Uncategorized Archives - Personal Training, Sports Performance, Weight Loss, Continuing Education, CEU Provider

Primitive Initiative™ Jumping Progressions

June 30, 2015 By Garrett

Jumping progressions

To jump, or to spring into the air and then absorb impact as the body is brought back to the surface, is a very ballistic and advanced human movement. To explosively leave the ground at a high rate of speed and then to absorb the impact of landing is quite difficult, particularly to those who have not done this activity in a while. Jumping is seen in youth play, sports and some fitness routines. Maximal jumping (jumping as high/far as you can as fast as you can) is really only seen in play and sports. Most fitness routines use jumping as a conditioning modality. So, those that don’t jump must learn how to properly take off and, more importantly, how to land properly (since a majority of non-contact injuries are seen when the body absorbs forces). Those who do jump, must learn how to maximally jump, once again with focus on takeoff and landing. Just like all of human movement, there are many ways to jump. You can jump in any direction imaginable, taking off from varying bases of support and landing on various bases of support. Here is a simple progression of a squat jump.

Box Jumps-

Jumping up on a box is a great way to start the jumping progressions. Jumping up on to something lessens the forces of gravity by landing at your peak, where regular jumps have you jumping to your peak and then falling back to earth. Always choose a box size where you are able to jump and land with solid form. Using a box will put emphasis on a proper take off…drive your hips down and back as you swing your arms back, and quickly explode upward (and forward to land on the box) while swinging the arms upward/forward. Try to get full extension of the lower limbs (triple extension). Always land lightly on top of the box (land like a ninja!). This will help teach your body to absorb impact.

Box Jump Down-

Jumping from the top of the box to the ground would be the second step in the progression. This eliminates the takeoff/force production portion of the jump and emphasizes the force absorption of the land. As mentioned earlier, teaching the body how to land is more important than teaching it how to jump. Someone who can land properly can avoid injury and react better. When jumping down from the box you are basically just stepping off the box. When you land you want to do so as soft as possible (back to being a ninja….no one should hear you land). To do this you should “sink” into the landing and end up in the Crouching/Athletic position.

Squat Jump-

Putting it all together. Jumping from the floor and landing on the floor means applying and absorbing forces. Emphasis is on both the take off and the landing (see above). These should be done as sets of one to emphasize starting from a standing position, driving the hips down/back and then exploding upwards as high as possible, then landing as quietly as possible. Do repetitive squat jumps can cause room for error in all aspects of the jump. As we progress repetitive squat jumps will be more appropriate but in the initial progression phases we want to be strict on form.

Another step in the progressions is to vary the base of support in which one takes off and lands. Here are some progressions:

Double leg take off, double leg land
Single leg take off, double leg land
Double leg take off, single leg land
Single leg take off, Single leg land

Jumping can be a daunting task for many. The farther removed someone has been from jumping the more daunting it becomes. However, with proper progressions of jumping this task will become more manageable.

Primitive Initiative™- Crouching Progressions

June 16, 2015 By Garrett

Crouching, or to lower the body stance by bending at the knee and hip, is a movement not often seen in the regular population. We generally are either sitting, standing or walking. However, this movement is quite popular in the sports arena as seen in the athletic or defensive position. Being able to get into, hold and move out of this position is crucial for athletes. A crouched stance lowers the center of gravity (generally the hips in most people) to the base of support (the feet). This lowered position creates increased stability and balance, and put the athlete in an advantageous position to absorb and apply force. The more efficient a person is at crouching the more effective they are in their movements.

But as I mentioned crouching is not seen regularly in the regular population……..Or is it? (I know, I am contradicting myself, but bear with me here). What happens when we hear a loud noise? We duck, or quickly lower our body stance. What happens when something or someone comes at you? We lower our stance to either take on the forces or run away? In the general population the crouching movement is more seen as a fight or flight mechanism. We innately will lower our stances without thinking about it. However, after all of the adrenaline wears off, there is potential for soreness or injury to remain because we are not used to getting into this position. If we are, we will react better ad perform tasks more efficiently without the residual pain.

Crouching is also seen in the squatting motion and the lunging motion. These are temporary “crouches”, where the body stance is lowered by bending the knee and hips, but the body quickly returns to a stand position. These are valuable in their own right, but to stay in the crouched position is an entirely different animal. Here are the progressions to build up to moving efficiently and effectively in a crouched position. Keep in mind, for the scope of this blog, I will only cover a lateral crouching movement progression. We can move in any direction with a crouch (all of which should be progressed).

Static:

Wall sit- Bracing your back against a wall, sit so that your legs are at 90 degrees. This is good to develop some base strength before progressing to a non-supported stance.

Crouching Position hold- In a standing positon with your feet wider than shoulder width apart, lower your hips by bending your knees and pushing your hips back. Keep your knees over your shoes and back straight. Lower your hips to tolerance, but do not drop the hips below the knees. Hold this for a predetermined amount of time.

Crouching Position- Kick Stand- In crouching position, narrow your stance so that your feet are close together. Extend your left leg out straight to the left. The left leg will act as a “kick stand” for the right leg as the right leg will bare most of the weight. Hold this for a predetermined amount of time on one side and then switch.

Crouching Position- Tap out- In crouching position, narrow your stance so that your feet are close together. Extend your left leg out straight to the left, tap it down to the ground and then bring it back underneath the body. Do not drag the left foot on the ground. Do a predetermined amount of reps and then switch sides.

Crouching Position- Single Leg- Stand on one leg. Lower your hips by bending your knees and pushing your hips backwards. Lower your hips to tolerance, but do not go below the knee. Hold this position for a predetermined amount of time and then repeat with the other leg.

Dynamic:

Shuffle- In a crouching position (see crouching position hold) move in a predetermined direction (can be lateral, forward, backwards, angled, or rotational). Keep the stance wide and feet straight, try not to recover the feet together. Keep the hips at the same level the entire time. Do this for a predetermined distance. Start slowly and then increase the speed as proficiency increases.

Squat Push- In a narrow stance crouching position, forcefully extend your right leg applying force to the right so that your body goes to the left (think speed skater motion). Do not step out with your left leg, but rather lift it up keep it bent underneath the body only for it to land on the ground again. Recover the right leg back to the narrow stance position. Repeat for a predetermined distance and then return.

Squat Step- In a narrow stance crouching position extend your left leg out to the left (same movement as the couching tap out). Once the left foot is on the ground and the left leg is completely straight, move your hips from the right leg to the left, without raising them. Once you’re over your left leg and your right leg is straight, recover your right leg back underneath your hips into the narrow stance crouching position. Continue this for a predetermined amount of distance and then return.

Primitive Initiative™- The Movement for movement!

March 18, 2015 By Garrett

In my near two decade fitness career I have had the pleasure of working with many clients of varying ages, abilities, dysfunctions, and goals. In that time span I have worked with many Collegiate Athletes, budding youth athletes, obese and overweight populations, post-rehab/surgical clients, elderly populations, medical populations, the generally healthy, and even an Olympic athlete. With this wide spectrum of clients I began to find one common problem within each demographic: the lack of movement within their training programs.

I am sure that it is not a surprise for some of these groups, but it may come as a surprise for other groups. In my experience modern life has made us less and less likely to move. As the human race has evolved we have developed lifestyles of efficiency. Unfortunately this efficiency of life has made us inefficient operators of our bodies.

When we are brought into this world we are a blank slate, ready to absorb as much as we possibly can. Everything we learn is through experimentation and exploration. It is trial and error. The more error there is the quicker we learn. It is an amazing time in our lives. Everything is a new experience. We learn to smile, laugh, talk, crawl, walk, and run. We learn to interact with others. We learn to interact with and manipulate objects. We learn to play. Our play is wide and vast, almost limitless.

At some point in our lives we take one of two tracks. We either become sedentary or we become specialized. We may choose to play video games and watch tv instead of going outside and running around playing. We may choose to play organized sports. If we do play sports we start to specialize very early. Many sports have become year round with the school season sport, AAU sport, Travel leagues, and sport specific training. Our wide and vast movement patterns that we once had begun to disappear.

As we grow even older we go to college and take jobs that have us bound to a desk, hunched over a computer. If we have the time and motivation to go to the gym, we pick select exercises that are inefficient and may cover only a very few of the movement patterns that are woefully missing from our lives.

Due to this slippery slope of non-movement, as we age we are unable to perform certain tasks efficiently. Picking things up off the ground, reaching for a seat belt, getting up off the floor all become arduous tasks. Our joints begin to get immobile, sore, swollen and broken down. Sudden movements become risks of severe injury. If an injury occurs it will take nearly two to three times as it once did to recover fully from it, if at all. Chances are there will always be a limitation from the injury which ultimately will cause a compensation pattern. This will put undue stress upon another system or joint until there is another injury. Once this injury cycle is entered into it is hard to escape. Quality of function and ultimately quality of life is severely diminished.

It has been said that exercise is the only singular thing that reduces the risk of every known disease and illness and prolongs life. I submit that movement is the only singular thing that will enhance and extend functional capacity, reduce injury, and increase quality of life. My aim is to add movement back into fitness and into people’s lives.

Because of this I have created the Primitive Initiative®(notice the that I trademarked it! That’s how strongly I believe this is the direction that the field should be and is going). The Primitive Initiative® is a movement oriented training model based on 14 fundamental movement patterns arranged in a specific sequence to maximize results. It combines biomechanical training with energy system sequencing to provide real life fitness for real life movements. Whether you call it athleticism, mobility or functionality, Primitive Initiative® enables the human body to operate in all planes of motion, in all positions of center of gravity, at all levels of intensity, in varying bases of support with efficiency and proficiency. The Primitive Initiative® aims to add real human movement patterns back into fitness and exercise. This is the movement for movement, and I am excited to share this technique with you over the next several blogs!

Having fun on vacation and not letting it derail your goals

March 4, 2015 By Garrett

I don’t know about you, but the winter season has just plain worn me down! Fortunately, my wife and I were invited to our amazing friend’s destination wedding in Mexico this past week. We would have gone to their wedding even if it was in the Antarctica, but we certainly weren’t going to pass up a chance to sit in beautiful weather there at the peak of the cold here (if it makes you feel better we came back just in time for the big snow storm).

A vacation, much like a holiday, can certainly derail our lifestyle. Be it the travel itself, being out of routine, having less healthy options available, and not to mention all of the fun that can and should be had while on vacation. There is fine line between enjoying a vacation and completely going overboard. As I have said before, life is to be enjoyed, just not to the point where it is damaging to our health, function or attitude. Here’s how we had fun, but did not completely derail (and trust me…..we had some fun!)

Move- Every morning we got up and walked. We were dead set on getting the almighty 10,000 steps in. Walking is great on vacation because you get to explore the local culture, wildlife, terrain and scenery. We also brought along some suspension straps and threw them in the door frame in the room and did a good bodyweight workout. I tend to periodize my programs to peak before I go on vacation so that I can take a break, but doing a light workout and walking always helps me stay on track
Eat- On vacation it’s very easy to eat….and eat…and eat! We went to an all-inclusive resort, so there were buffets abound! IT is very easy to over eat and not eat well. What we did was we looked at breakfast as our healthy start to the day. The omelet bar, fresh fruit, water and coffee were the prevalent choices. Lunch was a little looser, but we still made an effort to fill up on fresh fruit, veggies, and salads. Snacks were sold at the gift shop but were healthy options like yogurt and hummus. This allowed dinner to be the meal where we could eat whatever we wanted. Surprisingly enough we stuck with good protein and veggies for the majority of the time.
Sleep- Sleep is so important, even on vacation. It is very easy to get carried away at night with all of the festivities and then wake up early to stake your claim on a beach chair. It could have been a combination of us being flat out tired, used to earlier bedtimes, or just being “fuddie-duddies” but we chose to not stay out late and party it up (don’t worry, we partied it up plenty….just didn’t stay out too late). The three nights we were there we were the first to leave the group and go back to our room. This allowed us to be able to get up the next day and feel refreshed.
Hydration- Being out in the sun, sweating all day and the occasional (or frequent) alcoholic beverage is a recipe for dehydration. We drank a ton of water to help keep the balance. We took water bottles to the beach, drank water at our meals, and made sure we chugged water before we went to bed and right when we awoke.
Breaks from the sun- It’s very easy to forget that your body is not used to being in the sun. It’s also very easy to not feel your skin burning the first day. We made sure that we were lathered up with the good old SPF, but we also took several breaks from the sun. We would go out for our walk in the morning and then grab breakfast and head back to the room for a break. We then go out to the beach for a bit, go grab lunch and then head back to the room. Then we would go out to a pool for a little while and then head back to the room to get washed for dinner and the evening festivities. This routine kept us both from burning!
Enjoy the view and relax- Hey, its vacation. It’s a time to relax and reset. It’s a time to enjoy and explore. We definitely made sure that we made time to relax. We both needed a bit of resetting from our daily lives and work schedule. The weather was great, the company was great, and it was a great escape!