Posted on 15 July 2009
Tags: Blog Posts, Destination Abs, fat-loss, muscle, Strength, Training, Yoga
By: Kevin Larrabee, CSCS
Last Friday I blogged about my thoughts on yoga and that I would be participating in one of the classes on Sunday. Well, I did, so now I have some things to day.
1. I did enjoy the class, it was relaxing while still being challenging enough to make some sweat slide off my head and onto the purple yoga mat. But, I feel relaxed and the endorphins flowing when I do heavy deadlifts too.
2. Yes, there is a lot of lumbar flexion and rotation in some of the yoga poses and stretches. That still bothered me although the instructor did mention that you should not do the movements if you feel discomfort in the low back.
3. I need to stretch my calves more
4. Thanks to single leg training (single legged squats/deadlifts and lunges) I was able to do all of the 1-foot poses without issue.
5. A good instructor is crucial. Our instructor Jenn gave clear and concise step by step instructions that made it easy to visualize the movements (although I had to look around a few times to make sure I was doing certain things correctly)
6. I will be going back as long as it fits in my schedule. We record The FitCast on Sunday mornings, so I need to see if we can record earlier or later as the class is at 11am. In my opinion, for some yoga is a good complementary form of exercise for healthy active individuals with no low back pain or major asymmetry issues.
And again, one more picture of Moon Bloodgood:
Posted on 12 July 2009
Tags: Destination Abs, fat-loss, Nick Tumminello, rehab, Yoga
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Questions for Nick:
- Nick, you are kind of known for creating new exercises, what is your process when creating new and inventive exercises?
- Which exercise are you most proud of or which one do you use the most with your clients and why?
- We get a lot of questions about how trainers got to where they are today, what is your story?
-
I have a question about knee pain. What advice would you give a very active 44 year old male with the following symptoms:
There is pain in one knee when decending stairs, the same pain is felt when squatting
The pain is more severe when the knee isnt warmed up.
Sometimes a snapping sound is heard and felt when bending the knee – no pain.
There is no pain when walking.
The pain limits the intensity and duration of my workouts.
I am trying to decide if I should go to my doctor to get it checked….any advice or general discussion of knee/joint health would be appreciated. (Please dont tell me I’m getting old!!)
John
- Hi my name is Matt, and I am just getting involved with MMA, and practice 2 times a week. I have trained mainly for looks in the past, but now am needing something that will help my performance. I have been doing barbell complexes, intervals, metabolic lifting, and strength work. I just have no idea how to set up my workout for the week. For example I don’t know how many sessions of each I should do for the week, and I don’t know how to set up the order either. My weak areas would be arm strength and conditioning, So any help would be appreciated. -Matt
- Coaches and scope of practice (trainers vs. therapist)
- Lumbar Flexion, to flex or not to flex (also not what you think)
Posted on 10 July 2009
Tags: blog, exercise, Mobility, Moon Bloodgood, Yoga
By: Kevin Larrabee, CSCS
Yoga…Well…Yoga is… OK, I will admit, I am not a huge fan of yoga. It isn’t because I don’t think it is a good form of exercise because I do. It is defiantly better than nothing. It isn’t because I don’t want to have “better sex” (see picture to left). It isn’t because I think it is exclusively for women.
I am not a big fan of yoga because people taking the classes could may hurt themselves by:
- Becoming more mobile in the lumbar spine (which will most likely lead to low back issues)
- Hip flexors becoming too mobile: Many men won’t have a problem with this but Eric Cressey’s article on Yoga points out that, “In consideration of the fact that the majority of those doing yoga and Pilates are female, this is an even bigger issue; women tend to carry their weight too far forward already, and they already have a tendency toward anterior pelvic tilt and lumbar hyperextension.” Check out the article here.
- Not gaining lean body mass, strength or increasing bone density by doing load bearing movements (I am looking at you 40 and older women) to prevent osteoporosis.
- Thinking that exercising in a 90 degree room will make them “burn fat” faster
Nonetheless, I will be taking a yoga class on Sunday before recording The FitCast. There are two reasons why I am doing this.
- I want to become more flexible in my lower body including my hips
- I can’t bash something I haven’t personally tried, otherwise I am an ignorant bastard
I will be coming in with my full impressions on this week’s show. Wish me luck.
And for the record, I will do yoga, pilates, Tracy Anderson’s complete DVD series, jazzercise…anything with Moon Bloodgood. If you haven’t do so already, check out Journeyman
