StayFitAnywhere’s Blog

Last week I wrote a post about why we decided to do a #crazycrawlchallenge for the month of January, read about here. This week I am going to tell you how to add crawling to your training program.

1. Get down on your hands and knees and see if you can crawl. It should look like this:

2. If it looks like this, great you are ready to add to your program. If it doesn’t, great you are ready to add it to your program!

3. Crawling is a movement skill and it must be learned and trained. Crawling is best added to a program in two places: as part of your warmup and/or to finish off your training session with some conditioning.

4. Warmup: If you aren’t confident in your crawling skills it is best to start adding crawling patterns near the end of your warmup. Practice crawling after you have done your mobility drills and just before you are about to get into the meat of your training session. To begin I recommend crawling 2 paces forward, then 2 paces backwards. As this becomes easier you can start increasing the distance of your crawls, the speed of your crawls, and the complexity of your crawls. Quality is more important than speed and distance here so we aren’t going to worry about reps or sets, go for 3-5minutes taking rest breaks whenever you need them. Even if you are confident in your crawling skills this is a great way to get yourself prepared for the rest of your training session, see the post on Why the #crazycrawlchallenge.

5. Conditioning “Finisher”: Select a crawl that you feel confident with: hands and knees crawl, fingers and toes crawl, spiderman crawl, or lateral crawl (exercise of the week coming January 30th, 2012). Select a number of paces that you would like to crawl forward and backward: 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. Select a number of minutes you’d like to crawl for: 5-10minutes. Start the timer and crawl for 30secs, then rest for 30secs until the time is up. Only go as fast as you can go without losing the crawl pattern.

Don’t forget to vote for your favourite crawler on our StayFitAnywhere Facebook Fan Page!

Add crawling to your training session along with some great tips from Jon-Erik Kawamoto’s 4 part series on How to Workout and you will have a training program that will get you the results you are after!
Josh Neumann, BHK
josh.neumann@stayfitanywhere.com
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As part of our #CrazyCrawlChallenge for the month of January (read about it here) we will be demonstrating different styles of crawls for our exercise of the week until the end of the month. Check out the fingers and toes crawl below:

Notes
*One side is short while the other side is long
*It is like rock climbing only horizontal
*Head over to the StayFitAnywhere Facebook page to vote for your favourite crawler
*Film yourself crawling for 30secs and email it to us or upload it to our facebook page for a chance to win a $10 gift card to Whole Foods
*Crawling is great for metabolic conditioning (read losing fat/weight): 30secs on, 30secs off for 10minutes straight
*Check out the blog post on Why the #CrazyCrawlChallenge? And stay tuned this week for a blog post on incorporating crawling into your training program
*If you practiced and mastered your hands and knees crawl and your fingers and toes crawl the next progression is the Spiderman Crawl

Take part in our #CrazyCrawlChallenge starting today! All you have to do is practice crawling 30secs a day for the rest of January. Film yourself crawling for 30secs for a chance to win a $10 gift card at Whole Foods… get crawling!
Josh Neumann, BHK
josh.neumann@stayfitanywhere.com
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You may be asking yourself how is crawling going to help me get fitter? Stronger? Lose weight/fat? The answer is crawling creates an environment that gives you the opportunity to (re)learn how to move. When you know how to move with a high level of efficiency/quality it is easier to move more, it is easier to learn new movement skills, and there is generally a reduced potential for injury. Crawling is one of the first movement skills human beings learn, it is one of the next steps after a baby learns to rollover and is the step before a baby learns to stand and walk. These skills are generally developed before a child turns 1 year old. A baby doesn’t have a great variety of exercises or movements to practice/train, a baby is simply spending a majority of their waking hours putting in the work necessary to obtain the movement skills needed for life. One must crawl before they walk.

The steps a baby goes through when learning to walk:
1. Develop strength to hold head erect when upright (ex. breast feeding… typing and texting destroys neck strength)
2. Lifts self up by arms (think plank)
3. Rolling over from side to back and back to side (rolling patterns)
4. Sit alone (think ground up section of Turkish getup)
5. Crawl (coordinates all the above movements and sets the base for the movements to follow)
6. Pull to stand (squat, bend, lunge patterns will be executed here for the first time)
7. Stands (developing the posture/strength necessary for bipedal motion)
8. Walks (dynamic bipedal movement that involves the integration and coordination of all body parts)

Benefits of Crawling:
• A learning environment that needs little coaching
• Improves strength and core function
• Improves coordination between the left and right side of the body
• Improves coordination between the upper and lower body
• Sets the stage for improving performance on strength exercises (squats, deadlifts, lunges, pushups, pullups)
• Helps improve bipedal motion (walking/running)
• Can also be very metabolically demanding!

Babies don’t have a trainer/coach telling them how to do any of the above steps, they don’t have the capacity to understand language yet. Babies do this work on their own and may sometimes be guided by parents actions or cues; but they most certainly aren’t getting told activate your core to pick yourself up off the floor, now squeeze your lats as you pull yourself forward, and drive yourself ahead by using your hamstrings. A baby just begins to move, fails, tries again, fails, tries again, succeeds, fails, tries again, fails, tries again, succeeds and repeats this process over and over. With each failure and successful movement attempt a baby intuitively learns something about movement and begins to write the motor program for movement.

Read about the #CrazyCrawlChallenge by clicking here!

While a baby is learning to execute these movement skills they are at the early stages of core development and function. As we age we generally spend less time exploring movement and more time being sedentary. The result of this change is poor movement skills, core function, and posture. By taking an adult (or even a teenager) back to the earliest stages of motor development we create a learning environment that allows a person to regain movements that were once essential to their initial development as a human being which gives them an opportunity to improve movement skills, core function and posture.

As you can see in the steps above crawling is a precursor to many of the exercises associated with typical exercise programs; squats, lunges, deadlifts, walking, running, etc. If crawling presents a challenge for you, more complex movements will likely present a challenge as well. If crawling isn’t a challenge for you then you are a prime candidate to start or continue to practice/train more complex movements. By using crawling in this manner an individual can best prepare themselves for successfully reaching their fitness goals. Go ahead and give our #crazycrawlchallenge a shot, we are asking for 30secs a day for the rest of January, you will learn something about your movement skills while improving performance in all other aspects of your training.

Next week I will be posting an article on integrating crawling into your current training program and don’t forget to head over to the StayFitAnywhere Facebook page to vote for this week’s winner in our #crazycrawlchallenge.
Josh Neumann, BHK
josh.neumann@stayfitanywhere.com
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As part of our #CrazyCrawlChallenge for the month of January (read about it here) we will be demonstrating different styles of crawls for our exercise of the week until the end of the month. Check out the fingers and toes crawl below:

Notes
*Head over to the StayFitAnywhere Facebook page to vote for your favourite crawler
*Film yourself crawling for 30secs and email it to us or upload it to our facebook page for a chance to win a $10 gift card to Whole Foods
*Crawling is great for metabolic conditioning (read losing fat/weight): 30secs on, 30secs off for 10minutes straight
*If you practiced your hands and knees crawl the fingers and toes crawl is the next progression

Take part in our #CrazyCrawlChallenge starting today! All you have to do is practice crawling 30secs a day for the rest of January. Film yourself crawling for 30secs for a chance to win a $10 gift card at Whole Foods… you’ve got nothing to lose and tons to gain!
Josh Neumann, BHK
josh.neumann@stayfitanywhere.com
Follow us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

As part of our #CrazyCrawlChallenge for the month of January (read about it here) we will be demonstrating different styles of crawls for our exercise of the week until the end of the month. Check out the hands and knees crawl below:

Notes
*Crawlling is one of the first things human beings learn and is an essential component for human movement
*Some may find this exercsie very easy and others may find it very difficult
*Crawl before you walk, walk before you run… all 3 of these activities are linked together
*You will need to coordinate all of your limbs to be efficient at crawling
*One side should be long while the other side is short

This exercise is a great stepping stone to more challenging exercises that will aid in fat/weight loss, and strength/conditioning gains. Take part in our #CrazyCrawlChallenge and practice crawling 30secs a day for the month of January and see how your training improves. 30secs to improve your health and fitness and a chance to win a $10 gift card at Whole Foods… you’ve got nothing to lose!
Josh Neumann, BHK
josh.neumann@stayfitanywhere.com
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Walk before you run. You hear that all the time. What about crawl before you walk? If you haven’t heard it yet get ready because you will be hearing this phrase a lot. Crawling is one of the most important phases of motor development in human beings, it is the precursor to standing and walking. When was the last time you tried crawling? For some it will be like riding a bike and for others it will be a great challenge. There is no denying the benefits of crawling, everyone can benefit from doing some type of crawling during a training session… try it and get back to us.

The Challenge and The Prize!

We are challenging you to crawl 30secs a day during January, starting January 9th, 2012. Upload a video of yourself crawling on our Facebook Fan Page or email the video to info@stayfitanywhere.com for your chance to win a $10 gift certificate to Whole Foods. Grab your smart phone film yourself or your friends crawling for 30secs and send it to info@stayfitanywhere.com for a chance to win $10 at Whole Foods, it doesn’t get any easier… check out these crazy kids crawling!

Follow the hashtag #CrazyCrawlChallenge on twitter to get more updates on our crawl challenge and check back to our blog each week to see different variations of crawl patterns. Crawling is a big bang for your buck exercise, do this and see how your fitness improves in 2012!
Josh Neumann, BHK
josh.neumann@stayfitanywhere.com
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Below are some notes from my talk on Mobility for Runners from Wednesday January 4th, 2012.

*According to the joint by joint approach the human body’s joints alternate between mobile and stable.
*Starting with the big toe being mobile.
*Areas most commonly injured are knee, low back, and neck/shoulder. This may be caused by a lack of mobility in the joints above and below these areas.
*Key joints to focus mobility work on to minimize the potential for injury are: ankle, hips, and tspine.
*Before going for a run perform mobility work that will improve running performance. Usually dynamic movements with 3-5secs holds.
*Post run mobility work can be done more statically and focus on longer holds between 10-30secs.
*Once mobilty has been gained you must lock it in with stability.
*Soft tissue work (RMT or SMFR) is incredibly beneficial when aiming to improve mobility and performance.

Mobility Drills we discussed:
*Half Kneel Hip Flexor Stretch
*Knee Wall Touch (keep heel down as you push knee in to wall)
*Toe touch progressions (Toes up, Toes Down, Feet Flat)
*Hip Swings
*Arm Swings (circles and figure 8′s)

2012 is nearly a week deep and this group of runners has a goal and they are taking steps to accomplish their goal. Do you have a goal? DO you have action steps to acheive your goal? We are here to help.
Josh Neumann, BHK
josh.neumann@stayfitanywhere.com
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The more I know, the less I know. I spent much of 2011 reading, writing, listening, talking, watching, and experimenting in other words learning. It kind of felt like I was back in university but I was writing my own curriculum, administering my own exams, and grading myself. I did pretty good but there is of course room for improvement… with every answer I find, I find more questions. Inspired by a great post by Nate Green here are some things I have learned, relearned and observed in 2011:

• Movement is the lens I look through. There are so many ways to express your body through movement and you can always learn something about movement from every person you meet.
• Strength is a skill. Learn it. Practice it.
• Quality trumps Quantity when it comes to food and training.
• Want to be better at something, do it lots.
• It took me a lot of reading, and programming before finally connecting the dots between rolling, crawling, fascial lines, functional movement screening and how it relates to creating a strong training program.
• Not the “Perfect Training” program… still in pursuit of that, haven’t found anyone who has completely nailed it yet… lots are close but the human body is so complex it is really going to take a great team.
• I am still in the hunt for the perfect rep (for myself and my clients),you see them lots when you first start training and as you train more and more they become harder to find but they are there and when you hit one you don’t forget it. I was talking to a client of mine about this one day and he told me about the best goal he scored in his soccer career: it was 30years ago during a varsity soccer game and he could describe with perfect detail everything about the goal… this goal was his perfect rep and it took him years of work to get it. Any form of exercise you may take part in is a skill and it takes time to get good at it.
• Those that start a training program with the goal of getting better at doing something, get better at doing something.
• Coaches need Coaches. I used a business coach this year.
• Personal Trainers need Personal Trainers. I do my best training when I am with another trainer, a different set of eyes! I heard this saying a lot this year “If you train yourself you have an idiot for a client”… this came from a number of the biggest names in the fitness industry.
• There are many ways to get from A to B, a straight line is rarely an option.
• Crossfit is a sport, get over it and get back to doing what you do.
• Olympic lifting is also a sport. I don’t know how to Olympic Lift so I won’t teach it to anyone, I am looking forward to learning all about it though and then starting to teach it.
• Everyone can benefit from Manual Therapy get to know several types of clinicians.
• I am very interested in adding RMT skills to my repertoire in the future.
• 3 Questions that govern exercise selection: Is this exercise providing a developmentally appropriate challenge? Is this exercise progressing the client towards their goals? What is the risk vs the reward of this exercise?
• Get good at the basics. The basics of eating, hydrating, sleeping, breathings and of course moving. This is what my friend Ben Newman of Pillars of Health is all about.
• If it is important do it every day. Thank you Dan John, read his books.
• I belong to an amazing circle of genius. Thank you all for making me a better trainer, coach, businessmen and person.
• Fuck Calories. The name of a great eBook by Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon, get it here.
• Listen to your body. Hungry means eat. Pain means stop there is something wrong.
• Processed food and sugar (all kinds of sugar) are making humans fat.
• Walk at least 30minutes every day.
• Spend time on the floor. Sit on it. Lay on it. Play on it.
• Make 1-2 small behavioural changes a week instead of 20.
• What gets measured gets changed.
• Make a daily to do list and do it.
• The Whalley Ballers are National Field Lacrosse Champions!
• My girl Robyn is way smarter than I am, she is going to make a big splash in the field of education.
• My dog Max is awesome.

10 Great Books I read in 2011: Movement by Gray Cook, Never Let Go by Dan John, The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss, The 100-Mile Diet by Alissa Smith and J.B. McKinnon, Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes, Open by Andre Agassi, Time Rich Cash Optional by Cliff Harvey, The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle., and Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin.

5 Favourite Podcasts of 2011: StrengthCoach Podcast. Stop Chasing Pain Podcast. Freakonomics Podcast. The Joe Rogan Experience. Warrior Mind Podcast.

Finally a big thank you to all the amazing people I spent time with and learned from this year, enjoy 2012!
Josh Neumann, BHK
josh.neumann@stayfitanywhere.com
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During Bram Newman’s break from Medical School he is going to be training with Josh Neumann and sharing his experiences on this blog, check back often over the holidays! Read Bram’s first post here, his second post here, and his third post here

Another session with Josh and I’m somehow still progressing in such a short period of time. On to the kettlebell swing. I realize now the purpose of doing single leg dead lifts, normal dead lifts and turkish getups with the kettlebell, all to set this movement up.

This session, Josh video taped my kettlebell swing and I found the video feedback to be quite helpful in fine-tuning the movement, still got work to do.

Back in the gym on my own I continue to find motivation in attempting to master the skills from the sessions with Josh. The homework Josh gives me has been so easy to access and take to the gym through the StayFitAnywhere website. I would just log in to the website and print the workout Josh had posted for me and take it to the gym. The way the workouts are posted is also very easy to follow and understand. I’m also a fan of the motivational comments that Josh includes.

Unfortunately it’s back to school time, and I’m back to the time crunch of studying and staying active. I’m hoping this return will be different (in a good way) because I feel like I’ve found a new take on going to the gym and exercising RIGHT and I feel armed with some new tools thanks to Josh and StayFitAnywhere. I can’t thank him enough.

Bram
Twitter: @newmanb04

During Bram Newman’s break from Medical School he is going to be training with Josh Neumann and sharing his experiences on this blog, check back often over the holidays! Read Bram’s first post here and his second post here

Progress!

I feel like I’m soooooo close to that pull-up. Obviously shedding a few pounds will help, but its funny how wrong I’ve been about doing one all this time. Nevertheless, Josh has set me in the right direction.

All of the small things I’ve been working on in sessions with Josh seem to be coming together as well. It’s also becoming evident that as a skill improves, it helps every other skill improve as well. We’ve put all of the pieces of a turkish getup together and it feels great to have learned and (almost) mastered it. Now onto kettlebell swings.

A short message today because I’m seeing Josh for another session in a couple of days, but overall its great to see skills improving and imbalances disappearing, especially in such a short period of time.

Bram
Twitter: @newmanb04