Uxbridge Fitness

Low Back Health – FREE Workshop!

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Low Back Health

How Crunches may be destroying your back

By Eric Noyes

It’s no secret that the prevalence of low back pain is incredibly high. Approximately 80-90% of the population will experience a bout of low back pain at some point in their life. As a trainer, the majority of clients I work with or have worked with are experiencing pain in their low back. Whether the pain stems from an injury such as a car accident or sport or as simply as feeling pain while sitting or tying your shoes, the high prevalence of low back pain is staggering.

Stuart McGill is a former professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo. He is considered a leading expert in spinal health research. McGill has published over 240 peer reviewed journal papers detailing his research, published 4 books pertaining to the topic of low back health and has spoken at over 600 events worldwide on the topic of low back health. Throughout his research, Dr. McGill has concluded that disc herniation is closely linked with repeated flexion and extension of the spine.

 

               FLEXION                                          EXTENSION

 

Research suggests that increasing the range of motion in the spine may actually increase the risk of future back problems. While performing exercises such as the back extension and the ab crunch, you are placing large amounts of force on the discs of the lumbar vertebrae that may lead to a disc herniation.

To learn more about low back health, please join me on Sunday November 19th at 11am as I will be diving deeper into the science and research of how commonly performed ab exercises may actually be doing more harm than good. Sign-up at the front desk today.

The A B C’s of Our Approach to Moving Better

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Just about everyone in every market will have an acronym they use to help you remember the why’s, what’s and how’s.  We are no different.  One of the main principles we adhere to when going through a Functional Movement Evaluation are the A B C’s of our Intergrated Functional Movement System.  Today I’m going to talk about…

A = Alignment

We see all sorts and in this post I will speak to alignment as it pertains to posture.

Here is the interesting part; most healthy people (no pain, no symptoms) would tell you that they were standing up straight…until they see their picture.  On a quick side note, I had a conversation with a member this morning who mentioned that their partner had visit with a kinesiologist and went through an assessment similar to what I have been talking about in my recent posts.  One issue had to do with alignment.  I asked if they took pictures or had their partner remove their shirt to check posture.  The answer was no.  For obvious reasons I don’t assess women without shirts but I do have them wear loose sleeveless tops or t-backs so I can see their shoulders. But guys, shirts off please.  If any of the clients above had their shirts on, do you think you could have identified the imbalances, particularly with the man in the middle?  Look close and you’ll see I land marked his spine at T2 and the top and bottom of the medial boarder of his shoulder blades.  He is far from neutral but you could never have seen this with his shirt on.

Anyway, alignment during static posture can raise red flags that when pieced together with movement impairments and passive tests can help identify the actual cause of the clients pain or problem.  Rarely is the case where the site or area of pain or discomfort is the site of the problem.  From the last post where I quoted Dean Somerset saying, “The reduction in hip internal rotation is merely a symptom of something else not working properly…” applies to a host of other issues and I want to give you an example that is very common.  It’s called Upper Crossed Syndrome.  In simple terms its an imbalance of overworked and underworked muscles of the upper chest, back, neck and shoulders.

Postural alignment is a large contributing factor that leads to Upper Crossed Syndrome.  Typically the person will complain of upper back and neck tightness and possibly head aches.  When asked if they have done anything about it, common answers include massaging the back and neck, stretching the back and neck and taking muscle relaxants.  When asked if they have seen any benefit from their treatments, they tell me it’s short term relief.  In other words, they have been treating the symptom, not the cause of the problem.  This is a perfect example of why stretching the tight doesn’t fix the problem.

Let’s look at how people with UCS will typically stand:

This young man is only 14 years old and from my experience, represents the typical forward head posture of many young people.  This constant forward head posture can lead to a rounded upper back where the shoulders will tend to roll forward.  When you place that person on their back to do a Pec Minor Length Test, it will look like this:

Normal distance from the acromion process (red dot) to the table is about 1 inch. (Sahrmann S. Diagnosis and treatment of movement impairment syndromes. London: Mosby; 2002).  I commonly see 2-3 inches!

Over time, the muscles of the upper back and neck get lengthened and the muscles of the upper chest get shorter.  As a muscle lengthens to a point where it exceeds it’s capacity, the myofacial tissue will lay down trigger points. (Etiology of Myofascial Trigger Points. Current Pain and Headache Reports, 16(5), 439–444. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-012-0289-4)  This is a way that the body protects itself and to correct it, we must first understand the cause and then reverse it.

So, we know that the muscles in the upper back and neck are lengthen and the muscles of the upper chest are shortened because we took pictures, made landmarks did some tests and recorded the results.  Now we know that we are no where near neutral alignment.  To get back to neutral or as close to neutral as possible, we need to shorten and strengthen the muscles of the upper back and shoulders and lengthen the muscles of the upper chest and avoid text neck by bringing the neck back into alignment with your shoulders.

To shorten and strengthen the upper back and shoulders, do exercises like rows and prone trap raises…no that table in the gym is not for massages!


Then to lengthen and loosen the upper chest, try Doorway Pec Stretches and Pec Rolling with a ball…

These simple exercises may be part of one persons routine but to another, it would be a form of corrective exercise.  Regardless, my point is that everyone is different but getting back to neutral alignment may be key to solving life’s aches and pains.  In the next post I’ll cover “B”.  It’s something that we do on autopilot but in most cases, that pilot could use some retraining:)

If you are interested in having a Functional Movement Evaluation done, just give us a call and we’ll get you booked in!

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Magic Trick or Functional Anatomy? [Video]

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From the fall of 2009 through to about the beginning of 2014 we were using Grey Cook’s Functional Movement Screen for a large portion of our Assessment protocol with new and existing members.  If you ever went through an assessment with us you will recall the process from the picture below:

For us at the time it was a fantastic tool to help identify and score very specific movement patterns.  Once an individuals screen was scored it served as an indicator for asymmetries that would, if they haven’t already, result in functional movement deficiencies.  From there we would proceed to incorporate corrective exercises to address these impairments.  Professional sports associations even use this same screen as part of their combine testing to help identify potential risk of injury based on the imbalances identified by the screen.  All in all, it’s a pretty cool tool and was light years ahead of the typical step test, sit and reach, sit-up test, push up test etc. that unfortunately many clubs and associations still use today.  The reason I say unfortunately is because many of those tests have been proven to be unreliable for testing what they are supposed to be testing.  For example, the sit and reach was defunct in this study by world renowned expert and fellow Canadian Dr. Stuart McGill back in 2003: http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/h03-013#.Weons7WQy2w

Fast forward to the beginning of 2014 and I was reading a blog post from another fellow Canadian, Dean Sommerset.  He is a Kinesiology Grad and spends a lot of time in the trenches as a Trainer but also keeps up on current research.  He shares a great deal of what he learns and in his blog here: http://deansomerset.com/side-plank-internal-rotation-question-answered/,  I had that light bulb moment.

 

 

 

 

 

The video he was referring to in his post really inspired me.  So much so that I have spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours relearning from some of the very best in the industry including Dean.  What Dean did with that woman’s hip seemed like a magic trick.  The FMS testing we were doing provided insight into Functional Anatomy but never could it ever help me learn about how the body works like what I have learned since watching that video.

It’s been over 3 years since Dean posted that article and despite the fact that I am a believer in the science behind the outcome, I just had to prove it to myself that what he did wasn’t a trick.  That the woman wasn’t faking her lack of range of motion.  So, once I was confident in my ability to identify the impairment and rule out structural or mechanical restrictions, I had someone grab a video camera and give it a shot.

But before you watch the video, I need to preface the situation.  I was working with a 14 year old athlete who upon evaluation had very limited Internal Hip Rotation.  Normal ranges are upwards of 35 degrees and this boy was locked at about 10 if that.  The main reason behind this demonstration was to prove that just because someone is tight or lacks range of motion, doesn’t mean that stretching will help.  He has a functional impairment.  One of my favorite lines from Dean’s post is,

“The reduction in hip internal rotation is merely a symptom of something else not working properly. Because of this, we could stretch it as much as we like and never see any difference. As a result, we have a generation of people focused on the kinesiology of “stretch the tight” without asking the best question possible: why is it tight in the first place? Muscles don’t just get tight on their own, they’re told to be tight. Figuring out the why helps to target in on the reason, which will help to give better results than simply banging your head against a wall and wondering why your headache doesn’t go away.”

So, without further delay, here is the magic that can happen when you understand Functional Anatomy…

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Understanding Our Why

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So now you have access to all this extra space, but WHAT do you do with it?  That seems to be the underlying question of many that enter the newly turfed area.  Golf comes to mind for some;) FORE!!

To explain WHY we have opened up the space, I want to introduce a new perspective on a term that has been over used and misunderstood by both the general public and personal trainers alike.  That term is Functional Training.  If you Google it, you will get a billion hits but generally speaking, Wikipedia defines it as, “Functional training is a classification of exercise which involves training the body for the activities performed in daily life.”.

It’s a start but it’s missing something.  Here is the way I believe it should be defined, “Functional training is a classification of exercise which involves training the body for the WAY activities SHOULD BE performed in daily life.  My point here is that the fitness industry and the internet is cluttered with misinformation and so much of it that it becomes very difficult to determine what or who is credible and what or who is not.  And that brings me to the reason behind our WHY.  Our goal for anyone who walks through our doors is to help them move better in order to feel better and ultimately perform better by educating them how to do so.

 

With respect to our goal of moving better, you need room to do so.  Machines have their place and for many of them, in my opinion, they are best suited to rehab and post rehab unless you have a very specific reason to train one muscle group in one single plane of motion while sitting!   If you think about it, it’s been said that sitting is the new smoking.  So does spending most of your time in the gym sitting on a machine to get your exercise make a lot of sense?  Our bodies were designed to move in three planes of motion, forward and back, side to side and rotationally.  Much of the time we will move in multiple planes at the same time.  You can’t do that with most machines.

Getting back to my definition of Functional Training, moving the way you should be moving requires an understanding of HOW your joints were designed to move and an understanding of what “Neutral” or Normal” looks like or used to look like…

As we get older, we adapt to the demands that have been placed on our bodies.  Generally speaking those adaptations take us away from neutral and we develop movement impairments which for many, can lead to pain.  So simply doing exercises that mimic what we do in daily life can compound these impairments.  Just going through the motions or line of pull that the machine takes us, doesn’t really help. What trainers should be doing is identifying your individual impairments and getting you back to neutral as much as possible.  I am not suggesting that every compensation or adaptation can be overcome with corrective exercise because we need to take into consideration the pathology behind the impairment.  However, identifying movement impairments and knowing what to do about it is the key to helping a person move better before you get them moving more.  My next post will get into how we identify these impairments along with a cool video of how our body compensates but how a simple corrective exercise can bring you back to neutral.

In the mean time here are some suggestions to help you use the space.  Incorporate these into your warm-up along with some foam rolling and you’ll be off to a great start!

Inch worms…

Bear Crawl…

Overhead Lunge Walk…


 

 

 

 

 

Labour Day Sale Details

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Labour Day Holiday Deals

 

Introducing the 9 Month Membership

We know that lots of folks like to take the summer “off”.  In other words, take your workouts outside of the gym during the summer months 😉

To help accommodate, we are introducing the 9 month membership that will only be available for purchase during the month of September.  Priced right between the 6 month and the annual, it’s the most affordable option that covers you for the uglier months of the year😉

It can be purchased in full or by monthly payment:

  • 9 Month Full Pay – $540 plus HST
  • 9 Month paid Monthly – $49 finance fee and $60 per month plus tax

Special 9 Month Introductory Labour Day Price:

  • $499 plus tax if paid in full
  • NO Finance Fee and just pay the $60 per month plus tax

 

Labour Day Deals  New and Current Members:

Referral Rewards are Doubled!! If you bring in a new member and they purchase a 6 month or annual membership on September 4th, you get 2 MONTHS added to your current membership!

(Referring member must be in good standing and hold current membership prior to September 4th.)

 

Double the term of your current summer membership for 20% OFF!

  • If you currently have a 2, 3 or 4 month summer membership, buy the same one again for 20% off.

Youth (17 and under)

  • One month memberships only $69.00

 

Sale prices valid on Monday September 4th Only! Call in to purchase

if you can’t make it in personally.

Add HST to prices above.

2 Day Sale…..The Cash and Dash Best Deal of the Year!

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On Monday August 7th and Tuesday August 8th we are offering the best deal of the year!  We are calling it the Cash and Dash Sale.

Our BEST deal of the year……The Two Day Cash and Dash

Annual Memberships:

  • Buy any annual membership (Single, Couple or Family)
  • Pay with CASH and you get 3 months for FREE
  • Pay with any other form of payment you get 2 months for FREE

6 Month Memberships:

  • Buy a 6 month membership
  • Pay with CASH and you get 2 months for FREE
  • Pay with any other form of payment you get 1 month for FREE

 

For Current Members:

If you would like to take advantage of this special BUT are in the middle of your current membership plan, we can help you out.  Just speak to the front desk for details.

 And don’t forget about our entire summer Personal Training Sale.  You can save up to 75% off of your sessions!  For details, click here: Canada 150 Training Sale

 

Sale prices valid on Monday August 7th and Tuesday August 8th Only! 

Add HST to prices above.

Keep Rollin’ (and Stretching!) By Carole Anne Elliot

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If you’re not using a foam roller, we have one question for you: Why Not? Maybe you don’t know how to use it, or what it’s for. Maybe you’ve watched someone roll on top of it while cringing and biting their lip and wondered “Why would someone do that?!”

Fear Not – because Myofasical Release (or Foam Rolling) is one of the BEST things you have probably never done!

Simply put, it is one of the most effective tools at your disposal for physique-building, recovery and injury prevention. Self-myofascial release – is a fancy term for self-massage to release muscle tightness or trigger points. Basically, by applying pressure to specific points on your body you are able to aid in the recovery of your muscles. Of course, getting a deep tissue massage is a nice way to go too, but it takes a lot of time and gets very expensive. For as little as $25 (and we sell them at Body Fit), you can find a basic foam roller and in 10 minutes begin that well-needed release your muscles need to stay pain-free.

Why Should You Foam Roll?
1) Increased Range of Motion – Moving well is key at any age. Tight muscles don’t allow this, but by being proactive, you can reduce muscle soreness and recover faster from activities.
2) Increased Flexibility – Tights muscles impede movement – regular foam rolling before, during and after your workout / activity can help you move better.
3) Prevent Injury – by doing regular foam rolling – you are “paying it forward” in terms of injury prevention.
4) De-Stress – we all have stress in our lives, a little foam rolling at the end of your day can be a great way to relax and de-stress.
5) Repair – when we work our muscles, we cause micro-tears in them. Repair and rest must go hand in hand. Foam rolling helps “smooth” out scar tissue and assists with muscle repair and removes toxins from the muscles.
You should always consult with a Trainer or knowledgeable professional prior to Foam Rolling.

Give it a try!

Uxbridge Boot Camp Starting Soon!

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Alec “The Motivator” Williamson, one of Body Fit’s Performance Trainers, has opened up his schedule to bring Body Fit’s 8 Week Beach Body Boot Camp to Uxbridge.  With a Degree in Kinesiology and being a Strength and Conditioning Specialist,  campers will be under the direct supervision of a proven and qualified trainer.

Starting on June 6th, Alec will take enlisted campers through 8 weeks of  some of the best workouts in the industry, using specialized (and some not-so-specialized) equipment designed specifically to get you results.  By using progressive programming, this means that no matter what shape you may be in right now, every work out will be scaled to your individual needs.

Don’t let the name intimidate you!

There is Beach Body in all of us and as long as you DO THE WORK, our 8 Week Beach Body Boot Camp will be able to help you.

We have added a few options to make it easier to fit into your schedule! 

  1. Full Boot Camp – 8 weeks, twice per week: $159 (member) $199 (non-member)
  2. 1 Month (June or July) twice per week: $169 (member) $209 (non-member)
  3. 8 Session flex pack – good for June and July: $179 (member) $219 (non-member)

For all the the information and FAQ’s, just click here: Beach Body Boot Camp

 

MOTIVATED CAMPERS WANTED!

Let Us Help You Get In Shape…

Get On The List!

Stop In For A Tour…