(Post #112) Think Before You Lift

Lifting incorrectly is one of the most common causes of lower back pain and disc dysfunction.

Before you lift, stop and ask yourself:

1. Did I get my spine in neutral (mid point between flexed and extended lower back)?

2. Did I brace by tensing all trunk muscles between 30% to 80% (abdominal, back and side muscles)?

3. Did I squat or lunge before lifting, so that I used my hips, knees and ankles and not the lower back?

4. Did I bring the object close to my trunk?

(Post #111) Don't Kill the Grass

Lets say that every day, you get the mail out side your home, and that to get there you need to walk over the grass, and that every day you walk in a straight line over the same path, what happens to that grass? It won't have enough time to recover and it will die.

Now lets say that everyday you take a different path... well then, the grass will have enough time to recover and regenerate, the same goes with joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles.

So, my suggestion to you is:

1. Modify your exercises as much as possible.

2. Change the body positions within a neutral zone as often as possible.

3. Tweak the range of motion, distance, depth, ground level, environmental stability, quantity, frequency, direction, level of difficulty, resistance and speed.

Read post # 22 for more on progressions, modifications and tweaks.

(Post 110) The Symphony of Human Movement

When human movement is in balance, it is like a beautiful symphony, where the brain, cortex, spinal cord, nerve roots, propioceptors, stabilizers muscles, mobilizer muscles, joints and ligaments work in synchronicity creating effective, efficient, protective and healthy motion.

But when this symphony is out of tune and out of synchronicity, we then have:

1. Propioceptors that don't get properly stimulated and can't communicate.
2. Stabilizers that don't hold joints in their neutral position while mobilizers create movement.
3. Muscles that don't fire on time, therefore can't protect the body nor create efficient movements.
4. Joints, nerves, tendons and muscles take the uneven, unhealthy and damaging loads.

So to to keep your symphony in balance, you need to train...

1. Mobility
2. Stability
3. Endurance
4. Strength
5. Power
6. Agility
7. Speed

By using ...

1. The three-dimensions.
2. The ten directions.
3. Gravity.
4. Ground forces.
5. Progressive resistance.
6. The right tools for your body, your goals and your sports.
7. Different environments.