Lessons In Movement....from a 1, 4 and 6yr old

Movement is interesting. It seems that at some point along the line most of us don't continue to improve at movement. When we were born the first thing we did was breathe….with our diaphragm….through our nose. Babies don’t breathe through their mouth, it’s learned.

1.       Then we learned to roll over 
2.       Then we learned to crawl
3.       Then we stood up…..and fell back down repeatedly
4.       Then we Walked - Ran - Jumped

·           In that order

Meet my niece and two nephews: Kate, Jacob, and Noah. 
You don't really realize that the gym is just an adult playground until kids show you. 

One compensation leads to another, breathing could've been the first but it really doesn't matter. Finding the problem is for the assessment and picking up the pieces is the program.

Going back to these patterns of how we originally learned to move is extremely useful.

The Value of an In/significant Date in Time

Just like anyone else I have things that I value. 

• Health
• Strength
• My morning eggs and a cop of St. Louis Blues (coffee)
• A good bowel movement
• Will (my green light is strong)
• Family and true friends

But I also have a tendency to value "Things" even if I try not to. In my opinion things are NOT important. They are just things, not like people, relationships or experiences that are irreplaceable.

You know how accountants probably sit around and look at calculator magazines? Well gym owners look at equipment catalogs (especially when it's an aspiration), and athlete's look at shoes. 

• For  some reason I still value shoes. It's extremely dumb but for me they represent a journey. 
• Come into my gym looking for a job w/ beat up sneakers or some kind of retro looking things and you'll be gone. Those have a time and a place and neither are for the gym. Casual shoes are for casual wear and beat up zapatos are for your backyard. 
• Clothes because they remind me of my past. 
• Yeah, I'm that guy that takes ridiculous care of his clothes, so they never wear out. Even right now am wearing a shirt that says 2003. 

So what's my point other than physical things are of lesser importance than the pieces of your life that really mean something? 

There's one thing I've always valued and been unwilling to take for granted. It's TIME. 

It's a little (lot) creepy that a 6yr old gets the idea that life is short but I did. Don't ask me why, I don't want to explain it. 

Time is something you'll never get back. You will never see the morning of May 16, 2012 ever again, and if you slept through it, you wasted it.  

"A man who dares to waste one hour of time, has not discovered the value of life." -Charles Darwin

Don't waste my Time. 

In my opinion Quality always beats Quantity. And people seem to rarely regret what they DID do verses what they DidN'T do. 

Back Dooring the Food Ind, Capitalism, and Eating Donuts with Jamie Oliver

I wish he'd get in shape, but he is extremely correct. 
Cook for yourself, cook w/ your kids, support the revolution.

www.jclfa.org

These increases in awful health have become acceptable and that may be the worst part. I'm a tall, low body fat% and in shape american (in comparison to the whole), I have no room to speak.

Overweight/obese/diabetic/unhealthy/inactive/etc isn't an affliction. It's going to take courage, discipline and drive that people didn't know they had in order to change everything they know about food and their relationship w/ it.

But it's possible, I've seen it enough times to know that it's repeatable. Until going the journey w/ someone there's no way to understand (I sure didn't). 

The Tipping Point may be one of the most important pieces of his speech, and one I really agree w/.



1. Our MONEY is our most powerful VOTE and we are responsible for the food in the store. 

We must be more, we must do more, but it comes one step at a time, and right now I'm not taking an active head on fight against the food industry. Try that and we will FAIL, they are too big, too strong, w/ too much money. That fight is pointless.

If you want a change, VOTE with YOUR $$$$. Purchase grass fed beef from a local farmer, fruits and vegetables from farmer's markets (that doesn't come from Chili, yes we get fruit all the way from there, lots of it).  Then cook it yourself.

Look what a quick google search came up with:
http://www.eatwild.com/products/iowa.html

It's not hard to find the food.

The food industry is business and looks at a bottom line b/c money drives the world. I'm a capitalist, so I agree w/ this, that's how it works. It's your choice what you buy, and that drives what gets sold. If you buy hoho's every time you stop at the convenience store then you are just as responsible as the food industry (I'd even say more). They wouldn't produce it if you didn't buy it.

The food industry rely's on you, NOT the other way around.

2. Build a positive relationship w/ food.

This is much easier said than done. Some people can get away w/ murder when it comes to nutrition, some people cannot.

• Standing up to eat
• rushing meals
• on the go
• unorganized lifestyles
• emotional eating
• unconscious eating (not asleep)
• lack of appreciation
• "convenient eating" (eating out/ordering in)
• etc.

These are just a few of the common things we do on a regular basis.

Everyone can relate to the moment you just finished a plate and felt sad b/c you hadn't even realized it was the LAST bite. This is a sign of having a very poor relationship w/ food.

We need to take one small step at a time, master it, and move on to another portion of our lifestyle that we can improve. 

 JUST ONE. JUST ONE. JUST ONE
Do NOT think you are awesome enough to try TWO.
ONE AT A TIME.

Take something that seems easy and small and trivial and use that ONE thing for 2 weeks w/ utmost urgency as if you're going to die if you don't succeed at doing this ONE thing EVERYDAY for that 14days.

It could be as simple as taking a multivitamin Everyday until you have the sucker down. Until you can take a vitamin everyday LIKE A BOSS.




If that's the only change for that month, and we found a way to sustain it and make a lifestyle change. WE WON!!!! Even if it's the only change for that given time. We have won.

Then we move on to another b/c we've mastered that one thing and can sustain it.

But if we try to biting off more then we are setting ourselves up for failure.

ONE THING at a time.

3. Support the revolution

Like I said above, money drives the world. Personally I'm not an advocate for charities, and it's just my opinion that their main goal is to survive b/c they create jobs, and if their cause all the sudden happened, they'd be out of a job. This is just my opinion, take it h/e you'd like.

Growing your own plants in your backyard is a way to support this revolution.

So is sitting down around the table as a family.

You say there's no time and it'd never happen. My mom and dad found a way. Even when Molly was 17, Joe would've been 15, I would've been 11, and Maggie would've been 4 and everyone of us were in sports (except mag b/c she wasn't even in school). Idk how they did it, but almost every meal was cooked by one of us (yes we all knew how to do this at a very young age) and we ate as a family almost everyday. We also all ate breakfast....EVERYDAY.

Giving money works, actively participating works, just showing up is a support that seems pointless but has a huge affect.

Building numbers (active participants/money/whatever) for a cause is how it gains power. 

This is a good thing to stand for. 

My Lack of Training Philosophy

From time to time I'm approached w/ the classic question, "What's your training philosophy?". This seems like it should be an easy question h/e I have yet come up w/ a straight fwd answer. Partly b/c it's always changing (evolving/growing) and partly b/c I use so many different avenues to get the desired outcome. 


For some reason "I don't know" doesn't really work ("you don't say"-sarcam). So I get questioned on Oly lifts, power lifitng, kettlebells/Dumbbells/Barbells, plyos, corrective exercise, endurance, static/dynamic stretching, etc. It's slightly exhausting to even try to label myself. To be honest, no I don't. 


Personally, I don't adhere to one principle of anything.


I'm not all powerlifting, all kettlebell, all olympic lifting, all movement based training, all barbell, all endurance, strength or speed. 


I'm down w/ what works for the given situation we're presented w/, and if I figure out a better/more efficient way to do something that gets the results I want in the same/less time then I'm going to use it. 

I say, let's get our bodies as efficient as possible in the most efficient way possible.

I'm looking for COMPLETE.

Not just barbells or kettlebells, movement or powerlifting. I think pretty much everything works (as long as it's quantifiably testable, somehow backed w/ well put together, collected, and provable data that's also logical), so I take the best pieces of all of them, w/ the assessment and goal and make a program based off of this for that individual. This brings us closer to COMPLETE.

Do I think we are able to create COMPLETE programs in order to create the most COMPLETE MUTANTS out there? No, not yet, otherwise records wouldn't be getting smashed year after year (Usain Bolt=MUTANT) There is no way that this is simply due to talent.

Do I think the potential to make some real freaks out of mediocre athletes is possible? YOU BET. 

Do I think the potential exists to ruin incredibly talented athlete's? Yep, and it's really not all that difficult.

I agree w/: 

• The 5 senses: hearing, taste, touch, sight, smell. 
• Moving heavy weight, and the carry over to speed from that. 
• Moving lighter weight w/ more speed. (This includes oly lifts when they are appropriate h/e I would still classify them as more of a skill than an exercise and I don't use them much due to a comparatively long learning curve.) 
• here I'm really referring to jumping w/ weight in hand, and challenging lesser weight w/ more speed in a lift like the bench press. 
• Plyometrics (in logically adjusted volumes) 
• Unilateral and bilateral training
• Psychology: Visualization (it's not hocus pocus, it's building confidence and belief), Discipline, Struggle, Focus, etc. They have a place.
• Nutrition and that POOP is a direct indicator of health
• Soft tissue work: SMR, ART, Graston, TFM, etc. They all work. 
• Barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells all have their uses and eliminating one entirely is going to drastically reduce progress. 
• Eccentrics, Isometrics and concentric exercises? Yep, and not all, always altogether (but almost always)
• Corrective exercise w/o doubt has it's place
• Breathing techniques? Yep those too (a lot)
• The body works as a whole, not in pieces 
• Packing the neck is just as important as bracing the trunk
• Pushing sleds completely changes the game
• Test and retest is a must
• The Assessment guides everything, but w/o critical thought and a trained eye it's still a guess.
• etc....

It's NOT about using one or two different principles/implements. It's doing an assessment (everyone has overwhelmingly different needs) and drawing from your tool box to make a program. 

In the end, I have no idea what my philosophy would be other than 

"I use what I know that works to get closer to complete", and that's that. 

Facebooking: Responding to a Response

I updated this status to facebook the other day and got a response that I feel warrants a post. If this person is confused then I'm guessing a lot of people are being mislead as well. 

Facebook Post 

Aside from all the "girly crap" (jargon, perfume, hair things, and overall typical junior high girl behavior), I'm extremely proud of Emma Wright, Taylor Jones, and Gabby Salemink for breaking all their own records last night. 

For some reason Emma couldn't resist throwing 225lbs on the bar and box squatting it 2x. Gabby put up an extremely impressive 185lb, and I'd love to have seen what Taylor could've done had she been feeling better, but that didn't stop her from throwing up 175lb.

Considering that just a few months ago 135lb seemed IMPOSSIBLE to all of them, this is quite the accomplishment. There are plenty of high school senior boys that'd be scared to touch these kind of weights.

Saying "nice job" doesn't quite do it.

Anonymous Response:

"But Adam, is it really safe for them to be lifting that much? Their epiphyseal plates aren't even done growing/forming yet. According to ACSM, guys and girls younger than 18 should focus on endurance lifting with lower weight and avoid maximal lifts. Just sayin'!"

I'd like to say I handled it best as possible, but who knows, probably not. I know this person and really feel they were asking sincerely, but people making comments like this when they are under informed.....it's fairly annoying. So is dealing w/ people who can't think critically.

Most people's epiphyseal plates (aka growth plate, which is pretty much an "open" space at the bottom of bones to allow for expansion) fuse between 18 and 26 (usually closer to 26 for males, and closer to 18 for females).

Does that mean they shouldn't lift anything heavy before that time?

More specifically, does the stress from those few seconds loaded w/ a heavy implement endanger the growth plate?

To be honest, I really don't understand the thought process that we wouldn't lift anything heavy even if it did put the growth plate at risk, of which it does NOT enough to be of concern, not even close actually (unless being stupid is added). Risk is manageable, that's why we're in a weight room. It's a controlled environment, a general means of training, closed loop. So as long as their technique is sound, we're going to lift heavy. The opposite would be actual play on a field mat or court and where almost all injuries occur. Where the environment is random, not controllable, as specific a means as it gets and open loop. Btw, few injuries occur w/ epiphyseal plates, they're pretty tough. It's overuse of repetitive actions and stresses that typically cause damage to the growth plate, I'll get into that later. Not all the time, but it'd take an event far different than a box squat to do it, like jumping out of a tree.

Also, in my experience, usually when people use words like "epiphyseal" instead of growth plate, they're either right out of school and/or they're trying to make sure everyone knows they are educated, which in their minds means "smart" (most of the time) but it's really not even close to the same thing. 

My Response:

Always love questions like this. Honest answer: No, it's not safe, not at all, that's why they've done 4 months of training before hand, and why their in a cage. But you mean could this injure their growth plates. 

1. define "endurance lifting" (sounds like tracy anderson....you don't want to sound like her). 

2. growth plate injuries occur w/ highly repetitive stresses like jogging, we also see this w/ radial injuries in gymnasts. W/ the eruption of year round sport specific activity I wouldn't be surprised that we see a continuing trend of MLB baseball pitchers coming out of area's where it's cold for a large portion of the year so they can't grow up throwing year round, this is less about the epiphyseal plate but over use is over use. Besides that, you really want to wait until their 26 to make sure everything is fused up in their? 

3. It's all relative, but even then, we're loading up like this once a month. They're not powerlifters, but even if they were it'd be much safer than the endurance game. The truth is everyone would benefit more from picking up heavy things than overly repetitive actions in general. An injury to their growth plate was the least of my worries when they sat back on that box. And besides all of this, these girls work their asses off, and shouldn't have anyone filling their heads w/ the false idea that they could be potentially stunting their growth by being brave enough to get under a bar that's almost dbl their weight. 

The truth is that ACSM's ego gets in the way enough that their still printing things we wanted to believe in 1970 and are undoubtedly false or incomplete. H/e I probably shouldn't throw ACSM under the bus as I don't use that resource for anything, ever. There are some great studies on overuse injuries on Pubmed though.

For arguement and curiosities sake here are some of those studies:

All of these show the need for strength training in a developing athlete, and all of them show the need for an off season as well as stimulation from a variety of different activities throughout the year. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16452269

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21098816

The last line is the best line:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7747003

This would be more suggestive to diet. In my mind the loss of menstrual cycle, esp in athletes, is due to a significant drop in body fat and so too could mean that they aren't getting enough food to feed their bones. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15316874

This is the best sentence from this entire abstract: " and female adolescent distance running was associated with suppressed bone mineral accrual". So it's not just causing stress fractures (time bombs) it's inhibiting their ability to lay down new bone. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21944303

This is a terrible step in the right direction of proving that strength training affects performance of any type of running (but this is something that's been proven repeatedly as well). If you'll notice as well, the distance athletes only performed 4x4 HALF squats, 3x/week for 8 weeks. Half!!! That's all. That's not a significant strength program, think what could happen w/ a full squat and a program built around the individual athlete, or even use of a prowler (seriously!)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18460997

From what I've seen it seems that it's almost to the point where it's not 'if' too much running will lead to an injury but 'when' it will cause an injury.

I wish I had my computer from college so I could pull up the paper I did on overuse injuries, and we knew less about this stuff then, I think I wrote it in 06. H/e at least one of those studies suggested that anything over 350yd could cause a negative affect in your athletes, and I think they used 8-12 year olds, but don't quote me on any of that, I could be wrong. 

Every stimulus causes an affect in an athlete's development. Whether that's from food, activity, social interaction, pollution, it all makes a difference. What we do through our lives sets us up for our futures good or bad. The mental side of lifting heavy is incredible, the physical side (if done correctly) should keep us healthy as well as increase force production. Increase force production also improves rate of force production which improves speed and agility, Improve strength (eccentrically as well as concentrically and isometrically) improves ability to change levels, changing levels makes an athlete very effect, efficient, and dangerous, done in different vectors and athlete's become almost invincible.

Now, do I think the person that "called me out" (or w/e you'd like to call it) is a dip shit? No, but I think going back to the basics would help. Reading this in entirety would be a good start (I still reference it from time to time):  

Basic Biomechanics by Susan J. Hall

Along w/ some critical thinking and developing the knowledge base to deserve an opinion on the matter, of which having a certification does not give anyone. To be fair, neither does a blog, a vlog, a facebook page/wall, being a total "online badass" (sarcasm) or your own gym. But studying your ass off and spending $$$thousands on seminars, dvds, and books definitely helps. 

It's a bad deal if you are expecting your athlete's to show up and work their asses off so that you look good no matter what in order to cover up how vastly lacking your knowledge base is in the field b/c you weren't willing to put in-the work studying and preparing. A crappy program done w/ a ridiculous work ethic will get results. Maybe not always good results, and hardly ever impressive but none the less, it'll make an affect. So think what a great program that's specifically tailored can do. 






Someday you can move to something like this: 

Supertraining by Mel C. Siff

The bar needs to be risen drastically. 

I hold myself to this as well, I'm nowhere near the level that I want to be, but I'm working for it everyday. I have 3 goals I carry in my pocket everyday, all the time. One of them reads:

"Affect millions in a positive way."

The difference between dreams and goals is a deadline, and I aim to do this before 30yrs of age, I'm recently 27.

Kids Need a Fighting Chance: A post on the Weakness and Injury

Kids need a fighting chance just to keep up w/ the demands of their sport. Their body is growing way too fast for their strength levels to keep up. 50 years ago kids were doing physical labor, shoveling, carrying heavy stuff, and they ate less food that was better for them and didn't turn on the "fat switch" (not a real thing) so their strength levels kept up w/ a growing body. Today kids play their ds, ipad, ipods, sit in desks 7 hours a day, eat fast food, twizzlers, M&M's and have to be told to go outside and play. It's the complete opposite. But that's hardly the whole problem, b/c then they are expected to play in a competitive sport YEAR ROUND. Sometimes on more than one team at a time. 

This is too much of EVERYTHING. Too much bad food. Where does the school bus stop on the way home from a road game in junior high and high school? McDonadls, why? The bus driver eats free, at least that's how it was when I was in high school. But how else are you gonna feed 20 kids all at once and get back on the road? Give them meals to take?........Oh wait, that could actually work.

Yes, yes it would work. Then they could have:

      an apple, 

      2 turkey sandwichs w/ ezekial bread, spinach, tomato and some hummus, 

      some type of real fruit juice, 

      and a bag of broccoli w/ some more hummus to dip w/ 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22293771

It's also too much inactivity to throw a kid into the fire (by fire I'm referring to competition). Competition is open loop, it's unpredictable. We cannot expect a kid to jump off the couch, sit in a car on the way to a game, throw 80 throws to warm up, maybe run a pole or two, and then be able to stop and go, change levels and perform well on the field. 

Keep a pickle in mind. No not the edible pickle (which are fantastic for your body), but getting caught between bases on the field. Do you think a kid w/  15% body fat, that can NOT SQUAT HIS OWN WEIGHT is safe to be running and stopping? 

No, not for a second. Neither is an adult. This kid is unable to slow down safely. He's putting all that stress on his tendons and ligaments b/c his muscles aren't STRONG enough to ABSORB THE FORCE from the movement he's produced (acceleration) and his size (mass). 

Force = Mass * Acceleration 

Besides the fact that he's probably slow, can't change levels well, and is drastically performing under par. I know what a little strength can do for a kid, it doesn't take much to make a huge difference. But besides that, THIS KID IS A TIME BOMB waiting to get injured. And there is absolutely NO reason why it has to be this way. 

Improving Myofascial Release Part 3: Pec and Lat

January 17th, 2011: Opening Day at GRIT GYM

364 days ago I was running my ass off to be ready for the first group of trainees to walk into GRIT GYM.

GRIT GYM opened January 17th, 2011.

It had been an interesting quarter of a year. I'd bought a house 3 months prior, presented to the bank (which had all but told me there wasn't much of a chance they'd back me), sweated it out until the loan was approved (took a breath of relief for the first time in days), and attempted to open in 6 weeks. To say it was a crazy time is a bit of an understatement, but I wouldn't want it any other way. It lets you know that you're alive.

It's easy to look back on things and feel good about them. At this point it's been long enough that I can have an outsiders perspective. If I hadn't lived it I'd look at it like it wasn't that big of a deal, and at the time I didn't even feel like it was. I was just being me and doing the next thing that needed to be done. All that does is make me think of how much I would've done differently, which isn't much. To be honest, I over prepared (a lot).

H/e, I would've bought a different house, I would've taken a bigger loan, I would've hired Andrew Rauen (even if he is fat....he can still move a lot of weight), taken on more space, etc etc.

But I realize, that is before GRIT GYM had ever proved anything, I didn't know what level of business would "actually" roll through the door. I hoped and projected and worked but that doesn't mean anything if nothing happens.

Then I remember where I was before opening day, before I presented to the bank, before I first showed my best friend's dad (a successful entrepeneur) the business plan and he said I had a lot of work to do (which made me feel like I'd just taken a shot of piss), and the truth is that before that I had been busting my ass for a piece of shit mom and pop shop so called "athletic club" and before that a Globo Gym (both of which should not exist), both of which barely making enough to pay rent let alone eat. There were months where I ate, almost exclusively, eggs and oatmeal b/c they are cheap yet still good for you. I'd rather call myself an interesting person, but if you really knew me you'd see how weird as shit I actually am. (I mean seriously, I wrote this: one life, and A Tattoo Story, I guess I never really caught on to that "normal" thing). Before all of this though were the people that said I'd never make it. All of them can go stick it up their ass.

The thing is that if I hadn't starved, and Dave hadn't told me that business plan needed major work, and   if that loan hadn't been approved....I'd still be working at a miserable glorified tennis club, wondering how I was going to pay my mortgage, living on eggs and oatmeal and generally hating life until I found another way to start the gym. Most people don't know what that feels like, and neither did I. You find out some things about yourself when times get bad like that.

So it's easy to look back and be critical, but really I can't complain much about how it all happened.

It's been a great experience. I work w/ some incredible people. The results they've been able to achieve are ridiculous. It's quite simply been better than I'd even imagined it to be.

A year ago on January 16th, 2011 right before midnight I finally sat down (for what seemed like the first time in days) on the floor and looked at the gym. I'll remember this forever. I was all alone and it was a very surreal feeling like I was asking myself if I'd really just done this (I still get it, every now and then, when I'm walking out the door). I probably sat there for an hour (seriously), contemplating everything (pretty SOP for me).

Last night I walked by one of the spaces I had originally wanted to open in. Took me right back to 2 years ago when I walked by that same building w/ a friend talking about it. Back when it was just a dream.


Pretty sure I can still do the original song (w/o it playing) from beginning to end. 



To look back now, it's very interesting. I couldn't be more appreciative of everyone that has been part of this, and has supported me. I have no doubt that this coming year will be interesting as well.

If I had a few things I'm glad I've figured out along the way in this life it's that:

• People can knock you off course but it's up to you whether they hold you back or not
• A relentless spirit goes a long way 
• Once you "think" you know everything, be scared, it's time to dig deeper b/c that's a bad position to be in

Thanks to all of you that have been a part of this. It means more than you know.

Improving Myofascial Release Part 2: Calf Complex

Improving Myofascial Release Part 1: The Upper Back