The body is a pretty amazing machine. And the more I learn about it and figure out what it can do the more amazed I am. One of the more interesting things, imo, is that we have built-in governers. You know what I mean by a governer, right? If you've ever driven a golf cart down a hill you're familiar how the speed is controlled when you descend a hill. This is in place for safety and to prevent tipping or crashing the cart. So what kind of governers does your body have? Well in our hands and specifically the finger tips we have more nerve endings than any other part of the body except for the mouth and lips. If we drew a self portrait emphasizing the areas with higher concentrations of nerve endings it might look something like this. [caption id="attachment_5008" align="aligncenter" width="279"] We learn a lot about our environment through our hands and mouth. Think about a newborn baby and how they learn about this new world. If they can grab something they will. And once they've gotten ahold of it it's going in their mouth. And while this can be a good way to learn and explore it can also be our early warning system if something is potentially dangerous to us. If we touch a hot element we flex in order to retract and pull away. And when we taste something awful we usually will spit it out. So how does this relate to training? Well imagine doing deadlifts. If someone were to injure themselves it would most likely be a back injury. Now if the load on the bar was more than our nervous system felt it could handle it would want some kind of an out. Because when you think about it grip strength is indicative...

So this week we had a client that was seeing a chiropractor and was informed that there was a particular exercise that no one should be doing. And based on the title of this post you already know what the exercise is. But we train a number of our clients with deadlifts. And we don't have DC after our names. So what does this mean? Well since Breaking Bad is done I know you've got nothing else to do but stick around and find out the truth. Which is that deadlifts are not bad. Nor are deep squats. Or bench presses. Or biceps curls in the squat rack. (I threw that last one in as a trick to see if you're still paying attention. I do my biceps curls on the Olympic platform) In fact there is no such thing as a "good exercise" or a "bad exercise". There is only exercise done with proper form or improper form. Simple as that. Because here's the thing...we all deadlift anyways. A deadlift is basically a hinging movement at the hips. So whereas a squat would involve most of the bending to happen at the knees a deadlift involves most of the bending at the hips. Imagine all of the times you may hinge (deadlift) in a day: * picking up your suitcase off the belt at the airport* taking a bow as conductor of the symphony orchestra* closing your gar door when your arms are full of groceries But I would go further than to simply disagree with the premise that deadlifts are bad for you and should be avoided but they are good for you and should be in most people's programs. Why are deadlifts important? Because they promote the ability to remain in extension. Flexion on the other hand:* usually...

There's one thing I've found that consistently leads to improvements on the training room floor and in competitive performance. And the thing is this is nothing new. And it works in all areas of life. For example, this approach will lead to a higher GPA in school. It leads to better fiscal health when it comes to your finances. And it improves your relationships. So what is this magical approach that appears to make life better across the board? Well, it's quite simple actually. And unfortunately it's something many people skip past. And here it is. Remove the negative. What? Really? That's what is going to lead to new gains? This will lead to more weight loss? This will reduce joint pain and allow for more efficient movement? Absolutely it will. So how do you identify what your negatives are? Are they the same as your training partner? And how do you go about eliminating them? With these questions in mind here are 3 Strategies to Removing the Negatives. Step #1 - What Do You Not Enjoy?Do you love chin ups? Or pull ups? Maybe you're a huge fan of Turkish Get Ups? I'm guessing 0-for-3 on the above. Which would be no surprise. We tend to steer away from the more challenging movements and exercises. In order to separate yourself from the average gym-goer you need to do the things the average gym-goer won't do. Find out what it is you struggle with and prioritze this in your workout. Step #2 - Add More Glutes, Hamstrings and LatsQuestion...what do the above muscle groups have in common? Answer...you can't see them when you face a mirror. But most people go the gym and want flat abs, bigger biceps and a more powerful chest. So they do crunches, curls and bench press....

A colleague wrote a blog post recently about the leg press machine. He made some great points that I thought should be shared with you. So here are some of the reasons to be cautious with the leg press and some tips to perform this lift as safely as possible.For many people when they want to do a lower body workout there are a lot of exercises they could choose from. They could perform squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups, leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses with multiple variations of each of these.But if we don't have a lot of experience in the weight room we may shy away fromt the free weight exercises. And as a result people tend to migrate towards the leg press machine.And even if we're not a newbie to the gym we will sometimes opt for the leg press because it's one exercise where we can really load up the machine with lots of weight and feel strong.But the leg press has some limitations. One of the biggest is that it results in a posterior tilt of the pelvis as the knees and hips flex to lower the platform.And as the pelvis tilts posteriorly it causes the low back to go into flexion and increases the chance of disc herniation.And nobody wants this. But there are certain things we can to minimize this from happening.First, our core works the best for us when we establish proper posture.  From the head down through the trunk we know this to mean:* neutral head* chest tall* shoulders down and back* neutral spineIf we can establish these positions prior to initiating the lift we'll do a better job of protecting the spine.What we sometimes see happen  are the following mistates:* forward head* flexed neck* chest and shoulders rounded forwardSo before we even attempt...