Good or bad??

I watched a video today and I want you to watch it. This will take about 4:00 and I want you to consider what you have just seen.



Now considering how it appears this kid got this strong...




Was he lifting external resistance?

Well other than the curls no. He wasn't.

Is this going to destroy his bones??

Probably not. Why you ask? The way that this muscular system was stressed is in a systemic fashion. He is not doing isolation exercises but rather he is controlling and managing his own body weight. This puts the right kind of stress on bones, ligaments and joints.

Another interesting fact is that the 6-pack you see on this child was not developed by doing hundreds of situps but rather was developed as a result of his body needing stability during the inverted pushups, pullups, gymnastics and other calisthenics.

Reading the comments on this video when it was posted on Yahoo!, there were hundreds of people who were upset claiming this poor kid was ruining his body and developing a "complex."

Perhaps more american kids should "ruin" their bodies like this and develop a "complex" of fitness. Perhaps then we'll stop that runaway train that is childhood obesity. If what you saw in this video disturbs you, then it is definitely a great idea to keep your child away from the following:

1. Monkey bars at school
2. Jungle Gyms at the park
3. Tree's he/she can climb
4. Hills they can run up
5. Things they can jump off such as benches and steps
6. Fun group activities such as partner wheel barrow's, crab walks, bear crawls and other weight bearing fun stuff

So this child has a relatively large amount of muscle and a relatively small amount of body fat on him. That is no reason to say my 5 year old should not be active.

Now my disclaimer. If indeed the parents are pushing this boy to do more and to engage in weightlifting at such a young age, then perhaps there is cause for concern. But from what I see. This boy is perfectly healthy and a model for engaging in physical activity instead of parking it in front of his playstation.

Long Time and Biggest Loser

I have been out for quite a while. Somehow the blog got pushed to the back of my mind. Although it probably shouldn't have. But watching the finale of the Biggest Loser, I realized how much of an impact I can have on the lives of my friends and family. Many of them are always asking me questions not only about sports, fitness, nutrition, rehabilitation, and physical therapy. But they also ask me questions about things which are way over my head.

My policy when it comes to that is simply find the answer, or direct them to somebody who has the answer. There are a few people in the sports training, fitness, youth training and rehabilitation profession who have my utmost respect. These professionals have knowledge from their time in college (most have a Master's in Exercise Science) but also from a lot of time spent with clients and patients. Some of these folks are Mike Boyle, Gray Cook, Brian Grasso, Mark Verstegen and Vern Gambetta.

But probably the one guy who I really look up to, and even base the Hi-5 FitCamp off of is Craig Ballantyne. He developed a fitness program that is based on sound research and gets amazing results. Check out his site

http://www.turbulencetraining.com/cbae/?a=53ICCIxv&p=1

Designed for everybody from beginner to advanced, he came up with the idea after doing research for his Master's degree. I myself have looked up the studies he cites, and have also found other research supporting the same idea of intense work with minimal rest to develop muscle and use more fat while you are resting.

Jillian Micheals of the Biggest Loser is a raving fan of his. She has only good things to say about Craig and his program.

http://www.turbulencetraining.com/cbae/?a=53ICCIxv&p=1

I have tried his program (check earlier blogs) and I have to say, they are a butt kicker. Give it a try with one catch; While you are doing the workout, wear a heart rate monitor. Watch it soar, and then check your heart rate throughout the day. It will still be elevated, meaning you are still recovering from the workout you did earlier in the morning. I will talk more about the benefits of a heart rate monitor later. For now, check out Craigs site. You will be amazed.


Aaron

The First Page

There are many times when I sit in my office and wonder why my body looks somewhat plain. I think about my eating habits and yes occasionally better choices could be made. I've done body fat assessments and its around 13%. Not bad. But why aren't my arms more defined and why do I still have these love handles?



Lets look at my strength program. There really isn't much program to it. Until 3 weeks ago that is. I decided I was going to start a very basic program.



My problem is I can write programs for others and implement them. But when I write one for myself, I get to doing it and I always seem to change it up just a little bit because I think to myself, this is a good follow up to that exercise. But I always forget the goal. My goal is to gain weight. There are certain formats and programs that work better for that than others. Just as there is to losing weight.



So I am starting what is called Turbulence Training. It is a format designed by a strength and conditioning specialist in Toronto named Craig Ballentyne. What I like so much about it is that his formats and ideas are backed up by research. He then implements his knowledge into his training programs. http://www.turbulencetraining.com/.


That is what is missing with personal trainers. I hate that word because it comes with such a stigma and stereotype. Lets face it, stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. If you've seen the movie "Dodgeball" you know what i'm talking about. It portray's trainers as people who live in the gym and live to be in the gym to simply look good. That is probably why I prefer the title given to me by my certification: Strength & Conditioning Specialist. As a CSCS, each program has a goal and each program is designed with that goal in mind.



As we come full circle, I forgot the most important part of programming for myself: goals. What are my goals? I'd like to be faster for sports, be able to run a 5k without stopping, be able to sit in a car for a while without my butt starting to ache, be able to do 5 wide grip pull ups, but most importantly I really want the experience of sticking to a program for a month and seeing what happens. Because that is one of the ways I will be able to put my education to use. To apply what I learned in my undergraduate degree. I do that to some extent but, I want to do it for a month.



So that is my goal. Stick to a focused and directed exercise and eating program for a month and simply watch what happens.



I have my goal for the next month. What is yours? To put full effort into a training program for a month? Remember, not just show up at the gym and do whatever, but stick to a pre-written program for 4 weeks and not modify it in any way during that time. To change your eating habits for a month? To eat more raw fruits and vegetables? Perhaps drink 2 liter's of water a day?

Do something. Change something. Everybody wants to be healthy. But you've got to make changes in your lifestyle. Remember, if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got.