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Showing posts with label z-health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label z-health. Show all posts

Monday, September 20, 2010

Veggies and get-ups

I don't like doing Turkish get-ups and I don't like eating my vegetables. Yes, I am pretty much an 8 year old trapped in a 25 year olds body with a 50 year olds hairline. But, its ok with me, I think farts are funny, still look reasonably fit and I choose to shave my head because it makes me faster.

Ok, back to veggies and get-ups...

Here are five reasons why I don't like vegetables.

1. They don't taste good to me unless I pile them with lots of cheese.

2. I am never full when I eat them.

3. You generally have to wash and cut them, which takes waaaay to long.

4. Ketchup does not count as a vegetable.

5. There's no protein in veggies.

Five Reasons I hate turkish get-ups:

1. I am not sure if they originated from Turkey.

2. They take too long.

3. I am not good at them...yet :).

4. It's like a golf swing, there is always something to fix.

5. There's no protein in get-ups ;)

I am a fitness professional so I pretty much know the reasons why I need to eat my veggies and do my get-ups regardless of the fact that I don't like either. Here are the reasons why you should do both.

Five reasons to eat your veggies:

1. Cancer Prevention- Vegetables are rich in antioxidants, substances shown to provide protection against free-radicals (reactive substances that damage cells and initiate cancer) and other phytochemicals that help to detoxify cancer-causing substances.

2. Keep Trim- Many vegetables contain 50 calories or fewer for a whole cup, while only five potato chips or one small cookie has the same number of calories. If you satisfy your appetite with hearty servings of vegetables and fruits, hunger won’t be a problem and you will eat smaller portions of higher-calorie meats and desserts.

3. Prevent Heart Disease- Eating more vegetables and fruits while cutting back on meat and dairy can help you limit heart-damaging saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet. The antioxidants and certain other phytochemicals in these foods also help prevent fatty deposits from forming in vessels. They also provide fiber, which helps lower blood cholesterol. The B vitamins are also present that help lower blood levels of homocysteine, high levels of which are a risk factor for heart disease.

4. Visual Health- Eating more vegetables and fruits may lower your risk for two of the most common causes of adult blindness: cataracts and macular degeneration. Scientists link this protection for the eyes with antioxidants like vitamin C and certain carotenoids.

5. Avoid Diabetes- Fruits and vegetables help avoid diabetes. Fruit and vegetables seem to raise blood sugar less than other foods that contain carbohydrates, and their fiber content slows the absorption of sugar into the blood.

Five Reasons to do Turkish Get-ups (TGU's):

1. Shoulder Stability-The TGU takes the shoulder through various planes of motion. Simply put, the more positions you train your shoulder in, the stronger and more stable it will be.

2. Total body Lift- The TGU is probably the best bang for your buck lift known to man, even animals. There is so much happening in the TGU that I won't even get into it. If you don't believe me, grab a kettlebell and do 20 minutes straight of get-ups. Call me later once you stop shaking.

3. Posture- Most athletes are anterior dominant, have anterior cervical spine and poor shoulder mobility. Get ups will help them all when done correctly and progressed appropriately.

4. Proprioception- The TGU will help create a more clear neurological map. Since you are familiarizing your body to various planes in a loaded fashion, your brain will get a blast of information and start to recognize the movement. Remember, you can't turn your nervous system off so practice with perfection.

5. Screening tool- The TGU is a great screen tool, helping to tell you where you are are restricted pretty quickly. It reveals weaknesses quicker than a caffeinated puppy. Always attack the weakness, not the strength.

Eat your veggies, do your get-ups!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Why you suck at pull-ups :)

Pull-ups are IMO one of the best body weight strength training exercises out there. I've witnessed tens of thousands of pull-ups in my day, some good and some bad...mostly bad. Why do people suck at pull-ups? Because they practice sucking at pull-ups. Do they suck on purpose? Is their primary goal to suck at pull-ups? Probably not, but they have never been taught how to do pull-ups and they haven't practiced pull-ups correctly. The apostle Dan John has a quote he uses a frequently "if it is important, do it every day." This is a great quote for many reasons but the angle I am going to take is related to motor learning and the nervous system.

Here are some quick facts about the CNS and skill development.

1. The nervous system does not have an on/off switch, it remembers everything you do, good and bad.

2. It is the fastest system in the body; Signals can travel over 300 mph.

3. Skill is developed by practicing drills and exercises perfectly. If you perform a drill wrong, you have just taught your body how to perform the drill wrong. Every time you accrue a bad rep, you are telling your body that its's ok to perform the repetition incorrectly.

Now, lets take a quick look at the 3 stages of motor learning and see how this applies to learning an exercise.

Cognitive (1-100 reps)

This is when a person is introduced to a task. The athlete is concerned with what to do and not so much how to do it. This is when we learn something new, like a pull-up. :)

Associative (1,000 to 10,000 reps)

The athlete starts to perform and refine the skills learned. They understand the task and begin to make changes to achieve the goal. Again, in this case, the pull-up.

Autonomous (100,000 to 300,000 reps)

The task becomes automatic, no thought is required. The athlete simply performs the drill and does not even think about it.

These are general numbers, some can master the task more quickly than others, but it all comes down to how much you practice and HOW you practice. As I mentioned before, if you practice the drill poorly, you will continue to perform the drill poorly.

Practice

Now, how do we practice getting better at pull-up? We do them every day. Does this mean we do weighted pull-ups every day? Do we do neutral grip pull-ups every day? Do we do reverse grip pull-ups, or how about band pull-ups?

Keep it simple stupid. If you want to get better at overhand grip pull-ups, practice them with an overhand grip.

The Experiment

Try this and see how you do. Do 1 or 2 pull-ups every 10 minutes at the gym. Or, you can do them when you get water or when you finish a different exercise. The key is to practice one or two with perfect form and with no fatigue. If you train for 1 hour you can accrue any where from 6-12 pull-ups a day with no fatigue. If you do this every day of the week you can accrue 42-84 pull-ups a week. This can equate from anywhere to 168 to 336 perfect pull-ups a month. That's a heaping pile of perfect pull-ups. Try this and I can guarantee you will get better at pull ups.

Also, consider this. When was the last time you practiced any exercise over 300 times in one month? And, if you did practice that many reps are you proficient at that specific exercise?

"If it is important, do it it every day "

If you want to get better at pull-ups, do pull ups. :)

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Another solid day

Still feeling pretty good


20k arm bar 5x5

5x5 Bodyweight pistols

5x5 DB chest press
85,90,95,100,105

prep is the key :)

Monday, June 28, 2010

Feeling better :)

Feeling better today, still a bit achy but slow and steady wins the race

Z mobility drills w/focus on high payoffs ;)

Deadlift 5x5
135, 185, 195, 205, 225

These felt light with no lower back problems

Weighted Pullups 5x5
all done w/a 24k kettlebell

I am hoping to get some swings in later today

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Z-health R phase practice day

Today I am going to run through all of the Z-health R phase mobility drills. I will be attending the certification in Boston on June 11-13.

Perfect practice makes perfect

Visit www.zhealth.net for more info

Monday, April 19, 2010

Todays workout

Z mobility
ASLR prep
T spine
Dowel press from different squat depths

Akro wheel progression

Swing ladders, 20 each, 20, 24, 32 x5

Press ladders 2,3,4,5 w/32k x4

Ring work

Monday, March 29, 2010

Great Practice Day

Z mobility drills
aslr work
rib pulls
dowel squat press from different depths (WOW)
16kg get-ups 5 L/R
100 24kg swings
3x4 16kg pistols L/R
4x3 s-arm press 32kg x3 and 36kg x3 (felt light today about time) :)
40 strict pull-ups
40 strict dips

Added tons of mobility work into each set, lots of ASLR work, S-leg deads before pistols and modified Bretzels.

I think i am learning how to practice better these days, I feel good after my lift not worse!!