Range of Motion

If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!

What exactly is range of motion? And why is it important? This is a topic that has been puzzling people for years. Every time I evaluate a person’s movement, and examine their range of motion, I usually have them tell me something along the lines of: “well I’m pretty flexible”, yet they can’t perform a proper squat. Well how is it that a person can be flexible and not be able to perform a squat correctly?

I bet a lot of people reading this, would probably say that they stretch multiple times a week. And I would be willing to bet that those people likely have less than ideal range of motion performing basic fundamental movements. The point being here, that there is a significant difference between static stretching, and active range of motion. I know from experience that many of you reading this know a lot of the benefits of stretching. Firstly, because I see a lot of people stretching, and secondly, I know most of you tell me you stretch semi-regularly (3-5x/week.) This leads to the conundrum of why I see such poor movement quality from most people in the gym.

Let’s start by digging in a little further here……..

Let’s first talk about static stretching. Static stretching is the temporary lengthening of a muscle. This is done by holding a muscle in a lengthened position for a period of time. This is the type of stretching that most people perform either before a workout, after a workout, or both. If you see people either laying on the floor or standing in an awkward looking position without moving for a period of time, more than likely, they are attempting their best version of a static stretch.

Next, let’s go over what exactly active range of motion is. Think of active range of motion as movement. When you wish to perform any physical movement, your muscles contract and act on bones which move about a joint which then produce mechanical movement and that’s what allows us to move.

Lastly, let’s quickly go over what fundamental movements are. Fundamental movements are movements that involve multiple body parts and are the basis of physical literacy. The example I will be using moving forward will be a squat.

So, if we think about those three concepts for a second; why is it that lots of people, in their own opinion, have great flexibility and yet can’t perform a squat correctly?

Essentially, these people have trained their body to not be able to perform a squat. Babies have some of the best squat form you’ll ever see. Go to Google and type in “Squatting baby” and look at images. Babies have picture perfect squat form. Just look at when they bend down to pick something off of the floor, the drop right into a perfect squat. They utilize a full range of motion in their hips, knees, and ankles to achieve the movement.

Obviously, many things change from infancy to adulthood in a human body. However, the fact remains that babies can squat perfectly, and adults, for the most part cannot. What happens is over time, we train our bodies into a restricted range of motion. Babies, when they’re first exploring the world, explore what’s closest to them first, the floor. As we get older and our bodies and brains develop, we become more efficient and don’t spend as much time on or near the floor. We begin sitting on couches, chairs, benches, and beds that don’t allow us to explore the end ranges of motion of our lower body joints.

Let’s take a hypothetical example that I know is accurate for a lot of people. Jill lives in Uxbridge and works in Downtown Toronto. She has a 90 minute commute to work and then spends 7 hours a day sitting at a desk. Conservatively, that’s 10 hours out of her day that she is sitting down. Presumably, she is sitting at about a 90 degree angle for those 10 hours. When Jill gets to the gym she does a few sets of back squats and can only squat to 90 degrees.

Now to look at this situation, let’s assume that Jill is not using a weight that is too heavy for her to lift, why is she not performing a full squat? The answer is simple; Jill has trained her body into a reduced range of motion from all the sitting she does. Unless Jill has suffered a lower body injury at some point in time, her body should be able to achieve a full squat, and yet, she appears as though she can’t.

By training your body into a reduced range of motion, you’re putting limitations on your body that may one day end in serious injury. If you’re body is trained to only be strong in a specific range of motion, instead of its full range, if there is ever a time when your body must tap into its full range to prevent you from falling, your body will not be strong enough to protect you from the fall. This could result in a torn muscle, torn tendon and/or ligament, or a broken bone.

Good quality movement with emphasis placed on full range of motion should always be the foundation of any training program.

If you wish to learn more about the benefits of good quality movement and how you can integrate it into your training, please join us this fall for a special presentation.  (Date TBA.)

About the Author:  Eric Noyes BHSc (Kin), CSEP-CPT

Eric is  Kinesiology Graduate from The University of Ontario and holds his Training Certification with the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology.  He has been training general population and sport specific clients at Body Fit since 2013 and is currently the Lead Trainer.  He can be reached at eric@bodyfit.ca for advice and consultation.

Is it safe for kids to lift weights?

A couple years ago we changed our minimum age for kids to come to the gym.  It was solely based on insurance and liability.  For years we could only permit youth aged 12 and 13 to use the gym while supervised by an adult.  Then when we lowered it to 9 it raised some eye brows.  I would field the same question over and over again, “Is it safe for kids to lift weight at such a young age?”  That was usually followed by the comment, “I heard it could stunt their growth.”

I would ask them, “where did you hear that?”  and nobody could recall the source.  But clearly, the myth has made parents really nervous about getting their kids involved with any kind of strength training that involved weights which is really unfortunate because the benefits of a supervised and well-designed program for kids are numerous.

A 2009 study by Dahab KS et Al entitled, “Strength Training in Children and Adolescents: Raising the Bar for Young Athletes?” reviewed recent published research and scholarly articles to clarify the myths and to outline recommendations when considering a strength training program for kids.  They concluded that after reviewing over 40 relevant studies, “children can improve strength by 30% to 50% after just 8 to 12 weeks of a well-designed strength training program. Youth need to continue to train at least 2 times per week to maintain strength. The case reports of injuries related to strength training, including epiphyseal plate fractures and lower back injuries, are primarily attributed to the misuse of equipment, inappropriate weight, improper technique, or lack of qualified adult supervision.”

Looking at the last sentence, I believe that the first three attributes to injury can be eliminated by addressing the last one… lack of qualified adult supervision.  Did you know that the Personal Training industry is not regulated?  Well, it’s not.  Anyone can take an online course and call themselves a trainer.  I have researched most of the more credible certifying bodies and there is only one that I would consider recommending that focuses on youth fitness.  Why is this important?

In the study “Strength training effects in prepubescent boys.” Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1990;22:605-614 by Ramsay JA, Blimkie CJ, Smith K, et al. they concluded that pre-pubescent children gain strength through neural adaptations, not muscle hypertrophy.  That means you can’t take an adult training program and water it down for kids.  Kids get stronger by learning to move more efficiently after being taught how to move properly and then you can start adding a load.  Most trainers and coaches that I have seen work with kids, either don’t know this or don’t understand it.  You don’t know what you don’t know so the word “qualified” should mean that the person working with kids should know how kids are different and the above-mentioned injuries would be avoided.

I know that there are a lot of kids that don’t play organized sports and most parents tend to look at the benefits of strength training as it pertains to either injury prevention or furthering their success in sports.  However, there is a whole world of benefit that is universal to every kid that is involved in regular physical activity even if it’s not a sport.  Think of strength training as a physical activity.  In addition to the recommended 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day, the World Health Organization states that “vigorous-intensity activities should be incorporated, including those that strengthen muscle and bone, at least 3 times per week.”  This doesn’t mean that kids need to be lifting weights in some sort of circuit at a gym but rather incorporating exercises that build muscle and strengthen bones into games or activities that involve running, jumping and throwing.

It gets even better!  Physical benefits aside, there are a ton of other benefits that can be directly correlated to regular physical activity in children with cognitive performance and academic achievement being one of the most significant.  A 2011 study entitled, The Effects of Physical Activity and Physical Fitness on Children’s Achievement and Cognitive Outcomes by Fedewa and Ahn looked at 59 published papers between 1947 and 2009. Through a comprehensive analysis of the data the results indicated, “a significant and positive effect of physical activity on children’s achievement and cognitive outcomes, with aerobic exercise having the greatest effect.”  Moreover, this study revealed that the strongest relationships were found between aerobic fitness and achievement in mathematics, followed by IQ and reading performance.  The most significant gains in academic performance were found when the physical activity was performed in smaller groups of less than 10 children.  Interestingly, individualized activity interventions showed no impact on cognitive outcomes or academic achievement.

So, what’s the point of this post??  A few weeks ago this very discussion came up on talk radio (yes I listen to talk radio) when a new study around childhood obesity was released.  Despite the fact it was agreed by all involved in the conversation that kids could use more physical activity, it was apparent by callers that there are not a lot of programs for kids that aren’t organized sports.  Then the light bulb went on!

Small Group Boot Camp for Kids that is affordably priced and at convenient times. Taking kids to a gym is probably the last thing that comes to mind even if the parents happen to go to a gym. But if it’s to participate in a program organized specifically for kids, it makes perfect sense.   So, my trainers and I have put our collective heads together and starting on Tuesday July 10th we will be starting a 4-week Boot Camp for Kids. The group size will be limited to 8 and there will be 2 groups; 9-11years and 12-13 years.  The 9-11yr group will start at 7:00pm and run for 30 min sessions and the 12-13 group will start at 7:45pm and run for 45-minute sessions.  All sessions will run on Tuesday evenings for 4 consecutive weeks.

Special Introductory Pricing:

9-11 year group – 4 sessions $52 tax included

12-13 year group – 4 sessions $60 tax include

To register, please download and complete the attached Informed Consent and bring it in to the gym.  Download the Consent form here:  Guardian and Informed Consent

Eat as much Rice and Pasta as you want!

A tale of misinformation.

Recently, I came across a newspaper article which was shown to me by a client of mine. The title of the article was – “Lose weight by eating as much rice and potatoes as you want — no, really.” That sounds really good doesn’t it? Almost too good. Really though, you can eat as much rice and potatoes until your heart’s content…..according to this article.

I will give you a quick summary of the article to give CONTEXT to what it is I’m about to say. Essentially, the article refers to a study that was conducted where researchers looked at 2 groups of participants. The first group followed what is known as the Slimming World eating program. This “diet” is very popular in the U.K. The premise of the Slimming World program is eating normal, everyday foods you would find at the grocery store. The second group simply restricted their daily caloric intake to 1400 calories.  The group that followed the Slimming World program lost an average of 13 pounds over a 14-week span, while the group that restricted their caloric intake only saw an average loss of 7 pounds over the same 14-week time period.

If you wish to read the article yourself, here is the link:

http://torontosun.com/health/lose-weight-by-eating-as-much-rice-and-potatoes-as-you-want-no-really/wcm/b8f04477-9173-4d2e-adef-a28748c26641

It’s a very quick read, but also chalk-full of misleading information….which I’m about to get too shortly.

Firstly, before moving on, I feel as though I need to provide a little more information about this Slimming World eating program. The program has people eating normal food they find at the grocery store with no hidden catch to it. They categorize all foods into three categories:

1 – Free Food

2 – Healthy Extras

3 – Sins

Basically, you can take any food and it will fall into one of the three categories. They classify free foods as everyday foods. Examples include: lean meat, fish, eggs, pasta, potatoes, fruit, and vegetables. According to the Slimming World website “they’re filling and low in calories for their weight – so you can eat as much as you like without counting or weighing.” I assume that when they say weighing, the mean using a food scale and when they say counting, they mean counting calories.

There is no need to talk about the healthy extras and sins categories as they don’t really apply to the stance I’m going to make on this topic. Essentially, healthy extras are foods you should be measuring out and only consuming them in moderation and sins are the foods that are high in calories in small amounts (alcohol, chocolate etc.)

Now, let’s get down to the real business here shall we. I have many issues with this news article. So many that I could make this post last 10 or more pages if I really need to let some of my frustration out. However, I know people would probably stop reading after the third page so I’m going to keep this fairly short and sweet.

First, we must establish CONTEXT.

1 – Let’s talk about sugar.

Pasta is really delicious. And I’ll be the first one to tell you that I have eaten a fair share of it in my lifetime and still do have it occasionally now as well.

This is where we need to insert a little CONTEXT here. There is something in the nutrition world that is known as the Glycemic Index (GI.) Why it’s important to mention the GI here is because it helps me illustrate my point easier. The GI is a numerical scale which ranks carbohydrates based on how quickly it will raise a person’s blood sugar levels. The scale goes from 0 to 100 with numbers closer to 100 being foods that raise blood sugar levels more rapidly. A common reference food is table sugar, which is ranked at 100 and vegetables being ranked as low as in the single digits.

Let’s also establish here that carbohydrates are sugar. The basic molecular structure of carbohydrates consists of monosaccharides, which are simple sugars. Getting past all of the chemistry jargon, think of carbs as sugar. That means that rice, pasta, and potatoes are, when broken down to its basic molecular form, sugar.

Generally speaking, pasta usually falls anywhere from 50 to 60 on a GI. White rice and white potatoes fall between 85 and 100 on the GI. That means, when pasta is consumed, it raises blood sugar levels at a moderate to high rate and rice and potatoes at an even higher rate.

I’m not going to get into the deep science about this. Just know that you’re consuming high amounts of sugar when eating those foods.

2 – Pasta is high in calories

Despite what this article and the Slimming World eating program may say; pasta is not low in calories. I’m going to use Catelli Smart pasta as my example of choice here; a very common brand that I see a large number of people buying at the store. Have you ever looked at the nutrition label on a box of that pasta? I would be willing to bet a large amount of money that very few people know exactly how much one serving of pasta is and how many calories is in that serving.

For one serving of the Catelli Smart pasta, which is three-quarters of a cup (85g) there are 300 calories. Next time you have a measuring cup out, please look at how much three-quarters of a cup really is. I can tell you that very few people are eating three-quarters of a cup of pasta. Most people I would be willing to bet are eating three, four, five times that much in one sitting.

Let’s crunch some numbers here:

Let’s assume a person is eating four times that amount. That’s now 1200 calories. And I may have forgotten to mention that that’s before adding sauce and perhaps meat as well. So let’s conservatively add an extra 300 calories for a meat sauce. We are now up to 1500 calories for a bowl of pasta. And that’s just one meal, never mind everything else that we consume during our day.

Problems with the article

My biggest issue with this article is that the title is incredibly misleading and the information contained within is so vague it would be easy to take it out of CONTEXT. For a person who doesn’t have a working knowledge of nutrition, they would read the article and assume that eating as much pasta as they want will not hinder their weight loss goal. Unless you follow-up and dig a bit further about this research article and actually check out this Slimming World eating program, this article can be taken entirely out of CONTEXT.

The basic premise of the Slimming World eating program is to limit foods that are not so good for us. I am entirely on board with that school of thought. Moderation is the key. The one thing I’m not on board with is listing pasta and potatoes as foods to eat as much as you wish. The fact is; these foods are high in both basic sugars as well as calories and should be eaten in moderation.

The big problem is that people are not eating these foods in moderation. A person who eats primarily (90%) whole foods – lean meats, fish, eggs, vegetables, and fruits and who are healthy and active people, can afford to have pastas and potatoes every so often. Their bodies are efficient at breaking down sugars and not storing them as body fat. These people have properly functioning bodies.

This article plays right into the hands of people who are looking for a reason to feel good about their very poor eating habits. The last thing someone who is overweight, not active, and already eats predominantly high carbohydrate (sugar) food needs to be told is “go ahead, eat all the pasta you want and you’ll see great results.” It just doesn’t work that way.

The take-home point

I’m finally going to land this plane now.  If you’ve made is this far, you’ve probably noticed that the word CONTEXT has appeared numerous times.

Context is everything.

Everything you read, hear about, or see on TV must be kept and taken in context. Companies are trying to sell products, and journalists are trying to have as many clicks on their articles as possible. Companies can’t lie to consumers about their products, but they sure can present out of context and misleading information to them.

I like to use the following example to explain this point. Please picture if you can the following example:

You’re watching TV and you see an infomercial for the new TredClimbStepMaster 50 million X2.0. Charles used the TredClimbStepMaster 50 million X2.0 only three times a week for 14 minutes and lost 27 pounds in 6 weeks and now has a six pack. For only 4 easy payments of $49.99 USD the new TredClimbStepMaster 50 million X2.0 can be yours. And the best part is, if you’re not satisfied with your results, you’ll get your money back – no questions asked.

Man, does that ever sound like the answer to your prayers. Eating healthy, exercising frequently, and being active is just too darn hard and you simply don’t have the time to do it. But 14 minutes three times a week sounds like it’s manageable.

This is how companies sell you products.

Did Charles use the TredClimbStepMaster 50 million X2.0 three times a week for 14 minutes? He probably did. A company couldn’t say it if it wasn’t partially true. What the infomercial doesn’t tell you is what else Charles did to lose that weight. What did he eat? What didn’t he eat? What other exercise did he do? What are his lifestyle habits? They don’t need to tell you all of that information. It simply doesn’t sound as easy as 14 minutes three times a week.

Humans don’t like accepting responsibility for our actions. People are always looking for the easy out and not wanting to put in the hard work. People also don’t like feeling bad about their choices. We like justification for the bad things we eat. Reading an article titled “Lose weight by eating as much rice and potatoes as you want — no, really” makes us feel like all the garbage food we’ve been eating is OK because it’s supported by pseudoscience that we read in a local newspaper. Throw in the phenomena of “broken telephone” and this is how we end up with all of the terrible misinformation floating around on the internet and person to person in gyms around the world.

I hope moving forward, everyone who reads this post will think twice before blindly following advice given to them by someone who has no formal training as a health professional. This includes anything you read online, see on TV, or hear from the person at the gym who always seems to have the answer to your questions.

About the Author:  Eric Noyes BHSc (Kin), CSEP-CPT

Eric is  Kinesiology Graduate from The University of Ontario and holds his Training Certification with the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology.  He has been training general population and sport specific clients at Body Fit since 2013 and is currently the Lead Trainer.  He can be reached at eric@bodyfit.ca for advice and consultation.