Happy New Years 2014

This year I'm going to literally try to blog something every day.  I've gone a little lazy with the blog.  Part of it,  I read so many other great blogs, that sometimes I think that there isn't much of a point to add my two cents into the cyberworld.  I realized I had lost my true purpose of the blog, which for me was accountability and discipline.  Write about what I'm thinking, reading, learning...even if it's been said or done before.  (It probably has)  Wether it's just a quote I like, a video, a link to something else I've read or a new book I've purchased, it may not be much, but there will be something.  I want the discipline of writing something down every day.  Travel, sick, tired, busy, no excuses.  Maybe you will learn something, maybe you won't,  this isn't for you, its for me, but hopefully you will learn something and won't feel like you've wasted the 1-5 minutes of your day it will take to follow.

What are you committing to in 2014?

Highlights of Dr. Emily Splichal Barefoot Science Presentation

These are a few highlights that I took note of from Dr. Emily Splichals presentation at the Okanagan Strength Seminar.   The OSS was a six part series that is available for download.  Highly recommend it.  I've learned some cool stuff from each presenter and I've only had time to go through half of the six presenters.

Dr Splichal is a Podiatrist and Fitness professional that specializes in what is called barefoot science. Training the foot for greater athletic and health performance.  

Most people think barefoot training is running barefoot.  Not correct.

Barefoot, means barefoot.  Training in a minimalist shoe, vibrams, even socks, are not the same thing.  The plantar surface can't have anything else in contact between you and the floor for that afferent feedback.  

A high arch is usually a stiffer foot, more problems with Achilles, stress fractures.  A "flat foot" is more likely to experience shin splints, knee pain. 

Strengthening the glute med over 6-8 weeks can pull the sub talar joint up 2-3 degrees.  This is the same amount that most orthotics try to correct.  

Steps to Barefoot Science

1.  Mobilize the Everters.  Everters are muscles that attach to the lateral side of the calcaneus.  Peroneal group and gastrocnemeus.  Gastrocs lateral head tends to be more tense.  Mobilization through myofascial release is more effective then stretching.  Trigger points have been shown to cause hypomobility of the joint.   Shoot for at least 5 minutes.

2.  Activate the Inverters.  Inverters are muscles that attach to the inside of foot.  Abductor hallucis, tibialis posterior and tibialias anterior.   A great activating exercise is the short foot drill.  (the short foot drill will be a foundational exercise so get good at it.)

3.  Isolate and Strengthen the Inverters.  Now this group can be strengthened.  A great exercise is placing a ball between your heels, feet pointing straight ahead, and do a calf raise.  The pressure to keep the ball in place helps to strengthen the inverters.  

4.  Strengthen toe flexors.  These are perpetually weak on most people.  These are the small intrinsic muscles, not the extrinsic or muscles that cross up into the calf.   Press the toes into the floor, whole toe, not just the distal tips.  Forward lean after the toes are pressed in.  When this gets good, do a calf raise.   Toe flexor strength correlates to vertical jump.  The old standby of toe crunches actually strengthen the already strong extrinsic toe muscles which will actually create a further strength imbalance and it creates hammer toes.

5.  Strengthen the hip rotators.  Hip rotators have an intricate relationship with the foot muscles. 

6.  Integrate everything.  Short foot, small knee bend, small amount of hip flexion.  This is the loaded position.  Several single leg exercise are now done in this position.

Following these steps should create a stronger and healthier foot, which in turn creates a stronger and healthier athlete. 

Functional Range Conditioning Seminar Review

Have you ever been given a book recommendation from a friend and realized just minutes into reading it that the books subject has tons of stuff you are interested in.  It takes several topics you really enjoy and weaves them into one singular piece of stand alone work.  That is what Functional Range Conditioning was like for me.

Taught by Dr. Andreo Spina, he was an excellent teacher and presents the material over the two day course in a very enjoyable way. FRC, at the heart of it, is all about mobility.  Mobility is the combination of flexibility and strength.  Mobility is the ability to keep your joints working like they should work.  So the byproduct of mobility work is joint health.  The system strengthens your joints.

Joint health.  Optimizing your joints.  Having strength in a large range of motion, not just the middle range.  Control.  FRC teaches all these things.  Creating stronger, healthier tissue.

When I was younger I wanted to squat 500 pounds and I did.  I could have cared less about how my joints  felt.  Now much older and banged up, I want joint health.  I want to do a third world squat comfortably.  I watch my daughter squat and move and realized earlier this year, that I was severely lacking.  It took me years and years of dedicated practice and struggle to be able to squat 545lb (my PR) so I know mobility won't be had overnight.  It will take work....a lot of work.

Which brings us to mobility work,  it is work!  Mobility is not just rolling around on lacrosse balls.  I was sweating and hurting(in a good way) for most of the drills.  It was a wake up call on how hard you have to work to regain lost mobility.  What Dr. Spina has created is a system that utilizes, isometrics, stretching, joint mobilizations, vector changes, eccentric exercise all rolled up into what is Functional Range Conditioning.

By then end of day one, even after having spent the previous day in the car, my hips felt amazing.   The first day back to work I started implementing a few things with a couple patients.  This should honestly be taught in most chiropractic schools, as at the core, FRC is about having healthy joints for life.  Most chiropractors goal.  I always say while learning stuff is cool, the true mark of anything substantial is if it actually gets integrated in your life whether personal or professional.  I can confidently say it will be both for me.

Monday Motivation: Training Montage (DIY Equipment)

You are Eating Your Apple All Wrong!

To me, this video was pretty amazing.  I tried it out on my way home from work the other day and realized, wow, this is awesome.  It really works.  I didn't eat the whole thing, like the video guy, but instead of having the "core" left, I had the size of a nickel.

Thinking about this even further, I realized I wasn't really amazed because I got to eat 30% more apple, but because someone came up with a new way to eat an apple.  I will never eat an apple the same again.

What else in life is like this?  I never had a problem with the old way of eating an apple.  I never thought to myself, wow, I'm wasting a lot of this apple.

Is there a better way?

That way of thinking I find truly remarkable.  This is probably why a few companies stand out, for example Apple.  Ipad anyone?

Is there a better way?

Thinking of life, encompassing family, friends, work, hobbies, free time, Is there a better way?  Not talking about just more productivity either, but about looking at something differently to achieve a result that you don't even realize you are looking for.

I hope I can keep start to look at things through the lens of the question, "Is there a better way?" 

Monday Motivation: A Veteran's Day Tribute

Weekend Coffee #3: Good Reads

Grab your espresso, hunker down and enjoy a few reads that I've accumulated.  Hopefully something sparks your interest to read the full version.  Links provided.

I'm really interested and continue to try to improve on my understanding and implementation of PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) principles.   On the inside, we are not symmetrical.  In fact, we are very asymmetrical, and it is these asymmetries that create patterns in us.  This article talks about the right thoracic curvature in adults after adolescence.  (most scoliosis is right)  Should be a reason,  correct?  Right Thoracic Curve.

I'm always telling people about the importance of high quality fat in their diet.  This is just a basic article talking about those benefits.  Many Roles of Saturated Fat. 

We need to keep physical education in our kids lives.  So many things point to physical activity strengthening the relationship of kids learning.  Yet, we still seem to be slashing these activities in our public schools.  How Physical Fitness Promotes School Success.

There are some crazy bacteria resistant strains out there.  Ever have to deal with anyone struggling with GI issues, IBS or some crazy bacterial infection?  Life simply becomes a struggle to get through the day, let alone make the day worthwhile.  I recently had a patient tell me of her fecal transplant procedure and how it literally gave her life back in a matter of days!  Very amazing.  Fecal Transplant Article.

Not an article, but I thought a pretty good video interview with Dr. Alan Christianson about thyroid health on Bulletproofexec.com.  50 minutes.  Video Interview.

Can your grip strength influence how long you live?  This study shows that low grip strength in adolescence had an influence on risk factors of suicide and cardiovascular disease.  Grip Strength.