If you live in Los Angeles, or will be in town this weekend, you should check out The Fit Expo Los Angeles! I will be working at the Muscle and Performance/Oxygen/Black Belt/The Box booth (Booth number 722) on both days. Please come by to say hi, get free magazines, and get signed magazines and photos from me and the other incredible athletes who will be at the booth as well!
I am now the proud owner of a pair of Versa Gripps Pro, and I love them! I used them on chest and back day right after returning home from Olympia, and immediately noticed a difference in my strength while using them. They effectively reduced the strain in my hands, which was excellent since I have issues with them as well as forearm tendinitis.
These grips are especially fantastic for deadlifts, wide grip pulldowns, and any type of row. Bravo Versa Gripps!
Check out the descriptions from their website:
The Mind-Muscle Connection
The latest achievement in muscle building technology, Versa Gripps allows you to train better moving you to the next level of performance excellence. A Self-Supporting Grip assist ingeniously designed to enhance muscle isolation and optimize performance. This revolutionary grip is the most effective and easiest way to increase your strength, muscle mass & stamina while maximizing your overall fitness results. Versa Gripps eliminate the need for gloves, hooks, and lifting straps. Absolutely, the Best Grip in the World. For Men & Women
ALL IN ONE
#1 Patented, Self- Supporting Grip
Secure One-Hand Grip & Release Movement
Comfortably Eliminates Grip Fatigue & Failure
New Built-In Arch Support offers Carpal Tunnel Protection
Locks your grip in place for complete control
Made of Strong, high-quality Non-Slip material exclusive to Power Gripps USA
Quick Release Feature makes it safe & easy to release the bar
Ergonomically designed protect hands & wrists
Secure hook & loop closure around the wrist
Protects Hands from unsightly calluses
Ergonomically designed to protect hands and wrists
Innovative wrist support: a funnel-shaped design allows the weight to rest at the base of the hand
Superior Quality. Made in the USA
Excellent Wrist Support
Versa Gripps incorporates a unique stand-up grip making wrapping the grip around the bar easy with one hand, even over your head. Developed by strength trainers who demanded a product that exceeded the limits of ordinary weightlifting hooks, workout gloves, and straps. Used for pushing and pulling exercises. Proven to endure even the toughest of workouts. Versa Gripps provides excellent wrist support and are the most versatile fitness accessory on the market for men and women.
Our grip is our weakest and most vulnerable link to a successful workout regiment. Like a chain, we are only as strong as our weakest link. The success of our workout depends upon our connection to the weight. Fatigue, due to high repetitions using lighter weights or failure due to a heavy weight, is caused by an unsupported and/or unprotected grip. This can result in dropping the weight; a set cut short due to loss of focus; or injury.
Versa Gripps eliminates grip fatigue and failure, allowing the user to concentrate on the larger muscle groups while not thinking or worrying about one’s grip. When you no longer have to worry about losing your grip or your grip becoming tired, you will then be able to concentrate and appreciate the mind/muscle connection. Huge gains will be experienced.
Versatile
Versa Gripps are used for all pushing (as in the bench press) and pulling (as in the deadlift) movements in strength training. The patented Versa Gripps take the place of gloves, lifting straps, hooks and wrist supports. By using Versa Gripps, both movements are accomplished safely, easily and comfortably.
Self-Supporting
Unlike lifting straps – that are difficult to use, particularly over your head – Versa Gripps are flexible, self-supporting and stand-up in front of your hand. This design makes it quick and easy to reach by the tips of the fingers on the same hand that is wearing them.
The gripping portion is made of a proprietary material that is reinforced tough, is anti-bacterial and anti-microbial. This gripping material is engineered just for Versa Gripps, to be tacky and remain grippy throughout the life of the product. The grip is made wide enough to cover the width of the hand for protection from the knurls of the weightlifting bar, and against calluses. Other weightlifting gloves encase the entire hand and become a playground for bacteria and disease. Versa Gripps allow the hand to breath, with freedom of movement for the fingers and the thumb.
Another valuable safety feature is their ability – should it become necessary – to immediately release the weight. Simply let go. This is not possible when using straps or hooks.
GO TO THE VERSA GRIPPS WEBSITE TO ORDER:
Tom Lane broke records as one of the nation’s oldest Masters swimmers. He exercised every single day, shot golf regularly, but his favorite physical activity, and the one which won him gold medals in Masters divisions, was swimming. a former patent lawyer, Tom Lane set Masters records in the backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle in three age groups. He went on record stating that his life’s philosophy was, ‘If you can’t beat ’em, outlive ’em.’”
Tom Lane proved to younger people that old age was never an excuse to become lazy and sedentary. He went on record saying that for many people, retirement is when an active life can begin. He didn’t even allow blindness to stop him. When glaucoma robbed him of his sight at the age of 92, he began to have problems with turning at the end of laps in the pool, and would bump his head on the edge of the pool. Instead of quitting, he attached a sponge to his forehead to cushion the blow when he reached the edge..
Tom Lane died at the age of 103 from complications of pneumonia in his home in San Diego in August of 1997, but not before leaving an inspiring legacy and breaking world records in Masters swimming.
Bravo!
I will be at the Anaheim Fit Expo this weekend, so if you are planning to attend this event, please stop by and say hello! I will be at the SWAT Fuel booth on both days.
With the amazing Liz Fitchner at Team Universe, July 2013
The thrill of strutting out onstage and showing off a hard-earned physique is incredibly empowering, especially when a competitor gets first call-out. The obvious physical transformation is invariably accompanied by an emotional and spiritual overhaul. The audience sees the best of this since they are attending a show. But the backstage world which they don’t see is incredibly colorful and revealing.
Before the competition, many competitors look like hoodlums, bums or like they just crawled out of bed, clad in baggy, dark clothing. The dark skin hues which competitors must sport are more reminiscent of mahogany furniture than human skin. Food coolers are packed with chicken, nut butter, rice cakes, and possibly booze for the celebration afterwards. Every show starts out with a mad scramble after the morning meeting for a prime spot backstage to prep. The ladies cluster around the few full-length mirrors that have been placed around the perimeter of the room. The men cluster around the weights.
It can be maddening and stressful to be in the company of competitors who are so carb-depleted that they are cranky, forgetful and unable to focus on basic streams of conversation. Some are so weak and dehydrated that they are on the verge of passing out. A competitor may have a meltdown because his music cd was misplaced. The overpowering odor of spray tanner admixed with the telltale gaseous emissions of very high protein diets is commonplace. Some abdominals are grossly distended by creatine bloat. A competitor may be freaking out because of a broken suit strap, or makeup being spilled onto a suit, now ruining it…with no backup suit on hand. There are meltdowns with makeup and hair. There are lost earrings and shoes. The fear of water exposure is at an all-time high.
Then once everyone is prepped, there is the interminable wait. When a division and class are announced, there is a mad scramble to get in line. Individuals who bring Bikini Bite suddenly become the most popular people backstage.
Then suddenly a competitor is onstage. Somehow all the stress from being backstage, from dieting and training for months all melts away as that person now has a chance to do turns and show off a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication. Those few moments make it all worthwhile.
Though I don’t really mention this to people, I deal with almost constant body pain. The bizarre thing is that most of my chronic pain issues are located on the right side of my body. I wake up almost every night from intense pain in my right shoulder whenever I roll onto my right side. The pain in my shoulder is the result of a rotator cuff tear which I sustained in April of 2013 and an acromio-clavicular joint dislocation which occurred in December of 2014.
Then there is my right hip which goes into spasm almost daily, and sends a wicked pain along my tensor fascia lata, iliotibial band and peroneus longus (aka lateral thigh and leg) which at times literally takes my breath away. Fun stuff. I power through the pain, especially when a heavy leg day looms ahead, but this chronic pain has me near tears on some days. I am beginning to wonder if I have tensor fascia lata (TFL) syndrome.
My right tensor fascia lata muscle is always tight and inflamed, as is my right gluteus maximus. When my hip spasms, both of these muscles seize up as well. As a result of this ongoing issue, I often dig my knuckles right into my hip to address trigger points and to get some relief, and I also must get deep tissue massages on a regular basis to keep the spasms in check somewhat. I am actually known at the places where I get massages for being the fitness lady who needs at least 90 minute massages to address my musculoskeletal issues!
I recently stumbled upon a great post, written by by Stephen O’Dwyer, CNMT, which I am pasting here:
How the Tensor Fascia Lata (TFL) Causes Hip Pain
This muscle causes pain in two primary ways:
1) Once the TFL has been tight and ischemic for some period of time (it’s different for each individual), it can develop myofascial trigger points.
Trigger points can then refer pain to other parts of the hip, the groin, the buttocks and even down the leg.
2) When the TFL becomes chronically contracted it can exert a mechanical strain on other muscles by distorting joint movement.
For example the gluteals or the piriformis muscle often suffer from an unnatural “pull” from an excessively tight TFL.
Pain, then, might be felt in one or more of the following areas…
• Deep in the hip joint
• Into the groin
• Wrapping around the outer hip
• Deep in the gluteal muscles
• The sacroiliac joint
• Traveling down the leg
What Causes Tensor Fascia Lata (TFL) Dysfunction?
I have been considering for a long time how the TFL becomes excessively tight and locked up (aka dysfunctional) and have concluded that there are two chief reasons…
1) Weakness in the rectus femoris muscle.
The rectus femoris, the top quadriceps muscle along the front of your thigh, is your secondary hip flexor (after the psoas and iliacus which are your primary hip flexors).
And the rectus femoris muscle so often becomes weak as a result of the second reason for TFL dysfunction…
2) Excessive tightness and shortening of the psoas and iliacus.
This is a common occurrence in many of us who sit for long hours at a desk and/or commuting in our cars. The primary hip flexors, the psoas and iliacus, are put into a shortened position when we’re sitting. This can cause them to adapt to the shortened position.
Chronic shortening of the primary hip flexors, the psoas and iliacus, can causes the secondary hip flexor, the rectus femoris, to atrophy.
I believe this occurs, in part, because short hip flexors will abbreviate your stride thus reducing a full and natural leg swing.
In runners who are heel strikers this problem can be even more exaggerated. The quadriceps, and especially the rectus femoris, are severely underused.
In the reaching stride characteristic of heel strikers, the leg extends and straightens at the knee as the foot hits the ground. This leg movement disables the quadriceps muscles.
An aside for runners: underuse of the quadriceps can be rectified using the “barefoot running technique.” This technique does not require one to actually run in bare feet but rather to…
1) Adopt the upright, “running on hot coals” running method
2) To use a running shoe without the beefed up heels of conventional running shoes which don’t allow your foot to go through its full range of motion.
I recommend the Merrell’s Pace Glove for Women or Merrell’s Trail Glove for Men (the shoe I run in).
How to Treat Tensor Fascia Lata (TFL) Dysfunction
There are three strategies that alleviate excessive tightness in the tensor fascia lata:
1) Direct manual therapy treatment of the tensor fascia lata
I find that putting a client in a side-lying position with a pillow between their knees (and one to support their head and neck) is optimal.
Then direct manual pressure applied at different angles will help to locate the greatest “liveliness” in the muscle (I like to use this word instead of “pain”).
Gentle but detailed work will produce the best, most lasting results.
2) Maintaining flexibility in the entire hip
Stretching of the hip flexors and the entire hip and leg.
See Hip Stretches for excellent video support.
3) Strengthening the quadriceps
I’m not a fan of seated leg extensions on a weight machine to accomplish this.
Much more effective are single leg squats. If squats are not possible due to pain, then sitting against a wall is an excellent strategy.
Your knees should be at a 90 degree or right angle. Otherwise it’s not stable for your knees.
I love this article because it discusses a very common scenario which I see in my patients and which I am also personally experiencing. I definitely have a weak rectus femoris, partially due to the overactivity and spasm of the psoas and iliacus. Over the years I have had osteopathic manipulation to treat the psoas issue, but it keeps flaring back up. The weird thing is that I don’t necessarily sit for extended periods of time, yet my hip flexors are always tight. So if you have hip pain which never seems to resolve, you should check out the site where I found this article:
http://www.lower-back-pain-answers.com/tensor-fascia-lata.html#axzz3eaeKtVlT
I also highly recommend the stretches demonstrated on this link: http://www.lower-back-pain-answers.com/hip-stretches.html#axzz3eaeKtVlT
If you truly suffer from chronic, daily hip pain, then you can carve out a few minutes each day to perform these exercises. I have been so miserable from the pain in my hip that I am going to start doing these stretches every day. I will post a follow-up after doing these stretches consistently to provide personal feedback on the efficacy of these stretches, but the theory behind these stretches is so solid that I am sure they will make a big positive difference in my hip issues.
I am not kidding when I say that Royal Sport Ltd.’s Ultra Clean 100 Whey is my staple whey protein source! It mixes quickly and thoroughly, is gluten free, and has no preservatives, no added sugars, no hydrogenated oils, and no artificial colors, dyes, or fillers. One scoop delivers 20 grams of protein in 100 calories. Oh, and then there are the flavors: Ice Cream Sandwich is my absolute favorite and has a decadent flavor which has me tricked every time into thinking that I am having a dessert! I also love the other flavors, Chocolate Cupcake, Cinnamon Bun and Vanilla Cream, and rotate through all four of the flavors during the week. If you are looking for an ultra clean whey protein which won’t cause digestive upset, definitely check out Ultra Clean 100 Whey!
My first article for Oxygenmag.com!!!!
There has been a heated debate over many years within the bodybuilding community about whether anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen sodium hinder muscle growth. These medications inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins, which also play a role in muscle synthesis. All it took was one clinical study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism to put bodybuilders into a panic about reduced protein synthesis, and it didn’t matter that such results were found in laboratory rats. While there is some evidence to suggest that the anabolic signal is shut off when anti-inflammatories circulate in the bloodstream, nothing is absolutely conclusive, and what might be seen in the rat model might not necessarily be the case for humans.
While I will never advocate chronic use of painkillers and anti-inflammatory agents, I think they definitely serve a purpose when acute injury is present. When I find myself in the middle of disputes with bodybuilders who INSIST that a few days on such medications will completely destroy all their efforts in the gym, I simply shake my head in frustration. If you are injured and your lifting is adversely affected by the injury, whether it be a muscle strain, a ligament tear, or a minor disc herniation, you need to be aware that training through that injury, especially when it deranges your form and causes other body parts to compensate for the injury, will end up really messing you up over time. I honestly think that a minimal decrease in muscle mass over the course of a few days is preferable to the imbalance and asymmetry which usually occur when a bodybuilder foolishly pushes through heavy workouts despite an injury which has a domino effect on the body.
Common sense, and medical expertise, dictate that the inflammation must be removed from the area, most commonly through short term administration of anti-inflammatory agents, ice, and rest. Trust me, if you follow a regimen like this, you won’t lose all the muscle you have built over the years. Be sure to take these medications with food, and if you have any history of gastric ulcers. bleeding disorders, or kidney dysfunction, avoid taking them. Remember that I am talking about DAYS, not weeks or months. This is one time when eating constantly has its benefits, since bodybuilders and fitness people can pretty easily fit in their medication administration with one of their meals. I know it’s difficult to back off from training, but if you truly want to HEAL, you must give the injured area time to repair itself. If you insist on continuing to train through the injury, especially, without any medications or other interventions on board, you can count on the injury either lingering or worsening over time.
dr. stacey naito's blog 