Z-Health and the ABCs of Movement

“Make the impossible possible, the possible easy, the easy elegant…” – Moshe Feldenkrais, founder Feldenkrais method of somatic education

The Movement Alphabet

Watch someone walk, run, throw, swing, dance, sit down, shovel snow or pick up something off the ground–watch someone move in other words. Look closely. You’ll notice movement at very nearly each and every joint. From the toes to the ankles to the knees, hips, spine, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers and possibly the jaw you’ll likely see at least some degree of movement to the point that you may realize each and every joint plays a role in our larger movements.

If we think of these general movements as words, then movement at each individual joint is a letter of an alphabet. This alphabet is the very foundation of how we move. So the better our command and recognition of each letter, the smoother, the faster, the stronger our movement no matter what our event or activity.

Z-Health R-Phase: Learning the Alphabet

R-Phase is the foundation of Z-Health. The R stands for injury Rehabilitation, movement Restoration all via neural Re-education. We accomplish these goals in R-Phase by establishing (or re-establishing) a connection between the brain and all of our joints. Why? Because the majority of chronic pain issues are movement problems. (i.e. “It hurts when I reach over head/climb stairs/turn my head…” In other words pain is involved in movement.) It’s the disconnection of these components that often result in poor movement and thus pain. Or to use the alphabet/word analogy, it’s like we’re trying to spell a word but we don’t have all the letters we need, so our words are no good. Our alphabet is complete once we have precise perception and control at every speed of every joint in the body.

Master the Foundations to Become Excellent

Many top athletes are known for their dedication to practice. Michael Jordan was known to show up before practice and games to shoot free throws. No noise. No opponent. No distractions. Just him a ball and a basket. And he worked on mastering the very basic element of his sport, over and over and over… Kobe Bryant is said to have similar habits. Michael Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys was known for being the first on the practice field and the last to come off. Further, a little known fact about boxing champ “Sugar” Ray Leonard was that he used to practice his punches and footwork in super-slow motion so he could perfect his technique. In a recent New York Times article, former diving-champ-turned-coach Greg Louganis “insists his divers show proficiency in one fundamental before moving on to the next.” The article goes on to say:

“As a competitor, Louganis’s mechanics were so sound that China’s national coaches in the 1980s pored over film of his dives and tailored their programs to match his technical precision. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Chinese have dominated diving much as Louganis did.”

Do you see a trend here?

The best in the world are intensely dedicated to mastering the simplest details of their sport. Whether they know it or not, they are working toward Moshe Feldenkrais’ ideal to, “Make the impossible possible, the possible easy, the easy elegant…” It’s not some in-born “talent” that we see in the masters of sports, music, etc. It’s the deeply ingrained understanding and perception of the basics that allow the great ones to become great. And the good news from all of this is that anyone–anyone–can move closer to fast, nimble, pain-free movement if we dedicate ourselves to perfecting the basics of movement.

I Need More Rest & Recovery

Sometimes I tell my clients, “I make all the dumb mistakes so you don’t have to.” Well, I continue to make less-than-intelligent decisions from time to time when it comes to exercise. I’ve been working out very hard for several weeks and I seem to have overstepped my boundaries. I’ve got some aches and pains that are proving difficult to resolve. Therefore it’s time to dial back my efforts, prioritize rest, and let all my various tissues and functions restore themselves.

I want to deadlift 500 lbs. That’s my big goal this year. In order to hit this goal I must put in very hard work. Hard workouts must be balanced by adequate rest–but not total rest. I’ve been lifting three days per week with the idea that I’m doing one heavy workout, followed by a light workout 48 hours later, then a medium workout again 48 hours after that. Then it’s two days off lifting and I start it all over. As important as it is to lift hard on the hard day, it’s equally (maybe even more) important to ease up on the other days, especially the light day. So while I’ve definitely been hitting the hard days, I believe I have fallen short of my goal of lifting light.

So here’s my strategy. I’ve based the next few weeks on a variation of the Texas Method as discussed in Practical Programming for Strength Training, the brilliant book by Rippetoe and Killgore. This calls for a Monday/Wednesday/Friday type of pattern with a medium workout on Monday, a light workout on Wednesday and and the heavy workout on Friday. Here’s my plan:

Monday: Medium Day

Back squat: 3 x 8 reps
Pushups: 3 x to exertion (10-25) but not exhaustion; alternated each workout with
chin-ups: 3 x 5 (I may play around with band chin-ups to get more reps; I’m not terribly strong on the pull/chin-ups and my forearm is banged up.)
Back extension: 3 x 8-10 reps
I must stay far away from anything that feels like exhaustion or muscular failure.
I’ll likely add back bench press and/or overhead presses once my wrists and shoulders feel better.

Wednesday: Light Day

Turkish Get-Ups: 1×5 reps each arm–AND THAT’S IT!

Friday: Heavy Day

Deadlift: work up to 1 x 2 reps near goal max
Speed deadlift: 3 x 3 around 70% of goal max alternated each workout with kettlebell swings
Romanian Deadlift: 3 x 5 reps
chin-ups: 3 x 5 alternated each workout with
pushups: 3 x to exertion (10-25 reps)

The key to all this is paying attention to how I test during each workout after every exercise. I’ll be assessing and re-assessing my range of motion frequently (most likely with a standing toe-touch type of assessment), and I’ll be performing Z-Health joint mobility drills often. If I tighten up at all or if I feel any pain then I MUST stop and call it a day. This is of course counter-instinctive to me but I know I’ll feel better if I do. The ultimate goal is 500 lbs. on that deadlift and I won’t get there if I’m beat up.

Exercise and Relationships, Lift Weights to Lose Weight, Books

Exercise & Relationships

What happens to a relationship when one person exercises a lot and the other doesn’t? The Wall St. Journal offers an analysis of several such situations in A Workout Ate My Marriage. As you might imagine, stress may develop if one partner spends a lot of time training and the other doesn’t.

We see this situation with Caren and Jordan Waxman. Jordan is not only a Merrill Lynch exec with two law degrees and an MBA, he’s also an Ironman triathlete who competes all over the country. His time spent training plus his job requirements means significant time away from his wife and family.

The article quotes a therapist:

“Exercise is getting more and more couples into my office,” says Karen Gail Lewis, a Cincinnati marriage and family therapist.

The article profiles other couples including the strange pairing of an avid marathoner and vegetarian with a sedentary mean-and-potatoes fellow who just recently gave up a two-pack-a-day smoking habit. Lois and Gary Berkowitz occupy opposite ends of the exercise spectrum yet they seem happily married. He accompanies her to races and helps edit a running newsletter. All seems well for them.

(Interestingly, all the athletes profiled are endurance athletes. No weightlifters, powerlifters or bodybuilders appeared in the article. What are their relationships like? Perhaps the much smaller time requirements to get stronger mean happier marriages than the hours and hours required to win marathons and triathlons.)

Lift Weights to Lose Weight

Alwyn Cosgrove and his wife Rachel are both highly successful trainers and owners of Results Gym in California. Alwyn’s blog is full of useful information, and I recommend you have a look at it. One such article is The New Science of Fat Loss. (This first appeared in Men’s Health.) The article discusses the old myth that low-intensity aerobic exercise is the best way to shed fat. New research suggests that weight training burns more calories per unit of time. Researchers put subjects on a reduced-calorie diet and put them in three groups. One group didn’t exercise, another performed aerobic exercise 3 days a week, and a third did both aerobic exercise and weight training 3 days a week. The article states:

“The results: Each group lost nearly the same amount of weight—about 21 pounds per person in 12 weeks. But the lifters shed 5 more pounds of fat than those who didn’t pump iron. The weight they lost was almost pure fat, while the other two groups shed 15 pounds of lard, but also gave up 5-plus pounds of muscle.”

What’s the take-home message? Weight training is a must for physique change! If you’re using plodding, long-duration/low-intensity cardio work as your primary means of weight loss you’re behind the times and you’re wasting time.

My Reading List: The Talent Code, Sports Vision, Motivational Interviewing

If you’re a fitness professional and/or a fitness geek like me, there are three books you’ll want to have a look at. The first is The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Made. Here’s How. Daniel Coyle’s book looks at the physiological and psychological components of “talented” and highly successful individuals from athletes to musicians to mathematicians. Three key points discussed in the book are:

• Deep Practice Everyone knows that practice is a key to success. What everyone doesn’t know is that specific kinds of practice can increase skill up to ten times faster than conventional practice.

• Ignition We all need a little motivation to get started. But what separates truly high achievers from the rest of the pack? A higher level of commitment—call it passion—born out of our deepest unconscious desires and triggered by certain primal cues. Understanding how these signals work can help you ignite passion and catalyze skill development.

• Master Coaching What are the secrets of the world’s most effective teachers, trainers, and coaches? Discover the four virtues that enable these “talent whisperers” to fuel passion, inspire deep practice, and bring out the best in their students.

Do you train vision? In the gym? Do you ever think about your eyes when you’re working out. If not, you should. It’s our most vital sense after all. In the Z-Health community, we often discuss vision and the tremendous influence it has on all our bodily processes–including pain, strength and mobility. Sports Vision: Training for Better Performance is required reading for Z-Health trainers. It goes deep into the role our visual system plays in our ability to perform. The book contains many drills designed to improve visual acuity and thus sport performance.

Finally, Motivational Interviewing is considered a must-read by anyone involved in a field such as coaching or personal training. Too often we trainers and coaches focus on the exercise portion of weight loss and athletic performance. We don’t spend enough time figuring out the psychological components of motivation and behavior change. Our role is to motivate clients and athletes to work hard and achieve big goals. Therefore this book is essential to any fitness professional’s library.

New Year’s Resolutions

“This year I will… (insert whatever gargantuan tried-for-before-but-never-accomplished miracle you wish; for our purposes here we’ll say:) get in shape.”
– thousands of new gym members

Now’s the time of year when many a well meaning American joins a gym, vows to give up their favorite food, start eating their least favorite food, exercise like Hercules, change their physique… and generally repeat a pattern they’ve performed before–which includes struggle and failure. Some time around the end of March the pattern will look the same as last year: Minimal weight lost. Resolution forgotten. (The good news for me is that a lot of these fine folks will enlist my assistance in achieving their goals. My genuine hope is that I help create new exercise lovers.) Is there a way to actually realize our once and future fitness goals? Very likely.

Your Brain Doesn’t Have a New Year’s Resolution

First, why do we fail at these goals in the first place? A recent article in the Miami Herald, New Year’s resolutions? Brain can sabotage success discuss the role of the brain in this process. Essentially the immediate reward often outweighs the long-term results we’re seeking. Fudge tastes good now. Getting strong and lean takes weeks. Put another way: It’s the dopamine stupid.

Dopamine is released during rewarding experiences. Sex, tasty food, various drugs, fun times all release dopamine. We tend to form habits around the activities that release dopamine. These habits and rituals become very hard wired in our brain. Examples include a smoke after a meal, snacks in front of the TV, junk food at the movie. Further, we like our dopamine now not later. Thus that tasty dessert provides the deeply wired payoff we want. For someone new to exercise or who’s had negative experiences with exercise, there’s not much dopamine to be found at the gym.

Survival, the Brain & Energy Expenditure

Very nearly every feeling, thought, drive and signal in our bodies is there for our survival. Neurological activity is calorically expensive. (That is, we use a lot of calories to perform brain functions such as learning new skills. Exercise and new eating habits are definitely skills). If we use up too many calories then we’ll die. Our brain knows all this, and here lies the foundation of thwarted resolutions.

Drastic changes such as those often attempted by Resolutioners makes the brain say, “Whoa! We need to avoid all this new hard work or we might DIE!” Plus there’s no dopamine involved in all this new activity–but the stress of all this change makes us seek out our beloved dopamine/fudge/ice cream/onion rings/etc. The result is we have a really hard time sticking to our big goal. So how do we proceed?

Threat Modulation for a Successful Resolution

We talk extensively in Z-Health about threats and threat modulation. We learn that small, incremental changes are far less threatening to our survival instincts than drastic changes. We tend to stick with small changes better than big changes. With regard to our fitness resolutions, we have several considerations in this direction.

First we might consider diet and exercise. These are two different things. Someone may well be ready to start exercising but not at all ready to make dietary changes or vice versa. If we try to change both aspects then we will find it tough going. Therefore we should start making changes where success is most likely to occur.

Second, within either diet or exercise, we should consider what’s ideal versus what’s truly realistic. If your favorite food is doughnuts for breakfast then yes, giving them up completely is a great idea. But in reality it likely isn’t happening. But can we get someone to go from eating doughnuts for breakfast five days a week to only four days a week? Maybe. Or can this person go from three doughnuts a day to three doughnuts every other day–and only two doughnuts on the other days? Sounds reasonable. These are rather small steps–but they are steps forward.

Similarly, many Resolutioners come into the gym telling themselves and anyone who’ll listen that they’re ready to work extremely hard every day of the week.

“I’m not fooling around this time! I want to see results–and I want to see them fast! I’ll do Whatever It Takes!”

Yet typically these folks aren’t undertaking any exercise at all. So going from no exercise to a superhuman level of exercise is again a threat to our survival with no dopamine payoff. Great way to sabotage the resolution. It’s far more realistic for someone to go from no days per week of exercise to two days. Then a couple of weeks later add another day.

(Oddly enough, a trainer has a powerful tool to employ when someone talks about undertaking unrealistically lofty s actions: We say, “Nope. Don’t do that.” They’ll likely start arguing for their own beneficial change. It works off a phenomenon called the righting reflex. Think of a parent giving a kid orders. “Do this.” “Don’t do that.” He or she will resist whatever they’re told to do or not do. Tell someone what they already know such as “You need to start exercising,” and they’ll likely give you reasons why they can’t or won’t. In contrast, tell a someone NOT to exercise too much and suddenly he or she will start agitating to exercise. They’ll argue against their own worst habits.)

Tortoise vs. the Hare

So again, in the ideal situation, someone who eats garbage and never exercises should some day eat well and exercise regularly. In order to get to this new lifestyle though, gradual, non-threatening change is the way to go if we want to achieve our fitness goal at all, much less maintain our new sleek physique.

So we might consider only changing one part of this equation. We might create a small, very achievable goal such as dedicating one hour, twice a week to exercising with a trainer for four weeks. If the clieint achieves this goal then they’ve found success and success begets success. (Very likely they’re already feeling better from this moderate level of exercise and they want to feel even better.) We might then add one day of exercise and also consider dedicating one day per week to healthy eating. Psychologically, if the client experiences success–even on a small scale–we get that dopamine payoff and suddenly they’ve developed an exercise habit. We’re now well on the road to realizing our big goal.

Deliberate Action

Fitness goals don’t make themselves happen. Any number of lofty goals can be achieved but there must be a mindful effort toward these goals. If our current habits got us into the shape we’re in now, then new actions are required in order to get us into better shape. Small changes are ideal–but there must be changes!

I typically tell clients that they have many choices throughout the day of what to eat and whether or not to exercise. At some point they must make at least one healthier decision. If all they can do is make ONE healthier choice today then they’ve moved forward. Maybe they make one single better choice every other day. Great! This is progress.

Success is a guarantee if healthy new habits replace old unhealthy habits. The body has no choice but to adapt to the consumption of healthy food and the execution of hard physical work. Guaranteed. The changes we want will not happen as fast as we want them to–they never do!–but the New Year’s Resolution can become reality if it’s pursued correctly.

Sports and Pregnancy

So I emailed several acquaintances and asked for blog post ideas. A former client suggested I discuss exercise considerations for the pregnant athlete. Seemed like a good idea to me. Being that I’m a man and I and my wife have no kids on the horizon, I don’t give much thought to pregnancy but perhaps I should.

Like a lot of our general fitness information, much of the popular information for the pregnant athlete falls on the very conservative side. On some issues though there is not a consensus. On other issues there is very little research. It seems possible though that healthy, active mothers-to-be can safely exercise beyond these conservative limits. Most of my information came from an article titled the Pregnant Athlete from the IDEA Health & Fitness Association. It’s a very complete and well researched article. I suggest you read it if you’d like more information on this topic. Meanwhile, here are a few things to consider for pregnant athletes.

Currently Exercising vs. Starting New Exercise

There is a solid consensus that it is safe for athletes to continue exercising once pregnant. There also is a consensus that women unaccustomed to exercise should not start exercising when pregnant.

Sport and Exercise Selection

First and foremost it seems like a good idea to choose an exercise modality that’s safe. At any stage of pregnancy, a strong enough jolt or impact to the abdomen can severely damage the fetus. Therefore choosing low-risk sports and activities is vital. Martial arts, downhill skiing, mountain biking (perhaps road biking too), and skating (roller and ice) are a few examples of sports in which NOT to engage while pregnant. Running is safe for many pregnant women. Swimming, walking, cross-country skiing and strength training may be very good ideas.

Heart Rate Recommendations

Physicians commonly recommend pregnant athletes keep their heart rate at 140 beats per minute (bpm). Anyone who exercises knows that 140 bpm is fairly low. The 140 bpm recommendation was put forward in 1985 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The ACOG has since left that recommendation behind in favor of using the Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale or RPE. Women should pay attention to how they feel when they exercise. If everything feels OK then good. Don’t exercise to blithering exhaustion though.

Heat

One concern about vigorous exercise or exercise in the heat is hyperthermia or a high body temperature and possible overheating of the fetus that could lead to birth defects. Research however has yet to show any higher rate of birth defects among women who exercise at high intensities. To the contrary, women who exercise can more effectively dissipate heat. The following paragraph comes from the article, the Pregnant Athlete:

“It is during the first trimester that the fetus cannot regulate its own body temperature and is most susceptible to the mother’s. In this period, pregnant athletes should be cautious about exercising in hot conditions and for long durations. They should wear light-colored, breathable fabrics to keep cool and should drink water throughout the day and during exercise bouts; their urine should be diluted to the point that it is virtually clear in color. Some experts recommend that pregnant athletes take their temperature either vaginally or rectally (orally is less accurate) immediately before their longest weekly workout and again immediately after, before the body cools down. Clapp recommends a temperature increase of no more than 1.6 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit [F]) and a postexercise temperature no higher than 102 degrees F (Clapp 2002).”

Strength Training

There’s not much research on strength training and the pregnant athlete. The ACOG guidelines recommend a single set consisting of at least 12 to 15 repetitions without undue fatigue for each resistance exercise. My guess is that pregnant women can probably lift a little heavier but looking for your PR on the deadlift probably isn’t wise during this time. Moderate exertion sounds fine.

(I’d be quite interested to see what sort of levels of exertion we might see in pregnant women in 3rd world countries; places where avoidance of taxing physical labor isn’t an option.)

Flexibility Work

Relaxin is a hormone that increases joint mobility. Production of relaxin goes up during pregnancy so as to soften and relax the pelvic structure in preparation for birth. Because of this increased flexibility, it’s generally recommended that pregnant women should not seek to increase their flexibility.

(I personally don’t recommend static isolated stretching for anyone [look here, and here]. Active or dynamic flexibility work is the way to go for several reasons.)

Further Information

The National Forum on Pregnancy and Sport was conducted in Sydney, Australia, in 2001. What follows is a summary of the medical advice presented:

Medical evidence suggests that healthy pregnant women (with normal pregnancies) can participate in sports without affecting the course or outcome of the pregnancy. (The panel did make some provisos in terms of type, intensity, duration and frequency of exercise.)

Pregnant athletes should avoid maximal-intensity exercise, have a thorough cool-down period of gentle exercise, avoid excessive stretching and jerky ballistic movements, ensure adequate fluid intake and pay attention to core body temperature.

The fetus is extremely well protected from blows to the abdomen during the first trimester (first 3 months) of pregnancy.

The risk of abdominal injuries during sports (for both men and women) is extremely low. Current research indicates that fewer than 2 percent of all injuries, including those that occur during contact sports, involve the abdomen or chest area.

The pregnant woman, herself, is best placed to know (generally from discomfort and lack of coordination) when to stop participating.

Pregnant women should seek advice from medical professionals and, if appropriate, seek a second opinion.

No medical evidence has linked adverse outcomes for the fetus (including miscarriage) to sporting injuries. Statistics and research on adverse outcomes following severe or catastrophic trauma to pregnant women relate almost exclusively to road trauma and domestic violence.

Stories of Pregnant Athletes

Finally, if you’re interested, Pregnant athletes don’t have to sit out is a story from ESPN. Several amateur and professional athletes are profiled as they balanced their lives as competitors and mothers-to-be.

References:

Clapp, J. 2002. Exercising Through Your Pregnancy. Champaign, Il: Human Kinetics.

Recovery Strategies, Heat Acclimation Training for Cyclists, Healthy Lifestyle vs. Genetics

We’ve got three useful articles to point out. One deals with recovery strategies for runners, specifically why damage is a good thing. (I imagine this information will apply to other types of athletes–cyclists, swimmers, weightlifters/bodybuilders for instance). Another article discusses research into how training in the heat can increase cycling performance in both hot and cool conditions. Finally, research suggests a healthy lifestyle can affect cardiovascular health more than genetics.

When Damage Is A Good Thing

Steve Magness is a Washington, D.C. area runner and exercise scientist who writes a blog called the Science of Running. Recently he’s written a piece for Running Times called When Damage is a Good Thing. Magness does a good job of explaining the training adaptation cycle:

“We improve from training by putting our body through stress that it normally does not encounter. When the body encounters these stressors, whether it is a decrease in oxygen, increase in lactate or low glycogen stores, it responds by increasing our ability to deal with the stressors, thereby improving our running performance. The stress, recover and adapt cycle is the foundation of training.”

Most important to the article though is the discussion of how recovery methods such as anti-inflammatories, ice baths, and antioxidants may impede the adaptations we’re looking for. Magness states:

“All of this scientific theory and research sounds good, but what does it mean practically? It doesn’t mean that antioxidants, ice baths, Advil or taking a Gatorade while running is necessarily bad. It means using those items at the wrong time or after the wrong workout could negate some of those hard-earned training adaptations. The key is to understand when it’s beneficial to use those methods and when to avoid them.”

Read the whole article to understand the strategy Magness recommends. It’s certainly an issue worth pondering if you’re a serious athlete–endurance athlete or otherwise.

Heat Conditioning for Cyclists

Science Daily gives us an article titled Exercising in the Heat May Improve Athletic Performance in Cool and Hot Conditions. Researchers at the University of Oregon studied two groups of cyclists: one group underwent heat acclimation while training and the other group worked out in a cool environment. What did the researchers learn?

The study found performance increases of approximately 7 percent after 10 heat acclimation exposures. “In terms of competitive cycling, 7 percent is a really big increase and could mean that cyclists could use this approach to improve their performance in cooler weather conditions,” said researcher Santiago Lorenzo.

Healthy Lifestyle Wins Out Over Genetics

The final article, Healthy Lifestyle Has Bigger Impact on Cardiovascular Health Than Genetics, also comes from Science Daily. There are two big points from this article which discusses two studies.

To stay healthy in older age, five key healthy behaviors should be adopted while young. Those behaviors are: not smoking, low or no alcohol intake, weight control, physical activity and a healthy diet.
One of the studies states, “only a small proportion of cardiovascular health is passed from parent to child; instead, it appears that the majority of cardiovascular health is due to lifestyle and healthy behaviors.” Thus we see that poor genetics is sort of a straw man when it comes to determining our health. It’s our own behavior that’s far more important.

Thoughts on Getting Stronger

Get Strong!

I’m reading Marty Gallagher’s Purposeful Primitive right now and it’s fascinating. If you’re a fitness professional or someone who’s dedicated to exercise, then I suggest you check it out. It’s all real-life stories of Marty’s time in the trenches of big-time weightlifting. He profiles various elite strong men such as Paul Anderson and Ed Coan, bodybuilders such as Bill Pearl and Dorian Yates, and other freakishly strong individuals. Most interesting to me are their methods to getting stronger–and it’s all fairly simple: Lift Heavy & Use Perfect Technique. Barbells and dumbbells are the tools for the job. Lifting more is the task, not exhausting the muscle with 10-15 reps.

Go pick up something heavy!

Similar to Pavel Tsatsouline’s advice, lifting heavy for a very few reps–five and under–is the ideal way to get genuinely strong. There should be one very high quality “top set.” That is, there should be a few warm-up sets performed on the way to one all-out maximal effort set. Stop a rep or two before failure. The technique must be perfect. Lifting heavy can be dangerous. Going to out-and-out exhaustion is a good way to get injured.

This concept is in contrast to many of the popular gym classes in which participants lift very light weights for an endless number of reps. This won’t make anyone stronger. It may not necessarily be bad but it’s probably not the best use of your time if your goal is a) getting stronger or b) looking stronger. Now, this strategy can turn bad if you lift to the point of utter fatigue and your technique fails. From what I’ve seen of some of the “sculpting” classes and such, technique is not a prime concern of many instructors. “A few more reps!” does seem to be the primary concern though. But guess what, “a few more reps” won’t work any miracles for your physique, but if you’ve hit the failure point then those extra reps may well push you to the point of pain and possible injury. That may mean no exercise for you for a while.

Very few exercises are needed to create more strength. Squats, bench press, deadlift, overhead pressing, and various rows are essential. Complicated pulley machines are useless except to sell gym memberships. Plastic inflatable objects like BOSUs and Dyna Disks are junk that have more in common with kids pool toys than strength and muscle building implements.

Typical Gym Mindset

Whether we admit it or not, the main reason we’re in the gym is to look good–to look strong. Physique building developed from the old-fashioned strongmen–those guys with the funny bathing suits, handlebar mustaches, and who could hoist hundreds of pounds overhead with one hand. These guys were strong number one. The impressive physiques were a nice byproduct of their ability to perform. But most gym goers aren’t actually interested in being strong. The cart has become far more important than the horse it seems.

It’s quite funny to observe our modern fitness center environment. I often see people working really hard doing easy exercises! Popular ineffective waste-of-time exercises include partial range pec deck flyes, hunched over triceps extensions, and the always famous 50 reps of 1/4 inch wiggle cruncheson an odd, overly technical crunch machine.

These complex machines actually make exercise easier. Balance and precise control is eliminated from the process. Most of these popular machine exercises are done while seated or lying down. Sounds comfy right? But why come to the gym for easy exercise?? These machines allow for half-hearted effort disguised as hard work. Further, machine exercises tend to promote poor posture: forward head, hunched shoulders, tight hip flexors. This is the opposite of tall and strong. This is no way to achieve a strong physique!

Getting Strong is Fun.

My reading has caused me to rethink not only how I train myself but also how I train my clients. For a while now I’ve scaled back on the number of exercises I’m using and I’m focusing on training in that strength zone of 3-5 reps–maybe up to 8 reps–and avoiding failure at the end. Turns out lifting heavy objects does some cool stuff. First, it’s quite safe. Using perfect technique and working only to exertion but not exhaustion is the ideal way to avoid pain. Ending the workout just when fatigue begins to set in means we avoid aggravating the nervous system. Plus, knowing that you could’ve done just a few more reps means you’ll be raring to go at the next workout.

Further, picking up heavy objects does good things for our brain. Again, whether we really want to admit it out loud, some part of what drives us into the gym is self-image and/or self-esteem. We want to like ourselves more. Be it through physique change or performance goals, we exercise to make ourselves proud. So lifting heavy is a great way to feel a sense of accomplishment. As the weeks go by and the poundage goes up, you can’t help but get excited! And somewhere along the line you might accidentally create a better looking you. What more can you ask for?

Goodbye Plantar Fasciitis???

This is a quick update to my recent plantar fasciitis posts (Part I and Part II.) I met recently with Denver-area Z-Health movement specialist Brain Copeland and it seems he may have helped me find a titanic breakthrough in my PF! Briefly, he assessed whether or not my arms and legs were coordinated properly during gait. He used muscle testing as part of this assessment. Turns out I had really only been cheating at walking and chewing gum. My gait looked normal enough but I was weak in certain positions where I should’ve been strong, and I was strong in some positions where I should’ve been weak. He then introduced cross-crawl patterns to me. Since then, my PF pain has decreased significantly and it has stayed that way. (I saw him on Saturday and this is Wednesday.) In some circles, this is known as a “WTF?” moment.

“Imagine you hire three people to work at a company to perform three separate jobs. But two of the employees are trying to do the same job and the third job is getting neglected. This is how I envision neurological disorganization.” Brian Copeland, Z-Health Movement Specialist

Goofy? Yes. Effective? Also yes!

The Cross-Crawl

Cross-crawl patterns are, as the name implies, movement patterns that resemble crawling. That is, the right arm and left leg converge and vice versa for the left arm and right leg. These are remarkably easy patterns and they can be created while standing, seated, prone or supine. Some of this stuff resembles some goofy old-school “aerobics” class movements (‘Knee to elbow everyone!!”) The supine cross-crawl looks like the “dead bug” ab exercise while the prone cross-crawl is essentially the same as the “bird-dog” low-back rehab exercise. Still another version looks like some sort of Irish jig. Fun stuff right?! (The good news is these moves are really easy and at least in my case, very powerful.) I’ll post video of cross-crawls soon.

What’s at Work Here?

I asked Brian Copleand several questions:

Q: Who might benefit from cross-crawl patterns?

A: “Everyone can benefit from cross-crawling patterns as the movement helps strengthen certain neural pathways in the brain that are beneficial. For instance, when you run, jog or walk and you step forward with your right leg which arm swings forward? It better be your left or you are a toy soldier. This cross lateral pattern of movement is key in both athletes and non-athletes. If you ever see a martial artist throw a very powerful kick with their right leg you will see their right arm go back and left arm come forward. This has to do both with rotational force and rotary stability in the trunk to maintain balance. So cross crawling movements are basically a part of our everyday lives. When the movement patterns become switched then we see all number of strange neurological issues arising such as unexplained pain that has no pathological explanation, clumsiness, troubles with memory and other cognitive issues depending on the severity of the neurological switching.”

Q: How do we identify those who may have this neurological switching?

A: “There are some specific tests that a Level 4 Z-Health Exercise Therapist can give to ascertain if someone has neurological disorganization and no one should self diagnose, but having said that people can get an idea if they have this by looking for the following things. Typically someone will have had some head trauma at one point in their life, even if it was as a child. People might be socially awkward and not know why. People may have a hard time remembering things and have to be shown something over and over again. People will often say things like, ‘things always work different for me than other people,’ and they don’t know why. Frequent clumsiness is a possible indicator as well.”

Q: What do cross-crawls achieve? Can you describe what these patterns do for our brains?

A: “Well that is the $64,000 question. Researchers are still discovering the how and why but for now we know that it does work. As I’ve been told before, science is the observation of repeatable phenomenon. So even if we don’t have the full picture yet we know that it works. But if I may hypothesize just a little… It is classically understood that the left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa, there is some variance in there but as a general rule it is true. We also know that many of the natural movement patterns that we have are cross-lateral in nature, in other words right leg, left arm and vice versa. These patterns help to stabilize our torso and provide balance and efficiency of movement. Now imagine if all of a sudden the right hemisphere of your brain decided that it would control the left side of your body, except it would also control the right thumb but not the fingers. Now the left side of the brain is having signal feedbacks or misfires as it tries to control your right thumb. Now the pre-cognitive brain (the automatic part that controls the behind the scenes stuff) encounters confusion and we reach what Z-Health founder Dr. Eric Cobb, D.C. calls a threat response. I can already tell that I am about to open a whole can of worms so I’ll digress a little. Imagine you hire three people to work at a company to perform three separate jobs. But two of the employees are trying to do the same job and the third job is getting neglected. This is how I envision neurological disorganization.”

Q: What else should we know about cross-crawl patterns?

A: “Well there is always more to know but it can become quite complex. I would just say make them a part of your daily warm up for your exercise routine, 20 or so should suffice as preventative medicine. If you have neurological disorganization you may need to do more reps than that. And ultimately each person will respond uniquely different, the amazing and frustrating thing about the human body.”

“Folks can learn a little more about Z-Health and how the human nervous system has an impact on both the pain we feel and our potential for athletic ability by checking out these articles: What is Z-Health and Why It Works and How to Eliminate Pain, Stiffness and Weakness Forever.”

So that’s a fairly thorough discussion on cross-crawling and why it may work. I don’t want to promote cross-crawling as a magic cure-all panacea for everyone. That said, these are very easy movements to execute and they may very much be worth a try. If you have lingering pain that isn’t responding very well to treatment, give cross-crawling a shot. In my case I’ve had tremendous results. (Now of course the challenge is to remain conservative as I add back in running, biking, etc. The temptation is to ramp up to 1000 mph. Not a good idea.)

Further information on cross-crawl patterns can be found at the following sites: Head Back to Health, Natural Health Techniques.

Hydration

It’s summer and it’s hot. Seems like the ideal time to write about hydration. First, I’ll comment New York Times Health Section features the piece titled In Summer’s Heat, Watch What You Drink. The article has two main points. The first point concerns our fluid intake and the idea that we likely aren’t drinking enough to replace water lost to perspiration. The second point deals with high-calorie drinks and the fact that it’s easy to consume too many calories in our quest to hydrate ourselves. This post regards the first point.

Regarding fluid intake, the article suggests that a) our thirst is a poor guide for fluid intake and b) a quenched thirst is equally unreliable as a guide. The suggestion is that we should multiply our weight in pounds by 0.08 and then drink that number’s worth of eight-ounce cups of water daily. Sounds a little complicated to me. Prior to the advent of mathematics, how did early homo sapiens drink enough to survive?

(The above mentioned formula is almost as complicated as this one. If you’d like to further complicate your drinking habits, try the test described here.)

In the recent past, we were advised to drink eight glasses of water a day. No one is entirely sure where this advice came from. Then we were given formulas like the above mentioned methods to figure out how much fluid we needed to consume. There was and still is widespread fear that a little dehydration would certainly cause cramps, delirium, and possibly death. Like the Times article, much of the popular advice told us our thirst wasn’t a good guide–that to wait until we were thirsty to drink was to wait too late.

In recent years though we’ve seen new hydration guidelines. These guidelines are much simpler, more instinctive and easier to follow.

A list of the old vs. new rules of hydration can be found on Active.com. The best new rule in my view is to drink according to your thirst. Excellent. That’s what thirst is for right? A signal that it’s time to drink. The article states,

“The idea that thirst comes too late is a marketing ploy of the sports-drink industry,” says Tim Noakes, M.D., a professor of sport and exercise science at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. While thirst is not a perfect indicator of hydration status, it does appear to be a good indicator of the optimal drinking rate during exercise, according to Noakes. “The answer is just drink as your thirst dictates.”

Another new rule is to drink to slow dehydration rather than drink to completely prevent dehydration. Studies show that the effort to drink to completely prevent dehydration is nearly impossible and uncomfortable. Slight dehydration is not a health threat despite many popular fear to the contrary. To that point, overhydration or hyponatrimia is far more dangerous.

(One easy hydration check you can use regards urine color, as advocated at Ask the Dietitian. Dark urine means you need more water. Light yellow means your adequately hydrated.)

Next, sports drinks are superior to plain water if your activity lasts more than one hour. Sports drinks contain important electrolytes such as sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphate as well as carbohydrates for fuel.

Some sports drinks such as Accelerade and Hammer’s Perpetuem contain protein. At least one study suggests that consuming small amounts of protein during a workout boosts performance. Be careful though. Some people (like my wife) experience gastrointestinal turmoil when they consume such drinks.

Next new rule regards caffeine. Previously, we were told that caffeinated drinks would dehydrate us. Now we’re told that isn’t quite the case. Caffeine can be a powerful ergogenic aid that may aid performance but it doesn’t seem to be inhibit adequate hydration. (Alcohol on the other hand definitely promotes dehydration.)

Finally, cold fluid is best to drink when it’s hot. (Similar to thirst, this seems instinctively obvious right?) It was once suggested that warmer water emptied out of the stomach faster but that’s no longer regarded as true. Nor does cold water promote cramping.

In conclusion, don’t complicate things. Drink as much (cold) fluid as you feel is appropriate. Drink a sports drink if you’re out in the heat for over an hour. You may want to experiment with protein and/or caffeine.

Train to Failure or Train to Success? Part II

In Part I of this post I gave evidence that training beyond our limits or “training to failure” may not be the best

This guy could never fail.

strategy for enhancing athletic performance (or just every day performance for that matter.) Training smarter but not necessarily harder is a concept worth considering. The correct amount of training at the correct intensity is key, not just more more more—harder harder harder!! Observations and instruction to exercise at an appropriate intensity are found in both the endurance running world and the strength and power realm.

Tim Noakes’ Lore of Running is a superb text for anyone who’s a serious runner or run coach. At the other end of the physical performance world is Pavel Tsatsouline’s Power to the People!. This is also an excellent book on very heavy strength training, primarily the deadlift and side press. Both books encourage top physical performance through very hard work. Both authors though consistently tell readers that most workouts should essentially be moderate in intensity. Running workouts should not be races. Weightlifting sessions should not be hell-bent-for-leather torture fests. Rather both activities should leave the participant feeling energized.

Scottish ultramarathoner Bruce Fordyce is quoted in Lore of Running:

“My training advice is going to be different… because I place my emphasis on rest and recovery. I do believe in hard training, but there is only so much hard training that the body can take. , and the timing and duration of any hard training phase is very important. During the hard training phase, never be afraid to take a day off. If your legs are feeling unduly stiff and sore, rest; if you are at all sluggish, rest; in fact, if in doubt, rest.”

Further advice from other running coaches cited by Nokes includes:

New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard: “You can’t train hard and race hard at the same time.”
American coach Jack Daniels:
- “Don’t leave your race on the training track.”
- “Alternate hard and easy days, in fact only two to three hard days per week.”
American exercise physiologist Stephen Seiler:
- “Build the program around two high-intensity interval sessions per week.”
- “Most of the non-interval training should be at fairly low intensities.”
- “If you are not training easily enough on the easy days, you will not be able to train hard enough on the hard days.”

So we have words from the endurance running world on the importance of focusing your hard efforts to a few specific workouts. As well you should balance these high-effort bouts with truly easy recovery work. How about the other end of the spectrum? How do we train for maximal strength without failing?

“If after your exercise, your bath and your rub-down, you feel fit to battle for a kingdom, then your schedule is right.”
– Earle Liederman, Secrets of Strength, 1925

Power to the People! presents the idea of training with very heavy weights–not to the point of fatigue. The idea being that it’s tension of the muscles via lifting very heavy weights for a very few reps (five or fewer) that leads to greater strength, not the fatigue of the muscles that occurs when using many reps. Tsatsouline states:

“The most intelligent way to develop strength is to lift much heavier weights than than most weekend warriors play with but to terminate your sets before your muscles fail.”

Further, he cites Russian strength expert Robert Roman:

“…besides, as the result of fatigue [from many reps], the last reps of a set are performed against a decreased excitation of the nervous system. This impedes the formation of the complex conditioned reflex loops needed for further strength development.”

So in practical terms, what are we talking about? The experts are suggesting that most of our workouts should be of the submaximal variety. Don’t make every run a race. Make your races races. If your running workout consists of 20 sprints then at the end you should feel like you could run 22 sprints. If it’s a long-run day then you should finish knowing you could run one more mile. Feel good at the end!

When lifting, terminate your sets before total exhaustion sets in. End the set and/or the workout knowing you could lift a few more reps. Feel that you’ve conquered the workout, not that the workout conquered you.

Am I advocating easy workouts? NO!! What I’m suggesting is that your hard efforts should be very focused and specific. Don’t dillute your hard work by trying to go hard all the time. (If you do, you’ll probably just be going “medium-hard.”) Further, your hard work must end in success and not in sloppy failure. Otherwise you will only have set the stage for more sloppy work. Work very hard when it’s called for and balance the effort with easier efforts, relaxation and restoration. Then come back to the next hard workout ready for success and new achievements.

Denver Fitness Journal

All Things Health and Fitness by Kyle Norman, MS, CSCS, FMS, RRCA Running Coach

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