Saturday, February 28, 2009

Squat: Over Head


85 days to Memorial Day

OH Squat

This is where we turn your functional training up to 11. Over head (OH) squats.Go back to the post dated 1/13/09 "Elder Respect part 2" and review the definition of functional. I want us on the same page here.

Ok, so same rules apply here as with the other squats. Neutral spine, ass out behind you and chest up in front. The goal is to allow the hips to sink back and down until your thighs are just about parallel with the ground and then back up to standing.

Starting with that bar at your chest, get your fingers under it. Grip it with your whole hand, palms up, and a generously wide grip. Take a quick dip with the hips and let your legs help you throw that bar up over head. Lock out the elbows. The arms should be just behind the line of your ears. STOP STARING IN THAT MIRROR! Listen to and feel your body. Use the force Luke. Use the force. Trust me on this.

Hips back & down, ass out, chest as up as possible. Keep your arms perpendicular to the floor the whole time.

Something else that goes against convention here, don't stare at or spot the ceiling during your squat. Our goal is to maintain a neutral spine. Can't do that when your neck, aka your cervical SPINE, is cranked all the way back to stare at the air conditioning. ducts. If you need a place to look, find where the wall meets the floor. Because of the rack placement in most gyms, this will line you up pretty well so that when you're at the bottom of the squat, the most complex & intense portion, you'll be pretty well in neutral.

Why overhead? Remember, the human body is one piece. We're creating greater active flexibility by applying a pre-stretch to the lats before the squat. As you sink down, your spine will move more towards parallel with the ground. Your arms must stay perpendicular to the ground, thus creating more active flexibility and range of motion through the shoulder joint and major muscles of the back. Additionally, since that weight is now arm's length above you, we're looking at stabilizing that load through the torso (core) and shoulders in a way you're not going to get with any other squat. You're forcing substantial additional strength increases and using both your time and your workout efficiently and effectively.

Additional benefit for same time commitment and a new and engaging challenge that will translate directly into your day. Go for it. Give it a shot.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Squat: Front

87 Days to Memorial Day

The sign up for this week's Saturday Night Blowout goes up today at 2pm. stop into West River or contact me to reserve your spot.

FRONT SQUAT:

You've had the better part of a week to work on those squats now. How's it going? Remember one of the central concepts to performing a squat is to keep your spine in a neutral position like you're just standing there. All the movement happens in the hips, knees & ankles.

Body Weight Squat. Got it covered.

A lot of trainers are going to move clients right into a dumbbell squat first off. It seems simple, easy to understand, weights are safely held down and by the side.

I'm going to argue against that. The problem here lies in that for new squatters, as your hip flexes in the down phase and your torso angles forwards, those bells are going to pull your arms and shoulders down and forward, separate your shoulder blades and open you up to a potentially hazardous compromise of posture in your spine.

I'm going to start you in the front squat. Load the barbell across the front of your shoulders. Cross your arms so your hands are on top of the bar holding it to your shoulders. Keep the elbows lifted. This is going to create an active contraction in the back that will keep your shoulders rolled back, scapulae together and spine nice & protected.Just like in the body weight squat, keep the body somewhat vertical, shoot the hips back and down to where your thigh is around parallel to the ground, depending on your range of motion, push through the entire foot and come back up to standing with your sternum leading the way.

Pick a very managable & consertive weight & practice. As you get more comfortable with the high center of gravity & the flexibility challenge, begin moving up. Remember, feet flat the whole time, neutral spine and knees headed in the same direction as your toes.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Squats: The How


89 days to Memorial Day.

Front loaded, back loaded, overhead, dumbbell, sand, pistol...

There are a thousand different kinds of squats. But in each, the mechanics are the same. Plantar flexion, knee extension, hip extension. The angle at each of those joints gets larger through the phase of movement that moves against gravity. Conquer the basic mechanics first and you can move on to handle most anything.

Find a stool, box, chair, whatever that's just about as high as your knee is off the ground. Stand with your back to it. Imagine two things: You have a thin wire from the ceiling attached to your sternum. You have the greatest, shapely'est ass the world has ever known.

Now stick that ass out behind you like you're showing it off. You want the world to see. Push it back, back, and lower until you touch but don't settle onto the box/stool/whatever. Don't forget that string to your sternum. It's pulling up and causing you to throw your chest forward and up as you sink down. Chest out. Ass out. Not stand up with your sternum leading the way. Done & done.

Do it again. This time at the bottom of the movement look at your knees. Notice also which direction your toes are pointing. If your knees aren't lined up with the toes, make sure they do. Wide, straight, whatever. As long as it's the same direction. Rinse & repeat until you get it right without having to think about it. And NO MIRRORS. Practice feeling how your body is moving. Mirrors slow you down.

Next time, squat variants.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Saturday Night Blowout


When we accept and decide to work with the idea that the separation between strength and cardio training is a completely synthetic and man made distinction, all the rules in the gym change.  Strategies, goals and our very priorities must change. In a Darwinian world a five hundred pound leg press doesn't do you a shot glass of good if it's not paired with your ability to perform over time. 

And this is the world one of our participants began to see last
 night. When it becomes unrealistic to achieve your goal in short order, you have to make a  plan and set your interim goals accordingly. Way points in the road to achievement. And in the end, your goal setting and, even more, your dedication to those goals determines the level of that achievement. Great job Nathan. That distinct sensation of feeling like a lump of kneaded dough goes away after the first couple.

Beast down, on to Hellion.  When you've performed almost four minutes straight each of lunging, squatting, swinging and otherwise exploding through space with your whole body, where Mike gets the ability to motivate as many jumps with as much power as he does is nothing short of astounding. What you perform on a weekly basis is the payoff and should be the aspiration of anyone committed to a regular fitness and performance program. Great stuff.

Nathan picked himself up a few new skills out in court 3.  Coming into it with as much weight lifted over time as he did, it didn't seem to matter because he,
without being told really, found the first rule of Saturday Night: Just keep moving. Awesome job. 

I can't wait for next week.

Post times for each event to comments.

Squat: Learn, Know & Love


91 days to Memorial Day

Squat Intensive

We touched on this in "Foundation X". Now we're going to break down the squat a bit more; the whys and hows.

When you get up out of bed every morning, out of any chair, off the toilet seat, out of the car, you're performing a squat. When you're walking running or climbing stairs, you're performing a one sided (unilateral) alternating squat. When you're picking the bags from market up off the floor, lifting your kids onto the counter to tie their shoes or heaving that box out of storage, you're performing a squat under load.

You already do it all day long every day, so why not become more efficient about it? Why not learn to do it better.

Additionally, when performing a squat, you're activating the largest and some of the deepest muscles in your body. These are the muscles in your legs, your gleuts and the muscles all around your torso. Think about it. That's about 2/3 your body in one movement. So for everyone trying to get into bikini season shape, this is a perfect example of how aesthetics are a consequence of fitness. If you train this movement to be stronger and more efficient, you have created the lean mass in your hips legs and "core" that you're looking for. The bonus here is that when you start from the movement point of view, it's just plain going to last longer with less effort. Train your body the way it was made to move.

The how comes next.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Breathe Later

The sign up sheet for this week's Saturday Night Blowout is up and ready to go. Contact me or stop by West River to reserve space.

I want to give some quick props to Jen Place, a triathlete and old friend of mine. She just posted a perfect example of fitness in the real world. I'm going to quote from her blog (JenPlace.blogspot.com) here. "...
after that, I ran errands, literally, around my neighborhood and then an hour of strength training in the afternoon. Having a backpack full of groceries, I found, is a great way to work on running strength!" Look back to Foundation VII. Fitness doesn't just exist in the gym. Find those things you can use to challenge yourself every day. Awesome job Jen.

Now, on to the big show...

Breathe Later!

Take stock my friend. Take stock and dare to push yourself.

While traveling to visit family recently my wife and I ended up training at one of those open 24 hours a day chain gyms. At least I thought it was a gym. My mistake. Once we were inside, turns out we'd signed up for a gym themed social club. It must have been a good five minutes on the floor before I saw anybody pick something up or lift their extremely well rested derriere up off the comfy bench or lay-z boy styled style machines they were holding hostages. Cliques of "workout" buddies and friends hanging out, waiting for the next round of Sports Center.

Ladies and gentlemen, checking in at the desk to merely check out on the floor does not constitute a workout and will not get you anywhere.

I've been questioned as to why I hate TVs in the gym so much. Plain & simple, if you have time to watch TV in the gym, you're not working hard enough. And that applies to every fitness level. It's scalable to everyone. If you are working efficiently and pushing your body at the appropriate level to illicit a training response, you're not going to have time to give one rat's furry butt which Olsen twin was seen doing what or who admitted to using steroids this week.

You've got a tv at home. You've got tv in your car, on your cell phone, iPod.... Try not watching it for 30 minutes while you're working out. Focus on your routine. Rest later. Breathe later. Work now and actually see results.

Happy hour is over kids. We've got work to do.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Excuses excuses

95 days until Memorial Day my friends. What are you doing to get ready?


Some of you know Meme Roth. Many of you I suspect don't. A quick Google search will give you more info than you would possibly ever want to read on the subject (no offense Meme). Meme is an anti obesity activist. Extreme in her views & ways? Possibly. But then again, aren't all change makers? I consider her a friend of mine and we share several beliefs. Foremost amongst them is a belief in her declaration to,"...shelve all excuses and take it upon myself to maintain a healthy body."

How long have you been working on the same goal in your fitness life? Don't give me an excuse, just an answer. How long? What's standing in your way? Honestly, no excuses now. What's in your way?

More often than not we are our own greatest hurdle to our goals. It's not your busy schedule. It's not your genetics. It's not your kids. Take ownership & quit making excuses. Hit your goals and move on to a better, healthier phase of your life.

"But I'm too busy with work and..." If you have your priorities in order, it won't matter. If your health & fitness are important enough to you, you will find the time. "Too busy" is an excuse. "Too tired" is an excuse. Your own fear of committing to positive change is an excuse. Don't let it rule you. Laziness is the worst of all excuses. When cocktail hour and reruns of Lost take the place of making a difference in your own life, you are embracing and fueling the very habits an behaviors that hold you down. Take responsibility and get moving.

It's no secret we have a colossal problem with our weight in this country. Excuses are the fertalizer for that problem. Get rid of yours.

Join Meme's fight against obesity at ActionAgainstObesity.com

Monday, February 16, 2009

Foundation Wrap Up


Put It Into Practice

Having said all that, now it's time to give it a try. If you haven't already started incorporating the foundations into your workout, I'd like to invite you to a couple of events that really demonstrate these principles quite clearly.


Every Saturday I lead an open level class at my club on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Saturday Night Blowout starts at 6:30pm, West River Health & Racquet Club, 424 West End Ave. Every week the dedicated gather together to look at how to use the whole body as one piece to accomplish the task at hand, or attain certain goals. Most nights there's a friendly competition worked in, sometimes in a team setting, other times not. In any case, I'm not going to lie, we work HARD and you've probably never worked out like this before.


Bring a friend. Otherwise they won't believe you accomplished what you did.


The other event is Steve's Midnight Madness in Astoria. I have a link to his blog in the right hand side bar. Every Thursday at midnight we gather at The Rock on 31st St & Ditmars. Steve gets it folks. He understands how to get the most out of the human body in so far as performance. Check out his blog and you'll start to get a feel for his approach each week.


Don't be shy. Come on over. Get some hands on experience to take with you.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Bonus Foundation


Eat.

Simple. Straight forward. You can't (not won't, can't) succeed if you don't. You must provide your body with fuel. Fuel allows you to work. Work builds lean mass. Lean mass burns more fuel (fat). Burning more fuel over time means you've raised your metabolism. This means you process more fuel, thus can sustain a higher level of work, thus you building more lean mass and burn an ever increasing amount of fuel (fat). See the upward spiral? So that salad and glass of water ain't gonna cut it dear.

And you know what else? Mama was right. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So EAT BREAKFAST. A study released by the Endocrine Society in June 2008 showed a several hundred percent increase in weight loss among those that eat a big well balanced breakfast against those who don't. So skip the Special K, slow down for just a few minutes, grab some turkey sausage, eggs and whole wheat toast and go to town.

Eat.

Don't make me say it again.

Consult MyPyramid.gov to get an idea of your approximate recommended daily nutritional intake.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Foundation X


Squat Damnit!


There is nothing more functional, nothing more applicable, and nothing SAFER in training than the squat.


End of story. I don't want to hear it. Scream whatever kind of sharing forces, compressive forces, lower back issues you want to. If you move through your day on two feet on a regular basis, you should be doing some sort of squatting.


You squat every morning getting out of bed, every time you get up from your morning constitutional, get out of the car, up off the subway seat... You squat. Shouldn't you practice to be better, more efficient and stronger at it? Knee problems, hip issues, lower back problems; there is a variant of the squat that can and actually will help you improve. That having been said, if you have any of those issues, remember, consult a licensed professional before taking on any physically exertive activities.


Why? You're working posture, coordination, legs, hips, back, shoulders, proprioception and balance, just to name a few. The sheer act of walking is a form of reciprocating unilateral squat. So find something, put it on the ground or some place that lends its self to easy loading and PICK IT UP!!


Now, when we want to take this a step further and get seriously efficient with your time, we'll talk about overhead squatting.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Foundation IX


Balance: Remix

You've trained yourself to balance your body, now train the body to be balanced. Instead of equilibrium, this time I'm talking about balanced movement. For each push, there's a pull.

You've seen that guy walking around the gym on pencil legs with the rounded shoulders, knuckles dragging the ground while he walks? That's anterior rounding. He's not working through his back and legs as much as he's working his bench and those "curls for the girls." He's also predispositioned himself for injury and back pain. Don't be neanderthal man. Train balanced movements.

Pull a weight towards your body. Do it a certain amount of times. Now find an equivalent weight and push it away from the body in the same manner. Pick a weight up and throw it away.

Take foundations 2, 4, 5 & 7. Get outside, reach down to the ground, pick up something heavy and throw the thing as hard as you can. Ask the boys over at the Eads House of Pain how much fun it can be to throw a kettlebell on the beach.


Sunday, February 8, 2009

Saturday Night Blowout




Foundational fitness postings will continue tomorrow. Right now we need to take time to recognize last night's athletes.

Last night we met a new beast and it's no small thing to say that each of our athletes met it head on.

It seems simple. You've got ten minutes. You've got one task. You get to pick the load and the modality for that task, but you just can't stop. Keep moving. Keep pulling. Keep engaging your entire body to accomplish one thing. When that one movement is a clean, when that one demand is full body coordination, explosiveness, power...it takes its toll very quickly. But we're not done yet. This evolution is only halfway over. 
This is only the second time our athletes have met a Barbarian. Each has to depend on another to find success. Each has to depend on another in order to find their own way through to the end. The clock doesn't stop ticking. The "rest" is built in. It's funny how in some cases the rest makes you pray for the release found in the work. 

Walking into a room with weights, machines, tools, various implements and loads to lift, push, pull and throw, we know how hard things can get. We have an idea of just how difficult the next few minutes of our lives can be. But what happens when we walk into an empty room, working only against our own body weight in space? Excuses are lost. We literally become our own challenge, our own barrier, our own obstacle.
The same rules apply. We lift, push, pull & throw. But this time, it's not the machine or the barbell that is too heavy or too hard. We succeed or we only have ourselves to blame. Hence more often than not...we succeed.

Awesome work everyone. For the first time an entire class has stepped up to the evening and unflinchingly completed the entire evolution. Every week your body and your determination changes. Every week you get stronger, faster and more efficient. You are evolving. 

Keep it up.

Foundation VIII


Train your balance.

In practicing Foundation II, you've already started this process.

You're on your feet, now move your feet in closer together. Practice the same movement you were practicing. Now stand in a staggered stance. Practice like that.

The more you challenge your body's ability to keep both feet on the ground, the more you're stimulating response and growth from the body. It's like saying "This one goes to 11!" If you've got all your stabilizers switched on and firing just by standing up, now we're ratcheting them up a little higher by challenging your equilibrium.

It would be nice if all life's demands were thrown at us when we're standing at the ready in the universal athletic stance, but they're not. You never know when you might have to jump back up the curb because of that taxi you didn't see coming. And you're certainly not necessarily going to be standing in correct neutral posture ready to receive your luggage in the middle of the swarming throngs of people at the baggage carousel when you lunge past that blue hair in front of you to grab your bag.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Foundation VII


Don't Limit Yourself to the Gym.

Get outside. Get some fresh air. Remember back a few weeks. Arthur Saxon himself, in both of his books, was a huge proponent of getting out in to the fresh air. There were very few things he valued as much and there currently are very few things that I believe can make your workout more functionally applicable.

Practice doing the things you enjoy doing or find yourself doing every day. Take your regular afternoon walk, but wear a backpack with a few pounds of books in it. Take the dogs for a jog instead of a walk. See how many times you can squat down and lift that 2 gallon jug of olive oil you got at Costco from floor to counter before you have to rest. See if you can make it all the way across those monkey bars.

Make your fitness plan real and immediately related to your routine.

When you make tasks in every day life harder, the rest is cake.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Foundation VI


Vairety

It's widely understood that over time, most programs have a goal of moving progressively heavier weight. But don't get hung up on load. We're training performance here. We're not training to be Mr. Olympia (God forbid).

Maybe you move similar weights, but decrease your rest? Maybe you start looking at power development and moving that load, or just yourself, as fast as possible. Maybe you change up the complexity and move two lighter objects instead of one. I'm not advocating that we never lift heavy. Lord knows I love picking heavy sh*t up. But we have to move beyond just lifting heavier.

Your body and your sustained results will thank you.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Foundation V


Train With Complexity

If you look at most strength training programs, they use both arms or both legs at the same time & push/pull a weight in front of or below you. It's a good start, but the key is to move beyond.

A significant portion of our days are spent using one side of the body at a time, turning, twisting, reaching at odd angles.

Our training should reflect that. Tie this in with foundation II and III. Stand up in your space. Reach across your body to pick something up off the ground. If you don't have the range of motion to perform this safely, then reach across to a low table or chair. Stand back up straight with the object. Feels pretty natural doesn't it? That's because we spend most of our day doing that. Now ind something a little harder to pick up and keep practicing.

Remember, when you go to the gym & make normal life harder, everything else is cake.