Here’s my response to the flexibility article noted last week:

If you didn’t see the article, it’s right here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/phys-ed-how-necessary-is-stretching/

I’ll also post some of my clients’ and readers’ responses next week too – I received some good ones.

You have to bear with me: This may be the 700th time I’ve had this discussion, so I apologize if I seem curt. Here’s the short version of my take on stretching and flexibility 1st, then my thoughts on the article we saw last week…

1. Flexibility is a FAR more expansive and complex topic than people realize. The overwhelming majority of exercisers think “stretching = loose muscles. Loose muscles = good.” That is a VAST oversimplification. Flexibility is nowhere NEAR this cut and dried.

2. Stretching, as it performed 99.99999% of the time is performed incorrectly.

Because of the above, I don’t think STRETCHING should be performed very often.

FLEXIBILITY should be.

“Stretching” and “flexibility” ARE NOT SYNONYMS.

Confused? Sorry, gotta’ move on. (I told you it would be the short version – I’ll get the longer one out soon…again…)

Now on to the article…

I have a few problems with it:

1. Physiology and biomechanics are not the same thing. Physiology deals primarily with cardio-respiratory, pulmonary and oxygen uptake/output issues. Bio-mechanics deals primarily with muscles, joints, tissues, ligaments etc, and how they interact to produce movement. Why physiologists were performing a study regarding bio-mechanics was the 1st thing to wrinkle my eyebrows. This is like a heart doctor advising you on your shoulder pain. Not completely clueless, but probably not the best person for the job.

2. The “classic sit and reach test” is called a “well established measurement of hamstring flexibility”.

I’m sorry, by whom…a gym teacher in 1964?

Anyone with even a marginal sense of bio-mechanics can see it doesn’t test hamstring flexibility. Just look at the picture in the article: the runner reaches his feet because his back is in the shape of a letter “C”, meaning the motion came from his spine, not from his hamstrings. And, his knee is bent, i.e., his hamstring is NOT elongated. Stay with me folks, this isn’t rocket science here…

3. This is not “new research”. This debate has been going on FOREVER.

4. Distance runners are not athletes.

I know I’m going to get killed for this, but bring it on.

Are distance runners tough as nails? Absolutely. Do they have insane levels of commitment and perseverance? Definitely. Do I admire them? Yes.

Are they athletes?

Puh-leeeeze…

People that express zero speed, power, or reactive neuro-muscular control are not athletes.

Period.

A study that measures stretching as it relates to speed and athletic performance needs to be performed on athletes. Tight hamstrings on a distance runner are irrelevant. Distance runners’ strides are barely longer than a walking stride, negating any need to extend the leg.

However, show me a sprinter with tight hamstrings and I’ll show you a slow sprinter.

5. Treadmills contribute to restricted hamstrings.

Without getting into too long a discussion about it, the moving belt (ground) means the person almost never extends the knee when running, because the treadmill does it for you. This means the hamstring is never stretched when on the treadmill. This typically leads to tight hamstrings, which was not taken into consideration in the study.

Again, the discussion of flexibility is far too expansive to get into here. But with regards to the article, the research was absurd and the author wasn’t much better.

Send your hate mail to the trainingrim@gmail.com.

And again, as with most of the cool stuff I find, I got the article from strengthcoach.com.

P90X thoughts...

The P90X has now replaced Suzanne Somers/Atkins Diet/CrossFit/Biggest Loser/etc in the ‘I get asked about this 500 times per day’ category, so I should probably write this down so everyone can be enlightened by my knowledge simultaneously (ha!)

Similar to other methodologies of training of which I’ve already written about (like CrossFit for example), the concept of P90X is a good one. Its implementation, usage and instruction is misguided however.

If you’re asking me if it’s good to be up and moving around (as opposed to sitting on machines), using different tools, performing varying exercises, etc is a good thing, then my answer is “yes, absolutely.” I’ve been saying that for years now – far from a new concept.

But, like many training modalities, P90X is FAR too advanced for the overwhelming majority of people who will use it.

A huge training pet peeve of mine is choosing the appropriate progressions and regressions of exercises to fit the one that’s most appropriate for your training goals. Performing exercises that are far too advanced of progressions is a very common mistake among exercisers and trainers, that ends up inhibiting the client’s progress either through ineffective technique delivering less than optimal results, or causing an injury outright, either acute or chronic.

For example, if you can’t squat perfectly with two feet on solid ground using only your own body weight, you shouldn’t be squatting with any weight added.

And you certainly shouldn’t be JUMPING. Remember: a jump is simply a squat done extremely fast, with a landing that will be fast as well. So this is logic that needs to be examined closely: If you can’t do the most simplified version of a movement, why would you make it even a little bit more advanced, let alone much more advanced?

I.e, any DVD titled “Plyometrics – explosive jumping cardio routine…” is probably inappropriate for most people. In fact, I saw Tony Horton squat – jumping is inappropriate for HIM. (Here’s a homework assignment for you: research femoral adduction and internal rotation…)

If you can’t hold planks and push up positions perfectly, you shouldn’t be doing anything else for your core until you can. I.e., the “Ab Ripper” DVD is probably a bad choice – unless lumbar displacement and/or chronic lower back pain are the goals.

And furthermore: have you ever read Tony Horton’s bio? He was an actor, handy-man, gardener, comic, waiter, dancer, and TV talk show host. At no point (other than working out with his friends) does it mention his educational background in regards to training people. I kept reading to find out exactly what makes him qualified to get YOU feeling better and looking better and I just can’t find it.

This isn’t a knock on Tony Horton – he’s far from the only trainer who implies “I look great, so I can get you to look great.” Following that logic, someone who drives a Lamborghini can get you to drive your car faster.

Again, I’m not here to bash anything or anyone. I’m just here to be the messenger and tell you the truth. Being up and moving around and trying different things when exercising = good.

Performing exercises WAY to advanced on the advice of someone who doesn’t know any better = BAD.

Send the hate mail to the trainingrim@gmail.com.

Your time and your money.

You will spend time and money on your health and fitness.

Period.

Sometimes we forget that we don’t have a choice in this matter. YOU ARE GOING TO SPEND TIME AND MONEY ON YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS.

How you spend that time and money however is a choice.

You have two places to place your time and money:

a) a good exercise facility, a good personal trainer, a good nutritionist, a good massage therapist.

b) cardiologists, orthopedists, plastic surgeons, chiropractors.

I know this sounds harsh, but it’s that simple and it’s very true. You are not going to get another chance with another body someday. You are stuck with the one you have.

You can take care of it now which requires a relatively little time and effort.

Or you can be reactive and take care of it after it fails you. This requires an extreme amount of effort and money.

We all know someone with a bad back or heart problems. I don’t need to ask them how much effort it’s taken to deal with those things, let alone how much money it’s taken to address those issues.

Some people don't enjoy working out. Frankly, I don't most of the time. But try living with back pain and shortness of breath instead and get back to me. Working out won't seem so bad after all.

I know this realization certainly made me think about my priorities. And by no means would I ever be so bold as to tell you where your priorities lie.

But give it some thought.

*(As with the last post, I got the idea for this blog from Mike Boyle, one of the best strength and conditioning trainers on the planet. It hit home to me so I borrowed it. Go to bodybyboyle.com to hear it straight from the horse's mouth).

Training and farming

I was planning on writing a similar post, since this topic was one of the resolutions I gave you last week. Then I received the following post from Mike Boyle. If you don't know who Mike is, you should. He's one of the most respected strength and conditionng trainers on the planet. Mike expressed what I was going to try to, with far more articulation than I could, so I just borrowed his. It's a great lesson...

"I think I remember Stephen Covey in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People making reference to what I believe he called “the law of the farm.” The reference was meant to show that most of the truly good things in life take time and can’t be forced or rushed. Covey described the process of farming and alluded to how it requires patience and diligence to grow crops properly. In addition, farming requires belief in the system. The farmer must believe that all the hard work and preparation will eventually yield a long-term result.

As a strength and conditioning coach, business owner and personal trainer, the concept has always stuck with me. The process of exercising is much like farming or like planting a lawn. There are no immediate results from exercise and there are no immediate results from farming.

First, the seeds must be planted. Then fertilizer (nutrition) and water must be applied consistently. Much like fertilizer in farming, too much food can be a detriment to the exerciser. Only the correct amounts cause proper growth. Overfeeding can cause problems, as can underfeeding. As I sit and wait for my lawn to sprout or crops to grow, I feel many of the same frustrations of the new exerciser. When will I see results? How come nothing is happening? All this work and — nothing.

The key is to not quit. Have faith in the process. Continue to add water and wait. Farming and exercising are eerily similar. Continue to exercise and eat well and suddenly a friend or co-worker will say, “Have you lost weight”? Your reaction might be, “It’s about time someone noticed.” Much like the first blades of grass poking through the ground, you begin to see success. You begin to experience positive feedback. Clothes begin to fit differently.

When my friends or clients talk to me about their frustration with their initial lack of progress in an exercise program, I always bring up the farm analogy. We live in a world obsessed with quick fixes and instant results. This is why the farm analogy can be both informative and comforting.
An exercise program must be approached over a period of weeks and months, not days. The reality is that there is no quick fix, no easy way, no magic weight loss plan, no secret cellulite formula. There is only the law of the farm. You will reap what you sow. In reality, you will reap what you sow and care for. If you are consistent and diligent with both diet and exercise, you will eventually see results. However, remember, much like fertilizer and water, diet and exercise go together.

Try to grow crops or a lawn without water. No amount of effort will overcome the lack of vital nutrients.

The law of the farm.

Plant the seeds.

Feed and water properly.

Wait for results; they will happen, not in days, but in weeks and months."

For more of Mike's stuff, go to http://www.bodybyboyle.com/.

YOUR 2010 resolutions:

I just recently had an epiphany when thinking about two different topics for my blog when I realized that they were actually intertwined and should be tied together to facilitate your exercise and fitness programs!

First, people always ask me what they should be doing with their exercise programs. Almost always, I end up telling them to stop doing whatever it is they’re doing 1st, then we’ll talk about what they need to do. Remove the time and energy wasters, THEN worry about adding on. If you continue to do the things that aren’t working (and obviously, they aren’t working or you wouldn’t be asking me for my advice) you’ll still be wasting time and spinning your wheels no matter what else you start doing that’s new.

Secondly, I noticed that a) most people make resolutions that they never stick to, and b) these resolutions are all things they are going to “do”.

So I took these two observations and combined them into a list of New Year’s resolutions for you:

Here are the top 10 things you need to STOP doing in ’10 to fully achieve your exercise goals, and start to look and feel like the clients at The Training Rim! (If you already are a client – pass these along to your friend who still goes to mega box gym and doesn’t know any better!)

In 2010, you resolve to:

1. Stop doing cardio.

Seriously, enough already. It doesn’t reduce body fat and it doesn’t make you healthy. In fact, it’s going to hurt you. If that’s your thing, great, godspeed to you. But if you’re doing it because you think it’s good for you, for the love of God please stop.

2. Stop stretching your spine.

Flexing, extending and rotating the spine will injure you, period. There isn’t a respected spinal researcher in the world who will tell you differently. Your back doesn’t need to be stretched, twisted or strengthened – it needs to STOP MOVING. Go work on your hip mobility, please. Your back will thank you.

3. Stop thinking the biggest loser is real.

It’s enjoyable TV, nothing more. No, you shouldn’t be doing ANYTHING they do on the show. They do what they do to get you to watch – NOT to get people healthy.

4. Stop thinking the PX90 or any other flavor of the week is anything but a sales gimmick.

How many infomercial fads have to come and go before you realize there really isn’t some new secret gimmick or tool to buy to help you. C’mon, now…

5. Stop thinking you know what you’re doing.

I’ve been a trainer for 10 years, exercising for 20. I have a Masters Degree in Exercise Science. I learn something new every day in regards to human movement. Things I did a few years ago, I don’t do anymore because now I know better. Do you know what all this means? You will never – repeat NEVER – have it down, know what you’re doing, etc. You may know more than you used to know, but you still have a long way to go. We ALL do.

6. Stop telling yourself “carbs” are bad.

Your body needs carbohydrates. One of our trainers, Dina is a vegetarian, so by definition 100% of what she eats are “carbs”. Dina has less body fat than an aluminum pole. End of discussion.

7. Stop expecting results when you barely ever exercise.

My next blog is on this topic, so more to come. Short version: If you don’t plan on consistently exercising for a long period of time, you will NEVER get results.

8. Stop thinking you don’t need a trainer.

I need a trainer. I jump into our small group sessions all the time and I’m amazed by how better and more efficiently I perform when I’m guided by a knowledgeable professional.

9. Stop doing crunches and sit ups.

Revisit #2. Your abdominal muscles ARE NOT DESIGNED TO MOVE YOUR SPINE – they are designed to hold your spine still. Then on top of that, you’re not burning any calories and you’re more likely to add muscle, and therefore adding size to your mid section. No, crunches are not “core work” – they are stupid.

10. Sitting on machines.

My God, seriously, GET UP! Who ever came up with the idea that sitting on a machine or bench is a better choice than supporting your own body weight? I just came from a big box mega gym and I counted 77 people working out. ONE – yes, ONE - person was not on a piece of equipment, bench, cardio machine, etc. She was working out ON HER FEET with some dumbbells and body weight exercises. Guess who had the best body in the gym?

Don’t hesitate to email me if I forgot one: thetrainingrim@gmail.com

What Horse's Arse did that?!?

We are HUGE on always asking "why?" around here. We will NEVER perform exercises or programs simply because other people have done them forever. I.e., we haven't done crunches here for years. Why should we? Because other people say so? We haven't done crunches for years and all our clients and trainers agree we have stronger abs since eliminating crunches.

Along those lines, here's a quick story on why you should always ask "why?" It has a great lesson on choosing exercises and in life in general.

(Courtesy of Alwyn Cosgrove, one of the most respected trainers on the planet):

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number.

Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the way they built them in England and English expatriates designed the US railroads.

Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used.

Why did ‘they’ use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?

Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagonwheels would break on some of the old long distance roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing… Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot.

Bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder ‘What horse’s ass came up with this?’, you may be exactly right.

Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses (Two horses’ asses).

When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank.

These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah.

The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site.

The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel.

The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses’ behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse’s ass.

Stockings, Crack and The Training Rim

Every now and then that little light bulb goes on over my head and I say, “Hmmm…now THAT’S interesting.” This happens far less frequently as the aging process takes it course, but as they say, even the Mona Lisa is falling apart.

One of my clients once referred to my facility as “like crack” for her. She just loved the energy and feeling she received when she came and had to get more of it.

Then that light bulb went on…

Over the course of history, society has been altered dramatically by products simply being re-packaged. Someone took an already existing product and found a way to alter it slightly to make it even better than its original form. And when I say “better”, I mean similar quality and less cost.

I’ll give you two examples:

1. Nylon stockings:

There was a time long, long ago when silk stockings were the only type of stockings that existed. The problem was that although they looked and felt great (so I’m told), they were ridiculously fragile and expensive. Not a good combination unless you were extremely wealthy.

Then some dude invented nylon stockings. Looked good, felt good, and were durable and inexpensive. All of a sudden, a luxury item was affordable to the masses.

2. Crack Cocaine:

There was a time when cocaine was a very chic choice among those who used illegal drugs. I remember being a kid when it seemed like a day didn’t go by where there wasn’t a pro athlete, movie star, model, etc that wasn’t in the news for having a cocaine problem.

But again, as much as people liked cocaine, it was a very expensive option if recreational drugs were your thing. Hence, pro athletes and movie stars being pretty much the only users.

Then someone came along, took cocaine, mixed it with a few other things and invented crack cocaine. Crack was a much less expensive, but just as potent option.

Again, a luxury item for the masses.

Of course the impact this had on our society in terms of crime issues is the NOT point of my writing this. The point I’m making is like nylon stockings, someone figured out a way to bring what was once a luxury item and make it affordable to almost anybody.

So what does this have to do with exercise?

The fitness and exercise industry are in the EXACT SAME SITUATION as the stocking and illicit drug industries were years ago.

Gym memberships are inexpensive but they don’t work. If you think they do you’re not paying attention.

One on one personal training can be expensive. Especially if you go to the mega chain gyms of the world where $80 per hour is the norm to work with a trainer with very little education and experience.

Enter small group personal training.

Small group personal training brings the luxury of personal training at a very affordable rate.

If you haven’t experienced our small group sessions, here’s what it’s like:

At each session, you’re instructed and guided by a trainer. Every exercise, repetition, set, tempo, etc is chosen for you. And you are watched like a HAWK to be sure you’re doing the exercise correctly.

The only catch is that you’ll share the session with 2 or 3 other people on average. Which incidentally, research has shown INCREASES your chances of reaching your goals.

You get the benefits of a personal trainer – so what about the cost?

The cost is something that over 90% of us can afford. You know how I know that?

Because small group training with us costs less than what most of us pay for cable TV. And over 90% of the people reading this have cable TV.

A personal trainer starting at $129 per month.

Luxury for the masses baby, luxury for the masses.

Author's note: Some of the above information was borrowed from Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt - two brilliant guys and the authors of "Freakonomics". A great book if you haven't read it.