How many fingers?

5, and they are toes.

I fell in love with the Vibram Five Fingers the first time I saw them. Now that I have owned them for a few months and I have ran, jumped, lifted, walked, been on sand, mud and leaves with them, I have to say, I want more of them , and faster.

I truly loved seeing us on Birthday Shoes, an amazing blog with all the five fingers I lust after.

Blame it on the comfort, there is no going back.

People who don't exercise

Are the norm. Look at gym penetration rates, look in your park, ask your friends and coworkers. Then there are the ones who say they exercise, but the last time they did it was 4 weeks ago, and then there are the guys who can crank out 50 push ups, but alas, haven't done it since they did military service back in 1975.

So who are the exercisers? Those less than 10% of the population who exercise half as frequently as they brush their teeth? The ones who hike on the weekends? The ones who have less heart disease, rarely develop diabetes and enjoy wearing smaller size clothes than the rest of the population? They are the ones who actually enjoy being active.

I don't care what got you to exercise in the first place, whether it was because your parents showed you into the karate studio, whether it's because you lost weight for your prom, or because you married a marathon runner, what kept you in the gym, on the track, on the trail, or on a stationary bike in front of your TV was the fact that somehow you ended up enjoying exercise. You might enjoy the journey, or the end destination, but there is a feeling of happiness, fulfillment and enjoyment connected with it.

Of course, you'll say you know someone who hates exercising but does it because they have to. So how could they enjoy it? Well, they enjoy what they see in the mirror, or how productive they are after a workout, or how energized they feel, or how their backs don't ache anymore. Whatever the reason, they get some pleasure out of it.

So what have you found in exercise? Are you still using it for punishment after bigger meals? Are you still using it for anger management? Do you loathe going to the gym and what are you doing to change that into the simple joy of being able to move and create a healthier happier you?

More about the active lifestyle, here:

Gym Gems

Too bad that Guido and Luigi no longer exists as a comic strip. Neither does Unfit.
Those were very cool.

Little did I know that comic strip worthy people existed in the 24 hour gym that we go to, here in wonderful and crazy fit California.

I usually wear my headphones and don't hear much of what people say and while I have written about what some people do in the past, I have never heard what are best described as gym gems :)

Last night might as well have been a comic strip, featuring the following characters:

100 rep cable crunch PT

" Yeah man, I love this personal training job, before that I worked in a bar for a while, before that in real estate, but nothing is this good man, my client just lost 24 lbs in 3 weeks and I am like wow dude, the best next thing to this is being a doctor. Love the job, man..."

Formerly 236 lbs bodybuilder guy

"I lost so much weight last week, was very sick, couldn't eat man, so I am down to 225 lbs like a week later and everybody is saying man you look so huge...and I am like so much lighter. What's wrong with these guys?"

Manga hair wifebeater guy

" It's all about the protein, bro. You need to maintain your weight, this is at least 150 grams of protein and this is just to m-a-i-n-t-a-i-n. And alcohol dude, that stuff is catabolic. That means it eats your muscle, so if you drink it cancels all the muscle you made that week. And you must eat eggs, like egg whites and remove the yellows."

Spanish Diva

" So this is how you do this for your legs and they look great"

As she proceeds to do a romanian deadlift all wrong, even though her legs do look great.

I wish I could draw better :)

Third World Squatter

We were at the annual JP fitness summit last week and looking over the pictures, Roland said I was a third world squatter. Squatting was never hard for me, pistol or no pistol, and believe it or not the only squat that makes me cry is the Bulgarian squat, but I hadn't noticed how I just dropped down into a squat every time I was tired and didn't feel like standing up. It made me read an excellent article over again, too, and also gave me the cruel idea of bottom up progressions of static low squat positions that my clients will surely hate once I make it back to Bulgaria.

Commercial? All the way

I am grateful for the 4 years I spent working out in a personal training studio. But now I want to share something completely different.

The commercial gym, and it's wonderful absurdities:

1. The broomstick guy: only this time he is twisting left and right with a 22 lb barbell. And he's doing it sitting.

Better idea: try stabilizing your core through bracing your abs and actually rotate through the thoracic spine. You can do that without the stick, just so you know.

2. The incline chick: okay, I understand incline walking burns more calories that touring the mall, but c'mon girl, you must have noticed that walking upright where your whole body is leaning away from the treadmill isn't very natural. Let go of those handles and see yourself slide down like Borat in his YouTube treadmill debut.

Better idea: walk incline while leaning forward just a bit at the hip. Think climbing a mountain.

3. The machine tricep extension guy. It takes him a million seconds to adjust the pads to the right height, the weight to the right resistance and the form to something that doesn't look like a robot that was put together all wrong. He loads his triceps just enough to feel the burn, yeah right.

Better idea: push ups, and their variations using narrower positions for your hands. Works like a charm, every time. Bored? Try clap push ups. The go to the tricep machine guy and help him adjust his pads.

4. The behind the neck smith machine sitting shoulder press guy. WTH? There is no better way to shorten your neck muscles and overload your shoudler joints.

Better idea: standing military press. Works your whole body, spares your shoulder capsule.

I could go on and on and on. Just don't be that dude, or that girl. Try to justify the things you choose to do in the gym. If you can't, it might be time to get help.

Sacroiliac joint

Some images are just worth sharing!

The Bill Hartman Experience Part II

I've been working with Bill Hartman for a little over a year now. Setting me straight seemed like a long time investment back in the spring of 2007. I had a horrendous anterior pelvic tilt, pretty limited shoulder range of motion, weak abdominals, tight hip flexors, lower back pain, shoulder pain, and pretty serious gluteal amnesia. A year later, I am free of lower back pain and shoulder pain. I am closer to having good posture for the first time in my adult life.

I came back to Indianapolis a month ago to get reassessed. I would like to say we've had great progress, but we've also narrowed down new areas to work on. I never thought of Bill as a personal trainer, he is a brilliant coach and physical therapist, those who call him "the smartest man in fitness" know what I am talking about. I have never seen a combination of such an analytical mind, keen eye for detail, and ability to keep open to interpretations.

I would like to say that Bill is my coach, but to me he's like a portal to another dimension, every time I get to see him I get to peek in through a little door and see world of knowledge that I had never believed existed before. He gives you paradigms to work within, where you can try, test, expand, and see your body and your mind change.



Bill just got a new facility together with Mike Robertson and it rocks! They will be training both athletes and health and fitness oriented clients, but the facility looks like it can accommodate any need, both in terms of assessment and rehabilitation and athletic performance.



What you can't tell from the picture is that I am working hard on keeping my shoulderblades back and down, stuck to my ribcage. It hurts right under the medial border and right through the lower traps, right at the spot that you're supposed to activate.

I feels both good and bad knowing it will be about a year before I see Bill Hartman again and see how my new issues have resolved, but in all honesty I look at my year truly happy knowing I have an awesome future of successful and effective training ahead.

I can do this!

We watched this video with my trainers this morning and while the sit up to stand looked terribly hard, I can do it! It's a great feeling to be fit enough to try and manage! Can you do it?

p.s. Get someone strong to hold on to you ;)

Stretching the Blues Away

The winter blahs. The cold time downs. Whatever you call it, it feels exactly the opposite of how you want to feel.

I don't have the energy for a workout, yet I want to get back in touch with my tired body.

So I pull out the ingredients:

1. A soft chill out mix
2. A few candles
3. A mini resistance band
4. A foam roller
5. A chair


I spend a few minutes focusing on the candle light. Amazing how much it changes. Hopefully by now my mind is not racing. I stretch all the muscles gently, holding for 15 to 20 seconds. I use the mini band to stretch my hamstrings and calves, the peroneals and ITB. The foam roller is a great finisher for all this, and I follow it with some cat camel and sun salutations. 20 minutes of peace and lack of intense light and I am back to normal. My body feels better, nothing is too tight. I feel in control. I should do this every day. With the chance of some quiet time reducing stress levels, that should help fat loss, work performance, and improve sleep quality.

Timing

When I design training programs I play with sets, reps, load, tempo, rest intervals, just like I hope every other trainer or trainee does, whether aware of it or not. Becoming truly aware of those components is what will distinguish a brilliant working plan from a plan that will just work, compared to no plan.
It's been long since I sat and thought of that specifically, but I've had exceptionally great workouts in the past few days thanks to my new toy, the Timex Ironman Triathlon.
The manual was too long for the technically challenged, so I went to the good part that explained laps and split timing and I was done! I easily figured out that little girly watch can time 100 laps,remember 50 of them and make all the right noises! Funny enough, seems like time goes by faster! Talk about time perception and distortion!
Unlike loads and sets and reps, rest intervals and tempo are often overlooked. You never hear anyone say: oh yeah and I rested for 30 seconds between sets of squats and pull ups today! Most trainees will brag about their numbers and will rest until they are done talking, reading, switching songs on their i pods or when they feel like it's time to start. And that's absolutely fine, unless you are actually training for something.
Rest will always be based on your primary goal, whether it's strength, energy hypertrophy, or different types of endurance. Then rest will be based on your loads and the primary requirements of your sport or event. You won't take 30 second breaks preparing for a maximum lift, nor will you take 5 minute breaks getting ready for a kick boxing match.

Here is a quick recap of major RI schemes:

reps 1><3><6><10=><12=>12 = 30'-60' RI
Energy System Training = maximum rest interval equals max length of maximum effort, try to decrease RI each training micro-cycle.

Learning to time your rest intervals is just as crucial for training success as are reading the numbers on the weight plates and learning proper form. If you are not doing it, start doing it today. Match your goals to your rest intervals, then time, then adjust accordingly the next time you plan a change in your training program.

Setting me straight

When you have worked out for a few years, there are goals upon goals of history, some achieved, some not, but having goals is a major drive in the game of training. My goals were always to be healthy, strong and leaner. Strong was going fine, healthy and lean were not. I had some chronic aches and pains, and body fat would not come off. I trained too hard, payed too much attention to diet and missed a major point: my body was not built to do what I wanted it to do.

Back in April, fate was kind to me. I met Bill Hartman, for an assessment of a number of problems that had been ailing me for years.

1. Shoulder pain
2. Anterior Pelvic tilt and low back pain
3. Knee pain (left)
4. Foot pain (left)
5. Difficulty losing fat

After a long and interesting session, most of my fears were confirmed and a few new training goals emerged. We needed to realign my posture, fix the anterior pelvic tilt, loosen the anterior hips, work on ab strength and upper back mobility. My glutes and upper back were happily asleep and needed to be woken up. Interestingly, while my body wasn't functioning properly, I could happily do 10 pull ups and do a 1RM deadlift of 203 lbs. Thinking back, the scary part is I could actually do that weight with half of my muscles not even taking part.

Bill put me on a program as soon as I came back to Bulgaria and we are currently finishing the fifth cycle of it. It involves a lot of mobility work, activation, targeted stretching, strength training, self release and EST training.

Between May and June I dropped 2% body fat, a rate I had never witnessed before. I felt better, lost most of my pain, especially the lower back and shoulder pain. I continued on that path, getting a bit leaner and building muscle. I never wrote about my experience until now, I wanted to wait, but I got very excited by my recent progress shots! At the end of each month I take progress pictures so he can assess my progress. I usually only compare the last month to this month's progress, but I chose a picture from the end of my first month and the difference in posture was truly obvious. I am feeling a mixed cocktail of joy, reward and anticipation for more hard work and results. I have always worried that I never looked athletic, and for the first time in my life I feel like I am working towards a base of developing a body that I would totally enjoy having and working with!

So how do you measure progress: 1)how you look 2) how you feel

If you are working toward a goal of your own, don't forget that pictures are a powerful means of tracking progress! Take them often and compare, but also be prepared that it will take months and months of added effort before you can say wow! I did it. That feeling, my friends, is worth waiting for and working for.

Sometimes I wonder what to say to Bill about how I feel when I run, or lift or stand or get out of bed in the morning. Stability and mobility can be very emotionally empowering. Being able to DO is so much different than wishing or thinking you are ABLE TO DO. Without knowledge no hard work will help you find the difference between the two!

Dare to outperform

I was just listening to Dos Remedios on Maxout Radio make a great point: we underestimate how resilient the human body is. Just how much can you throw at yourself so you do better, look better, perform better, eat better, love better? I've had a long day and it hasn't even come close to ending yet. I have to prioritize, perform, enjoy and do it all over again tomorrow. I am tired, but you know what, my writing is getting better and my clients are getting stronger, my legs hurt from training and standing, but you know, they are also harder, and I like how my arms look and I totally dig carrying all my week's groceries 4 flights on my own.

Mobile technology for your upper back

As trainers we often talk about motivation - motivation to eat well, to train hard and to rest smart. It's interesting how humans have undergone a critical shift in priorities and not exactly in the right direction.

YOU CHARGE YOUR MOBILE PHONE AT NIGHT SO IT DOESN'T DIE IN THE A.M, YET YOU SKIP BREAKFAST

YOU TAKE YOUR CAR TO THE SHOP EACH TIME YOU GET AN OIL LEAK, YET YOU DON'T GO HOME WHEN YOU GET A COLD

YOU WILL NOT USE YOUR HUSBAND'S/WIFE'S SHAMPOO YET YOU'LL EAT THEIR DESSERT

Here's my suggestion, shift some of that care you show your things to the care you could show your body.

Start with how mobile you can be. After you charge your mobile phone, charge your upper back with more mobility. You can do it at night, or you can do it before your workout.

1. Use a foam roller for about 1 minute to mobilize your upper back.

2. Do the following exercises:

- quadruped thoracic rotation for 10 reps each side
- cat-camel for 10 reps
- 4 point rock for 10 reps
- reach, roll and lift for 10 reps each side

3. Use a foam roller again for about 1 minute and move on to a workout or a more mobile day.

Want more mobility? Pick up a copy of the Inside-Out. It's the most comprehensive tool you'll ever need to improve your performance and the way your upper body feels while sitting, standing, walking and working out!

Bodybuilding

When I first became interested in how people train I got my fair share of Muscle&Fitness radiation. Back in those days I knew little about training aids, how the body works or what was possible. To me, bodybuilders just did "more" of what other people did. I admired them for the discipline, the time it took to get where they are and the courage to stay at the top. Eating, training and sleeping were all rolled up into one devoted end result - to compete, win and ultimately, be satisfied with who you are. Back in those days I knew who Arnold was, I could recognize Franco Columbu from any shot and I knew who won the Olympia. That was a long time ago, seems like ages separate me from the awe and respect I had for those guys.

Enter the year 2007. I am an NSCA certified personal trainer, more knowledgeable than ever before and climbing a steep and steady learning curve. I don't train like a bodybuilder, and I could describe my current goal as "corrective fat loss". I train weight loss clients, deconditioned housewives, lazy teenagers and promising young career people. I don't train bodybuilders and I probably never will, since I am on the health and happiness side of the business. I will gladly share the iron and brass tools of the trade with the guys from the covers of magazines, but I will not play. It's just not who I am.

Enter last night.
My husband calls me and says: "Hey, do you know who Flex Wheeler is? " and I'm like "Yeah, do you know who Arnold is, c'mon?". Then he says: "Do you want to go out with him, he's in Sofia". So we do. The guy is super nice, friendly and giving. We talk about life, training and happiness. I was really excited to meet him. The hard work someone at his level has put in has layered his personality with extra energy and true charisma.

Here is what got me! I was quite surprised at how much joy and inspiration I felt. The last 5 years I have been so far from the bodybuilding world that all the emotion I had was built on what I once felt for it. The same way a bad emotional memory can come up to the surface, I had a happy emotional memory spring up from my past. Flex's partner asked if I wanted to train with them in the morning, and I said yes, you can't miss such an opportunity, sore trap or no sore trap!

Sunday. I meet them at a large bodybuilding gym, where I find out I will be working out with Flex and all the other people that are gathered around the protein bar are just there to meet him, but will be waiting till we get done.
We move on to work out and there's this large crowd just standing there. There were competitors in skimpy tops, excited girlfriends, and very important people I didn't know. He says: are you ready to go? And we go. I don't know why, but I didn't expect it would be just us two.

He starts and I follow. Bicep/tricep day.
My functionally trained body rebels. I am here to learn, so I have this mixed feeling of...dang I will be sore for my strength workout and my trap is not healed and then the waves of excitement drown all my concerns.

We start of with hammer curls, move on to tricep pushdowns, follow it with one arm bicep curls on machine, then overhead extensions then scott curls, ahhhh. 4x10, 4x15, 4x20. I would rather squat till I fall any day. At one point we were doing machine curls and I said, man...I am not doing another set, this machine sucks. I don't see how the benefits can outweigh the discomfort. So he says, you know what, you're right, let's move on.

What impressed me about the way he trains:

- He looked proud with what he does. It looked like he completely enjoyed and took pride in his training.

- He did what feels good to him. Now that he doesn't compete, I guess he just does what he loves most

- He had rhythm. I tried to talk to him about tempo. He said he just feels it. Wanted me to get a nice music going there for me.

- Focus: Flex was focused and I mean focused. None of what we did was super heavy or scary looking, but he was all into it, thinking and connecting.

He used supersets, short rests, tons of reps and could really push past the point of tired. It might have looked like he was only going to get 8 reps and then he got 20.

Flex was very generous with his time, counting every rep I did with the calm of a partner, didn't push me in a way to make me feel small or incapable. He was attentive, very particular about form and truly supportive. It felt like having a workout buddy, an older brother, just one that really feels comfortable with his game.

I never do any of the isolation work we did or if I play with a curl or extension it's for a very short time. The volume we did was crushing to me.

We were done in a bit over an hour and we decided to see a football game together that same night. Signed photos were in order and then we parted.

I had trouble using my arms for the rest of the day and two days later my arms are still recovering. My soul still rejoices because I encountered a long buried joy with training. I rediscovered a feeling, not exactly the approach to how we built our bodies. I've been very strong in my workouts this week, partly because of that rekindled spirit. It's the same feeling you get when you fall in love, only now you already play the game and you enjoy it more.

Unilateral Times

If you are squatting, deadlifting and performing olympic lifts you are ahead of 99% of the training population. You can proudly stand on both feet! The only thing more important is that you can proudly stand and perform on one foot!



A lot of beginners will shy away from single leg movements, because they look difficult, but they should do their best to get good instruction and master them. Advanced trainees forget them, because the weight on the bar isn't as impressive as they wish. Busy people think they take too much training time. These are just some of the excuses that people have. And I ignore them all.

Why I love unilateral work:

* It helps to even out imbalances. Just imagine squatting a 5RM with just one of your glutes firing on time

* It allows you to load your lower body without overloading your lower back. Just compare a 100 lb lunge to a 220 lb squat!

* It helps you work your core without performing extra work for your core muscles

* It's metabolically expensive. It takes more calories to perform a longs set of lunges than a shorter set of squats and it will surely stir metabolic havoc for hours after you are done training

* It has immense carryover to work on both feet. Next time your deadlift stalls, include a one leg dealift variety for a month and then go back to conventional deadlifting

* It translates to a stronger and more injury free YOU every time you sit in your car, climb upstairs, go downstairs, step and lift something off the floor, get in and out of bed and run to catch a taxi

Here are my top 5 favorite unilateral exercises along with some tips:

1. PISTOL SQUAT
It's the beauty queen of lower body single leg work. Start holding on to a partner, a high pulley set to enough resistance to pull you back up,or a thick resistance band. Work your way to negatives and full pistol squats. Adding weight to the exercise is tricky, using a plate to hold in front of your chest is the best you can do. Kettlebells are also an option. If you lack flexibility, you can do airborne lunges instead.

2. SINGLE LEG ROMANIAN DEADLIFT

You can keep your rear leg on a bench or just bent behind you. Make sure your pelvis stays straight and does not rotate during the movement.

3. REVERSE LUNGE

I like front reverse lunges, but back loading will do, too. Make sure you lunge straight up before you take your step forward.

4. BULGARIAN DEADLIFT

The pride and joy of all Bulgarian gyms. Just kidding, no one's even heard of it. Place your barbell in front of a bench and prop the rear leg behind, as in a Bulgarian squat.

5. LATERAL LUNGE

It will break you if you do it right. Take a step to the side and sit back. Make sure you use your glutes to squat and push back out to starting position.

Try to include at least two of them each time you plan a new workout cycle! It's worked wonderfully with most of my clients and females love the aesthetic results!
It only comes to show better performance precedes better looks!