FC Fitness Blog

The Ultimate Push-up Exercise List

admin — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:31:01 +0000

The humble push-up. Used by militaries all over the world to get their soldiers in fighting condition and middle school P.E. teachers to punish punk kids. The push-up is the ultimatebodyweight exercise. It requires no special equipment and can be done anywhere, anytime. The push-up often gets overlooked because many men find it too simple or too boring to perform. But by switching up your hand and feet positions and adding in a few twists, the push-up becomes a versatile muscle builder that will leave you begging for mercy. The Art of Manliness has compiled the ultimate resource on push-ups; here is a primer on every variation (with video) we could find. Your muscles will hate you, but they’ll never get bored.

The Ultimate Push-up Exercise List

http://artofmanliness.com/2009/07/21/push-ups-exercises/

Why Music Matters: Beyond Mental and Emotional Health

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:41:29 +0000

Dr. Phil Maffetone

The simplest of reasons why we love music is because how nature built our brains millions of year ago. The body is neurologically “nourished” by music, much like a natural diet builds one’s health.

Biologists have long known the importance of music’s foundation in human health. It has played a key role in our species rising to dominance. In particular, and what separates humans from other animals, our large and highly functional emotional brain has developed with the help of complex music. Some of the earliest musical instruments, such as the simple flute, are over 30,000 years old.

Not only did the human brain have music long before traditional language, it was the universal language, one that all animals share. And neurologists and psychologists know that music is one of the few things—perhaps the only one—that can stimulate all parts of a human’s complex brain.

Clinicians in all fields of healthcare have paid attention too. Beginning about 5,000 years ago, music came forth as a potent therapy for treatment of illness and disease, and prevention. Music therapy helps not just the brain, but immunity, muscles, digestion, stress and many other bodily functions as well.

Music’s importance with human evolution is evident in healthy infants, who, while lacking the ability to speak, already have built-in musical abilities. They immediately respond to music long before they learn to develop language and other physical and mental skills.

But sadly, with many people today, music has died. Along with it, the powerful, natural therapy it provokes has crumbled, and our mental and emotional condition adversely affected.

Mental and Emotional Health

We’re all familiar with physical and chemical health, our muscles and bones, and hormones and nutrients, respectively, but mental and emotional health is more obscure. While millions of people are diagnosed with some named condition of the brain, many millions more are also afflicted with reductions in quality of life due to mental and emotional problems too vague for a diagnosis.

Let’s define these brain states. Mental and emotional health is associated with our behavior. The mental state is also referred to as cognition—how we sense the world, our perceptions, and our ability to learn and make decisions. Emotions are associated with pain, in particular. Not just heartbreak and feelings of depression, but physical pain too, which is all sensed in our brain. Emotions show themselves as mood, anxiety and depression.

Our mental and or emotional condition can also trigger significant stress, disturbing hormones that can wreck our physical and chemical health.

For many people, music is a liberator, reducing stress hormones and helping their mental and emotional brain. But as life gets too busy, music leaves the lives of many people, and with it the potential power of therapy and enjoyment. Instead of soothing harmony and melodies of music worth listening to, all that is left is noise and confusion, sounds without any real meaning and substance.

Music and Emotions

Wiebke Trost and colleagues at the Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland, in their study “Mapping Aesthetic Musical Emotions in the Brain” (2011), revealed for the first time the neural architecture underlying the complex ‘‘aesthetic’’ emotions induced by music. They state that, “music evokes complex emotions beyond pleasant/unpleasant or happy/sad dichotomies usually investigated in neuroscience.” They demonstrate that the unique richness of music stimulates emotions that include reward. This is an important discovery, and a powerful effect for most people. The reward centers of the brain are associated with addiction, not just to drugs, including common ones such as caffeine, and especially to sugar. Music may become a positive addiction replacing negative habits.

In addition, music can awaken one’s memory, and it stimulates self-reflection, and sensorimotor processes—factors that incorporate brain-body relationships including muscle function.

Research shows that musical emotions go far beyond all other emotions triggered by all other stimuli. One reason is that music enlists the activity of the whole brain—a sort of holistic therapy. Likewise, memory, which perks up to the sound of music, also occurs everywhere in the brain. There’s neither a memory or music “center”; rather, both exist throughout the brain. So all one’s senses, not just auditory, are stimulated by music, from vision and vibratory to bodily sensation and higher levels of consciousness.

“In other words,” as Trost and colleagues state, “it has been suggested that music might elicit ‘special’ kinds of affects,” beyond our understanding of the basic mental and emotional states. This is a major breakthrough in our understanding of the brain.

In addition, new research points to a crucial involvement of brain systems that are not primarily ‘‘emotional’’ areas, including motor pathways—the nerve connections between the brain and muscles throughout the body. Balanced muscle function allows one to move more efficiently, balance properly, avoid physical injuries, and perform better in sports.

While music may stimulate many emotions and memories in a healthy way, the basic human emotions of fear or anger are not typically associated with music. Not unless there is an existing neurological problem, such as amusica.

Music Deficiency

Amusica is a spectrum disorder—from subtle imbalances to full-blown pathologies—where individuals have a “disconnect” in their nervous systems. In mild forms, a person may be unable to relate to music, be unable to ascertain words in songs, or just not enjoy it, while in more severe cases along the spectrum music can trigger extreme, unhealthy emotions. To others, music may even be painful.

With many, amusica results in not making music part of life. This could be due to an uncomfortable feeling associated with it, or that today’s fast-paced world with its emphasis on being connected all day and all night, has taken over the places in the brain that would normally benefit from and create, and relate, to music. We are so busy keeping up, that music is neglected. And if music does have a role, it’s either as a minor one or as “ background.”

Junk music is as bad as junk food. Commercialization of music exists on all fronts. We are assaulted by it when we turn on the radio, step in an elevator, go shopping, or hoping to find new musical groups worth our attention. Many of today’s best-selling bands appear to have been solely based on a music producer’s knowledge of demographics and marketing.

The lack of music in one’s life has unhealthy consequences, not unlike a vitamin deficiency. (Avitaminosis is the name associated with health conditions due to inadequate levels of vitamins.) Scientists and clinicians are still unraveling the mysteries of amusica. But one issue seems clear—just like a nutritional deficiency, amusica should not exist in a healthy person.

Music and the Aging Brain

Interference with the brain’s normal function is common in aging. But it’s not normal. Decline in cognition is so common that it’s considered normal. Musicians have less dysfunction with age, and musical stimulation—whether hearing it regularly, playing it or watching a visual representation (such as a music video)—can significantly slow the aging process so common in the brain.

So aging itself can result in neurological dysfunction. Research by Parbery-Clark and colleagues at Northwestern University’s neuroscience lab recently showed that, “Aging disrupts neural timing, reducing the nervous system’s ability to precisely encode sound.” They found that older persons exposed to music—musicians and nonmusicians—were resilience to the common age-related brain problems.

What To Do

Make healthy music a regular part of your life. Buy or borrow music CDs (there are many sources for free music, such as my website), or get those old vinyl albums out of storage and fire up your turntable. It’s important to listen on higher rather than poor quality speakers or headphones. Find out which songs, artists and musical genre you like most—folk, country, rock, blues, jazz…it’s nearly endless, and today there are many sounds that are a blend of many types. Classical music is also a great choice.

Listen in the car, but spend some relaxed time only listening to music, not just as background sound. Let the music take you away, let it do its thing—heal and help your brain and body be younger on a physical, chemical and mental emotional level.

http://philmaffetone.com/whymusicmatters.cfm

Fit Body at FightClub

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:20:55 +0000

Tired of boring machines at the gym which get you nowhere fast?

Fed up with the monthly fees at your gym?

Want to help out the local community?

Interested in learning the basics of kettlebells, medicine balls, plyo-boxes, Swiss balls and clubbells?

Want to meet some great people with the same fitness goals?

Fit Body forges the ideal physique with functional strength that will help you live a fuller, more active life! (Get stronger and leaner.)

We can address any fitness level in one class without distraction, and in an integrated fashion that helps all members motivate each other. (Beginner to expert, everyone is welcome!)

Fit Body will leave you exhilarated and energized after class – you’ll feel better at the end of each class. What are you waiting for?

The power of slow breathing

admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:36:56 +0000

A few minutes of slow focussed breathing each day has been shown to have lasting benefits including better sleep, digestion, enhanced reproductive and immune function. Yoga provides a system of body postures and breathing techniques which help to restore the body and mind to a natural state of ease. One of the simplest of these breathing techniques is slow breathing. This can be done in almost any location and requires no special training or supervision.

Instructions

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. If the head or neck is not comfortable place a small cushion under the head. Relax the body. Allow the abdomen to soften. Notice the rhythmical movement of the abdomen and the chest with each breath. Breathe in through the nose, mentally counting 1 – 2 – 3 – 4. By the count of 4 the lungs should feel comfortably full. Then exhale through the nose mentally counting 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8. By the count of 8 you should feel the breath is complete and that the exhalation has emptied the lungs without forcing anything. Try to keep the breath smooth, steady and at an even speed. It’s important the breath feels easy and without force. Repeat for a couple of minutes. As you get used to the technique you can extend it to 5 or 10 minutes. You can also try slowing down the counting to make for longer inhalations and exhalations.

As with all breathing techniques it is important to progress gradually and comfortably. If you feel any lightheadedness return to normal breathing: it’s possible you are trying too hard or practicing too long. Before you begin the technique, listen to your breathing in its natural state. As you begin this breathing exercise you do not want the breathing to become any louder. This would indicate you are forcing the breath in some way, or obstructing its passage into and out of the body.

Benefits

Although the technique is simple to perform, the benefits of slow breathing are significant and immediate. After just a few minutes of practice the following occurs in most people:

reduction in heart rate
decreased oxygen consumption
reduced blood pressure
changes in brain waves as measured by an EEG
increased parasympathetic nervous system activity
increased concentration
experience of alertness and reinvigoration
feeling of calmness in body and mind

As we perform this technique, and for some time afterwards, the parasympathetic system is activated. This is the body’s system of rest and restoration, which helps to regulate digestion, reproductive function, sleep, and immune response. For many of us the sympathetic system – the system of “fight, flight, or freeze” – is overactive. By triggering the parasympathetic system we allow the body to restore a natural balance.

Yoga at FightClub

Aidan Tierney teaches yoga at FightClub Wednesdays at 1pm and Sundays at 10am. Classes include warmup and stretching, a series of yoga poses, various breathing techniques as well as relaxation. Aidan has practiced yoga for 18 years and began teaching 9 years ago.

For more information visit www.quietnorth.com/fc/

The 5 Mistakes Knee Pain Sufferers Make – And How to Avoid Them

admin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:27:02 +0000

By Bill Parravano at http://thekneepainguru.com/

1.) Not Enough Water

Human beings are 80% water. Not enough water leads to chronic dehydration which dries out your knee joint, and leads to your bones rubbing together resulting in recurring knee pain.

When the water loss is persistent it creates an acidic state in the knees, which causes irritation in the nerve endings resulting in excruciating pain in your knees.

Proper hydration of the body results in reduced joint and bone “stiffness” and can eliminate most of your knee pain.

Water gets to the knee joints last, so without enough water, your knees will start to wear away, like car parts without the proper lubrication.

Without enough water, your knees will feel like a dry and brittle cracker

Proper hydration is the beginning of the end of your knee pain.

2.) Doing Knee Exercises Too Fast & the Wrong Ones

Most Doctors & Physical Therapists will tell you that the key to your knee recovering is muscle strength….WRONG.

There are no muscles in and around the front of the knee. It is primarily tendons and ligaments.

Tendons and ligaments are what support the knee joint to provide smooth, pain-free movement.

Tendons and ligaments are the unknown hidden factors that are the key to pain free knees.

So why then does most literature advise chronic knee pain sufferers to strengthen the muscles in the legs to protect the knees from injury – not the tendons and ligaments?

If you do exercises “normally” one rep at a time for 12 to 15 reps, odds are you will still have knee pain at the end of the day. Why?

Muscle fatigue begins after 7 seconds of exercise. Tendons are only engaged AFTER the muscle is fatigued.

Therefore, if you are not doing each rep for longer than 7 seconds, you are not fatiguing the muscles long enough to build the strength in and around the knee joint itself.

In this program you will learn the absolute best exercises to strengthen your tendons, ligaments, and connective tissues, and exactly how to do them in the comfort of your home in only 11 minutes a day.

These unique exercises will amaze you when your knee pain goes away.

3.) Improper Breathing

It is difficult to do an exercise for more than 7 seconds without breathing.

Most of the time, when your body experiences stress you tend to hold your breath.

Improper breathing will lead to your body tensing and actually getting tighter and stiffer.

By keeping your breathing constant (in through your nose and out through your mouth) during the entire exercise, you not only exercise your tendons, you also oxygenate the brain, preventing light-headedness.

The more difficult or challenging the exercise, the faster your breathing should be.

You will learn how to properly breathe during your proper exercises to speed up the recovery of your knees.

4.) Poor Diet & Nutrition

The foods you eat have a direct effect on your knee pain. Poor diet creates an acidic state in your body which irritates nerve endings in your tendons, muscles, ligaments, and joints sending a signal tot your brain that you have knee pain.

Proper diet & nutrition for your body will increase your PH, and reduce the acidic state in your knees.

Reduced acidity = Reduced pain

Proper food is like the proper fuel for your car, you wouldn’t run your car on orange juice, would you?

In other words: fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains reduce the acidic state (higher PH level) in the body, making it easier to reduce the pain, swelling, and inflammation that is going on in your knees.

5.) Improper Stretching

Our bodies are not robots, current stretching techniques do not get your tendons and ligaments to become flexible, only your muscles.

Muscles only move linearly (straight lines), tendons and ligaments move dynamically (at angles).

Unless you always move like a robot, stretching muscles isn’t going to eliminate pain in your knees.

By understanding your knees and giving them what they need, you will start to dispense the pain in a very short period of time.

You will learn multiple specific techniques to stretch your tendons and ligaments creating flexible and strong knees for the first time in ages.

With muscles, ‘use it or lose it’ rings true

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:36:02 +0000

ALEX HUTCHINSON

From Monday’s Globe and Mail

When Vonda Wright submitted the results of a study on muscle preservation in older athletes to The Physician and Sportsmedicine for publication, she included some sample MRI images to drive the message home.

“The peer reviewers said, ‘Take the pictures out, the results speak for themselves,’”recalls Dr. Wright, an orthopedic surgeon at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine in Pittsburgh.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/fitness/exercise/fitness-research/with-muscles-use-it-or-lose-it-rings-true/article2342273/

Intrinsic Movement

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:14:55 +0000

A very interesting video about the movement we have in out spine and the suppleness of our bones. A must watch!

What happens when the spine returns to its fluid origins? Bone is connective tissue. It is filled with fluid. What we are seeing is the the choreography of the fluid moving through the connective tissue called bone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1gd7FWYp-jQ

The toxic truth about sugar

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:27:52 +0000

Added sweeteners pose dangers to health that justify controlling them like alcohol, argue Robert H. Lustig, Laura A. Schmidt and Claire D. Brindis.

Last September the United Nations declared that, for the first time in human history, chronic non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes pose a greater health burden worldwide than do infectious diseases, contributing to 35 million deaths annually.

This is not just a problem of the developed world. Every country that has adopted the Western diet — one dominated by low-cost, highly processed food — has witnessed rising rates of obesity and related diseases. There are now 30% more people who are obese than who are undernourished. Economic development means that the populations of low- and middle-income countries are living longer, and therefore are more susceptible to non-communicable diseases; 80% of deaths attributable to them occur in these countries.

Many people think that obesity is the root cause of these diseases. But 20% of obese people have normal metabolism and will have a normal lifespan. Conversely, up to 40% of normal-weight people develop the diseases that constitute the metabolic syndrome: diabetes, hypertension, lipid problems, cardiovascular disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Obesity is not the cause; rather, it is a marker for metabolic dysfunction, which is even more prevalent.

The UN announcement targets tobacco, alcohol and diet as the central risk factors in non-communicable disease. Two of these three — tobacco and alcohol — are regulated by governments to protect public health, leaving one of the primary culprits behind this worldwide health crisis unchecked.

http://www.foodpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/Comment_sugar1.pdf

The Forge: Hidden dimension of core conditioning

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:32:21 +0000

Have a look at this trailer. Sonny is a person friend and great martial artist.

“Official” trailer for the upcoming DVD by Sonny Puzikas “The Forge: Hidden dimension of core conditioning”. Coming early 2011…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM2u_-p14G0

The role of stretching in tendon injuries

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:42:44 +0000

From the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine

E Witvrouw, N Mahieu, P Roosen, and P McNair

The function of tendons can be classified into two categories: tensile force transmission, and storage and release of elastic energy during locomotion. The action of tendons in storing and releasing energy is mainly seen in sports activities with stretch‐shortening cycles (SSCs). The more intense the SSC movements are (jumping‐like activities), the more frequently tendon problems are observed. High SSC movements impose high loads on tendons. Consequently, tendons that frequently deal with high SSC motion require a high energy‐absorbing capacity to store and release this large amount of elastic energy. As the elasticity of tendon structures is a leading factor in the amount of stored energy, prevention and rehabilitation programmes for tendon injuries should focus on increasing this tendon elasticity in athletes performing high SSC movements. Recently, it has been shown that ballistic stretching can significantly increase tendon elasticity. These findings have important clinical implications for treatment and prevention of tendon injuries.

The use of stretching exercises to improve the flexibility is a widespread practice among competitive and recreational athletes. Numerous stretching studies have documented increases in the joint range of motion after stretching exercises.¹^,2^,3^,4 In addition, many studies have been performed to investigate the effectiveness of different stretching techniques to increase the joint range of motion. Although these studies contain valuable information, the aims and conclusions of these studies are almost always limited to the effect of stretching on muscle tissue. Only a few studies have examined the influence of stretching on tendons. (read more…)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2658965/?tool=pubmed