Motion Oriented Vital Exercises
It's not getting older that makes us move less...
it's moving less that makes us get older!
Click to find out what's WRONG.
Things you will wish you knew before exercise hurt you!
Personal Trainers may have more to do with your physical ailments than you think!
Click to learn more about what's RIGHT.
Get your body better at doing
all the things you love to do.
Your body will thank you more for finally giving it the stability it needs.
-You only get one body.
-You have one chance to take care of it.
-Stop assuming what you are doing is good!
-Come find out for sure and MOVE BETTER.
EXERCISE MISTAKES
STANDING DUMBBELL FLY
This exercise is believed to be a CHEST exercise. With resistance pushing straight down, the only muscles being resisted are the ones holding your arms up...even if you are moving your arms forward and backwards. Muscles need directly opposed force for maximum efficiency.
FULL RANGE OF MOTION
Getting a 'good stretch' puts you at a high risk and should be called the FOOL RANGE OF MOTION. You typically become mechanically weaker at the end of eccentric motion and the force it typically getting heavier. You typically gain mechanical advantage at the end of concentric as the resistance is getting lighter. Many exercise profiles are backwards.
CALVES WITH FEET TURNED IN/OUT
Straight leg calf raises with feet turned in/out does not change the relationship of the gastrocs to the knee. Feet turned out with legs straight happens at the hip. Turned in/out with the knee bent reduces the gastroc activity making it more of a Soleus exercise but still puts the function of the foot out of the plane of resistance and creates excessive ankle stress.
Not all of the following exercise examples are harmful but they all
show a level of improper body mechanics and neglectful education.
GUARANTEED TO MAKE YOU MOVE BETTER!
FITNESS THERAPY
A specialized therapy philosophy
BENT ARM SIDE RAISE
From an elbow flexor challenge to a shoulder external rotation challenge this is not an efficient Middle Delt exercise. The Mid Delt is not working when the elbows are by the side and the Mid Delt are not great at external rotation. Bending the elbow reduces stress at the should that makes it easier but it also puts the force responsibility on a separate muscle group.
STANDING DUMBBELL 'ROTATOR CUFF'
This is an isometric elbow flexor challenge while you choose to move through internal/external rotation. Most people do not understand the impact of inertia, the concept of an anatomical pully, what a closed pack position is, or that the rotator cuff is not a a joint.
OVERHEAD PULLOVER
Another backward profile exercise where you get weaker as the resistance gets heavier and you get stronger as the resistance gets lighter. This is a high risk shoulder exercise that is NOT a Serratus Anterior exercise and will not make your rib cage wider.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HAD A TUNE UP?
It is the the equivalent of a specialized auto- mechanic addressing an issue with your car.
WHAT is MOVE METHODOLOGY?
Joint instability leads to decreased flexibility
Ensuring all of your joints are stable increases:
-Joint Flexibility
-Joint Durability
-Joint Longevity
These all lead to everyday life being being easier.
INSTABILITY CREATES LACK OF MOBILITY...aka TIGHTNESS
Stretching tightness DOES NOT address WHY it was tight!
Pain & Tightness are both symptoms created by instability.
CLOSE/WIDE GRIP CURL OR EXTENSION
Variations are an important part of muscular development but not at the expense of the joints they move. If it looks cool, if someone else is doing it, if it's in a magazine or online, or if the Trainer likes it then it must be good or everyone is the global fitness trainer mentality. Your trainer could be the reason why you hurt when you're not in the gym!
BEHIND THE NECK PULL OR PUSH
Most people cannot pull down or push up behind the head with a straight bar without flexing forward. This forward position places excessive stress inside the shoulder joint and reduces the efficiency o the exercise.
DUMBBELL X2 SIDE BEND
For an exercise to be considered an exercise there needs to be an opposing force. Having a dumbbell in each hand cancels out each other and any motion created is simply by choice rather than by opposed force.
SIDE LUNGES
If your momentum is going one way but your knee is going another then you are going to blow out your knee. If you turn your foot out to allow knee tracking then the step to the side is pretty much pointless.
CHEST PRESS GRIP
No matter the exercise, if a resistance is trying to push or pull a joint further into a locked position then excessive stress is being exerted on that joint.
UPRIGHT ROW
This might as well be called the 'Shoulder Impingement/Wrist Killer' Exercise. This exercise is bad for all joints involved and doesn't even train the traps as much as you like to believe it does.
It is historical continuity that maintains most assumptions, not repeated assessment of their validity. -Edward de Bono
?
WHY do YOU
S T R E T C H
the way you do
STRETCHING REVOLUTION BOOK
Scroll over to pause
OR
*What the REALITY really is:
-What the INDUSTRY teaches us
VS
INDUSTRY:
Decreases muscle stiffness
REALITY:
*Muscle stiffness is how much energy is needed to move a muscle.
*Something that requires less energy to move is weaker.
*Get the 'movers' (the muscles that make you move) better at moving
and the 'allowers' (muscles that allow you to move) will not have to
try and prevent you from moving into a position you cannot control.
Intro/Issue #1
-May reduce your risk of injury.
*Anything that 'may' also 'may not'. Forcing a range of motion that you cannot control increases your risk of injury.
*If you are tight due to neurological weakness, address the weakness and the need to be tight will go away.
Issue #2
-Helps relieve post-exercise aches and pains.
*If you have damaged the soft tissue (muscle/tendon or ligament) or joint due to over/improper training then the body may need to tighten up to allow for repairs.
*Tightness needs to be respected not rejected!
Issue #3
-Improves posture.
*Anything that 'may' also 'may not'. Forcing a range of motion that you cannot control increases your risk of injury.
*If you are tight due to neurological weakness, address the weakness and the need to be tight will go away.
Issue #4
-Helps reduce or manage stress.
*If you are stressed because of work, boss, neighbor, money, spouse,
partner, child, friend, family, or any other possible reason then address IT.
*Stretching will not help your child, spouse, boss, etc.. mind or listen any better!
Issue #5
-Reduces muscular tension and enhances muscular relaxation.
*Tight muscle does restrict circulation...a stretched muscle is tighter and smaller which means stretching decrease oxygen and essential nutrients.
*You only feel the muscles that are working/overworking; you do not feel what is not working. A muscle's job is to hold you together.
Why do you want a loose muscle?
Issue #6
-Improves mechanical efficiency and
overall functional performance.
*Function requires muscles working properly to either create, prevent, or allow motion. Stretching only focuses on the muscles that will not allow the motion you desire.
*If your hamstrings (hip extenders) are tight because one of your hip flexors are weak then the tightness is necessary for controlled function.
Issue #7
-Prepares the body for the stress of exercise.
*How is it that you can do the same exact stretch to 'Prepare for STRESS'
and 'Enhance Muscular RELAXATION' (Reason 6....opposite ends of the
tension spectrum)????
*How many traditional exercises challenge you in the extreme limitations
of a muscle/joint? How is preparing at the end helping with midway?
Issue #8
-Promotes circulation.
*If it is cold outside are you going to stretch your fingers/hands to warm them up? NO, you are going to rub them together.
*How many times have you slept with your arm stretched above your head and woken up with your arm red from all the blood that flowed to it while
it was stretched out?
*Motion produces blood flow; muscles that are pulled tight (stretched) restrict blood flow.
Issue #9
-Decreases the risk of low-back pain.
*Typically the 'Sit-&-Reach' test measures hamstring flexibility. But how many parts of the body are between your finger tips and toe tips while reaching for your toes? ALL!
*If you can't reach your toes, how come the hamstrings get the blame; if you stretch and now can reach further, how come the hamstrings get the credit??
*If you do not know what is stopping you from moving then you do not
know what let go to allow you to move!
Issue #10
Once you understand the issues with traditional stretching
it's time to understand how to actually stretch!
