Kettlebell Class Canceled Tonight!

The 6pm kettlebell class is CANCELED tonight due to the impending weather!

Oldtime Strongman Records

If your a fan of oldtime strength, you should know the name and training methods of Hermann Goerner. The German strongman set all manner of incredible records during his career.

A few of his greatest feats:

1. Right-Hand Military Press: 138 pounds

2. Left-Hand Military Press: 115 Pounds

3. Right-Hand Snatch: 230 pounds

4. Two-Arm Jerk: 411 pounds

5. Right-Hand kettlebell swing of two kettlebells totaling 187.5 pounds

6. Two-Hands slow curl of 209 pounds

7. A rectangular fix of 160 pounds

8. The Human Bridge - while an automobile with six passengers drove Over him - a weight of well over 4000 pounds

9. Carried a grand piano weighing 1444 pounds for 52 feet

10. Wrote his name on a blackboard with a 110 pound kettlebell hanging from his thumb

11. One Hand Deadlift of 735 pounds

12. Lifted his stage dumbbell (which was 330 pounds with a 2-3/8 inch diameter handle) clean and jerk style - any time he wanted.

This Week's Routine - Core Stability

For those who want a harder challenge then I normally would post, try out this routine.  I throw a lot of unstable exercises at you, which will really challenge your ability to stay under tension.  Safety is of most importance, so please choose a weight that you can safely wield.  I have included the youtube links to as many as possible so that you can refer to how they are done.

Cossack - ( 1 bell or 2) - 3 x 5
Burpees - 3 x 10
Renegade Rows - 3 x 5
Plank Press - 3 x 10
Overhead Lunges - 3 x 5
Static Hold and Press - 3 x 5

Feedback from Glute Activation Post

You may remember my post a few weeks back regarding using the foam roller on the soleus muscle to activate the glutes and hip extensors. I have been using the foam roller on many of my clients, in between sets of squats, deadlifts, and balance work.  I've even used it for a few people prior to their treadmill warmup.  The overall feedback from people has been great.  Everyone reports that using it prior to a hip dominant exercise seems to make the exercise easier to perform.  I have tried it myself, and I am definitely making it part of my training program.  I just wish I learned about it earlier!

Please try it on your own, and post feedback to this blog post, or email me your thoughts.  It will help me learn.

This Weeks Routine- Bottom's Up

I've done this routine a few times, and it is brutal on all the smaller muscles of the shoulder, arm, wrist, and hand.  It is an odd feeling after a few days, as I don't think I've ever felt those muscles so sore.  The premise is very basic. Simple perform the four exercises below with a "bottom up" bell position.  Move slow, very slow...except on the clean.

Because the grip fatigue will be high, limit your repetitions to 5 reps at a time or less.  Performing them in the order I have listed will help your overall performance on each.

 1) Bottom Up Turkish Getup - 5 each side

 2) Bottom Up Windmill - 3-4 sets of 5 or less each side

  3) 1 Arm Press - 3-4 sets of 5 or less each side

  4) 1 Arm Clean and Press - 3-4 sets of 5 or less each side

This is great for anyone who requires a strong grip.  That includes juijitsu, sailing, construction, mechanics, etc...

More Idiotic Arrogance!

Watch this video below....



How many of you would like to perform this guy's variation of a jump squat?  Not me.  Go ahead and try.  Join the millions of people who damage their vertebrae, tear their ACL, or dislocate a hip.  This idiot actually believes people should train like him.  Please don't! Any time you perform any exercise, you better have a damn good reason for doing it.  And if you are going to risk injury, the pay off better be huge.  This idiot's vertical jump would improve just as much if he performed regular, boring, SAFE, back squats. As a rule, just because it can be done, doesn't mean it should be done.

More Glute Activation Tricks!

Here is another useful glute activation trick.  If this doesn't prove to you that everything is interconnected, then shame on you.  Loosening up your calf muscle immediately provides more strength in the glutes and hip extensors.  I tried it on myself, and the results were quite dramatic.  Try calf rolling before a run, or before sets of squats, deadlifts, swings, or snatches.  My bet is, you'll notice the exercise seems much easier immediately!

You Can Change the Nation

 Everyone with a dvd player should watch this movie: Food, Inc.  I bet most of you, like me, have never bothered to ask where your supermarket gets the food you eat.  I knew about slaughterhouses being gruesome, e.coli outbreaks occurring more frequently, and farms being responsible for pollution.  What I did not know was how severe and prevalent these issues have become.  Even worse, the FDA and USDA are no longer protecting the consumer from harmful poisons and poor nutrition.  In fact, they are working behind the scenes with multi-national corporations and Congress to not only promote cheap, harmful food, but are actively creating a veil to hide the reality from consumers.  Companies and individuals that attempt to fight them are shut down and silenced through lawsuits and impossible court fees, often times ending in their family and property being taken from them. 

But, as consumers, we are not powerless.  We can dictate the market by only buying foods that are organic from companies that support healthy and ethical farming practices.  We can support local meat, produce, and dairy farms, and spend money in local farmers markets.  We can rally together to support bills that will change how the food industry processes and packages the food we eat.  We can act to shut down facilities that regularly fail to pass pathogen tests.

All of these issues are DIRECTLY related to childhood obesity and the boom of childhood diseases.  Until we start changing our buying habits so that a bag of carrots costs less than a bag of potato chips, schools and daycares will continue to shovel shit into our children's mouths.  Low income families will not be able to buy that bag of carrots until middle class Americans flood the market with a demand for high quality, nutritious food.

Please do YOUR PART.  Watch the movie, and pass it along to others.  Change your buying habits.  Get involved locally. Go to this website to take part in changing our future, and our kid's future.


http://www.takepart.com/foodinc

Functional Movement Screen Opportunity

Attention: If you have any money left in your flex spending account, you can use it for chiropractic services, corrective exercise, and/or the functional movement screen (FMS).
 
        Our FMS Screening and Corrective Exercise Instruction was a success on Dec 24^th.  Because of the great turnout and volume of patient interest, we are opening up the same options on Dec 31^st, from 10am – 12:30pm.  However, we will ONLY be offering the screening process on that day.  The corrective exercises will be given on a follow up appointment.
 
***There are only 10 slots available on that day for the FMS assessment***
 
       For those interested in taking advantage of our discounted FMS testing, please call the office at 301-622-9000 to schedule an appointment.  The fee for the FMS assessment ONLY will be $25, which is the same 50% discount provided to patients on the Dec 24^th screening day. Each appointment will be 15 minutes in length, and consist of the injury assessment, results, and interpretation.  Please wear clothes that provide freedom of movement, and wear the shoes that you would normally train in.  
 Attention: If you have any money left in your flex spending account, you can use it for chiropractic services, corrective exercise, and/or the functional movement screen (FMS)
       After you appointment is finished, you will need to schedule a follow up appointment to learn the corrective exercises prescribed to you based on your assessment results.  Please schedule that follow-up appointment with Milvia at the front desk after your initial FMS assessment. 
 For more information on the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), go to:
http://www.marylandsportsinjurycenter.com/ptfunctionalmovement.html

See you soon,

Jason Schreiber, Director of Sports Performance

Strength is Built on a Foundation of Mobility

    As I sat here trying to decide on what I wanted to write about today, it dawned on me that I have not talked a lot about mobility and flexibility training.  Sure, strength is incredibly important, but not at the expense of joint mobility.  One of the quickest ways to get injured is to force a joint through a range of motion greater than what it is used to. Knowing what muscles you need to stretch is a very individual issue.  The best way to find out is to come see us at the office to participate in a functional movement screen (FMS). 

   However, many kettlebell exercises stress the hip musculature, core, and shoulder complex.  This means that if you are not regularly performing stretches for those overworked muscles, they might tighten up and cause injury. The muscles you should stretch after kettlebell training are your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors, abdominals, lower back, and shoulders.  Performing the following exercises will help you keep those muscles flexible.

1) Shoulders
2) Chest
3) Glutes
4) Abdominals
5) Hip Flexors
6) Quads
7) Hamstrings