Wrist Wraps = Healthy, Happy, Wrists And Elbows Elbows Yes, elbows. Wrist Wraps do Two Obvious Things: 1: "Cast" your wrist in place so the hand and forearm stay aligned. This ABSOLUTELY helps you LIFT MORE WEIGHT. 2: Keeping the wrist aligned also keeps a LOT of stress off the wrist joint and helps keep the wrists happy and healthy. Already covered #2 in this article: Bent Wrists, Loose Grips = Fire Elbow and it Sucks But the less obvious benefit is: Wrist Wraps Protect You From FIRE ELBOW Wait But What: It's all connected, nothing functions in isolation and: What Happens at One Joint Affects ALL Other Joints Maybe the effect is small, but there is an … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: “The Worlds Greatest Stretch” AKA Groiners W/ Rotation
April 25, 2018 by
"The Worlds Greatest Stretch" Pretty sure I first heard that term applied to this exercise in this book. Circa 2005 (and the book was 2-3 years old then). Fun Fact: Core Performance was the 2nd real "training" book I ever bought. The first was Functional Training for Sports. Core Performance is a book that, unfortunately, I didn't recommend for a long time. It has a really heavy focus on movement, mobility, and "integration". At the time I read it I was 22-23ish and bulletproof. So I was like, "WTF is all this "movement" about, you gotta smash some weight". Well, what I didn't have was experience, perspective and humility. 1) I should have known, at … [Read more...]
Fake News: Understanding Science and The Media, Part 3
April 19, 2018 by
If you missed Part 1 and/ or Part 2 click the links, read them and then pick back up here.. Fake News Part 1 Fake News Part 2 This is a long one folks, about 4500 words. Wanted to get this trilogy done and back to the regular fitness stuff. A note on the long quotes. I often get accused of taking things out of context. So I included the context. "I Don't Want to go "On" Creatine. I Want to be Natural. " Maybe I'm wrong but the whole "on"/ "off" something has to do with steroid lingo. Where you cycle on and off of this or that steroid. I think it's safe to say, when people say this, they're pretty much implying: creatine is either like or is an anabolic … [Read more...]
Fake News: Understanding Science and The Media, Part 2
April 11, 2018 by
This is a continuation from Part 1 which you can find by clicking here: Fake News, Part 1 BTW: this a LITERAL continuation. I wrote the post in its entirety. it was 7,000 words and ain't nobody got time for that. So I tried to find logical ending points every 1500-2500 words and break it up. SO, like I said, GO READ PART 1. Then come back and hit up part 2. Artificial Sweeteners Cause Weight Gain I'm not gonna lie, I hear this the most and it always has me feeling like: Wait But What? Artificial sweeteners have a VERY low-calorie content. For all intended purposes its ZERO. How the hell could they cause weight gain? "A new meta-analysis and … [Read more...]
Fake News: Science and The Media, Part 1
April 5, 2018 by
*Be forewarned this is the first in a series of posts. There is literally NO TRANSITION from one to the next. The original post was about 7000 words and aint no body got time for that. So I chopped it up into readable bites. Literally I decided on what I thought were good points to rest and CUT and PASTE into the next post. So they do stop and start a bit abruptly, but you're smart and can handle it. The intention is to educate a bit on some science(y) type stuff you may not really understand so that you have the tools to be more mistrustful educated and skeptical about media driven science. So the next time you hear "A new study out today" from some mouthpiece on the … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Body Saw
March 28, 2018 by
"Ribs Down" I say that a LOT. Like all day. See I also say, "Chest Up" A Lot. And most folks think chin up is chest up <---if this is you, you're thoracic spine needs some love. And by "love" I mean, EXTENSION. But these are different things. And too much "chest up" usually leads to compensation and the dreaded Lumbar Hyperextension... The Duck Butt An aggressive over-arching of the lower back. Which is another compensation pattern that's associated with a tight thoracic spine.. Wait But Why? How can excessive cervical AND lumbar motion be the result of a stiff thoracic spine? Easy, if the segments in the middle of the spine don't move (do … [Read more...]
Rooting: Gripping the Floor Isnt Curling Your Toes
March 21, 2018 by
Root: Definition: A root's four major functions are 1) absorption of water and inorganic nutrients, 2) anchoring of the plant body to the ground, and supporting it, 3) storage of food and nutrients, 4) vegetative reproduction and competition with other plants. - Wikipedia That should be the role of your feet when you lift. Actively Rooting you into the ground, LOCKING the body into the floor. Much like the hands gripping the bar, the feet need to grip the floor if we're going to create optimal stability and generate maximal force. What Rooting Does: #1: Increases Surface Area The larger the surface area the more stable the base. Like Louie Says, "A pyramid … [Read more...]
