A few ramblings all newsletter style.

Read up on what I think is a forgotten calf stretch (at least I don't see anyone doing it) a new toy I bought myself and a GREAT recipe for the vegetables lovers. I made this dish the other night with some roasted chicken and Mmmm mmm! My wife loved it, I loved it and my two Pugs may have gotten a piece of carrot or two.

The newsletter is in pdf format and contains some video demonstrations so save the document and open it with Adobe reader. When you click the link I think it will just open the newsletter in a new browser window but then the videos don't play. You'll only get full functionality in Adobe. 

Here is the Newsletter:

 http://blog.ideafit.com/files/user_upload/2252972.pdf

And here are my two carrot lovin' girls

It may be that you didn’t even know you had one...or where it might be hiding...or how it can cause you to have an ankle sprain. Find out more by downloading the "blog" in .pdf format. 

The document has videos embedded in it so to be able to view them make sure you open the document using Adobe. Opening it in your Internet Explorer or Chrome browser won't play the video properly.

https://blog.ideafit.com/files/user_upload/2250478.pdf

Something a little different this time. A small blog on the shoulder, some summer tips, a good stretch to try and a couple recipes...all in a Newsletter format. Here it is at the link below

http://blog.ideafit.com/files/user_upload/2248686.pdf

I’m going to let you in on a secret that very few people know. Now lean in close and promise not to tell…I’m getting older. Yep, it’s true. My toys growing up were the slinky, paddle ball, good ‘ol Barrel of Monkeys and maybe a game of Jacks with some friends. Gone are the days when Airplane, Alien, Dirty Dancing or E.T. were the big draws at the box office and gone are the days when I didn’t have little nagging aches and pains.

I wouldn’t be surprised that if you took a survey of your friends and asked them if they had any aches or pains that they deal with that you would find some that complain of plantar faciitis or perhaps the runners out there tell you of their shin splints while others might mention they deal with knee pain, low back pain, shoulder problems and the list goes on. If you suffer from any acute or chronic pain, always check with a medical professional but in the absence of something of a medical nature going on; consider that the problem might be rooted in the foot.

So, You’re Saying My Feet Are Causing My Back Pain?

The body isn’t a collection of individual muscles that work independently. Rather, your muscles work together synergistically to produce movement. For example while doing a pull up, your Lat muscle (or in the nerd community where I live “latissimus dorsi”) is the main mover while other muscles such as the biceps, deltoids and rhomboids help the lat muscle out (nerd translation=they perform a synergistic action) Still other muscles work around the shoulder to stabilize the shoulder joint during the movement. See, there are a lot of muscles involved in any given movement and because muscles work synergistically, a problem in one area of the body can manifest itself as pain in another area.

So let’s follow this winding road to see how the feet are connected to the back. Let’s say you have limited range of motion at the ankle and you have a decreased ability to flex your foot due to an overactive calf muscle. This will throw off your centre of gravity-especially during any squatting type of movement such as picking up the kid’s toys from the ground or gardening etc. To counter-act this and stop you from tipping over backward, the hips will be forced to increase their flexion. When this happens, your butt (nerd translation= gluteus maximus) becomes underactive and becomes less effective at maintaining an upright body. Because the butt is underactive, now the lat muscle has to compensate and become overactive in order to help stabilize the hips. Since the lats attach at the hips and are now overactive, they will cause your pelvis to rotate which gives you an arched back (wait, we’re not done yet) but the lats also attach up around the shoulder so tight lat muscles will cause improper movement at the shoulder. Phew!! That was a lot to take in but let’s just say that if the ankle had its own Facebook page, its relationship status would be listed as “it’s complicated”. Nonetheless that, my dear Watson, is how the foot bone is connected to the hip bone is connected to the shoulder bone kinda sorta.

How Do I know If I have Problems At The Ankle?

To assess improper movement at the ankle, a fitness professional will perform some type of movement assessment on you such as the overhead squat assessment. Or, maybe we'll just watch you as you walk in your natural gait. Basically, we would watch you do some squats and have a look for a couple things that your foot might be doing. Specifically, we watch for feet over pronating or feet turning out like you see in the pictures. This clues us in to the fact that you might have overactive muscles that cause the feet to turn out or flatten (like your lateral calf muscles, a muscle on the outside of the lower leg called the peroneals and one of the muscles in the hamstrings called the biceps femoris) while other muscles that would help pull the feet into neutral position are under active (called the anterior and posterior tibialis and the medial calf muscle)

Has Anyone Figured Out A Solution For This?

Sure! There are corrective exercise techniques that can be used to help restore proper length and strength in over/under active muscles. Corrective exercise is a 4-step process aimed at restoring proper muscle length around joints. First, you want to relax, or inhibit as the textbooks will call it, the overactive muscles by using foam rolling on the calf, side of the lower leg (that peroneal muscle thingy I mentioned) and hamstrings followed by lengthening those muscles by stretching them. Calf stretches and hamstring stretches work well here.

The underactive muscles will then need to be activated by performing isolated strengthening exercises. In our case here, good exercise selections would be a resisted ankle dorsiflexion (like the pictures below) as well as doing calf raises with the foot internally rotated.  

The final step is to integrate the newly lengthened and strengthened muscles by performing a multijoint exercise using low weights with controlled movements and proper posture and alignment. An example would be a step-up to overhead press or a lunge to curl exercise. This helps to re-educate the neuromuscular system to maintain proper muscle control during your movements.

And The Point Is…

If you have pain in the knees, low back, shoulders or neck just keep in mind that the problem may be rooted elsewhere in the body. Corrective exercise techniques are very useful in solving many muscle imbalances and the whole sequence of foam roll-stretch-strengthen-integrate doesn’t take up a lot of time. In most cases, 15 minutes 3-5 days a week is all you need and they make a perfect warm up to your regular fitness routine…or, just do them on their own while watching TV.

To download the PDF version of this, you can download it here:

http://conditioningcamp.wixsite.com/conditioning-camp/bonus

And the answer is clear…as mud. Back in the day, you would see everyone stretch before taking part in an activity. Life was good. Then, those darn scientists had to get involved with all their studies and facts and then people just got confused. “Should I stretch before my ball game?” “Should I stretch for 10 seconds; 20 seconds; an hour?” I’ll try to walk you through what the evidence has to say and try to change the mud into a crystal clear lake. Note that when I talk about stretching in this blog, I’m referring to “static” stretching.

The traditional thought when I was growing up-you know, back when we used to have to walk 10 miles to school in a snowstorm uphill both ways- was that regular stretching will improve flexibility, decrease risk of injury and improve athletic performance. The reason behind this school of thought is that increased flexibility will mean less energy is absorbed by the muscles (‘cause your more “springy”) and less energy absorbed means less chance of injury. On the performance side, greater flexibility means less work is required by the muscle to perform a movement which results in better athletic performance. So far so good.

Enter The Scientists And Their Studies

So now, some recent research is pointing toward the theory that pre-exercise stretching (called “acute” stretching) does decrease performance and has NO effect on injury prevention. Some studies find that stretching may cause muscle strain and micro injuries which leads to a decrease in performance. Furthermore, a decrease in muscle stiffness-as happens when you stretch- may decrease the speed at which you can produce force which results in a decrease in performance. While some of the science says this decreased performance effect only lasts about 10 minutes after stretching (that means that after 10 minutes there is no decrease shown) other studies say the effect can last up to an hour.

So I Shouldn't Stretch Before Exercise Right?

Well, if you just get your fitness news from the headlines then you would think that would be true. But, keep in mind that every scientific study has its limitations. For instance, there are few studies that take into account whether the person has limited range of motion to begin with. Most studies are conducted on those that have no such limitation. It is therefore quite reasonable to assume (and I for one am going to assume this--who is with me?) that static stretching muscles that are already tight may improve performance. Also, most studies only test for the effects of static stretching. Some studies show that other types of pre-exercise stretching (like active stretching or PNF stretching) show positive effects on performance.

Uh, I Still See Mud

Ok, so here is where I am going to give you the takeaways and clear all this up. In point form, here is what we know as of this second (science changes all the time which means that if you read this 1 hour after I post it, it may all be wrong and I’ll have to start over)

• Forget performance and muscle strength and agility for a second. IF improving range of motion is your goal, then the overwhelming evidence says that static stretching is your go-to tool. For best results, get a long-term stretching protocol and keep at it.
• While acute static stretching has been shown to negatively affect performance, those on a regular long-term stretching routine (that is you stretch to improve your range of motion even outside of when preparing for activity) have been shown to have improved strength and performance and have lower injury rates. So get yourself a stretching routine.
• The very best idea is to perform static stretches (either pre-exercise or in a long-term routine) on muscles shown to be tight for your particular body. Having an assessment from a trainer or conditioning coach is a great way to tell which muscles you need to concentrate on. For instance, if you sit all day at work then it is probable that you have tight hip flexors and you need to concentrate on those muscles and there would be no need to stretch other areas that aren’t shown to be tight.
• Now here’s the kicker!! If you like stretching and don’t care about the chance you may be decreasing your performance by 2.8% then for goodness sake, go for it. Stretching just plain feels good and many people report feeling less stress and tension afterwards and that stretching mentally prepares them for activity. You shouldn’t discount the psychological effect of a good stretch.

It wasn't long ago that a story came out that Doctors are finally admitting that medication isn't really the answer for low back pain afterall. It makes sense when you think about it. I mean why just treat the symptoms with drugs instead of looking for and then treating the root cause. Now there can be many causes of low back pain so always consult your Doctor first but low back pain can also be a result of our lifestyle too.

Just consider what a typical day might look like. You sit in a car for your 30 minute drive to work then get into the office and sit at your desk for 8 hours and then spend another 30 minutes sitting in your car on the way home from work. When you finally do get home you spend the night watching TV in your most comfortable position...

Nutrient Density is the amount of nutrients in food per calorie. When you are on a program to lose weight, smart food choices become even more important for your success. Therefore, if a food is low in nutrient density (that is few nutrients per calorie) then there is less room for it in your nutrition program.

People have a misconception of what exercise is---and it doesn't necessarily happen in a gym or with fancy equipment or with wearing expensive workout clothes. Thank GOODNESS our bodies really aren't very smart. Our bodies don't really know whether we are lifting weights at an expensive gym (while taking selfies) or if we are putting away groceries. It only knows that it is working against force.

Clear your mind of the noise and just remember this...

Exercise is MOVEMENT...and movement is HEALTH. Go ahead and embrace your inner child and just move.

The question posed to the group was “I’m having trouble meeting my daily carb recommendations. What are some food recommendations for healthy carb snacks?” The question itself isn’t too unusual but one of the responses was a little surprising to me. One respondent answered back that carbohydrate intake is just a suggestion; you don’t need to eat any carbs.  I had a little trouble with that answer. I’ll deal with the validity of that claim in a bit but to suggest to someone new on a weight loss journey to not eat any carbs (without knowing the history of the person posing the question) is ridiculous. Even as a fitness professional, I’m not legally or ethically allowed to suggest something like that. In fact, trainers are not allowed to prescribe any type of meal plan. That is the domain of Registered Dieticians and other medical professionals.  

• Protein: 10-35%
• Fat: 20-35%
• Carbohydrate: 45-65% 

 The idea that carbohydrates are not needed comes from the fact that in the  absence of carbs, your body can make glucose (the body’s energy source) from  fats and proteins. This is true but this is what your body has to do because it is  going into survival mode. Your body doesn’t know that you are on some special  diet recommended on a health forum—all it knows is that there is a lack of food so  now it has to make changes to its internal environment in order to survive. I don’t  want my body to just survive, I want it to thrive! 

There are studies that show eating very low-carb diets can be beneficial but you have to read the studies (and not just the news headlines) to get to some other information that is key. Most of the participants in these studies, while consuming low carb diets, were fed fruits and vegetables as their main sources of carbohydrates. While that is good, it doesn’t replicate the sources found in a typical North American diet. A typical diet would include processed (and unhealthy) carb sources. So, did the subjects of the study benefit from eating a very low-carb diet or was the benefit from eliminating processed food? The studies don’t address that. Also, the participants were given vitamin and mineral supplements to make up for deficiencies in the low-carb diet. If the average person eats a diet of healthy fats, good sources of lean protein and load up on fruits, vegetables and whole grains then you wouldn’t have a need to supplement. People with extra demands on their body such as athletes or pregnant women may benefit from supplementation but not for the average person. Interestingly, the participants were given increased salt intake to counteract the accelerated sodium losses associated with the diet. With weight loss being difficult enough, is this something the average person can really live with? Is it a way of life you WANT to live with? 

 

  Lest you think I’m bashing various dietary approaches—I’m not. I run into people all the time with unique approaches and I   realize that every BODY is different and everyone has different  goals. As a fitness professional, it’s our job to share healthy  recommendations and to support you no matter what you  choose. The recommended protein, fat, carb ranges are simply  the best science we have at the moment for the average person.  That’s not to say that won’t change in the future but let’s let  science take its course. It is important not to chase the headlines but instead youshould rely on credible sources of information. If you think you want to try a new way of eating then consult a health professional like a dietician. Based on your unique body, goals and medical information, a medical professional can come up with a solution that’s for you.