Month: May 2018

Functional fitness?

I looked for a definition.  One of the better ones I could find was from the Mayo Clinic*: “Functional fitness exercises train your muscles to work together and prepare them for daily tasks by simulating common movements you might do at home, at work or in sports.”  Even when I see definitions from reputable source, e.g., Mayo Clinic, the American College of Sports Medicine, etc., I struggle to see how this is any different than simply “fitness”.  The only real difference I can see is that functional training does not emphasize significant progressive overload.  I am sure I will offend and receive counter arguments from the functional fitness proponents, but, let’s get real, all physical fitness training is targeted toward training “your muscles to work together and prepare them for daily tasks by simulating common movements you might do at home, at work or in sports.”  The major component of “functional fitness”, however, is to mimic these “common movements”.

Personally, I think the “functional fitness” label is yet another trendy marketing tool used by trainers to attract clients.  Now, perhaps, there is some value to this.  There are many who are turned off by traditional exercise.  So, the label may lower the feel factor—kind of like “toning” for people who don’t want to build big muscles.

Let’s break down the “functional” aspects of fitness that one requires for the daily tasks of living: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility, speed, power, balance, agility, coordination, and reaction time.  These are the components of physical fitness (minus body composition, which is really a by-product of this training and isn’t necessary for functional living—rather poor body composition, i.e., low muscle mass and/or high fat mass, leads to “dysfunctional” living).  So, functional fitness is really just balanced fitness—avoiding the over- or under-emphasis of one or more components of fitness.

Key factors in any fitness program are the principles of overload, progression, and specificity.  Thus, the “functional fitness” activities (“simulating common movements you might do at home, at work or in sports”) fall short if they fail the tests of these principles—across the components of physical fitness.

If one truly wants to be functionally fit, one must a) be active and b) train to an intensity that will promote adaptation (or, minimally, maintenance as one ages).  There is no magic to being functionally fit.

Aging is not a disease.  One cannot blame his or her lack of “functional” fitness on the aging process.  The loss of muscle mass most experience as they age (we reportedly lose approximately 10% of our muscle mass from 25 to 50 and another 40% from 50 to 80) is not genetically programmed.  This loss is mostly due to the decline in physical activity as we age.  We counter this by, well, being physically active.

The best way to be functionally fit is to regularly lift “heavy” weights, do some form of aerobic exercise, and do activities that require speed, power, balance, coordination, agility, and reaction.  Within these parameters there is broad opportunity for the expression of individual preferences.  Since it is time that is the greatest perceived barrier to exercise for most, follow the K.I.S.S. principle.  Keep it simple.  If you are not looking to win lifting or physique competitions or run marathons (etc.), you need not set aside an abundance of time.  You just need to train smart.  Remember: opportunity costs.  Don’t waste time doing things that are unproductive.

An often-ignored principle of physical fitness is reversibility—when a training stress is removed or reduced, the body system will revert back to the lower training status, or “use it or lose it”.  Our “functional” fitness, then, is improving, maintaining, or declining.  Which is all dependent upon what we do on a regular basis.

We hit a point in life where progress is maintenance.  We might have to work a bit harder to “maintain”, but it is possible.  The key to functional fitness is to do the work.  Moreover, it is important to be active and incorporate variety in your recreational physical activity.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

*https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/functional-fitness/art-20047680

Stop Training Arms.

Used to be the college guys would go to the gym and just do bicep curls and bench press.  It is probably still the case for some.  “Leg day” still seems to be avoided like the plague.

I saw the suggestion recently to “stop training arms”.  Honestly, unless you are a bodybuilder or physique athlete, it is probably pretty good advice.  Personally, I rarely train arms anymore.  If I am lucky, it is once a week.  Opportunity costs.

The suggestion was made to stop training arms, because, frankly, most don’t need to—at least if you are training legs with reasonable intensity.  More specifically, if you are sticking to the ‘basic 5’ (variations of the squat, deadlift, bench, press, and row), you are targeting the whole body—including the biceps and triceps.  It is true that you may not see the same volume increases you might see with bodybuilding-type training, but you will hypertrophy and you will get stronger only doing the basic lifts.  Indeed, you will actually see greater strength gains, overall, because you are focused on the larger muscles.  In other words, the greater volume permitted for training the legs (i.e., squats) will produce greater overall body mass.  The arms are along for the ride.

Life is much the same.  We have to “stop training arms”.  In other words, we have to stop focusing on the insignificant.  We need to focus our attention on the things that are most important.  We all have our own personal “arm training”—the things that only provide superficial results.

Opportunity costs.

Often, the cleanest area of my home is the front entrance way.  This is because this is what others see when they come to the door.  Other areas get bumped down the priority list.  The problem is that the rest of the house gets ignored.

If I focus only on the personal problems people can see, the bigger, underlying problems in my life fester.  If I train only my arms, eventually, I will wear shorts and everyone will see that I “skipped leg day”.

Focus on the whole of self and the finer things will follow.  Use your efforts wisely.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Photo source: stack.com

Being good at everything.

Social media ads rarely fail to give me something to rant, I mean write, about.  Recently, I saw an advertisement titled: “A comprehensive 6-week program for being good at everything.”  It was essentially advertising a Cross-HIIT type of program, but the thing that struck me most was that it promised the impossible and that they promised it in only six week. (It was actually a 7-week program—??)

No one can be good at everything.  Aston Eaton, one of the all-time best Olympic decathletes, is very good at the ten decathlon events, but even he is not good at everything.

Now, to be fair, the advertisers weren’t clear on what they meant by “everything”.  Surely, they we limiting the hyperbole to the physical dimension of fitness.  As well, “good” is not defined.  Good relative to whom or by what standards?  Good as in “functional”.  Of course, “functional” is an elusive term, as well.  So, I am honestly not sure just what “good” means.

One of the most basic concepts in exercise science is that of “specificity”—i.e., the body makes specific adaptations to imposed demands (hence, it is often refer to as the “S.A.I.D. principle”).  It is a foundational physiological concept.  It is “so simple a caveman can get it” (as the old GIECO commercial would say).  In fact, the caveman did get it, as did every species that adapted to its environment over time.  Still, fitness pros often don’t get it.

If one could be good at everything, Aston Eaton would be great at the ten decathlon events.   He is, indeed, great at the decathlon (the combined ten events).  Individually, he is good at these events, but individually he would probably not have made the US Olympic team—unless he concentrated his efforts on that one event.  Instead, training to be the best at the decathlon required that he train for very different events simultaneously.  Each event requires its own set of training stimuli and recovery periods.  The decathlon requires the most careful management of training and the maximal recoverable volumes are reduced by the increased number of training stimuli.  This is the reality behind “opportunity costs”.

Any training we do that is specialized—specific—takes training time away from something else.  The more things that we want to be “good” at the more time and management it will require.  Unless one is training professionally, there is just not enough time in the day.

Alex Viada, in The Hybrid Athlete, makes a very solid case for multiple dimensional training, but he is clear that there is a sacrifice to the level of performance.  For example, I can significantly improve my 5-K time and my squat, but neither performance will be maximized with concurrent training.  The more dimensions added to the training, the greater the constraints on improvement and the more complicated the management of stimulus and recovery becomes.

In training age, 6 weeks is nothing.  The amount of measurable progress one can expect in 6 weeks is small.  Perhaps, one with minimal training experience will experience “large” gains in strength (these will be almost entirely neurological adaptations, by the way) and “large” losses in body fat (because of the initial abrupt lifestyle change), but these will slow over the course of progression.  By no means, could be say that these adaptations have made the exerciser “good”.  Real progression takes time—a lot of time.

The “10,000 hours rule”, attributed to the researcher of Anders Ericsson and promoted by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers, would suggest that it takes years of practice and training to become “good” at anything—let alone everything.  For full disclosure, Ericsson never actually concluded that 10,000 hours of practice is a rule, and there are countless factors that contribute to the mastery of any skill.  Now, even if one trained for 3 hours a day for 6 weeks (i.e., 42 straight days), this is only 126 hours of training—nowhere near the time required to get good at something, let alone everything.

We want fast results.  I get it.  But, “fast” is not six weeks!  Don’t buy into the fast hype.  Be patient and be willing to put in the necessary effort.  Realize, too, that no matter how much effort you put into anything, you won’t be good at everything.  Strengthen your weaknesses, of course, but embrace your strengths.  When I say “be your best today; be better tomorrow”, I am not suggesting that you can or will be the best.  I am suggesting that you can be your best.  Likewise, remember, that “’Can’t’ never did anything”, so I am also not suggesting that you can’t be “good” at everything.  Try and you will.  I just want to be clear on the commitment and the effort that will be required—and the significant amount of time it will take.  Remember: opportunity costs.  You will have to lower your standards in how you define “good”.

Carpe momento!

Photo source: USA Today

Heroes.

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”—John F. Kennedy

Memorial Day.  Today, we honor and remember the lives of those who have given their lives in military service.  “All gave some.  Some gave all.”  Today, is for those who gave all.

I am not a fan of war.  I look forward to the day when we can truly say we have beaten our swords into plowshares (Isaiah 2:4).  I also believe that there are times when one must stand and fight.  Few returned unscarred by the realities of war.  Many don’t return at all.  Today, we honor our fallen.

Referring to those who have died in war as our “fallen” seems like a description of failure.  There must be a better word to describe the ultimate stand that these men and women have taken.

Heroes has been on my mind the last several days.  It was the common theme of the “My Three Songs” contest a local classic rock station does.  We also watched 12 Strong on Friday night (the story of the “Horse Soldiers”, the first to engage in combat in the war in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks).  The reality of “heroes” has changed in the movies.  We are no longer fed the glories of war like the John Wayne films I grew up on.  We now get to see the wounds both physically and psychologically.  We also see the traumatic effects of war on the families.

Memorial Day is not just a day off from work, or a day just to grill some burgers and dogs.  Memorial Day is a day to remember.  For those of us who have not lost loved ones in war, it is a day to come to the side of those who have—to give them comfort and support, and to be proud with them of the sacrifice their family has made for this nation.

Memorial Day is a day, also, to forget.  It is a day to forget our divisions—politically, philosophically, and demographically—and remember the sacrifice that many have made that we can freely voice those divisions.

Carpe momento!

Pictures of Joey and Christopher.

May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month.  I have watched friends suffer through this with their children.  Before the month ends, I feel it important to reflect on these.  My friends lost precious children, but the cancer lives on.  More children suffer, and the tumor never dies with the child—it remains in the family forever.

I asked for some inspiration for this blog, as ideas are sometimes hard to come by.  Joey’s dad suggested that I “Scroll over Joey’s pictures here (on Facebook) or his foundation page. I think there’s a few things to inspire you there. Him, his strength and will to survive, the hundreds of people who did so much for him and the people who help and support the foundation fundraisers.”  My response was “I don’t have to scroll the pictures. I can close my eyes and see the pictures and be inspired.”  The same goes for Christopher.  There is nothing that I could have to endure in life that could be harder than what these boys experienced and what these families continue to endure.

I told Joey’s father that my words could never do them justice.  As I watch these families continue to suffer a loss that never heals, I don’t think there are any words that can help.  We remind the families that they are in our thoughts and prayers, but I trust that these can feel like shallow platitudes.  I am grateful for those who can be alongside my friends when they are struggling when I can’t (which has often been the case).  I am grateful when my friends hold on to the belief that my prayers can be meaningful.  I can say or write nothing that can change the circumstances for these families.  All I (we) can do is be there alongside them—physically, if possible.

I don’t have to scroll the pictures of Joey and Christopher.  I can conjure them with a simple thought.  I can see their infectious smiles and contagious courage.  They are the very real reminders to me to carpe momento.  They inspire gratitude for every precious moment I have with my own children.

In the background of these pictures, however, there is always a sense of the weight cancer on the family.  The burden that comes with hearing “Your child is going to die” is something none of us can fully comprehend, perhaps even when we hear it with our own ears.  It is something that no parent should ever have to hear.  It reminds me to hug my children like it might be the last time.

Joey, Christopher, and my friends show me that despite the suffering in the world, life is to be lived to the fullest.  Not a moment of life is to be wasted.  Celebrate every moment.  Carpe momento!

If you are so inclined, give a gift to help prevent such loss for future families.  I have seen too many families face the battle with cancer in their precious children, so my heart tends there.  If you have nowhere to give, consider giving in memory of Joey and Christopher:

http://www.christopher-court.org/

https://www.jfccf.org/

Make the most your training.

I posed the question to my students: “How do we make the most of the time we have for training?”  In part, it begins with an understanding of the principles of overload, progression, and specificity.  Another important principle is “maximal recoverable volume”—the maximal amount of any exercise we can do in a given workout and adequately recover by the next workout.

To understand what I mean by “adequately”, we have to also consider concepts of overloading/underloading, over-reaching, and over-training.  I often make the argument that most of us tend to under-train.  In other words, we could potentially do more—under the right conditions.  It is rare that anyone actually over-trains.  In my experience, over-training is really more of an issue of poor planning.  I say “adequately” because there are times when one might want to push beyond the ability to completely recover—we push the load to a point of over-reaching with the intention of following with a period of deload—i.e., a planned reduction of training load with the purpose of maximizing the adaptation from the period of over-reaching.  This is the purpose of periodization—of cycling the training in a planned and controlled fashion. 

So, what do we do??  How do we make the most of the time we have for training??  We cut the bull****!!  By this, I mean we stick to the basics.  We to our goals and what works—specificity.

The essentials of an exercise program are always relative to the individual goals, but, in general, they include an appropriate balance of the health-related components of physical fitness (cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle endurance, muscle strength, flexibility, and body composition) and the motor skill-related components of physical fitness (speed, power, balance, coordination, agility, and reaction time).  The balance of these is dependent upon goals, time, desire, and accessibility.  Cutting the bull**** means understanding that opportunity costs.   If something it not relative to one’s goals or less effective than an alternative, it is wasted effort.  Before including any exercise in your workout, ask yourself: “Why?”  If there is not a sound (physiological) reason for doing in, don’t! 

Years ago, the “Father of Aerobics”, Kenneth Cooper, said “if you are running for more than 30 minutes, you are doing it for more than your health.”  That said, don’t haphazardly buy into the Cross-HIIT mentality either.  Consider what you are trying to accomplish.  Don’t confuse your cardiorespiratory goals and our body composition goals.

When it comes to muscle strength/endurance, again, don’t buy into to the Cross-HIIT mentality.  Train with specificity in mind.  Train with time effectiveness in mind.  If you are 55, like me, you are probably not an athlete.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you have to train like one.  If you are not a bodybuilder, you probably don’t need to do a lot of curls and abs.  Stick to the “basic 5” (variations of the squat, deadlift, bench, row, and press) and add as time permits and need demands.

Don’t neglect flexibility training (as I often do), but also don’t over emphasize it.  Train with proper full ranges of motion and supplement it the essential stretches—i.e., the areas of greatest tightness and restricted movement.

When it comes to body composition, the above activities and a well-controlled diet will be most effective.  Endless abdominal exercises will not give you six-pack abs if your diet is lousy.  Calories in v. calories out!!

With regards to motor skill-related fitness, the top priority is to move!  Be active.  Play recreationally.  Include some athletic-like training in your programming, but don’t make prehabilitation and “functional training” exercise your priority.  In other words, deal with limitations, but not at the expense of real gains.

Train smart.  Prioritize effective exercise.  Avoid the trends and do what works.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

Unstoppable. Unbreakable.

“Every soul who comes to earth with a leg or two at birth must wrestle his opponents knowing it’s not what is, but what can be that measures worth. Make it hard, just make it possible and through pain, I won’t complain. My spirit is unconquerable. Fearless I will face each foe for I know I am capable. I don’t care what’s probable, through blood sweat and tears I am unstoppable.”—Anthony Robles

Anyone who follows wrestling know Anthony Robles.  Few have overcome more to achieve the status of NCAA Champion.  His story is a reminder fearlessness faces its foes—internal and external—to be unstoppable.

My daughter is on an Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt kick.  I, too, kinda like the show.  It is not Anthony Roble-inspiring (it really isn’t all that inspiring, just entertaining), but the theme song gets stuck in my head, and my daughter often catches me substituting “unstoppable” for “unbreakable”.  I like these two mentalities—unstoppable and unbreakable.

I am unbreakable in the present.  I often cite the Nietzsche quote: “That which does not kill me makes me stronger.”  I am, as James Allen wrote, as I think.  Therefore, nothing can break me.

I am unstoppable going forward.  My unbreakable spirit makes me stronger and stronger enables me to persist.

Life is about overcoming and enduring.  I joke with my students a physical goal of mine is to just outlive the competition.  If I simply maintain, I can be a world-class athlete when I am 100 years old.

I love the above quote from Anthony Robles.  It speaks to our perceived limitations as being self-imposed.  It speaks to our self-worth being defined not by what we have done (or have not done) but to what we can do.  The greatest opponent one can ever face is the one who stands before them in the mirror.   I am my greatest foe.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.  Be unbreakable.  Be unstoppable.

Carpe momento!

Odd Ways to “Get in Shape”.

This morning I saw a BuzzFeed article titled: “11 Odd Ways People Got In Shape Throughout History”. (I’d add the link, but it basically turned out to be an ad for an energy drink—talk about odd ways….  feel free to Google it, if you so desire.)  One thing that was strikingly interesting was that quite a few things on the list are making a comeback, e.g., sauna suits, muscle stimulation, etc.  It seems we will never be free of the snake oil marketers—particularly when it comes to fitness.

I wrote recently about “Cross-HIIT” and have written often about diet and exercise trends that never seem to go away.  These just keep coming back repackaged and rebranded.  Sadly, they all come “scientifically proven”.

The phrase “scientifically proven” reminds me of a scene in Tommy Boy where Chris Farley’s character discusses putting a “guarantee” on the box.  I have been in that “scientifically proven” battle before.  This is why I will never do another supplement study as a researcher—and why I have no faith in the marketing claims of supplement companies.  Let’s just say, the claims of a product being any percentage greater than the placebo are likely bull****.  Placebos are not supposed to have an effect.  If they have an effect it is next to nothing.  Do the math: 1000% of zero is…. zero.  On top of this, the “science” reported by marketers is often not “peer reviewed” (i.e., reviewed by external reviewers and published in a reputable journal).  The “science” is also cherry-picked and/or designed specifically to demonstrate a positive effect.  Beware of the claims made about products and programs.  Check the sources!

Results in personal fitness basically come down to doing the work.  Period.  Most anything will be effective—if it involves effort (i.e., overloading the body system).  The degree of effectiveness will depend on numerous factors—particularly genetics.

Don’t assume that because the “professional” “expert” has a great physique that he/she knows what they are talking about.  The right genes can be the reason the person appears in good shape.  Perhaps, they just picked their parents wisely.  The best test is the effect on people with “lesser” genes.  It also helps if the “expert” can explain physiologically why and how the method works.  The best evidence is a combination of extensive scientific and empirical data.  Sure it “worked” in a study of eight untrained individuals, but is this replicated in other studies and is it “proven” in real life?

Realize that most any change in training (especially if one is sedentary) will have an effect—for a while.  The question is: will the progress continue over the long-term?  If something works for you, and you enjoy it (enjoy it in the sense that it is satisfyingly uncomfortable), then do it.  If it doesn’t work for you try something else, until you find what does.

Old-school is probably the way to go.  Methods that have met the test of time—in the “real world”—are most likely to be effective.  Trends come and go, because they have little substance.  Promises of “quick transformations” are empty.   Remember: lasting results require time and effort.

The science of exercise science, in my experience, has led less to new training methods than to a better understanding of why methods work or don’t work.

To be successful, you must be uncomfortable and patient.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Lifting belts.

I often find analogies between physical fitness training/sports and life.  Today is no exception.

I have never really been a fan of weight lifting belts except for near maximal lifts of exercises such as the deadlift and squat.  Before I started lifting exclusively at home, I often noted people wearing belts nearly all the time at the gym—even on machines!  I have not personally used a belt in decades.

In the last six months of training, I have been focused on strength—particularly in building my deadlift and full range of motion squat.  I am beginning to lift weights I have never lifted before (they are still not impressive by weightlifter standards, but, at 6’5” and 55 years, I feel pretty good about the weights).  At this point, the challenge becomes mental.  Each added weight comes with a fear of injury (an unreasonable fear, I might add).  So, the question of using a belt has begun to cross my mind.

Now, from a practical point of view, beginning to use a belt makes sense for my “working weights” (i.e., excluding the warm-up sets), especially near the end of the training cycle when I am pushing the heaviest weights.  Using a belt when it is not necessary fails to fully develop the core stabilizing muscles and causes increased reliance on the belt.  The belt should only be used when the risk of injury is greatest—e.g., for heavy squats, deadlifts, standing presses, etc.

The consideration of using a belt got me thinking about the psychological “belts” we use of a daily basis—the unnecessary support that we use on a daily basis.  We can fear the unknown and the risk of failure.  We can fear “injury”.  The options are to never push ourselves, to “wear our belt” all the time, or to tighten the belt and push through the heavy set.

Growth requires “overload” and “progression”.  Thus, the first option is not a good choice.  We will remain weak as we go through the motions in life.

If we wear the belt all the time, we never strengthen our internal supports.  We grow dependent on external support in even the moderate trials in life.  We grow in certain areas, but we lack growth in some of the most critical areas of life.

If we are growth-minded, we have to allow ourselves to be challenged.  We have to be willing to be uncomfortable.  When we are challenged on a regular basis, we grow in all dimension—our internal support grows stronger.  As we rely on our external support only in the most challenging circumstances, we are able to grow beyond our current comfort.

My progress is sometimes limited because I fear taking on a little more—when I really push the limits of my comfort zone.  At this point, it is easy to back off a bit.  (Which has often been the case as I reach the end of a progression.)  In doing so, growth is limited.

Maybe it is time to put on a lifting belt (when I am lifting new weights at the end of a cycle).  The key is to rely on the support only when it is most needed.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Challenge yourself.

“You might win some, you might lose some. But you go in, you challenge yourself, you become a better man, a better individual, a better fighter.”—Conor McGregor

We’ve all heard it before—“You win some.  You lose some.”  This is only true if you step out of your comfort zone and compete.  The risk of losing comes only when there is a challenge.  I can beat my daughter at every game of HORSE.  There is, however, no challenge there.  I stink at basketball, but I am 6’5” and she is 10 years old and 4-foot-something.  I won’t ever get good at playing my 10-year-old daughter.  I need to be challenged.  For her, on the other hand, HORSE with her unskilled father is still a challenge and is making her better.

We only get better by risking failure—and failing.  Sure, I risk losing to my daughter, but I am really not getting better because the risk of failure is minimal.  Failing means we are challenging our limits.  It means we are moving outside of our comfort zone.

Earlier this lacrosse season, I asked my son to practice with is long pole.  He was playing midfield, and I thought he could have potential as an LSM (“long stick middie”).  He was hesitant.  He said it wasn’t “comfortable”.  My response was “good”.  One never gets good at something being comfortable.  He persevered.  A week later, he took up the pole in a scrimmage game, and he hasn’t turned back.  He is growing daily in his new defensive position—all because he dared to be “uncomfortable”.

I have often cited the wrestling philosophy that in wrestling there are no losers, “only winners and learners”.  Such is life.  If we challenge ourselves, we get better.  We become “a better man (or woman), a better individual, a better fighter.”  True.  We are not UFC fighters like Conor McGregor, but we are fighters at something.  We are striving to be (extra)ordinary at something.  So, pick your fight, and get better.  Challenge yourself daily, and get better.  Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!