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INTERVIEW WITH KELLY STARRETT

BLOOD TEST CASE STUDY & WELLNESSFX WALKTHROUGH

JULIET STARRETT INTERVIEW

This is a question that I have been musing about for a long time, and wondering if it’s even appropriate to be asking it. Certainly it feels decidedly taboo, perhaps because as a society (combatting the tyranny of generally unattainable/false body images that are routinely shown in the media), in the guise of compassion, we seem to be finding ways of saying “It’s okay to be overweight.” The question might equally be “Can one have poor posture, and be a Pilates teacher?”, or “Can one be weak, and a Pilates teacher?” We could go on, with reference to endurance, agility, mobility and so on.

I’m going to stick with the weight question because the topic of overweight/obesity has such profound implications for our society, not least in terms of the likely costs to the NHS as the percentage of the population who are overweight steadily rises. The Centre for Disease Control (US) lists an array of potential health problems from cardio vascular disease, to orthopaedic and respiratory problems; and economic consequences, from direct medical costs, to loss of productivity and absenteeism. I understand that there are a variety of different mechanisms at work to cause people to store excess fat, and I am not at all interested in stigmatising overweight people (who are very often given very poor advice when it comes to weight loss – see previous post), but I am interested in challenging the notion that we should find excuses for people to remain overweight, rather than trying to address the problem.

So is it okay for a Pilates teacher to be fat?

Answering a question with another, what is the job of a Pilates teacher? I’m sure that there are many answers. My own choices in describing my work would be: To teach people good (efficient, controlled) movement, and to help them to be as healthy as possible. In the spirit of pursuing Pilates’ own aim of “whole body health”, I think we have to aim higher than addressing movement alone, and I have previously suggested that Pilates teachers might address nutrition. (As an aside, Kelly Starrett suggests that the human body, with the right movement, and the right lifestyle, is a “perfect healing machine” – an idea that I like a lot).

Paul Chek writes, in the introduction to his Ebook ‘The Last 4 Doctors You’ll Ever Need’: “Over and over again, I am astounded to find that the wellbeing of exercise and health professionals of all types show little if any improvement over the health of their own patients and clients.” At a recent gathering of Pilates teachers, I was struck by the number of people present with distinctly less than optimal postures. If I am really honest, I found myself thinking “Who would want to go to a teacher that looks like that?” I also know very well that economics often mean that time earning money is easily favoured over time working on one’s own body, just like the cobbler’s children having worn out shoes.

So, is it okay for Pilates teachers to be fat?

Here is where things get a little tricky. If I am to use my work to try to help people achieve optimal health, then I believe part of that is to try to embody optimal health to the best of my ability. And this point is important – I am not advocating legions of sylphlike ‘perfect’ Pilates teachers, and there are many different bodies that can be inspirational/aspirational for the spectrum of the population. I have a friend and colleague who is also a karate teacher, and I learned from her that one of the rules of the dojo is that you give as much of yourself as possible to the practice at any given time. So, there are many terrific Pilates teachers with a variety of physical limitations, spinal fusion, for example, and are able to fully embody the concept of whole body health, by giving of their best.

I had a debate with another teacher some time ago over whether or not it would be appropriate for teacher trainees to be examined in their proficiency at Pilates, along with their proficiency at teaching it. My position was/is that it may well be appropriate and, again, this has little to do with perfection. I fully accept the notion that you don’t have to be able to ‘perform’ a specific exercise in order to be able to teach it well. At the same time, if you’re in the business of teaching exercise, you ought to have a compelling reason not to be able to do something that you are expecting someone else to do. In other words, if you can’t demonstrate ‘The Snake’ on the reformer, because it’s quite difficult, what business do you have asking someone else to do it? If it’s good for your client, surely it’s good for you? (I can’t manage ‘The Squirrel’ on the cadillac, but I’m still working on it….)

And still there is no answer to the pressing question: is it okay for Pilates teachers to be fat?

The practice of Pilates doesn’t pretend to lead to weight loss, in itself (it may come peripherally, facilitated, for example, by increased mobility).  So one might argue that, since it’s not an expected outcome of the practice, that there should be no expectation of the teacher having a particular bodyweight, or body fat percentage. But we want to be models of whole body health, don’t we? (Yes, the mechanisms of fat storage and release are complicated, and/but you also know that the client with the dodgy knee would really help themselves if they lost some weight….). So the fat question is not a straightforward one. I would say “ideally not”, and quickly revert to: ‘Can you have poor posture and be a Pilates teacher?’ Here the answer is unequivocal – No! If you’ve been teaching Pilates for years, as an enhancement to life and all it throws at us, and your head position is inches forwards of your shoulders, you are proof that Pilates doesn’t work. In our studio we are constantly telling clients that Pilates isn’t an end in itself, but a means of making everything else that one has to do easier. In other words, you can apply Pilates to everything you do. If you’re spending your day bent over people that you’re teaching, and you’re not applying Pilates principles to maintain a decent posture, is it remotely reasonable to hope for that from your clients?

I’m not pretending to be perfect, but I am trying to be better (another Kelly Starrett-ism is that ‘we need to be better at everything’ – that’s my goal). So, if you see me in the street, and you think I’m not ‘walking my talk’ then please let me know.

Why so long you ask?  A combination of things really, but suffice it to say I preferred to work and school always played second fiddle.

Now that chapter is over I have more time to devote to this craft of coaching.  This is not to say that I’ve been skating by on the coaching front while in school.  Since attaining my Level 1 CrossFit Certification in April of 2010 I have spent countless hours (in all honesty much more time than I allowed school) to further my education in CrossFit and related movements and philosophies.

It would take all my fingers and toes to count the world renowned coaches I’ve trained with and been taught by, but here’s a quick summary.

After my Level 1 Certification I had resolved to understand how best to coach basic CrossFit movements in their most elementary form.  To do this I traveled down to Ramona, CA, outside of San Diego to take the CrossFit Kids Trainer course with the Martin family, the creators of the program.  My thinking was if you could teach a kid, you can teach an adult.  My thought has proved correct as I still use “kid’s cues” with adults, and it works great!

Not long afterwards I attended Kelly Starrett’s Mobility Course.  Kelly Starrett is a genius; if you’re not familiar with his Mobilty WOD I can’t recommend it enough.  Kelly contends, “All human being should be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves.”  I can’t endorse this enough as it has made a tremendous difference in both my own training and that of my clients.

After laying a foundation of fundamental movements and how best to organize the body biomenchanically to perform them, I was looking to explore deeper the intricacies of compound movements.  I took the USA Weightlifting Level 1 Sports and Performance Coach Course taught by former U.S. Olympic Weightlifting Team Coach Jim Schmitz and former Olympian Butch Curry.  The following month I attended the CrossFit Olympic Lifting Course coached by the famous Senior International US Weightlifting Coach Mike Burgener.

More recently I attended the CrossFit Gymnastics Certification with program director Jeff Tucker.  The weekend focused on a back to basics approach.  Be able to handle your bodyweight properly and the rest will become infinitely easier and more efficient.

Additionally I have spent time training Olympic Lifting under Coaches Steve Pan and Greg and Aimee Everett at Catalyst Athletics, Kara Doherty and Diane Fu.  And have spent time working gymnastics movements and progressions with Roger Harrell and Tonya White.

While my formal college education has finally reached its end, in no way, shape, or form do I intend to stop learning.  My agenda is to learn as much as I can and seek out the best coaches so that I may in turn pass along all that I’ve learned to you.

My hope is that we’ll all be healthier, happier, and fitter for it!

Thinking it would be totally disingenuous of me to teach something to a group of people when I had no idea what they actually did, I signed up for a free intro class. My husband was stunned. “You hate lifting heavy weights and the squats will trash your knee.” No worries, I counseled. This was just research, after all, merely a way for me to feel in my own body what these people elect to do on an obviously frequent and enthusiastic basis. I wasn’t going to actually sign up for this. I’m just curious. I teach nice, calm pilates/yoga-ish/trouble-spot (read: butt, thighs, triceps) toning classes to lovely quiet women and a few gracious men–I’m not into bouncing weights around. Ok, maybe I’d commit to the On-Ramp session–a few classes just to get the basics of form, so I’d really know what I was talking about when teaching my upcoming class…

It was love at first kettlebell swing.

3 burpees, 6 kettlebell swings, 9 airsquats. As Many Reps As Possible (aha!). 3-2-1 GO!

10 minutes, 11 rounds, a pool of sweat and one credit card swipe later I became a CrossFitter.

This series is about the journey of a body geek who is increasingly intrigued with what her physical incarnation has to teach her about her metaphysical life. In addition to my general CrossFit entries, I am writing a parallel blog about training for Murph–because I think that’s a topic that deserves space all to itself. Thanks for reading!

I am tempted to write this post talking about ‘we’, referring to Pilates teachers in the UK. Whilst I am confident that the following view represents more than my own thoughts and, in fact, involves some paraphrasing of others I will try to keep to ‘I’. I have thought for some time that Pilates teachers understand movement better than a lot of other exercise practitioners. I have wondered what the point of lifting weights was, other than vanity. I have thought that my understanding of the human body and biomechanics was probably superior to Joseph Pilates’ because I have the benefit of scientific advances and so much more technology to explain anatomy and movement to me. I have believed that Pilates would have done some things differently, had he lived longer, and known what science has shown us since his death. I have revelled in theory and terminology that complicates anatomy, and movement. I have over-analysed movement, and tried to understand musculoskeletal anatomy in excessive detail. I have imagined that I can tell which specific muscles might be working or not working when looking at movement, both efficient and less so. I have taught “evolved” Pilates….

More fool me, more often than not. Let’s be clear: I don’t believe that the various things I’ve owned up to have made me a bad teacher, and it’s certainly fascinating to delve into the marvellous complexity of human anatomy, yet I may be guilty of seeing the trees in detail, and thereby missing out on the beauty of the whole wood. The journey toward what feels like my current enlightenment (next step on the path to better understanding, perhaps) began with a lecture by Jaap Van der Wal: ‘Not by muscles and ligaments alone: The importance of fascial architecture for understanding the locomotion system.’ He opened my eyes to an alternative way of considering anatomy, based around the idea that movement shapes our form, rather than our form shaping our movement. One of the most compelling things that Professor Van der Wal said was; “the brain doesn’t know muscles, it knows movement”. It represented a great argument against isolated exercises, and felt like a strong validation of Pilates.

And so to my more recent revelations. The first was Kelly Starrett presenting the ‘Crossfit Movement and Mobility Trainer Course’. The first significant point is that Kelly is a phenomenal presenter, (and I would love to get him talking in front of a room full of my Pilates teaching peers) who talks with knowledge, confidence, experience and great panache. Bearing in mind that he was addressing a room full, predominantly, of Crossfitters, remarkably, as he spoke I kept thinking “that’s Pilates!”, and “That’s what Pilates was saying in the 1930s”. It seemed that, the truth is, the language of movement is actually much less complicated than I had previously been willing it to be. Some of the basic principles he spoke about: importance of midline stabilisation; the hip joint as the major engine in the body; the first joint that is loaded in a movement is the joint that will bear the most load; with the right movement and the right lifestyle we are perfect healing machines. He also made the point that humans are highly adaptable, and the consequence of this is that we need to practice good positions all the time. I had previously heard it asserted that it’s okay to slouch if you know how to organise yourself – to sit or stand properly. The trouble is, our adaptability means that we’re very good at the things we practice most, and this is exactly why the posture of someone who spends hours stooped in front of a computer terminal is so easy to identify. I spent yesterday afternoon in a lecture hall full of Pilates teachers and some of the postures on view were shocking…

The second was a gymnastics seminar at Crossfit Thames, with Carl Paoli, another great presenter, and teacher who, addressed decidedly un-Pilates movements (handstand push-ups, pull-ups, muscle-ups) but brilliantly illustrated how so many apparently different movements are closely related to each other – just as in Pilates. He also showed us how to identify movement faults in very simple ways and, equally, how to fix them in simple ways. How’s this for a simple principle?: “The hips are the main engine, the spine is the transmission, and needs to be stable to translate power to the second engine – the shoulders.”

Interestingly, as I’ve been writing this, I’ve seen fellow teachers posting links to some quite brilliant anatomy animations, and the voice in my head has been saying: “It’s not about the muscles!” I know how easy it is to give in to the temptation to look at something that is going wrong with a client’s posture, or movement and to try to work out what particular muscle isn’t working/is weak/is tight/is inhibited etc. But the brain does’t know about muscles, and I’m not cleverer than Joseph Pilates was. One of the most striking things about Kelly and Carl was that they clearly understand movement very well, and there’s the link with Pilates – he clearly understood movement well. He probably hadn’t heard about local and global muscles, he didn’t talk about stabilisers and mobilises, low threshold exercise and so on, but I suspect he knew, for example, that external rotation of the hip gives more torsion and, therefore strength, to flexion movements (and that principle is applicable to so many movements).

I don’t think that I can empower people by trying to identify what muscles they do, or don’t have working well. I can empower them by helping them to understand movement in simple terms, and to become stronger (by working hard), before I try to introduce subtlety.

With some REALLY nice people I met at PrimalCon

This post feels a bit like “What I did on my Summer holidays”, and PrimalCon may be of limited interest to anyone who isn’t a primal or paleo lifestyler. Nevertheless, my trip to California has had the effect of shifting my view of Pilates, and teaching, along with a variety of other plusses (and minor minuses) that may be worth a mention, and a couple of readers have encouraged me to write about it.

I decided to book a place for the event late last year, based on the expected presence of two particular presenters, Frank Forencich and Erwan Le Corre, both of whom I really wanted to work with, even if only for the brief period PrimalCon would allow. Talk about nutrition, exercise and rubbing shoulders with like-minded people would be an added bonus. At the same time, California is a long way to go for 3 days of convention, so I started looking for courses or workshops around that time that would help to justify the journey. I was aware of MobilityWOD from mentions on various blogs, and had filed the site in my head as ‘must look at later’. A one day ‘Crossfit Mobility Cert’ presented by the creator of MobilityWOD, Kelly Starrett, was the only opportunity for professional development in the LA area that my searches threw up, so I signed up. I had my misgivings about the Crossfit methodology so, while the course sounded interesting, I didn’t have very high expectations.

A few weeks before going to California I came to realise that I was hoping that PrimalCon would help me to figure out what it was that I had been seeking to augment my Pilates teaching. When I discovered that Frank Forencich would not be presenting after all I was heartily disappointed, but hopeful that Erwan Le Corre’s MovNat might prove to be the way forward for me (exercising in nature, in a functional way – terrific).

The day after I landed at LAX I was heading for Crossfit Balboa feeling slightly uneasy. For those of you unfamiliar with Crossfit there are plenty of videos on YouTube that will give you an idea of what it’s about. Suffice it to say that many practitioners are big, strong and gymnastically fit (some emphatically not, but there’s a separate story), and I was definitely feeling like the puny Pilates teacher. First revelation of the trip (no, I was relatively puny) was that Kelly Starrett is a brilliant presenter – engaging, funny, endlessly enthusiastic, dynamic, and apparently able to deliver a whole day of material without notes. The really exciting part for me was that, although he was speaking the language of strength and conditioning (squatting, deadlifting, pressing, pulling, handstand push-ups etc), he was often sounding a lot like Pilates. I’ve referred in the blog previously to revelations about the synergy between Pilates and S & C, but this was really underlining it for me, and making me understand some of Pilates writings/exercises better than I had done previously. Why didn’t Joseph Pilates teach reformer footwork with internal hip rotation? Was it because he hadn’t thought of it? No, I bet it’s because he understood that it’s a crap position in which to do footwork. Naturally I was delighted to discover that Kelly was also going to be presenting at PrimalCon on the following weekend.

So, the main event. I got to Oxnard, home of PrimalCon, on the Thursday evening, and duly made my way to the beach park for the informal gathering of participants, meeting, amongst others, a woman who competes in “fig-yur”. Turns out it’s a kind of non-bodybuilding physical exhibition sort of thing that doesn’t seem to have made it’s way across the Atlantic (small mercies etc.). As mentioned, the event was being held in a beach park, so it was a bit of a blow when, shortly after the 7.30am registration,  a rainstorm of biblical proportion settled over the town for the bulk of the day. No problem, we’re Primal, we love evolutionary theory because it explains everything we do, so we adapt to circumstances, and move into a ballroom in the neighbouring resort hotel.

First on the schedule for my group was Kelly Starrett, presenting, essentially, a small segment of the one day course I’d done previously. The jokes were still funny, and it was a welcome reminder of some of his key ideas – I hadn’t been able to write fast enough to get everything down on the previous weekend. I was also left with questions practically spilling out of my head – always a sign for me that I’m in a stimulating environment. Next up was the MovNat presentation – yes, that which I was pinning my future hopes on. Clearly, learning about a movement program that is based on the outdoors is somewhat diminished by being inside a hotel ballroom, and Erwan Le Corre appeared to be duly flustered and frustrated by the circumstances.  We got underway with him explaining some theory that was certainly interesting - ‘Becoming fit through the practice of efficient movement skills enables a physical and mental conditioning that is the most effective and applicable to all areas of life.’ – and then practicing a few drills: how to jump and land, for example. Around this point in the presentation someone asked if there were resources, such as videos on the MovNat website, that would help us to priorly practice these skills later. The answer: No. The follow-up question was naturally ‘How then can we practice this more?’ The answer: Do a one day or two day MovNat course. It’s worth mentioning at this point that Kelly Starrett’s motto is:

“All human beings should be able to perform
basic maintenance on themselves”

and his MobilityWOD website has in excess of 400 video clips, freely available, to show you a huge array of techniques/exercises to increase mobility/range of movement/movement efficiency etc. To be honest, having spent a lot of time trawling around the websites and blogs of the primal/paleo community, I’ve come to expect that people are sharing valuable information for free, because it appears to be the norm. Never mind what’s the norm, the brusque manner with which Le Corre dealt with people who were expressing an interest in learning more was disappointing. There was enough interesting material in the short time that we had for me to still be interested in the certification courses that he mentioned before the finish, so I took the opportunity to ask him for more information. His response was along the lines of: ‘It’ll be on the website”, before turning his back to me. Now, call me old fashioned if you wish, but if someone approaches me to tell me that they’re interested in Pilates, and would like to know about my studio/where I teach etc. my first reaction is going to be appreciation for the fact that they’re interested , and some enthusiasm for telling them more. Consequently I was starting to wonder if Erwan was someone I wanted to be giving thousands of dollars to….

The afternoon’s agenda started with Mark Sisson’s (author of ‘The Primal Blueprint’, and PrimalCon creator) keynote address. One to one, or in small groups, Sisson didn’t seem terribly comfortable, but standing in front of a large audience he was very impressive. He spoke mostly about nutrition (apparently without notes) in considerable detail, emphasising the benefits of being a ‘fat burner’ rather than a ‘sugar burner’ – decreased oxidative damage, greater cell longevity, decreased inflammation, improved insulin sensitivity etc. Perhaps most impressively, he fielded a number of questions, some of them quite complex (even multifaceted – bravo Ozgur) and managed to give detailed answers, sometimes slightly tangential, without losing track of what he was talking about. He has 15 years on me and his memory appears to be decidedly better than mine – maybe if I follow his lifestyle tenets for another 10 years or so it’ll improve…

There were plenty of other presentations – running technique, kitchen skills, weight-lifting and gymnastic skills, nutritional advice, etc. with a lot of time given over to ‘free choice’ – meaning that the various presenters were around and available for questions and discussion. This meant that mini-workshops spontaneously occurred around the beach park which probably constituted the most valuable part of the weekend. Inevitably, still full of questions, I gravitated toward Kelly Starrett most of that time, and he didn’t disappoint – seemingly always available and eager to talk about movement (and happily, a keen advocate of Pilates). In contrast, Mr MovNat was much less available, and I became certain that his work does not present my way forward. In that respect PrimalCon was a failure for me, because I’d been hopeful of leaving knowing that I would enrol on a training course that would help to develop my own work. On the other hand, I learned so much from the time I spent listening to Kelly (and having my calf/thigh/shoulder mashed) that it was huge success. Not to mention that, though my Pilates teaching has already changed a little, what I learned feels like a doorway to much much more that I can be excited about discovering. I’ve realised that learning what you don’t want can be as valuable as learning what you do want.

Making new friends, and developing what I’m doing professionally, along with reminders of some things that perhaps I knew but had let slip, and lots of sunshine made the whole trip worthwhile. If you have the will to keep reading there’ll be more to follow shortly on specifics in relation to Pilates.

Here’s a bonus for making it to the end of this post….

This video has K-Starr working with Mark Bell of Power Project.  Go get better.  Then, when you’re done, visit MobilityWOD and fix what ails you.

X + Y = YOU ARE A PERFECT HEALING MACHINE

The implication was that the human body doesn’t necessarily need (or need at all) most of the technical fireworks that the standard physical therapy office might have plugged in all over the place to heal itself—the muscle stim machines, the ultrasound devices. That kind of thing.

That kind of thing…the cervical/lumbar traction table with all its harnesses. The parrafin wax bath. A 3-mode analalog TENs unit. A Chatanooga Hydroculator. Intererential current. A HOIST 6000-PLUS multi-station medical machine. Coreboard. Lasers.  Automated physiotherapy protocols. The LED Emission Rubitect. The Neonatal Automated Physiotherapy Device (or, “NAP”). The Alter-G Anti-Gravity Treadmill that uses Differential Air Pressure (or, “DAP”). Although it’s a fact: For physiotherapy Starrett does on occasion employ a multicolored dog toy.

“The body is the perfect healing machine,” Starrett says. “We just have to figure out what X and Y are.”

Starrett posted a few quick notes on what X and Y might be. Lifestyle is Y, which included all the sitting most Americans do, which he has talked about at length as being at least partly responsible for a lot of the dysfunction a typical CrossFitter might deal with in trying to improvement movement, mobility and mechanics. “Death by chair,” he has called it.

The idea of muscle-bound body structures is a reality only to the immature athlete, to those that neglect the importance of range of motion and lengthening muscles through stretching, mashing, and sliding surfaces.  These athletes are easy to spot:  they tend to have collapsed shoulders and chest cavities (“douchebag shoulders,” or “DB Shoulders” as Kelly Starrett refers to them) because they think it makes them look bigger and helps them flare their invisible lats and non-existent traps, but it really makes them look like neandrethals; they can barely reach what would be considered an acceptable range of motion in any of their joints; they lack the flexibility to probably reach directly overhead with locked-out arms or touch their toes without bending their knees and losing normal curvature along the spine (that last one really gets a lot a people); and, the ultimate sign, they ridicule the idea of stretching because they think it doesn’t help them “get big.”

I’d like for everyone to take a moment to refer to Kelly Starrett’s article “Hamstrung” that featured in the CrossFit Journal.  The article is a great introduction for anyone that wants to either a) understand why they’re limited in ranges of motion, b) help others understand why they’re limited, or c) improve either yourself or the athletes you train.  We have to understand that problems are “rarely a single issue, but rather multi-functional.”  This refers to the muscle, joint, connective tissue, motor control, and how they’re all interconnected.  You have to look at multiple levels of to really diagnose a problem; likewise, you have to learn and understand the different levels of mobilization — joint capsule, muscle lengthening, connective tissue, individual needs — and how to appropriately target these areas in order to really comprehend the power of movement.  The article highlights the hamstring muscle because it is one of our primary muscle groups – along the posterior chain — tha t helps us as weightlifters explode upward with weight.  We need that rubber band effect to be as explosive as possible in order to have a solid second pull and get the bar as high as possible.

We all were really good at squatting at one point in our lives until we all decided to be civilized. Sometimes, we can really learn a lot from children. We should never grow up.

How does this relate to muscle-bound dudes (the self-proclaimed “meatheads”)?  Well, for starters, short muscle groups leads to lack of range of motion, which then prohibits how “big” or strong you can possibly be.  It prohibits you from being in proper positions, which makes you more susceptible to injuries that could easily be prevented.  It should highlight to the inflexible people just how useless they are — there is a huge problem when you’re not functional and every day movements become laborous and avoided at all costs.  More so, it’s not just the muscle-bound dudes — it’s everyone.  We, because of the benefits we’re afforded for being a Western society, sit in chairs all day.  We allow our muscles that were designed to support ourselves in a squat or in proper standing positions to become atrophied, soft, short, and almost usless throughout the course of a day in our busy lives stuck behind a desk in a chair.  I was definitely a guy with short hamstrings when I started doing the Olympic lifts, but, with determination and a little education, I have myself in a position where I can start to realize just how strong I can be.

The article highlights how there is never a bad time to stretch.  I can remember my dad stretching in a supermarket or outside of church — times we thought were completely inappropriate to be lunging from side to side.  Yet, the man was extremely flexible and active.  Looking back, with hindsight always being what it is at 20/20, he was on to something.  He was that “stretching guy” as Kelly Starrett recommends you become known as.  The proof was in the pudding.  I know stand whenever I can.  I also (you guessed it) stretch in random places!  There’s no reason not to!  Couple with seeing a chiropractor and massage therapist, understanding mobility and implementing it into my daily life rewards me daily.  Now, I’m just not sure if I want to go back to school for Physical Therapy or Chiropractic services!

I ate THREE pounds of ground beef at dinner today. I won a t-shirt for it! I LOVE MEAT! Are you guys finally understanding how much I love meat?

29 March 2012

Endurance:  10 x 30-sec max effort hill sprints, rest 2 minutes between iterations.

Warm up on both snatch and clean and jerk … a rest day.

When I prepare for my workouts, I try to focus on head to toe, specifically my shoulders, wrists, thoracic spine/lumbar, hips, knees, and ankles.  In addition, I try to get into the position that I will most likely be in when I conduct the movement.  Lastly, stealing from Kelly Starrett, I work in order of importance:  joint capsules, muscle mashing/lengthening (sliding surfaces), then individual needs.  After completing each stretch, I do the “test-retest” method, where I try to see just how much more open and free my range of motion is.  In case you’re wondering, Kelly Starrett really did change my life, and you all need to go to his seminar if you get a chance.

• With my shoulders, I use either strength bands or a roller with my arms fully extended to mimic the overhead positions and loosen up the joint capsule to help drive my arms behind my head because we want to punch our head through the window in order to receive the bar over the center of our mass and in a stable position.
• When I loosen my wrists, I do simple manipulation drills, whether I interlock my fingers and roll my wrists back and forth, or press against my extended fingers and try to drive my fingernails towards the top of my forearm, all while resisting with the hand that is being stretched.  This is a form of PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) stretching.  You’re actually tricking the muscle to gain flexibility — in my opinion, PNF stretching should be used as a supplement to your regular warm-up, not your sole method.  When this happens, you neglect structural pieces that need attention, such as your joint capsules.  In the end, my wrists don’t get as loose as they can until I start to have a heavy load for my front squats (I front squat DAILY!).  The old saying is true:  you can’t get more flexible for front squat unless you do front squats!
• I open up my thoracic spine by putting bumpers on each end of the bar and rolling out on the bar itself.  It’s a strong, hard surface that elevates high enough for me to really get a good angle as I try to bring my scapulas and hips down to the floor at the same time.  By doing this, I am exaggerating my neutral spinal curvature and stretching my pectoral region, which will allow me to receive the bar in a better position.  I also get some really deep cracks in there, and I’m addicting to the cracks!  A foam roller or PVC pipe works well, too, but I love my method.
• My hips (and groin area) tend to be an area that I spend a lot, if not the most, time on.  Flexible hips will allow for a deeper squat, outward knees, hips to come forward so you can try to put your butt cheeks onto your heels (helps you keep your chest up for your receiving positions), and (duh factor) keeps you from hurting yourself.  I love seeing how drastic my hip flexibility changes for the better after I do one side and conduct my retest.  It’s almost sickening to think that I can be so tight all the time.
• My knees get worked on by simply going through ranges of motion.  If you have issues with cranky knees, I strongly suggest you buy a pair of Rehband knee sleeves off of Jackal’s Gym.  They help you with your range of motion by giving them that tight support and help warm your knees up rapidly.  I have a pair for my knees and I love them.
• I spend a good amount of time on my ankle flexibility.  I tend to one type of stretch and it seems to work wonders for me:  after I get into a squat, I grab a 25-kg plate and place it directly over my bent knee and lean towards the leg.  The weight presses my knee down towards my toes and closes the angle of the anterior side of the ankle, which then allows me to  drive my hips forward, bring my butt cheeks to the heels a lot better, and work on a more upright posture, all for the sake of a better receiving position.  I find this stretch to also help stretch my Achilles because all the while I am keeping my heel down on the ground.  I saw this exercise done with a bar, but I didn’t like how the bar was so long and weird for a lifter to manipulate — I find a plate works best.

After my workouts, I do some more stretching because, with the muscles warm and long, I can get an even deeper stretch.  It makes sense, and just about every method, book, teaching, etc. on exercise emphasizes the importance of stretching after a workout.

Sometimes, you need a little extra help to recover.  First, your diet plays a huge role.  If you eat like crap, you’ll feel like even bigger crap.  Good protein and fish oil does wonders for me.  Still, looking at a deeper level, I am a huge fan of chiropractic services and massage therapy.  Yesterday, I mentioned that I saw Dr. Frank Hutchinson from Manhattan Family Chiropractic.  The beautiful thing about a realignment is that it puts your entire body structure — not just your spine, although it all starts from there – back into position, which helps you start your lifts in a better position, therefore helping you realize your true power potential.  Chiropractic work deals directly with the spine and the central nervous system.  What have we talked about that affects the same systems?  Oh yeah, OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING!  The first thing to go in terms of fatigue is the nervous system when you are weightlifting, so why not see someone that can help the very structure that is responsible for the control of your motor patterns?  In my opinion, they go hand-in-hand.  After seeing Dr. Hutchinson yesterday, my shoulder tweak is minimal and I pulled 100-kg on my snatch today as effortlessly as I did when I hit it the past weekend with adrenaline running through me.  I like to think that technique had a large part in it, but I would lying if I said Dr. Hutchinson’s work didn’t play a part as well.

Finally, I would strongly recommend every weightlifter go see a chiropractor and/or a massage therapist to be realigned and have their muscles mashed on.  It feels insanely delicious and you really won’t regret it!

28 March 2012

Front Squat (95%, 2 x 1):  135 – 135
Snatch (100%):  98 … worked up to that in order to feel shoulder out.  I didn’t expect to go that high, but my shoulder felt well.
Split Jerks (95%, 2 x 1):  115 – 115

————————————————–

Front Squat (100%):  140 (F)
Snatch (100%):  100 – 102 (F x 3) … I think I psyched myself out knowing it was a potential PR.  I hate when I do that.
Clean and Jerk (100%):  120 (F) … Power Clean, but I just wasn’t as fast as I needed to be under the bar with the jerk.

When I arrive to theater, there is the strong possibility that I will be in charge of the CrossFit affiliate there.  Be on the lookout for a new, individual tabs that will have programming for CrossFit and Olympic weightlifting.

And here’s a really cheap, quick, healthy and simple recipe for you:
CARROT SOUP
1 litre of vege or chicken stock (I used stock cubes)
6 carrots
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 thumb sized piece of ginger
1 bunch of parsley

Dice the onion and place into pot. Cook for a few minutes until translucent. Chop carrots, garlic and ginger and place into pot, stir and fry for a couple of minutes. Add 1 litre of stock. Simmer for 25-30 minutes.

Remove pot from the heat, and allow to cool for a few minutes. Pour contents into a blender and puree. Pour back into the pot and warm through. Done! Serve in a bowl and add some chopped parsley on top. Too easy!

M-Wod is Back for those of you that were missing it. Remember Mobility isn’t a warm up it another component to become an elite athlete. Adding it into your daily routine at home can do wonders to your ability to perform tasks with increased range of motion in the gym. And as well decrease your risk for injury and improve your Spidy Senses. Today we are introducing a new movement that most people may not of been aware of. If you didn’t make it into the gym for the WOD be sure the next time you are in to ask a fellow gym member how they climb walls! Watch Kelly “K-will-never-tap-out-in-a-man-hug-battle-first” Starrett in his MWOD episode 272 has he explains some ways to attack hamstring stiffness.

WOD: Monday

• 5 rounds for time
• 10 wall climbs (modified if needed) III: rx II: 5 I: 5 modified
• 10 toes to bar III: T2B II: K2E I: K2C
• 20 box jumps III: 24/22 II: 22/20 I: 20 step ups

Didn't Maintain

So now to the good stuff, what exactly are you supposed to be doing? First of all, you need to go to an amazing website put on by physio guru Kelly Starrett, HERE named mobilitywod. Not only is Kelly a genius, but he’s down with all that crazy stuff that us athletes and weekend warriors put ourselves through. His site, MobilityWOD is a site where he posts a video and/or blog post every day with a daily maintenance task we’ll call it. It’s generally a new body part or movement pattern each day and comprises of foam/ball rolling, stretching, band resisted activation or stretching and various other techniques. If you don’t have a strong grasp of anatomy and physiology, he may talk over your head a little bit but there is so much to learn nonetheless.

A few things you’ll probably need. First, a small collection of tools will help you do most of these things. You’ll need a small ball, preferably solid. Start with something like a tennis ball and work up in stiffness to a lacrosse ball. Then you’ll need a foam roller if you don’t already have one. Also, for many of these things he uses certain bands. I will leave links below where you can find all of these things. For now, start watching and learning! There are over 280 videos already and I’m sure something will fit in with one of your issues. Make sure to follow his timing guidelines and test/retest everything to make sure you’re doing it right and it’s working. Remember, if you’re not getting better, you’re probably getting worse!

NOTE: Keep in mind that this site is not a substitute for a trained physiotherapist for serious physical issues. If you have significant issues that need help, be sure to contact a sports doctor or physiotherapist.  Also, if you do not feel comfortable doing things on your own be sure to seek help.

It’s about Getting Better.

Superbands

The Grid-

These are two products that I like specifically, but other foam rollers and bands will do the trick. You can check out perform better for all kinds of fitness products!

What impressed me most is his 10-minute “squat test” which he featured in his first “you tube” post in his blog. And for the past week and days, I’ve been dong this workout on a daily basis. On my first day, I could hardly bend my legs due to the tightness of my left lower quads, calf and knee (due to my injury). I could hardly complete a 2-minute duration of half-squat. I admit I cheated on my first day by trying to tip-toe my feet while bending my legs on half-squat. It was really painful and challenging that I have to sweat it out before finishing a duration of 2 minutes. I was not able to complete the 10-minute squat test on my first day!

Persistence and patience did it and after 10 days, I could already fully squat with my feet flat on the floor but I have to either use the wall as my anchor on my back or hold the legs or edge of a heavy table while keeping myself on a squat position for continuous duration of 10 minutes.

I am happy to say that I got positive results for the past 3 days. My tight quads and calf had loosen and I could no longer feel any pain on my left knee while walking or jogging. I would say that the daily 10-minute squat test is very effective in treating my injury.

As what Kelly Starrett has recommended, I have been strictly following his basic instructions for injured runners/athletes on their lower extremities. Aside from the daily 10-minute squat test, these are his key instructions:

1. Hydrate your body tissues. The formula is to divide your weight in pounds by two and the result is the number of fluid ounces your have to normally drink everyday. If you are involved in running or any endurance sports, you have to drink 16 fluid ounces for every hour of workout. Right now, my weight is 146 pounds, by dividing it to 2, the result is 73. That is 73 fluid ounces of water! If there are 33.8 fluid ounces in one liter, then you can do your math as to how many liters of water you have to drink every day.

2. Take some supplements. He recommends Glucosamine and Omega Oil (Fish Oil) as daily supplements for one’s nutrition needs. He says that these supplements lubricate the joints, reduce inflammation and speed recovery.

3. Follow the Mobility Workout of the Day as featured in his blog.

Desperately wanting to speed up my recovery from my injury, I’ve been a “sucker” to Kelly’s method and instructions. I’ve been following his instructions for the past two weeks (to include the supplements) and I am recovering fast. One more week of “squats” and I would be back again pounding my feet on the ground.

If you are interested to follow the Mobility Workouts of the Day of Kelly Starrett, you can click the MobilityWOD on my blogroll.

The following “you tube” clip was Kelly Starrett’s first blog post on the 10-minute “squat” test.

Tendonitis Rehab

• wrist curls 5×15@3kg
• stretching
• foam rolling

Increased the load by 50%

Partial Core Strength and Mobility Series (after Verstegen)
Note: I will post this one soon – stay tuned

Mobility WOD #198 – Squat Stretching

• shortened

Dips 4×5

• Various levels of support with band
• Next: 5×5@20kg (bottom)

In the video Starett explains how to “de-laminate your posterior chain.”  To laminate something is to beat, form, or press a material into a thin sheet.  The material that Starett explains how to de-laminate is the muscles in your posterior chain (glutes, hams, calves), which get pressed together when you spend time sitting down for an extended period.

Starrett will explain how to fix this, with A LACROSSE BALL.  Perfect for us Chaptownlaxers who are about to sit on a bus to LAX, in a terminal at the airport, on a plane, on a bus from the plane to the hotel… and then we play back-to-back games against top 10 teams.

http://lacrossefit.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/barefoot-is-better/