Don't Use Batman's Workout

So have you seen the new Batman movie, The Dark Night Rises? If not you should check it out. From the special effects, to the story line and acting everything was very well done.

But even though I'd recommend this one and say it was probably one of the best the series I wouldn't say it was perfect. There were three things that missed the mark on this one.

  First of all it's hard to hear let alone understand the bad guy, Bane.

And sorry ladies, if you had a thing for Tom Hardy who plays this character this movie might wreck it for you.

What were the other two issues I had with this movie?

Well one was how the other characters refer to Batman as 'The Batman'. It just sounded funny and made me think of all the football players from Ohio State who identify themselves as playing at 'The Ohio State'. It just sounds goofy, that's all.

But my major gripe with this movie was how they dropped the ball with Batman's workout.

You see after 'The Batman' fights Bane for the first time he is banished to well-type prison cell. This is supposedly a greater form of punishment because you can see the sky and your way out but only one person has every escaped.

So while 'The Batman' is recovering from the older-brother style beating he got from Bane he starts to train to build up his strength in anticipation for a future battle with the bad guy.

And you'd think with the popularity of obstacle-style races such as Tough Mudder they'd have him doing obstacles of some type. Or maybe with the new show 'American Ninja Warrior' you'd see a rip-off of some of the physical feats you see on this show. Heck, you could even go old school parkour and have him practicing walking on his hands or doing some human flags off the bars of his prison cell.

But none of this included in the movie.

You know what they have him do as part of his fitness routine?

Crunches! Are you kidding me? This is ridiculous!

Nobody does crunches anymore. Not only that during the movie we learn that 'The Batman' has suffered a herniated disk as a result of his beatdown at the hands of Bane.

So let's get this straight...crunches aren't a good idea for people with healthy backs. And they might just be the worst thing somebody with a herniated disc could do as well.

Not sure what a herniated disc is? Here's a brief explanation.

This view would be looking down on the spine. The bottom part of the picture would be the back of the body and the rounded disc would be towards the front. In the picture on the right you can see the tear in the disc allows it to bulge posteriorly, towards the back, resulting in pain. In this second picture you can see the disc has compressed the nerve root. Not a good thing btw.

Anyways, so you may be wondering if there are things which would make this condition worse?

Absolutely and one of the worst would be flexing the spine. Kind of what happens when you perform a sit up or crunch.

I will always remember the analogy used by Dr. Stu McGill as to why sit ups would be bad for your back. He said to imagine bending a credit card forward and back repeatedly. After enough bending what happens?

The card snaps and breaks.

So the take home message here is minimize the amount of flexion and extension through the lumbar spine. Move the hips. Move the thoracic spine. But unlike what you see 'The Batman' doing as part of his training minimize the crunches you perform in your workouts.

Unless you need to beat the crap ouf of Bane. Then it's ok.

Chris                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Okanagan Peak Performance Inc.