Exercise of the Week- Elephant Walk

Elephant Walk



Benefits- one of the main functions of your core muscles is to resist extension (swaying your back). Just a basic push-up is challenging for many of our new clients in this respect. Once you can properly stabilize the basic push-up position, the elephant walk makes a nice progression. Having your hands above your forehead just a little dramatically increases the load on the core.


Execution- We like to perform this exercise like an inch worm. You can either move your arms exclusively while keeping your feet stationary or you can walk your feet in then walk your hands out (inch worm). Using your arms only creates a nice warm for the shoulder complex, if performed pre strength training. The most important aspect of this movement is too resist lumbar extension! Only walk your hands out to the point where you do not collapse in the lumbar spine. Hold the extended position for a 1 count and return to the start point. Keep your hips still as you "travel" from start to finish. Also, don't forget about your cervical integrity (keep you head up).


Progressions- ROM and time. Simply walking your hands out a little more and holding for a longer duration will increase the intensity.

Especially good for- anyone looking for some variety or a progression from basic planks.

Enjoy!

RM

Train like Tarzan- Look like Jane!

This is a new version of an article that I wrote over a year ago. It was the feature article in our newsletter this month. It is worth making the point one more time!

Here you go:

I often address concerns with ladies who understand that weight training is beneficial for weight loss, but they do not want to gain any muscle size. They simply feel that lifting too heavy will result in a “weight lifters” body and not the lean, slender look they desire. A simple explanation as to why this is not a concern usually involves an explanation of the relationship between the density of fat and muscle. Muscle is denser and thus takes up much less space than fat. Additionally, an increase in lean tissue will raise your metabolic rate and result in fewer fat cells (smaller body).

Let’s take a closer look at how to structure your weight training sessions to achieve a leaner, slimmer body.

First, let’s explore the ways we gain muscle. We must first understand the muscle growth (hypertrophy) principles, as well as the factors which affect it. Hypertrophy is the increase in muscle size as overcompensation for micro-trauma due to overuse. In other words, how your muscles respond to the stimulus of weight lifting. The two principal types of hypertrophy are myofibrillar hypertrophy, and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

Myofibrillar hypertrophy- is an enlargement of the contractile fibers (myofibrils). This type of hypertrophy is accompanied by the ability to exert muscular strength and is developed with low rep/heavy weight training (1-5 reps). This type of hypertrophy results in a much more dense and strong (functional) muscle.

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, on the other hand is the increase in the volume of the non-contractile muscle cell fluid, sarcoplasm. This type of hypertrophy is accompanied by an increased resistance to muscular fatigue which is the result of a bodybuilding based routine (multiple sets/10-15 reps per set). This cell fluid accounts for 20-30% of the muscle size. This is type of hypertrophy may be desirable if you compete in bodybuilding but may not give you the ideal body for an evening gown. Unfortunately, most women’s programs are based on this type of protocol.


Based on the ways that our body gains muscle, women should aim for a lower volume, lower rep range (heavy weight) program as opposed to the typically prescribed low weight, high reps protocol.


It would stand to reason that lifting heavy weights for low reps would produce a lean, muscular body without any “non-functional” muscle size. Very lady-like indeed!

Rick Mayo

Random Friday

So many thoughts, so little time. This is a good day for randomness.

- Our "Biggest Winner" challenge is off and running. With just a few weeks down we have already seen individual weight loss of up to 12 lbs! We'll have the team and individual results out by next week. Check our Facebook page for more details.

- Here is a great video of Mike Boyle explaining why he doesn't feel that traditional back squats are the "bees knees" for increasing sports performance. I addressed this briefly in the Single Leg Box Squat post. There are safer and, according to Mike more effective ways to increase leg strength. I'm glad Mr Boyle is keeping pace with our findings :)

- We are hosting our 1st annual Charity Boot Camp. It will be held at the gym on Sat the 21st at 10:00 am. The entry fee is 1 frozen turkey to be donated to Project Open Hand. The Fresh Market is participating by offering turkeys at cost to all participants. Roswell Bikes and Fleet Feet are going to kick in some goodies. Be there or be square.

- Here is a great article about body weight training by Mark Sisson. We use body weight as resistance in nearly all of our programs. Not exclusively, but in some from or another. Think you can't get strong muscles with just body weight? Read this.


















- Ross turned 24 yesterday. When you ask someone as young as Ross he old he is, he simply holds up his hands and says, "this many".

Nobody messes with the West Virgina Ninja. Nobody!



Have a great weekend!

RM

Exercise of the Week: T-Spine Stretch

This week's exercise is not actually an exercise, but it is an extremely important mobility movement.

Thoracic Spine Stretch



Benefits- Thoracic (t-spine) mobility is extremely important for your posture, shoulder function and neck/shoulder health. Your cervical (neck) and lumbar spine (lower back) should be stable areas of your spine, while your thoracic spine should be very mobile. While we don't recommend any stretching for the lumbar or cervical spine, we do recommend several movements for the t-spine. One of our favorites is the t-spine stretch featured in our above video. Without proper mobility of your t-spine, all of your rotating movements will transfer the stress to other areas of your back that are not supposed to move.

Execution- You may have done a similar stretch to the one above in your workout, but there are some subtle differences between the stretch we are demonstrating and the traditional rotating stretch. First, note that your knee is to be bent more than 90 degrees and it remains in contact with the floor. Why? Like I mentioned above, we do not want any movement in the lumbar spine. By holding your top leg at more than a 90 degree angle and keeping it in contact with the floor, you are locking your lumbar spine. Next, your hand is kept in contact with your body instead of reaching out to the floor with the traditional stretch. We do this because we are simply looking for a stretch in the t-spine and not looking to over stress the shoulder joint. Reaching to the floor only aggravates a sore shoulder and actually distracts you from really emphasizing the rotation in your mid back. Really try and push your shoulder to the ground while keeping your knee bent greater than 90 and in contact with the floor. Also, placing a towel or half roller under your head is a good idea.

Progressions- The progression for this stretch is to bend your bottom leg, reach with the free hand (top) to grab the foot of the bottom leg and to simultaneously work the shoulder to the floor while stretching the quadriceps of the bottom leg. This is a fantastic combo stretch

Especially good for- Everyone! Everyday! Golfers can really use this specific stretch to help them get more range of motion in their swing. We work with several golfers and this stretch is a staple in their program.

2 sets daily of 30-45 seconds each should do the trick. You can perform this movement more often and hold for a longer duration, if this is a problem area for you.

Get to stretchin!

Dance with the One that Brung Ya

That is unless you came to the dance with this guy













This phrase is sometimes used in my neck of the woods to reiterate the fact that you better recognize those who helped you get where you are and to show your appreciation by remaining loyal to them.

I have been in the fitness business for over 20 years. Hard to believe I know, but I will be 40 in just a few short weeks! NPPT has been open nearly 18 years and in that time we have grown 5 fold.

Periodically, in my quest to expand and grow the business I have pursued projects that take my time away from the gym. E-books, internet marketing, speaking engagements, DVD's and etc are all options to someone that has information to share. Strangely, the more time I spend on these type of projects the less satisfaction I get out of my career.

I can't speak for other trainers, but I was originally drawn to this industry out of a need to serve others and spread the information that I had about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. There is great satisfaction in having a direct effect on someones quality of life. How many people can say that they have the ability to better lives when they rise each and every morning?

While there is nothing wrong with selling information products, there has been trend lately for some individuals to focus solely on these sales, despite the fact that many of these individuals have little or no real world experience. There are countless products on the internet produced by "trainers" that have no experience working with clients. These salesmen know more about search engine optimization, key words, and internet marketing than they do about exercise programming and customer service. I genuinely feel bad for these individuals because they are missing the true joy of our industry- seeing the fruits of their labor manifested in the positive change in others.

Luckily, there has been a slight backlash recently against internet trainers by some of my colleagues.

"It seems like we’ve reached a point at this moment in time when it has become more important to be a great marketer of bootcamps and personal training than it is to actually BE a great boot camp instructor or personal trainer."

Dax Moy

"I came to a bit of a shocking realization the other day about just how many so-called experts in the field - those writing books, giving seminars, and making television show appearances - actually train few (if any) actual clients. As I thought about it, this would never work for me (regardless of how many years of experience I’d have accumulated by that point) simply because I view interaction with athletes as one of my primary means of continuing my education. Simply coaching athletes, getting their feedback on things, and watching the adaptation process take place is a great way to enhance one’s perspective.

Right now, I’m out there coaching about 35 hours per week, and it’ll pick up a bit more as our pro baseball training group fills up in the next few weeks - and that will last through the third Monday in March. Interestingly, this kicks off the time of year when my writing is always the most creative and prolific. In other words, as I digest those 5-6 months of training, it’s very easy to put a lot of new ideas on paper.

Had I just been sitting at a computer that entire time, there’s no way I’d have that perspective. Just some food for thought: the next time you are about to buy a book, DVD, or attend a seminar, ask yourself whether the “expert” in question actually interacts with athletes/clients/patients on a weekly basis"

Eric Cressey

There is certainly nothing wrong with earning passive income and sharing valuable information with others. But, if you are a 22 year old "fitness expert" with no real coaching experience, do yourself (and your potential customers) a favor and spend some time in the trenches getting good at actually servicing clients before you share your "super fitness secret" with the world.

I know each and every time I refocus my efforts on our clients at NPPT I am happier and more successful in all aspects of my business.

RM

Unstable Surface Training? Not so much

Question: A trainer at my gym told me that I should do my squats on the Bosu to help build a stable base. Do you think this will help with my core strength for running?

Answer: This is a question I received from an attendee at our "Strength Training for Runners" seminar last Sunday morning. The answer is unequivocally- NO! While training on Bosu, stability balls, wobble boards, foam pads and etc is effective in a rehabilitation setting, the limitation in speed and load is counterproductive to building real world strength.




If my eyes aren't failing me, this athlete is squatting with an 8 lb ball. Too little a load to increase athletic performance.











Eric Cressey, one of the brilliant minds in our industry, wrote The Truth About Unstable Surface Training . The information is based on studies conducted as part of Eric's master's thesis, which was officially published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in May of 2007.

According to Eric's research

One of the most commonly cited arguments against unstable surface training is that it doesn't allow for adequate resistance to provide for strength gains – and our study certainly verifies that point of contention. Further, we demonstrated that unstable surface training actually interferes with power increases athletes should experience with concurrent stable surface training. In other words, as coaches and trainers implement UST with clients in an attempt to improve proprioception, they’re actually negatively affecting other athletic qualities – and they’re ignoring the fact that proprioception is very skill-specific.

In other words, outside of ankle rehabilitation, there is zero benefit to unstable surface training and you may actually be hindering your results by implementing it with healthy individuals.

Why then do we still see trainers using these ineffective tools with their clients? I really can't answer that other than to speculate that the trainer in question just hasn't thoroughly researched the subject and they are just following what the other trainers are doing in the gym. Sad, but true.

Pick up a copy of Eric's book (see link above) for the science behind the results.

Here is yet another reason to pass on training circus tricks. Ouch!



Rick Mayo

Exercise of the Week- Push-up to Pike

It has been a crazy week at NPPT! I didn't get to the blog like I would have liked, but here we go.

This week's exercise:

Push-up to Pike



Benefits- This is an awesome exercise for core stability. Everything from your scapula to your abs has to be engaged to perform pikes correctly. The time on your hands makes it an excellent upper body strength/endurance movement for all of your upper body pushing muscles.

Execution- In the video, we are demonstrating the push-up to pike with the power wheel. We also love this exercise using the TRX. Start in a perfect push-up position- legs straight, glutes tight, neutral lumbar and cervical spine. First perform a push-up while maintaining the posture mentioned above. At the top of the push-up simply "draw" your hips up until you can no longer maintain a neutral spine. ROM is dictated by your flexibility. The most common mistakes we see on this movement are sagging in the spine at the bottom of the pike and poor push-up form. It is imperative that you stop at the bottom of the pike and maintain a neutral spine. It's harder than it looks!


Progressions- We use more of a regression from this exercise with a push-up to knee tuck. This movement is fairly advanced and the best way to increase the intensity is to increase the reps. 40 in a row is pretty good.

Especially good for- those with time constraints. While everything works your core, it's easy to quantify this exercise as an upper body and core movement. Also, it's fantastic in a fat burning circuit. We love combo moves for our fat loss circuits and push-up to pikes are perfect for this purpose.

Include them in your next circuit and I know you'll love them too!

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You can't judge a book by it's cover. These guys needed that advice before they went out on the town. See video

Exercise of the Week- Reverse Lunges

Benefits- Reverse or back step lunges are fantastic for developing the posterior muscles of the lower body. Also, they are awesome for developing/maintaining flexibility in the hip flexors/quads. They are relatively easy on the spine and allow you to use a sizable load.

Execution- Stay tall and make certain to step back in a straight line. The most common mistake we see with this exercise is letting the hip "drop", which causes the back leg to cross over the mid line. We use the floor seams and jump ropes as good visual cues for foot placement. Straddle the seam or rope and simply make sure your back leg stays on it's own side. Also, make sure the the back knee gets behind the hip to take advantage of the flexibility benefits of the lunge.

Progressions- Walking lunges or stepping off of a low box are both progressions for the reverse lunge. Walking lunges create more stability challenges and lunging from a box increases the ROM. Obviously, increasing the load by holding heavier weights is a simple progression.

Especially good for- Distance runners due to the limited range of motion with distance running. We also have had great success with clients that have had low back pain. We are able to challenge strength levels without overloading the spine. If you sit all day, this can be a great exercise to undue some of the "short" posture the you are in for prolonged periods of time.

Don't be afraid to increase your load and go heavy on these guys. Try several sets of 5 on each leg and I'll guarantee you'll remember me in the morning!

RM