What can Squats do for you?

Use it or lose it.

I haven't wrote about my mom's death yet. The past two years have been very tough on my dad. My mom happened to died from colon cancer on July 13. When visiting her that afternoon, she was still very aware of her surroundings. She ever asked me how the Tour De Donut went. (Her biggest concern was how many donuts I ate) My parents would have been married 59 years this past July 31.

It seems like my dad (who turned 85 on Aug. 22) has aged a lot since her diagnosis in Sept. 06. Up until that point he use to comment about how much older the other men his age appeared. He stopped working out on a regular basis while helping mom deal with all the side effects of her illness. His ability to move has decreased a lot in the last two years.

Since the funeral, I have made it a point to take my dad out for lunch once per week.
He has been making comments about how hard it is getting for him to walk and climb stairs. I would ask him about exercising, and he would comment about having to get back into his routine.

Last Thursday we were taking after lunch and he brought up the exercise subject again. I asked him if he would like to try some squats for me. He agreed.

First I had him squat in front of a chair. He is able to control his descent to about 60 degrees before his muscles give out. I then had him try some squats while holding onto the counter top. Same range of motion as in front of the chair. We talked about how it felt to control the movement. His focus is now on controlling how he sits down onto chairs.

If you are looking for a simple way to improve your leg strength, focus on how you squat into a chair.

It takes WORK to get rid of back pain.

I have read many times that around 80% of all adults will suffer from back pain during their lives. From personal experience, it can happen to anybody. One Saturday while getting out of bed, it felt like my spinal column shifted back-words in relation to my pelvis about three inches.
This was followed by the worse back spasms I could imagine. Whatever direction my back moved caused so much pain I could barely breathe.

I wasn't sure what to do next. I tried stretching, it didn't help. I tried ice, heat, lying down, pain killers, nothing was working.

How did I get rid of this back pain? ELECTRICAL STIMULATION, MAGNESIUM, MASSAGE and EXERCISE

Electrical Stimulation:
I looked up Chiropractors in the yellow pages. Dr. Richard Novak's ad stood out. I called his office. He talked to me for a few minutes, mentioned magnesium and recommended I see him. I made the appointment and saw him that day. After a brief exam, he recommended electrical stimulation. We gave it a try and the muscles did feel better. A few days later, a second round of stimulation was given and the muscles were almost completely relaxed.

Magnesium:
From my A & P classes in college I remember studying how different minerals either excited or relaxed muscles. Magnesium happens to relax muscles. Too much exercise can deplete your system of magnesium. I had been doing too a lot of bike riding during the weeks leading up to all this. Why not give it a try?

Massage:
It is amazing what you can find out by using the Internet.

The best thing to relieve these muscle spasms was massage using a baseball. I stood against a wall, placed the baseball between the wall and my back and rolled the ball up and down any sore spots that I could find. Therapist call this working on a trigger point. It is amazing how quickly those back muscles began to relax. I would repeat this many times per day until there was no sign of any back pain.

Exercise:
I had read a study the Penn State had done about pain. They wanted to know if strength or endurance in back muscles was more important to prevent back pain. This study determined that endurance was more important.

How can the endurance be increased?

The following is part of this article.
http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/368/

A Very Effective Spinal Straightening/Stabilization Technique

As part of the daily stretching/strengthening routine, the following technique should be considered as part of any normal stretching or posture—improving and strengthening routine.

Since a lot of people feel that at times their back is up against the wall, this movement is named the "Up Against the Wall" SSST or Spinal/Straightening/Stabilization Technique.

Step 1 — Back up into a wall or doorway so that the heels, buttocks, low middle back to C7/T12 (most upper back) and back of head (held level) make contact with surface

Step 2 — Breathe in as you squeeze your contact points of heels, spine and back of head against the wall, Once you have mastered this, slowly raise the arms out laterally while pushing the back of the hands/elbows/triceps to a 90° position at the shoulder and elbow (as if in a "hold up" with a gun to your belly).

Step 3 — Exhale, then inhale again, push your body contact points back (heels, buttocks, mid upper back, scapulae/rear deltoids, head, elbows, back of wrists, triceps) l and then raise your arms overhead further to the point where you can touch the thumb tips directly distal to your head in an arm extended position (as if extending in a water-dive). Hold this position for at least 10 seconds (build up to at least 60 seconds) and inhale and exhale from the diaphragm.

This is not as easy as it looks and you will discover that in fact not only will you feel straighter and taller as a result of performing this "up against the wall" exercise but you will be warmed up for any type of spinal extension to follow.

This exercise will improve your awareness on your posture more than you can imagine. It will teach you how proper posture should feel.

Increasing awareness of posture, massage, magnesium and increasing the endurance of my back muscles has kept me from having a repeat of this back pain.

Give it a try.

Are your bones strong enough? Calcium isn't the answer!

With our aging population, we are going to see a rapid increase in Osteoporosis and all of its side effects . As a long distance Bicyclist, I am more concerned about this topic than the average trainer. Why? As a non weight barring exercise, bicycling weakens bones.

What have we be told to do about it?

Ask anyone what they should do to get stronger bones and the standard response is take Calcium. Those in the know will also mention Vitamin D. Have you been taught everything you should know about Osteoporosis? I doubt it.

While I am a big believer in Vitamin D, there is much more needed to strengthen bones. Notice: I didn't mention bone density. What good is a dense bone if it isn't strong? IMO not much. If your bones are strong enough to handle strength training, they should be able to handle any activity of daily living that you ask of them.

While doing research on Osteoporosis, I found a web site http://www.betterbones.com/index.htm that does a wonderful job of explaining Osteoporosis. Dr. Susan E. Brown has also written a book, "Better bones, Better Body" that I lend to any of my clients that express an interest in this topic.

What is the purpose of your skeletal system? Sure it helps us move, and keep us upright. What else does it do? Store minerals. To find out more, go to http://www.betterbones.com/index.htm

I can't recommend betterbones.com enough.

Remember, it is your body, how do you want it to perform as you get older?

Gravity Never Rest

One of my favorite mentors Vern Gambetta has a saying: Gravity never rest.

What does he mean by this? When training someone, the effect of gravity should always be considered. Every movement that we make is effected by it. All athletes are constantly trying to overcome the effects of it.

My focus lately has been on the effect gravity has on our posture. Posture should be the foundation that all training is based on. Just as a house needs a strong foundation, so do our bodies.

It doesn't help much if our posture is great while training but poor the rest of the time. The muscles responsible for posture will continue giving into gravity if we don't constantly focus on how we are standing or sitting. If your shoulders are rounded for the eight hours you spend at you desk, how can you expect a couple of minutes worth of exercises to make much of a difference?

I drop my daughter off at a YMCA Day Camp every morning. We happen to walk past the fitness center. It is amazing looking at the postures that the members use while on the equipment. One day I saw a younger guy leaning so for forward on the elliptical that his shoulders were a couple of feet in front of his hips. What are the odds that he will suffer from back pain?

The next time you are out in public, look at the posture of the adults around you. Think about how gravity is effecting them. I don't know about you , but when I am in my seventies, I want to still be standing up straight. Of course how I counter gravity for the next 25 years will determine how I carry myself then. (Chin Up, Shoulders Back and Down, Chest Out)

I wonder how many people look that far ahead? and have a plan to move like they should.

The next time you are sitting at your desk, driving your car or walking down the street, think about how gravity is effecting your posture. IT NEVER REST!

Keith

Are your workouts intense enough?

Change is only possible if we quit doing things the way we have always done them.

Last year I rode my bicycle for over 6500 miles. All this did was make me tired.
A lot of cyclist I know get caught up in the mileage game. When we talk about training, we always mention how far a training ride was. (example, I rode 58 Miles yesterday)

This year my focus is on adding greater intensity and cutting back on the mileage. More high intensity intervals (1 - 3 Minutes) No more two hour recovery rides. I should be faster and yet more energetic.

We don't have to train as long or as often if we bump up the intensity.