It seems like I always get into the swim lane next to the guy who likes to splash a lot. I never liked getting splashed in the face in the pool as a kid, and I don’t like it now.
I used to think it was just dumb luck that I always had “that guy” swimming next to me, but its happening often enough that I now realize now this is just a common trait.
Caution! Metaphor ahead.
I’ve not studied swimming, but have learned from experience over the years to resist the water as little as possible in the direction I want to go, and to resist it as much as possible away from the direction I want to go. In other words, my hands “carve into” or “slice” or “pierce” the water as they enter (i.e., minimal resistance moving forward), and then pull like hell against the water as my hands come back toward me. Simple stuff, right?
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by Coach on April 23, 2010
Running tonight it dawned on me that much of the work I do in order to maintain optimal health, and more particularly, to heal physical dysfunction, is performed in order to facilitate release.
Here’s how I have it figured. I crashed a motorcycle in 1996. Most of the physical damage was to the connective tissue in my ankle and knee. Therefore, in order to keep moving in life, I immediately (and have since continued) to cope, compensate, and adjust for this by over utilizing other parts.
How does the song go?
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by Coach on April 21, 2010
Nothing feels better, sensationally, than the expression of correct postural alignment.
And I can hear you saying, “What about making a million dollars?”
“How about marrying the love of your life?”
“What about having your first child?”
And these are incredible experiences. Experientially speaking, there are not many things more gratifying than these, or a dozen other peak events which you may someday experience in life.
But, sensationally, very few things, if any, come close to the expression of correct postural alignment.
Why?
Because it is from – and through – correct postural alignment, which all other sensations flow.
A mighty declaration? Probably.
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by Coach on April 7, 2010
I’m listening to Anat Baniel on a webcast tonight and she points out that to use less force is to become sensitive to the subtleties of movement. She goes so far as to say that utilizing less force to accomplish a result (i.e., optimization) is a sign of higher intelligence.
I tend to agree. The key concept behind soft-style lifting is to minimize tension, relax under load, and to optimize your technique so that you’re using the minimum force required to complete the rep and set.
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by Coach on April 7, 2010
I was in a meeting today at work and asked a question of one of the participants, and in his answer he totally killed it. He had a seemingly complete understanding of the intricacies of the subject at hand, which was pretty complex – even though this was not his native area of expertise. What’s more, he conveyed the information in a way that was meaningful, yet easy to comprehend. So much so, that one of the ladies present whose area of expertise he was describing, said, “Make that man a manager in our department.” And she was completely serious. In short, he schooled us, in the truest sense of the word.
However, the most interesting thing happened in the several moments after this as everyone around the table became noticeably engaged in the discussion at a keener level. From the speed of their responses, to the vocabulary they used, to the look in their eyes as they spoke. In knocking one out of the park with his response, our friend had changed the entire trajectory of the meeting for good.
Performance (or lack thereof) is truly contagious. On a day to day basis, this is a pretty subtle point, one that may be missed altogether. Reason being, we tend to hang around folks who buoy our own level of performance with their own, which is typically much the same.
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by Coach on April 6, 2010
Have you ever noticed that in addition to feeling better during and after exercise, you also think better. It never fails that during exercise, my mind explodes with ideas.
I was going to name this post, “Let exercise be your muse,” but many times, all it takes to really get the creative power churning is to just get out and do a little something. It could be taking a walk, (very) casually swimming a few laps, doing some yard work, or just getting out in the yard, period.
OK. I know most of these activities qualify as actual exercise, but you get the point. You probably wouldn’t call joint mobility drills exercise, either. But I can’t think of a more health promoting activity – also known to get the creative juices stirring right along with the synovial ones.
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by Coach on April 3, 2010
So much lifting literature and philosophy is based on breaking through plateaus, overcoming limitations, and reaching new levels of strength and fitness.
And frankly, I can’t think of a worthier goal. However, there are times when our strength, flexibility, range of motion, ability, or other key characteristics required for optimal lifting may be limited.
This could be a physiological limitation such as sickness or injury, a spatial limitation such as working in a new or different environment, a programmatic limitation such as working within the parameters of a new or different lifting protocol, or a functional limitation such as working with unfamiliar equipment. Or it could be some combination of these. Or it could be something completely different.
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by Coach on March 22, 2010
A few years ago, my wife and daughter and I visited some friends of ours in Colorado, and went for a a trip-within-a-trip with them to Glenwood Springs, just over the pass from Snowmass and Aspen.
We wanted to do plenty outdoors, so in addition to some hiking and general hanging out(side), we decided to take a bike ride where the rental outfitters drove us all halfway up the pass – about 20 miles – and we were supposed to cruise at a very leisurely pace downhill, back to town.
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by Coach on March 15, 2010
One of the least intuitive, yet most fulfilling experiences I get to engage in on a fairly consistent, if too infrequent basis, is to “let go” of my sense of straight, or correct, or right posture during an exercise, and just engage in the activity in a way that feels good. Too often, I catch myself comparing my insides to others’ outsides, meaning, I over extend or over exert myself in an effort to do something “the right way,” which is no good.
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by Coach on March 10, 2010
As I was out jogging tonight, it dawned on me – as so many things do with right amount of oxygen flowing to my brain – that longevity is the product of sustainability.
It seems like everywhere I turn today, I see longevity diets, longevity supplements and potions, books and blogs on longevity, and the like. And that’s a good thing. Longevity is a good goal.
But let me pose a question: How do you go out and “do longevity” today?
Answer: You don’t. You can’t.
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