So, you are in pain again?
If you haven't studied my last 20 blogs, then I would suggest you make the time.
The theme this week is how to truly understand what HOLISTIC means when it comes to movement.
You can't keep on looking at the world through a straw!. This narrow way of seeing things is always going to lead you down a road of ruin.
Becoming a flat earther may seem like fun for a while, but in the end you just look like a knob!
I love the saying "Stop chasing pain". It gives us a glimpse of the need for more exploration, understanding and experimentation.
If you went searching for books on how to get better abdominals and a stronger back, you would literally find 1000's of books on these topics. What this seemingly shows is that we have spent the information age (last quarter of the 20th century up to now) searching for answers to our woeful physically weakened existence. And guess what, we are still searching.
I can't go past some of the most diabolical remedies for human strength, fitness or lean-ness sold over the last 50 years or so.
Putting a vibrating belt around the waist and expecting fat to fall off????
Lying down with a baby looking play gym that weakens the neck while producing dozens of half range flexion crunches. Trying to spot reduce abdominal fat???, and strengthen the core!
A bloody girdle!. Strangle your waist. And your organs and your ability to breathe. Great idea!!
I knew all I needed was a pair of weird looking, stupid shaped slippers to fix my posture and burn all my fat off???
A thigh shrinker??. A low resistance device that spot reduces fat!. (thigh gap anyone?)
To be honest, I have one in my gym as nostalgia that we use to warm up wrists for arm wrestling.
I could list a lot more infomercial products aimed at selling useless products and treat us like absolute morons. But we have better thing to discuss.
Holistic, defined as:
Philosophy: Characterised by the belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.
Medicine: Characterised by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.
So what we can take from this relating to our body pains and complaints, is that it is important to look at the whole person rather than just the disease or isolated problem.
If you are truly willing to study the art of movement, then you are going to have a life of a lot less pain and dysfunction.
You only have so many bad reps in your body
What I call the slave joints, fall victim to wear and tear. The knees, hips, shoulder and lower back are usual suspects.
Can we define bad reps?
A movement that puts undue stress on a tissue, joint or complex without the ideal support mechanisms to aid in coordinated movement?
This leads me on to the defense of sporting injuries. I hear people always blaming physical dysfunction on their sport back in the day. To me that is like blaming going out to the pub on a Saturday night for having a hangover and no memory of it in the morning. You can do it more responsibly. You can lower the risk.
Joints are made to allow movement. Some joints have more range options for your advantage. Some are a little more stiff for your benefit. Remembering it is all for your survival as a hunter and gatherer that we have such an amazing body. The lack of real high level physical survival strength is our way of life now, unless we make a conscious effort to put in the study of good reps.
If you really require a lot of physical aids, then we should look at educating you towards a better gym, or movement laboratory. (I know a few good places)
The aids I am referring to that would be unjustified a lot of the time (In my opinion) are:
- Weight belts
- Super supportive shoes
- Orthotics
- Wrist straps, gloves
- Joint braces/ supports
Now I must note, I am not talking about the very small percentage of the population (1-3%) that truly do require these supports who are under brilliant therapist guidance. Also the high level competitors who have earned the right to justify and benefit from ergogenic aids.
The general population are under attack from modern day charlatans.
I have talked about movements in the gym constantly over the last 20 years. The basic summaries of movements that we require to be healthy:
Squat, lunge, push, pull, bend, twist, and gait patterns.
Also bio-motor abilities:
Flexibility, coordination, strength, endurance, agility, speed and power.
These can all be assessed like a warrant of fitness for your specific body type and life requirements.
If you are a high level sports athlete or have a grueling physical job, then these obviously get rated higher in terms of a needs analysis.
What I see constantly is just too much weakness and lack of ability in the list above to match peoples lifestyles and how long we are living now.
I always throw out the question: "What if all of our body parts are designed to last 150 years?
I have seen scientists postulate this idea.
What really matters is that being an optimist, rather than a defeatist will give you an open mind to moving better for longer.
So let's say you embark on a journey of amazing discovery. To move beautifully. To be strong, stable, fit, 3 dimensional and put in the hard yards.
This is what I would phrase :"Learning how to perform good reps"
Repetitions that will make your body share and distribute load efficiently without putting the undue stress on to slave joints.
I believe you can do this all day, every day for the rest of your life!
You will be Strong, Lean, Fit and never need another bullshit toy made up by money hungry charlatans again. (I could save you a fortune!)
If you would like a reference list of many experts I respect and follow, and walk the talk, then let me know!
So here we come to my holistic view and optimistic biomechanical opinion:
If you learn how to perform good reps and become super proficient, and you diminish bad reps (Remember it's not about perfection, just longevity) that destroy slave joints and your retirement years;
I can now teach you how to get really good at ugly reps.
This is just my analogy and story, so see if you catch my drift.
I will call ugly reps those movements that really look like they could cause injury or don't really belong in a controlled safe arena, but are the reality of life.
I am seriously thinking about creating an advanced movement class on getting better at ugly.
#dontstealmyidea
Some might call this kind of movement child's play, and that could sum it up quite nicely. General movement experimentation with lots of variety and great power to weight ratio. (which is why being a kid is so freeing)
As adults we lose the play, the wrestle, the light bodies, the love for movement.
You have more amazing angles and movement variations than you ever really use on a daily basis. You must start to use them, or you will slowly but surely lose them.
I know you say you won't be using a walking stick or need a hip replacement. This is the egotistical young clueless "you" talking.
Be willing to see forecasts for potential future problems.
Please don't just go to the gym and not get assessed properly and think that more is better or "No pain No gain" is the necessary slogan for the moronic gym scene.
My best advice today is to stop ignoring your pains and deficits, stop chasing remedies, and think about who you can follow that lives, practices, and breathes these principles.
I don't follow most sports athletes as my inspiration for body function +longevity. I tend to follow movement experts that have a wider range of skills and are not just moving with the pressure of making a living out of it.
They truly love movement.
Remember the information age we are living in. It's amazing!
It's time to move now to the experience age or conscious evolution age.
So now think about the remedy devices. Don't create new behaviours that will weaken you long term.
Get stronger
Get smarter
Raise your Movement IQ
Learn the basics, put in the correct good reps, avoid too many bad reps, and then get good at ugly.
Tony Small
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