Maria, a client of Myoforce and Perfect Postures, was in so much pain that she could not even sit on the floor and play with her children let alone run the half marathons and sprint triathlons she loved to do. She heard about Aaron and Perfect Postures from a friend who had great success and decided to give their program a shot. Here is what Maria had to say about her experience at Myoforce and Perfect Postures.
It is single leg STABILITY, not simply single leg STRENGTH that can prevent low back pain.
Do you know why?
While our ultimate goal may be to heavily load our bilateral lifts, our single leg exercises should not be done with a goal of heavy load in mind.
Rather they should be performed with solid form and stability.
Stability in the single leg stance will only help us with our heavy “big” lifts once we establish symmetry from left and right sides.
SHOVELING!!!
And if you live anywhere near us you’ve been doing A TON OF IT!
Who needs the gym when you have 2 feet of snow right outside your doorstep?
Just 15 minutes of this moderate to intense physical activity and you are good to go!
Ever feel sore after “clearing the driveway”? This is because shoveling can require pushing, lifting, lunging and rotating all at the same time! That’s more than some of us do at the gym on any given day.
Be aware that while shoveling can be a great workout for some of us, it can be a bit much for others! Take to shoveling just like you would a workout.
You wouldn’t run into the gym and complete your big lifts heavy right away, would you?
Remember to take the time to warm up, start slow and fill only half your shovel.
Be sure to bed at your knees with a flat back and lift with your LEGS, not your BACK!
Switch arms every 5 shovels to keep your body balanced.
And last but not least, ENJOY YOUR SNOW DAY!
This weeks blog is not going to be on your typical New Year’s Resolution. AHH sure everyone resolves to eat better and nearly everyone resolves to exercise more in 2011 than they did in 2010.
I am here to tell you that your first resolution should be to move well first before moving often. What I mean is having people realize that more often than not the reason why they keep getting on and off the their fitness kicks is largely because they move inefficiently. The old mantra coined by Nike, “Just Do It.” is good and all, but just do what? It may be implying that we should just move and that is good…if you can. It should preface, move well first, then move often.
It is obvious that exercise has all the potential in the world to help improve us physically, emotionally and psycho-socially but if there are significant limitations in movements like squatting, lunging, pushing or pulling due to previous injury or deconditioning, the body will take the path of least resistance (the law of facilitation). Eventually this will cause injuries elsewhere and thus cause a person to fall off the band wagon, get discouraged and give up as they have in the past.
To have a fit plan for life, each person needs to know what their respective weakest links are with respect to movement. We all know what are weaknesses are for foods i.e. sweets, junk food etc., but not too many people know what types of movements causing more harm than good. As a result they “play it safe” by starting with a little cardio on the bike or on the treadmill largely because peoples options for movements are limited so we go with boring, mundane exercises that just reinforce bad movements and expedite the process of falling off the fitness bandwagon. Exercise should invigorate us but instead most people act like hamsters on a wheel for 20 or 30 minutes while they read gossip in the weekly tabloids. Not to say that is a bad thing entirely, but not being cognoscente of what’s going on with the different parts of your body while you’re moving is setting you up for failure. I’m not saying that you need to be a yogi or Tai Chi guru, but tuning yourself out and ignoring what your body is telling you is not a good idea.
So don’t just resolve to go to the gym, resolve to move well first, then move often. Restoring the authentic movement you had when you were younger is not an impossible feat, it simply takes effort and focus. In the long run, you’ll be really happy you did.
Happy 2011
Having spent years in the health and fitness industry and training at private studios we have had complete control over of what our clients do and how they do it. In those years we have realized that there is a void not only in our industry but also in healthcare all together. We know this by going over our clients’ health history to find out exactly what they have been doing to help themselves. Outside our facility an example is when we go to a traditional gym and look around, the majority of members are not only doing the wrong exercises but improperly performing them. It is a real eye opener. What this means is the members are strengthening their muscle imbalances and reinforcing their faulty movement patterns. This in turn is actually making things worse. In our healthcare fields most of the professionals are treating symptoms instead of addressing the underlying cause of the symptom. At Myoforce we typically say that a symptom is exactly that; a symptom of an underlying problem. When you treat a symptom you never really get at the root problem.
Whether you coach, train or rehab athletes, clients or patients and are in the Long Beach Area this weekend you will definitely want to check out the presenters at PERFORM BETTER!
Our own Aaron Brooks has the pleasure of presenting!
He will be lecturing on
ACTIVATION BEFORE INTEGRATION: Don’t Strengthen Disfunction
Aaron will teach you how to identify the basic postural deviations that lead to poor movement patterns and inevitably PAIN!
In addition he will focus on activation techniques using the MYOFORCE Versus to activation the nervous system.
Using the Versus Training System to activate the nervous system will change how your clients move and feel! Your training will never be the same again 
Nowadays in the fitness industry we are being bombarded with websites, emails and newsletters showcasing weight loss and body transformation via diet and exercise. It’s great I LOVE IT! Have you ever looked deeper into the before and after photos?
Is it possible?
By: Aaron Brooks
I am going to go outside the box here a bit and suggest the textbook definition of what muscles qualify as hip extensors falls a little short. If you ask me your quads and calves should be added to the list, because I’ve repeatedly witnessed that addressing these two muscles will not only increase hip extension, but overall hip mobility as well. As you already know, the generally recognized hip extensors are glute maximus, the three hamstrings and to lesser degrees the adductor magnus and glute medius. Because you know those muscles are hip extensors you may be prone to specifically address them in attempts to increase hip extension. However, I feel that the muscles that are considered antagonists to the hamstrings, glutes, etc, can actually be synergists to their actions. As you will see later in the article, the antagonist and synergist relationship will dictate how and why I sequence the exercises in a particular manner—the end result being not only increased hip extension but also overall hip mobility as a bonus. Read more
5 points to consider when looking for the source of pain
How many of your clients come to you with a diagnosis from their doctor? Let’s use the diagnosis of elbow tendonitis as an example. The patient complains of pain on the outside of their elbow. The patient describes their pain; the doctor evaluates the patient and comes up the diagnosis of tendonitis of the elbow. The next steps are usually anti inflamatories for swelling or a cortisone shot and/or a prescription to physical therapy for strengthening, soft tissue work and e-stim for quicker healing. What happens when the drugs and shots do not work? The physical therapist follows the doctor’s orders and does the best they can but the patient still does not get better? Keep in mind that the patient has been diligent about staying consistent with their appointments and have continued with the exercises that their physical therapist gave them. Most times the patient’s symptoms are a result of an underlying cause that no one addressed. Up to this point everyone was focused on the elbow. That was not the problem. The key point here is to look past the point of pain. Look at the joints beyond the elbow such as the shoulder, mid thoracic spine, cervical spine or even the pelvis. Most times this is where you will find the problem that is causing the elbow pain. Next step is to identify things your client may do during the day that is continually irritating their pain. Read more
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