We've Come So Far (Sort of...)

I had the pleasure of helping out with the strength and agility program for a girls’ softball team recently, and one of the conversations that came up applies to all of us interested in health and fitness.

But it occurred to me that we’ve come so far in the areas of fitness and exercise in my time in the business.  Since the turn of the century, more or less, we now know:

Statistically speaking…

• A commercial gym is probably the last place to go if you want to get in shape.
•  Low intensity exercise has very little benefit.
• If you don’t move in the manner your body is designed to, you will be injured and have to stop exercising.
• Eating fat does not make you fat or unhealthy.  Grains and sugars do.

These are all HUGE steps in the right direction.  They’re the reason so many of us are maintaining our health and fitness levels as we age – if not getting more fit and healthy.

But the one area in which we are lagging severely – and this was the topic with the softball players - is in the area of flexibility.  We are still woefully behind the curve on this one.

It’s an area of particular interest for me – “The Correlation Between Static Stretching and Injury Prevention” was the topic of my graduate thesis.  (Here’s a teaser: There is none.)

As usual, I don’t say this to impress, I say it to impress upon you that functional flexibility is WAY more complex than most people realize.  Far too complex to get into in a newsletter, for sure.

That being said, here’s a quick primer that may really simplify – and hopefully help your understanding of stretching and flexibility.

There are areas of your body that are not supposed to be flexible.  I choose to mention this because this comes up ALL THE TIME.  It’s why we have a poster at the Training Rim that says “No unauthorized stretching.”

Your knee is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FLEXIBLE.  Your knee is a hinge.  If it either rotates or hinges too far, like the hinge on a door, the hinge will come off as it would on a door.  A flexible knee is a torn ACL.

Your lower back is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FLEXIBLE.  Unlike your mid and upper back, your lower back needs to be strong and stiff.  It’s designed this way because it’s what holds us upright.  When it loosens or moves excessively is when we have low back problems.  A flexible lower back is a herniated disc.

As I said, there’s way more to it than that and way more to think about – another reason hiring a good training staff is key.  But if you keep these things in mind, you’ll be ahead of the curve in the fitness realm (as you already should be on the bullet points above).

Two GREAT Butt Exercises:

I recently had a conversation that went almost exactly the way a conversation I had about 10 years ago went.  It got me wondering where the people I had the conversation with a decade ago are now and where they are with their fitness goals.

But first, two GREAT butt exercises are single leg squats, and single leg stiff leg dead lifts, i.e. “storks”.  

I’d have trouble thinking of two exercises that give you more bang for the buck.  If you want rock hard glutes, these need to be a staple of your program.  Balance and coordination are improved, as is your conditioning if used in a circuit manner.  Every muscle in your lower body and core is engaged and will get noticeably stronger.  Because of the realistic nature of single leg training (have you ever moved in a parallel stance?  Didn’t think so…) the effects carry over to other aspects of your training program as well.

And did I mention ROCK. HARD. GLUTES…?

Here’s the problem (And this is the conversation I had recently that was the same as one a decade ago with different people):

Single leg squats and storks are challenging,  so people don’t do them.

They require motor control, proper reaction from the proprioceptive nature of the ground reaction forces, multi-planar stabilization, multi-level strength, and good control of length-tension relationships, among other things.*

So a beginning exerciser’s appropriate response should be:  “Wow – I should work on improving those things so I can do single leg squats and storks.  Then I can do workouts that make me strong, lean and fit.”

But unfortunately, that’s not the typical reaction.

The typical reaction goes something like this:

“Improving those things is challenging, and may require some diligence, persistence, patience, and hard work – plus Tony Horton says I don’t need that stuff.  So I’m going to continue to do the things I’ve been doing because they’re easy.  This will ensure I’ll never improve and my ass will continue to get softer, flatter and lower on my body.  Then years from now, I’ll ask Jon (again) what do I have to do to get in shape.”

Of course, those words aren’t used, but that’s really what people are saying when they say I can’t single leg train, so I’ll just keep doing _____ .

Yes, many things in exercise and fitness require a change of direction and some challenges.  But you can make this changes now and your future you will be reaping the benefits and rocking those jeans, or…

…you can continue to avoid changing and continue doing it the easy, safe way.  And to paraphrase Trinity in the Matrix – You already know where that road leads.

“Strengthening the strongest link does not strengthen the chain.”  TR Tenet #5 painted on the wall.

*If you don’t know what these things are, that’s not a problem.  We do and we know how to insert them into your program.