Health
Minimalism For the Millennium
By Kevin Squalls, NASM CPT, CES, PES
The human foot is an engineering wonder, formed by 26 bones, 33 joints (20 of which are actively articulated), and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments.. Seven rounded tarsal bones below the ankle joint form the instep. Five metatarsal bones form the ball of the foot. There are 14 phalanges in the toes (two in the big toe and three in each of the others). The foot bones form two perpendicular arches that meet the ground at the heel and ball of the foot, and these arches are found only in humans.
With so much technology built in, what's the effect of tech-on-tech?
For years I have been telling my clients about the problems shoes can cause. From anterior-tibialis-tightening flip-flops, to calf-killing high heels, to knee-and-heel-crushing-super-cushioned air- or gel-injected land yachts for your feet, most shoes these days are all flash and no substance. More than that, many of them actually encourage muscular dysfunction and lead to injury.
While a lot of shoes can lead to a wide range of muscular and arthrokinematic issues from plantar fasciitis to bunions, I still think we've got to wear shoes...at least some of the time.
I remember traveling on the T (the mass transit system in Boston), and being astonished when this stout, middle-aged, half-bald man who resembled Santa Claus without the hat or spectacles stepped onto the train with his four foot walking stick and BARE FEET! OMG! I thought to myself. Okie Dokie Medicine Man, you are insane! I'm looking at this guy thinking about the glass, and trash, and dirt and germs, and half asleep or completely apathetic commuters who are going to tread all over his poor exposed feet. What a nightmare. Since then I've learned a lot about barefooting. Having learned more, I still think that guy was crazy, but I recognize the importance of what he was doing, and can also identify better ways to achieve the same outcomes.
Barefooting provides greater direct feedback to your body about the stresses you're placing on it when you walk, run, jump or do a multitude of other things. This in turn will encourage you to use your body in a way that is less stressful to your kinetic chain when you carry out your normal activities. Additionally, barefooting enhances the dynamic range of motion throughout the foot and ankle and can help improve balance, while strengthening the feet and muscles of the lower leg.
While commuting through an urban jungle like New York City or Boston, barefoot may not be the best idea, because of all the man-made dangers that can present themselves in a New York minute, from broken glass and hypodermic needles to a wide range of bodily waste from man and his best friend alike. But you can be nearly barefoot and still shield your little piggies from the urban onslaught. Behold, the Vibram FiveFingers Shoe.
The FiveFingers Shoe is a type of minimalist footwear, more akin to a glove than a shoe, designed to give the wearer a barefoot-like experience with the benefits of a sure grip sole and protection from dirt and other debris. There are a number of different models tailored to activities from fitness training to trail trekking to kayaking or picnicking. While each model has specific characteristics suited to its purpose, there are some basics that are universal.
The Vibram FiveFingers shoe is a super thin-soled shoe with toe pockets for each of your digits. They are made from a variety of quick drying materials, and can be worn with or without toe socks made to fit with the shoe. The shoes are washer safe, which is great for hygienic purposes if you choose to wear them without socks. The FiveFingers line boasts no "arch support or rebounding energy system." It is built on the idea that "you are the technology," as indeed you are.
The FiveFingers allow your feet to operate as they were designed too. The individual toe pockets allow your feet to splay and grip surfaces as well as spread impact forces created during activities such as running or jumping. The heel lacks any elevation, which allows the pelvis and spine to align more naturally when standing. The exposed heel also encourages the use of your elastic energy system and a forefoot or mid-foot strike when running, which according to recent studies can reduce the impact forces, translated through your body as you land between strides.
While The Vibram FiveFingers line is not the only minimalist shoe line out there, it is the only one of which I am aware that has an individual toe pocket design. This specific feature allows the foot to truly engage and perform as it is meant to. There are other companies who provide a range of minimalist shoes that also provide many of the same benefits as the FiveFingers. Soft Star Moccasins and the Vivo Barefoot Line by Terra Plana are minimalist shoes that may be considered more suitable for a formal office type of setting. Additionally, Mizuno makes a more traditional looking running sneaker and Merrell just announced a brand new line of minimalist shoes in partnership with Vibram for 2011. Even Nike, who basically led the charge away from minimalist shoes back in the seventies, is working to cash in on the minimalist market with their Nike Free line.
So if your back has been bothering you, or your knees ache, or you just can't get rid of that nagging heel pain, consider setting your feet free. A minimalist shoe may allow your foot to function and move more as nature intended it to, and will be very helpful towards alleviating your discomfort. If you're still not convinced that minimalist shoes are for you, try walking, jogging, or even dancing around barefoot in some dewy grass, five or ten minutes a day, twice per week. It's a great way to strengthen your feet and lower extremities while having fun and reconnecting to memories of more carefree times. A little time progressively strengthening and increasing the elasticity of your feet and lower limbs may be exactly what the Doctor ordered.
For more information about Vibram FiveFingers, and other minimalist shoes visit http://birthdayshoes.com/. Birthdayshoes.com is a minimalist shoe fan site with a wide array of information about minimalist shoes, activities, and the experiences of other minimalist shoe wearers. Birthdayshoes.com also hosts an updated list of verified FiveFingers retailers.
B.I.F. (Breathing is Fundamental)
Breathing is important - an obvious statement, yes, but did you know that breathing can influence your posture, muscular functionality, and emotional state, among other things? Shallow breathing, or chest breathing as it is sometimes called, can lead to wide variety of ailments including chronic neck and shoulder pain, headaches, dizziness and fainting spells. This is caused by overuse of the secondary breathing muscles. Additionally, excessive breathing caused by short shallow breaths can cause feelings of anxiety, and alter the ratio of oxygen to carbon dioxide in your blood, making you feel stiff and fatigued.
Whether you are sitting at a desk or running on a treadmill, you always want to breathe deeply and diaphragmatically. Imagine your body as a balloon, with your abdominals (belly) as the base of the balloon and your nose and mouth as the balloon hole. When you breathe into a balloon, you push the air to the bottom of the balloon where it expands and then fills up towards the top. Your breathing should work the same way. Relax your belly and allow the breath to fill you from the lowest depths of your torso, including your lower back, and rise up to the top. Your chest should only expand if you're taking a very deep breath, and then it should be among the last parts of your body to expand.
So the next time you're at the gym feeling tired and stiff, or at your desk with your shoulders up around your ears and a pounding headache, remember: be the balloon, and breathe.
Sick Days
I always tell my clients, I love you but keep your germs to yourself at home, please! Working out when you are sick is generally a bad idea. In addition to the fact that no one else wants to be infected with your little friends, when you’re feeling under the weather, rest and nutrition are paramount to healing your body. I am not telling you to sit at home watching reruns of Extreme Home Makeover Edition on CMT while eating fried chicken and chocolate ice cream. A good eight hours of sleep along with your normal 3-4 meals per day and a couple of snacks and lots of water will probably do just fine. However, trying to force your way through a workout at your normal intensity when you are sick will generally not only yield poor workout but also a longer set of sick days. A little light exercise, however, such as thirty minutes of easy walking or some light stretching or self-myofacial release can actually help you get better faster. The next time your feeling under the weather try this:
15 Minutes of Foam Rolling (Self-Myofacial Release)- Foam rolling is a self-massage technique. It will help relax overactive muscle, reduce knots and adhesions in your muscles, and helps facilitate the release of toxic build-ups of materials in your muscular system. Use your roller to kneed the length of your major muscles, applying steady firm pressure and holding on top of any particularly tender points until you feel about a 75% reduction in the tenderness which should take about 30 – 45 seconds per tender point. If you’ve never foam rolled or had a massage before, you may find that you have a lot of tender points. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day and limit yourself to two or three tender points per muscle.
20 Minutes of Light Cardio- Some light cardio ranging from a short walk or bike ride to twenty minutes dancing to your favorite music in your room will help you boost your immune system. The mobilization of blood and the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood will help you get rid of toxins in your system. In addition consistent cardio has long been shown to boost an individuals general mood and sense of well being, and feeling better is almost as good as being better.
10 Minutes Cool Down / Stretch – Ten minutes of gentle stretching to cool down after your myofacial release and cardio will help ensure that your muscles don’t become overtight. Additionally, releasing the tension in your body and alleviating pressure around superficial nerves and nerve bundles can help facilitate the transmission of information throughout your nervous system and thus speed your healing as well.
So remember, the next time you’re sick, take it easy. A light workout can help you become well faster and allow you to maintain most of your fitness achievements without overtaxing your body. Our best effort is a choice made in every moment and informed by the moment at hand. By allowing yourself the freedom to be where you are, you give yourself the ability to arrive where you want to be.
Exercise
Increase Your Bench with Bands
Do you feel like you've maxed out on your strength gains? Having trouble breaking a pound plateau or beating a rep range? Try adding cable, band, and other stability training to your current routine.
Increasing the strength of the stabilizing muscles around your joints and throughout your body will lower the stress and demands placed on your larger muscle groups, therefore enabling them to do more. The more you can do, the greater your potential gains.
The next time you hit a wall with your gains try adding a cable or band exercise after each of your standard exercises. The band or cable exercise should mimic as closely as possible the overall movement and muscle activation patterns of your standard strength training exercise (i.e. chest press with barbell to a standing chest press with a band). Since you are working on stabilizers you want to use a light to moderate resistance in combination with a fairly high rep range, between 15 –20 repetitions per set. For exercises where a band or cable may not be appropriate, such as a squat, try using tools like Bosu balls, or Airex pads. For example, with a squat progression, you would do your standard squat exercise and then follow it with a set of 15 – 20 squats on a Bosu ball with a lighter weight load.
Adding a little instability to your training can help you make tremendous gains. Just another example of how working out smarter can help you achieve more than just working harder ever will.
The Perfect Crunch
By Kevin Squalls, NASM, CPT, CES, PES
All across the country there are people doing thousands of crunches every day, all in a desperate attempt to get a flat stomach or a six-pack, and most of them are just making their stomachs bigger. Most people, including certified fitness professionals, don’t know how to do a proper crunch and even more people are misinformed about the benefits and drawbacks of the crunch.
The crunch itself is based on a simple concept. When you flex your spine, you engage your abdomen. What most people forget when they do a crunch is that your abdominals are made up of several layers of interwoven and interdependent muscles. When you flex your spine, as is the case when you lift your shoulders to do a crunch, you primarily engage the exterior layer of the abdominal muscles, the rectus abdominis. Engaging and toning the rectus abdominis, or what I like to call your six-pack muscles, is great, but you must also engage your deeper core muscles, such as your transversus abdominis in order to keep your stomach from ballooning. Have you ever sucked your stomach in? The primary muscle you used to do it was your transversus abdominis.
When you watch the average person do a crunch, you will actually see their stomachs puff outwards as they reach the top of their crunch. This is because as you flex the spine forward and contract the rectus abdominis vertically, it bunches together. Without contracting the transversus abdominis at the same time, to pull the rectus in, what you are building is a bigger belly, with more separation. By contracting the transversus abdominis throughout the lifting process and squeezing at the top, you will keep your stomach flat and make your crunch much more effective. Try this simple technique:
- Lay on your back on a flat surface, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place your fingertips behind your ears.
- Breathe in, and as you exhale lift your shoulders several inches off of the floor / mat, paying careful attention to breathe all the way out as you’re reaching the top. At the top, squeeze your abdominal muscles by pulling your belly button towards your spine.
- Maintain the contraction as you lower yourself back to the starting point.
*Tip – When you sit up, think about sliding your ribs towards your pelvis and lifting your head and neck straight up towards the ceiling, to help alleviate neck strain. I find looking straight up and focusing on a spot right above my eye level as I lay on my back very helpful.
With some simple breathing techniques and conscious attention, you can make the most out of every crunch and be well on your way to that perfect stomach.
Booty Call
Strong, toned glute or “butt” muscles have many benefits. Besides the obvious reasons of looking good in or out of those faded blue jeans, strengthening your glutes can improve athletic performance, help improve posture and reduce stress on your lumbar spine (lower back). Try incorporating these simple exercises into your core routine to see the benefits yourself.
- Supine Bridge Series - Lay on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. With your toes pointing straight ahead, and your knees pointing straight up towards the ceiling, contract your glutes so your hips raise towards the sky. Without engaging your lower back, feel your glutes pushing your hips off the ground and curling your pelvis as opposed to just lifting it, and lower slowly back to the floor. Complete 15 repetitions and hold the 15th rep for 30 seconds at the top.
- Glute Blast on Ball (reverse hyperextensions on physioball)- Lay over a physioball with your stomach on the center of the ball, your hands touching the floor with your elbows straight but not locked, and your toes touching the ground to start. Maintaining a long neck and straight arms, contract your glutes and raise your legs straight up behind you, until you are in a plank position (straight line), with your toes pointing straight down. Hold for one count then lower back to the starting position. If you have trouble keeping your toes pointing straight down as your raise your legs up, try squeezing something like a foam roller or yoga block between your thighs while you perform the exercise.
Incorporating these two simple exercises can go a long way towards alleviating that back pain or decreasing your mile time. Give them a try and see what a good call it is to love your booty.
Fitness
Fitness Fact – Spot Reduction
There is no way to spot reduce with diet and exercise. Spot reducing is a science best left to board certified plastic surgeons. So, if you’re trying to get rid of those love handles or tone up your backside, go for it with everything you’ve got, but remember - you didn’t get fat overnight, and you won’t get fit in 24 hours either. Generally, the last place you put on fat is the first place you’ll start to notice a reduction. Consequently, the first place you started to pack on the pounds will be the last place that you notice them leaving. Building muscle can help reduce the appearance of fatty tissue, and will also help you burn more calories, even in a passive state. Make sure you eat well, get plenty of rest, and engage in consistent and well-balanced progressive fitness programs. Stay focused and consistent and you will be well on your way to the self you want to be.
The 20- Minute Workout
By Kevin Squalls, NASM, CPT, CES, PES
The number one excuse I hear for skipping a workout is, “I have no time.”
The stresses of life - ranging from balancing work, family, and friends to getting chores done and paying the bills - can seem overwhelming. Often the result is that the immediate concerns of life crowd out the important long-term concerns you have. I may be wrong, but I think most people want to enjoy their house or car, not spend their lives paying them off, working 80 hours a week, and sleeping 5 hours a night, only to suffer a heart attack and die in debt. The reality, therefore, is that taking care of your health and fitness through proper nutrition and exercise should always be a top priority, and is at least as important as paying your mortgage or rent and making time for your family. After all, you can’t pay anything or be there for anyone if you’re not alive and healthy. Setting 20 minutes aside every day can help get you started or get back on track if you’ve been having trouble making time for your fitness lately.
Twenty minutes may not seem like alot of time, but it’s not how much time you have, it’s how much you do with the time you have! Twenty minutes is plenty of time with the right plan. Interval training is a great way to get maximum benefits into minimal time. The basic definition of interval training is a series of high intensity bursts of exercise broken apart by lower intensity periods of recovery. Interval training is most commonly associated with cardio but can also be applied to other forms of fitness.. An example of might be to warm up for two and a half minutes, then sprint as fast as you can for one minute, jog for a minute and a half to recover, and then repeat the cycle six times before you cool down for another two and a half minutes. The benefits of this type of training includes better athletic performance, increased heart strength, greater calorie burns than conventional endurance training carried out over the same amount of time, accelerated weight loss and fat reduction, and less time in the gym.
Another technique you can use to maximize your outcomes at the gym in minimal time is called Peripheral Heart Action training. Peripheral Heart Action (PHA) training is a total body strength conditioning system. It’s constructed in the circuit training style, where you perform an exercise for the upper body followed by an exercise for the lower body, cycling through with little or no rest until you have completed a total body workout. For example, you might do push-ups, followed by squats, followed by shoulder presses, to calve raises, to biceps curls etc. By conditioning the entire body without rest, you are able to improve overall strength while burning more calories and experiencing cardiovascular benefits by keeping your heart rate elevated. PHA training is a great way to get back in shape quickly or to make the most of time constraints.
By combining these two training techniques 2-4 times a week, you can get your fitness jumpstarted or back on track in no time at all. All you need is twenty minutes a day, a few times per week to be well on your way to the best self you didn’t know you had time for. The self who’s going to be around to enjoy the fruits of your labor and the experiences that only come around once in a lifetime with the ones you love. Just another example of the axiom, “We have the time we make.”
The 3 R's of The Fitness Triangle
I'm often asked, "What's the secret to getting fit and looking good?" Without fail my simple response always elicits the same astonished reaction. Reps, rest, and refreshment.
No matter what your fitness goals are, from losing weight to building muscle, it can't be done without reps, rest and refreshment. Additionally, if you get part of the fitness triangle (as I sometimes like to call it) in place but not all of it, you will never realize the full extent of your true potential or reach the ultimate fulfillment of your goals. It's a cumulative total effect and each arm of the triangle helps to support the others.
The obvious parts of the equation for most people are the reps and refreshment. No fitness goal is going to be achieved sitting around doing nothing and eating deep fried chocolate donuts. A well-designed progressive fitness program, and an easy-to-stick with nutrition plan that supports your activity level are key components to changing or developing your body. The exercise introduces stresses to your body that force changes through controlled trauma. The nutrition helps support those changes by providing the resources necessary for muscle repair and synthesis.
Rest is the part of training that a lot of people neglect. Rest is important because it's when your body recovers, and recovery is vital to progress. Without proper rest you can damage your joints and muscles by over-stressing and not allowing them to heal enough. This can cause strength losses, and muscle dysfunction leading to kinetic chain breakdowns and ultimately injury.
So, whatever your fitness goals, remember reps, rest, and refreshment are the building blocks to achieving them. Giving each of these aspects of your health and fitness the attention they need and deserve will have you well on your way to your best self.
Eye on the Prize
By Kevin Squalls, NASM, CPT, CES, PES
Starting a fitness program without concrete and attainable goals is like walking into an all-you-can-eat buffet after a weeklong starvation diet. How do you stay focused? How do you keep from doing too much to quickly? Good goal setting is the key.
Most people don’t know how to set pragmatic and specific goals. Some of the most common aspirations of people starting a fitness program or diet are “I want to get ripped for summer,” or, “I want to bulk up.” One of my personal favorites is, “I want to look like (insert famous persons name here).” While all these goals sound great and may be motivational to you, they aren’t specific or realistic.
When setting goals, I always tell my clients to set measurable incremental performance-based as well as aesthetic goals for themselves. Good goals are based on your current status and abilities. They take into account not only what you want to achieve but also how far you have to go to achieve it. They should also encompass multiple representations of the changes you’re making. This is because your overall goal will almost always be made up of many smaller benchmarks.
For example, if your ultimate goal is to “get buff,” then your benchmarks will be determined by body fat loss and muscle gain. If you want to gain muscle you’re probably going to have to get stronger along the way. You can measure your strength increases before you see the image result that you’re looking for, and know that you are headed in the right direction. If, however, you’ve never done a pull up, and you want to do 100 in a month, that is an unrealistic goal. A realistic goal might be to be able to do 2-5 pull ups one month from the start of your new fitness program.
Likewise, establishing your current body fat and tracking it consistently by measuring your weight, waist circumference and subcutaneous fat density if possible is vital. As muscle weighs more than fat, tracking these multiple measurable components will help you understand your body composition and keep you on track to your ultimate goal. When setting goals for body fat loss be as specific as possible and use the data at your disposal. Take your starting weight and body fat and calculate how much weight in fat you are carrying. For example, a 160 lb female at 30% body fat would be carrying about 48 lbs of fat. A healthy weight loss is about 1 –3 pounds per week in most cases; therefore, you should set a body fat loss that would be equivalent to losing 4 – 12 lbs per month. Remember, however, that muscle weighs more than fat, so you may lose very little or nothing on the scale, yet shrink in your circumference measurements and/or subcutaneous fat density, which means a lower body fat. You need all the information to get a complete picture.
Goal setting is probably one of the most important and difficult parts of any fitness program. It is your starting point, measuring stick, and ultimately your road to inspiration or feelings of failure. By setting a goal that challenges you to do more than you currently can within a timeframe that allows you the ability to attain it over small steady increments, you create a specific focus from week to week. This insures much greater chance of success, which will ultimately further inspire and enable you. As your fitness level progresses, challenge yourself in greater increments. The inspiration provided by your previous accomplishments will push you to do more than you thought you were capable of and will reinforce your determination in the face of your fears or failures. After all, the ultimate success is always moving forward.
