Olympic Lifting

Hi everybody-

I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to write a health tip this week but I will resume next week.

However, I am going to introduce this DVD which covers over 2 hours of frottage from a live workshop covering the aspect of introducing Olympic Lifting to personal training clients.  The DVD goes of prerequisites before even attempting to teach the Olympic lifts along with full progressions for the hang clean.

Available at Evo-Performance for only $19 plus shipping.

Here is a review from one of the trainers who bought the DVD:

Review:

I found this DVD to be absolutely fantastic as someone who’s backed away from teaching these lifts ive gained a lot of confidence in what i learned, Peter you’ve done a fantastic job breaking the lifts down for even a beginner to understand like myself. but The thing that really impressed me was the smooth transition from neurodynamics,joint mobilization,neuromuscular activation and integration were all explained precisely and blended effortlessly, sometimes other DVD’s you feel as if its a stop start process. I gained a huge understanding of how these aspects to training are applied and has got me thinking on a whole new level.Really for the price of $19.00 you cant go wrong with this product Peter you have a no B.S approach and I can see you are extremely passionate about what you do.A lot of DVDS I have have watched feels like its a rehash of old stuff,I actually learnt new aspects that I haven’t learnt before, i think this is a true hallmark of a good product.

The way in which you broke down the lifts and covering prerequisite’s was a real eye opener to me, especially the front squat stuff, I now see how incorrectly my own form was and and can now spot immediately when someone is performing it incorrectly and also how to enhance technique, thanks to you DVD! The FMS stuff was also a highlight to me only being a newbie to the whole concept you made a good case for it and made it simplistic to understand.I actually cant come up with any negatives the picture went a little bit with some audio interruptions but the quality of the information overshadowed that completely.As you said not bad for a 2 hour production for $19.00 not sure if many offer this sort of quality.

Craig

Interview about our Bootcamp

Hi Everybody-

Joey Emont, a personal trainer, friend and founder of http://www.bodyinc.net, came to my gym about a week ago and did a quick interview and videotaped our bootcamp.  He used his blackberry phone to film it.  It turned out very nice.  Check it out.

Adrenal Fatigue and Hormone Imbalances

Here is an interview video of Dr. Steven Hotze.  It reinstates and give more information what I was saying earlier in my post about adrenal fatigue and hormone imbalances.  Adrenal Fatigue is a serious problem.  It affects people in different ways and it is caused by different and/or combination of things.  Please, take few minutes (it’s about 4 mins video) to watch it.  It is very informative and perhaps it can give you some answers to questions your doctors have not been able to answer or explain.

Best warm up exercises

The best warm up exercises you can do prior to any training is self-myofascial release exercises.  You use foam rollers and tennis balls to release tension in your body.  You do want to release the tension or stress that your body has been holding.  By doing so, your body will open up or warm up and be ready to train hard while adding on more tension (working out can release stress psychological but can also add more tension to your body especially if the training is hard).   A person’s body can only take so much stress before it collapses.  Therefore, not only do the self-myofascial release exercises are better than sitting on a cardio equipment for 30 minutes as warming up but are better for your body and health.

All of my clients do these exercises prior to training.  Sometimes, they don’t want to get off the roller because they know they need it and they feel great afterwards.  It is also great for recovery after a hard training session.  You will get less muscle soreness the next day if perform after a training or few hours after training.

If you want to learn more about it, click here and check out the videos.

“Stand Up Tall”

I can still hear my mom’s words: “Stand Up Tall”.  She used to tell me these three words a lot when I was young.   I wish I listened more but it was hard to stand up tall without feeling tension on my back.  It didn’t come naturally.  I had to force myself to stand up tall and every time I did, my back was killing me.  Obviously, our city lifestyle didn’t help.  We sit in a desk or car for hours in a day.  We don’t use our back muscles a lot.  And before we know it, we develop an upper cross syndrome posture over the years.   It is also known as rounded shoulders posture.  It is a very common faulty upper body imbalance.  However, many people nowadays have more than one faulty body imbalance.  These body imbalances or bad postures ultimately result in chronic pain and disability.

I came across an article in the Marie Claire Magazine, March 2009 edition.  It was about this woman who wrote about her years of back pain due to bad posture.  A orthopedic surgeon told her that posture affects the spine’s alignment.  If you are not standing up straight, you’ll put more strain on the discs, joints, muscles, and ligaments that support the spine.  As I am reading this article, it reminds me how important it is and how little do I promote this in my gym even though it’s the first thing I discuss with all of my clients.  A lot of people don’t want to hear about this stuff because it’s not very interesting.  They want to hear about how to get 6-pack abs or how to get those big biceps, etc.  I like to reiterate the importance of correcting bad postures or muscle imbalances.

First, why do we have muscle imbalances?  It’s because we have muscular dysfunction.  The primary muscle responsible for specific joint movement may become weak and inhibited, causing a synergistic muscle/muscles to become hyperactive. As a result, a different sequence of muscular contractions occurs. In other words, compensation occurs and therefore, we build up muscle imbalances.

Have a trainer, physical therapist or orthopedic identify your posture or muscle imbalances.  You want to know about them so you can rectify them through a series of corrective exercises.  It is important to address your imbalances prior to loading up your body with weights or prior to an intense workout because if you do not, you have higher risk of injuries.  Make sure you do find someone who knows what they are doing to help you with this.   A wrong exercise can make your posture worse.  The corrective exercises can be implemented into your training program.  Do them before your strength workout and as often as you can.  Before you know it, you have corrected your posture without forcing it and live pain free.

New Video

Hello everybody-

I have a new video.  Check it out.  It’s on the website www.afperformancecenter.com and in Youtube.com

or click below:

What is Functional Movement Screen “FMS”?

This is a term used alot in the fitness industry lately.  I have been asked a lot about it and it is important that everybody who wants to get fit should understand this term.

FMS is an assessment tool developed by Gray Cook and Lee Burton.  It is to assess people’s primitive body movement patterns. It screens seven basic patterns: squatting, stepping, lunging, reaching, leg raising, pushing and rotary stability. These movements are primal to humans from the minute we are born.

Let’s think about it for a minute. Babies are born already knowing how to raise their legs. If you get a chance to watch a baby, watch them how they get up. They first learn to roll, then push with the arms and at the same time they learn to stabilize and reach, then they learn to squat, then re-learn to stabilize and finally get up. Stepping and lunging are the next two primal movement patterns babies learn after getting up.

So, FMS is essential for all personal trainers to learn how to use in all of their clients. For individuals who want to work out, it is important to go through this screening prior to any training program for many reasons:

1. We want to learn where our weaknesses and strengths are.
2. Where our muscles imbalances are
3. Where our bodies are compensating for the weaknesses
4. Where our lack of stability and mobility in our bodies are.

All joint muscles work together.  When one weak muscle exists, we, as humans, will compensate that weakness with another muscle, and therefore, shut down other areas which later can cause pain and injuries.  By the way, athletes are great compensators.

In most cases, pain is a symptom and not the cause. For instance, when a person’s hip is stiff, that person would likely compensate in the back, and therefore, develop lower back pain. Lower back pain is just a symptom but the cause is lack of mobility in the hip area (where the stiffness is). You address the lack of mobility and the lower back pain will reduce or even go away.

So, FMS is one of the greatest tools to identify the faults in a human body, especially the primary/basic movements. Once you identify the causes, you want to correct them first before loading up your body with weights, otherwise, you are more likely to have injuries in the future. I highly recommend everybody to go through this FMS if you haven’t done so. There are lots of trainers who know how to screen them and do a great job. In fact, if a trainer doesn’t know FMS, then the trainer is no good and needs to get some updated education. Fire that trainer and hire one who knows what they are doing. FMS give trainers a reference point on where to begin and develop the program for their clients. Otherwise, they are just guessing or using a standard program for all of their clients. Each individual is unique and therefore each person should have a unique training program especially design for him/her. No all programs work well for all individuals. That is also why some trainers end up injuring their clients. Use this as a tip to know how to hire a good personal trainer.  Certifications don’t mean a thing.  Anybody can get a personal trainer certification online within hours.

If you have more questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at afperformancecenter@gmail.com or (310) 895-5385.

Fake Drugs in China

A friend of mine sent me an article on fake drugs in China.  It’s posted on reuters.com.  The article is called “China finds more fake diabetes medication”.  It is so sad to know that some people will do anything for money whether people’s lives are in danger or not.  I wonder if the people who are making the fake drugs have any remorse when they hear people are dying from taking their fake drugs.  I guess they have no conscience or care.  I don’t think they are naive to think that people won’t die from it.  But then again, I have been to China and a lot of people there are so clueless and square that they don’t think about the consequences.  Most of them think about how to make a quick buck and survive day by day.    I wonder if providing them with better education or having taught good principals at home would make a difference.  But then, most of these fake drug makers are not stupid people so they must know.  Again, it’s sad to know that there are people out there who think that money is more important than a human life.  What is your opinion on this?

Train like an Athlete NOW

Hi-

I am a big believer of the following statement “Everybody can train like an athlete even though you never play a sport”.  Athletes have an advantage.  They have or had coaches who teach or taught them how to train.  Not many people had that opportunity when they were young and therefore never got into sport.  And most people want to look or have an athletic body.  Well, this is your chance.  You have an opportunity to train like an athlete.

My studio has the equipment and our coaches have the experience to train anybody who comes into my gym like an athlete.  Of course, everybody starts at a different stage based on their fitness level and motor skills.  This is a short video of a small portion of how our clients train.  They might start like this right away or might take few more steps to get there but they all get there eventually.  Hope you enjoy it!