The Beast and Stretching Boundaries

The Beast in kettlebell circles is the 48kg or 106lb bell.  There are quite a few challenges that have popped up with its usage.

100 single arm swings in under 5 min.

One arm press

Pistol squat

One pull up

One Turkish Get Up.

Once you do one of them you get to name it.  Outside of the swings, it may be awhile before the others are approached. 

It's going to be a reminder of keep getting stronger.   Keep pushing your boundaries.

What are You Adapting To?

One of the things that has been in the back of my mind since the Functional Range Conditioning seminar is the idea of adaptation.

Adaptation:  The process of adapting or being adapted.

That is the dictionary.  How can you use the word in the definition?  I never understood that.  Synonyms may give you a better understanding.

Alteration, reworking, revamping, remodeling.

The idea of taking something and creating something a little different, is adaptation.  That is why you train or not train.

Why do you cast a broken bone?  To allow it to heal, to adapt to a bone without a break.  If you were to keep moving it, it would never heal.

So my thoughts lead further down to what am I adapting my body for.  How often do my hips drop below my knee and for how long?  If you never use the range of motion you are capable of displaying, over time, what is the difference between you not moving into that range and having a cast on your body that doesn't allow it?

What's the difference between the man that can't read and the man that doesn't read?  Nothing

Tissues adapt at different rates.  This is an important concept that many endurance athletes fail to understand.  Why do most plans call for an undulation in volume and distance?  Because while your cardiovascular system will adapt quickly, your muscles will lag behind.  Lagging even further down the chain will be your connective tissue.  So if you can run 3 miles without being winded, but your muscles can handle two and your connective tissue can only handle 1, that's a recipe for injury.  Understand that not everything adapts at the same chronological rate.

While this is a very simplistic view.  It portrays the importance of rest.  Letting your connective tissue ADAPT to the demand to run three miles.  So no, while you are resting, it's not cool to go do a 1.5 hour step class and claim it's active rest.  That is not recovery for your connective tissue.

Sitting at a desk is a form of adaptation.  I don't know to many people that can sit comfortably for 8 hours after working a job that requires no sitting and vice versa right off the bat.   It can be a very good adaptation to allow you to work though.  When is the last time you've reached as high as you can to touch the ceiling, testing the maximum shoulder movement that you can.  Use it or lose it is a powerful law of adaptation.

SAID: specific adaptation to imposed demands.

It's maybe one of the few training laws that will never change and can't be argued with.  What are you imposing on your body?  What specific adaptation are you creating knowingly or unknowingly?

Adapt to what you want to happen, not to what you are  unknowingly allowing.  Understand adaptation and make the SAID principle work for you.

Slow Cooker to the Rescue

We all know that eating healthy is a very important keystone in living a high performance life.  You don't put cheap gas in a Ferrari as the old analogy goes.  Quite literally, we are what we eat.

If you love to cook and experiment with food, then this post is definitely not for you.  But,  if you are like me, and don't enjoy cooking or don't have a ton of time to cook, then I have a secret weapon for you.  The slow cooker!

I was given one a few years ago.  Bachelor gift.  Never used.  Shame on me.  It is the easiest thing to use.  I even ordered a book called Paleo Slow Cooker.  It turned me off.  Why?  Some of the first recipes were about braising or broiling the meat till brown and then add to the slow cooker.  That's full out cooking to me.  I'm more of a put it all in a slow cooker, walk away, come back in 8 hours and eat.

That is all you need to do.

I've cooked two slabs of ribs that were delicious.

We all know chili, both ground beef and white chicken chili, is an excellent go to.

Two chicken breasts in the bottom with chicken stock and then anything else you want to throw in.

I've thrown pasta noodles in as well as potato's with great success.  All kinds of crazy combinations of spices.  I don't know if it's possible to mess up a slow cooked meal.

What's even better then easy prep and a great tasting meal?  Left overs.

Meat.  Chicken or Beef stock.  Vegetable.  Potatoes or Pasta.  An assortment of spices.  8 hours on low.  Enjoy.

There really isn't an excuse.

My Recent Workout Templates

I often get asked what I do for workouts.  It varies over the course of a year, but here is what I've been doing for the last few months. 

Functional Range Conditioning.  This is essentially preparing your joints for better movement.  It can be the whole workout in itself if you choose to make it.  It's a system that will prep your joints to not only have larger ROM but also prepare for a better neural integration of your muscles and power output.  The single best thing I've learned in the past year. 

Max Effort Lower body.  ME is all about getting stronger.  I choose between a few lifts.  Conventional Deadlift, Trap Bar Deadlift (low and high handle) Zercher squat.

Skills session.  These are things I just want to get better at.  Pistol squats.  Front levers.  L-sits.  Turkish get ups.

Volume/Conditioning work.  Often I will combine upper body into circuit work.  Pull up variations. Kettlebell swings. Push up variations.  Rowing variations.  Anterior Core variations.

Movement Work.  A lot is based off combining Animal Flow and Functional Range Conditioning.  If you have never done this before, this can be very tiring.  

Most workouts are done under 60 minutes.  While this a template of a "typical" workout plan that I do. It's doesn't take into account reps/volume.  For example ME work can be a single, triple, or a set of five and the sets will vary as well.  

Battling Ropes and Watt Bike work will make appearances.  Pure rest is pretty much gone even with ME work.  Try to fill every minute with productivity.  Rolling on a ball, band pull a parts, jumps, band hip thrusts are all examples of great fillers.  

Weekend Motivation

Fascial Thickenings and the Hydraulic Amplifier Effect

The human body is invested in fascia.  One big fascia bag with 600 some compartments for muscles is one term that is being thrown around.  It invests in the muscle, not just covers it.  Some places in the body have even thicker fascia bands.  These get names and in theory have mechanical roles in our bodies.

One of the proposed mechanisms for thick fascia in the body is something called the hydraulic amplifier effect first proposed by Gracovetsky.  (spinal engine theory)  Essentially in simplest form, the fascia forms a cylinder that allows the muscles to push against and thus allows greater muscular contraction.

Mathematical formulas have shown that the Thoracolumbar fascia (TLF) in the lower back improves the back strength by 30% and aids in bringing the back into extension after going in flexion.

The Iliotibial band is another fascia thickening that can have the hydraulic amplifier effect with the vastus lateralis muscle.  (the largest quadricep muscle).  It provides significant lateral stability.  Which is why keeping this large muscle loose if of critical importance.

This can actually be over recruited.  If a patient or athlete presents with a larger upper vastus lateralis it most likely is being over recruited instead of the hip abductors.

Another significant thickening of fascia is the plantar fascia.  Not exactly a hydraulic effect, it has it's own name, The Windlass Mechanism.  It helps create the push off in the foot.  (much more complex then that)  Just wanted to show a significant role in the body.

Simple Breathing Exercise for Manual Therapists

One of the easiest ways to teach patients to breath with the diaphragm is to get the patient to inflate the posterior ribs.  Many people simply breath up with a shrugging motion, never really getting rib expansion.

One easy drill I've been employing recently is to hook the shoulder blade so that my fingers are underneath the shoulder blade.

I tell them to inhale through the nose and push my fingers out from behind the shoulder blade by getting the ribs to expand.  Usually after a few tries, they feel the ribs start to push against my fingers  and it becomes easier to do.

Breathing 22,000x a day is an important task to get correct.  Getting the patient to feel it correctly is very important.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.