Fast Fitness - Straighten and Stretch Hip While Strengthening Core, Arms, Legs, and Balance
Friday, March 27, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Here is Friday Fast Fitness - Increase strength and muscular endurance of your body working as a whole, and learn to keep neutral spine and good hip position against resistance.
From a pushup position, turn to the side, raising one arm overhead, holding legs and body straight.
Raise your top leg. Notice if you increase the inward curve of your lower back (overarch to hyperlordosis) and if you bring the leg forward - demonstrated in the upper photo.
Instead, hold straight. To feel position, practice against a wall - demonstrated in the lower photo. Bring the back of the raised leg against the wall. Press your lower back closer toward the wall instead of letting it overarch from the weight of your leg pulling the spine.
The idea is to use the wall as a guide to learn positioning, then use your muscles and sense of positioning to hold straight without the wall from then onward.
Read success stories of these methods and send your own. Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from selected ones. Before asking, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, and archives at right.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right.
On the web, Grand Rounds is a collection of the best on-line medical posts from the past week.
Congratulations Fitness Fixer reader Robert Davis. Your success story was in the list of the best medical posts of the week. Code Blog wrote it was a "story of someone who thought his back pain a double edged sword." Wasn't the article something far better with sweeping information to healthier methods for all training and life itself? Click to find out.
A different host finds and lists Grand Rounds selections articles each week. This is different from the Grand Rounds in a hospital, which is a lecture for doctors about a patient or topic.
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Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from selected ones. Before asking, see if your answers are already here on Fitness Fixer by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, and archives at right. Read success stories of these methods and send your own. Questions
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right.
What magic secret exercise or machine or supplement makes you fitter?
Fitness Fixer reader Jilly wrote in to ask:
" I am a 65 yr old woman and have no strength in my upper body; I cannot push myself up even by 1 inch but just lie floundering on the floor! How do I start rectifying this to be able to do even a straightforward push up?"
How to get better? Just like anything else, Try. Practice. The body responds. Work and you improve. Money should be that easy.
Remember that Olympic athletes are sore for days after workouts. They fall and fail thousands of times, get back up and work more. Like learning a language - start with nothing, and the more you work, the better you become.
Click the arrow to watch this short video that reminds what practice can achieve:
Retrain your body to move in natural ways, not just in one up/down or side-side motion of gym exercises. Use daily life as your built-in all day strengthener. That is the difference between "doing exercise" then going back to weak unhealthy life, and real healthy living. That is what Fitness Fixer is for.
Have a real life and enjoy the quick gains. Proceed safely, and have fun. Send in your success stories. Stay inspired.
--- Read and contribute your own success stories of these methods. Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from fun ones. Before asking more, see if your answers are already here - click labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and the Fitness Fixer Index. For answers to personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. See Dr. Bookspan's Books, take a Class, get certifiedDrBookspan.com/Academy.
Fast Friday - Oblique Core Strength and Balance on the Ball
Friday, March 20, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Here is Friday Fast Fitness - develop strong side abdominal and back muscles, and train balance at the same time:
Put both hands on the floor and step one foot up onto an exercise ball of any size
Step the other foot up to the ball and turn sideways. Hold straight (upper photo). Hold and feel all abdominal and back muscles working strongly to hold yourself straight.
Work up to raising one arm.
Don't let body sag (lower photo). The idea is to train your muscles to be able to hold straight against the resistance of your own body weight during daily life when walking and everything you do. If your muscles don't have the strength or endurance to hold you, then you will sag onto your joints.
At first, you may need help to steady the ball. Practice until you can steady it with your own muscles, balance, and stability.
Instead of sitting on an exercise ball, remember that you might already sit much of the day. Get up and use an exercise ball for more functional, active, and healthful things.
Send in your photos of your fun successes using the ball in ways that train function. Exercise ball success story already in progress from Robert Davis. See his first story - Fixed Injuries, Got Strong, With Functional Exercise.
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Read success stories of these methods and send your own. Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from selected ones. See if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, and archives at right.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right.
Friday, March 20th, is the start of the Baha'i and Persian/Zoroastrian New Year, falling on the Vernal Equinox, the beginning of Spring. Under various spellings, Norooz is a celebration of renewal. It is time to clean and plant, cook and make new clothes, dance and celebrate. Spring is a new beginning for many things in many cultures.
Fitness Fixer Posts for New Beginnings of Healthy Fitness:
One New Year's custom of my own family - swimming in the ocean every day of the year, all winter including New Year's Day in January, with temperatures below zeroC:
Reader Robert Davis has been enthusiastically sending in success story after success story. He sent his first story of fixing a painful back injury from weightlifting - Fixed Injuries, Got Strong, With Functional Exercise.
Since getting the idea of using healthy daily movement instead of injurious movement during daily life and exercise, Robert stopped major causes of his injuries. He has rapidly been getting strong using fun functional exercise, and improving function. He has been taking ingenious photos using his camera phone. His stories and photos will be posted. He is sending them in fast and furiously. I enjoy hearing how he experiments with each thing, and sees and understands how they work so he can incorporate the concepts into daily movement, not just going thorough arbitrary motions and calling it exercise.
We are still having problems uploading photos and movies for you - since October. It has been a time-intensive and difficult process to get any photos at all uploaded for these posts. It has changed and delayed a few of the articles I wanted to write for you. When Healthline staff can help, they will. Robert generously made a page to store visuals so you can link and see them. Start with:
Watch how he uses a healthful squat for real life, not just 10 times in a gym.
Robert writes:
"Make a mess and pick up only one item at a time via a squat. If you need to clean the house only pick up one item at a time. The constant up/down motion of the squat etc should get the heart rate up for a good cardio workout. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Tired of the stationary bike? Do this for a half hour:)"
Good bending is natural built-in cardiovascular exercise, leg strength and stretch, Achilles tendon stretch, hip strengthener, warm-up for stretching, and back pain prevention, since it stop one major cause of back pain - bad bending (bent over at the waist or hip). Done properly, good bending strengthens knees and does not cause knee pain. The Related Posts below explain more. For all Fitness Fixer articles on each topic, click the labels under this post - for example, "Achilles stretch."
Read success stories of these methods and send your own. Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from fun ones. Before asking, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right and the Fitness Fixer Index. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. SeeDr. Bookspan's books.
On the web, Grand Rounds is a collection of the best on-line medical posts from the past week.
ACP Internist wrote that I "debunk the idea that the body loses heat from the head." Of course you lose some, but how much? Click to find out.
A different host finds and lists Grand Rounds selections articles each week. This is different from the Grand Rounds in a hospital, which is a lecture for doctors about a patient or topic.
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Read success stories of Fitness Fixer methods and send your own. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right.
A video should appear below of 91-year-old drummer Jerry. Chick the arrow in the center of the movie box or at bottom left of the video box to watch her. You do not need HD to watch it. It is viewable at various resolutions.
Stay active, keep moving, be happy. It keeps you vital, more with each year.
For more ideas click the labels "aging" and "spirit" under this post. Labels give all Fitness Fixer posts about that topic. The label "video-movie" shows all Fitness Fixer posts containing a video to watch and enjoy learning how to be happy and fit.
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Read success stories of these methods and send your own. Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from selected ones. Before asking, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, and archives at right.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right.
Fast Fitness - Even More Core With No Forward Bending
Friday, March 13, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Here is Fast Friday Fitness - build on a previous Fast Fitness for increased strength of body and core. Strengthen almost everything with this fun move.
Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from fun ones. Before asking questions, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and The Fitness Fixer Index. Read inspiring success stories of these methods and send your own.For answers to personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. See Dr. Bookspan's Books. For personal evaluation take a Class. For top students, certification throughDrBookspan.com/Academy.
On the web, Grand Rounds is a collection of the best on-line medical posts from the past week. Doc Gurley did great work creating an easy to follow video format of the best medical posts of the week. She featured my Military Chants post, first showing a screen-shot of the post, and did a well-thought-out medical version Jody chant with her surprised co-hosts.
Each week, a different host works hard each week to find and list Grand Rounds selections. This is different from the Grand Rounds in a hospital, which is a lecture for doctors about a patient or topic.
Thank you to this week's host Doc Gurley for doing the hard work of collecting and featuring our posts. Great fun, great job.
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Read success stories of Fitness Fixer methods and send your own. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free, click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. Find your topics on the Fitness Fixer Index, and seeJolie's books on her website.
Grace didn't have a lifetime of track and field experience. She lived a life of real movement, called functional exercise, raising 11 children and doing chores. She decided to run a race. One month later, she ran the race and broke a world record.
A video should appear below of Grace Foster. Click the small, right-pointing arrow at bottom-left of the video box to watch her straight body positioning, the race, and her happy family.
Grace exercises daily, stretches, eats healthful food. Other racing record holders over age 90 will be featured in future articles.
Get moving, stay moving, be happy. It keeps you vital, more with each year.
Click the labels, aging, running, and spirit under this post. Labels give all Fitness Fixer posts about that topic. The label video-movie shows all Fitness Fixer posts containing a video to watch and enjoy learning how to be happy and fit.
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Read success stories of these methods and send your own. Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from fun ones. Before asking, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and the Fitness Fixer Index. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. SeeDr. Bookspan's books.
Losing most of your heat through your head is a popular myth. Head heat loss is not the majority of body heat lost. Not even close.
Years of my career in research have been to study how the human body performs in extremes - exercise, injury states and how to prevent them, working and exercising in heat and cold, changes in air and pressure on mountain tops, and the related but different problems in space and underwater. I have lived in laboratories underwater and done experiments aboard aircraft. I have studied combat swimmers and done extreme swims with them for fun. For military research, I put men in vats of freezing water to see how we can keep pilots alive after bail-outs and how to get covert swimmers to their objective and, I found out, an entire separate topic to get them back again. Strong brave men got hazardous duty pay just to have a day with me. My life is scientific research and finding out why things are the way they are and how to make us better at surviving them. After finding out all these interesting things, I found out another thing - people still like myths more than fact. Here are some interesting facts (cool facts on cold):
Head heat loss is usually less than one-third to one-fifth of total heat loss. That means it is not the majority, which would be more than 50%. Head heat loss is usually less than 20-30 percent or so of total heat loss.
Head heat loss changes with how cold it is. The lower the temperature, the higher percentage head heat loss. Head heat loss is linear with temperature. At 0 degrees Centigrade, up to about 30 to 35% of heat could be lost through your head at rest.
Head heat loss changes with how much you exercise. When exercising at about a work rate of 50% of aerobic capacity, head heat loss falls to less than half of heat loss at rest.
Head heat loss changes if you are in water compared to air.
The heat you lose from your head is small compared to the rest of your body. Some people have bigger heads than others in proportion to their stature, so maybe they can lose a percentage more heat. To reduce heat loss, wear a hat.
All about cold, cold immersion, and scuba, try my book Diving Physiology in Plain English www.DrBookspan.com/books. Post about body heat and cooling after death - Time of Death From Body Temperature? All posts on myths - click the label 'myths' under this post. All posts on aviation and aerospace - click the label 'aerospace' under this post. All posts on cold or heat - click the corresponding label under this post.
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Read success stories of Fitness Fixer methods and send your own. Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from fun ones. Before asking, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. Find your topics inthe Fitness Fixer Index andDr. Bookspan's books.
Hold a straight pushup position. Extend one leg 90 degrees out to the side. Your foot and knee point straight to the front.
Keep that leg and foot parallel to ground, not sagging downward to the floor.
Do pushups keeping the leg held straight out to the side and off the floor.
Keep your back straight (demonstrated center) in neutral spine. Don't allow lower spine or neck to droop under your weight, to prevent compressive spine sagging (gray t-shirt right foreground). See how in Fast Fitness - Strengthen by Changing Your Plank.
Readers - send in your mpeg movies of doing this and all your other successes.
--- Read and contribute your own success stories of these methods. Before asking questions, see if your answers are already here - click labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and the Fitness Fixer Index. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. For answers to personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. LimitedClass spaces for personal evaluation. Top students may apply for certification -DrBookspan.com/Academy. Learn more with Dr. Bookspan's Books,
Fixed Injuries, Got Strong, With Functional Exercise - Real Life
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
This fun note and great story came in from Robert Davis:
" I have tried to find a way to contact you for a while now!
"I have a story I thought I would share and I am so glad I had found your books and website.
" I had injured myself via weight lifting in late October. I had felt the warning signs before this, however I ignored them and continued to train full out. The result was I had hurt my lower back very badly. The pain was unbearable.
" Sitting hurt. Getting up and walking hurt. To top all this off, I was so adamant that one's "back" health is determined by how well you can stretch forward bending! So this became a discouraging struggle as the more I tested that, the worse I hurt! I had many bad habits besides that and will go into that in a moment.
" I kept training "thru" the pain and bad movement thru to about November 24th. I kept aggravating the area thru bad habits (while doing these exercises. Arched back, rounding etc). I finally went to the doctor and he just made me do some simple movements and the typical straight leg lift. He had decided for now that it was not something all that bad and said that we would do a MRI (or was it CAT scan?) if it did not get better.
I struggled for the next few weeks as I was told to simply rest. I realize the fallacy in this because "just taking it easy" had lead to muscle weakness. It was now a double edged sword by Christmas. I hurt in my back, but when I tried to exercise it it was so weak it hurt more.
I finally ran across your website just after Christmas and before the new year. I started to play around with the ideas at first. I was still stuck though on "better" meant no more pain bending forward. So for a week or two more I played back and forth with these ideas.
" Finally around the 15th or so after the new year I decided "what the heck" I will order some of your books. They seemed more promising then anything I had looked at and I realized in an "aha" moment that it was a form of exercise, which I so very much craved at the time as I simply love to exercise. This "resting" was driving me nuts..
I was watching a show on TV one night on beaches and shell collecting of all things and the biggest "aha" came to me in the form of a little girl. I watched adults picking things up and they bend right over without thought. This went on for a while. Then I saw a child pick up shells. She squatted every time! I said to myself "jeez these books are absolutely right, I am basing everything on bad habits!"..
" I immediately started becoming aware of everything I did during and after exercise. I took your book "fix your own pain" and have almost memorized every chapter and decided if I am going to do this I am going to balance my whole body.
" So after weeks of this (trial and error). I slowly got better. Things I learned along the way are this.. Bending over to pick stuff up is not healthy nor is it natural (that child in the show!).. I learned even after doing weight training for 2 years that my legs were still not as strong as I thought. I learned I had developed bad leg positions from unhealthy squatting (on the knee joints instead of behind). I had further learned that I was holding my feet outward and I think this had come from doing leg pressed with feet slightly out to try to target certain areas.
" I learned to strengthen my core much more effectively and better thru the ab revolution and fix your own pain. I was a 500 crunch type person. I am no longer doing sit ups crunches or whatnot. The stuff in your ab revolution is much more difficult to do and healthier.
I learned to strengthen my body thru its own weight, destroying the myth that you need "weights" for gains as I found these exercises to be just as challenging, if not more in some cases because of the added balance and flexibility required.
" I am now sitting here writing this and I tell you that compared to the initial injury and repeated re-injury (doing the same exercises with bad habits) to now, I am close to 100 percent.
" The funny thing is, I no longer have the desire to go back to weight training, which is odd because that was my life! I have discovered a whole new world of fitness with body weight alone. I am trying more challenging things by the day and I have realized that this is actually more fun the weight training for health and I am getting the same, and often better results (since I am not a body builder, just love exercise and looking fit). I had gone and bought a few things like pull up bars and planche devices and am currently working on mastering some very difficult moves that require body strength alone, but at the same time a mindful awareness of how I am doing it by using your techniques (keeping the back straight with slight tilt etc, no arching).
" It is fun working up to one arm pull-ups in good form. Jeez, to think you could bench press close to 300 a few months ago but doing a few of these exercises in your book were hard! I was surprised I could not do very many pull ups or hold these planks and whatnot.. I am set on a new adventure and I love it because it feels so "free" and balancing. I don't have to spend a huge fee to go to the gym. My gym is my body and functional movement.
" Thank you for your knowledge. Having my back back (sorry for that funny saying!) is great. I intend to keep it healthy now and have begun the correction process of all my body, all the way to my feet!
" I don't look at my injury as a mistake anymore. I look at it as a life changing experience and a chance to explore more functional and fun ways of living. I have passed this site and your books on (not my personal copies!) to a lot of friends into fitness. Some are already reporting healing knees and what not and even re-considering how they live and workout!
" PS I have also changed to a Vegan diet just to see what happens. I was very intrigued by the 72 year old body builder who is vegan.
"You are a godsend. Robert Davis"
Great work Mr. Davis! Robert has been sending me many insightful updates with photos, to be posted with his ongoing success stories. His next story starts here: Cardiovascular Cleanup.
Junk food can be vegan and vegetarian with unhealthful additives, dyes, refined processed sugar and flour. Click the label "Nutrition" under this post for all posts on how to get healthy fun sports food and Healthier Fitness by clicking the label "Green Fitness."
Weightlifting and Weightbearing With Lower Spine Overarching (Sticking out too much in back) Compresses Vertebral Facet Joints:
Read success stories of these methods and send in your own. Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from selected ones. Before asking, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, and archives at right.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right.
On the web, Grand Rounds is a collection of the best on-line medical articles from the week. A different host works each week to find and list the articles. This is different from the Grand Rounds in a hospital, which is a lecture for doctors about a patient or topic.
Thank you to this week's host David E. Williams for doing the work of collecting and featuring our posts. The theme of Health Business usually about how to make money in medicine, but Mr. William conscientiously included my post about working in medicine, not for the money, but for the good.
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Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from selected ones. Before asking, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, and archives at right. Read success stories of these methods and send your own.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right.
Certification Workshops in Healthy Exercise and Fixing Injuries
Monday, March 02, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
I will be running three Spring workshops. Come learn to fix injuries, and to identify and teach healthy therapeutic exercise. One of several top features of the workshops is that medical and health professionals learn together with those who attend to fix their own pain and injuries.
These workshops have certification option through the International Academy of Functional Sports Medicine (IAF Sports Medicine). Certification counts directly toward fellowship advancement with IAF.
March
Medical Breakthroughs in Neck and Back Pain
This is an intensive class divided over 3 weeks, March 21, 28, April. 4, 2009. 9 am-11:30 am each week.
Held at Temple University Center City, in downtown Philadelphia.
Both workshops are held on the same day at Temple University Ft. Washington campus, Fort Washington, PA.
Fix Pain 10am-1:30pm and "Stretching Smarter Stretching Healthier" 1:30-4:30pm.
This Ft. Washington campus is a suburban location an hour north of Philadelphia, with free parking. People come in from all over the world to attend this double workshop in one-day format. Note - not easy access by public transportation. See May workshop, next, in downtown Philadelphia.
Read success stories of these methods and send your own. Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from selected ones. Before asking more if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, and archives at right.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right.
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