Here is a great shot by Vino Darius Calloway, taken on June 24th, 2016 on the Bonneville Salt Flats…I am SO blessed to be able to shoot with great photographers who also happen to be wonderful people!
Tag motivation
Birthday Number 50 Is Around The Corner…
I shot this video back in February, right after the Super Bowl. Now that my birthday is a week away, I thought it was the perfect time to share this video in which I share my thoughts about getting older.
The Bottleneck Level: National Bodybuilding Events (Repost)
Every single year I watch nationally qualified competitors duke it out onstage in hopes of finally making it through the bottleneck and achieving Pro status. Some competitors get smacked down repeatedly, yet keep hitting the national circuit for so long that they must compete against new blood, further limiting their chances. There are times when I shake my head in wonder over the outcome of a national or Pro event when individuals who clearly should have been in first callouts were neglected. I know that feeling all too well because it has happened to me a number of times. Every year the national level events get bigger, which results in even more pressure and more competition to get through that level and into the big wide world of Pro status. When a competitor finally gets pushed out of the bottle and glides into Pro waters, he or she will bask in it, enjoying the victory, but the majority of Pro competitors soon discover that becoming a Pro doesn’t mean that life will become any easier. If anything, it becomes more difficult, because the bar is set much higher.
Those of us who compete live in a bubble. In fact, I will go as far as to say that when we escape the bottle, we end up in a fishbowl instead of open water. Please don’t interpret this to mean that I lack appreciation for being a Pro, because it is indeed a great honor. But the world at large is a vast ocean which bodybuilding leagues really don’t connect to, similar to the artificial environment which a bowl provides for a pet fish. Bodybuilding is its own world, and though I may love it, I also know that it won’t make me a superstar. Even the biggest bodybuilding legends (except for Arnold) don’t have the full global recognition which they deserve, because bodybuilding is such a niche industry. The only bodybuilders who are household names are the ones who became thespians.
I will admit that when I finally got my Pro Card (after 14 Pro qualifiers), I was relieved and ecstatic because I had finally reached a goal I had set for myself. However, I also fully realize that it wasn’t entirely up to me when or if I would ever get that card, so I always tried my best not to berate myself when I fell short of that Pro card goal. A number of competitors who have been on the national circuit for a very long time have built up a tremendous following on social media channels and have so much power and influence, yet they sell themselves short because they focus on the Pro Card chase as a singular goal. These are precious gems whose shine is only dulled by the disappointment they experience when the sport of bodybuilding edges them out of the winners’ circle.
If you have been competing for a very long time and are getting weary from slipping in national placings or just missing that Pro card too many times, it’s time to take a good look at where your passion truly lies. If your true passion lies directly in the experience of stepping onstage, then by all means continue. However, if you are broke, exhausted, sore and dejected, and you have a true passion beyond the stage for inspiring others to reach fitness goals, then why not BREAK the bottle and swim into the wide ocean? If you build a name, a brand, and a following, you can establish a presence in the real world which will enable you to impact others in the truest sense. In addition, you might stand to make some decent money from nurturing your passion for fitness. Honestly, how much money have you made from competing? Just saying.
Paying Attention
If you’re like most people these days, you barely have a moment to catch your breath as you power through your day. You may be powering through meetings, working feverishly on projects, taking your kids to their activities, making dinner, etcetera, without pausing to wonder WHY you are doing all of those things. You just DO them, because you’re supposed to, right? You probably also tend to expect everything to run smoothly, which of course may topple over at any given time.
The thing is, if you never stop to wonder why those little glitches occur, you may be missing an important message. Sometimes things just line up in the oddest ways, and what you might think is a disaster is actually a wonderful opportunity to start fresh. Wonderful, magical, serendipitous things are always occurring, and if we pay attention a bit and slow our roll just a bit, we can begin to appreciate how amazing and frequent those moments are. Like a chain reaction, one small event can cause a cascade which opens many doors, changes your focus and direction so that you explore something you might never have thought to explore before, and enables you to grow as a person.
Pause for a moment, pay attention, and observe.
How To Assess A Client For Body Asymmetries (repost)
I originally wrote this piece for AFE and am reposting it here.
Fitness pre-testing is a valuable tool for evaluating movement patterns and assessing a client’s strengths and weaknesses. The information gathered from such testing can then be utilized to develop a customized program which addresses and corrects functional abnormalities. The more thorough the pre-testing, the better equipped a trainer is to help the client reach optimal potential within the training program, while also guarding against injuries which the client might be predisposed to as a result of compensatory patterns.
Many people have developed compensatory patterns over time. Sometimes structural abnormalities exist from birth, or develop in childhood, and often throw surrounding soft tissues and joints out of alignment. In other cases, injuries from sports or other activities can cause a person to begin favoring one side of the body in an effort to reduce the stress load on the injured side. The problem with these compensatory patterns is that they allow the weak or restricted side to become even worse over time. Because of this, functional weight training should always address these patterns in an effort to correct them.
How To Determine Asymmetry
One of the most valuable early tests for determining structural asymmetry is the single leg stance, in which the client’s ability to stabilize the trunk over the supporting leg is determined. Misalignments of the hips, knees, or ankles/feet can be detected easily with this screening tool. For example, if one hip joint is restricted or otherwise unstable, the client will shift weight in an effort to maintain balance. A trainer can then utilize the information gathered from the single leg stance test to focus on compromised function in a joint or extremity.
Clients will frequently exhibit asymmetries in strength, range of motion, or muscle recruitment which can easily be overlooked if a trainer doesn’t have a practiced eye. Because of this, a thorough assessment of the client’s posture, range of motion, and form should be implemented before training begins so that the trainer can identify and properly address compensatory movement patterns.
Let’s say a client exhibits poor movement while performing a basic bodyweight squat, the source of the dysfunction must be determined so that the trainer can correct it. Is the limitation is coming from the foot, the knee, the hip joint, the pelvis, or the sacrum? Is the issue one of limited mobility, muscle weakness, joint instability, or of poor muscle activation? The origin and the nature of the dysfunction will determine which corrective exercises should be added to the client’s program.
Sports and Compensatory Patterns
Asymmetries are especially common in people who engage in sports such as baseball, golf, soccer, football, and tennis, which rely heavily on one side of the body. Because of this, it is important to ask clients if they currently play sports or have played them in the past. It is also important to ask clients about any past injuries which may be contributing to current compensatory patterns. Compensation results from a number of factors, including muscle weakness, impaired joint mobility, musculoskeletal asymmetry, leg length discrepancy, previous injury, and even joint stress from obesity. Joints can become lax and unstable, forcing contralateral muscles to take the brunt of the movement in order to stabilize the dysfunction. What often results is overuse in the compensating region, which in turn adversely affects the client’s training, and also reinforces the asymmetry.
Minimalist Footwear (repost)
I wrote this article for AFE last year, and am reposting it for you to enjoy.
Less Is More
Are there benefits to training in minimalist footwear? Studies have demonstrated that training while wearing minimalist shoes results in enhanced performance, due to greater foot pliability and a closer approximation to a barefoot stance. Since our feet adjust to wearing raised heels over time, it can be incredibly challenging to keep our heels on the ground while performing exercises like deep squats. Proponents of minimalist footwear may even argue that barefoot is best for heavy weightlifting, but the risks of exposure to microbes or hazardous fragments of glass, metal, or rocks, make minimalist shoes a much more feasible choice while at the gym.
Dysfunctional movement patterns become established throughout the body over time. Conventional athletic shoes can often contribute to ankle and foot dysfunction because they inhibit natural foot action. If you don’t believe it, then try to perform some of your physical activities barefoot and see how well, or poorly, you perform. Chances are that the impaired mechanics in the feet and ankles will make it difficult at best to perform those activities. By gradually switching over to minimalist footwear, an athlete can essentially correct improper foot mechanics and optimize kinetic feedback throughout the body during movement.
Benefits Of Minimalist Shoes
Conventional athletic footwear features a cushioned heel which also can compromise power. In contrast, minimalist footwear features little to no heel, and the soles are very thin and malleable, so they allow the joints in the foot to move and adjust to weight loading movements. In addition, the heels and midfoot make solid contact with the floor, causing more activation in the glutes and hamstrings. Studies have demonstrated that people who wear minimalist footwear develop greater strength in their legs and feet, since more power is transferred from the working muscles, through the feet, and into the movement. Plyometric movements and sprint power will also be enhanced while wearing minimalist shoes.
A 2011 study by Squadrone and Gallozzi assessed the ability of experienced runners to estimate the degree of inversion, eversion, dorsiflexion, and plantarflexion, of a slope surface board placed under their right foot while standing. They found that the degree of proprioceptive feedback which subjects received while wearing Vibram Five Fingers® was much more accurate than in subjects who wore a standard running shoe. In conclusion, cushioned shoes conferred a distinct disadvantage when compared to minimalist shoes during assessment of foot position awareness.
How To Transition Into Minimalist Shoes
Anyone who is transitioning from conventional athletic shoes to minimalist footwear needs to do so gradually, since the body has to adjust to radically different proprioceptive input. There have been cases of metatarsal stress which developed after converting too quickly to minimalist shoes. However, once the transition is made, noticeable strength gains should occur. Try spending about 15 to 30 minutes, twice a day, wearing minimalist shoes around the house. After about a week or two, you can try them out at the gym one to two days a week until you become accustomed to the feel of the shoes. Be aware that your gait and foot stance will probably change as you acclimate to this type of shoe.
REFERENCES:
1. Squadrone R, Gallozzi C (2011) Effect of a five-toed minimal protection shoe on static and dynamic ankle position sense. J Sports Med Phys Fitness Sep;51(3): 401-8.
Offset Load Training
Introduction
Offset load training is a training approach in which different loads are used on the right and left sides of the body during an exercise, challenging the body to adjust. If you have ever dealt with clients who have demonstrated asymmetry in strength or power between one side of the body and the other, or who have visible differences in muscle mass when comparing each side, and have addressed their asymmetry solely with isolated unilateral movements, you can implement offset load training as a very effective way to break through training plateaus and to address accumulated asymmetry between the right and left sides of the body. Offset load training is not only more challenging than isolated unilateral exercises, it also results in more neural connections and greater kinetic efficiency.
Asymmetries in strength or muscle development most commonly result from natural dominance on one side, but they can also emerge as a result of injury. During bilateral training, the stronger side will always compensate for the weaker one by taking on more of the load, so the weaker side remains at a disadvantage. In contrast, unilateral and offset movements force each side of the body to bear the load fully and independently, effectively forcing the weaker side to work. Over time, differences in strength between each side are diminished as a result of this type of training.
Benefits Of Offset Load Training
One of the greatest benefits of offset load training is greater trunk stability and strength. Any time you perform a unilateral or offset movement (think of using a shovel), you activate your abdominal muscles in order to resist rotational forces and maintain a neutral spine. Another benefit of offset load training is that offset exercises challenge the nervous system to adapt to the unequal weight distribution by recruiting muscles in a coordinated fashion to maintain balance. You might be surprised by how much your client’s overall strength will increase as a result of improved conditioning in the smaller stabilizing muscles of the trunk. This is because enhanced balance and trunk strength stabilize the extremities and transfer power to them. In other words, if the muscles in the trunk are more efficient at stabilizing the spine, the limbs will benefit from greater power.
How To Add Offset Load Training To A Client’s Regimen
Offset load training works with most barbell and dumbbell movements and can be easily incorporated into a client’s training regimen. You can use this form of training as an adjunct to bilateral movements in a client’s plan. When selecting weights, make sure the difference in weights between sides is moderate, and keep the rep range around eight to twelve reps. Instead of handing dumbbells to your client, have the client lift them so that the muscles of the trunk will become activated even before the exercise is performed. If you are using a barbell, load each side with a different number of plates. If using the double cable assembly, set the pins at different weights. Be sure to monitor your client closely during this type of training, especially those relatively new to lifting weights who have poor balance and coordination.
The Unmotivated Client
If you have been working as a trainer for a while, you know that motivating some clients can be as challenging as pulling teeth. You know the type of clients I am talking about, who moan and complain about the training regimen, who lean heavily upon the phrase “I can’t”, and who make you want to rip your hair out in frustration. You became a fitness professional partially due to your passion for fitness and partially out of a deep need to inspire others and to guide them towards reaching their fitness goals, right? So why would some people resist your efforts to help them when it should be obvious that you have created a career around getting people fit? Sometimes clients can be so highly resistant that no trainer or coach will ever be able to get through to them, but sometimes the trainer may have a hand in the breakdown in communication.
One of the biggest rifts which can occur between a trainer and a client is one in which the trainer has forgotten how to relate to the average person. While a trainer’s immersion in the world of gyms and exercise equipment is a natural outgrowth of his interest in fitness, that immersion might cause him to forget somewhere along the way that fitness newbies might not understand or be able to relate to the “gym is life” mindset. Non-fitness people are often extremely intimidated by health club or gym environments for a multitude of reasons. They may find the experience of navigating through a plethora of exercise equipment completely terrifying. They may question their ability to perform exercises with the proper degree of coordination, balance and strength. Though clients hire trainers for their expertise and their ability to motivate, some of them are so reliant on their self-defeatist thoughts, simply because the pattern is familiar, that they often sabotage the trainers’ efforts. Such clients may even hold onto the notion that asking their trainers too many questions may be embarrassing, and if the trainers aren’t very perceptive, breakdowns in communication can easily occur.
The most successful trainers and coaches understand that there is a great deal of psychology behind personal training. For every gung-ho client who is ready to give 100%, there is a client who is indecisive and non-committal. You will have the best chance of building a rewarding trainer-client relationship with the latter type of client if you make an effort to address his or her concerns. Instead of focusing solely on the physical component of training, you will become far better as a trainer if you tap into the mental and spiritual components of your client’s transformation. Another important skill which you should develop is the willingness to adapt a client’s training regimen so that it accommodates any true physical limitations. If you practice a militant approach with all of your clients without taking into account valid physical restrictions, you run the risk of not only injuring your clients, but also of losing your clients’ interest and respect. Make sure to clearly define goals with your clients which are congruent with what they hope to achieve, not what you think they want to achieve.
Working For Free
Have you ever completed a work project which offered no compensation except for a pat on the back? If so, did it bother you? It should have. By agreeing to slave away (pun definitely intended here) at an assignment with full awareness that you would receive absolutely no monetary compensation, you just devalued yourself.
I am not talking about volunteer work, or favors which you offer to do for a family member or friend. I am also not talking about getting your feet wet by taking on a task in an unfamiliar area so that you can gain valuable experience. I am instead referring to situations in which you are asked to provide your knowledge, expertise and service in an area in which you excel, and are coaxed into it with the promise that it’s a one-time favor, or that there will be compensation sometime in the future.
As a result of my abiding loyalty to companies, friends, family, and pets, I am the type of person who never leaves. You can count on me, and I honor my word. One of my faults is that I assume that other people are the same way, and even when I can plainly see that I am being taken advantage of, I often still hang on. This type of behavior spilled over into the world of medicine, wellness and fitness for a while, but I have recently done a 180 and have cut off all of the companies and individuals who got too much of a good thing for too long.
In one situation, one company asked me to provide professional services on a monthly basis, stating that it would be unpaid to start out with, but that compensation would be given after a few months. Next thing I knew, I had provided those services free of charge for eighteen months! When I fired a warning shot, essentially stating that I no longer wanted to work for free, the company responded by inferring that the “exposure” I was receiving from them was payment enough. The funny thing is, I didn’t need the exposure, nor was this company in a position to help me. I merely agreed to the arrangement as a temporary favor to them, sort of a good faith move. All it ended up doing was getting me stuck in a monthly obligation which I got zero benefit from doing.
I am not trying to toot my horn, but time is money, and because I hold two degrees, am a board certified physician and have worked in the fitness industry for three decades, I have value which deserves proper compensation. Would you like to work for free, especially if it is in an area in which you have expertise? Let’s face it, we all need to find a way to bring money in. We have skills, we have knowledge, and we deserve to get a financial return for services rendered in our chosen work environment.
As a result of my decision to rid myself of any unpaid assignments or other elements in my life which were eroding my sense of self-worth, I finally severed the ties with the company I mentioned above. Though I used very professional and polite language, it felt so good to tell them that I was done being an indentured servant. No longer did I have to put their assignments in my calendar, or resent the fact that each one of those assignments chewed up a good hour or two of my time.
If you are the type of person who has a tendency to take on more than your schedule can handle, perhaps it’s time to evaluate your obligations and see if any of them are a threat to your self-worth. If they are unpaid, uncontracted, require your skills in an area in which you are considered an expert, and are contributing to a decline in your quality of life because they are a time burden, then you should consider dropping those obligations.
Eating Clean Makes All The Difference
This abdominal definition truly comes from eating clean 98% of the time. There are no tricks to this. I also train abs only one day per week and keep my routine down to about 7 minutes.
Last week a guy at the gym approached me and asked me a question I hear frequently, which was “What exercises would you recommend for me to get six-pack abs?”. My response didn’t have anything to do with specific abdominal exercises, but centered around nutrition. I asked the guy what his diet was like, and he revealed that he was of Italian descent and just HAD to have pasta several times per week. He also admitted that he spent many of his evenings drinking an appreciable amount of alcohol. So I told him that his eating and drinking habits guaranteed that he would never see a washboard across his midsection, no matter how many crunches or planks he did. He was so intent on finding a way to get a toned midsection without changing his eating habits that he repeated his question a second time, which made me shake my head and wish him luck as I walked away.
If you are committed to getting a lean midriff, you MUST change your eating habits! You simply cannot have your cake and eat it too when it comes to coaxing those lovely abdominal lines and cross cuts out of hiding. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you can somehow get a quick fix by doing a cleanse to repair the damage of a poor diet, or that you can perform a plethora of abdominal moves to somehow melt all the fat that is sitting around your waist. The only effective way to etch those abs is to consume whole foods with minimal to no processing, such as lean meats, grains such as quinoa, rice, and oats, fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, and eggs. If you are worried that these foods lack the flavor you crave from consuming processed foods, check out the various seasonings, flavored mustards, hot sauces, and other condiments which can add a new dimension to your food.
Once you make the switch to a healthy food regimen, you will probably notice a lot of subtle changes in your overall well-being, such as more energy and clearer skin. After a while, you might even notice your abs peeking out!
dr. stacey naito's blog 