As a former university team athlete, current martial artist and yoga teacher trainer (with a masters degree in exercise physiology) I am NOT surprised to hear from so many people how many misinterpretations they hold about stretching. From my personal experience teaching Yoga teachers I have come to know that yoga/stretching done well is great and done incorrectly can be injurious. More recently, from my clinical experience working…
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A humbling fact is that after the age of 30, adults start to have a gradual loss of muscle mass (also known as sarcopenia) which correlates to some decline in physical performance (Fragala et al., 2019). From this point onwards, we have to continuously work ever-slightly harder just to maintain our current level of fitness. And, after the age of 70, even greater decreases in physiological variables such as muscular…
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The warm-up should be considered an integral component prior to a workout or competition. The RAMP protocol provides a sound framework for ensuring the client or athlete is prepared for maximum performance via raising, activation and mobilization, and potentiation without any level of fatigue. When planning the warm-up, the trainer or coach should select exercises to maximize its short-term effectiveness but also understand how to use the warm-up to aid in the long-term development of the athlete or client.
Do you follow the same gym routine every week? If so, you may very well be maintaining your current physical fitness, but most likely you will not be experiencing any positive gains. The body needs to experience new or additional training stress to force it to positively adapt. In fitness industry lingo, we refer to this as periodization or “the manipulation of training stress over a period to produce a…
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As a personal trainer, I often see clients that are unable to maximally activate and engage their glute muscles (i.e. gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus). The glute maximus’, due to its large size and position, allows humans to stand upright and maintain an erect posture. Besides walking, it is involved in a number of sports, from running to weight-lifting and is used in numerous exercises, such as squats, kettlebell swings,…
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The recent discovery and greater understanding of the micro-structure and possible functions of the interstitium has been getting a lot of medical media buzz recently. It has even been called a “new” organ, the largest one in the body, representing the connective tissue such as the fascia around and between muscles, and indeed, everywhere else. For me, this represents a very practical missing link in my education which is now…
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Many people who want to start getting more active feel overwhelmed by the idea because they do not feel they have enough time, do not know where to start, or have really high expectations for themselves. Unfortunately, this often results in their good intentions never materializing into any action or changed behaviour. I always encourage people to take it slow at first and to remember that something is better than…
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Last newsletter, I provided a core exercise (stability ball deadbug) that I think ‘everyone should be doing.’ This time around, I am once again showcasing a core engagement exercise that is incorporate into all of my client’s programming: the bird dog. Whether they are high-performance athletes, or someone who is sedentary and spends most of their day sitting at a desk, this exercise will help create core stability, which…
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Stability Ball Deadbug Everyone, from the sedentary desk worker to the competitive athlete need core stability, whether for correct posture and general back health or to optimize athletic performance. This exercise requires you to target the deep core musculature to maintain a neutral spine throughout the movement and builds core endurance – both integral to good posture throughout the day and generating power from the legs and arms in sport….
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As you would expect, we serve many people from Edmonton at our clinic and give them acupuncture for back pain. Many come with a history of sitting too much and not getting enough exercise. But ironically, just as many, maybe even more, despite or because of extensive and consistent strength training and/or stretching, complain of low back pain and intolerance to sitting. Why is this? There can be many reasons….
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