Stayfitanywhere’s Blog

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

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

A friend of mine Cam Beals posted the following comment on my facebook page the other day: “Hey buddy, heard your StayFitAnywhere ad on the PeakFM today, nice work. If you have any customers that want to work on their stabilizers, legs and traps by using a wheel barrow I can set that up.” If you didn’t get a chance to hear our ad on the radio I have made a video with the ad in the background and you can see it below.

Now back to the wheel barrow, Cam is the owner of University Landscapers (http://www.universitylandscapers.com/) and he is an incredibly hard worker and he expects the same effort he puts in from his employees (much like we expect all of our clients to put in hard work). Cam and his team spend hours shoveling, digging, wheel barrowing, constructing and labouring while they perform installations like rock work and water features. Cam may have been just slightly off with his terminology and anatomy in regards to wheel barrow work (training) but he is certainly right that working with a wheel barrow is an incredible way to train your body.
Below is the breakdown of wheel barrow work in primal movement pattern terms.
1. Loading the wheel barrow (shovel into material) – For the most part shoveling is performed in a split stance position and to get a real good load on your shovel you need to bend down deep (Lunge) while you thrust your shovel (push) into the material.
2. Loading the wheel barrow (shovel to wheel barrow) – The shovel must be brought from the material (pull) and thrown or placed into the wheel barrow (rotation).
3. Lifting the wheel barrow – Bend down to grasp the handles and stand tall (Deadlift).
4. Moving the wheel barrow – While holding the handles you need to walk the wheel barrow to the dump site (gait).
5. Emptying the wheel barrow – Get underneath the handles and use your legs to tip the wheel barrow up on to its end allowing the material to come out (squat and another push)
6. Work (Training) variables – Deadlines (speed), Size of the job (volume and reps), and Terrain and weather (stability)
There are many ways to achieve physical fitness and working with a wheel barrow is definitely one of them, and wheel barrowing allows you to stayfitanywhere. If you would like to set up a workout with Cam and his crew please feel free to contact me, he is looking for a few extra pairs of hands.
Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1
jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com
Monday and Thursday #FitTip at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

I was 14 when I decided I wanted to start working out.  I wanted to learn about strength training and fitness to become a better athlete.  I played lacrosse, hockey, rugby, and volleyball and thought that if I went to the gym to workout I would be able to run faster, jump higher, and be strong on my feet.  So I went to the Walnut Grove community centre and signed up for an orientation to the weight room.  The weight room had about 10 machines arranged in a semi circle around the outside of the room and some free space in the middle.  I spent about an hour with the instructor learning how to operate and adjust all of the machines so that I could complete the program she had set up for me (and every other person who was going to be working out in the facility).  The program prescribed for me was to do 3 sets of 10 reps on each of the 10 machines 3 days a week.  This was going to be great, I was going to get strong, if anyone could even catch me they’d be lucky if they would be able to push me off the ball or puck. 

So I spent the next 4 weeks doing my workouts between lacrosse, hockey, rugby and volleyball.  After 4 weeks I noticed a few things.  To my surprise I wasn’t running faster, I wasn’t jumping higher, and I wasn’t any stronger on my feet.  How could this be?  I was following the program.  The program was BORING but I was still working hard and was lifting more weight than when I started.  I spent well over 60minutes sitting down and moving my body through restrictive ranges of motions during my workouts.  The machines I was using weren’t very comfortable and they certainly weren’t mimicking any of the movements I was used to performing when playing sports.  I guess this is where I first learned that machine based strength training wasn’t for me or any other athlete.

That was it for my workouts at the fitness facility, it was time to start doing what had always made me a better athlete in the past: spend more time perfecting the individual skills of my sports.  My favourite practice drill was to head to my old elementary school with my lacrosse stick and a ball and spend hours throwing the ball off the wall.  I had been doing this ever since I got my first lacrosse stick at the age of 12.  I’d find any wall I could and just bang the ball off the wall.  I quickly learned how to throw, catch, chase and pick up a ball.  After a while just simply throwing the ball against the wall got boring so I started taking aim for specific bricks.  Once I could hit specific bricks while standing still I started aiming at bricks will throwing on the run.  I was always looking for a way to challenge myself when throwing the ball against the wall.  I came up with all sorts of games and from these games I learned how to move effectively in all directions, how to throw/catch the ball in a variety of situations, and essentially become a better lacrosse player. 

Many of the experiences I had as a youth have influenced the way I think about fitness and athletics today.  It is incredibly important that we provide our bodies with as many opportunities as possible to move, and once we have learned to move efficiently and effectively we need to find ways to continually challenge the body so that it keeps on learning and improving. 

Live to Move, Move to Live!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

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

I have saved perhaps the most important exercise of all for the end, the primal movement pattern: Squat.  This is another exercise that can be done anywhere and is an exercise that is performed every time you get in and out of a chair amongst the many other times you perform this movement during your day to day life.  Following are some important principles to consider when performing squats.

Body Weight Squats

·         Start by standing tall, shoulders back, feet shoulder width apart, and eyes looking forward

·         Push your bum back and bring your hands forward as you pretend to sit down into a La Z  Boy chair (hands go out to counter balance your bum going back)

·         When lowering yourself during the squat be sure to think your knees and hips are moving at the same time (not knees before hips or hips before knees) FLUID MOVEMENT!!

·         Keep your knees in line with your toes and don’t allow your knees to travel over your toes

·         The angle you create at your ankle should be the same angle you create at your hips

·         At the bottom of your squat the weight of your body should be equal throughout your feet

·         At the bottom of your squat imagine that you are pushing your knees out against something and use your bum and hamstrings to unfold your hips as you stand up

·         It is your goal to squat as deep as you can without breaking the above principles

You can do squats several different ways, with a bar over your shoulders, with dumbbells in your hands, or with a small child in your arms.  Each different squat represents a different challenge and slight variations in body position but if you follow the above principles you will find success in your ability to squat in nearly all situations.  If you are having trouble with the body weight squat try this regression: Chair Squats – Follow the above principles and lower yourself so that you actually sit down in a chair.  Be sure to use your bum and hamstrings to bring yourself back to a standing position.  To make your squat more difficult try the following progression: Quick Drop Squat with Full Extension to your Toes – Follow the same principles as above, however you are going to drop to the bottom of your squat as fast as you can and from there you will power all the way up to your tippy toes.

See if you can find 7 different ways to perform a squat, and do each different one every day of the week.

Move to Live, Live to Move,

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

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

I covered pushups in my last post and as always we have to equal our pushes with pulls, so it is onto my next favourite exercise: Pullups.  Pullups cover the pull primal movement pattern and can be done anywhere you can find something solid to hang onto that is above  your head.  Following are some important principles to consider when performing pullups.

Narrow Grip Pullups

·         Grab a hold of the handles with your palms facing in towards each other, be sure to have a strong grip

·         Brace your midsection and squeeze your bum cheeks together – Think Core and this will help keep you from swinging back and forth

·         Use a little jump if you need to get started and begin to pull your chest towards the bar as you breathe out

·         While pulling think about using your lats (the big muscles on the back side of your body) and squeezing between your shoulder blades

·         When your head clears the bar you have completed a pullup but still need to get down, don’t just drop!  Slowly lower yourself down as close to the bottom as you can get, then pull again!

Pullups are an incredibly difficult exercise and were no doubt an essential movement critical for the survival of our ancestors.  If you are unable to complete a pullup using your own weight try this regression: Bent Knee Reverse Pushups – Go to a squat rack or smith machine and set up an Olympic bar just above your hip height.  Grasp the bar with a strong grip and walk your body underneath the bar until your shoulders are below your hands and your knees are bent to 90 degrees at your feet are flat on the ground.  Maintain the same principles as the pullup above and pull your chest towards the bar.  Once you are confident with the Narrow Grip Pullup you can progress to: Wide Grip Pullups – All of the above principles are the same the only difference is the grip, as you might have guessed.  Grab a hold of a bar with palms facing forward and hands at least one hand width wider than shoulder width. 

Here is a video of some guys having fun with pullups at the local playground http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMjFN-m2VOM. 

Move to Live, Live to Move,

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

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

I would like to start off with pushups because they are my most favourite of my favourite exercises.  Again the reason I love them so much is because they can be done anywhere, they encompass 1 of the 7 primal movement patterns, and there is a ton of ways to make pushups easier, harder, and just generally more fun!  Following are some important principles to consider when performing pushups.

Pushups from your toes

·         Start on your hands and knees, position your hands just wider than shoulder width and be sure to have your hands directly below your shoulders

·         From here step back to your toes creating a straight line with your ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, and ears

·         This is your set position and the straight line position should never be broken throughout the exercise (think core – brace your midsection, hips strong)

·         Lower your body down towards the floor to create 90 degree angles at your elbows

·         At the bottom push your body away from the floor while exhaling

Complete pushups that meet these principles and you will see tremendous gains in total body strength as well as your push primal movement pattern.  If you are unable to do pushups from the toes try this regression: Knee Pushups – Maintain all of the same principles as above, except you are performing pushups from your knees and making a straight line from your knees to your ears.  If you work on this you will build up enough strength to progress to pushups from your toes.  If you are proficient at pushups from your toes and are looking for a challenge try this progression: Pushup Shoulder Touch – Maintain all of the same principles as above, except when you push yourself away from the floor touch your right hand to your left shoulder, and lower back down with two hands and repeat touching your other shoulder.  You will likely need a wider foot position in order to keep your hips and shoulder square to the floor when you touch your shoulder.

There are many more methods of performing pushups, and if you know of any you would like to share please don’t be shy.

Move to Live, Live to Move,

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

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

Almost everyone has an exercise they call their favourite, for some it is running, for others it is aerobics, and for me it is squats, pushups, and pullups.  This should come as no surprise to most, if you have ever trained with me or taken a class with me these are the exercises that we spend a majority of our time doing.  The reason I love them is simple; you can perform these exercises anywhere!  Don’t need to go to a gym to get them done.  You can do pushups in your living room, squats in your office, and pullups at the closest playground.  Each of these exercises require that you move your own body through a range of motion, you don’t need any external load (although having an external load isn’t a bad thing).  These are bodyweight exercises and as I wrote in a prior post there are seven primal movement patterns (http://blog.stayfitanywhere.com/?p=778) and these 3 exercises fall into the primal movement category. 

Primal movements are essential for living and they are performed every single day.  Whether you know it or not you will likely perform all seven of these movements today, but will you perform them well?  Will you perform each of these movements as efficiently as possible?  Will you perform them without causing pain?  Will you perform them with enough of a challenge to elicit a neuromuscular response?  If you answered no to any of these questions you need to find a qualified trainer to teach you how to do these movements properly.  Do you avoid doing any of these movements for fear they will cause you pain?  If you answered yes to this question you need to find a qualified trainer to teach you.  These movement patterns were essential for the survival of our ancestors and they are just as important now if you want to live an independent, functional and pain free life.

My next 3 posts will cover what I am looking for when performing a pushup, a pullup, and a squat as well as progressions and regressions.  Please feel free to share your favourite exercises in the comment box below and maybe they will inspire someone who isn’t moving enough to get moving.

Move to Live, Live to Move!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

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

I have seen a number of infomercials for fitness gizmos and gadgets that claim to train your core while burning more calories than any other exercise or piece of exercise equipment ever.  HA!  One such infomercial was posted on facebook and it was for a product called the i-JoyRide Exerciser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPn_V3PP-8Q&feature=player_embedded (watch the video and have a laugh) and the comments that followed by fellow trainers were full of sarcasm and humour.  I mean how could you not poke fun at a mechanical bull like chair that “if you had someone over for dinner you would ask to hop on and go for a ride.”  Finally strength coach Paul Hemsworth made a comment that hit the nail right on the head “We as a society have to pull our collective heads out of our asses. As funny as this is, it is everything that is wrong with our outlook on fitness.”  Most fitness gizmos and gadgets make claims and guarantees that if you follow their simple and easy to use fitness program you will lose weight and tone muscles.  Unfortunately it isn’t that easy, you actually have to put in the work… no machine will do it for you. 

I would like to share with you two simple ideas in order to change your outlook on fitness and health.  These ideas are simple but they do however require work and effort.  I often tell my clients to “eat like a caveman” meaning you should eat food that could either be gathered or hunted.  I don’t expect every person to actually go out and hunt and gather food for themselves and their family but when going grocery shopping take a look at the food that goes in your cart.  Could a caveman gather a box of Oreo cookies, a frozen lasagna, or case of Coke?  NO!  What you should be putting in your cart is meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains.  Ideally you will choose these products in their least processed and preserved form after all that is how a caveman would consume them.  It will take some time to adjust to this but eventually it will get easier and your body will thank you in the long run.

Remember a caveman couldn’t just hop into his car and drive over to the local CaveMart and grab his groceries.  A caveman had to move to get his food, his survival depended on it!  The second idea is “move like a caveman” meaning performing the movements cavemen had to do to hunt and gather their food.  Paul Chek calls these movements “Primal Movement Patterns” and there are seven of them: Squat, Lunge, Bend, Twist, Push, Pull, and Gait.  Every single one of these movements was necessary for a caveman to hunt and gather, they had to walk/run (Gait) to chase their prey, they had to lunge to push their spear into their prey, they had to twist to reach up and pull fruit off of tall branches, and they had to squat and bend to pick up food from the ground.  All of these movements are still necessary in everyday life today but not nearly to the extent they were in the time of the caveman.  This is exactly why we have to find time daily to train/perform these movements.  If you watched the above infomercial you would see that only one of the seven primal movement patterns were performed.  If you don’t know how to perform these movements effectively find a qualified personal trainer to teach you and start putting them to work every day! 

We may not live in caves anymore, or hunt and gather our own food daily but we could all learn a few lessons from those that dwelled in caves,

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

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

I was sent an excellent article yesterday by a client, http://lifespotlight.com/fitness/2008/05/23/trainer-tells-all-what-i-have-learned-about-health-and-fitness/, the name of the article is; Trainer Tells A: What I Have Learned About Health and Fitness.  The author started off by saying “I was riding my mountain bike” and from there on I knew it was going to be a good article, and it turns out this particular trainer and I share some very similar thoughts and a few opposing ones.  Following are my ten favourites from his long list of things that he has learned with a little commentary of mine attached to each one.

·         Pushups are the best upper body workout designed….no machine can replace that…you don’t need any equipment and you can do them anywhere.  I can’t make this up, but this was number one on the list!  This would be number one on my list, my all time favourite exercise!

·         Most people do not lift heavy enough to make stronger muscles.  Most people are scared to lift a heavier weight for fear that they will become too bulky or that they aren’t strong enough, but once they try it and see the difference, they never go back (saw it this morning at Evolution Bootcamp and see it all the time with my clients!).  Note: this isn’t too say you should be lifting 100’s of lbs, but you should be pushing yourself close to the max at all times.

·         Our dependence on gyms to workout may be keeping people fat….as walking down a street and pushups in your home are free everyday…but people are not seeing it that way.  This is the reason we started StayFitAnywhere, fitness is all around you, you can become fit without a gym!

·         If I had to pick one sport for a child to start with it would be gymnastics, the strength/speed/balance/body control they will learn can be applied to any sport down the road.  Even though I never took gymnastics as a kid (I am a certified gymnastics instructor though) I would recommend it to all parents before enrolling their child to play on a lacrosse team (the sport I love). 

·         There is no such thing as spot reduction…but there is a great business in selling that concept (Ab-reclining chair anyone?).  It never stops amazing me at the number of gimmicks there are for doing ab exercises, when all you need is a bit of floor space and a glass of water, Turkish Get-up anyone?

·         If you want to get better at running….you run…..at biking…you bike…….at a sport…you play that sport.  This is very true, however if you train movements and energy systems that are related to your particular sport you will see a tremendous improvement in your ability to play that sport.

·         There is nothing new in health and fitness…..just ideas that resurface that are long forgotten.  This statement has some truth to it, the emergence of Functional Training is very similar to the ideas of Military Calisthenics, and however there is always new research being done to present new and improved ways of doing things!

·         Fads are created to sell more specialized equipment/gear, lifting/throwing something heavy and running fast has been around for 100s of years and still works.  Again the reason why we created StayFitAnywhere… our philosophy is that all it takes is a little bit of space and your body (and maybe a dumbbell or two!).

·         Want a strong “core”? Lift something heavy over your head and walk around trying to stabilize it…the motivation to not drop it on your head will work wonders.  During a Kettlebell workout (which has been around for 100’s of years) you are constantly trying to stabilize your spine as you move the Kettlebell through a variety of paths around and above your body.

·         If you eat whole foods that have been around for 1000s of years, you probably don’t have to worry about counting calories.  Before food was so readily available at every street corner humans spent most of their days trying to find their next meal, and that didn’t mean they were driving around trying to find the closest McDonalds, they were hunting and foraging trying to find as much meat, fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts as possible.

If you have trained with me before you have likely heard me say one or two of these things before, or maybe even every single one; but please take these words with a grain of salt as I was once told everything we know is wrong… meaning that in 5, 10, or 50 years all of these things may be completely untrue but for now this is some of the best advice I can offer!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com