac incidents? It turns out that shoveling is both frustrating and dangerous.
At The Gym: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Even though I am a trainer and have the equipment to work out at home or at the sports therapy clinic where I work, I…
Lessons about low back pain (part one)
I had the pleasure of spending two days at a Dr. Stuart McGill seminar about “Building the Ultimate Back”. Dr. McGill is a spine biomechanist…