To Roll or Not to Roll
That is the question.
DO NOT STRETCH FIRST THING.
Stretching before workouts it"reduces force production and thereby reduces training performance".
What do you do then? Try foam rolling. Foam rolling enhances performance and aids recovery without any drawbacks*. Need to warm up? Foam roll. Feeling stiff after a hard workout? Foam roll. Hung over? Foam Rolling (seriously).
Just put your sore muscle on the roller, put some body weight on it and roll back and forth. It should hurt a little. It should hurt so good (sometimes love don't feel like it should). Comfortably uncomfortable. The more a muscle hurts under the roller the more you need to roll it (if you can stand the discomfort).
Wanna see something cool. Watch thismobility demonstrationbefore/after a brief foam rolling session.
Or this one.
Don't forgetthis one.
I could go on... buuuuut you get the point.
Foam rolling makes you more flexible pretty much instantly. It reduces stiffness and soreness post workout as well. The reason it works is up for debate. Some think the roller releases adhesions between layers of fascia; some think the roller moves fluid through your cells (why it may help hang overs); some say it's trigger points; some say it has to do with Golgi tendon stimulation.
I honestly don't care why it works as long as it helps me keep dancing.
Foam rolling isn't for everyone though. Some of us aren't tactile; do not respond well to touch therapy. You recoil from massage work; don't like to be touched or manually manipulated. To quote the avid foam roller Socrates, 'Know thyself'. If you ain't tactile then foam rolling ain't your jam. Keep searching- there will be something that works for you.
Hey Steve- is there anything you HATE about foam rolling?
Great question! Yes.
I hate when people foam roll their IT Band. This is a band, not a muscle. Rolling the IT band increases instability and makes knee/hip issues worse. Why does it irk me so much? Because I see people do it ALL THE TIME.
Top 3 fitness irks:
- stretching before workouts
- rolling the IT band.
- Calling any race shorter than 26.2 miles a marathon.
Wrapping up- foam rolling is a great warm up and recovery tool for people who are tactile.
Just don't roll your IT band.
Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional
Pain is a mystery.
Someone took shoulder MRI'S of twenty Major League Baseball players. 15 of them had enough structural damage to warrant immediate shoulder surgery.
But only 10 of those 15 had pain.
Hmph.
Pain doesn't make sense. In a nearly 100 year old Harvard study of lower back pain in Men the only common symptom they identified was.... drum roll please...
Stress at work.
Now I am not a doctor, but 20 years in this biz has given me some insight. Pain isn't straightforward; and understanding a little about pain has helped several people when nothing else was working.
So let's talk about pain.
Stress restricts blood flow. Restricting blood flow deprives cells of oxygen. Chronic pain arises when cells are chronically deprived of oxygen.
I train clients with back pain every week. The flareups rarely coincide with doing anything athletic (like heavy lifting). More often their back goes out when they lean down to pick up a quarter or some other equally unimpressive task.
Back pain may not just be about the back. It may be about stress, or nutrition, or unresolved trauma. In their book 'Pain Explained' David Butler/Lorimer Mosely write "We believe (authors) that even if problems do exist in your joints, muscles, ligaments, nerves, immune system or anywhere else, it won't hurt if your brain thinks you are not in danger.'
It makes sense then that stress brings out the back pain. Or that Major Leaguers can have significant structural damage and no pain. I would go so far as to say the majority of us have some undiagnosed injury that causes no pain for that precise reason: we are blissfully unaware and the brain hasn't prioritized it.
So why are you in pain?
In Z health there is a concept called the threat bucket. Everyone has a bucket, and into that bucket goes all your stress: physical, emotional, familial, corporate bs. When your bucket overflows your brain thinks you're in danger and BOOM!
You're in pain.
Back pain. Shoulder pain. Wrist pain. Whichever type of pain your brain thinks will slow you down and get you to address what's in your bucket.
Too often we address our pain, but not the bucket.
Pain is the signal. Take a moment and decode it. When your back or knees or shoulders hurt definitely give them some attention, then take a minute and ask yourself:
What else could my body be telling me?
Pain refers out. Sometimes you get hit in the knee and your knee hurts; but sometimes the knee hurts because your ankles aren't flexible enough, sometimes your knees hurt because you drink too much or eat crappy food. Sometimes your knees hurt because you hate traffic and miss your kids.
It all lands in the threat bucket. Did you see above how stress can drastically restrict blood flow? Do you think that will effect a healthy body?
So what can we do?
First off see your Doc. If your pain is serious don't get cute about treating it. See a pro, get a pill. Don't stop there. Manage the stress in your life. Therapy comes in many different packages, and remember, I am not a Doctor, but here are the four stress killers I can share without getting sued.
Stop being such a Bit... Oh wait. My lawyer says I can get sued for saying that.
Move well- Go for a walk, take yoga, lift weights, go for a run. Movement is medicine and every little bit moves the needle in your favor. Now if you can't move without pain...
Sleep well- How many times have seemingly insurmountable life problems crumbled after a good night's rest. Sleep is when your body repairs itself. Sleep is when your body regulates hormones and balances your weight. Prioritize sleep and you will feel better.
Breathe well- Dr Arthur C Guyton writes " All chronic pain, suffering and diseases are caused from lack of oxygen at the cellular level." Look again at that capillary photo above. Cells receive oxygen two ways: breathing well (we did a blog post about this), and from eating right. Which brings me to my final recommendation:
Eat well- In his book 'Eat to beat depression and anxiety' Drew Ramsey shares that an absolutely shocking number of patients symptoms drastically improved when they ate some version of the Mediterranean diet (lots of greens, fish, nuts, rainbow salads). Eating right oxygenates your cells from the inside out and destroys inflammation (a HUGE hidden pain culprit).
"Some people think that to be strong is to never feel pain. In reality the strongest people are those who feel it, understand it, and accept it."- unknown
What does all of this have to do with Training? Trainers have to know a little bit about pain. Life is a contact sport and our clients often come to us in various states of disrepair. We aren't Docs, but those of us who have lasted in this industry can usually get you moving safely and comfortably for 30-60 minutes; and know when to refer out. This level of sophistication comes with experience, and here at Train we attract the best, most experienced fitness professionals.
That saves us a lot of pain.
Have some pain issues, but want to get healthier? I can't guarantee we'll help, but I can guarantee that every trainer we work with will have a myriad number of ways to try.
Why do Training Sessions last 1 hour?
Google Query:
How long do you have to work out in order to get a workout?
Answer: It depends.
There's a line in the movie 'Chinatown' where Jack Nicholson's character is asked what he did when he was a Cop back in Chinatown.
'As little as possible.' he deadpans.
Seems like a harmless quip from a lazy ex cop, but the line is nuanced. I'll let screenwriter Robert Towne explain:
"The title came from a Hungarian vice cop, and he'd said he'd worked vice, and he'd worked in Chinatown. I asked him what he did, and he said 'as little as possible'. And I said what kind of law enforcement is that? He said 'hey man, when you're down there with the different dialects you can't tell who is doing what to who, and you can't tell if you're being asked to prevent a crime or you're inadvertently using the law to help commit one'."
As little as possible. Savvy.
Let me circle back to my point. The ideal length of a workout: as little as possible.
It's not lazy; it's smart.
Nuanced.
The industry disagrees. Their overwhelming answer is 1 hour. Classes and sessions are inevitably an hour long. Why 1 hour? Commerce. We can sell 1 hour blocks. It's a nice round number. You can pack some value into a one hour session. It's simple. It's clean. Most people never question it. Some numbers just make sense, like top 5 (not 4 or 6) or top 10 (not 9 or 11). 1 hour fits.
But let's face it. Not everyone is ready to work out that long. And just because you can work out for an hour doesn't necessarily mean you should. Take that from someone who is a serial over-trainer (of myself). I often work out for :30 or :45 minutes and wonder: was that enough?
Science says it is. A recent article in the Washington post says that even 10 minute workouts are worthwhile.
Distance runners know about the law of diminishing returns. Your running improves drastically when you graduate from running 10 miles a week to 20. A little less when you move from 20 to 30. Each time you step up your mileage you will improve, but each improvement is a smaller than the previous until you reach a point where you no longer improve. You're just running empty miles. They aren't making you faster, or sharpening your speed.
You want to find that sweet spot.
Another analogy: Movement is medicine. When taking medicine you take the minimal effective dose. One oxy gets you out of pain, 10 oxy... You get my point.
Same concept for exercise (withmuchless dire consequences).
You're not lazy. You're smart. You're not working out to make the 2024 Olympics. You're working out to feel good, get strong, and look better naked. Sometimes that means you work out for an hour, sometimes that means 20 minutes.
Find the sweet spot. No need to overdo it. The most important thing is that you workout.
As little as possible...
and consistently. Do something, however small, every day.
And now for my shameless business plug. When I worked in a box gym I sold hours (for reasons detailed above). 70 year old arthritic client- 1 hour. Post surgery client- 1 hour. There were several clients who were overworked because the biz mandated we sell hours.
Independent trainers (like the ones I work with/for at Train) can adapt their schedule to accommodate your ability level. Our focus is on the quality of the session, not the billable hour. Every week I put clients through :30, :45 and :60 minute sessions.
We do what is right for the client.
It sets you up for success. It sets us apart.
Words of fitness wisdom
You were born 9-5-22
Already I have no idea what I'm doing with you. So let me talk about something I do know.
When it came time to choose a path your Dad asked himself what the most powerful experience he ever had was (before meeting you of course).
It was getting fit.
I thought if I could share the experience with others that maybe it could be powerful for them too. I could have a career I felt good about.
Be it running, lifting, or yoga, fitness made me feel better and taught me a few lessons along the way. Set a goal, do the research, do the work, your world changes for the better. You become stronger, more flexible, more determined. You make friends, rivals, travel a bit, surpass goals and hopefully enjoy yourself. The lessons of fitness apply everywhere. School, work, friendship.
Hopefully I've even learned a thing or two that'll empower you. Here are a few of the good ones. Some are simple, some may become more profound as you age.
1-I can't want it for you- If you decide to play hard I'll be at every practice and every game, but it has to come from you. The NBA, NHL, NFL etc would look a little bit different if the parents' desire were at all important. I know enough to help make you special, but you have to love it.
And if you don't care about fitness I still love you the same.
2-Working out is hard, but being unhealthy is harder- This is the reason I want you to be fit. Winning games and setting records are great, but I love the process. I love the way a ten mile run feels. I love hitting new yoga poses. I love the confidence that comes with achievement.
There will be days when you don't want to practice, or work out, but trust me when I say you never feel worse after.
If you sit still too long you will feel much, much worse.
3-Your body follows your eyes- When you're running, biking, skiing or driving look to where you want to go. Instinct will take you there.
There's a metaphor about life and goal setting here as well. Eyes up! Find the horizon.
4-The best athletes have coaches- If you coach yourself you'll end up only doing the things you're already good at.
Let go your ego and work on what challenges you. It is OK to be bad at something. It is not OK to accept that.
Everything can be taught. Everything can be learned. Seek out Coaches who are intelligent, honest, kind, and unmerciful (not cruel) when called for.
5-Pain refers out- in the event of an injury the problem is rarely where the pain is. Its usually a joint above, below, or from something higher order.
This applies to people too. Pain doesn't sit still, it gets passed. Keep that in mind as you deal with others.
6-You can't out-train a bad diet- This can set you apart from day one, or catch up to you by age 30.
7-The race doesn't always go to the swift, but to those who keep on running- Life is a marathon. Some get a head start, or a ton of natural ability. Persistence evens the field.
That's the best I got kid.
Welcome to the world Aiden Stephen Allison.
The Best exercise for Great Posture (is very easy)
70-93% of communication is non verbal
Want to send the world a powerful message? Stand up straight. Posture says something about you.
Threat (shoulders rounded, back stooped) posture says tired, defeated, weak, stressed.
Great posture signals confidence, smarts, and strength.
Not to mention your physical and mental states are a two way street. Are you standing tall because you're confident, or are you confident because you're standing tall?
Bill Gates described his ideal employee as naturally lazy. Why hire that guy? Because the lazy guy streamlines systems: they find the most efficient way to do something to avoid work. Your brain is like that lazy employee. Posture is under reflexive muscle control meaning that it is something your brain (usually) regulates automatically. Your brain defaults to whatever posture you're typically in to save time and effort.
What cues are you constantly giving your brain?
Let's do an exercise.
Stand up.
Find a mirror.
Stare at your phone 12" from your face.
Read a few paragraphs or watch a quick insta video.
Look at your posture in the mirror.
I'm betting your slouched forward to pay attention to the screen.
Our vision is our most important, most dominant sense. Where our eyes go our bodies follow. Remember this if you're skiing or mountain biking (if you stare at the tree you'll see it close up- trust me). When you stare at something close to you your eye muscles constrict to allow better focus on close objects. To aid your eyes your head will jut forward, your shoulders will round and your spine will flex forward. Focusing on something extremely close to you gives you bad posture.
Is this your default?
Let's try the opposite.
Stand up- find the mirror.
Stare at something far away on the horizon for 20-30 seconds.
Now look at your posture.
Better?
When your eye muscles widen and you look ahead your shoulders roll back, your spine gets tall and your head sits atop your neck.
That's the exercise. Not rows, or good mornings. Just stare at something far away. Easy.
Peasy.
Lemon squeezie.
Trapped at a desk all day. Make sure to schedule in breaks where you stare off into the distance. Tell your boss it's posture work, not daydreaming.
Take it next level! Stare at something far away while walking. This also challenges your balance and your peripheral vision. Master this and your default posture will really change.
Posture says something about you. Visionaries look to the future, the horizon. Shoulders back, head up.
70-93% of communication is non verbal. The world takes notice.
Where your eyes go your body will follow.
What does an hour of daily yoga do to you
'What's the best song you ever wrote?'
Someone asked Duke Ellington what the best song he ever wrote was. His reply:
'I haven't written it yet.'
I try to maintain that optimism for my own future but a month ago I woke up feeling old. I plodded into the bathroom; my feet hurt; my back was stiff. Feeling like this is understandable if you've earned it, but I couldn't pinpoint anything I'd done to feel that way.
Maybe I slept wrong, I thought; and then the thought that sleep could injure me made me feel even older.
What's the best song I ever wrote? I don't write songs.
Alright then what's the best I've ever felt. When was my peak?
Being honest... I've woken up stiff and sore for some time. The last time I sprang out of bed pain free was after Yoga Teacher Training. It only took 4 months of 6-10 hours of yoga every week to feel that way.
That morning I decided I would do yoga for 1 hour every day, for 5 weeks.
What's the best my body has ever felt? I tell you in 5 weeks. I have some work to do.
Why five weeks? If you do 5 weeks of anything fitness related you'll see a major result.
The kind of result that your friends and family will notice.
The kind of result that'll enrage your ex.
As you read this I have completed 30 of the 35 hours of yoga. To make the journey more fun I select a favorite album to play front to back while I practice. 35 hours. 35 albums.
What have I noticed?
Would you believe I've become more flexible?
Nagging wrist and knee injuries have disappeared.
My strength low to the ground has improved.
I move better.
I've gotten deeper into The Police, Incognito and the Brand New Heavies.
This morning I got out of bed, walked into the bathroom, and turned on the shower before I noticed: not a hint of stiffness or soreness. I just walked into the room.
Maybe I slept right.
Movement is medicine and you want the minimum effective dose. I already had a strong yoga practice and wanted to feel a noticable change. That called for a heavy commitment: 35 hours. If you're reading this thinking of beginning your own journey start with 15 minutes.
That's where I started 10 years ago.
Who knows? Maybe 5 weeks from now you'll be on your mat, your favorite music pumping, deep in a pose that a month ago you didn't think was possible. Your family and friends have all noticed how comfortable you look in your body, your ex is driving by your house an extra time every week. People notice you're doing something and someone just comes out and asks you, 'what's your secret'?
You tell them.
'Is this the best youve ever felt?'
'I'll tell you in another 5 weeks.'
The best you've ever felt? Your peak? You haven't written it yet.
3 Supplements I use & what they may do for you
Fitness supplements are a $14 Billion industry
A market that size will have products that range from great to dangerous. Here's a quick guide to 3 that I like and why.
I take these for basic health and quality of life, not to get extra jacked. There are different supplements for that... and the Ladies say I'm already jacked enough... Yooooo!
One quick disclaimer: Supplements are great, but we're built to digest real food. Get what you can the natural way, and use supplements to fill the gaps.
Ultima- The fitness Police are always on us to drink more water. How much should you drink? Take your weight, measured in lbs, divide by 2. That's how many oz of water you should drink i.e. you weigh 200 lbs you should drink 100 oz.
Chugging all that water can feel like a chore. Ultima is a sugar free electrolyte mix that adds nutrition and more importantly (to me) flavorto the water.
Electrolytes are minerals thatregulate and control the balance of fluids in the body. These minerals play a role in regulating blood pressure, muscle contraction and keep your system functioning properly. They're important enough that pediatricians measure them (mine came back excellent btw). They also make my water taste better. Win/win.
Kachava- Zac Efron is the current president of the 'Men who take their shirt off & make me want to put mine back on' club. Other members include Rocky 4 Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger (70's/80's), and Jason Mamoa.
Zack credits Darin Olien (his costar on their Netflix show) for drastically improving his health. Darin is one of those guys whose life revolves around eating and drinking healthy. He's like the level 5 Vegan Lisa meets on the Simpsons:
Lisa: What's a level 5 vegan?
Level 5 guy: I don't eat anything that casts a shadow.
I read Darin's book 'Superlife'. Some takeaways: Darin is a picky eater. There's a few paragraphs on why you should only drink lightly salted water from a blue (not red, yellow or gray) water bottle. Seriously. I guess I'll just keep my shirt on then.
Darindoesco-sign super shakes (like Kachava) as a shortcut to get nutrition, vitamins, and probiotics. This I can handle. Take some, ice, some water, a few scoops of your powdered super shake and you're good. Kachava is the super shake I chose.
According to their website Kachava has "all the good stuff your mind and body need for holistic health". A quick glance at theingredients... It checks a lot of boxes. I'm impressed.
And it tastes good.
Also co-signed by my wife who loves to start the day with a glass every morning. I make it for her because I love her and make her shakes, get her compression boots and appreciate her even when I don't expressly say so. It's like I always say, 'if you love your wife you'll make her some Kachava this weekend'. This may be a test to see if she's reading.
Ashwaghanda:Anyone else have a recurring case of the winter blues? If you do you should try an adaptogen. Adaptogens are plants and mushrooms that help your body respond to stress, anxiety, and fatigue....Adaptogens bring your body back to a steady balance by managing both physical and mental stressors.
Ashwaghanda is an adaptogen. I picked Ash from a host of others because in addition to the purported calm and wellness benefits it allegedly increases sperm count and I was trying to be a father at the time (The ol' put a few more rounds in the gun technique worked it's magic- Baby Allison due 9/8!). The other reported benefits of ashwaghanda include elevated mood, stronger immune system, and lower blood pressure. I snort lines of it at 3 a.m.
If you're flying and scared TSA might rip your Ash stash you can take it in pill form or brew tea if that's your jam.
I did not participate in any study, or closely monitor stress while using ashwaghanda but I will report that while taking Ash I generally feel better, never fell sick, and my winter blues felt manageable. I did find a study that concluded"a high-concentration full-spectrum Ashwagandha root extract safely and effectively improves an individual's resistance towards stress and thereby improves self-assessed quality of life."
So there.
Quick note on adaptogens- they are like a cast. They help you get healthy, but once you're feeling better the cast should come off. I'll polish off a bottle of Ashwaghanda and then take several months off. I'm thinking it may become my winter ritual to help me deal with February (the longest month of the year if you catch my drift).
There it is. Three supplements I like. They make me feel better, add flavor and let me walk around with my shirt off feeling beautiful.
Except when Zack or Jason are around. There ain't a supplement on the market that'll give me the stones for that.
Need a compression session?
What an amazing machine that body of yours is.
I am constantly in awe at the elegance and economy of our design. Don't love your body? Time to get over it. You are a work of art; beautifully made.
Need an example? Did you know the body's major lymph glands are located near the most active joints; moving these joints effectively turns them into lymphatic pumps. How's that for sophisticated design? Motion is the lotion, movement is in fact medicine and whoever coined those phrases was more right than they understood.
It's hard to improve on perfection but I'll give it a try. Your body's circulatory system, for all it's efficiency and grace, benefits from a little jumpstart, a little help, from time to time. Enter compression.
What's compression? Imagine your circulatory system is a tube of toothpaste. Compression acts like your hand squeezing the tube and pushing the paste out. It improves circulation (beyond what your joints and heart do), waste elimination and helps push good stuff (like O2) into your cells.
Oh- I forgot to mention that using compression is practically effortless.
Benefits of compression:
reduce pain
quicken recovery
reduce swelling
increase recovery
stimulate blood flow
reduce swelling
eliminate jet lag (rumored)
solve world peace
Sound good? Here are four ways you can harness compression's benefits.
Compression wear: You've seen runners wearing those knee high socks post (some even wear them during) race/run. The reason runners wear them is primarily so you'll ask them 'Hey, Did you run a race or something?' and then they can tell you all about how hard the last mile of the BAA 10k was. The second reason is they've just smashed their feet up for up to 26 miles. Feet swell. Personally my feet have swelled over a shoe size post race; I would wake up the next morning and walk like an old man around my house for a few hours before regaining my natural youthful vigor.
Wearing compression socks to bed hastens recovery. No more doing the old man shuffle around the house post long run. You don't have to be a runner to enjoy the benefits though. If you are on your feet a lot, working out, or suffer from high blood pressure and dizziness compression socks are helpful.
And compression wear doesn't stop at socks. There are shirts, sleeves, full body suits (which are rumored to help mightily with jet lag).
Normatec boots:I'd been eyeing normatec boots for the gym for awhile, but they're expensive. My wife is 8 months pregnant. Her feet and legs sometimes swell. Seeing/hearing her struggle made me take another look at the boots. They were on sale (but still expensive). I'll take that as a sign. I bought them.
For her.
This is how they work: You stick your legs into loose fitting baggy pants, a motor pumps air into different sections of the pants, systematically squeezing your legs and flushing blood/lymph/fluid through your circulatory system. They are intelligent compression socks. Hospitals use a version of them on nearly all post surgical patients.
The big question: Was the wife impressed? Well, she threw them on, hit power, and they whirred away for about 5 minutes at which point she asked me how much I paid for them.
'They were on sale,' I said. Then I told her.
'Worth every penny,' she said.
It's now a nightly ritual.
These boots will make their way to Train once the baby arrives.
Voodoo Floss: Sometimes muscle, skin and fascia get matted and stuck underneath the skin. Voodoo floss is a wrap that compresses these adhesions into a sort of tourniquet. Once you're wrapped up move the muscle in question. The stuck skin/fascia/muscle/soft tissue move through the tourniquet you've created; the adhesions and scar tissue are shredded. There is a restriction of blood flow (while flossing) followed by a sudden blood rush upon removal that often creates a euphoric, tingling/sparkling sensation. This is usually accompanied by an amazing increase in range of motion and a decrease in pain/stiffness in the muscle/joint.
Lymphatic drainage: Your cells are a relay station. Nutrition/oxygen come in, are metabolized, and then waste is shipped out. The waste travels along your lymphatic system. If the lymphatic system isn't clear and viscous the whole system is backed up. Waste can't get out and nutrition can't enter. Your cells become sluggish. Some light brushing and tapping (explained HERE) along with any of the compression outlined above will ensure the lymphatic system is operating optimally, shipping waste out, allowing nutrition in. Follow the video linked above or, even better, book a lymphatic massage to clean out the pipes and optimize your lymphatic flow.
Your body is amazing, remember, and the best thing about this amazing body it is that it improves with intelligent use. Life is a contact sport. You're gonna accumulate a few cuts, scars, scrapes and swells along the way. Compression is a tool that helps keep your body moving.
The wear and tear will still slow you down, but it doesn't have to stop you.
I go 110% 110% of the time...
Don't be that guy.
You stack the bar with tons of weight, move it 6 inches, and claim you lifted it... don't be that guy.
You don't wipe down gym equipment...
You tell people to chillax...
You go as hard as you possibly can every time you step in the gym...
I appreciate the effort, but don't. Just don't. Especially that last one. That isn't how it works.
"Serious Bro? Be ALL IN or GET OUT of my gym! That's what I say. I work until my body is so sore I can hardly lift my arms or bend my knees. You hate it 'cause you ain't it!"
Aha! You mentioned muscle soreness. Let me break it down for you.
What is muscle soreness?
Working out breaks the body down. Muscle fibers are torn (micro-tears) when you exercise, after which your body adapts, repairs and grows back stronger. The repair of the muscular micro-tears provokes an inflammatory response from your body.
That inflammation is muscle soreness.- also called DOMS- Delayed Onset Muscle Sorenessbecause Muscles are never sore right after a workout. It's usually a day or two later. Hence the D-O.
It is worth noting that Muscle soreness is NOT related to lactic acid build up (a common misconception). Lactic acid (a byproduct of anaerobic energy production) is present in the muscles immediately upon completion of strenuous exercise and is mostly gone by the time muscle soreness kicks in- it can't be the culprit. Everybodyknows THAT, right?
"So what if my muscles get sore. I go balls to the wall. I'm a swoldier known for two things: snapping necks, and flexing pecs"
Let me teach you a little secret about going all out every time. It doesn't work. When a muscle isn't allowed adequate recovery it breaks down and you get injured. Then you're giving 110% on the couch. That reminds me:
Are you sore or are you hurt?
Muscle soreness is diffuse. All over the worked muscles.
Injuries are usually acute. Relegated to a specific muscle or joint.
Muscle soreness improves with movement.
Injury worsens with movement.
Soreness comes a day or two later.
Injury happens in real time. When you tear/hurt/injure something you know it.
" Two words Bro! Muhammad Ali? He said 'I don't count setups until they hurt.' He was the GREATEST".
I have to admit that's a great quote. He must have been 20 when he said that.
You're not 20.
He was a world class athlete.
What are you? A Vlogger? A bouncer? A stockbroker?
Do you think he was working out like that before going head to head with Foreman? With Frazier? With Chuck Wepner? Or do you think he's tapering for a few weeks before the big one.
"For your information, Bro, I'm a trainer. And what does my age matter?"
When I was 25 I once drank til 2, slept 3 hours, woke up, ate a twinky and then won a road race. Suffice to say that chain of events may kill me today.
And I'm fit.
Let me give you some tips on managing muscle soreness:
How do I prevent/avoid muscle soreness?
Schedule easy days (3-4 a week)
Schedule rest days (1-2)
schedule easy weeks (once a month)
move- even when you're sore.
eat aint-imnflammatory foods (turmeric for example)
wear compression gear
Have a reason/goal for your hard work. What are you trying to accomplish with your 11 minute plank?
Muscle soreness IS proof you worked hard. You pushed past a perceived limit. Get some rest and let your body recover. Come back stronger. Read up onProgressive overload!
What's even better is working out hard and NOT getting sore. The gym culture that celebrates muscle soreness and going 110% 110% of the time is hurting people (There are two types of Cross Fitters: those who are hurt; those who are about to be). Smart coaches and trainers build up strength with sub maximal work, pick their spots to push and don't over do it just because it makes them feel likeDavid Goggins.
Have a compelling reason for going all out, 'cause if you do it too often you'll end up injured, chillaxing on the couch.
Don't be THAT guy (or girl).
Dreams + Goals + Action =
Thoughts become things, Baby
The phone you're reading this on started off as an idea. Someone had a vision, wrote down a design, did the work, made it happen.
The shirt on your back- someone had an idea for a better shirt, wrote down their design, made it happen, now you look fabulous.
You ever hear the one about the guy who changes his computer password to reflect his goals. He wanted to quit smoking so his password became idontwantcigarettes84*. He has quit smoking, ran a marathon, got a better job, met his dream girl, took his dream vacation Yada yada yada with this method.
There's something about having a dream, a thought, an idea,writing it down, breaking it into goals, and making it happen. Well actually there are two somethings. Encoding and the Generation Effect.
Encoding is the biological process by which the things we perceive travel to our brain’s hippocampus where they’re analyzed. From there, decisions are made about what gets stored in our long-term memory and, in turn, what gets discarded. Writing improves that encoding process. In other words, when you write it down it has a much greater chance of being remembered.
Next up: the “generation effect”, which basically says individuals demonstrate better memory for material they’ve generated themselves than for material they’ve merely read. It’s a nice edge to have and, when you write down your goal, you get to access the “generation effect” twice: first, when you generate the goal (create a picture in your mind), and second, when you write it down because you’re essentially reprocessing or regenerating that image.
"Dream big — but remember dreams without goals are just dreams, and they ultimately fuel disappointment."
- Denzel Washington
Let's take it to the gym. What dreams am I hearing?
Lose 5lbs.
Fit into the clothes.
Get stronger.
Tighten and tone.
I hear them over and over and over.
and over.
Let's go with lose 5 lbs. If you lose 5 you're also going to tighten and tone and as a result your clothes will fit better.
That's three birds with one stone. And you're probably doing some strength work and getting stronger here too.
4 birds.
5 lbs is the dream. Without goals to achieve that dream you'll be 'fueling disappointment.' Let's make some SMART goals. Here's what I mean by SMART.
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time bound.
Five lbs of fat loss will take 5 weeks. That's a daily 500 calorie deficit for 35 days. Looks SMART to me.
We need to be more specific. How do we drop that 500 calories? Let's write down 3specific goalsto get there. Why write them down? Did I mention you're 40% more likely to achieve a goal you write it down.
Get out your pen and pad or open up the notes app on your phone.
There are hundred of goals you can write. I'll give you five I'd start with.
Throw out all the crappy food in your fridge/pantry.
Create a daily 500 calorie deficit (diet and exercise).
Walk 10,000 steps today.
Do a 20 minute strength workout or 20 minute yoga flow.
Hire a trainer (should be #1 but I'm biased)
You're on your way.
Prune the list. If you accomplish a goal that you only have to do once (like #1 at the very top) you can cross it off or move it to the bottom of the list. Add another goal.
Assess how effective the goals are. If you find that a goal you're consistently checking isn't moving the needle in your favor strike it from the list.
Revisit and rewrite your list every day. Add new goals. See what sticks. Strike what doesn't.
Don't worry about setting the right goals. Just keep writing, acting, pruning, failing, learning, repeating until you step on the scale and see what you want.
And then stop.
Just kidding...
New goal. New List. New challenge. New you.
Thoughts become things. What you repeatedly think will repeatedly show up. Think big, dream big, get SMART and get moving! Today is the youngest day of your life.
Answers to the most googled questions?
Google Query:
What are the most googled fitness questions?
I'm warning you- none of these questions have clear answers. All my answers will probably start with... 'it depends'.
Question: How long does it take to see results?
Depends (told ya). Some results come at the speed of your nervous system (around 275 mph). If you want increased speed, strength or flexibility all it takes is for you to do something your body likes and voila! Result. One drill or one move can be incred ably effective.
Don't believe? Watch this.
The results most people are alluding to are weight loss or muscle gain.
Again it depends.
It's 90+ degrees out today. I've run long on days like this and lost 9 lbs in an hour. But that's all water weight. I weigh less, but I'm dehydrated (weaker/foggier). The scale reads lower, but I'm not looking vibrant or thinner. Just exhausted. The weight comes back the minute I hydrate.
Looking for fat loss? Sustainable fat loss comes at about a pound per week. If you create a caloric deficit (diet + exercise) of about 500 calories per day you will lose that pound. 1 lb does not sound significant but look at the size of 5 lbs of body fat.
Fat does not come off at one specific part of your bod, but if you lose 5 lbs, even while gaining muscle, people will notice.
Answer: 5 weeks.
Just the other day I was wondering where my summer went. I feel like yesterday it was late May. 5 weeks ago. Time flies.
Question: What are the best diets to follow?
Answer: Eat like an adult. From Dan John's book 'Never Let Go':
"Here is an idea: Eat like an adult. Stop eating fast food, stop eating kid's cereal, knock it off with all the sweets and comfort foods whenever your favorite show is not on when you want it on, ease up on the snacking and—don't act like you don't know this—eat vegetables and fruits more. Really, how difficult is this?"
Learn how to eat, how to shop, and how to cook. You can try keto, south beach, Atkins, fat flush and see success but until you can shop for and cook 2-3 tasty meals from memory, have a go to cookbook or food blog you're leasing that thin body, you don't own it.
It took me until my 30's to eat like an adult. I made my transition to adult eating via a cookbook called Gourmet Nutrition from Precision Nutrition. I can personally vouch for about 80% of the meals in there (meaning I've cooked, eaten and enjoyed them). The book gives you dozens of delicious recipes (that don't require much prep), a schedule of when to eat them relative to your daily activity/workout, the portion size you should be eating, and all of the relevant nutritional information. I believe in this book. If you eat recipes from this book for 5 weeks you're people will take notice.
I am not paid to recommend this book and you couldn't pay me to recommend a diet. Eat Whole Foods, control portions, drink water, stop before you over eat. I have been some degree of fit my entire adult life and I wish I found this book earlier.
What's the best gym in Boston?
Too easy. Train, Baby! This is the place where the trainer and the client can maximize their potential! That was a softball. One more.
What are the best exercises to lose weight?
Answer: Jump rope. I covered this one partly in this blog post from a few months ago. Jump rope burns the most calories.
But the question is flawed. Why?
Because some people can't jump rope to save their lives.
And some just can't stand jumping rope for a long time.
And jump rope will hurt other people.
Let me ask you a question? Why do you want to know the best exercise?
Is it because you want the fastest results? Results aren't coming for 5 weeks.
And if you do any exercise (jump rope, running, lifting) consistently for 5 weeks you're gonna see and like the result. Oh boy... I think I have a definitive answer.
Answer 2: Consistency is the best exercise to lose weight.
Be consistent. Time Flies Baby! Time Flies!
Low Carb, No Carb, Fast Carb, Slow Carb
Everyone is full of it.
Remember the Opening Statement scene from 'My Cousin Vinny'? The Prosecution lays out his case, finishes, and the camera pans to Joe Pesci... asleep.
He wakes. Walks over to the jury and delivers one of the funniest lines in Movie History:
'Everything that guy said was Bull$h*t, (pause) Thank you.'
That's how I feel when I see a diet trend taking the mainstream.
Take the low carb fad that passed. We had low carb beers, low carb cookies, low carb snacks, low carb carbs.
You're being told that carbs, like fats before them, are bad. This is Bull$h*t. Carbs should be 50-60% of your diet, but there are good carbs, and there are bad ones. Let's cut through the BS so you can have peace of mind while you eat.
Let's define carbs. Carbohydrates provide immediate energy for your cells. They come in 2 types: simple and complex. Simple carbs are often processed foods, which we want to avoid. 3 ways you can spot processed food:
You can't immediately source the food to the earth or an animal.
It comes in a bag or in a box.
It survives on a shelf (doesn't rot).
These foods are seductive. They usually taste great and because they are simple, you digest them quickly. My friends at Precision Nutrition do a great job explaining their effect: one may notice elevations in blood triglyceride (fat) levels, bad cholesterol, and insulin resistance.
Full disclosure- I eat simple carbs. We all do. Unless you're Tom Brady with your personal chef and iron will you're gonna consume some simple carbs. Don't worry about it, just limit them where you can.
Fun story- I read an interview with Tom's Dad where he said something to the effect of 'I usually make a dinner reservation for after Tom and I have dinner'.
Complex carbs are straight from Mother Nature. You can easily root them in the earth, their packaging is minimal and they have a shelf life. These carbs "that are digested and absorbed slowly, such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, can help to control insulin response, energy levels, and body composition. Such unrefined, unprocessed, complex carbohydrate sources may reduce triglycerides and improve one’s cholesterol profile". Humans have been eating these foods forever and our bodies know what to do with them. They are slower to digest so the body has to expend some energy which leads to something called theThermic effect of food (i.e. When you eat food, your body must expend some energy (calories) to digest, absorb, and store the nutrients in the food you've eaten. Therefore, as a result of the thermic effect of food, by consuming calories you actually increase the rate at which your body burns calories).
The low carb craze is marketing processed food that can stay on shelves for a minute. Eating low carb processed food is like getting punched by a middle weight instead of a heavyweight. Less damaging, still hurts.
Complex (unprocessed) carbs are OK. My advice consuming them: earn your carbs. Your body absorbs them more efficiently 2 hours post workout.
I'll end with a fun quote. Can't quite remember the exact quote or who said it but here goes: "Blueberries are carbs, right? You ever hear of someone putting on weight eating blueberries?"
Let's DESTROY the #1 excuse for not working out
The # 1 excuse is...
I don't have enough time to work out.
Oh really?
Let's say the average Bostonian sleeps 7 hours a night.
That means you're awake for 17 hours.
That's 1020 minutes.
Let's call 40 minutes a good workout length.
(It could be shorter. Could be longer.)
That 40 minutes equates to .039% of your waking hours.
That's basically .04 cents on your dollar.
UNICEF is asking for .50 a day. I'm asking for .04.
Yes you can add .02 or .03 cents for getting dressed and getting to the gym. I'm still not buying it.
You probably have valid excuses. I'm terrified of the weight room (been there). I fear judgement (felt it). I don't know where to start (Don't I know). I've felt the same way. I'm not judging. I'm just here to point out that:
Someone with even more excuses set your goal and got it done.
What's stopping you?
It ain't time.
"There's no such thing as free time. No such thing as spare time. No such thing as down time. Only Lifetime. Go!"- Henry Rollins
How I got into the best shape of my Life
How'd I break loose? I Killed my ego.
When was I in the best shape of my adult life?
That's easy. Yoga teacher training.
I completed over 200 hours of hot (100+ degrees) yoga over a 4 month period. For 8 weekends I would take 4 individual classes (5.5 hours) on top of practice teaching another 10+ hours. There was another 3 hours of required weekday yoga and somehow I scheduled in (some) half marathon training.
4 months remodeled a runner who could hardly sit cross legged into an athlete who could not only run, he could relax and hold deep bends, folds, and twists. I have never felt more confident/comfortable in my body. I slept through the nights and awoke without stiffness or soreness, ready for more.
What was the recipe? It was the hours sweating on my mat.
No wait, it was the miles on the treadmill.
No wait! More than anything it was the death of my ego.
I sucked at yoga (I wrote all about it HERE). I stuck out in class, and not just because I was a guy taking yoga. I was the WORST, every time. But I knew it was valuable. I knew I wanted to move and feel like a yogi. So I decided it was okay to fail at yoga. No matter how humbling the experience it would be worth it.
I modified poses I couldn't do; I took breaks when needed; I embraced the kickstands yoga provides (the block, the strap, the bolster). You know the ending. I got into the best shape because I ditched my ego, embraced being a beginner and allowed myself to fail. And fail. And fail a little more. But letting go of my ego in yoga was easy. I had no emotional stake in my ability to do a Warrior pose so I wasn't upset by my failures. I wondered what would happen if I ditched my ego in something I actually had an ego about?
How much do you bench?
This is the way Men qualify their strength. Not the 40 yard dash, not pushups, not the mile, not chin ups. The bench press. It was the measure of your manhood when I was a teen, as tt was when my Dad was young, as it is for my 16 year old nephew. There are other ways to judge strength; but this is THE way.
My bench was truly unimpressive.
There were times I would train it. I'd throw a bunch of plates I couldn't lift well onto the bar; too insecure to train at the weight I should. Instead of lifting smart at lower weights I'd tweak my back, or shoulder trying to look strong.
The Bench spotlights every weakness inherent in my frame. Benchers have barrel chests, thick, bulging arms, stacked on solid, muscular torsos. I'm skinny with long arms and a bony frame; though I know that my frame limits my ceiling, benching made me feel inferior. If I pushed up a new PR (personal record) I would feel good until I realized how far it was from what one would consider strong. Instead of letting go of my ego and training the bench I pivoted. I worked on other measures of strength: pull-ups, pushups, dips, kettlebell swings. I was good at those. They let me think I was strong. They fed my ego.
But deep down I knew. If you want to be strong, you've got to Bench. It's the measure.
My Nephew is in high school, and he's entered the weight room. He asks me questions like 'What's the best diet to bulk, or what's the best exercise for shoulders'. Then one day he asked THE question.
How much do you bench?
I told him a number that was 20 lbs higher than my actual bench PR. Why? Because I'm insecure and I wanted him to think highly of me.
White lies don't hurt anyone, right. But shit, this one did not stop bugging me after I told it. Decision time. Forget about it, or hit that number. The first thing I had to do was find the right program.
There's a saying that what you're truly looking for will eventually find you. I found the The 5-3-1 program. It was created by a Man named Jim Wendler (Click on this link if you want to go in depth, or hire me, I can take you through it). You're training the big 4 (Squat, Deadlift, Military Press, and, you guessed it, Bench). Jim Wendler is a powerlifter. When he commands you obey. This looks like a guy who eats meat off the bone, rides a Harley and crushes beer cans with his fists. His program was gonna be max lifts followed by eating raw liver.
In fact, the first question the program asks you is How much do you bench?
What happens next is what makes his program so beautiful. To lift heavy, you train light. The lower weights are calculated off your max lift so you're always lifting the correct amount for growth, while sidestepping injury. To get truly strong, you're not pushing ego weights.
I had my doubts initially, but I bought in. I put my actual max weight in and followed through weeks of light warm ups, and short sets often performed at 65-70% of that number. The weights felt too light. There were times I had to lift light in front of other Trainers.
I put my head down and trained for 4 weeks. It was time for a test out. I put a weight on the bar that was 10 lbs heavier than my previous max.
Crushed it.
It was so easy I threw another 10 lbs on the bar. Maybe I am the Man I let my nephew think I am?
Crushed that one too. This is the strongest I've ever been. I'm arguably in the best shape of my life.
My bench presently sits at 185 (and rising). I don't have the best frame for power lifting. This means I can train you past whatever excuse you're selling as to why you're not stronger. If I can do it I can train you to do it.
But first you've gotta dump that big weight you've been carrying around your neck.
That's your ego. It may feel like it's motivating you, like it's helping, but it's only holding you back.
Drop it and you too may just get in the best shape of your life.
Seek Discomfort Nowor feel discomfort later
Live from the Danger Zone
Top Gun: Maverick is a throwback.They wink at great moments from the original.
Shirtless volleyball becomes shirtless football.
Ice Man is now Hang Man. Goose is Rooster.
There are wing men, missile locks, hard ass admirals and great balls of fire.
And there's Tom Cruise tearing ass down the runway on his motorcycle; going mach 2 with his hair on fire. I know he's had work done, I know 90 mph presses the flesh right up to the skull, but I still gotta admit: Maverick has aged as well as you can.
Is it good genes? Luck? Botox? A secret diet? I think it's a bit of everything; and I'd add one more reason to the list, perhaps the most important one.
Discomfort.
Your body is designed for survival. Every day is a dog fight to stay alive. A fight against weather, competition, germs, viruses, hunger, enemy planes. Every day your body goes to war with it's surroundings.
We've automated so many of these fights so quickly the body hasn't had a chance to adapt. the absence of hunger, cold weather, etc should create paradise, yet it seems that in the absence of opponents our bodies have elected to fight themselves: Obesity, cancer, depression, autoimmune disease.
There's a segment on 'Real Time' where Bill Maher shares things he doesn't know for a fact, but he just knows are true: 'I don't know for a fact that Lacroix is French for Tap water, I just know it's true.' Here's my fitness version. I don't know for a fact that your body needs a fight in order to thrive, I just know it's true.
The fight is in the weight room. How many before/after pictures do we need to see until we believe that?
The fight is in the elements. Thebenefits of fastingand cold showershave been documented.
You can live a comfortable life. But keep your edge. Don't get too comfortable. Schedule in the suck. Plan it to shape an outcome.
Look at Tom Cruise. He has all the success and comfort in the world but he's still strapping himself to theoutside of planes (Rogue Nation), running on the side of the Burj Khalifa held only by a tether (Rogue Nation), orrunning in every single moviehe's in. To do these stunts he's gotta stay sharp. For the Burj Khalifa scene he went to his stunt designer, explained what he wanted to do, and the stunt guy balked. Said it was impossible. What did Tom do?
He found another stunt man.
He could retire with his millions or pass on the Mission Impossible Torch, but he keeps pushing, and I don't know for a fact that Tom pushing the envelope has helped him age well.
I just know it's true.
It goes without saying that Tom is a little extreme. You can look just as good without hanging from planes, driving NASCAR or yelling at Jack Nicholson. You just need to schedule in some discomfort. It's that fight that keeps you vital.
I can't prove that seeking a little discomfort now will immediately shave years off your appearance...
I just know that the discomfort is coming. It can be training, yoga, or running a race or it can be obesity, back pain or sleeplessness. Pain is on it's way...
The type is largely up to you.
You just dropped $2,000on something you coulda got for $1.50 in late charges at the public library
WTF? You hired a trainer?
You just dropped $2 grand on something you could have learned from reading a book and watching a YouTube video. Right?
Why hire a Trainer? Isn't Training like that scene from The Simpsons where Homer hires Ranier Wolfcastle to train him: "Strap yourself to the abdominator and I will shout slogans at you! Push! Harder!"
The Simpsons joke is hilarious because it's true. Partly. There's more nuance to the profession than the Simpsons allow.
There's a story about a guy with a squeaky floor. He tries everything but it won't stop squeaking. So he hires a contractor to take a look. The contractor arrives, walks around, listens to the squeaks, then pulls his hammer and whacks one nail. The squeaking stops.
He bills the guy $500. The guy complains. Why $500? You hammered one nail? The contractor smiles. That was $1 for the hammering, $499 for knowing which nail to hammer.
A good Trainer finds the nail. The nail could be weight loss, it could be stronger shoulders. Train now offers introductory 5 pack and 3 pack private training packages starting this week. To celebrate let's look at two stories that illustrate a Trainer's value. Two times a trainer found the nail.
You ready? Well then strap yourself to the abdominator.
Names below have been changed to protect the innocent.
Can I try your driver?
Imagine you LOVE golf. I'm talking membership to three country clubs Love golf. My client Robert loves golf like that. He won't join the pro tour anytime soon; he may not even golf particularly well. He was training for something more important, more high stakes: beating his high school Buddies.
The will to improve is not enough. Robert has a surgically repaired back that limited his strength and flexibility. He could watch videos and read articles all day but his problem was that powerful golf swings come from
efficient transfer of energy through the feet and knees.
A supple, pliable spine that can relay that energy to the torso, shoulders, and ultimately the club.
These were two areas where his back injury limited him.
Back pain is an enigma, surrounded by a riddle, wrapped in mystery. I've watched conferences where back experts at major hospitals have admitted as much. I did not cure Robert's back. What I did do was provide dozens of ways for it to move better. To Bob's immense credit he didn't blame me when something we tried backfired. Failure was feedback. We moved on from mistakes and found solutions. We worked on peg board drills to cleanly transfer energy from one foot to the other, and spinal mobility drills (we progressed from Easy, to Moderate, to Difficult) to facilitate that energy transfer through the torso. Strength and flexibility improved. He had longer and longer periods with little or no back pain. We waited for spring to test out.
Spring rolls around. First golf round with the boys and Robert is consistently outdriving his friends. They notice. You know how men are though: A guy's never gonna come out and say 'Why Robert, you're consistently outdriving me off every tee. Whatever is your secret?' God no. They say it indirectly.
They asked to try his driver.
There's this bump behind my knee
This one happened last week so it's still fresh. A client, Laurence, came in with a stiff knee. He apologetically asked me to feel a bump that had formed behind the knee. He showed me how he couldn't close the leg all the way without bumping into/being limited by the swelling. There was slight pain.
'It's been bugging me for about a week. Is this something you know about?'
Whenever I encounter swelling I think lymphatic flow. The lymphatic system is the body's sewer system. It pulls waste out of cells (which allows Oxygen and nutrients to enter) and then flushes the waste out. If the lymph is blocked the waste never gets flushed, vital nutrients aren't allowed in, cellular health goes downhill and you'll experience unexplained swelling, like bumps behind the knee (where a large lymph node sits). Sound like you? Don't worry. You can free unblock the lymphs quickly.
We tested his knee. It could not bend all the way and was slightly uncomfortable. I took him through this lymphatic opener. We brushed and tapped his major lymphs and then retested 3 minutes later. His knee functioned normally. No pain.
Hammer meet Nail.
It could have developed into nothing, or it could have been a Doctor's visit, an MRI, & some PT (weeks of effort and waiting). We handled it in 3 minutes and then got a great workout in on top of it all.
The most expensive thing in the world is being unhealthy. Get vital. Get strong. Hire a Trainer. Our new introductory offer is way below the session cost of larger corporate gyms and allows a Trainer time to show their value.
Or you can do it yourself. Youtube, online articles, Men's health. They have tons of great information, instruction and ideas. They're the hammers you need.
Now... which nail.
How to Train your Balance
The morning I lost my balance
I woke up sweating. 4 am. I sat up, stared out the window and the room swirled. Something was amiss.
I went to the bathroom, tried to pee and missed the bowl. Badly. I tried to sit and missed again; falling on my ass.
Was this a hangover. No. I never drink. Covid? Probably not. I had it a few months earlier. Cancer? Oh shit. Don't start with the hypochondria.
For now all I knew was that my balance was gone. Any time I turned left I felt I was going to crash.
No one appreciates Balance until it's Gone
I think we all realize the importance of balance but few know how to train it effectively. If you asked people how they imagine that training would go you'd probably be flooded with footage of the Flying Wallendas, tight rope walks and single leg exercises done while standing on a Bosu ball.
You don't need to do these things (I strongly argue against ever standing on a boss ball). Effective balance training is easy and works instantly, but very few people do it because:
It's weird.
It ain't sexy/fun.
Most people don't believe that what I'm about to recommend will work.
A funny thing about training the human body/mind. If the client/patient doesn't think what you are doing will work, it will not work. I read an entire book about this phenomena (Pain Neuroscience Education). I'll show you these 2 simple balance hacks, explain a bit about how they work, but you may not believe they'll work. I'll have to prove it. So let's do it. Let's measure your balance. If you're not assessing you're guessing.
How do you measure your balance?
1- Stand on one leg. Time how long you can stay standing.
2- Heightened Rhomberg's test.
What is #2? Here's the scoop: Stand with one foot directly in front of the other. Wait until you cease wobbling left to right. Now close your eyes. The number of seconds you can stand without falling is your score. Test with both foot patterns. Watch this video- I demo it for you.
So now we have some test scores and we want to improve. This does not take days or week. It takes minutes. In mere minutes you can greatly improve your balance. But...
If you want that improvement to stick then you need to keep doing these drills.
Drill # 1: Roll out your feet.
There's something called sensory motor amnesia. Meaning: if we don't actively use parts of our bodies we develop amnesia and forget how to use them properly. Luckily that amnesia can be cured very quickly.
We treat our feet dreadfully. We stuff them in crumby shoes all day, never stretch them, never train them, strengthen them, or get those lovely foot massages from our significant others. Thus our feet forget how to move efficiently and how to see the floor underneath us. This connection of foot to floor sends vital information into the ankles, knees and straight up the kinetic chain to our brains. The feet are ground zero for balance. And sometimes we need to take the shoes off, wake 'em up and jog their memory.
If you roll your feet on a golf ball, a lax ball, or some massage tool (like I do in this video) your brain will immediately pay closer attention to your feet. The muscles in your feet awaken, the nerves alight, the brain awakens to signals from your feet and your balance will improve. So roll out your feet (like in the video) and then retest your balance. I'm betting you improved a little.
No dice? Let's try another balance drill that may improve your tests.
Drill #2: Train your ears
Has he lost his mind? Ears? Balance? I told you that you weren't gonna believe me. Per the National Library of Medicine:
"Your ears are the home for your vestibular system which provides the sense of balance and the information about body position that allows rapid compensatory movements in response to both self-induced and externally generated forces."
Sometimes the vestibular system gets maligned via a knock on the head, or even a bad cough (I once got vertigo from a particularly nasty flu). Vestibular problems cause an absolute array of symptoms from dizziness, to depression, schizophrenia and scoliosis. That's quite a range. Let me show you a quick way to reset your vestibular system via something called the VOR (Vestibular Ocular Reflex). Let me let my more eloquent friends at the Library of Medicine tell you about your VOR:
"To maintain a stable perception of the world around us while we engage in normal movements throughout our day, such as walking, we have something known as the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). This reflex keeps us steady and balanced even though our eyes and head are continuously moving when we perform most actions."
How do we train it? There are two ways and they are both easy. And weird. Click on the links to watch a demo I put together for you.
VOR stabilazation- Stare at an unmoving object. Now nod your head up and down while keeping the object in clear focus. Now shake your head right to left. Now diagonal. When you're done retest your balance. I've seen this one REALLY do amazing things for people's balance. If it didn't work then let's try a VOR Cancellation.
VOR Cancellation- Lock your eyes on an object, your thumb nail will do. Now without moving your head follow the thumbnail as you raise it up and down, now right to left, now diagonal. Make sure to keep the object clear and don't move your head; just your eyes. Retest your balance.
Did any of those work? Is your balance a little better? If yes. Wonderful. If not. Don't despair. There are more things we can try, they're even weirder, and I know because they fixed me
That night my balance returned... Mostly
My balance did not improve that morning. I tried all the drills above and still felt drunk whenever I turned left.
Thankfully 2 of my clients are ear doctors. They know the vestibular system. They assured me I didn't have cancer. They would fix me.
They lay me on my side and the room spun. Violently. I broke into a cold sweat. The reaction indicated vertigo. They put me through an ear drill where I lied down on a bench and twisted my head in different directions, allowing the crystals in my ear to resettle. I nearly vomited, the room spun faster and more violently than earlier.
"Focus on an object."
The room slowed down.
"Relax."
The room stopped.
I rose, carefully. An ear drill fixed my vertigo.
Quickly.
Dramatically.
That's how balance drills work.
And if you're serious about training balance they'll work for you.
White Men Can Jump
Even coaches need coaches, I guess
It's kind of embarrassing when you claim to be an expert on something (fitness/the body) and you can't even fix your own problems. But hey, even therapists have therapists. Doctors, I assume, go to the doctor. Barbers see other barbers.
Do Trainers have Trainers?
My right knee hurt. Every time I executed a roll through in yoga, or got up the wrong way I would get an 8/10 twinge of pain. I tried:
- foam rolling
-voodoo flossing
-opposing joint
-muscle activation
-massage gun
-yoga
-stretching
-strengthening
-prayer
-ritual sacrifice
Nothing worked. My right knee was stubbornly zapping me with an 8/10 of pain whenever I moved wrong. This went on for months.
I read about this Knees over Toes Guy. He was an un-athletic basketball player with bad knees. I'm talking three surgeries on one knee bad knees. He wanted to keep playing hoops. He was obsessed. He needed stronger knees. So he did his research, turned the fitness world on it's head, and came up with a system that not only fixed his knees, it earned him a scholarship to a D1 basketball program. He went from hardly touching the net to dunking a basketball from a standing position. Now he makes a living sharing that system.
Was it time for me to admit that despite my vast fitness knowledge there are many things that I do not know?
Was it time to let someone else train me?
I bought the KoT Guy's book for $20. There's not much to it. A handful of exercises that you should do, followed by instructions on how and why to do them. It's a simple book with a simple program. I like simple. Simple works.
I advertised that I was following the program on this very newsletter where I posted a small bit about how I have White man's disease and I was doing something about it.
I mentioned a minute ago that Knees over Toes Guy has turned the fitness world on it's head. How? He encourages people to train with their knees in a position past their toes. WHOA! Not just a clever name. I'm sure you're as blown away as I am, right?
While It doesn't sound revolutionary it is. It was common fitness knowledgeto keep the knees behind your feet when training. Encouraging knees over toes training is like advocating drunk driving to improve highway safety. He was dismissed, ridiculed, laughed at.
But he was patient zero. He no longer had any knee pain.
He went from flat footed to jumping out of the gym.
The people who bought in were pain free and jumping right alongside him.
The idea of not training knee over toes came from a single study done in the 70's. Somehow it tipped, everyone read it, or knew someone who read it, and it just became the rule, Conventional wisdom, despite the fact that every sport asks you to play with your knees over your toes. Wouldn't it make sense to train your body for that eventuality?
So I tested in. I assessed my relative knee pain (8/10) while doing yoga, and I measured my vertical leap. This is an important step on any fitness journey. Documenting a base line. If you don't document a starting point you'll never be sure of improvement. Look at the picture up top and you can clearly see my progression.
I trained knee over toe style for 5 weeks. This morning I tested out. Had all my Patrick steps and deep lunges paid off?
I'm happy to report that when I rolled through in yoga my pain was about a 2 (down from 8). Not perfect, but improving.
More impressively I added about 6 inches to my vertical leap. That's 6 inches in a single month. Any time you claim to add 6 inches you have all the guys attention. 6 inches is a lot. Even when the bar starts so very, very low. I made a highlight tape.
How do I write this next part? I'll just put it out there. I have a big ass. Someone called it a dump truck this week (Thanks Ron). When I train legs my ass just gets bigger. Last year I squatted, dead lifted, trained hard and my reward was none of my pants fit. The increased muscle mass also made running less comfortable
My conundrum: I needed stronger, healthier legs/knees, but I didn't want to buy new pants. Mission accomplished. This program added strength, fixed some imbalances and doesn't make anyone wanna zoom a zoom zoom zoom and a boom boom.
90's kids got that. The rest of you can google it.
There are a few morals to this story:
- Question conventional wisdom.
- You can make amazing athletic gains with the right program, even when you're well past your prime (ahem).
- bigger muscles are great until none of your clothes fit.
- There's a cure for White Man's disease.
- The best coaches have coaches aka winners get help.
Ahh yes. The final important take away. Everyone could use a coach. Or a trainer. Someone to push you, encourage you, or tell you about this crazy workout they're doing that's gonna allow them to dunk a basketball at 43. I know a few great trainers here at Train. I work with the 1% of Trainers. We can add 6 inches to your vertical leap, help you shed 10 pounds, get you a badonka donk, or not.
If a Trainer benefits from having a trainer so can you.
Why do cardio? And 3 necessary cardio workouts
Let's jumpstart your cardio workouts
Good Day everyone. It's your Trainer. I'm not going to watch you do cardio. We both have better things to do. Cardio is between you and the jump rope, you and the road, or you and the bike.
Not coincidentally those are arguably the three highest calorie burns.
1- Jump rope- 300-500 calories per 30 minutes
2- Running- 200-450 calories per 30 minutes (depending on your weight, pace, surface etc)
3- Bicycling- 200-420 calories per 30 minutes (depending on your weight, pace, surface etc)
2 questions:
1- Why the huge gap in the calorie estimates? Answer- you're burning 200 if you're jogging, 500 if you're getting chased. Effort matters. Terrain matters. Weighted jump ropes matter.
2- What is the best form of cardio? Answer- Objectively it's those three, but if you hate all three and love to swim, or hike, or dance...
The best cardio is the one you enjoy. You can't out cardio a bad diet. Doesn't matter which workout you end up choosing. Think differently. You're not burning off last night's pizza, or earning tomorrow's beers. The purpose/benefits of your cardio workouts are:
Weight loss/maintenance is on the list, but not foremost. Now some people may throw up their arms and say 'Why bother?'
I get it. I thought more cardio equalled increased weight loss for forever too. It does if you take the long view (250 calories a day by five days a week= 1250 calories a week= 65,000 calories a year= 18.5 lbs burned annually).
But think differently.
One purpose of your life is to feel Vital. That list up there is a recipe for vitality. Lucky you! The cost of vitality ain't too high.
The Department of Health suggests we get 150 minutes of cardio every week. 2.5 hours. That's .015% of your week that will sharpen you up to kick ass and take names. Let's carve up that 150 minutes into the three kinds of cardio workouts that will truly vitalize. You can do these every week.
1- Long cardio
2- Speed work
3- steady state cardio
Workout #1: Long effort.
What: A cardio workout that is roughly 25% of the weeks total. If you're doing the recommended 150 minutes then we're looking at 37.5 minutes.
Heart Rate: This is easy cardio. Keep your heart rate below 60-65% of your max heart rate. Back when I was an athlete we called this conversational pace. If you couldn't hold a conversation you were moving too fast.
Example: 40 minutes easy on the treadmill, a long hike, an easy 40 minute ellipse session.
Do this workout once a week.
Workout #2: Speed work
Here you're going to warm up with about 5-10 minutes of easy running (below 60-65% of Max HR). Then you're going to craft a workout that go all out (90% Max HR) for short periods of time.
There's any number of ways you can do this. Here are 2 of my faves:
Ladder workouts- Run/bike/swim/jump hard for :30 then take a :30 rest. Go hard for :45, easy for :45, Hard for :60, easy for :60. Climb the ladder up (:30-:45-:60 and then go back down (:45, :30). Back in the day I'd do this on the track. 200M, 400, 800, mile, and then back down.
Intervals- Go hard for a minute, recover for a minute. Do it for 10 intervals. I did this with a weighted jump rope this morning after a 2 mile jog. If a minute is too hard start with :30 seconds, then build up.
Finish with 5-10 minute cool down (walk or jog).
You'll burn 25-30% more calories in speed work, but the effort is much higher.
Do this kind of workout once a week.
Workout #3: I'm talking about Easy, steady state cardio effort. You're working a little harder than your long effort, but you're not red lining it. You're going longer than a speed workout, but you're not pushing to those long workout distances. You're doing your thing at a comfortably uncomfortable pace, Keeping the heart rate at 60-70% of your max. You can hold a conversation, just not a robust one.
Do this workout 2-3 times a week.
One last set of rules before we wrap. If you want to increase your cardio past 150 minutes follow these two rules:
1- Increase by 10% every other week. This is the safest way to up the ante.
2- Schedule in one down week per month. This goes for all workouts. If you're pushing hard you're strategically overloading and breaking your body down. You've got to schedule in time to refurbish/rebuild. So throw in an easy week here and there. You'll see and feel the results.
Lets finish with a little story. Remember 'The Biggest Loser'? Bob? Gilian? The ranch? There was one season where they added in a 3rd trainer to shake things up. She was working out her crew and one guy revolted. He wanted to work out with Bob or Gillian. He thought the new Trainer's workout wasn't hard enough. That he wasn't burning enough calories. Here's what I wanted her to say.
'Listen up you little piece of sh...'
Whoops. We're on ABC. Take 2.
'Listen here, Tough guy, You lost 10 lbs last week. That's 35,000 calories. Do you know why you're losing weight? Is it because of the 200 calories you burned lifting weights yesterday? Is it the 250 calories you burned jogging for 20 minutes? It doesn't matter what you do, you're gonna burn a max of around 500 calories in an hour. Why 500? Because you're not fit enough to burn more than that, and you're definitely not fit enough to work out for more than an hour without getting injured. Burning 500 calories a day while exercising is phenomenal; but it only adds up to one lb over a week. The other 9 lbs come from sleeping 8-10 hours a day; not working; not stressing; not stuffing your face with Oreos; restricting calories; not touching processed food.'
She didn't say that. Didn't flex her fitness knowledge. She acted hurt; he switched teams and they hugged it out on a later episode.
Did she not lay it out because she didn't know (most trainers haven't had to lose significant weight) or because the producers of that show can't make a Rocky-esque montage of the real reasons he was losing weight: sleep, stress reduction, breathing, saying no to Oreos?
And oh, I almost forgot... cardio.
Keep it vital my friends.
Is rest as important as working out?
Greetings from Vacation
I brought my trainer with me to the Outer Banks. That's her taking me for a beach run at dawn up above.
It has been a truly great week of relaxation here in Corolla NC. Every day I feel more alive and recharged. Seems like an opportune time to talk about rest.
Rest is important. I could write a book on this, but given the confines of newsletter format I'll share three interesting aspects of rest, and throw in some fun quotes about rest/recovery so the content doesn't put you to sleep. Ba-DUM-BUM!
'Wanna hear a joke?
Sleep.
I know, I don't get it either.'
1- Is sleep/rest important?: Your body is wired for survival. Every subconscious action (including pain) is designed to keep you alive. That underlines the value of sleep. Let's break it down. Think of a human being living hundreds of years ago. They are living in the wild, not this comfort trap we live in presently. The world is actively trying to kill him/her every day and the body still demands they close their eyes and rest for several hours daily. Rest leaves one open to attack, robbery, imprisonment, and sacrifices valuable farming/hunting time. Not getting rest drastically decreases cognitive and physical function.
My point: If sleep weren't IMPORTANT we would have evolved to need less.
We haven't evolved to that point despite the 'I'll rest when I'm dead' NAVY Seal mentality. This mindset gives us a short term productive edge, but in the end 'time, tide, and adequate sleep wait for no man.
"The amount of sleep required by the average person is five minutes more." - Wilson Mizener
2- Sleep is incredibly important to weight management. Study after study proves:
- that getting less than 7 hours of sleep will cause weight gain over time.
- that we sleep less than ever before and weigh more than ever before.
- that lack of sleep thwarts good exercise and dietary habits.
- that sleeping 8+ hours a night significantly drops body weight.
We know all this to be true yet so many of us sacrifice sleep at the altar of career and social life. We figure we'll catch up on sleep over the weekend, or that we can push through with caffeine or some other stimulant.
For a while we get away with it, but then age kicks in, the mileage adds up, and we put on a few pounds that we just can't lose. We figure we need to eat less and move more when the answer might involve putting down our phones, and setting a solid bed time.
'I love a good nap. Some days it's all that gets me out of bed in the morning.' - George Costanza
3- Sleep/rest is also incredibly important in the effectiveness of your workouts.
Let's talk about steroids for a minute. From Livescience.com:
When we lift weights heavier than what we're used to, we create tiny micro-tears in muscle fibers. The body's natural repair process repairs the tear and then overcompensates by adding bigger cells to build a stronger fiber — this is called muscular hypertrophy. Over time, this repeated process of teardown and re-build will result in muscle growth. Natural testosterone is the body's main ingredient for this process.
So you do the workout and your body's natural steroids assist in the repair phase. Per our friends at sleepcenterinfo.com:
"Testosterone levels fluctuate during the day, and are at their highest during REM sleep. If you’re not getting enough REM sleep, it can affect your body’s testosterone levels. "
REM sleep will occur 4-5 times during a good night's rest. So if you're not sleeping enough, you're not maximizing your recovery/workouts.
Have I proved my case? Are you ready to commit to better rest? Here's 3 easy ways you can improve your rest/recovery.
1- Set a bed time. You are a creature of habit. If you lie down at the same time every night your body will wind down easier than if you go to bed haphazardly.
2- Stop eating an hour (or more) before sleep. Stop caffeine/stimulants well before then.
3- Stop looking at your screens an hour (or more) before sleep. The blue light limits melatonin production and melatonin is what puts us to sleep in the first place.
So is rest just as important as exercise? Yes. I would say it is just as important for reasons covered here, plus a few others. Time for our final quote.
'My Man is so cool when he goes to sleep sheep count him.'- David Mamet, Heist
I wish that quote was talking about me. But it isn't. It's about Gene Hackman. Gene Hackman is lying on a pile of money somewhere doing cool stuff. I'm out here giving great advice. How do you know it's great advice? Because it is boring. And all good advice is boring. And I am making a living telling people to do boring things like eat vegetables and go to bed. I am uncool, I am boring, and hopefully this boring newsletter puts you to sleep for 8 hours tonight.
For those who’d rather watch
