For those who are starting,starting again or re dedicating themselves to health and wellness, I hope this article helps you in someway.
Fish oil works. For some reason early in 2013 I stopped taking fish oil consistently. Then I stopped taking it altogether.
Early November, it hit me that I had stopped taking it.( I know, slow learner) Ironically, some aches and pains were popping up, or at least I was more aware of them. I resumed supplementing with fish oil and within 3 days I was feeling better. Not sure if some can be attributed to the placebo effect or not. 1 month consistently taking fish oil and going strong, feeling way less overall inflammation....lesson learned!
Foam rolling works. For those that are unaware, you can really feel better for about $20 IF you purchase a foam roller(and actually use it, see fish oil). Benefits of foam rolling include but not limited to: correct muscle imbalances, improve joint range of motion, remove/reduce muscle soreness, improves neuromuscular efficiency. Basically it breaks up scar tissue and adhesions allowing you to move better/more efficiently. Foam Rolling seems to work best(in my experience) as a warmup tool, ideally after a 5-10 minute cardio warmup and before resistance training. This ideally will allow you to move more freely and in the proper movement pattern. Tightness will typically make you/your body compensate in some fashion and then all you're accomplishing is reinforcing a “bad’ incorrect movement patter.
Public Service Announcement: Please foam roll. You'll thank me sooner rather than later.
Muscle imbalances... For some reason, this year seemed to have me have a large number of clients that had SIGNIFICANT strength and muscular endurance imbalances between their dominant and non dominant limbs. Typically Im pretty cognizant of doing more pulling movements( rows, pulldowns etc) versus pushing( bench press, pushups etc) but even with unilateral training( dumbbells and/or unilateral machine use) the strength or endurance never seemed to “catch up” to the dominant side. Going heavier was not a safe or practical idea. Not really in the clients best interest to add resistance to an area/limb etc that is relatively weak(er). I started having them do additional work at the end of the workout just on the affected area(s).
Example; after an upper body workout, I might have a client do their homework and an extra 2-4 sets of the following movements: one arm rows, one arm DB chest press or overhead press and 1 arm cable or hammer strength machine pulldowns. We stuck to big compound( more than one muscle group involved) movements and still had an intentional imbalance of 2:1 pulling versus pushing movements. After 2-4 weeks I could notice an improvement. After 6 weeks, most of the clients would say they noticed a 70-80% improvement. Muscle imbalance is a cause of injury, so injury prevention is great and as an added bonus, the client was able to lift heavier and or “do more”
If you notice theres a big difference in one limbs strength or endurance compared to the opposing side, try to add a little volume to said limb at the end of your workout. Assuming your program is relatively balanced, using the above example should help you out.
Sleep Quality matters more than duration. Our facilities open at 5:30am during the week and thats when my first training session starts. I typically go to bed at 9:30, maybe later if Im feeling crazy and stay up formonday night football. Its not uncommon and actually I often end up taking a short nap before heading back to work around 3:30/4.
Most of our trainers do the same.
After we moved, our house is further from the road, no light from the street lights coming in and our TV/cable wasn't immediately hooked up. The result.... I felt more refreshed in the am and actually slept through my alarm on 2 occasions. Thankfully only once did it inconvenience a client. I feel that without the light from various sources, I was able to experience deeper sleep. If moving and or quitting your TV aren't feasible, try getting some darker blinds/curtains, turn the alarm clock or cable box around so the face of the device isn't visible.
I wish clients would accept compliments better. Trust me, they aren't given out unless deserved. The past 3.5 years Ive witnessed my father battle MS with the disease presenting itself in his throat. He was unable to chew or swallow food without the very real threat of aspirating on it. Thus, he had a feeding tube without having a solid food meal since the end of 2009. His strength and mobility decreased as so did his weight. As my career is helping people get stronger/leaner/ increased balance etc... success stories are thankfully very common. I was faced with quite the opposing circumstances, seeing clients continually improve while witnessing my fathers condition slowly detoriate. More times than I care to remember, I would tell a client “good job’ or “nice work” to hear “thanks, but”...
Im not the preaching type and even though I wanted to rely my personal experiences and my fathers situation, I never did. To be honest, sometimes it was frustrating, some days I dealt with it better than others and some days it wasn't in the forefront of my thoughts. I guess human nature is to look for the fault/negatives, but next time myself or someone gives you a compliment, say thank you and smile. I bet they mean it and that you also deserve it.
Of course Im a little( ok, a lot biased here, and I’d expect every gym owner to say this about their gym and would be surprised and disappointed if they didn't) but I have the best gym members around. Most of them I see on a daily basis or 3-4x week. This happens to be more often then I see my “real family”. I say real family because its not uncommon for members and employees to refer to each other as “my/our gym family.”
It may sound corny/cheesy but it IS true.
Unfortunately my father passed away this November 22nd and he never had the chance to witness a Bills SuperBowl victory.
The amount of support I received from members was absolutely fantastic. Thankfully I have an unlimited texting plan. Food, flowers, plants/tree and coffee deliveries along with numerous cards, offers for help and unlimited hugs were greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!
In closing, wise words from a friend
“Remember people have come from less and done better”
Please make 2014 your best year yet.
Christopher Tybor
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