Things you Should be Doing
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One of my goals for fitness is longevity, and to stay healthy and active as long as possible. I want to continue to lift heavy and defy gravity as long as possible. Being able to tap into your strength to do everyday tasks is great. Discovery through movement is one of the greatest things to experience, and developing movement can be quite complex. This is why it is so fascinating and interesting to observe how people move and essential solve the “puzzle” to make them move better. I have been in this game long enough to know that it is not about lifting weights to “just get strong,” or “just get big.” That approach is too one dimensional and thus, flawed.
I cannot tell you how important it is for trainers to continue to train and try new things. You must be able to relate to your clients, and know exactly what they are feeling. Athletics and fitness are “feel” activities. We learn by feeling the movement or exercise, and this “feeling” has been deemed the 6th sense. Learning movement keeps the brain sharp and mental activity high, which is key for longevity. You must challenge the brain to learn new complex skills and expose it to different environments for it to adapt.
Without getting too deep here, there are some things that I keep coming back to. These keep me injury free which is rare to find most programs believe it or not. Many people that I talk to are just in pain, or they tell me, ” My knees hurt.” “I have a nagging shoulder, I can’t do that.” Well that is not normal, your body works optimally when it is injury/pain free. This is the key to training for performance and longevity, they are one in the same.
Injury reduction = improved performance = longevity
I heard a quote from someone, I don’t remember who, but it asked the question, and I’m paraphrasing here.. “Would it be wise for you to train Lebron James to have a 42″ vertical with sore kneess, or would you be okay with a 38″ vertical and have Lebron be injury free?”
This question demands that you keep your ego in check because do you really need that new record in the _________(put whatever it is you want in the blank, goal)? Lebron is going to be a better athlete with a 38″ vertical and injury free then with sore knees. However, don’t use this an excuse to not work hard, just keep it in perspective.
So long overdo, here are five things I usually never back away from in my year round programs. I would argue that everyone should be addressing these things…
1) Thorasic Spine Mobility
T-spine mobility and the ability to get extension from your thoracic spine is a top priority. The T-spine has been wrote about in much greater detail then is required fore this post, all you need to know is that it is extremely important. These exercises reverse the effects of gravity because they put you in extension and away from the forward dominated posture of today’s society. Unfortunately this gets neglected, or just not addressed properly. You can’t just do some back rows and problem fixed. The solution is to mobilize, activate then integrate. T-Spine allows greatest ranges of motion in extension and rotation, you can add these in your warm ups or superset with your big compound lifts.
2) Hip Mobility and lumbo-pelvic control
This is probably just as important as T-Spine. Lumbo-pelvic control is how well you can dissociate your lumbar spine from your pelvis, and how much control you have. Think of Belly Dancers, they have great lumbo pelvic control, maybe not good stability but impressive nonetheless. Your hips and pelvis are the center of your body, and thus exert control over all body segments distal (away) from it. If you lack control of your hips and pelvis, you lack body control. If you ever have had knee issues or back issues it is probably an issue that resides in the hip complex. As Michael Boyle says,
“Healthy hips=healthy back”
If your hips can’t take the load, the back will over compensate and try to take what it may/may not be able to handle. Hold these stretches to add some flexibility in your hips. 3×20 secs or add some slow movement and do 3×10.
b) hip flexor and hamstring stretch
3) Single Leg Training
I love bilateral training with squats and deadlift variations, but I cannot seem to get enough of single leg training. Almost all activities require you to push up, absorb, and balance on one leg. Walking and running for example are both single leg activities. I have found that a healthy dose of single leg training for the knee and hip are of great importance for sports and anyone in general. The core is activated to keep the body straight when on one leg and you get to load the working leg pretty hard. A 300 lb back squat is 150 lbs on each leg, but if you weigh 180 lbs and you do a 1 leg squat, that’s close to 180 lbs on 1 leg. That is enough convincing for me to add them in near the end of a workout, but DON’T replace the big lifts! I have been more sore from single leg squats than heavy back squats, which is a big ego check. It is humbling and I would recommend you include some single leg work. You can deload the movement (read: make easier) by doing them assisted with TRX, bands, pole, help from partner, etc.
a) Knee dominant, Single leg squat (SLS)
4) Dedicated core training
I am a huge fan of dedicated core training. You are only as strong as your weakest link, and the core is usually the weakest link. I used to be against ground based core, because I did not see the transfer to other activities. Now I see that your other activities will train your core the way it needs to be trained… in a specific manner to the sport or activity. Remember everything turns into a core exercise, unless your laying on the ground on your back doing nothing. I was also against crunches and now I see great benefit. I am still aware of loads on the back and postural considerations, but I still like them for some people. Please don’t do the 15 min ab class or p90x with 100 different styles of crunches. It is about quality not quantity. Your core involves every muscle that attaches to your pelvis which includes everything besides biceps and calves. Your typical abs class targets a maybe 2 or 3 (rectus, obliques, transverse). Where is the glute, back, lats, and hamstring work in an abs class? Anyway I encourage you to do a core routine, just be aware of these things and don’t wreck your posture or back while you do it. Try a Dance routine as this involves lots coordination, rotations, bends, etc, and you get a great cardio work out. Nothing will get you abs faster than hard work and some sweat from “Dancing with the Stars,” or “Hip Hops Abs.”
a) Dance!
b) 2 minute plank test
Oh they are so boring I know. To test your core stability and endurance test your 2 min plank and don’t let back go into extension. Brace your core, anchor ribs to pelvis, keep everything neutral. Try to do 1 min on sides as a test for oblique and transverse plane stability.
5) Glute Recruitment Patterns
Your glutes are a huge muscle, and have huge calorie burning potential. However, most people do not know how to use them. The typical answer to target glutes are squats, lunges, deadlifts, step ups. While those are great, I am here to tell you there are MUCH better options. Everyone has different recruitment patterns and my squat may be deep with lots of glute activity, your squat does not look like mine and thus you leave lots of glute recruitment potential left untapped, which equals a saggy backside! Even if you did squat deep that does not mean your activating your glutes to their full potential, you could be trying to use your quads because they are stronger. A stronger muscle will always try to take over the movement. Your glutes peform 5 actions at the hip, hip extension, hip hyperextension, hip abduction, hip external rotation, transverse abduction. Train them all, especially hip extension movements. Sprinters usually experience “booty lock” from the horizontal vector due to sprinting and the hypertension of the hip during the push off. Doesn’t that want you to go sprinting right now? Oh I guess that’s just me! Both of these exercises are unilateral as well. You can train recruitment patterns by holding in the extended positionor doing low reps and working on the quality of the glute contraction. Or use them for typical workouts as a hip dominant exercise and load it up with ankle weights, etc. Don’t let your back move!
a) Hip Hyperextension, 1 leg elevated Hip Bridge