Welcome back to my blog. This blog will be dedicated to providing information about fitness assessment, training, and chronic pain management and lifestyle medicine. Stay tuned for future updates.
Add the Flower for Some Power!
By Brian Justin, MKin, CEP,CSCS, CES, PES, CSE (4 levels completed), SEC- 1
Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Anyone who lifts weights knows the importance of a well-built chest to add to that superhero buffed look! However, if we consider our modern work and home environments where many of us are stuck behind computers making our shoulders rotate inwards alongside obtaining a Quasimodo thoracic spine (well maybe not that bad!), this then places our pectoral muscles in a shortened position. This is not ideal if you want to attain a PR on your bench press or similar exercises. Research shows that when a muscle is at ideal resting length it can maximize muscular contraction. If a muscle is in an overly shortened or lengthened state it can negatively impact contractility. The diagram below illustrates this.
Tension in muscles is due to the forces generated by many cross-bridge formations between actin (thin filaments of muscle) and myosin (thick filaments of muscle) in a sarcomere (the functional contractile unit of muscle). At number 1 there is too much overlap at rest of the thick and thin filaments of the sarcomere due to the muscle being overly contracted. At number 3 and 4 there is very little interaction between actin and myosin and therefore a diminished ability to make cross-bridges as the muscle is too lengthened. Number 2 represents the ideal length for the sarcomere to make the optimal number of cross-bridges and therefore tension. If our shoulders are slumped forward then we have muscles that are not going to support our lifting goals due to the inability to make optimal numbers of cross-bridges. Enter in: The Flower!
The Flower is an excellent somatic exercise to help restore ideal length to our pectorals. It utilizes pandiculation which is a technique used in Hanna Somatics. This technique involves contracting a muscle so that it is tighter than its currently tight resting posture. Thereafter, it is lengthened at the speed of a yawn resulting in more length and reduced resting tension. Lastly, a period of relaxation occurs and this allows our brain to process the new information to gain control of the muscle. This is then repeated 4-6 times with the result being decreased tension and a more lengthened muscle. This happens all without stretching! Stretching has been shown to decrease strength potential so this is a plus!! Prior to doing the Flower exercise it is important to learn Arch and Flatten, as it forms a major component of the Flower exercise. Please see the link below to learn this exercise from Somatics legend Martha Peterson.
Thereafter click on the link below to learn the Flower Exercise.
The Flower exercise can be placed in your warm up routine to prepare the muscles for lifting and can even be used in-between sets to help relax the muscle for another great set thereafter. It can also be a part of your cooldown to restore resting length after you lift. If you add the Flower, prepare for the power and strength that follows. Don’t let the name fool you!!
Hello Everyone! I hope this blogpost finds you well and vibrant. Originally my intent was to provide you with some tests you can do to self-assess your fitness but I changed my mind. The reason? I think involving a professional to help you with this will provide some really good information in order to fine tune your activity program. So instead, what I am going to do is provide you the framework that I use when I evaluate clients and then the type of practitioners you can hire to help you with this in your local community. This is my approach not the only one! Here is my 4 step approach.
1. Screening
If you downloaded the forms (PAR-Q, Fantastic Lifestyle assessment, and Inventory of interests) from my last post and filled them out then you have done the initial screening. If you had a yes with the PAR-Q then be sure to be cleared by your doctor before embarking on a program. What I add from here is the 21 point musculoskeletal integrity screen (M.I.S.). This allows me to see if my clients are walking around with orthopedic issues that could be made worse by increasing physical activity. Each screen focuses in on a body area that is commonly a high risk area for most people. If pain exists, then medical attention is sought. If there is musculoskeletal tightness or weakness found then this is either further evaluated (in number 2 below) or prescribed an exercise to manage it if you continue seeing your trainer. I have trained over 100 trainers in the greater local Vancouver area in how to do this. It takes only 15 minutes and is generally free as part of your initial consult or included in a training package.
Practitioners to look for in your community:
CSEP-Certified Personal Trainers, CSEP – Certified Exercise Physiologists, NSCA-CPT’s/CSCS, BCRPA CPT’s, or ACSM certified professionals trained in Brian’s M.I.S. system (if you want the M.I.S.). Other certifications mentioned here maybe appropriate depending on your geographical location.
2. Movement Competence Assessment
For this evaluation I use the Functional Movement Screen or Movement competence testing. This allows me to develop a movement profile by observing my client’s ability to complete fundamental movement patterns. If this is clear than I can move on to more vigorous physiological testing. The goal is for me to evaluate movement competence then capacity. It allows me to detect mobility and stability issues that can be addressed within my client’s physical activity program.
Practitioners to look for in your community:
Trainer’s certified in the Functional movement system – FMS-1 or higher.
3. Physiological Testing
This is simply fitness testing. This type of testing looks at muscular fitness (strength/power/endurance), cardiovascular endurance, body composition, balance, and flexibility. If I am working with athletes I would also evaluate agility, coordination, speed, and reaction ability. Some examples of tests are push-ups or skinfold testing.
Practitioners to look for in your community:
CSEP-Certified Personal Trainers, CSEP – Certified Exercise Physiologists, NSCA-CPT’s/CSCS, or ACSM certified health professionals.
4. Health Appraisal Questionnaires
This is a very special type of assessment that looks at body-mind vitality using specific questionnaires. There are two levels of questionnaires that are picked based on specific situations. The whole idea is to detect physical complaints/symptoms and address them via other health professionals or lifestyle changes to restore functioning.
Practitioners to look for in your community:
CHEK certified – Holistic Lifestyle Coaches level 1, 2 or 3. Level 1 can utilize the entry level questionnaire and levels 2 and up can utilize the advanced questionnaire. Additionally, in the US some Nutritional Therapists also utilize a similar questionnaire.
Well there you have it! This is how I assess a client. You can decide which assessment you need based on your situation, goals, and budget. Generally screening is usually free when you see a trainer in a community center or if you purchase some training sessions with a professional. You can get a lot of great information that can enhance your physical activity program with just the screening forms and the M.I.S. system. The other assessments can vary in price. These will further enhance your program and your wellness overall. Like I said earlier, this is how I do things but this is not the only way.
Until next time, may your life force be with you!
This weeks blogpost is about getting more active! I left you with a few questions on my last post. So here they are again!
1. What is so important that you want to get healthy for?
2. What is your dream/purpose in life?
These are big questions to answer. Take your time answering. I suggest these two questions because once you know the direction of your life, this becomes your compass by which you make your life decisions. Deciding to become active is a life decision. Think about how being active supports your dream. On my very first blog I outlined the benefits of physical activity. Correlate those with your overall dream! Physical activity can help you in your pursuit to be a successful CEO, parent, coach, mechanic, teacher, or whatever else you would like to do. Linking your physical activity to your overall dream can serve to “motifit” you!! Some people get active to lose weight, gain muscle, reduce pain, improve athletic performance, improve health, or reduce the risk of injury. All of these are great goals but many people relapse or terminate their program once the goal is reached (unless another active goal is made). In fact, relapse in implementing a physical activity program is the rule not the exception according to research. In linking physical activity to your overall dream your relapse has a greater chance of being short-lived and you are back being physically active for life.
Once you have thought about the above you now have your compass. Now lets start the getting active process. The first thing I would recommend is to fill out a PAR-Q form. This assesses readiness for activity. If you have a yes on any of the questions then it would be a good idea to get that area of concern checked by your physician before pursuing activity. I have posted the link below for you to get your form.
http://www.csep.ca/cmfiles/publications/parq/par-q.pdf
After this I would recommend filling out the Fantastic Lifestyle Checklist. It is a very useful tool in assessing lifestyle behaviours. The link below will take you to the form.
http://kinese.ca/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/FANTASTIC-lifestyle-Q-Full.pdf
This will allow you to become more aware of other behaviours that you may want to change or maintain to help support your activity program.
The last form (I know all this paper work!) that I would suggest to fill out is an activity inventory to recall all the activities you like to do. Click below to get the form. It was (and the other forms above) produced by CSEP as part of the Canadian Physical Activity, Fitness, and lifestyle Appraisal approach.
There are many methods and models for behaviour change. For those who would like help with a one on one focused approach I would recommend consulting with a CSEP Certified Personal Trainer, CSEP Certified Exercise Physiologist, or a CHEK Certified Holistic Lifestyle Coach. They can help you focus a plan unique to your needs.
So for now here is your summary of activities for you to do:
1. Get clear on your dream/purpose and determine what is important for you to be healthy for! Write it down in a journal or piece of paper. Then determine how physical activity can help you accomplish them. You can write it out like this: Physical activity can support my pursuit of ______________________ by providing ________________________. Then put it up on your fridge or mirror or keep a place marker in your journal for frequent referrals.
2. Fill out a PAR-Q and see a Doc if necessary.
3. Fill out a Fantastic Lifestyle form to see if there are any behaviours you would like to change or maintain to support your physical activity pursuits.
4. Fill in the Activity inventory to recall your favorite activities. If you know already – then get out and do them!
My next few blogposts will be on self-assessing your fitness levels. This will provide a baseline for those beginning an activity plan and a way to monitor fitness for those who are currently active.
Until then – may your life force be with you.
Hello Everyone! I hope you are well rested, hydrated, and feeling at your best today. Today’s blogpost is about awareness of what goes out of us! Yep, poop! We talked about urine color analysis on my last post. If you have tried Dr. Batmanghelidj’s recommendation take note on how you are feeling energy-wise but also how well you are eliminating as well. His water recommendation helps with hydration as well as detoxification. We ingest so many toxins in the air we breathe and food we eat. Our water intake can help with this. The best solution for pollution is dilution. For those using his or other hydration guidelines, keep monitoring your urine color to gauge your hydration. You will be able to gauge your elimination by analyzing your feces. Self analyzing stools can tell you about diet, fluid intake, illness, lifestyle, and medication effects. I am going to do this post in a question/answer format.
1. What is a good poop?
A well formed stool looks like a brown banana. It is consistent in contour, passes easily, smell natural (earthy), and should float. If they sink and stink (really foul!) it could be indicative of an intake of processed foods, a toxic environment, or the effect of medications. Check with your Doctor on the side effects of any medication you take. Eating more plant foods may help to attain a floating poop. Type 3 and 4 our the healthy poops. Type 4 is the most desirable!
2. How often and how much should I poop?
It is generally accepted that 1-3 bowel movements a day is a good health indicator according to Dr. Lipski, author of Digestive Wellness. We should hopefully eliminate at least 12 inches per day of poop (Dr. Lawrence Wilson, MD and Paul Chek, HHP)
3. What is another good indicator of bowel health?
Another good indicator is bowel transit time. This is how long a food item takes to get from mouth to anus. The usual time is 12-24 hours. On average many people have a transit time of 48-96 hours. This could be indicative of diets low in fiber, poor hydration, or not enough magnesium intake. A simple home test can be to eat 3-4 whole beets and see when they come out. Beets will turn your stool a deep garnet red. If it takes longer than 24 hours to turn up this indicates that wastes are sitting in your colon too long (Lipski, 2012). Consider more fiber, water, stress management, and exercise to help move your bowels along. Remember if you have concerns about your bowels a visit to your doctor is a good plan. Like anything else in regards to health there is always some variability with regards to numbers and norms.
4. What happens if poop stays in our colon too long?
If you ignore your urge to poop, more water is reabsorbed back into the body and the stool becomes dry and hard making them harder to pass. Not to mention that your bile acids concentrate irritating your colon lining and you have substances that our toxic to your body that need to leave. Listen to your body signals. If you have to go, go! Don’t entrain your body to suppress the urge. Otherwise, this can lead to constipation.
5. What foods are healthy to consume?
My recommendations are simple, eat as many whole foods as you can. Reduce the number of foods with labels as possible. And consider the source of the food. In terms of the amount of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats one should consume, I think this is very individual. Have you ever noticed that many of the top experts in medicine and nutrition disagree with each other on this? This indicates to me that there are other factors to consider. It is important to listen to what your body tells you following a meal. Their are signs and symptoms that indicate whether your ratios of fat, protein, or carbohydrates are not optimal. Perhaps for another post. We are unique on the inside as well as outside!!
This is about all I will cover in this post regarding poop. Bowel awareness is important as it indicates the health of our digestive and eliminative systems. Considering that this effects our nutrient absorption, immunity (most of it resides in your digestive system), and overall vitality I think it is a important for all of us to monitor. The above points are the tip of the iceberg. Three great books for those who want to know more are: How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy by Paul Chek, HHP, You are Not What you Eat by Van Clayton Powel and Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipski Ph.D.
If you are hydrating, digesting, and eliminating well, now you set the foundation to get active! My next blog post will discuss getting started with physical activity. For now, your next awareness homework besides examining your stools is to think about why you want to get healthy? What is your dream and purpose in life? Knowing this can supply the motivation to start and continue a program of wellness. Wellness can provide an important driving force in reaching your goals!!
I hope today finds you feeling well and well-rested. Today, I would like to talk about sleep and hydration. Here are some pointers on optimizing your sleep.
1. Get to bed on time! Ideally it is optimal to get to bed by 10:30pm as often as you can. If you need time to wind down then adjust your time and try to get to bed by 10pm. The reason for this is cortisol levels tend to drop throughout the day and especially as the sun goes down. With decreasing cortisol levels comes the rise of melatonin which is your sleepy hormone! Then cortisol rises again between 6am-9am inspiring you to rise in the morning. Additionally, most physical repair occurs between 10pm-2am and then after 2am more psychogenic repair occurs. This is important to consider especially if you are physically active and need to optimize your physical repair.
2. Minimize your exposure to bright lights for at least 2 hours prior to bed. The light will trick your body into thinking it is daylight and release cortisol. Since cortisol takes hours to clear this may affect your normal release of melatonin.
3. Avoid stimulants like caffeine after lunch. Caffeine has a half life of 6 hours, so it can hang around for awhile stimulating your nervous system.
4. Stay hydrated. Dehydration is a source of stress which will produce stress hormones.
5. Get some physical activity. Activity during the day helps with sleep at night. Be careful not to do intense cardiovascular activity too close to bedtime as this will increase your cortisol levels affecting your sleep. Optimally, train in the morning when your cortisol levels are highest.
Try these 5 tips out and see how it helps you.
Now onto hydration.
1. My recommendation to start it off is to drink half your bodyweight (in lb.) in ounces of water. This is the recommendation made by Dr. Batmanghelidj the author of, “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water”. So if someone weighs 200lb. this means they would need to drink 100 ounces in water a day. This will enhance your body’s ability to detoxify itself, run it’s many reactions, and maintain high physical and mental performance.
2. Monitor your urine color once you have implemented the above recommendation to see how hydrated you are getting. Modify from there. See the chart below:
You want to shoot for #1 and 2. Anything up from that means your progressively getting more dehydrated.
3. Use good quality water. Filtered water would be ideal. Pick a water with a total dissolved solids of 300ppm according to Dr. Martin Fox a specialist on healthy water. Evian would be an example of this. If you water is soft you can simply add a small pinch of high quality sea salt to it to bring it up to 300 ppm if you don’t salt your food. The water should not taste salty. This means you have added too much. Himalayan or Celtic sea salts are ideal as they possess important trace minerals. Do not use regular table salt for this or anything else.
Your next awareness homework is to observe your poop! Your poop can tell you how healthy your digestive system is.
Ideally, a healthy poop should be well-shaped and formed, pass easily, be light brown in color, smell earthy (not foul), and float. The definition of constipation are conflicitng amongst health authorities but the CHEK Institute recommends passing at least 12 inches of feces a day. Here is a quick tip. If your feces sinks, increase your plant foods! You could be eating too much animal flesh. If it really smells (Now I know that poop overall is not going to smell like a bed of roses! But I think many of you have been exposed to really stinky poops) than take a look at how much processed foods you are eating as many have a high amount of toxic additives or is made from toxic sources. Additionally, some medications can cause this too.
Awareness is all about getting to know yourself. This includes what goes in and out of ya! My next post will discuss different types of poops and getting active.
Until next time, may your lifeforce be with you!!
Well it is January 2013 and good news the world didn’t end in December! But hopefully with the new year there is a change in consciousness about the health of each other and our planet. I would like to talk about awareness. Muhammad Ali was noted for saying, “you can’t fight what you can’t see, float like a butterfly sting like a bee”. This is true of health. If you are not aware of your energy levels, mood fluctuations, reactions to food, how tight you feel when you move, your stress reactions, and what your poop looks like then how do you improve your level of wellness? You need to “see” before you can mount a strategy. A better word for “see” is observe as observations can be seen, felt, noticed, and perceived. Below is the illness/wellness continuum:
The question is which side do you want to be on? I heard Anthony Robbins on Oprah (yes I watch Oprah sometimes) say regarding health that you can be a “warning or an example”. To live on the left side is to be a warning. The right side is the example. My question to my blog readers is to decide which side looks best for you. I am going to focus on the right side for a few blog posts.
The first step to building wellness is awareness. Being aware involves taking note and being mindful of your choices, behaviours and consequences. An example of consequences, can be noticing that your energy levels are lower or you get constipated after a certain food item. So here is your awareness homework till my next blog.
1. Take note of how much water you drink everyday for a week or more.
2. Record how many hours of sleep you get a night and what time you are getting to bed at in a small notebook. Additionally, note how refreshed you feel in the morning. If you want to scale it you could say a 10 is fully refreshed and full of energy (didn’t need the alarm to wake up) and 1 is really exhausted with no vitality and motivation to start your day.
Have fun with these two items. On the next blog I will talk about how to improve the above two items. This will be the education component of our wellness side of the continuum. Also, I will present a few more key awareness items to observe.
…….May your lifeforce be with you.
Hello Everyone,
Welcome to Justintimefit.com! This blog will allow me to share my ideas, opinions, experience, and research in the areas of fitness, sports performance, and holistic lifestyle management. Through this blog I hope to help coach you to a healthier lifestyle. I will do this by providing information, video clips, photos, and recommendations of resources that can truly enhance your life. This first blog will start things off about why it is important to be physically active . Look at the list below for the benefits of physical activity.
