Author: armstrong.wou@gmail.com

My views on the squat have evolved over the years.  Though I have never been one who believed that full (“ass to grass”) squats were dangerous, being 6’5”, I shied away from anything deeper than parallel.  I worried that going deep might be harder on my knees and back.  I felt I didn’t have the right proportions to squat.  The reality, however, was that my mobility (and lack of strength)—not my height—was the limiting factor.

A while back, I was having a discussion in class and mentioned starting to “deep squats”.  One of my students asked what I meant by “deep squats.”  In response to my description, he replied: “Oh, we just call those squats.”  The teacher was schooled!

Since, however, I have gone to great lengths to more closely examine the squat and, in practice, started to emphasize the full squat in my own training.

I believe everyone (short of having serious physical limitations that preclude them from squatting safely) should squat.  The squat is a compound, full body exercise. The squat is often thought of as a “leg exercise.” While, the hamstrings, quadriceps, gluteals, and adductors are the prime movers, the muscles (rectus abominus, the obliques, and the lower back muscles) work to keep one from collapsing under the weight of the bar. On top of this, the arms, shoulders, and upper back work to keep the bar in position.  No other exercise is as effective in developing total body strength.  That is why it is first on my list of the “basic five” (i.e., squat, deadlift, bench, row, and shoulder press).

Squats are safe.  They are not bad for the knees.  They are not bad for the back.  They don’t slow you down.  If the squat causes pain or injury, one must first assess what specifically is going on.  Is it poor technique? a mobility issue?  a muscle imbalance? or maybe it is just an issue of doing too much weight.

When I determined to squat in a proper full range of motion, I had to consider that at 6’5” I was doing significantly more work at a given weight than my shorter friends (Work = Force x Distance).  Therefore, I had to let go of the concerns about how much weight I was (or was not) lifting.  I had to check my ego at the door (which was fairly easy since I lift in the privacy of my own home). I concluded that technique would have to forego gains in strength for a while.  (In reality, I wasn’t gaining strength or size doing partial squats anyhow.)  I drop the weight to 135 lbs (embarrassing light) and did reps as deep as my joints permitted.  I worked through tight hips and ankles and concentrated on perfect form.  Soon the weights started to climb.  I am not pushing impressive weights (though nothing too embarrassing), but I am getting a good range of motion.  And, guess what?  No knee of back pain.  (I’d be better if I we stretching more, too, but ‘baby steps’.)

Learn to squat.  You don’t have to go heavy.  Start with your body weight, if your need to.  Concentrate on form over weight.  Correct deficiencies FIRST, then progress the squat!  Don’t compensate for deficiencies.  For example, don’t squat with the feet raised (e.g., on a board or weight)—this gives the illusion of depth, but you must work on ankle dorsiflexion.  Tight hips?  Stretch! Work on your core strength and avoid using weight belts until you are able to lift serious weights for maximum strength.  (Belts may look cool—they really don’t—but they are intended to protect the back when there is risk of injury.  At submaximal weights, one must train the core to support the spine.  Belts should augment core strength, not be a substitute!)

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

It seems that the flood gates of conspiracy theory have opened wide in recent years.  The earth is flat.  We never went to the moon. The CIA…. The Russians…. The Government….  Global warming scientists….  Fats….  Well, one can start singing Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire.  It makes me wonder what the heck is going on.  Either someone just unloaded a busload of crazies (not making light of mental illness—please, don’t misinterpret) or something else is going.  Personally, I believe that we are rapidly losing our critical thinking skills.  Yes, I am somewhat blaming the education system—not teachers, per se, but a system that emphasizes recitation over critical thinking.

In twenty years as a Ph.D., I have learned that I am growing more ignorant.  I am less of an “expert” today than I was the day I started graduate school at the University of Toledo.  Not that I am forgetting things, but rather because knowledge is growing so rapidly around me.  Moreover, I am recognizing my ignorance because I am willing to.  I enjoy (maybe too much) challenging established ideas.  I love science—the process of hypothesizing and testing…of questioning.

I used to lecture from carefully prepared PowerPoint slides.  I quickly realized that students would mere write down what was on the slides (which, for the most part, was actually also in the book) and not engage in the discussion about the slide.  I also found that questions from students who would engage or things I read prior to class would trigger me to go off on “tangents”.  I often found myself on a soapbox, preaching about practices in exercise science that had no scientific basis.  I could never quite keep to the order of my slides and notes.  I have since gone to a style of talking about things as the come up.  It is uncomfortable for the students, who have been trained to receive knowledge in a very linear fashion.  Over all, though, I see more student engagement and learning.

I had an awesome Anatomy professor at the, then, Medical College of Ohio (we were able to take courses at MCO as UT graduate students).  Dr. Dennis Morse had I work in small groups doing regional dissections in the lab.  With tips from a few medical students, I got really good at dissecting.  Once a week, Dr. Morse would quiz us on the structures we were examining.  There were no study guides.  He would fire questions at us, and, nearly always, to the person, we would miss our questions.  We would know the answers to our peers’ questions, but never ours.  Dr. Morse seems to intuitively know what we didn’t know and to ask questions that prompted us to think critically.  In my experience, this is not how Anatomy (or most subjects) is taught.  What I realized when I aced my oral comprehensive exam for Anatomy (not to be boastful—I attribute this entirely to Dr. Morse’s teaching) was that I had actually learned Anatomy.

Too often in education, we are focused to the recitation of what we expect our students to have learned.  First, if we have taught them well and they have studied hard, we should expect everyone to get an ‘A’.  Secondly, and more importantly, this approach does not expose what I believe to be the most critical outcome of education.  It does not reveal to the students what they don’t know.  Personally, I think the most enduring learning occurs after the exam.  Nearly every student, after looking at the grade, looks at what they missed on the exam.  Rarely, if ever, does one look at the questions they got right.  As educators, we need to expose weaknesses and encourage the students to push forward to learn more—and to learn how to learn.

I saw a meme recently that read: “Modern education: Creating people smart enough to repeat what they’re told and follow orders and dumb enough to think this makes them smarter than everyone else.”  It is a bit over the top, but it should make us question what we call “educated”.  Successfully reciting what is taught to us is not an education.  Today, access to information is overwhelming.  We don’t need teachers to provide information anymore.  We need teachers to educate us in how to process and use information.  We need the foundational skills to understand the more complex information—i.e., the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) skills.  Challenging everything without having these foundational skill is likewise not an education.  I began this with discussion of conspiracy theorists.  I don’t put much energy into these.  I do think they are the product of us system that has fed us information and asked that we accept it without question.  There is much truth to the above meme.  It is unfortunate.  If we come out of an “education” believing we know it all, the system has failed us.  If we come out of an “education” hungry to learn more and having the skills to keep pursuing knowledge—new knowledge, not just more information—then we are truly educated.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

Do we really think neoprene clothing can help us lose weight?  Well, I concede, they can help one lose weight—water weight.  The fact that I am seeing an increasing number of sponsored posts on social media for clothing items that are meant to help one lose weight in 2017 is beyond comprehension.  I thought we pretty well figured out by 1987 that these were hogwash.

I wore a “tummy trimmer” (essentially a neoprene belt) along with “plastics” in high school wrestling—back when these were allowed.  I wore these not so much for cutting weight but for the added heat stress.  I guess I was a glutton for punishment.  Still we understood, even then, that these only helped us lose water weight.  Even before I got degrees in exercise physiology, I knew I couldn’t simply sweat away pounds of fat.

The clothing is much more fashionable these days, but the physiology has not changed.  Sweat is water, not melted fat.  If it could melt away fat, I would be wearing my neoprene Farmer John wetsuit all the time (since I am not getting enough wear kayaking these days).  The fact is, all they do is trap the heat and thus the sweat between the neoprene and skin.  The added calories burned are negligible.

If you want to lose fat, eat less and exercise more.  Save the money to buy nice new slimmer clothes.

Carpe momento!

Image: Silver Lining Playbook

I recently wrapped up my Advanced Topics in Exercise Physiology course in which we examined The Sports Gene by David Epstein.  Great book and a wonderful group of students.  Our take home from the course was that there is so much that makes us who we are.

On one level, we are all quite the same.  Apparently, 99.9% of one’s genome is the same as any other human (90% similar to chimpanzees).  Nonetheless, there are still more than 3 million differences between one person and another.  These differences are what make us unique.

More than just our DNA, we are made different by our opportunities and experiences.  We are different because of the genes of our parents, but also because of the experiences our parents (and others provided us).  In a deleted chapter of The Sports Gene*, David Epstein discusses the emerging field of epigenetics. Epigenetics is “essentially the study of how our actions and experiences can cause chemical ‘marks’ to attach to genes and turn the activity of the genes up or down.”  The field is new and, needless to say, experimentation in humans is limited and difficult, but it is suggested that even the environments and choices of the grandparents can affect the bodies of the grandchildren.  So, perhaps, Per-Olof Åstrand was only partially correct in saying that “if you want to be an Olympic athlete, choose your parents wisely.”  It may be more accurate to say “if you want to be an elite athlete, choose your grandparents wisely”!

The concept of equality is a myth. We are not created equal (thankfully!).  We are all blessed with unique genetics and experiences that make us (extra)ordinary. So, it is not a bad thing to concede we are not equal.  We should embrace, instead, the concept of equity. We should celebrate our individuality and treat one another with the same level of humanity.

Perhaps from the fields of genetics and epigenetics we can conclude that, Spiritually and Physically, 99.9% of us is interconnected.  The remaining 0.1% of us is what gives us our Purpose and makes us Spiritually, Physically, Intellectually, Emotionally, and Socially unique.  From such a perspective, it is difficult to deny that were born at the right time and of the right circumstances to be who we are intended to be.  In addition, the experiences we have are shaping us more than we can imagine.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

*https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-an-1836-famine-altered-the-genes-of-children-born-d-1200001177

There have been quite a few high-profile people exposed for sexual impropriety recently.  It seems like the dominoes are starting to fall.  Sadly, all we are hearing are half-hearted apologies and denials.  I have seen comments that certain of these men have shown courage for apologizing.  I would argue that it takes very little courage to apologize after one has been exposed.  In addition, the organizations that have harbored these men (in many cases, for decades) seem to take no responsibility.  How these can claim that they were unaware is beyond comprehension.  The reality is that we must all take ownership.

Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC’s Today Show following accusations of “inappropriate sexual behavior”.  Now, I do believe that one is innocent until proven guilty.  There seems, however, to be overwhelming evidence of his guilt, as NBC was very quick to terminate him.  Apparently, Variety and The New York Times were investigating Lauer and that may have prompted NBC to act.  Sadly, if other news organizations were aware of his behavior, it is incomprehensible that NBC was not.  Clearly, two things should have happened in light of the Variety and NY Times revelations.  First, Lauer, himself, should have come forward.  If he is innocent, he has nothing to hide.  He should have owned the accusations, apologized, and professed to the world that such behavior is unacceptable.  Second, NBC needs to take ownership.  Someone needs to admit that such behavior was allowed and tolerated.

Women are finally finding the strength to stand against those who have persisted in making unwanted advances and worse in the workplace.  Some may be wrongfully accused, but there is no doubt that countless women have be harassed and assaulted in the workplace—in places where they should feel safe.  My heart hurts for these women.  Moreover, my anger boils for those who have allowed it to happen.

We who observe inappropriate behavior in the workplace must speak up.  Organizations who have stood silent are equally at fault.  Acting, now, only because they are threatened, is no sign of righteousness.  If we are to be at all redeemed for our complicity, we must take ownership.  We must admit that we turned a blind eye to the impropriety and a deaf ear to the cries for help. We must own it and act to make a difference today.

I was taught many years ago to “avoid the appearance of evil”.  In other words, conduct yourself in such a way as to give nothing to your would-be accusers.  If we act as such and avoid situations in which we can be without a strong defense against false accusations, we cannot be wrongly accused.

We have to be upright in our treatment of others.  We cannot believe it is appropriate to sexually harass another.   Moreover, we must speak out when we observe others act inappropriately.

This has not been a usual post for me, but something that I needed to get off my chest (and remind myself).

Be your best today (for others); be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

To follow the sharing of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, yesterday, I must share the lyrics of a song popularized by the Carter Family.  It is important that we choose happiness—and choose the sunny (i.e., bright) side of life.  It is always good there.

“Keep on the Sunny Side”

Well there’s a dark and a troubled side of life
There’s a bright and a sunny side too
But if you meet with the darkness and strife
The sunny side we also may view

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way
If we keep on the sunny side of life

Oh, the storm and its fury broke today
Crushing hopes that we cherish so dear
Clouds and storms will in time pass away
The sun again will shine bright and clear

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way
If we’ll keep on the sunny side of life

Let us greet with a song of hope each day
Though the moments be cloudy or fair
Let us trust in our Savior always
To keep us, every one, in His care

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way
If we’ll keep on the sunny side of life

If we’ll keep on the sunny side of life

(Originally written by Ada Blenkhorn)

Carpe momento!

It is a harsh reality, but what we do in life—good or bad has consequences.  My first inclination is to say “get over it”, but that is a bit unsympathetic and not the best advice.  Instead, I say, “accept it”.  Accept it because it is what it is, and we cannot change it.  All we can do is move forward.

How we move forward determines our happiness or unhappiness.  Happiness is, after all, a choice.  If choose an external locus of control, we likely always be unhappy.  We will be blaming and full of excuses.  If, however, we take responsibility for our actions and their subsequent consequences, we will waste no energy blaming others and move on.

“Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune” (William James).  This is an important thought to remember when things don’t go our way.  Moreover, we need to understand that things happen for reasons that are often beyond our immediate understanding.  Experience has shown me to wait and to look for the reason.  If I take the approach of acceptance, most certainly the reason will reveal itself.  It may or may not have been for my benefit.  It may be for the benefit of another—which ultimately serves a greater purpose.  (This is Spiritual well-centeredness—to understand that we are not the center of the Universe and that our existence serves something greater than self.)

We saw a local high school production of Spamalot recently.  (Perhaps, this is what inspired me to write this?)  The song (that is also in Monty Python’s Life of Brian) comes to mind:

“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”

Cheer up, Brian.

You know what they say;

Some things in life are bad,

They can really make you mad.

Other things just make you swear and curse,

When you’re chewing on life’s gristle,

Don’t grumble, give a whistle,

And this’ll help things turn out for the best, hey,

Always look on the bright side of life,

Always look on the light side of life,

If life seems jolly rotten,

There’s something you’ve forgotten,

And that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing.

When you’re feeling in the dumps,

Don’t be silly chumps,

Just purse you’re lips and whistle,

That’s the thing.

And, always look on the bright side of life,

Always look on the right side of life,

For life is quite absurd,

And death’s the final word,

You must always face the curtain with a bow,

Forget about your sin,

give the audience a grin,

Enjoy it, it’s your last chance of the hour.

So, always look on the bright side of death,

Just before you draw your terminal breath,

Life’s a piece o’ sh*t,

When you look at it,

Life’s a laugh and death’s a joke it’s true,

You’ll see it’s all a show,

Keep ’em laughing as you go,

Remember that the last laugh is on you.

And, always look on the bright side of life,

Always look on the right side of life,

Come on, Brian cheer up,

Always look on the bright side of life,

Always look on the right side of life,

Worse things happen at sea, you know,

Always look on the bright side of life,

I mean, what do you have to lose?

You come from nothing,

You go back to nothing.

What have you lost? Nothing!

Always look on the bright side of life.

(Written by Eric Idle)

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

There is a reason why none of us are the same.  We all have unique gifts, talents, and knowledge.  It is these differences that draw us together.

My son is interested in playing the guitar—something I have no gift for, but wish I did.  Because I don’t play the guitar, I have little knowledge in what is a “good” beginner guitar and what accessories he will need.  He asked for an electric guitar for Christmas.  He knew what he wanted (a black ESP LTD EC-256), but, at $399, I kinda choked.  Turns out it is a great buy for a beginner who is interested in classic and hard rock—apparently, the Les Paul style is favored by hard rockers.  (I never understood the basic shaped of electric guitars.  I always thought it was just for stage presence.)  Then, of course, he was going to need an amplifier….

Besides the Internet, I have a number of very talented friends to whom I can trust for advice.  I reached out, and I actually learned a lot—about guitars, amps, and my friends (some of whom I have not seen in decades).  I can’t tell the difference in sound between a Peavey and a Marshall.  I needed people who understood the subtleties.  Needless to say, I have learned a lot about electric guitars in the last few weeks.  Moreover, I learned the necessity of friends—especially friends who don’t necessarily share all of the same interests.

I am fortunate to have a diversity of friends across the globe.   It is these friendships that have taught me Spiritual well-centeredness over the years.  They teach me of our inter-connectedness and inter-dependence.  Sometimes, we connect over amplifiers.  In other, less fortunate circumstances, we connect in times of loss and tragedy.  The important thing is that we connect, stay connected, and be grateful for the relationships we share.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

(By the way, I settled on a used Marshall MG15DFX amp.  I was able to get it for the same price as a Peavey Backstage II or Marshall MG10CF, my top two choices.  Thanks to a friend’s recommendation, I spent hours—cumulatively, days—searching Reverb.com and Internet reviews.  I hope my son sticks with it.  I appreciate the balance in life—sports, art, and music.)

Image source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/31jHulmGyWw/maxresdefault.jpg

Drs. Mike Israetel and James Hoffmann, in their book How Much Should I Train?, introduce several terms that are useful in understanding the adaptive processes in exercise.  I also find that they are analogous to the growth processes in life, as well.  These terms are: maximum recoverable volume, minimum effective volume, maximum adaptive volume, and maintenance volume.  The authors define these as follows:

Maximum Recoverable Volume (MRV): The highest volume of training an athlete can do in a particular situation and still recover.

Minimum Effective Volume (MEV): The lowest volume of training an athlete can do in a particular situation and still measurably improve.

Maximum Adaptive Volume (MAV): The amount of training that, in any one unit of time, yields the greatest adaptive response.

Maintenance Volume (MV): The lowest volume of training an athlete can do in a particular situation and still retain his/her abilities.

I will leave the reader to explore How Much Should I Train? on his or her own.  Here, I would like to interpret these within the well-centered fitness model.

Growth requires a stimulus.  Whether one is seeking Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, or Social growth, one must be sufficiently challenged.  Ideally, we want to see optimal growth across all dimensions over time.  (This is the nature of “well-centered fitness”—balance across the dimensions.) Often, however, there is not enough time and energy to put toward maximal growth in all dimensions at the same time.  I like to refer to this as “opportunity costs”—activity in any area of our lives comes at the cost of some other activity.  There are, after all, only 24 hours in any day.

To be growing, one needs to be putting an effort toward growth that is somewhere between the MEV and the MRV.  Typically, one will have greater focus on one dimension on any given day, but, overall, one is seeking to be centered across dimensions.  In other words, there cannot be too much emphasis on one dimension at the expense of the other dimensions—unless, of course, that one dimensions is totally out of whack.  (One should not, for example, neglect putting the greatest emphasis toward a failing marriage.)  In such a case, however, it is important for the individual to maintain the other dimensions (i.e., pursue the MV for these dimensions) as to not forfeit progress.

MAV is the maximal progress we make toward well-centeredness, given our circumstances.  It is the balance of our time spent, journaling, praying/meditating, exercising, reading, working, coaching, socializing, etc.  It is not enough to “be balanced”.  One can easily remain balanced hovering around the MV, but this is not growth.  One must manage his/her efforts at self-improvement.  MAV is kaizen (to use a term from business) or continual growth.  We will want to manage our time wisely to optimize our progress across all dimensions.

I hope to refine my thoughts on the application of these concepts to well-centered fitness over the coming weeks and months.  Personally, I need to zero in on my own “volumes” as I seek well-centeredness.  I hope the reader will join me.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

I hadn’t weighed my son in a while.  With his first wrestling tournament of the year on Sunday, I thought we had better check (on the eve of Thanksgiving).  The weight classes for Schoolboy jump from 136 lb to 149 lb.  He was 139 (after practice).  I am no fan of cutting weight at his age—and certainly not on the weekend of Thanksgiving.  Besides, he is going to do nothing but grow through the season.  So, it looks like he is going to be wrestling up this year and, possibly giving up 9 or 10 lb to his opponents.  Fortunately, he is used to practicing with teammates who are bigger and older.  I trust he will do well.

In life, it is not a challenge if it is bigger than we are.  There is no growth unless we take on what is at first bigger than what we can handle.  So, bring it on!

Be your best today; be better tomorrow means we might fail at first.  In life, as in wrestling, there are only winners and learners.  Seek the challenge.  Pursue growth.  Failing is not failure, unless we let it defeat us.  Success is the cue for greater challenges.

I am excited for the upcoming matches—my son’s, but my own, as well.  Carpe momento!