Functional training – not just for athletes!!!

 

You may have heard of functional training before or have even seen a video showing these functional exercises and how it uses multiple body part movements in order to achieve a greater result.  Functional fitness exercises are designed to train and develop your muscles to make it easier and safer to perform everyday activities, such as yard/house work, playing with your kids or grand children or just getting in and out of the tub or bed.

 

Functional exercises train your muscles to work together and prepare them for everyday activities by bring together movements you might do at home, at work or in sports into one exercise or movement. Functional exercises usually use muscles from both the upper and lower body at the same time while also engaging your core stabilizers (abdominal to low back and gluts).

 

Functional training is more readily know as sport specific training or exercises that prepare you for any given physical endeavour.  Does that mean that if is useless or pointless for those of us who don’t play sports?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!  Far from it actually; in my opinion functional training plays an even more important role in the “non-athlete,” or those of us who don’t participate in regular sporting activities.

 

Athletes or those of us who play sports regularly, recreationally or intermittently do have a greater chance of getting an injury while participating in sporting activities.  Sometime there is nothing that can be done to stop an injury on the field of play, however, because of the amount of instability that they encounter while playing, their bodies are better equipped to react in order to regain their balance and functionality of their muscles.  Therefore, when they encounter a daily activity such as bring in groceries, slipping on a wet floor or just tying up their shoes, their bodies and muscles have the memory and recognition to be able to react and compensate before a fall or injury occurs.  That isn’t to say that an injury will occur doing those activities to a “non-athlete” but the ability to perform the activity with greater ease is higher in the more functional person.

 

So, the first step to any fitness or exercise program for anyone regardless of their athletic ability, body type, size/weight or frequency of activity should be to determine the physical imbalances in their body.  We want to know the areas of imbalance for a few reasons; first, so that we don’t continue on the same path and compound the problems making them even harder to correct.  Second, so that we can rule out any underlying injury that may be the cause of the issue and fix that area as well. And, third, so that we can be conscious of the stresses that we are placing on our body on a regular basis just buy doing the simple every day activities in our lives.  Once we have assessed our weaknesses or areas that need improvement we can then design an action plan to improve and repair all of the areas affected making everyday life activities easier to do.

 

Without knowing you or seeing your test results, I feel very confident to say that you have a difference in your balance from one foot to the other and then your stability really goes for a shit when you attempt to stand on one leg with your eyes closed.  Try it right now!  Stand up and lift one leg in the air by bringing your knee to your chest and hold it there for 5 seconds with your hands either on your hips or out to the side.  Now try in with your other leg.  Which one was weaker and left you with more difficulty keeping your balance?  Now if you really want to how bad things are, do the test again, only this time close your eyes and see how long you can keep your balance for.  I’m guessing that you were shaking and doing your best to keep upright, probably even grabbing for anything to keep you from toppling over.  This is just one of the functional and balance tests that you will find in our “Functional & Stability testing and Strengthening guide.”  It’s not your fault that this tiny little test seems so monumental to accomplish because you have never been taught the importance of having a functional body.  We are here to show and educate you about the importance of having a balanced and functional body for getting in shape, staying in shape, or just making your everyday life easier.

What do you do when you get sick?

Well, the ups and downs of this ridiculous winter weather (plus the non stop Olympic action) has finally gotten to me and broken me down into a sniffling, coughing, hacking and dizzy mess.  You may be going though the same thing or have already gone through and asked yourself, “how am I supposed to stay on track with my fitness when I feel like shit?”  YOU’RE NOT!  Your body is telling you (and me) that it needs a rest and we need to head its warning.  There is a difference between being tired/lazy and not wanting to go the gym or get some exercise and actually being beaten down and needing to take a break.  Listen to what your body is telling you, it knows, trust it.  Take a guilt free break and get some rest.  If you fully shut down you will be surprised at how quickly your body will respond and recover and have you back out there running, lifting weights, cycling or whatever it is you are doing.  Do your best to stay away from the comfort foods as well…yes, you know exactly what I am talking about; the ice cream or chocolate or whatever you think gives you a sense of satisfaction and peace when you eat it.  For me it is most definitely chocolate, I love it, but I know it doesn’t serve me especially when I am run down and sick.  Stick to healthy watery foods like soup and light veggies, they really will make all the difference in the world.

Now that I am finished writing this, I’m dragging my sick ass back to bed 🙂  see you tomorrow refreshed and ready to go.

How To Fix Your Health

So much more than a gold medal…

Finally I can get some sleep….now that the Olympics are over and I’m not glued to the tv to watch whatever happens to be on lol.  I haven’t written a post in a few days because of juggling my clients around the Olympic schedule…I know, I know, but I do love the spirit of the Olympics and the way it can bring a country together for a single purpose.  I had an amazing experience the other day with Canadian pride and all because of something we hold very dear to us…hockey.  Yes, I know it seems silly, but it really is that important to us, it is apart of our identity as a nation and brings us together like nothing else.  On Saturday after the Canadian men’s team booked their place in the gold medal game I was waiting in the drugstore to have a prescription filled when an older gentlemen with a long grey beard and a very large turban started to speak to me in a very strong accent about hockey.  His exact words were, “do you think our boys are going to bring home the gold?”  Of course I said, “yes” and engaged him in a conversation, and strained to understand a lot of what he said, about how well the team was looking and how well all of our athletes have done.  Not just those who happened to get medals but everyone who participated and push themselves to be their best.  It wasn’t until I was walking to my car that I fully grasped how important hockey is to us as a nation.  Here was a man who had clearly immigrated to Canada (for whatever reason, I have no idea) and was cheering on his adopted country as if it was his own and the pride and joy (through that in there for fun, hope some of you get it lol) that was beaming through his eyes was unmistakable.  He didn’t grow up in this hockey mad country, (I’m guessing that he has grandchildren that play) but he fell in love with it and his new country and felt it was apart of himself just as I feel that it is apart of me. 

I am a very proud Canadian and that day, or that conversation really, made me thankful for all of the little things that we so often take for granted…not just Canucks, but Kiwi’s, Auzzies, Brits and Yanks because we all have so much and so much to offer and I hope that all of our collective new comers feel that same pride and honour to be apart of our great country’s as we do.

I know that this wasn’t much of a fitness and health post and that I haven’t posted in a few days, but I’m not upset that I haven’t because of the experiences that I’ve had during these Olympics.  Who knew that sport (health and fitness) is so much more than just ripped abs, chiseled pecs and a tight ass???  (fyi – that is a rhetorical question)

How To Fix Your Health

Weekly Challenge

not sure who this is, but had to post the pic 🙂

The challenge this week is for everyone who has kids.  Get them involved in a fitness quest with you or vice versa.  If you take your kids skiing, put on some skies and go with them, if they want to go skating, dig out your skates and get on the ice.  If there isn’t much that they enjoy other than playing on their smart phones or tablets, then hide their chargers and make them go to class with you or join you in whatever you like to do.  if you have a r…egular fitness class that you go to check to see if you can bring your kid(s) to come along…you will be surprised at how willing instructors are to add in some kids.  Another bonus is that you are showing other people and helping them along the way because they will see how easy and important it is for our kids to be healthy and be apart of our healthy lifestyle as well.

This is not a one time thing, get out and do something with them as many nights of the week as you can!

It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you do it together and show your kids that exercise, activity and healthy living are by far the most important lessons that your kids will learn.  If you don’t believe me then ask yourself how important it is for you to see your grandchildren grow up?  That’s what I thought…

Daily Journal

Thought today was going to be much worse for food with the way my day started, but it turned out to be ok

Food

7am – 30g protein drink

7:45am – 2 cups honey chex cereal with 150ml milk

11am – 2 hot pepperettes

12:30 – 2 cups gluten free pasta with meat and tomato sauce

3pm – 2 Reese peanut butter cups….I know, but they were really, really good…I swear lol

4:30pm – 1 cup of baby carrots

8:30pm – 1 cup honey chex

Exercise

Taught 2 boxing class using focus mitts for 20 minutes in each class

Coached wrestling practice and spared with 2 students for 20 minutes

walked 3km with the dogs.

pretty good heart rate day, but not much in the way of weight training.  looking forward to my hard endurance training tomorrow 🙂

Olympic hearts are beating strong!

I love the Olympics! I love everything about them and I always have.  My earliest memory is of the 1984 Olympics in LA and watching it with my dad.  I would have been 8 years old and my dad only 30, but I can remember with exact clarity the emotion he showed while watching and not just watching fellow Canadians compete, but all of the sports in general.  The biggest moment happened when Alex Baumann won his second gold medal with a world record time and my dad jumping out of “his” chair screaming and cheering at the top of his lungs…I could do no more than jump around and cheer with him, not really understanding the scope of it all, but know that it must be something special to almost bring my dad to tears.  30 years later and I find myself in reversed positions with me sitting in the “dad” chair and my young sons cheering alongside me with no real conception of the why behind it, but them knowing that it must be something special.

There have been so many amazing moments during this Olympics and none of them had anything to do with winning a gold medal.  A lot of these are going to be biased towards Canadians because of the generalized covered that we get, but our media does do its best to show the best of all athletes and coaches.  When the Canadian male biathlete was winning his race, as a huge underdog, and during one of the turns he fell and broke the tip of his ski leaving him to falter and finish up in 11th place the other athletes came over and congratulated him and shared their condolences with his circumstance, all of them knowing and saying that he should be the Olympic champion.  I watched the Russian long track speed skater (female) sitting in the bronze medal spot with 2 racers left to go, the only thing she can do it sit, hold her breath and wait to find out her fate. When the dust settled, she earned herself that bronze and jumped up and down with more joy and elation then you could possibly imagine…you could actually feel her happiness through the television screen.  A lot of people may think, “it’s only third” but not her, she thought, “I can’t believe I won the bronze at the Olympics!”  I was so unbelievably happy for her and explained to my boys that she embodies what it is about to be and compete at the Olympics and what it means to represent your country and yourself to the best of your ability.

The next two acts show what it means to represent the Olympic spirit and it makes me that much prouder considering they came from the Canadian team.  A Russian (I believe Russian) cross country skier broke one of his skis during the race and the coach from the Canadian team (who happened to be from the United States) was close by and ran over and gave him an extra sky so that he could finish the race and realize his Olympic dream.  It was identical to the act of the Norwegian coach in Turin when he gave a Canadian skier a pole so that she could finish the race and she ended up winning the gold….amazing, absolutely amazing.  The last moment at the Olympics, so far, was when the Canadian long track speed skater gave up his spot in the 1000m long track race to a teammate who fell at nationals.  Gilmore Junio happened to win the nationals, but felt that the skater who fell was a better skater and gave up his birth at an Olympic event to do what he felt what right in his heart. Denny Morrison replace his friend and training partner in the race and earned a silver medal for Canada, for himself and more importantly for his teammate, training partner and friend, Gilmore Junio.

I hope that I can teach my boys to become the type of men and people that these incredible athletes and coaches have shown that they are and that it isn’t about winning, but doing what you know in your heart is right to do.

Please, if you have any remarkable stories from whatever country that you happen to be from, share them with me and the rest of the world so that everyone can see that we are all the same on the inside regardless of where we may happen to live.

How To Fix Your Health

Kyle

Daily Journal

not much in a workout today, just took the dogs for a walk and used today as a recovery day from the last 2 days of tough training.  Food was pretty sparse as well and I didn’t really eat very much, not because I am denying myself anything, but just haven’t had an appetite for much.

5am – protein drink

10am – 20g cheddar cheese, 2 eggs

12:30pm – 3 hot pepperettes

3pm – 350ml dr. pepper (yah, yah, it happens)

8pm  – 1.5cups of gluten free pasta with meat sauce

all of the food with the exception of the pepperettes are organic.

I’m sure tomorrow will be a more realistic and nutritious day for food and I will make sure I get in at least one intense workout in.

 

A Warning About Water

Yesterday I posted the top 10 reasons to drink more water and I hope that everyone got some benefit from it and started upping their water intake. But, if you didn’t or didn’t get a chance to read it, I hope that this story will open your eyes and change your thoughts on drinking more water.

One of my clients has recently been affected from severe dehydration and it is with his permission that I am allowed to share his story with you. 

My client is in his early 70’s, yes, you read that right and yes he does come to train/exercise on a regular basis.  He is a family man with kids and grandkids and has daughter with special needs, so he knows the importance of healthy eating and consistent routine.  He would walk his dog regularly and enjoyed going to hot yoga, even though I am not a big fan of it because of his age and amount of water loss that happens during a class, but he enjoys it and I always preach to do things (physical activity) that you enjoy because it will keep you doing it.  So, all in all he was in pretty good shape even for someone 20 years younger than him.

What neither his family nor I realised was that he wasn’t drinking enough water, and not just recently, but for many, many years.  If I didn’t force him to drink water during his training session he wouldn’t go near it even though I told him over and over again to drink more water.  I would tell him that he needed to drink at least 1 litre of water after every hot yoga session and that he needed at least two more cups after our workouts and he always agreed and always said that he would drink it.  Well, he wasn’t drinking it, he wasn’t replenishing the water that he was losing from sweat and he wasn’t drinking any other water throughout the day either.  Apparently this wasn’t a new thing and he hadn’t been drinking much if any water on a regular basis for years. 

Well, the neglect and abuse of dehydration all came together a few weeks ago when a few hours after our training session he was rushed to emergency and hospitalized for severe dehydration.  I would like to state that during and after every single one of our training sessions I ask him how he is feeling, if he is tired or thirsty or dizzy and force him to drink at least 500ml of water if not more during every session and don’t let him leave without finishing what I have poured for him.  Nothing was different on this particular day, he felt great, he drank everything I made him drink and he left saying that it was a great workout, that he appreciated it and that he would see me next week.

I got a call from his daughter, whom I also train with, asking what happened during his workout and if he said anything or felt bad, if I noticed anything, if it was particularly hard or if he drank any water.  Now, she knows exactly how rigid I am when it comes to people drinking water because she sees it.  She always drinks as much as she can handle and knows that I always watch out for and force her father to drink more water.  Her initial thought was that he was overworked and something out of the ordinary may have happened because he just got back from a skiing trip with his son to Colorado and wasn’t sure.  She told me that he was rushed to the hospital because he was dizzy and they were obviously worried something was wrong…understandably so considering he is in his 70’s.

She called me the next day to let me know how he was doing and what had happened.  It turned out that he was so severely dehydrated that he was put on an I.V. drip to help replenish lost fluids for five days and that his kidneys had shriveled down to the size of raisins.  This is not the result of a single event or one-time loss of water that hasn’t been replaced.  This was because of a lifetime of not drinking water and not taking care himself and no one in his family even realized that he wasn’t drinking water.  They thought the way most people think and that is that he is drinking other drinks and that must be good enough…IT IS NOT!  For every cup of coffee that you/one drinks you must drink two cups of water just to get back to even.  I don’t give a shit if coffee has water in it, it doesn’t count when you have it with caffeine, do you understand that, CAFFEINE DEHYDRATES YOU! Anyone that tells you different or shows you studies that says otherwise has gotten the study that was paid for by a coffee company.  Do not delude yourself by what a paid for study finds because they only find what is in their best interest.

I hope that this has opened your eyes on how important it is to stay hydrated.  I know that water isn’t the most exciting thing in the world to drink, but it sure beats the shit out of dying.  I also hope that my client has learned his lesson and forces himself to drink more water and I hope that his story helps you avoid the emergency room.

How To Fix Your Health

Kyle

Journal Day 2

Food

5am – protein drink with organic 2% milk

10am – 2 organic eggs 2 pieces gluten free organic bread with organic butter

11am – 2 pepperettes 6 pieces of pineapple & cantaloupe

5:30pm – 2 cups gluten free organic pasta with organic beef and tomato sauce

I know that it doesn’t seem like a lot of food, but a morning loaded with protein kept me full throughout the day

Exercise

Endurance training – 2 Round of the following…

bench press X 30 reps – 1 min rest

landmines rt X 30 reps – 1 min rest

bicep curls X 30 reps – 1 min rest

face crunchers X 30 reps – 1 min rest

landmines lt X 30 reps – 1 min rest

weighted sit up X 30 reps – 1 min rest

yes it was tough and yes I almost puked because of it, but feel great now…the landmines kicked my ass…(pictured above)

 

 

 

Drink More Water!

Top 10 Reasons to Drink More Water!

10 – Helps energize muscle

            Cells that don’t maintain their balance of fluids and electrolytes shrivel, which can result in muscle fatigue.  When muscles fatigue it makes every action we take that much more difficult to accomplish.

9 – Decreases joint pain

            Drinking water can reduce pain in your joints, along with the consumption of healthy fats, by keeping the cartilage soft and hydrated.

8 – Affects your mood

            Research says dehydration can affect your mood and make you grumpy and confused. This ties in directly with number seven – prevents headaches.

7 – Prevents headaches

            If you have ever had too much to drink then you know how effective consuming water is on helping curb your hangover and getting that headache to go away.  Our bodily functions depend on water, so despite it’s better judgement, it takes it from wherever it can get it leaving other vital organs in need.

6 – Maintain normal bowel function

            Adequate hydration keeps things flowing along your gastrointestinal tract and prevents constipation. When you don’t get enough fluid, the colon pulls water from stools to maintain hydration — and the result is constipation.

5 – Maintain balance of body fluids

            Your body is composed of about 60%. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature.  Our body works optimally in the 50-70% hydration range, but you would be surprised to know that the majority of people have a difficult time maintaining at least 50% hydrated.  There are various tools out there that can tell you how hydrated you are if you are curious to know the exact number, but look for subtle cues like headaches or constipation to gauge for yourself.

 4 – Help curb appetite

            While water doesn’t contain any calories, it does take up space in your stomach thus giving you the feeling of fullness.  Drink a glass or two before a meal and you will find that you are not consuming as many calories because your brain will trigger the satiety feeling to keep you from over feeding.

3 – Reduces certain cancer risks

            Various research states that staying hydrated can reduce the risk of colon cancer by 45% (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10404059 ), bladder cancer by 50%  (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/331514.stm) and possibly reduce the risk of breast cancer as well.

2 – Helps kidney function (sorry, have to get pretty technical here)

            For your body to work properly, it must contain just the right amount of water. One of the important jobs of the kidneys is to remove excess water from the body or to retain water when the body needs more.  Many of the substances in the blood and body fluid must be kept at the correct level for the body to function properly.  When the kidneys are working properly, excess minerals, such as sodium and potassium, are excreted from the body in the urine. The kidneys also help to regulate the levels of other minerals, such as calcium and phosphate, which are important for the formation of bone.

1 – You will die without it

            Really? Do I really need to expand and explain more here????