A Kettlebell Swing Workout (Part 2): Singles and Doubles

An entire workout can be centered around the kettlebell swing.

There are very few exercises other exercises I would feel comfortable saying that about.  But the kettlebell swing is definitely a movement that be an all-in-one solution.  One stop shopping if you will.

Based on the popularity of my previous post, It’s Just a Kettlebell Swing Workout, I decided to go ahead and continue posting samplings of other kettlebell swing based workouts.

But I must be clear about one thing:  I am in no way endorsing that the kettlebell swing be the only exercise that you leverage in your movement training programs.

While the kettlebell swing is certainly a world-class movement, it is important to develop strength and power through other exercises as well.  Remember, the human body pushes, pulls, jumps, twists, carries, etc.

Humans have to be able to execute a wide range physical tasks if you stop and think about it.  Especially when you consider that you never really know what the demands of the workday or weekend are going to bring.

It really pays to be physically prepared.

Workouts are scheduled bouts of physical exertion.  You know exactly what is going to happen during a workout and how it is going to happen.  So much of our daily lives are unscheduled, random and out of our control.  The workout is one aspect of our lives that we can control.  We control the amount of effort, intensity, exercise selection and duration of the workout.  We have complete control of what happens during this brief period of time.

It’s a real turn on for some people who feel like they have little control over anything else in their schedule.

Anyways, back to the point of this blog post.

Kettlebell swings, and how we can organize and rearrange kettlebell swings into highly effective training sessions.

When I sense boredom creeping up on my training habits (as many of you have also experienced) I know that it is time to shuffle a few things around.  I value the impact that 2-handed kettlebell swings- especially heavier swings for longer duration work sets- can have on maintaining my body composition, but I also know that too much of anything can be a bad thing.

Boredom is part of being human, so it’s important to inject energy into your training sessions.

In this case, single arm swings added an element to my training session that reinvigorated the entire session.

Here is what the workout looked like.

If you get serious about adopting kettlebell swings into your workouts, you’re quickly find that your body will enter a different realm of lean.  I have to admit that I thought kettlebells were gimmicky in the beginning, but after submerging myself into kettlebells exclusively one Summer, I prove my own opinions incorrect.

I got really lean, really quick.  From just swinging the damn thing between my legs, back and forth like a pendulum.  The concept seemed too good to be true initially.

Interestingly enough, I didn’t have the greatest technique at the time, but I had established a great foundation of all around strength, stability and resilience to fatigue which allowed me to continue advancing my workouts.

This is an important point.  I would strongly advise that anyone reading this post go and seek out a professional who has the credentials of a high level swinger.  RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) or StrongFirst certified individuals would be a great place to start.  Most of these folks were trained under Pavel Psatsouline, who is the godfather of kettlebells in the Western World.  You would get fantastic tips, tricks and technique adjustment from these individuals.

But, if you have a willingness to learn and a decent bodily awareness, I also personally believe that you can teach yourself how to swing at home.  Set up a smart phone and shoot short clips of yourself swinging.  Compare it to other videos like the following:

Neghar has great technique… check out her blog…

Pay attention to the difference in your technique and Neghar’s swing technique.  Critique yourself bit by bit.  Make the small adjustments.  Most people will notice that they are “lifting” the bell versus swinging it, or squatting versus hinging the hips.

We have the ability to teach ourselves things- not just mental education but physical education also- which I sometimes think that we forget.  We can be self-sustaining.

If you find that you have little time, and want a workout that is bare bones simple, try this little diddy…

Recently, I jumped into this exact workout prior to my evening plans.  I didn’t have much time to train but needed to get some amount of work done to feel good about myself, so this 10 minute workout fit the bill.  Using a 28kg KB, I recorded 215 swings.  Not a world record but also not too bad in my mind.

Kettlebell swings are a highly productive exercise.  Add them to your training, and with an ounce of consistency I know that you’ll see some significant return on your investment.  Just do it.

Cheers to swing workouts!

KG

Assess Yourself Often, Decide What’s Next

Assessment is an essential element of physical improvement.

Ideally, frequent assessments are made not only to your body aesthetics (weight, fat, muscle, etc) but also to your ability to move freely with stability and strength (mobility, stability, strength, etc).

After all, it is completely possible to look great and move like shit.

It’s also possible to move great and look like shit.

*** I should clarify what I mean when I say “look great”… it’s in the eye of the beholder.  Our perception of what a great body looks like is grossly skewed by mainstream models, magazines and media.  Obviously, carrying higher levels of body fat can raise health concerns, but “looking great” doesn’t have to mean visible muscle striations and the almighty six-pack.  If you’re body type allows you to feel confident in your own skin in any situation, good for you, you’re there.***

Besides, most magazine models, movie actors, and testimonials from famous workout programs like P90X and Insanity are manipulated and photo shopped to amplify their physiques.  Did you know that?

Check out this great article recently published in the Huffington Post describing how fake testimonials for workout programs really are…

Having looks without movement or movement without looks both carry their negatives.

The best approach might be to meet in the middle.  It’s more than possible to improve both at the same time without sacrificing one or the other.

If you look great but you cannot move without encountering restriction or pain, life’s activities become a hassle and certain movement patterns might be avoided altogether.  No one enjoys feeling pain, so we tend to avoid moving in ways that cause it.  I’m not referring to that burning sensation felt in your arms and legs when executing push-ups or squats, but rather the debilitating lower back pain experienced while you attempt to pull up a pair a socks.  Or maybe it’s the pinch in your shoulder when you reach overhead for a clean glass in the cupboard.

Looking great isn’t the only qualifying element to health.

The advances in made in assessing (and correcting) movement over the last 10 years or so have been tremendous.  The physical therapy world and fitness world are beginning to bridge gaps to one another, with ancient practices like indian clubs, yoga and martial arts adding value to the mix.

We have a much clearer understanding of joint function, breathing and soft tissue health and how it all ties together to create a highly functioning body.

We understand that six-pack abs, bulging biceps and a set of trapezious muscles big enough to scratch your ear lobes may not mean a damn thing if movement dysfunction is present.

On the other hand, maybe you move really well but you pay little attention to your body composition.  I know a lot of people who are extremely athletic but don’t pay much attention to what they put in their mouths food-wise.  Ironically, poor eating can case inflammation and pain in and around your joints also.  Here are some common foods that are worth re-considering.  Eliminating most of these foods, or at the very least reducing and substituting with more nutrient dense options can work wonders.

In the operating room, it is obvious that a lack of attention to body composition will eventually restrict joint range of motion.  Many of the patients in need total joint replacements are also overweight/obese.  The increase in body fat literally prohibits the patient from achieving a healthy range of motion in the knee joint.  The additional weight combined with the lack of range of motion earns them a trip to the operating room where a surgeon hacks, cuts and pounds his way to an artificial knee.

This is an extreme end of the spectrum, but it’s worth mentioning none the less.

Both scenarios described have solutions.  But it requires that you take a step back and assess what your next move is.  Just like a chess match, there is a next move, unless you’ve waited too long.  Then it’s checkmate.

If you desire the lean body, assess your training habits while simultaneously assessing your eating habits.  I’ve tried to out train my diet before, and it’s a pain in the ass.  Once my eating was in check, my body appearance improved but ironically so did my performance, skin and quality of sleep.

If you want to improve the quality of your movement, learn a few simple assessment tests give you feedback as to what’s going on.  If you cannot squat with arms extended overhead or perform a push up without breaking at the midsection, you’ve got some work to do.  Film yourself while you test out.  You don’t have to show anyone the video, it’s for your reference and education only.  Watch yourself, compare it with other folks, preferably a fitness professional that moves effortlessly and do some research on how to fix your hang ups.

I would start with the Functional Movement Screen, and someone who knows how to conduct such as test.

Consistently assessing yourself gives you important information on you where you are, your progress thus far, and allows you to decide on the next course of action.  It gives you focused direction.  It creates a clear and simple route from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be in the future).

Assess and make the next move.

 

 

Cheers to assessing, correcting and building non-photo shopped bodies!

KG

A Brief Synopsis About Why “Fat Loss” is Preferred Over “Weight Loss”

Look familiar?

“Weight loss” is a common set of terms that has been the measurement of health and wellness for decades.  Once the mainstream grabbed ahold of the weight loss, it was all over.  As for who first used the phrase “weight loss” to describe a positive shift in a person’s health and appearance?…

I have no clue.

What I do know is that I have never really understood why we say “weight loss”.

While I know that on some level, “weight loss” does do a decent job of describing the events taking place when a person decides to improve their nutrition or physical activity, I also feel that “weight loss” is so short-sighted.

Especially when the weight that is being lost is being measured by a bathroom scale or the equivalent.  We judge our progress by comparing our previous weigh in to the current weigh in.  If the needle moves left (weight loss) we celebrate and feel good, if the needle moves right (weight gained) we become frustrated, depressed, pissed off and in some extreme reactions, give up on our health endeavors all together.

I’ve witnessed people give up on physical activity and nutritionally smart eating habits solely based on the needle bouncing to the right instead of the left.  They may not give up the first time that they see it happen, but most certainly on the second, third, or fourth time that significant loss does not occur.

The problem with letting the weight scale be the dictator of your progress is that weight scales measure weight!  Ha!  Yes, weight scales suck because all they do is measure weight.  Weight scales don’t factor in whether that weight is useful muscle or useless fat (not all fat is useless), water weight, fecal matter (grow but true), etc.  There is zero indication about where the weight displayed on the scale is coming from, which is why I feel that body composition (or the composition of your total weight) is such important information to know.

Here are a couple of pictures that help make my point.  If you are someone that finds motivation to get fit for body appearance reasons, consider this picture:

The picture depicts the same female at different weights, yet different shapes.  Although the difference between the right and left pictures may be subtle, there is a noticeable difference.  When asked, most people would probably want to look like the picture on the right, especially not knowing that the picture on the right represents the same girl at a HEAVIER weight.

The girl looks more “toned” (not sure I like using this word but it works for now) and fit in the picture on the right, but she weighs more.  Why?  She built lean muscle and removed  layers of fat.

Fat on the body, visually, projects much different than muscle on the same body.

Here is a picture that helps support my last statement, anyone who has ever been in a health class or kinesiology classroom has no doubt seen images like this:

While the old “muscle weighs more than fat” adage doesn’t make much sense, body composition and  visual observations at what muscle increase and fat decrease looks like certainly do.

What we could potentially say, is that “a pound of fat takes up nearly four times the space of the same amount of muscle tissue”.

In other words, your height and weight can remain exactly the same, but you can feel and even visually look, well… fatter.

If you add more lean muscle to your body while simultaneously losing fat, you’re going to see a decrease in size, despite what the scale tells you. Your body begins to “tighten up”, “tone” or whichever descriptive word you choose to use.

Increasing muscle while decreasing fat is a positive shift in body composition, and generally, overall health.

The most direct and efficient way to accomplish this is with resistance training, and decent nutritional regimen.

Here is an old article from the University of New Mexico describing all of the benefits of resistance training…

Too simplify, here is a snapshot:

Because of this, I have to recommend that we shift our thinking and judgements away from the weight scale, and on to body composition tests like bodpods, skin calipers or hydro-static weighing to analyze what the ratio of muscle to fat really is.  The problem is, these are all laboratory tools.  They are unrealistic for the average person to use for monitoring progress.

Waist circumference is also a decent indicator of how your body is reacting to exercise and nutritional interventions.

Go find a pair of jeans that fit tight at the current moment.  Try them on.  Set them aside for now.

Get aggressive with your movement and eating, forgetting about any measurements or weighing.

A week or two down the road, try on that same pair of jeans.

Rinse and repeat for months, because months is how long it is going to take.  Dedicated and repeated effort for months, not overnight or in a week.  Bodies built naturally and properly, take months to establish.  But once they are built, basic upkeep is all that needed to maintain their integrity.

Better yet, strip down into a swimsuit for females, and a  pair of short with no shirt if you are a male.  Make a conscious effort to show some skin.  Now, take a full body picture.  Have the courage to do this in the beginning and frequently along the way.  It’s unscientific but it is brutally effective.  As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

You don’t have to show anyone the pictures but yourself.  It’s your reminder of where you started and how you a progressing.  In the future, it may serve as a fuel to continue on the right path when times get rough.  We can all use a little motivation every now and then.

It takes time and effort to make change.  Transformation is a big process.  You’re tearing down and building up.  A complete remodel of your body.  Don’t get discouraged.  If you’re doing right things to initiate lean muscle gain and fat loss, you’ll make progress.  There is no doubt.  If you falter or give up, your progress will slow or halt.

Always remember that if it were easy, everyone would do it.

In most cases, body composition change is incredibly predictable.  Keep moving often, purposefully and aggressively and leverage that effort with nutrient dense food.  The combination of the two will peel fat off of your body like an onion, and restore something that most of us could use more of… muscle.

Cheers to trading weight loss for fat loss…

KG

How to Eat To Stay Lean for Life

In talking with a friend today about nutrition and how my eating habits have evolved over the last 7-8 years, I realized how simple eating should be, yet how complicated we make it.

I firmly believe that how you eat as a kid has a lot to do with how you end up eating as an adult, although I have seen plenty of people who make the shift to eating wholesome food as adults once they become fed up with nagging health, weight or poor self image.  We all have our breaking points, it’s just a matter of when.  I have to say that I cannot applaud these people who have made the positive shift from eating chips and soda to veggies and lean meat.

It always amazes me what the smallest of changes can do for a person’s body transformation.

I generally eat the same rotation of foods weekly.  I never count calories and I generally eat until I feel satisfied.

 

Every single day, breakfast makes or breaks you…

My breakfast rarely ever changes from the usual 3 egg omelette with veggies, Ezekiel Bread toast with peanut butter and banana slices (dusted with cinnamon).  I wash it down with 2-3 glasses of ice cold water and a few cups of coffee.

This breakfast is a meal that I look forward to every single day.  I typically eat at 5:30am, taking my time to consume the meal while I write or read articles.  This breakfast fuels me until about  11am/12pm, when I feel the need to refuel with some lunch.  Lunch is usually a salad with meat (salad+meat makes it a MEAL) or a homemade protein bar.

I have written about my homemade protein bar recipe, which I originally got from Precision Nutrition’s awesome cookbook Gourmet Nutrition.  I can’t say enough about the protein bars or any of the other meals that can be found in that book.  The pesto pizzas are one of my favorite meals of all time.  Incredible replacement for eating the highly processed stuff from a local pizza place.

 

Eating is an acquired taste (no pun intended)…

As I started to learn more about food and the power that food has on general health, performance and body composition, I began to realize that most of the recommendations were exactly the same, just reorganized.

I started to use simple guidelines to help direct my grocery shopping and food choices…

 

I still use these tips personally to remind myself and also to help others dial in their eating habits.

I get asked all of the time what foods I eat.  I usually throw out the, “If it wasn’t grown from the earth or have a mother, I don’t eat it” line, or lately just to keep it short and sweet, I will say “plants and meat”.  Why say any more than that?  It’s not rocket science, so why complicate for a person that is already being bullied by a food industry that pumps out garbage advertising.

The response is sometimes, “But Kyle, you eat red meat?!”

My response, “Hell yes.  Plenty of it”.

Using these reminders can take the anxiety and confusion out of grocery shopping (where you decide whether to make a monetary commitment to the food) and actual preparation and consumption of meals (which is determined what you have purchased).

I began to take notice that I would eat whatever was stocked in the house, as most of your probably do the same.  I know for a fact that  many of you also do this.  Whatever is convenient and quick is going to be consumed.  Right?

 

Learn how to cook, it’s probably the answer to most of your problems…

In my pre-cooking days, I began to notice that whatever was being prepared by someone else dictated what I was going to be eating.  If it was chocolate chip pancakes wrapped around sausage links, cake, donuts, Hamburger Helper, Ramen and on and on… it didn’t matter, it was going to be eaten.  It sounds like a dumb observation, but if you aren’t preparing your own food, you are eating whatever is being prepared by the person that is.  Sometimes that means eating junk.

Once I took the responsibility and the initiative to cook my own food for each meal, I started eating clean.  I saw tremendous positive changes in my body appearance and performance.  Clean eating to me is eating food that is free of any processed crap (ingredients).  Clean eating involves eating food that rots it if isn’t consumed fast enough.  Clean eating can be a complete pain in the ass.  You’ll have to grocery shop 2-3 times at the grocery store because you are eating food that has a shelf life of just a couple of days, or, you’re eating so much of these quality foods that you literally run out.  It’s all worth it.

I learned through experience that if I ate quality food, I could eat just about as much as I wanted.  My plates for dinner and breakfast are still piled high with quality food that does nothing more than nourish my body and refuel it for the next training session.

Here is another bold statement for all of you to chew on:  Eating clean makes you shit.

And while you may giggle and blush when I say that, it really isn’t a laughing matter.  Eating quality food will make you eliminate regularly, which is so incredibly vital to your digestive system and overall health.  So many of us walk around with toxic food pooled up in our bodies.  Open the lid to a restaurants dumpster on a hot and humid Summer day, take a big whiff.  Now imagine what your stomach looks like after Doritos, Bagels and French Fries.

Our bodies can develop inflammation and sometimes aches and pains from the food that we eat!  Who knew.

Ever heard of leaky gut syndrome?  A lot of people have it and don’t know it.  Years of processed food and sugar finally taking it’s toll on their intestinal lining.

I know people who have been damn close to going under the knife because they thought they were suffering from a rotator cuff injury, when in fact it was an awful inflammatory effect from their diet.  They changed some things in their diet prior to surgery and boom shakalaka, pain free.

This isn’t hocus-pocus.  I have talked about how some health professionals are proactive and some are reactive.  I would suggest that you seek out good information from those professionals who are proactive.  Holistic healthcare used to be a taboo topic, but more and more folks are finding that holistic practitioners may in fact not be crazy voodoo witch doctors after all.

We can complain about our healthcare system all we want, but we need to take look in the mirror at the individual level first.  We, as humans in these modern times, should be able to take care of ourselves.  We have to pull up our pants, comb our hair, brush our teeth and start being big boys and big girls when it comes to our discipline to be conscious of food and consistent with movement.

Start small and simple, build on the momentum gained.

 

Un-educated, computer-less cavemen could figure it out…

For thousands of years, people have been eating plants that were grown from the earth and adding in a little animal meat, eggs and nuts for protein.  Our ancestors weren’t entirely sure when the next meal was going to come.  True hunters and gatherers.

Plants and pastured meat is medicine (and fuel) and it can be leveraged (very simply) to bring your body composition and overall health back to center, despite your movement habits.  Although adding in a simple movement regimen is like pouring gasoline on the fire.  Mix both and you’re set up for success.

 

The wrap up…

So at the end of the day, I do suppose that the best nutritional intervention is the one that you are willing to stick to.  Whatever and wherever your starting point is, your ground zero, just do something to shift your nutritional intake in a positive manner.

These days, I view nutrition as I do the purposeful workout.  It is an acquired taste that you’ll become better and better at as you continue move deeper into the realm of nutrient dense foods and seasonings while slowly eliminating the sugary/processed foods of the past.

A pure trade out.  In the good, out with the bad.

You’ll become better at identifying good food from bad food every single time you make a conscious effort to shop smarter at the grocery store.

Cooking becomes less chaotic and more systematic over time.  Just like working out regularly to build physical fitness, cooking and eating wholesome food becomes more and more fun every time you do it.  It’s just a matter of sticking it out long enough to make the habits stick for the long-term.

I am in no way talking about eating for six-pack abs and veiny arms, I am talking about fitting into your college jeans and feeling comfortable (and proud) about taking your shirt off at the lake.  For some of us, maybe it’s eating to save our lives (literally).  For most of us, body restoration means regaining our self-confidence and our pride in a body that we worked hard to develop.  Improving how you feel about yourself and how you perceive others feeling about your bodily image with do wonders for your happiness.

It’s a feel good story for everyone.  When was the last time someone regretted taking back control of their body?

 

 

Cheers to common sense eating for life!

 

KG

(This article in no way implies that I am supporting Paleo or any other diet trend).

The Matthew McConaughey Workout Plan

I will never forget the day that I picked up a Men’s Health magazine in college and read an article about Matthew McConaughey’s workouts.

Like many young males, I was fascinated by what Men’s Health was writing about health.  I spent a decent chunk of cash (which I had very little of) to keep my subscription, buying training manuals and such

I don’t remember what the guy does to stay in shape, but it is pretty obvious:

• He eats clean.
• He moves frequently.

You might be disappointed by my repetitive preaching of eating clean and moving smart, but it’s the only real formula that you need to reverse years of body pollution.

It’s a bullet proof technique for restoring your body.

In the Men’s Health article, I remember Matthew McConaughey commenting on his training regimen by saying…

The print is tiny, so in case you can’t quite make out what the quote is, I will help you.  It says:

What a great training plan!

After I read that quote, I distinctly remember being pissed.

I thought for sure- as many guys probably did- that he was going to disclose some sweet top secret workout regimen.

I was convinced that he was doing something special that the rest of us were aware of.  There had to be something else going on there.

You probably have had that feeling before, right?  The feeling where you are convinced that someone- who has achieved something that you also want to achieve-knows some kind of voodoo magic that you flat out don’t know anything about.  And because of the fact that they have harnessed the power of this voodoo magic, they’ve got an edge over everyone else on the planet.  You, in turn, want to know what this voodoo magic is so that you yourself can experience the kinds of results that they have.

Then you you realize that none of this is true.  A lean person’s (famous or not) recipe for success is the same as nearly every other successful person on the planet… they created good habits, worked relentlessly, learned along the way and rinsed and repeated that process.  They figured out that they have to do un-aveerage things to achieve un-average results.

I have to admit that I was brutally disappointed with the Matthew McConaughey “sweat theory”.  Again, pissed, might be a much better description.

Genetically, he is blessed to stay as lean as he does, but he also makes a dedicated effort to give his body decent food and he sweats!  So his body aesthetics are by chance.  He worked for it and now he performs a simple maintenance whenever he gets the opportunity.

Everyday, he sweats.

This has actually stuck with me ever since I read that article, and I am glad that it did.

I get a sweat every single day.  Even after a night of socializing with friends (and a boatload of craft beers) it is mandatory to sweat the next day.  It’s a simple theory that I took action on long enough to make it a lifelong habit.

It’s so easy to fall into the “there has to be something out there that I am not doing that would make all of the difference in the world” trap.  So easy.  We trick ourselves into thinking this sort of thing.  We then begin to search and search and search for the “secrets”.  We try different diets, different personal trainers, different gyms, shoes, training equipment, workout plans, etc.  When it’s all said and done, a lot of people have blown mountains of money on “secrets”.  It’s enough to drive a person crazy, and I have met a lot of people that are slowly driving themselves insane looking for these secrets.

But the recipe is simple:  eat clean and move enough to sweat.

Take that and do it EVERY SINGLE DAY.

It will blow your mind what a recipe like that will do for you over the long-term.

Cheers to Matthew McConaughey and the daily sweat!

KG

5 Hot Trends in the Fitness World

I always enjoy reading “list” style article from other writers, so I am making a conscious effort to put out more list style articles.  I have to be careful on how I word the titles however.  My major beef with article that are constructed in the list format are when they appear like the following:

“3 Best Foods to Eat for Fat Loss”

“10 Best Resistance Band Exercises”

“5 Best Butt Shaping Moves”

What is the common trend that you see there?

The word “best”.

I have trouble with the word “best” these days.  I used to be the kind of guy that would give out information about what I thought was the best, but I have since realized that just about everything works.  That being said, there are definitely exercises that I would select over others for most people.  But I still don’t feel comfortable saying that there is any one “best” of anything.  It’s a human malfunction, not an exercise malfunction.

I am guilty of it myself.

So I am careful on how I am going to word these “list” articles.

Moving on…

Physical culture has evolved tremendously over the last few years.  Products and methods have continuously improved our industry.  Naturally, the information being dispensed to the public has also become much more applicable.

Below are what I feel are 5 red hot trends in the fitness world…

1)  Metabolic training.

I can’t really use any more description than that.  We have officially entered the age of Cardio-Strength, Met-Con (metabolic conditioning) and work capacity based training for getting lean and regaining control of our bodies.  It’s a trendy method, and rightfully so.  I myself have trained using incomplete rest periods and high volumes of work in short amounts of time for years.  The results are undeniable.  I don’t like to generalize statements, but the kind of aesthetic look that metabolic style training produces seems to be highly desirable by the public.  People want the lean and athletic look.  As with any trendy method, metabolic conditioning is also heading toward the dangerous realms.  There are always individuals who will take ideas to the extreme, and we are seeing this currently with metabolic conditioning.  Over-training and injuries have never been so prevalent, yet people seem to think it is part of the gig.  It doesn’t have to be.

2)  Suspension Training.

Yes, TRX first hit the mainstream a long time ago.  Close to 6-7 years actually before finally hitting it big time.  Jon Hinds at LifeLine Fitness has been promoting his Jungle Gym suspension trainer for years prior to that.  What is amazing is the evolution of how we are using the suspension trainer.  It’s become a go to tool for rehab, developing and regaining mobility and stability and also yoga like movements.  It’s arguably the most versatile piece of training equipment in fitness right now.  Every home should have one.

3)  Paleo.

Paleo is the hottest trend in eating, and I have to say that I have been eating ridiculously close to Paleo for quite some time.  Paleo is clean eating.  Whole food, lean meats and plenty of plants.  Although I feel that some professionals have really enjoyed the marketing appeal of a term like “Paleo”, I cannot argue with the eating recommendations.  If you want to strip fat and get yourself out of the “sick, overweight and heading for preventable disease category”, Paleo is a fantastic option.

Here is a link to Robb Wolf, a trusted name in the Paleo world: Robb Wolf

4)  Animal Movements.

This is something that I am HIGHLY interested in at that the present time.  I will be reporting back on this in future posts.  I would like to call it ground based mobility training, but that doesn’t even do it justice.  After watching a few video clips from the folks over at Primal Move, I was hooked.  I see so much value in it.  Strength and Conditioning coaches have been gravitating to Gray Cook and his Functional Movement Screen for assessing athletes and general population clients alike.  I can see this building on the findings of Gray’s FMS.  Moving joints in a range of motion like the video below would be a tremendous addition for so many people…

5)  Self-massage.

It’s never been more simple to perform self-maintenance on your body.  Tools like foam rollers and lacrosse balls have around for ages, but the information on how to use them was really lacking.  Sure, guys like Mike Boyle and others were promoting foam rolling sessions as a pre-workout method for eliminating trigger points and changing the density of muscle before changing length.  Some will argue against the effectiveness of stretching statically, and I am not even sure where I stand on static stretching at the present time, but no one should argue against the effectiveness of relieving oneself of restrictions (aka: knots and sticky tissue).  Trigger Point Performance, a company out of Texas, has really taken the concept of self-massage to the next level.  There educational seminars and products are fantastic.

Where is physical culture heading next?  Who knows, and that is the beauty of it.  We read, learn and apply daily.  The landscape of the fitness industry is constantly changing, and I really like that.

 

Cheers to being trendy (in a good way)…

KG

We Are So Messed Up (Movement VS. Aesthetics)

Aesthetics, not athletics.

It is important to make the distinction and not allow your eyes to trick you.  Why?  Because true athletes know how to move and care very little about aesthetics.

However, have you ever noticed that most athletes are about the leanest people on the planet?  The leaness  that an athlete has is simply a by-product of their training efforts, and the demands of their sport.  Sport is movement.  Athletes move more than average people.  You get it, right?  Movement and being lean have a strong connection.

Ahemmm… and nutrition.

There is a massive shift coming in the way that we look at fitness.  In fact, this shift has been going on in the “underground” for quite some time.  The shift is this:

Get people moving at a higher level.

By higher level, I am talking about a higher level of quality.  Pouring high volumes of exercise onto low quality movement is like driving your car until your oil is depleted and your engine blows up.  Trust me, it is going to happen.  Injury lurks around us all day everyday.  Some is accidental, but most is completely preventable.  Taking the proactive approach keeps your healthy.  Injury will show its ugly face to those who ignore their aches/pains and poor movement quality.

Nice introduction, right? Ha.  My mind is a blender of thoughts, so as always, be patient with me as we waddle through another article.

Let’s see if I can’t make some kind of point to you all…

Movement versus Aesthetics.

I have slowly watched as the fitness industry takes a turn for the better.  Fixing movement before fixing body fat (aka: aesthetics)

If you want to talk about sustainability, this is a sustainable model to follow, and I encourage all of you to drop your current habits and follow it.  Movement first, exercise second.

Gray Cook led the charge, years ago.  Mike Boyle helped to bring his theories to other trainers who believe Coach Boyle is sub-human (he really is a pioneer) in this training industry.  And Boyle is sub-human, he is the perfect blend of common sense, reality and knowledge.

The basics are this:  Don’t put fitness (exercise) on top of pre-existing movement dysfunction.  

In even simpler terms:  Don’t ignore your poor functioning hips, ankles, knees, back and shoulders while still attempting to force an intense workout, just for the sake of aesthetics (aka:  looking good in the mirror).

Because that is why most of us workout right?  Aesthetics?  I mean, we have piles and piles of research showing the internal and external health benefits of exercise, but come on… get real… are you actually running to increase your body’s rapid circulation for disease prevention?

Or are you running to keep yourself fitting in those jeans you’ve had since entering college?

I really don’t care why you choose to exercise, whatever is going to get you to take action is what I am interested in.  If you have a solid “why” behind your daily training regimen, keep it.  I like it.

But, now that you have the motivation to take action, let’s shift your thinking to quality of movement over just… exercise.

Let’s get your movement patterns dialed in, THEN AND ONLY THEN… let’s go and have one hell of a workout.

You see, our view of fitness is skewed these days.  We have come to associate someone with low body fat and six-pack abs as someone who is truly fit.  Sure, it is definitely aesthetically appealing to be lean and muscular.  To have that athletic look so to speak.

But at what cost?  How are you achieving those results?  Are you piling tons and tons of dysfunction on top of your movement quality?

Are you 2 weeks into Insanity with your anterior knee pain at a 10 out of 10? (anterior=front)  What are you really achieving at that point?  Pain?  Should exercising hurt?

I am getting you to think here.  I will even answer my last question for you.  No, exercising should not hurt.

(Note that the burn felt from a muscular contraction and pain are quite different sensations)

Working hard and working smart are very different.  

We need to start looking for sustainable, life long methods for maintaining physical and mental health.  Maintaining physical health requires a person to stay active and remain injury free.  Injuries crush people in this life.  One bad injury can set a person off course for years, maybe even for a lifetime.  It is a sad occurrence that happens all too often.  We all know someone who is virtually disabled due to injury (think lower back here).  Do I even need to talk about the $$$cost$$$ of an injury?  Yikes.

The shift to the movement based model is the solution.  I believe this.  I have listened and read enough work from guys like Gray Cook and Mike Boyle. Cleaning up your joint mobility, improving the balance and  function between your left and right sides, your front and back, along with the upper and lower parts of your body is the ticket.  Every. Single. Time.

Balance.

The elimination (“improvement” might be a better choice of word) of asymmetries (differences) between these halves of the body will catapult your performance, I guarantee it.  Most folks don’t know they are operating a body at about 75% of their potential.

The difficult part about all of you to start assessing and correcting your movement patterns is that it has very little entertainment value.  I know this.

Humans these days need entertainment or we become bored.  We enjoy complex over simple.  We have adult ADD.

It isn’t as fun to roll around on a foam roller or lacrosse ball to smash your hip musculature, mobilize your thoracic (mid-spine) or perform cable chops and lifts until you’re blue in the face.

I’m no dummy.  I know that you would rather pay your sign up fee at a Cross-Fit gym and have someone put you through a puke producing training session.  That is what your friends are doing, and they are dropping pant sizes, right?  I know the influence of peers on decision-making.  I get that.

But, trust in me, just invest that 10-15minutes to find the information about why you can’t perform a body weight squat, or step over a hurdle, or reach your arms overhead without going into dangerous lumbar extension.  Then, invest 10-15 minutes more daily to work through your corrective movements, and re-test your problem areas.  Re-test your squat.  Re-test your lunge.  Re-test.

Just take a few minutes, that’s all.

In closing, make your movement last a lifetime.  Yes, age is inevitable.  But we have the choice to continue moving freely and without restriction well into our life.  Don’t be fooled by the instant gratification that some programs and people are promising.

—> Healthy movement for a lifetime is more important than a six-pack for next summer.

KG

***  Today is 9/11.  I hang my hat to everyone that has given me the chance to sit at my computer in peace and write something like this.  You are true heroes in every sense of the word. Thank you. ***