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While doing some research on some great ways to stretch the hip/but tmuscles, I came across this video by a physical therapist. I believe she has a practice in Santa Monica, CA. While she does not seem to be too thrilled to be on camera (see looks bored), the hip/but stretching exercise is a great one for increasing flexibility and range of motion in the Piriformis muscles and the other hip lateral rotators.
The piriformis muscle is part of the lateral rotators of the femur along with, the quadratus femoris, gemellus inferior, gemellus superior, obturator externus, and obturator internus. The piriformis laterally rotates the extended thigh and abducts the flexed thigh.
We always recommended that a static stretching session follow the core part of any workout, be it cardio or resistance. Such stretching will aid in the recovery of the muscles as well as increase the range of motion for better athletic and fitness performance.
We recommended that this stretch be held for 15-30 seconds on each side. As you get better and are able to relax more, the duration of the stretch may be lengthen.
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Flexibility Training
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The Cobra pose is an excellent frontal core (abdominal muscles, hip flexors) position for increasing the overall flexibility of the muscles involved. The objective in performing this pose is to stretch only to the extent of your current range of motion. From there you want to hold the position from 15-30 seconds being mindful to breath as naturally as you can. This natural breathing will make it easier to relax which will also increase the depth of the stretch.This can be repeated for 2-3 times.
As the video indicates, there are two variations of this pose. One is a modified cobra for those with limited frontal core flexiblity and lower back problems. The other is for those needed a semi-advance position to really stretch the frontal core muscles.
Static stretching, be it passive or active, should only be performed once the body is warm and the joints are lubricated to prevent muscles tears and strains.
If you should have any questions about this or any other aspects of health and fitness, feel free to contact us at
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. Until next time, may you achieve all the you aspire and strive to achieve in 2010.
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Flexibility Training
According to the Encarta Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language 2nd Edition, “nutrition is defined as the science of food, the science that deals with foods and their effect on health”. My own independent study and understanding of nutrition leads me to define it as the process by which living organisms acquire all the things that are necessary for them to survive and thrive.
Nutrition deals with both diet (ingestion) and metabolism (digestion). To help understand this concept, think of it this way. What do I eat? How much do I eat? And how often do I eat? From a personal development standpoint, having intelligent answers to these questions and fully understanding nutrition and how foods positively or negatively affect our health are supremely important. What we put in our bodies, in what quantity amount, in what quality, and at what frequency rate, determine not just whether we survive as a living organism, but also the quality of that survival. In other words, whether we also thrive.
It has been stated in various ways, but simply put eating well requires making good food selection and having good eating habits. In the ACE Personal Training Manual, 3rd edition, Jacquline R. Berning, states that eating well is not difficult in principle. All that is needed is to eat a selection of foods that supplies appropriate amounts of essential nutrients and energy (p. 115). Making appropriate food choices should be done with an eye on eating for good health. It is this inability or unwillingness that leads many of use to suffer from a lack of essential nutrients.
In the pursuit of our mission of inspiring and motivating you to achieve a better you, we are always striving to provide you with the resources and tools that you can use to make better nutritional decisions. One such resource is the very insightful and sometimes controversial book by Dr. Earl Mindell entitled “Vitamin Bible”. Originally published in 1985 and having been updated and revised 3-4 times, this book is a treasure of researched back information on nutrients as a whole with a strong emphasis on vitamins and minerals. It also includes other aspects like on deficiencies and toxicity of vitamins, minerals and how to treat certain abnormalities, sicknesses and diseases.
Because of its wealth of information and the ease of readable of its formatting, we highly recommend this book as a resources to assist you in better understanding nutrients and nutrition and in helping you make better nutritional decisions.
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Side lunge, like any other lower body compound exercise (i.e., squats, leg presses, frontal or rear lunges) work the entire leg muscles. This would include the quadriceps and hamstrings, glutes, inner thigh muscles, and calves. The side lunge due to its lateral directional nature, particularly works the inner thighs very effectively strengthening and stretching at the same time. For these reasons the Side Lunge is an excellent lower body exercise to compliment other lower body exercises.
Depending on your goal, you can perform this exercise:
- without weight for toning;
- with moderate weight for body building;
- with lots of weight for maximum strength development.
A special note for maximum strength development. Due to the lateral nature of the movement, the absolute weight that should be use will be relatively smaller than that of squats or leg presses. Extra care and caution should be taken to prevent severe injury.
If you have any questions or comments on this exercise or any other aspect you may contact us at
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.
Published in
Resistant Training
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Nutrients are life-giving and life-sustaining substances found in food. The work together to supply the body with energy. Of the six major category of nutrients, 3 are macro-nutrients or caloric nutrients (protein, carbs and fats); that is they provide calories (energy) for the body and its bodily functions. The other three are micro-nutrients or non-caloric nutrients (vitamins, minerals and water). While they do not provide calories per se, they assist in the releasing of calories/ energy from the caloric nutrients.
Most of the clients we train and some of the people we speak with do not have a good understanding of these six nutrients. Moreover, they do not have a fundamental idea of each nutrient's primary function. Below is a brief description of the six nutrients and their major functions. This information can be found in the ACE Personal Training Manual 3rd Edition. There are six classes of nutrients:
1. Proteins:
Builds and repairs body tissue;
Is a major component of enzymes, hormones and antibodies;
2. Carbs:
Provide the main/major source of fuel for the body;
Provides dietary fibers;
3. Lipids/Fats:
Chief storage from of energy in the body;
Insulates and protects vital organs;
Assist in the metabolism of fat-soluble vitamins;
4. Vitamins:
Help promote and regulate various chemical reactions and body processes;
Does not provide energy, but participates in releasing energy from foods;
5. Minerals:
Enable enzymes to function;
Constitutes a component of hormones;
Is a part of bone and nerve impulses;
6: Water:
Enables chemical reactions to occur:
Aids in the metabolism of water-soluble vitamins:
It is believed that the average American does not get the recommended daily amount of these six nutrients. The best source for these nutrients can be found in natural foods, the less processed and the less chemically grown the better. However, this is a topic for a later discussion. The key is to ensure that you have a working understand of the nutrients, their major functions and which ones provide energy and which ones aids in the releasing of energy for the body's use.Our discussion next week will be about the proper amounts of each nutrient. Until then, we wish you well in your quest to achieve a better you in 2010!
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Nutrition
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One of the most overlooked methods of training for individuals seeking to get back into shape or just beginning a fitness program is Circuit Training. In it simplest understanding, circuit training is a combination of resistance training and aerobic exercises designed to be easy to follow and target fat loss, muscle building and heart-lung fitness. Typically it may include 3-4 resistance exercises and 1 aerobic exercise conducted in a sequential fashion; that is, one after the other, with little to no rest in between each exercise. Typically the duration of each exercise ranges from 30-60 minutes.
A good circuit will train the entire body; for example:
- Push ups (chest and shoulder);
- Front lunges (legs);
- Bent over rows (lats);
- Sit ups ( frontal core);
- Good mornings (lower back);
- Jumping jack (cardio).
A special note, for those looking for maximum strength or maximum muscle size, circuit training is not the best work-out methodology. Other methods that emphasize load and intensity variations with maximum effort and more rest between sets should be explored.
The above video, sourced from YouTube, gives some good examples of circuit training sets. As with any exercise, be sure that you train at a level that is appropriate for your current fitness level and be sure that you modify any exercise to accommodate any limitation you might have.
If you would like more information about specific circuit training sets, or if you would like to participate in either our bootcamps or 1-on-1 personal training sessions, feel free to contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Published in
Exercise
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Muscle Soreness
If you are just beginning to workout, or if you have been working out for some time, it is natural for your muscles to feel sore from time to time. This has to do with the fact that any moderate to heavy training pushes the body to train above a level it is not used to; consequently, the after-effect is muscle soreness.
There are two basic types of exercise-related muscles soreness ( ACE Personal Trainer Manual 3rd Edition). The first type is felt immediately after exercising. The first type is generally referred to as immediate muscle soreness. According to exercise physiology, this immediate soreness is a result of lactic acid build up in the muscles.
The other type of soreness persists for 1-3 days following exercise. This type of soreness is referred to as latent muscle soreness. Latent muscle soreness is not noticeable immediately after exercise, but instead appears 1-3 days following an exercise session. Generally, this delayed soreness is the result of very small muscle tears in the connective fibers, which generally occur during intense training.
There are many remedies for treating both types of soreness; these would include:
- Warming up for about 5 -10 minutes, or until you feel a light perspiration before the core part of your workout;
- Doing static passive stretching after workout;
- Sitting in a hot tub or Jacuzzi;
- Getting a therapeutic massage;
- If soreness is slightly painful, a few days of rest followed by light walking to aid circulation will help.
Muscle soreness is a sign that your workout is effective; that is, that you are developing a healthier, stronger body. Be mindful however, that soreness is much different than pain. If you are experiencing any pain, then you should stop working our immediately, rest and/or seek medical or professional assistance to help diagnosis and treat the pain.
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Exercise
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