By Cliff Harvey, Human Motion's resident Nutrition expert:  Cliff@humanmotion.com

Call to Action #1

I was watching a news article on CNN about the tragic events that lead to the death of a high school athlete at his football training. Apparently he died as a result of heat exhaustion (for which his coach is now on trial for reckless homicide) during a practice in 90 degree heat...

Call to Action #2

Later that day I was chatting with one of my athletes about nutrition for ultra endurance events. This athlete was having MAJOR intestinal problems during long races. When we sat down together and went over her training and event nutrition strategy the answer to her problems was plainly evident - she wasn't drinking enough water!

Call to Action #3

The next day Coach Bott was telling me about her trip to San Diego to complete the RKC kettlebell certification. During the brutally hot course (102 F) several of the participants suffered from heat exhaustion and were unable to carry on. Coach Bott went on to tell me that she had drunk well over 6 litres of water per day to stay hydrated!
 
And if this all wasn't enough I read an article later that day by my first teacher in the industry; Paul Chek, where he offered a great 'byte': "The best detoxification is dilution!"
 
I felt like the universe was not just telling me to write something about hydration for extreme training...but was yelling it to my face complete with spittle flying!
 

• In an event such as an 'Ironman' every athlete will be dehydrated at the end of the race - some dangerously so.  Not every athlete presents as hyponatremic.
• Several athletes have exhibited both hyponatremia AND dehydration post event.
• The prevalence of hyponatremia is highest in middle aged novice to intermediate level female competitors.

Performance Article: You've Lost the Lovin' Feeling
By Paul Hemsworth BHK, CSCS paul@humanmotion.com

Over and over again I hear trainers tell their clients that they just activated a certain muscle group "without even knowing it."  And why not?  I mean, anytime an athlete can perform a movement with the correct joint alignment, they are probably getting some of those ever-important stabilizing fibres to light up.  However, what happens when the individual gets out of the gym? Having correct technique in the squat rack doesn't guarantee the same adaptation when picking up a couch or coming down from a rebound in basketball.   I am amazed at how often I see an athlete who has great body awareness in the gym but instantly forgets the cues they learned and were so stringent with in the gym.  But do they indeed forget or have they never been told how to feel the lift or movement?

Attention to detail and an eye for technique can separate a good trainer from a poor one but if intrinsic feeling is not addressed, the good trainer will simply be a master of alignment.  There is a big difference between telling a client to "keep a neutral spine" and actually explaining to them what that means and how it should feel within their body.  This is why educating your client on basic anatomy is so important.  We don't need to turn them into surgeons, but the more the client knows in terms of muscle groups and function, the more they can understand how to feel desired movements in all situations.

How do we get clients to feel good technique?

Well, for starters, we have to have a good understanding of mirrors - when they are appropriate and when they aren't. Just telling a client to correct their posture in a mirror will do nothing for intrinsic patterning - in fact it may even result in the opposite adaptation.  There is a safety issue with mirrors as well.  If the client is constantly looking sideways to see how their technique is during a heavy back squat, chances are they will be releasing tension in the body, resulting in the vulnerability of the spine for injury.  Side mirrors are a great tool to start out with at low load movements. Have your client try to correct their form during a body weight squat by looking over at an adjacent mirror. Once they see the desired joint angles, have them look away and think about how the movement feels.  Then have them produce the movement over and over looking straight ahead, occasionally having them look over to check their alignment.

Once the client has the ability to get into a proper movement position, they must then learn the sequence of muscle activation patterns that must occur in order to have a safe, powerful movement. This is where coaching cues and analogies come into play.  It is amazing how much transfer can occur from the squat and deadlift to sport and everyday life. Starting with the squat, we constantly see athletes whose knees are perfectly aligned over their toes during a back squat but as soon as they land or take off from a jump, their knees cave into a classic genu valgus and get no power on their jump. But, they've been doing tons of leg raises and clam shells, so they have strong gluteus medius' don't they?  Activation does not mean integration.  Initial activation exercises in a lying down position are a decent start, but if we don't progress to dynamic primal movement patterns, the athlete will only get better at doing leg raises from a supermodel pose.  We need stabilization while we are in athletic (or everyday life) positions.  Thus, during a squat try to get the athlete to feel those muscles firing with a few cues:

"Spread the floor apart with your feet" - A great cue but useless if the athlete tries to push the knees apart. The goal is to keep the knees aligned over the middle toes by engaging the lateral hip muscles. It should take a Mack truck to move someone during a squat because both legs are engaging and force is being driven down through the heels and away from the midline.

"Lengthen your spine" - Get your client to imagine their spine is a successful business, with their head and sacrum as being two very influential people. Why are they so influential? Well, they determine the outcome (or position) of the business (spine). If the head drops during a squat (business man A misses a deadline), the thoracic spine will follow into kyphosis (bankruptcy), putting a lot of shearing force in their upper back. If the sacrum tucks under like a scared dog (business man B is hungover at a meeting), the lumbar spine goes into flexion (business is bought out) - a disaster when heavily weighted or unweighted over a period of time. Try to keep the chin away from the tailbone ("lengthen your spine") so that they are hinging at their hips and not their back. 

Similarly, if we look at the deadlift, we can see the cross-over to sport and life: Hip hinging, shoulder stability, core stability, and tension.  Again, a totally useless movement if you go to put the laundry in the dryer and fold like a cheap suit.  So how do we get clients to feel a deadlift?

"Break the bar against your body" - This is a cue to help "pack" the shoulder joint. What you are trying to get the client to do is externally rotate the humerus while pulling the scapula down with the lats.  When you try to break the bar in half during a Romanian deadlift, you'll feel the lats light up and the tension needed to lift a heavy load will be created (at least from the gleno-scapula complex perspective).

Sometimes, you will get clients who will not respond to verbal cues and analogies.  This is why the use of tactile stimulation is so important.  Let's continue with the deadlift as an example. A good hip hinge and hip drive is generated by extreme tension in the gluteals. If a client performs a deadlift and cannot respond to verbal cues to drive with the glutes and not lift with the T-spine, tactile stimulation may be needed.  Sometimes, a swift kick in the behind (with the client's permission of course!) will allow the client to tighten up the glutes so they understand what "contracting the glutes" actually feels like. The same can be said for the core while pulling from the floor to a standing position. A light tap to the abdomen and lumbar extensors will tell both you and the client whether or not they are truly bracing.
The take home message is that the client needs to feel movement patterns and not just perform them.  If we can engrain neuromuscular networks by provoking different memories or methods of learning, the individual will be more likely to transfer what they learn in the weight room to their sport, work, and lifestyle.  There are hundreds of great verbal cues that can be used, so be creative.  But remember, sometimes verbal cues aren't enough and some good old muscle diggin' is needed.

Warning to all Crossfit Enthusiasts!
By Guest Expert:  Jeff Thaxton, B.S., CPT, ACE
www.fitforlifespokane.com

Crossfit, a new type of training program is spreading like wildfire throughout the world.  Military academies and the police were the first groups to practice this type of training.  Although some of the exercises used in this program can provide training benefits, many risks are involved with the manner in which these workouts are carried out.  Speed is usually emphasized without proper form being taken into consideration.  Many dynamic and explosive types of exercises are used in these workouts including kettlebell swings and barbell cleans.

"Cindy" is the codename for one type of Crossfit workout.  It involves doing 5 push ups, 10 pull ups and 15 squats.  All of these exercises are beneficial by themselves.  The problem with the workout is that you are supposed to do as many repetitions as you can in 20 minutes.  Again, speed is the primary measure of success and form is sacrificed.

"Three Bars of Death" is another Crossfit workout that involves a series of three barbell exercises done in succession with weights that are up to one and a half times heavier than the person using them.  One lady who strained her back doing the workout and was out of commission for a week, admitted to knowing the weights were too heavy but did not want to take the time to change the plates.
 
Beginners should definitely not attempt these workouts.  They need to start slowly with exercise and follow sound training programs to build their fitness and strength levels gradually.
Wayne Winnick, a sports medicine specialist in private practice in Manhattan, who also works for the New York City Marathon, said "There's no way inexperienced people doing this are not going to hurt themselves."

Experienced exercisers are taking big risks as well by engaging in Crossfit routines.  Brian Anderson, a formed Army Ranger, had to visit the emergency room the night after completing one of these workouts.  Doctors informed him that he had developed rhabdomyolysis, a condition that occurs when muscle fiber breaks down and is released into the bloodstream, poisoning the kidneys.  He spent 6 days in intensive care.

The Crossfit philosophy presents two additional problems.  First, no differentiation is made in the workouts for different types of exercises.   Senior citizens are supposed to do the same workouts as elite gymnasts.  Fabio Comana, an exercise physiologist at the American Council on Exercise, echoes these sentiments.  "My concern is that one cookie-cutter program doesn't apply to everyone," he states.

The second contraindication to Crossfit is the rebellious nature of the majority of Crossfit participants.  Injuries are viewed as badges of honor, even ones as serious as separated shoulders and broken bones.  Crossfit followers log onto crossfit.com to congratulate one another on their "toughness."  "Pull ups with a broken hand - you rock!" is one posting that was posted on the website.  If any previous injuries exist certain exercises should be avoided.  For example, a shoulder injury indicates someone should not perform an overhead press and a previous back injury means you should not be doing power cleans.  Crossfit does not take this into account.

Some Crossfit exercises by themselves can produce positive benefits but I would not recommend following one of their workout routines.  Form should be the first consideration, not speed.

Jeff Thaxton is a certified personal trainer with  Fit for Life who offers in-home and over-the-phone personal training.  He can be reached @ 509-990-9119 or fitforlifespokane@hotmail.com

Athlete of the Month: Miranda Zilm
'A Beneficiary of the Team'
By: Emily Beers

Miranda Zilm makes a living training others to be stronger, faster, and fitter. So why would the 29-year-old fitness guru bother hiring people to train her?

"I found it really hard to give myself the attention that I was giving my own clients," said Zilm about her decision to start working with Human Motion back in 2008. "In the beginning, as a trainer myself, to be able to say, 'I need help here,' was tough.  I needed help doing the things that I knew my body needed to do but I wasn't willing to do it - strength training, plyometrics. But in the end, making that decision was probably the best thing I've done for myself," she said.

Since she began working with the Human Motion team, Zilm, who studied kinesiology and played soccer at Simon Fraser University, says her overall strength and fitness have improved by leaps and bounds. "They've brought out the past athlete in me, which I had sort of neglected...and they have inspired me to try new things, and to challenge myself to do different things with my body and my health," said Zilm.

When Zilm first walked through the Human Motion doors, Carmen Bott met with her and suggested that Julien Emery would be a good fit. So, Zilm started out doing individual training sessions with Emery, who focussed on strength training, specifically balancing Zilm's strength. "Julien made me lift such heavy weights...I had never done that before, and I thought, 'Are you kidding me?' But I trust it now. I trust him," she said.

Pretty soon, Zilm turned her attention to nutritionist Cliff Harvey for nutritional consultation.  And since then, the Team has stretched out even further for Zilm: Bott provides Zilm with one-on-one counsel sessions, and kettlebell specialist Jim Talo introduced Zilm to kettlebell training. "It's been a journey, and I'm finally getting to a place where I'm happy with my health," said Zilm.

This team approach is a big reason Zilm thinks Human Motion is so unique. "They're very teammy. I admire the fact that they have a team and they work together. It's not just one person...they all seem happy with what they're doing," she said.

Zilm, too, is happy. "I feel grateful to them, and I want to continue with them as long as I can. I like how they challenge me, and I like how they make it fun," she said.