Stayfitanywhere’s Blog

I have written about lacrosse many times so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that lacrosse is my favourite sport.  I started playing lacrosse when I was 12 years old, I was still living in Edmonton and my hockey coach asked me to play on his box lacrosse team in the summer, so I said sure.  It was a pretty smooth transition from hockey to box lacrosse; both sports require the use of a stick as an implement, both sports have 6 players on the floor/ice at the same time, both sports require excellent hand eye coordination, both sports require rotations to shoot/pass, both sports have a physical element, both sports have you shooting on a goalie to score, and finally both sports are fast and fun! 

As I said both sports require strong hand eye coordination, and the ability to rotate so when I got my first lacrosse stick from Canadian Tire, a Brine Shotgun, I spent countless hours throwing the ball against the garage.  Even though I had played hockey my whole life and was used to having a stick in my hands things didn’t start very well.  I spent a majority of my time chasing the ball and learning to pick it up, as it turns out this was and is still one of the strongest aspects of my game.  After a couple of weeks spending hours banging the ball against the wall I figured out how to throw properly which brought the next challenge, learning how to catch!  This wasn’t too bad because I learned how the ball would bounce during my countless hours chasing the ball around my yard, but by this time I was starting to practice with my team and we didn’t spend much time standing still catching balls, we had to catch them on the run (the way the game is meant to be played).  My first season of box lacrosse was fun and challenging and by the time the season was over I had a pretty good grasp on all the basic skills needed to play the game.

I only played one season of lacrosse in Alberta and luckily moved to one of the hot beds of lacrosse in the world, British Columbia, and from there my love for the game grew.  I quit playing soccer right away, and 4 years later I quit playing hockey to play box lacrosse and field lacrosse.  Moving to BC give me the opportunity to play in a more competitive league and gave me access to fantastic coaches that really helped develop my skills and knowledge of both box lacrosse and field lacrosse (I will write a separate post regarding field lacrosse which is a totally separate game).  When I was 17 I was the captain of the Surrey Stickmen Intermediate A team that was coached by Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame members the Tasker brothers and we won a provincial championship!  It was one of the greatest moments of my lacrosse career and I was fortunate to be a member of such a fantastic team, and I still play with many of those teammates today.  The bond you create with your teammates when you come together to win a championship is something that can’t be broken over time and is probably the reason why I love this sport so much… well that and the mental and physical challenges that come from trying to beat your opponents!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

Monday and Thursday #FitTip at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

I just got back from a great vacation in cottage country, more specifically in Georgian Bay, Ontario.  The title isn’t exactly true I wasn’t living totally primitive while on vacation but I did spend a solid 4 days without electricity and limited cell phone reception, which was an absolute treat!  I just wanted to share some stories of my vacation and how they relate to fitness.

·         In order to reach Robyn’s cottage we had to take a 45minute boat ride (this wasn’t primitive but I couldn’t help but imagine the effort it would have taken to get to where we were going if we didn’t have a motor boat, Robyn’s parents have cross country skied the distance in during the winter), which was just spectacular.  When we arrived at the dock we hopped out of the boat and basically said good bye to our shoes and sandals… we spent the majority of our time in bare feet which is right up my alley as you are all aware!  As I moved around the property my feet has to grip rock, moss, and sticks and compensate for the ground not being level in order to keep myself upright while walking.  The reason this is so great for your body is that you can’t simply step one foot in front of the other, you need to consciously plan your route a few steps ahead… meaning you have to be aware of every step you take and to adjust your body for any change in footing.  This is how primitive caveman had to move, they didn’t have perfectly flat surfaces to walk/run on so they had to train their body to be aware of what kind of surface they were travelling on and adjust accordingly.

·         As I said earlier we arrived at the cottage using a motor boat but from then on when we left the cottage we usually hopped in a canoe or a kayak.  I had only been in a canoe or a kayak a handful of times so it took a little bit of getting used to but once I got moving it was great.  I am not exactly sure why I preferred the canoe to the kayak, maybe because I felt my legs were grounded in the canoe and I could be more powerful when paddling.  These two methods of water travel are great workouts and I definitely worked up a sweat as we paddled around the bay looking at different islands, cottages, and birds.  When we were paddling all I could think was no wonder every picture of a coastal Native American in a canoe was so ripped… you would have to be strong in order to battle the currents and waves of the water to collect food necessary for living.

·         According to Paul Chek there are 7 primal movement patterns that were necessary for survival and they are: squat, lunge, bend (Deadlift), push, pull, twist, and gait (walk/run).  There were some chores to do around the cottage and in order to get these chores done all of these 7 movements took place.  The big chore that required all of these movements was the cleaning of wooden stove pipes… wow it must have sucked to be a chimney sweep back in the day.  Three of us took the pipes down cleaned the ash and soot out of them, washed them in the water and then reassembled them.  These are the kind of jobs that used to make up the workforce and now that desk jobs are more prominent we are seeing a large number of the population becoming overweight with poor posture and movement mechanics.

·         Although swimming isn’t directly included as one of the primal movement patterns you wouldn’t be able to swim without combining the primal movement patterns of push, pull, and twist.  I was told that a majority of French Canadians that used to inhabit the area couldn’t swim, which completely shocked me as I couldn’t imagine living that close to the water and not swimming.  We swam daily… we would jump into the water to cool off, to play, to exercise and to bathe!  If you couldn’t tread water, you would be in some serious trouble… so I am going to concede that the original habitants of the land could tread water and that is definitely a workout! 

This trip really opened my eyes to the way humans had to live 50 years ago, 100 years ago, and thousands of years ago… as much as I love modern living and technology it is important to know what it took to survive in the past in order to influence the way we live our present lives!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

Monday and Thursday #FitTip at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

My favourite sport far and away is basketball.  Although my first sport was actually hockey (beginning at age 5), I began playing basketball at the age of 11 and quickly fell in love with the quick & explosive full bodied movements that it fostered.

The other great perks that the sport provided was that it was very inexpensive, required little equipment and could be played with little pre-planning- ie. no rink time had to be arranged, and courts were plentiful and accessible.  This allowed me to play frequently and at almost any time I desired.

My entire teenage years were consumed with playing basketball and although I didn’t realize it at the time, it provided me with a strong body and athletic foundation that I still carry with me to this day.  The countless hours that I spent playing also gave me an outlet to expend the incredible amount of energy that I had (and as most teenagers do).  And as I was constantly spending every spare moment I had on the court, it also kept me out of trouble

The important skills and physical development that basketball provided were many:

-hand eye coordination, agility, balance, strength, power, speed, reaction time, cardiovascular endurance, good bodily coordination, and a good foundation of movement skills.

In addition, the mechanical stress that was placed on my body provided a good foundation for my bones.  The teenage years are a critical time of peak bone growth, and doing resistance training or explosive jumping & running sports can add more bone in the ‘bone bank’ by up to 20 years!  This is another reason why it is so important for children and youth to be involved in physical activity- it can have a major positive impact on future bone health!

Basketball has provided me with 20 years of fun, exercise, competition, teamwork, teammates (that have become good friends), and good disciplined work habits.  I still love to play it and still have much to thank for it.

Happy Ballin’ 

Andrew Burchell

Advanced Health & Fitness Specialist

aburchell@stayfitanywhere.com

I hope everyone had a fantastic Canada Day and are prepared to enjoy a great weekend!  I am heading out of town on a vacation and wanted to share a few things with everyone before I go.

·         This morning I trained Rob Daly  for the first time in 2010.  Rob has been training with me since I first started training clients and has been instrumental during my evolution as a trainer/coach.  To welcome Rob back to training (not that he wasn’t training while he was working in LA) I decided to test him out with one of his favourite workouts http://blog.stayfitanywhere.com/?p=578 and he crushed it!  If anyone is looking for a photographer check out Rob’s website www.robdaly.com to see some of his work.

·         A friend of Mine Cam Beals is leaving for the Calgary Stampede tomorrow and if you know the dates of the Stampede you will wonder why he is leaving so early??  Well he is riding his bike from Vancouver to Calgary to take part in the festivities of the Stampede… Good Luck Cam wish I could have taken part in the journey with you.

·         If you work in the Health Care field take a look at this website for some resources on preventing Healthcare Associated Infections www.haiwatchnews.com.

·         My lacrosse team the Ladner Pioneers is gearing up for the playoffs and as soon I return home we will be starting our first playoff series and I would love to see you in the stands email me or check www.wcsla.ca for dates and times of games.

·         The sun has come out FINALLY here in Vancouver and I have spent most of the morning on my bike zipping around the Seawall from English Bay to Kits beach and I saw tons of cyclists, rollerbladers, runners,  walkers, skateboarders taking advantage of the weather.  I also saw tons of kids playing in the playground, throwing footballs/Frisbees, kicking soccer balls and just generally having fun.  Thank you Vancouver for the reminder of why I love living in this city!

I want to leave you all with one last thing to think about… when you train hard, you need to recover hard!  With that being said I am off to enjoy a vacation but I will be back soon and ready to train and play hard!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

Monday and Thursday #FitTip at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

This Sunday the Delta Jr. A Islanders (www.deltaislanders.ca) crushed the Grouse Grind as a team, 21 players and 2 coaches raced their way to the top of the mountain.  The players and coaches did a fantastic job considering less than 12 hours before the start of the climb the team had lost a hard fought game to the New Westminster Salmonbellies 6-4, who currently lead the BC Jr. A Lacrosse League Standings.  The winner of the race was Nate Clare and in a close second place finish was rookie Sean O’Neil.  As Nate and Sean caught their breathe at the top a flurry of players arrived to cheers with most players finishing under 55minutes.   The players weren’t finished when they crossed the finish line they still had a 30min yoga session to be completed.  Annika Hodgson from Duquette Strength showed the players what it takes to push their athletic careers to the next level.

For many it was their first attempt at the Grind and Yoga, and they showed tremendous determination and concentration in accomplishing both tasks.  With this kind of effort on and off the floor the Delta Islanders may just surprise a few teams on their road to the Minto Cup.

Check out pictures of the team on our facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/StayFitAnywhere/50493916136.  If you would like to book a customized active activity for your team or group please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

Monday and Thursday #FitTip at www.twitter.com/stayfitanwhere

WALL FLATTENER
  

Ah, the wall flattener. It’s one of my favourite exercises not just because of the many benefits for posture, range of motion and flexibility but it is an equipment free exercise. Nothing is required besides a vertical flat surface which means this exercise can be performed virtually anywhere.
A great example is demonstrated by Andrew Burchell above, who presents Stayfitanywhere Health Seminars.
For full instructions of the exercise and a print out, view Wall Flattener Exercise.
Sitting at the computer all day forces your shoulders to rotate inwards towards the center of your chest which results in tight pectoral muscles. If you’re reading post, this would be a perfect time for you to get up out of your seat and perform this exercise for 30 seconds on the wall behind you. Give it shot!
Stay tuned for my next favourite exercise, the Wall Sit.
To see a live demonstration of other equipment free exercises, register for free seminar “Fitness Solutions for Busy People” on June 29th @ 7pm.
To register for this educational seminar or to view this exercise and many many more, visit Stayfitanywhere.com.
Stay Fit!

~joe - jcheng@stayfitanywhere.com

I have made it no secret that my favourite exercise is a pushup, read my blog post here http://blog.stayfitanywhere.com/?p=812. I would like to build on that post by sharing with you one of my favourite pushup variations: the Lateral Crawl Pushup. The reason I love this pushup so much is because it puts the body in motion and because the motion is more than just the up and down movement of a regular pushup your nervous system needs to coordinate the movements of your limbs in order to successfully complete the exercise (as you can see in the video).
• Start in pushup position with your feet together, perform a pushup.
• At the top of the pushup move your left foot away from your right while bringing your right hand together with your left.
• Bring your right foot together with your left foot while moving your left hand away from your right hand.
• You are now back to the start position and ready to do another pushup and then either keep going left or reverse everything and go right.
• Be sure to keep your body in a strong straight line position (ankles to ears) throughout the movement.
Before practicing this pushup be sure that you can perform a regular pushup from your toes and even if you can’t you can still gain tremendous benefits by practicing the crawl portion of the exercise without actually doing the pushup, this can be a challenging exercise for even the most advanced. As you practice and progress you will notice that the movement becomes more fluid and you are able to move quickly from the bottom portion of the pushup right into the crawl, at this time you can give yourself a pat on the back and keep crawling!
Move to Live, Live to Move!
Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1
jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com
Monday and Thursday #FitTip at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

The supine what?  Yes read it again.  You may have never heard of this exercise, but as you can see, this is actually a combination of 2 exercises.  I love this exercise and I do this exercise regularly because it addresses 5 things:  upper body flexibility, upper body strength, shoulder joint stability, core strength, and an increased metabolic effect.  I’ll begin by describing the exercise start postitions and break it down, bit by bit.

To start, I lie in a supine (face up on my back) ‘table-top position’ on a workout bench with a dumbbell in each hand.  I begin the action by very slowly lowering the dumbbells in a controlled manner into a chest fly position.  From there, I will hold this position for 10 seconds.  Holding this position, is in my experience, the most effective and aggressive way to stretch out your chest muscles.  Most individuals have tight pecs and rounded shoulders from sitting at a desk all day and this section of the exercise alone is an amazing way to stretch the chest (and feels great too!).  As I hold the dumbbells and let my chest stretch out in this deep fly position with my legs up in the table top position, I am simultaneously performing 10 alternating ‘leg drops’.  This action forces the deep core muscles to stabilize the spine.

Once I have performed the 10 alternating leg drops, I return my legs to the table top position and then I begin to perform 5 very slow controlled chest flies, which builds strength and a fantastic isolation awareness of the pectoralis major muscles (the chest-see my previous blog post on Corrective Exercise).  Once I have completed my 5 chest fly reps, I will return the beginning and repeat this sequence it all over again until I have done it for at least 1 minute.  My favourite benefit of this whole exercise is that each time I lower the dumbbells into the deep fly position, I can feel my chest muscles stretch out deeper and deeper.  By the time the exercise is over, my chest has gone through a very deep, profound stretch and I experience a feeling of being ‘opened up’.

WARNING TO THOSE WHO WANT TO TRY THIS EXERCISE:  As with any exercise, this sequence has its elements of risk!  Remember to begin by performing just the chest fly with a light weight first.  The deeper and heavier you go into the fly, the higher the risk of injury in the shoulder joint.  If you feel any part of your shoulder joint ‘kicking in’ then you are performing this exercise ineffectively- make sure your chest muscles are taking 100% of the load during this sequence.  This exercise is complex.  So just as with learning any new skill, it is important to begin by performing simple movements (correctly) first.  Once you have a handle on the simple dumbbell movement (in isolation) then practice the leg drops (in isolation).  Once you have correctly mastered the 2 movements, you can then combine the 2 exercises.  Crawl before you walk kids

Happy Training! 

Andrew Burchell

Advanced Health & Fitness Specialist

aburchell@stayfitanywhere.com

I came across an article in the Vancouver Sun Health Section yesterday titled “Shoes your butt will love” and sadly the article was promoting the benefits of toning sneakers, more specifically Reebok Easy Tone.  The name of the shoe itself should be a warning light, easy and tone do not belong together, it takes hard work and tension in your body to create tone.  The name of this shoe is just another way marketing perpetrates the myth that it is EASY to get into shape and marketing gurus use the idea that individuals are looking for a quick way to solve their health and fitness issues when this is simply not the case for a majority of the population. 

The article states that the shoes “force you to engage your glutes, thighs and calves while providing a comfortable, shock-absorbing padding for your foot and knee” and “increases engagement of the abdominal muscles.”  These statements were backed up with the following numbers from a Physical Therapist “because the shoes cause that slight instability they can increase muscle activation BY UP TO (bolded by me) 14% in your calves, 29% in your quads and 16 to 28% in your glutes and hamstrings.”  I thought these were pretty impressive statements so I wanted to find out more about these shoes.  I did a quick search to find out if any of these claims were backed by a published peer-reviewed academic journal article and I found nothing.  What I did find was a great article in the New York times that reviewed these vary same shoes http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/health/08well.html and within the article I found some great information that I would like to share.

But the claim that the shoes offer muscle toning is backed by a single study involving just five people, not published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. In that study, done at the University of Delaware , five women walked on a treadmill for 500 steps wearing either the EasyTone or another Reebok walking shoe, and while barefoot. Using sensors that measure muscle activity, the researchers showed that wearing the EasyTone worked gluteal muscles an average of 28 percent more than regular walking shoes. Hamstring and calf muscles worked 11 percent harder.

After finding the above statement I stopped my search for credible research.  Further along in the NY Time article I found the following…

The shoes are designed only for walking, and because of the instability design, wearers are discouraged from running, jumping and engaging in other athletic activities while wearing them. So the real effect may come from simple awareness that they are wearing a muscle-activating shoe, causing them to walk more briskly and with purpose.

NOTE:  I visited the Reebok website to find out more information about the shoe and I found a collection of exercises that involves all of the discouraged uses of the shoes.  Again look out for marketing, the road to health and fitness is not found through a quick fix.

So there is the answer, by simply wearing these shoes a person is more likely to walk more briskly and with purpose.  Any movement done with conscientious and deliberate thought including washing dishes, chopping vegetables, swinging Kettlebells, lifting weights, and walking briskly will cause an increase in muscle activation of the muscles required to perform the movement.  By simply thinking of a movement your nervous system activates your brain to run the motor program necessary for creating the movement, thus preparing your muscles to move.  So if you want to get better muscles activation when exercising and moving you don’t need any gimmick all you need is your thoughts!

Contact me at jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com to learn more about conscious movement and personal training.

Move to Live, Live to Move,

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

Monday and Thursday #FitTip at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

Everything in moderation, I’m sure we’ve all heard that. I recently watched a documentary on how doctors, fitness experts, health experts are segregating the fit and the not so fit. We tend to have biased opinions on what we believe is the right way to eat, the right way to keep fit and what everyone should be doing.
But with every negative comment we make on what our clients should eat or how much they should be moving, it actually makes them less motivated. I know that’s the last thing I would want to do.
Of course we all care about our clients, that’s why we are so passionate about their health, but sometimes we need to step back and just because we may not eat a bag of chips once a week or hit the local mcdonalds, doesn’t mean our clients can’t and if they do, doesn’t mean the should feel guilty doing so.
I for one like to indulge in many different things and clients should not feel guilty consuming things they enjoy. Just be knowledgeable of your eating habits. Remember, moderation.
~joe - jcheng@stayfitanywhere.com