Train the ENTIRE body

Train the ENTIRE body! I have read many articles by Jack Lalanne and in many of them he discussed exercises to work the muscles of the entire body. He even broke it down and showed exercises for the ears, eyes, eye lids, etc… Now, I am not going to take it that far, but I believe you must train the entire body. When I say this, it means that I train all of my athletes and clients’ head, neck, hands, grip, and feet musculature, body parts often forgotten.
We are all aware of the concussion issue that most strength coaches are trying to diminish with proper strength training protocols for the head and neck. I as well believe that it is very important for athletes to train the musculature of the head and neck to reduce the effects of concussions and sub-concussive forces, but I don’t stop there. I also train the head of neck of all my clients, from the young to the old; we all need to have strong head and neck muscles. I have a 70-year-old woman that I train twice a week for 30 minutes and she absolutely loves to train her head and neck. At first she was very hesitant, but she trusted that I was a professional and new what I was talking about. She is very happy that she made the decision to allow me to train her head and neck. This is only possible because of the purchase of the Pendulum 4-way neck machine that I made early in 2011. After reading numerous articles and hearing numerous lectures on the importance of training the musculature of the head and neck I decided that we all have the ability to suffer from concussions and I am doing my part to help lower the effects of concussions for my athletes and clients’.
The next body part that I make sure to include in every training session for EVERYONE I train are the hands. Again, strength coaches understand the importance of training the grip for sports, especially combat type athletes, but everyone, not just athletes, use their grip everyday! Because every day of our lives we have to grip things I want to make it easier for my clients to continue to live their lives being able to do all the things they need to do. In many cases I can improve their lives because a stronger grip has improved the ability to do their daily tasks with less issues or trips back and forth to accomplish goals that require hand strength. One of the women that I train has noticed that with her increased hand strength it has been easier for her to carry her groceries into the house and it takes her less trips. Although it is only an extra minute or two that it saves her, it allows her to get through things faster and spend more time on more exciting activities! I tell everyone that talks to me about training, specifically the grip, “We are going to use our hands for the rest of our lives, you may want to make sure that they are trained properly so that they are ready when we need them!”
Last, but certainly not least, the parts of the body that I believe are very important to train are the feet. When Vibram five-finger shoes first came out years ago I jumped at the opportunity to purchase a pair not knowing if they were going to be around for a long period of time. I have personally noticed a change in how I walk, stand, and run. Because of those changes I have also noticed that my posture is better. I have no low back pain from being on my feet all day long anymore as well as no hip, knee, or ankle discomfort from standing and working on my feet all day long. I knew that I wasn’t the only one that was concerned about the musculature of the feet, but was pleasantly surprised when I was called up on stage at the Michigan State University strength clinic a several years ago by Coach Mike Gittleson after talking to him about my shoes and why I believe it was important to strengthen the feet. Remember when you put your foot into a pair of regular shoes, or heaven forbid a pair of high heels, you are doing them a disservice. Anything that offers support and thick soles is bad for the feet. Shoes that offer support are like putting your feet in casts!! The shoe gives the support instead of the muscles working to support the foot. The thick soles do not allow you to have the kinesthetic awareness while standing, walking, jogging, running, etc… to do those activities with proper form. Most all of my clients at one time or another either train in their bare feet or have purchased a minimalist style of shoe to train in and I have heard rave reviews from every single on of them. A couple of my clients had really weak ankles and would sprain them getting up off the couch, after training in their bare feet or minimalist shoe they have noticed a major difference in the amount of ankle pain and have not sprained their ankles in months now!
That’s the way I see it!!

No Gimmicks, No Fads, NO BULL!

Strength training for a RUNNER???

Allison started training with me in August... at that time she was running a 32 minute 5K and was running 3-4 days a week. Since convincing her to try a couple of free training sessions, she got hooked and has improved her 5K time dramatically. Allison started training with me twice a week at the beginning of August and was forced to only be able to run 1-2 times a week. Within a couple weeks of her training program beginning she ran another race and had dropped her time by two minutes. At the end of two months her race time had dropped by just over 5 minutes.



What started happening with Allison was her body was better rested from not running as much and at the same time her full-body workouts were making her stronger and giving her more energy because of the extra muscle gained. Her stronger legs allow her to lessen the abuse on her joints from running by giving more muscle mass in the legs to act as shock absorbers. The full range of motion upper body and intense midsection work allow her to work more efficiently inhaling and exhaling more completely with longer respiration's. This also allows her to keep a faster pace throughout her races and give her more energy to end the race with a faster kick. Although I believe she was a bit skeptical in the beginning, Allison would be the first one to recommend "proper" strength training to any of her runner friends as well as anyone wanting to be the best they can be!!

No Gimmicks, No Fads, NO BULL!... Just good old-fashioned, hard work that gets results!!

Strength training for life!!!

Strength training is not... I repeat is NOT just for men, athletes, or superficial reasons. Strength training can and may save your life one day.

I was training a young man, a high school junior football player, who happened to get into a very serious accident. He ended up shattering one ankle and dislocating the other. He also broke his elbow, had a hairline fracture in his low back and two hairline fractures in his jaw. As if that were not enough, his car caught on fire and he had 3rd degree burns on the lower torso and legs. Why am I explaining all of this? Because his doctor's, nurses, and therapists have all told him that if he hadn't had as much muscle as he had, he probably wouldn't have survived.

I myself was once in an accident where I feel the only reason I wasn't more severely injured was my strength training, in particular my serious neck training. Over 10 years ago I was stopped at a red light, where I was rear-ended by a truck that pushed me all the through to the other side of the intersection and from the far right lane to the far left lane. The only injury I sustained was two bulging discs in my cervical spine. I don't want to think about what would have happened if I wouldn't have been training my neck for most of my life.

So in conclusion, EVERYONE should be strength training and trying to add as much muscle to their body as possible while eating a sensible diet... genetics will not allow most people, men and women, to get super bulky and "bodybuilderish." In fact new research being done on head and neck strength shows that women can gain great strength, but are not building great size. And I haven't even talked about any of the numerous other health benefits that a proper strength training program can do for YOU.

No Gimmicks, No Fads, NO BULL!