Maintain Your Strength and Vigor

As we age the importance of maintaining vigor and strength become matters of life and death for a lot of people.  Many studies have highlighted that frailty, not age, is as important a predictor of disease outcome as the actual variables of the disease itself.  A recent study highlighted this fact when looking at older melanoma patients.  The researchers measured the psoas density and area (Pronounced so-as, this is a deep muscle involved in complex moves and communications through the core and lower part of the body.) an important predictor of frailty- of each of the participants.  When researchers ran the numbers those with the higher psoas density and area had higher rates of disease free survival and distant disease free survival.  Those that were less frail also experienced less surgical complications than their more frail cohorts.
It’s not just cancer either.  Other studies have shown that stronger people are less likely to die from heart attacks, stroke, and other cardio pulmonary diseases.  It probably goes without saying but stronger people also experience less bone fractures and muscle disorders as well.
With a properly programmed strength routine you can maintain your strength and vigor well into old age.  Give yourself a fighting chance and keep lifting those weights!

The psoas major is a large muscle that attaches at the bottom of the thoracic spine and along the lumbar spine, then runs through the pelvic bowl, down over the front of the hip joint, and attaches at the top of the femur. It is the only muscle connecting the spine to the leg.

Sources:  Sarcopenia as a Prognostic Factor among Patients with Stage III Melanoma.  Michael S Sabel, Jay Lee, Shijie Cai, Michael J Englesbe, Stephen Holcombe, Stewart Wang.  Annals of Surgical Oncology August, 2011.

Will better sleep help you avoid weight gain?

Many studies have come out as of late assessing sleep and its relation to obesity.  A recent study from Japan associated shorter sleep duration with higher BMI, waist circumference and serum fatty acids.  Another study showed that sleep problems (trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, not getting enough sleep, sleeping poorly, feeling tired at work, and disturbed sleep)in women all contributed to the prevalence of binge eating.  The same study also showed a significant association to napping and being a “night person” and obesity.  So how much sleep should you get and how should you get it?
The gold standard for sleep per night is 7-9 hours with as much of that coming before midnight as possible.  Get as many electronics out of your room.  This includes, TVs, DVD players, computers, and cell phones.  If your alarm clock has big, bright numbers cover them with a towel.  Make the room as dark as possible.  Get into a nighttime routine.  Always go to bed at the same time and about an hour before bed start to unwind by reading a book, drinking some tea, and dimming the lights.  If you are someone that has trouble turning off your brain at night melatonin may help.
The important thing is to make your sleep as undisturbed as possible.  Even though you may be asleep, lights from the TV or computer and wavelengths from electronics like cell phones will negatively affect the quality of sleep.  Quality is just as and probably even more important than the quantity.
Sources:
Short sleep duration in association with CT-scanned abdominal fat areas: the Hitachi Health Study. S Yi, T Nakagawa, S Yamamoto, T Mizoue, Y Takahashi, M Noda and Y Matsushita.   International Journal of Obesity , (21 February 2012).
Sleep problems are associated with binge eating in women. Trace SE, Thornton LM, Runfola CD, Lichtenstein P, Pedersen NL, Bulik CM.   Int J Eat Disord. 2012 Feb 13.

Glutes Enhance Explosive Power Output

There are some fitness professionals that will say that the glutes (butt cheeks) tell the story of your fitness life.  Weak and tight glutes generally mean tight hip flexors and quadriceps, improper squatting technique, and a general lack of attention to the posterior chain as a whole.  Whether you are a competitive athlete, weekend warrior, or soccer mom having a strong set of glutes is very important for long term health and injury prevention. 
For the athletes, however, having both strong and active glutes is important for performance.  A recent study looked at the effects of low load glute targeted warm up versus whole body vibration (power plate) and no warm up on peak power output in the vertical jump.  As you can imagine the glute group outperformed the other two.  There was also no significant difference between the whole body vibration group and the no warm up group.  So make sure you train your glutes and get them active before competition.

Source:
Low load exercises targeting the gluteal muscle group acutely enhance explosive power output in elite athletes.  Crow JF, Buttifant D, Kearny SG, Hrysomallis C.  J Strength Cond Res. 2012 Feb;26(2):438-42.

Troy Dequaine
NX Level Performance Coach

Shoulder Ailments? Poor Posture?
Troy Dequaine demonstrates exercises that help

In the modern world that we live in many people are sitting more.  On top of all the sitting most people are constantly in a state of internal rotation in their shoulders from using keyboards and overall bad posture.  This can create a lot of scapular (shoulder blade) and shoulder dysfunction.    Many times people have lost the ability to draw the shoulder blades in to create good posture and protect the shoulders during pressing movements.
Two exercises that can do wonders for shoulders are the scapular pushup and band pull aparts.
Scap pushups are done by holding the body in a pushup position.  Without bending the elbows draw the shoulder blades together as far as possible and then push them apart.  Keep your hips and spine neutral with the only movement being a slight rise and fall of the chest.

Band Pull Aparts are done by grasping an exercise band roughly shoulder width apart.  The arms will start extended out the front with the band at about eye level.  Keeping your arms straight pull your hands away from each other and touch the band to your chest.  Control the band back to the starting position keeping tension on it the whole time.

Try three sets of ten on the scap pushups and three sets of 20 on the band pull aparts 3-4 times per week for improved shoulder health.

Morning Training Tips

If you are someone that doesn’t usually train early in the morning, getting up and throwing some weight around can be a shock to your system if you don’t prepare correctly.  If you are someone who consistently trains early, you have probably noticed that your body has become adapted to it.  But if you are someone who only does it once every few weeks, here are some things that can help you stay productive when all you really want to do is crawl back in bed.

Get up 1.5-2 hours prior to training: I wanted to start by 5:45 am, so I set my alarm for 4:30.  Waking up at least an hour before you start is important to get out of sleep mode and get the nervous system firing.  Getting up and doing some light stretching is a great way to get amped up for the coming lift.

Go through your normal morning routine: Especially if your routine is designed to help you wake up and get ready for the day.  If you get up and have coffee or take the dog for a walk or take a shower, try to follow that plan before you go train.  This goes back to the first point in that just getting up and moving is a lot better than rolling out of bed and right into the gym.

Hydrate: Drink at least 24 ounces of water before you set foot in the gym. Because of your body’s natural rhythm of hormones, you are naturally dehydrated in the morning.  Getting some fluids in will lubricate your joints and get your body’s systems going at top speed.

Eat: After fasting for anywhere from 8-12 hours overnight, your body is in a catabolic state, it’s busy breaking stuff down, including muscle.  Getting some calories helps turn off catabolism and gives you some fuel for your workout.  Choose foods that are easy for you to digest and include “white” proteins (egg whites, chicken, fish) and some simple carbohydrates (fruit is my go-to).

Get excited: Getting excited about training the night before will almost ensure that you will get up and get moving and get motivated to train.  Not a lot of people can or are willing to get up and train early while the rest of the world sleeps.  Know that you are doing something that 95% of the population will call you crazy for doing but will get you closer to your goals.

Why are my hamstrings so tight? 

New clients that come to NX Level go through a postural assessment. Nearly all of them test out to have tight hamstrings. Another common scenario is that many of our new clients have lower back pain and have been told to stretch the hamstrings to alleviate the pain. The client then religiously stretches their hamstrings with no relief and ultimately stops.  Ironically when they stop stretching their hamstrings their back pain doesn’t go away, but mysteriously seems to lessen in comparison to when they were stretching.  How can this be mobility and stretching are important right? 

 The answer is yes, when sequenced correctly.  Most clients have an anterior (forward) hip tilt.  The profile (side view) appearance to their hip alignment is one of their behind sitting up high in the back and creating a very pronounced arch in the low back (lordotic curve).  This tilt is pulling on their hamstrings, and ultimately putting them in a constant stretch.  When you isolate a hamstring stretch, you are stretching an already stretched muscle. 

The most beneficial sequence of stretching is the following: stretch the anterior (front) of your hips (flexors) as well as your quads.  This will stretch the very tight and shortened muscles that need to be lengthened.  This is the exact opposite of your already lengthened and pre-stretched hamstrings.  Work on your flexors and quads first, this will allow your hips to settle back to a neutral alignment and hamstrings to shorten back to their normal length. Stretching this way will create the space needed to reach your toes, squat or run. 

In the future when you feel your hamstrings tight, low back tight, or someone tells you to stretch your hamstrings, STOP!  Always follow the sequence of hip flexor and quad stretches first.  Lengthen the front side first to create space for the backside.  By following this little tip your lower back and hamstrings will thank you and so will NX!  

Have a great and safe Holiday season, and always, always, always, thank you for your support and membership of the NX family. 

Brad Arnett

Want To  Make Progress? Be Consistent

Consistency is the number one key to progress. All other things that help your progress come back to consistency. Having any inconsistencies in your training program will lead to diminished results in the long run. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is long term success in whatever you want to do.

In the last three years I could count on one hand the number of training sessions I’ve missed. My goals have changed throughout that time, but my consistency towards achieving them have not. I don’t consider that any great feat either. I’ve felt terrible, been ill, had to travel, been short on time, had little to no equipment, been hurt, yadda yadda yadda, and all the rest of the common excuses I hear yet I still got done what I needed to get done. But guess what? So do lots of people. Being consistent is part of who I am. If I’m passionate about something I find ways to fit it in. If I want to do something or change something about myself I don’t sit around playing wishful thinking hoping that it will happen. Success doesn’t happen by mistake.

Look at Jack LaLanne. The man had been consistent in his exercise regimen for ever and what he did at 70 most people couldn’t do at 20. The man was successful in just about everything he did because he stayed consistent in his efforts to reach his goals. He was still lifting weights when he passed away at 96. His fight with death was probably as epic as Roddy Piper’s and Keith David’s fight scene in They Live. He practiced what he preached every day of his life.

Consistency is not just showing up. Consistency is not doing the same thing day in and day out and expecting something greater in return. Consistency is not doing just enough to get by. I cannot preach this enough. Strive to consistently do more or better than what you have done in the past. When you do what you’ve always done, you get what you’ve always gotten. Consistent effort, consistent attention to detail, consistent learning, and sometimes consistent well thought-out change all play major roles in your progress. Any chinks in these links of armor and all of a sudden you’ve got a sword in your belly in the form of bad results. Like I said, everything is predicated on consistency.

I’ve seen way too many people do great for three or four months, see some results, start to sputter in their attendance, and then be gone for the next six months. Then they return with a new sense of vigor and excitement and fall right back into the same cycle. I’ve seen people come in twice a week like clockwork, go through the motions, or don’t do the things they need to do outside of the gym and never get any better. Don’t be like these people. You want to learn calculus? You practice it every day. You want to squat 600 pounds? Get under a barbell. You want to be an expert at tying knots? Tie some knots every day, son. Set goals for yourself and consistently do what it takes to reach it. And if you don’t reach it, you probably didn’t really want it anyway. I once wanted to run a six minute mile but I never did. You know why? Because I don’t like running.

Be consistent in whatever effort you do or it won’t mean a hill of beans in this world, kid.

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Bigger & Leaner You

Men, the thing that makes us men is the well-know yet often misunderstood hormone testosterone.  It gives us our facial hair, deep voice, bigger muscles, and other characteristics that make us who we are.  For most men, as they age the lower their testosterone goes.  This used to be just a part of getting older but now thanks to hormone replacement therapy many men are living full, virile lives well into their eighties.  But what are some ways you can keep your testosterone production high naturally?  Here are some ways to naturally boost testosterone in order of most important to least.  All of these not only help improve testosterone production but also help you live an overall healthier lifestyle.

• Get more sleep
• Minimize stress
• Lift weights
• Lose excess body fat
• Run some sprints
• Don’t skimp on saturated fats and cholesterol
• Avoid processed food
• Don’t heat food in plastic containers
• Compete (and win) in something

Play Your Sport and Keep Your Strength

With fall sports in full swing many kids are leaving the gym and going out to the field of competition.  This is always an exciting time of year for our athletes and us as trainers.  One thing that will help all athletes as the season progresses is to get in a few workouts to maintain that hard built strength and conditioning.  In-season is not the time of year to gain strength, but rather to keep it.  Maintaining strength, mobility, and conditioning that was built in the off-season will only help as the seasons start to get long.  Since it is easier to maintain strength rather than to gain it, the sessions need not be terribly hard or time consuming.  Two 45 to 75 minute sessions per week should be plenty.  These sessions should consist of mobility drills and exercises that the athlete is accustomed to performing with an emphasis on compound movements that work a good portion of muscle mass.  The weights used do not need to be what one used in the off-season.  A good rule of thumb is to do about 85% of the load and 75% of the volume used in the off-season.  Of course having a knowledgeable, good looking trainer- like the guys at NX Level- taking care of the technical stuff always helps!  
 
NX Level wishes all of our athletes a successful and healthy season!

Ladies, this one is for you… but fellas, listen closely. 

A well-known fact is that women lose bone density as they age.  It’s also well known that getting enough calcium in one’s diet is important to help reverse this trend.  But do you know what else is essential to help maintain and possibly build bone density?  That’s right, resistance training.  Progressive, high-intensity resistance training has been shown to be a great intervention for post-menopausal women with bone mineral density loss.  Not only does strength training help with bone mineral density, but the added muscle strength will help to improve balance and prevent falls.  So ladies, get your strength training in to help keep your bones healthy and solid for years to come.