strength and conditioning Archives - Personal Training, Sports Performance, Weight Loss, Continuing Education, CEU Provider

Healthy Lifestyle vs. Busy Lifestyle

October 28, 2015 By Garrett

Well hello everyone! It has been awhile. It has been crazy busy around here lately! Like many of you, I have had to make some choices on how to manage time to get through the busyness. I wanted to share some tips that have helped me get through it all:

Prioritize– As much as we don’t like to admit it….we can’t do it all. There simply is not enough time in the day to do everything. We have to learn how to prioritize what is essential to our professional and personal existence. For me my family, friends, clients and fitness took priority. Things like social media, marketing, outreach and some other administrative things went to the back burner. A big reason why it has been so long since my last blog! I picked the things that were necessary for my business, my health and my family first
Control the things you can control- When we get busy we tend to feel like we lose control because there are so many moving parts. Sometimes, there are things that we can’t control. 14 hour work days, busy weekend schedules, family obligations, etc. are things we can’t control. However, a big thing I could control was my nutrition. I would prepare foods for the week on Sunday, I would only buy healthy foods when I grocery shopped, I made smart choices at restaurants. When people get busy they tend to eat poorly and thus gain weight. When there is no time to workout or the workouts aren’t as long or as intense because of our schedule we can combat this with the quantity and quality of the food we consume. Also, making choices through the day to move….. get up from the desk and walk around, parking farther away, taking the dog for a walk, setting aside time (no matter how little) to do purposeful exercise, and making active activities a part of your social gatherings all help.
Sleep– Getting the proper amount of sleep is huge in recovery, rejuvenation, and stress management. This is the time that our body repairs itself. This is the time that the body replenishes itself. Without it, alertness/cognitive function will suffer, energy will be low, fitness progress will be stalled and the risk of getting sick increases drastically. Everybody requires a different amount of sleep. A couple of ways that you can tell if you are not getting enough sleep is if you require an alarm to wake up, you have a hard time getting out of bed when you do wake up, you are sleepy through the day or if you fall right to sleep when you do go to bed. A majority of people do not get enough sleep at night and that is one of the most important aspects of your life where you literally make yourself better without doing anything!
Take your moments- When we get busy we tend not to take time to “smell the roses”. We move from one task to the next, rarely enjoying the process because we have so much to conquer. From a mental, physical and spiritual standpoint it is necessary to take a moment and appreciate the people and things around us. Whether it is in the morning sipping on some coffee or as you lay in bed ready to fall asleep, take time to reflect and appreciate what you are doing. It makes those hectic times worth it!

These tips have helped me in the past and will continue to help me. I hope they do the same for you. Now that I have resumed a more “normal” schedule I look forward to sharing more blogs with you!

Primitive Initiative™- Climbing Progressions

August 4, 2015 By Garrett

Climbing or moving suspended from the ground with gradual continued process is usually one of the first primitive movement patterns that we start to lose. This movement is generally seen in play as we are young. We would think nothing of climbing up a tree, or on a jungle gym set as we were kids. But as we got older we did less and less of this type of play. We traded out climbing up and down objects for playing sports (of which climbing would never be a part of) or becoming sedentary (definitely not a part of this). In fact, unless someone took up rock climbing or mountain climbing as a recreational sport the only time we climb in our adult lives is going up a ladder. Even in the gym we lose out on our climbing capability choosing exercises that do not emphasize the muscles or patterns designed for climbing, or loads not enough to stimulate the strength for climbing.

Climbing requires a great bit of grip strength, upper back strength, core strength and coordination (I would also be remised if I didn’t mention body weight matters greatly in this movement pattern and may be a barrier to certain types of climbing). Once it is lost we must work to gain it back. Have you ever gone to the playground and try to do the monkey bars lately. It feels like you are going to rip your arms out of your sockets. It is very difficult to bare all of your body weight suspended off the ground. Then to add movement to it drastically increases the intensity. The body needs to be prepared for this. As with all of these movements, there are many ways to climb. For the sake of this blog I will go over the progressions of a lateral bar climb.

Static hang– Just grab onto a pull-up bar and hang there. This will help strengthen grip and get the upper body used to supporting the entire body weight. If this is too intense start with one foot on a box to take away some of the bodyweight.

Static Hand with contraction– In the hanging position, pull your shoulders down, contracting you lats. You can hold in this position or do reps (mini pull-ups if you will)

Bent arm Hang– Hold onto the bar with fully flexed arms. To progress this, hold onto the bar with arms flexed to 90 degrees.

Eccentric Pull up– Jump up to the fully flexed bent arm hang and lower yourself as slow as possible to the ground.

Assisted Pull up– Do a pull-up by using a band, a partner, an assist pull up machine or you can even self-assist by putting one foot on a box.

Non Assisted Pull up– Do a regular pull up.

Assisted Y Pull-up– Do an assisted pull-up by pulling your chin to one hand and lowering back to the middle, then pull your chin to the other had and lower yourself back to the middle

Y pull-up– Do a pull-up by pulling your chin to one hand and lowering back to the middle, then pull your chin to the other had and lower yourself back to the middle.

Bar lateral climb– Start at one end of a pull-up bar. In a 90 degree flexed arm hang position, walk your hands from one end of the bar to the other and then return back. Start with large “steps” with your hands. As this gets easier, decrease the distance that your hands move as you travel across the bar.

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™- Crawling Progressions

April 30, 2015 By Garrett

Before we walk we must crawl. Before we crawl we must make sure our body is prepared. Crawling is an activity that many of us haven’t done since we were children. Once we learned to walk as our primary mean of manual transport we only revisited crawling during time of play. As we grew up our forms of play changed and rarely was crawling apart of this play. Even though we were once able to crawl with very little issue, we need to progress back to this primitive movement pattern.

Crawling requires strength, stability and mobility in the hands, wrists, shoulders and core. If someone has an issue within these areas, that issue must be addressed first before the actual progression begins. In the beginning of the progression the crawl will not quite look like a crawl, but rather derivatives of the crawl that match this definition: “To advance in a prone or supine position where hands and feet are in contact with the ground.”

The progression of the crawl depends on which variation of a crawl you would like to do. The amount of progression and how long you stay in each progression will depend on the clients starting point and ability level. Since there are so many variations of crawl I will start pretty basic to stay within the scope of a blog format. I will use the lateral bear crawl as an example.

Here are some pictures with a brief description of each progression.

Quadruped Position– on your hands and knees with hands under shoulders and knees as wide as hands.

Straight Arm Plank Position– at the top of a push-up position. Hands should be under shoulders and body line should be straight.

Quadruped Single Arm/Leg Reach– In quadruped position. Lift arm of ground and support body weight with three points of contact. Then go to the other arm, then the right leg and finish with the left leg.

Quadruped Bird Dog– Lift opposite arm and leg at the same time and support body weight with two points of contact.

Straight Arm Plank Single Arm/Leg Reach– in a straight arm plank position (yes, I realize this image is a regular plank position but I couldn’t find an image for a straight arm position) lift one leg off the ground to support yourself with three points of contact. Lift the other leg, then the right arm and finish with the left.

Straight Arm Bird Dog– In a straight arm plank position lift opposite arm and opposite leg to support yourself with two points of contact.

Knee Push-ups– Support yourself with your hands and knees and do a push up. Maintain a straight body line from shoulder to knees.

Straight Leg Push-ups – support yourself with your hands and knees and do a push up. Maintain a straight body line from shoulder to ankles.

Lateral Knee Push-ups– (Sorry, couldn’t find a picture for this one, but look below at the lateral straight leg push-up.) In a knee push-up position, step you right hand and knee to the right and do a push-up. Recover your left hand and knee to your right hand and knee and do a push-up. Continue this pattern for a determined distance and then return to the starting point.

Lateral Straight Leg Push-ups– In a straight arm push-up position, step you right hand and foot to the right and do a push-up. Recover your left hand and foot to your right hand and foot and do a push-up. Continue this pattern for a determined distance and then return to the starting point.

Lateral Bear Crawl– Get into a bear crawl position (hands under shoulder, knees tucked under hips with feet in contact to the ground). Step your right hand and right foot to the right side and then recover your left hand and foot to the right. Continue this pattern for a determined distance and then return to the start. (The picture that best represents this is the bottom guy)

For a video of the progressions check out the Pursuit Institute facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pursuitinstitute

Primitive Initiative™- Laying a foundation

April 9, 2015 By Garrett

As we age, as we become more sedentary, and as we become more specialized in our movements we develop restriction patterns. Over our lifetime certain muscles may get tight while others get weak. We start to compensate in our movements and those compensations perpetuate this cycle of tight and weak muscles. Eventually there is break down in the system of movement. When there is break down inefficiencies and injuries occur.

Before entering any program, one should be properly screened. This may be even truer for the Primitive Initiative® because the program is designed around normal human movement patterns. Movement patterns that potentially have not been done since a person was a child. Not only do we have to be concerned with someone’s ability and preparation for such movements, but we must also be concerned of what a person just physically can’t do. If a person is restricted they are unable to move normally. It’s an issue of can’t and not “this is hard because I haven’t done this in a while”.

Because of this we must first eliminate restrictions of movement and teach the Primitive Initiative® training in a progressive manner. I call this the foundation phase, or a more familiar term to most will be the General Prep portion in the Preparatory Phase of a Periodization scheme. Regardless of what we call it the goal is the same: to prepare the body for the work ahead. To lay a solid foundation so that when higher intensity training is added the body will be able to handle it.

To start this we should do a functional assessment. I can’t emphasize enough how important a functional assessment is before beginning a program (see my previous blog “The Value of Functional Assessments). Movement screens will help identify areas of dysfunction. Exercises will then be given to help eliminate such areas. The number of restrictions a person has will dictate the length of time they dedicate to these exercises. The more restrictions the longer this phase of training will last.

While the largest part of eliminating restrictions will take place in the foundation phase, these exercises will always be a part of the training at varying degrees. To have quality movement, one must continually maintain corrective exercises. These can be a part of the warm-up, as their own circuit, or added throughout the workout.

Outside of eliminating restrictions we must prepare the body to move like it hasn’t done in years (because it probably hasn’t). We will work a lot with isometric holds, slow eccentric contractions, and stabilization, balance, mobility and core exercises during this phase. Teaching technique of movements and what the body should be doing will be crucial. Moving slow to fast will help this, as well as knowing/teaching the proper progressions of the 14 fundamental movements.

Without a solid foundation, a million dollar home will collapse. This is true of any training program (cliché I know….but it is pretty much law at this point). The Primitive Initiative® aims to add human movement patterns back into exercise to extend peoples quality of life. If the body isn’t used to human movement patterns and they are introduced too quickly we risk the potential of reducing quality of life. If we don’t prepare the body, then the body will break.

Healthy Lifestyle vs. Busy Lifestyle

Primitive Initiative™- Climbing Progressions

Primitive Initiative™- Crouching Progressions

Primitive Initiative™- Crawling Progressions

Primitive Initiative™- Laying a foundation

Latest Blog Posts

Contact Us