Shifty's Exercise of the Day

[Shifty]

We have pretty much covers the basics of core training. So now it's time to move on to some more interesting and/or more difficult variations.

Today's exercise is the upright bird dog developed by strength coach Nick Tumminello.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Performance ... aEdx7qIk3c

[Shifty]

Today's exercise is the super dog. It is another bird dog variation developed by strength coach Nick Tumminello. In a bird dog variation I posted a while ago, a dowel was balanced across the back to make sure the movement came from the hip not the low back. Coach Tumminello has come up with another method to make the exercise almost fool proof.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Performance ... p0nizbm1SI

[rushfan]

I just wanted to say I enjoy your thread, Shifty. I can't get YouTube at work, but I watched them the other night at home and learned a lot. I had no idea crunches were so bad for your spine! I'll never do another crunch!

[Shifty]

Thanks rush!

[Shifty]

Today's exercise is a combination push/pull. It should be set up with one cable handle in front of you for pulling and one behind you for pressing. (a cable cross over machine works well here) This appears to be more of an upper-body strength exercise then a core exercise. However, pulling on one side and pressing on the other puts a lot of rotary stress on the core, making this a great anti-rotation core exercise. Also the amount of weight that the core is able to handle in this exercise is way too lite for this to be good upper-body pulling/pressing strength exercise.

The video by strength coach Mike Boyle MA, ATC, shows the exercise in the standing position, but like the chop, lift, and Pallof press it can also be done half kneeling or tall kneeling. It can be done as shown with a cable pulley system and also with bands or tubing.

Key points

* Contract the muscles around the core to keep it stable through out.
* All of the movement should come from the arms there should be no rotation of the torso or shoulders. (for a point of reference; concentrate on keeping your nipples in one place through out the exercise)
* Maintain tall upright posture through out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mbscvideo#p ... U0dPLoXa44

[Shifty]

For another weekend bonus, here is another good video of an exercise already covered. This time the roll out by strength coach Eric Cressey MS, CSCS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg4o745t ... r_embedded

[Shifty]

For today's exercise we have two different ways to progress the roll out into something a bit more challenging.

In the first video strength coach Nick Tumminello uses a medicine ball:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Performance ... ad3DhgxJhI

In the second video strength coach Eric Cressey uses an ab wheel combined with elastic band resistance:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ecressey#p/u/43/bETgFmk1TBw

[Shifty]

Today's exercise is the hard roll. It was popularized by physical therapist and strength coach Grey Cook MS, PT, OSC, CSCS. Rolling is one of the first movement patterns a baby learns. It is a fundamental building block of movement that must be mastered before more complex movement patterns.

The hard roll is a good rotary stability exercise for the core. It is also a good test for asymmetries in rotary stability. If rolling in one direction is more difficult or looks significantly different then rolling in the other direction then you have an asymmetry issue with the rotary stability of your core. In this case the number of rolls to the more difficult side should be double the number to the easier side.

The videos are by strength coach Dewey Nielsen PES. The second video shows an easier version with foam pads that are squeezed between the elbow and knee.

Key points:

* Keep the opposite knee and elbow pressed together through out.
* Keep the other opposite arm and leg fully extended through out. This serves as the axis of rotation.
* Turn the head first and let the rest of the body follow

http://www.youtube.com/user/deweynielse ... X-HJ-VTnPM
http://www.youtube.com/user/deweynielse ... kgzkNMxebo

[Shifty]

For today's exercise we have some advanced front plank progressions from strength coach Dewey Nielsen PES, using a suspension trainer. We start with a simple front plank with the feet suspended and then progress in difficulty by adding movement to the plank. The final hand walking progression is particularly challenging.

http://www.youtube.com/user/deweynielse ... 0tx6JzZEeQ

[Shifty]

Today's exercise is the fall out. It is a more challenging alternative to the roll out using a suspension training device.

The first video by strength coach Dewy Nielsen PES, shows a progression from kneeling to standing.
http://www.youtube.com/user/deweynielse ... JzBd6DMWLY

The second video by strength coach Eric Cressey MS, CSCS, shoes a progression from standing to flutters. The flutter variation is an advanced progression that ads a rotary stability component to the exercise.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ecressey#p/u/0/Hm0DX3ozsHE

[Shifty]

For todays exercise we have two ways to progress the the side plank into something more challenging.

The first video by strength coach Dewy Nielsen PES, shows a standard side plank progressed with the feet placed in a suspension training device.
http://www.youtube.com/user/deweynielse ... PSfQE9FGNY

In the second video from The FitCast, the side plank is progressed by adding a hip abduction movement. The exercises is done against a wall to help keep the plank in alignment. The back of the head, shoulders, butt and heels should be lightly touching the wall throughout the exercise. (the heal of the moving leg slides against the wall) It is important to only move the top leg from the hip while keeping the rest of the body braced and stable.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=The ... lWPFj5rKyg

[Shifty]

I found another great video explaining an exercise I've already covered. This time it's the chop with strength coach Mark Verstagen, MS, CSCS.
http://www.youtube.com/user/startexplod ... 4ZtGUZHvmY

[Shifty]

Last week we showed how to progress the front plank using a suspension training device. If you don't have access to a suspension trainer there are still lots of ways to make the front plank more challenging. The basic idea is to to add movement with arms or legs while keeping the rest of the body braced and stable in the plank. This is not shown shown in the videos but like the basic front plank a dowel can be balanced across the back in most of these variations.

Strength coach Dewey Nielsen PES, shows alternate arm reaches and a hand walking variation.
http://www.impact-pt.com/media/Prone_Di ... -feet.html
http://www.youtube.com/user/deweynielse ... cW41XtPQ5g

Strength coach coach Nick Tumminello shows a traveling plank.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Performance ... cnmVF-l_js

And from The FitCast we have plate switches and alternating one foot planks.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=The ... yuyssU0uXU
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=The ... fYF7jVs5dM

[Shifty]

Today's exercise is the supine/glute bridge with alternating march It progresses the standard supine bridge by adding movement and using only one support leg at a time. It is not shown in the video but a dowel can be balanced across the lower abdominals below the belly button and resting on the iliac crest. Try to switch legs without the dowel wobbling. The legs don't have to move much, just enough to lift the foot off the ground. The bridge should be maintained throughout not letting the hips drop when switching feet.

I usually provide a video by a strength coach or physical therapist that is well known, respected by their peers, and has good credentials. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find such a video for this exercise free on You Tube. I have know idea who the guy in todays video is but his form looks pretty good to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PYojFcR8ps

[Shifty]

Todays exercise is the tight rotation developed by strength coach Nick Tumminello. The basic exercise is progressed with a medicine ball, a staggered stance, and a weighted bar

Key points:
* Maintain good tall posture.
* Movement should occur mostly at the shoulders, a little at the hips, and not around the lumbar spine.
* Movements should have a short range of motion and be performed as fast as possible.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Performance ... LmT7--HR64
http://www.youtube.com/user/Performance ... 2Hulu6uP2I
http://www.youtube.com/user/Performance ... gVkwMvvsY0
http://www.youtube.com/user/Performance ... 9Y-oyUGLns

This raps up core training. If I had half a brain I would have started this thread at the logical point of where a workout starts. So tomorrow kicks off the next section; warm up.

[Callie]

I need a really good lovehandle exercise.

[Shifty]

Unfortunately it is impossible to target the love handles (or any part of the body) for fat loss. Where you lose fat first is genetically determined. So the best you can do is to lose body fat and hope it comes off the love handles first. You might get lucky or God might play a cruel joke and shrink your breasts first.

The biggest variable in fat loss is nutrition. This is not really my area of expertise so I'll just say that there is no getting around the laws of thermodynamics. To lose fat you have to eat less calories then you burn.

The two exercise strategies most useful for fat loss are strength training and energy systems work (cardio) Adding a little muscle mass to the body through strength training will cause you to burn more calories through out the day in every activity you do even sleeping.

There is a common misconception that the most effective cardio exercise for fat loss is long slow steady state work. Although it is true that there is a fat burning zone where a grater percentage of calories are burned as fat when doing this type of steady state cardio. The problem is it takes a lot of time and does little to help you burn calories the rest of the day after the workout. A better strategy is interval training where you alternate back and forth between very high near maximum intensities and very low intensities (for example sprinting and walking) This type of strategy produces Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption or E.P.O.C. This is a fancy term that basically means that this type of exercise raises your metabolism so that you continue burning more calories hours after the workout is over. Ten minutes of high intensity interval training can be more effective then an hour of slow steady state cardio. Don't do LSD! (Long Slow Distance)

I might have misinterpreted your question. If you want bigger love handles, that is a lot easier. Simply start eating more and exercising less.

[DK]

That misconception gets me yelling at the television screen, Shifty, so i'm glad you addressed it. It makes me seriously angry to see commercials (like the MegaT green tea pills) that claim to "help you lose belly fat" or whatever. Generally, fat will be reduced somewhat evenly across the body, with variations, as you said, based on genetics.

[Shifty]

The typical warm up of five or ten minutes on a cardio machine does some good things like raising the heart rate, raising body temperature, increasing circulation, etc. However, there a lot of things this traditional warm up is missing. It fails to actively take the body's major joints through the range of motion they will go through later in the work out. It fails to address issues of mobility and stability. It fails to activate key stabilizing muscles like the glute medius. We can do so much better.

The warm up method I will be discussing here starts by addressing mobility and stability issues using the joint by joint approach, followed by a series of dynamic mobility drills to actively take the body through a full range of motion.

The joint by joint approach was developed by physical therapist and strength coach Grey Cook MS, PT, OSC, CSCS and strength coach Mike Boyle MA, ATC. There are exceptions but most people have the same mobility and stability issues at the same joints. If anyone is familiar with the term prehab, (doing corrective exorcise in an attempt prevent injury) this is essentially the same concept with more organization. The joint by joint approach goes through each of the bodies major joints starting at the bottom and does an exorcise or two to address either mobility or stability, which ever is needed at that joint:

* The foot: usually needs more stability
* The ankle: usually needs more mobility
* The knee: stability
* The hip: mobility
* The lumbar spine: stability
* The thoracic spine: mobility
* The scapular thoracic joint: stability
* The gleno-humeral joint (shoulder): mobility
The remaining joints are typically not problem areas for most people but they would continue the pattern: cervical spine – stability, elbow – stability, wrist – mobility, and hand – stability

If you're not having issues with one of these joints one exercise in warm up is probably enough, If you are having issues with one these joints it is probably not the joint where the symptoms are occurring but rather the joint above, below, or both. So if a joint lacks the mobility or stability that is is suppose to have, then the joints above, below, or both will have to compensate. The joint that compensates will have the symptoms not the joint where the real problem lies. Here are two examples:

* If an ankle lacks proper mobility the shock from running or jumping that should have been absorbed by that ankle gets transferred to the knee. You may develop soreness at the knee but the ankle is at fault.
* If the hips lack mobility you will be forced to move at the lumbar spine, a joint that should be stable. This will result in a sore low back but the hips are at fault

Two or three exercises should be done at the joints above of below problem joints. If you are experiencing actual pain at one of these joints, not just soreness or stiffness, it is time to stop listening to me and see a physical therapist.

It should be noted that mobility is not the same thing as flexibility. Flexibility refers to the length of a muscle and can be improved through stretching. Mobility is a broader term encompassing all of the factors of a joints ability to move through a full range of motion. Stretching may help mobility in some instances but often movement is required to work through mobility restrictions.

[Shifty]

Following the joint by joint approach, the first joint we come to is the foot which usually needs more stability. This is the one joint that I do not have a specific exercise for. However, foot stability gains can be made simply by training barefoot.

Wearing a modern supportive shoe is counterproductive. The musculoskeletal structure of the foot cannot become strong and stable if your shoes already provide that support. The cushioning found in most shoes is also a barrier to good training. The feet give sensory information to the brain, they need good solid contact with the ground for this proprioceptive feed back. When performing standing exercises power starts at the ground and is transferred up through the kinetic chain to the hands. Well cushioned shoes provides an energy leak between the feet and the ground. Most shoes also have a heel lift. (the heel of the shoe is slightly higher then the forefoot) This is also a bad idea as it changes the alignment and position of the ankle which changes the alignment of knee and so on all the way up the kinetic chain.

Wearing a supportive well cushioned shoe is a particularly bad idea when running. Today's modern running shoes allows runners to take too long of a stride and strike the ground with their heals leading to overuse injuries. You can't run that way barefoot without every step hurting. When running barefoot the stride becomes shorter and the ground is struck with only the balls of the feet. Barefoot running is self limiting. It limits your stride to something that the structural integrity of your musculoskeletal system can handle.

Unfortunately most large commercial health clubs frown on barefoot training. Also when running or training outdoors you might want some foot protection against stones or sharp objects. In these cases I recommend minimalist footwear with flat thin soles, no heal lift and as little cushioning, support, and stiffness as possible. Here is a picture of the minimalist shoes I wear here:

Vibram_FiveFingers_KSO.jpg (37.55 KiB) Viewed 12 times