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A Cost Benefit Analysis of your Health & Physical Fitness

March 19th, 2010

This post is for all of those people who:

Want to live a long life, and
Want that long life to be full of health, vitality and general awesome-ness

Because seriously, who wants to live until 100 if you have to spend the final 20-30 years of your life hooked up to machines and/or driving around in one of those motorized scooters because of your poor lifestyle choices

Luckily for you, I am here to help.

The True Cost of Health & Fitness Spending

Sadly, in our modern world, the biggest threat to living a long, healthy, vital and generally awesome life is our lifestyle.

Too little physical activity
Too much sitting
Too much of the wrong foods
Too little of the right foods
Chronic low level stress

Not good.

But, maybe that’s just the way things have to be. Maybe it’s a yin-yang kind of thing.

For all of the benefits of our modern society, there have to be some drawbacks.

Maybe the cost of our technological evolution is a slow, physical de-evolution into WALL-E blobbiness.

Maybe, there is nothing we can we do about it?

personal trainer toronto

wrong.

personal trainer toronto

Here are your options for getting super-fit.

1. Wait for a Technological Solution

Whether it’s a new drug or surgery or medical implant or obesity hygiene device, some people are going to sit and wait for someone else to save them from…themselves.

Cost/Benefit Analysis

Benefits

No exercise
More free time to watch tv and play video games
Eat whatever you want, whenever you want it

Costs

You may die before a “cure” is found
And you may have to spend big bucks on a Comfort Wipe

Conclusion

For me, the costs outweigh the benefits.

I have to give this plan a thumbs down.

2. Become a Caveman

Our caveman ancestors might not have had an iPad, but they certainly were leaner, stronger & fitter. And, if it wasn’t for their higher infant death rate and the general lack of emergency room doctors, our caveman ancestors would probably have retained a high level of physical fitness well into the senior years.

So, solution #2….

Walk away from all of your modern conveniences, leave your home, walk into the nearest forest and adopt the lifestyle that our paleolithic ancestors thrived upon.

Cost/Benefit Analysis

Benefits

Eating real food (wild game, fruit, berries, nuts, vegetables, roots, water… will make a huge difference on your overall health as well as help you drop a few lbs.
Increased physical activity will drastically improve your overall physical fitness
Less tv, less computer, less video games, less time in the car will improve posture, pain and portliness.
Low level stress will melt away as you ditch your daily commute, your boss, your suit & tie and your need to conform

Costs

No income
Property laws mean that you will likely be arrested for vagrancy or trespassing on private property
Herds of wild buffalo are pretty scarce nowadays, so you might have a problem finding enough food.
Replace low level chronic stress with higher level acute stress – starvation, arrests for vagrancy, etc…

Conclusion

The costs associated with returning to our ancient way of life far outweigh the benefits.

Ergo, another thumbs down.

3. Become a Modern Caveman

A modern caveman continues to work at his/her job, live in his/her nice warm home but chooses to eliminate or at least minimize those aspects of modern life that are causing us so much trouble

too much screen time – tv, computer, iphone, etc…
too much sitting
not enough physical activity
too many calories
not enough nutrition

Cost/Benefit Analysis

Benefits

Eating real food (wild game, fruit, berries, nuts, vegetables, roots, water… will make a huge difference on your overall health as well as help you drop a few lbs.
Increased physical activity will drastically improve your overall physical fitness
Less tv, less computer, less video games, less time in the car will improve posture, pain and portliness.
Taking a proactive approach to stress reduction will help improve the quality & quantity of your life.

Costs

Individuality – If you like to blend in, being a modern caveman isn’t for you
Grocery Bills – Real food often costs more than the typical processed Standard American Diet. Or at least it requires more imagination and effort to keep costs down.
Cost of physical activity – whether it’s time or money or a combination of the two, exercise is going to hit you in the wallet. Because you aren’t spending your entire day being active, you’re going to need to “exercise”. Whether you choose to run on your own or hire an in-home personal trainer, there is going to a cost – time, money, combination.

Conclusion

Millions of fit, healthy & attractive people are implementing some version of this plan each & every day.

Next week, i will go into some of the options and break them down…benefits, costs, etc…

Stay tuned.

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Is There A Link Between Exercise and Arthritis?

November 30th, 2009

knee pain joint According to a study being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, “Middle-aged men and women who engage in high levels of physical activity may be unknowingly causing damage to their knees and increasing their risk for osteoarthritis”.

“Our data suggest that people with higher physical activity levels may be at greater risk for developing knee abnormalities and, thus, at higher risk for developing osteoarthritis.”

And in case you didn’t know…Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that causes pain, swelling and stiffness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and affects approximately 10% of the American population.

The Study

The study involved 236 asymptomatic participants who had not reported previous knee pain – (136 women and 100 men, age 45 to 55, all within a healthy weight range.)

The participants were separated into low-, middle-, and high-activity groups based on their responses to the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) questionnaire. PASE is a standard test that scores an older individual’s physical activity level, based on the type of activity and the time spent doing it.

Then came the MRIs.

Radiologists scanned the knees of the test subjects and compared their findings to the levels of physical activity as determined by the PASE questionnaire.

Sadly, the MRI analysis indicated a relationship between physical activity levels and frequency and severity of knee damage.

The Details

Specific knee abnormalities identified included meniscal lesions, cartilage lesions, bone marrow edema and ligament lesions. Abnormalities were associated solely with activity levels and were not age or gender specific.

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The prevalence of the knee abnormalities increased with the level of physical activity.

In addition, cartilage defects diagnosed in active people were more severe.

The findings also indicated that some activities carry a greater risk of knee damage over time.

“This study and previous studies by our group suggest that high-impact, weight-bearing physical activity, such as running and jumping, may be worse for cartilage health.”

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“Conversely, low-impact activities, such as swimming and cycling, may protect diseased cartilage and prevent healthy cartilage from developing disease.”

Their Conclusion

The researchers concluded that there is a need for prospective studies to evaluate the influence of low-impact versus high-impact physical activity on disease progression.

My Conclusion(s)

Our bodies wear down with use. This should not come as a surprise to anyone 40+ years of age. Odds are there are lots of things that you can’t do that you could do in your teens or twenties. (see Viagra)
With age comes wisdom. Or at least it’s supposed to. As a kid, I never included a warm-up into my workout. Nothing hurt, so why would I warm-up? Today, if I skip the warm-up, things hurt.
Additionally, since I have become a slightly-older, slightly wiser version of myself, I have eliminated or modified the types of exercise that cause me pain – long distance running, 1 leg pistol squats, football, various weightlifting exercises, high intensity plyometric jumps, etc…

And with these modifications, I eliminated the nagging knee & shoulder pains that had begun to crop up.

My Other Conclusion(s)

No exercise is perfect for every person. Swimmers often suffer with shoulder pain. Cyclists often develop muscle imbalances due to their posture while cycling. Yoginis suffer joint injuries.
The body you have today is different from the body you had 20 years ago. Treat it as such.
Your body is different from my body. What works for me might not work as well for you.
Your body will tell you what is best for it. If your knees swell up after going for a long jog…maybe you shouldn’t go for a long jog. If your shoulders hurt after a set of overhead presses, maybe you should find a way to modify or replace that exercise.

There is a difference between high intensity exercises performed properly & high intensity exercises performed improperly.
Before giving up on “high intensity” exercises that require running & jumping, see if you can find a better way to do them. Try to modify before you eliminate.
Look at correcting postural imbalances that may lead to injuries
Consider purchasing rehabilitation equipment designed to prevent injuries

and most importantly, remember this…

You would rather visit an orthopedist than a cardiologist……so get off your butt and get some exercise.

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Fitness Equipment Deathmatch #1

November 13th, 2009

In the tradition of my Nutrition Deathmatches #1 and #2, today’s post compares and contrasts two different pieces of fitness equipment.

First up, the Wellness Belt

To be completely honest, I had never heard of the Wellness Belt until this morning when I heard a commercial for this product while listening to a radio station marketed towards Zoomers.

I could not believe what I was hearing.

According to the commercial, the Wellness Belt is the health breakthrough that every soon to be senior citizen has been waiting for.

Simply by wearing the ultra-fashionable Wellness Belt throughout your day to day activities, you will experience:

Effortless Weight Loss
The Elimination of Back Pain
A Reversal of Osteoporosis
Improved cardio-vascular fitness, a reduction in cholesterol, high blood pressure and a lowered risk of heart attack
Improved posture, reduced back pain, less intense headaches and migraines, increased neck range of motion and elimination of menstrual cramping. People with scoliosis have reported reduced tightness in the spine.
Increased free time as you never have to exercise ever again

Sounds great!!!

How do I get one?

Well, I’ll tell you.

For a limited time, you can save $30 off the regular price!!!

That’s right. For just $167.97 +s/h & applicable taxes, you too can own your very own Wellness Belt.

OR for less money, I can buy a set of 6 indestructible exercise bands and a single kettlebell.

With this equipment, I can expect to experience:

Actual Fat Loss
Increased Muscle Mass
Increased Strength
Increased Anaerobic Endurance
Improved Body Image
Improved Sex Appeal
An Improvement in many types of Pain (back, head, neck) caused by Muscular Imbalances
A Potential Improvement in Osteoporosis due to increased Osteoblast production caused by longitudinal loading of the long bones of the body.
Improved Cardio-Vascular Fitness
Increased pride as I know that I earned my new and improved body.

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What to do, what to do?

On one hand, I have a product that requires no effort, is unlikely to do anything useful and is only being purchased by the self-deluded and extremely dim-witted.

On the other hand, I have a set of products that are going to require time, effort and buckets of sweat. But in return, I am pretty sure to transform my body into something I can be proud of.

Darn it, I cant decide.

What do you think?

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Resistance Stretching

October 28th, 2009

In yesterday’s post, I introduced you to microStretching.

Today, it’s Resistance Stretching….made famous by 40-something Olympic and World champion Dara Torres.

In 2008, Resistance Stretching was Dara’s secret weapon at the Olympic Games in Beijing where she won three silver medals, broke her own personal best time in the 50m freestyle (trailing the gold medalist by 1/100th of a second) and became the oldest Olympic swimming medalist in history.

Dara’s success as an older athlete is what got me interested in Resistance Stretching (RS).

So, I contacted Dara’s RS gurus Steve Sierra and Anne Tierney and grilled them with questions.

Here is some of what they had to say…

What is Resistance Stretching?

Resistance Stretching is based on the theories that:

The stretching effect occurs during the entire movement of the muscle while it is being contracted, not just at the end point of the stretch…unlike traditional static stretching.
A muscle must contract while elongating for a true stretch. Stretching a muscle without contracting produces a false range of motion known as substitution, and ultimately results in over-stretching and injury.
Repetitions are necessary for gains in flexibility, just as repetitions are necessary for gains in strength during strength training.

How do I do it?

Resistance Stretching can be performed alone using self-stretches or with other person(s) using assisted stretching techniques.

Dara relied on assisted stretching to prepare her body for the Olympics.

Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Unfortunately, you and I will most likely not have access to a team of trained Resistance Stretchers.

But don’t fret, my clients and I have had great success using the standard self-stretches as well as the variations that I MacGyvered on my own.

This video outlines some of the basic self-stretches.

Where you go from here is up to you.

Once you understand the basic concept of Resistance Stretching, you are only limited by your imagination. I am constantly coming up with new stretching variations.

Just follow these ffive steps

Identify the muscle or muscle group that you want to stretch
Start by flexing or shortening that muscle
Tense the muscle
Start stretching the muscle while simultaneously resisting the stretch
Repeat

In a future post, I will provide videos of some of my favorite stretches. I just need to bribe one of my clients to let me record them and put it on the blog.

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13 Training Mistakes You Need to Avoid

August 4th, 2009

Fitness training isn’t rocket science.

Good training & nutrition decisions produce good results.

Poor training & nutrition decisions produce poor results.

So, how come when I go to the gym this afternoon, I can pretty much guarantee that I am going to see a lot of intelligent, well-educated, gainfully employed people making some pretty stupid training decisions?

Maybe fitness training is rocket science?

Maybe I am some sort of fitness training genius.

So, as a public service to all of the non-fitness-training genii out there, here is a list of some of the training mistakes I will probably see at the gym today.

Try and avoid them.

Doing Cardio Training before Resistance Training
Doing Static Stretching before Resistance Training
Training Core before Legs
Chugging a Gatorade while reading a book on the Exercise Bike
Thinking that the Inner Thigh (Adductor) Machine is going to work some sort of magic.
Ignoring your Weaknesses and over-training your Strengths
Believing that Core Training is all about Crunches & Planks
Training Body Parts instead of Body Movements
Believing that you can Out-Train a Bad Diet
Making chronic neck & shoulder pain worse by ignoring your postural muscles
Thinking that Resistance Training will make you too big
Thinking that Cardio training will make you too small
Performing a one size fits all type of fitness program

And if you see yourself on the list and want to change your evil ways, feel free to comment.

I or one of your fellow readers would be glad to lend a hand.

Addendum

I just received an email from a quasi-famous strength coach/trainer to the stars telling me that I was an idiot for believing that cardio prior to resistance training is a bad idea.

Personally, I can’t believe that he took the time out of his day to tell me off via email (wouldn’t a comment have been quicker?) but I would like to thank him because it helped me come up with another fitness training mistake:

Dogma

Believing that one way of training is the 100% right and that all other methods are 100% wrong.

Whether it’s hardcore cardio junkies or Crosfitters or bodybuilders of Yoginis, being close minded to different training methods seems prety stupid to me.

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Swine Flu, Factory Farms and your Immune System

April 27th, 2009

As I write this article,

the EU is telling all Europeans to avoid travelling to Mexico and the U.S.
the U.S. thinks that the EU is overreacting, but is getting ready to issue their own travel warning for Mexico
stock markets around the world have caught an economic form of swine flu
and in my hometown of Toronto, people are remembering the SARS outbreak of 2003

Obviously, we are all a little concerned by this potential swine flu pandemic – some more than others.

But, before you head out to buy your own Hazmat suit, let’s take a look at what swine flu is, how the outbreak happened, how you catch it, what happens if you catch and how you can avoid getting sick.

What is Swine Flu?

Dr. Joe Bresee with the CDC Influenza Division describes swine flu

How did the Mexican Swine Flu outbreak happen

According to Mexico’s Health Minister, Jose Angel Cordova, the virus “mutated from pigs, and then at some point was transmitted to humans.

Pigs are nature’s notorious “mixing bowls” for inter-species infections, and many swine flu viruses have long contained human influenza genetic components.

This situation may have been made worse by Mexico’s shift from small, local pig farms to gigantic factory style pig farms. Most of those farms are owned by U.S. hog conglomerates who have moved to Mexico in order to take advantage of the lower labor costs.

For years, leading scientists around the world have worried that large-scale, indoor swine “factories” would become breeding grounds for new pathogens that could more easily infect humans and then spread out rapidly in the general population – threatening to become a global pandemic.

How do we avoid catching Swine Flu?

According to the CDC, spread of this swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is thought to be happening in the same way that seasonal flu spreads.

Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing of people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

So, if you don’t want to get sick:

Wash your hands.

Try to stay in good general health.

Get plenty of sleep

Be physically active

Manage your stress

Drink plenty of fluids

Eat nutritious food.

Try not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick

Sounds like common sense to me.

Avoid people or places where the virus is rampant – i.e cancel that trip to Cancun
Assume that you will probably run into the virus at some point. Because of that, you need to wash your hands and avoid picking your nose.
And even if you do all of that hand washing, you have to figure that some jerk on the bus is going to sneeze swine flu all over everybody else in the coming days. because of that, you want to keep your immune system as strong as possible.

And while I can’t help you with the hand washing, all it takes is a trip through my archives to find lots of ways to strengthen your immune system.But for those of you short on time, here is an introduction to immune strengthening:

Exercise every day – cardio, resistance training, yoga, walking, dancing, etc…
Eat real food
Drink water
Unplug from the world for at least 15 minutes each day – meditate, pray, watch a sunset…
Stop watching Letterman and go to sleep at a decent hour

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way too scared about Swine Flu

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References

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The BEST Core Exercise

May 23rd, 2008

Okay, technically they are the two best core exercises, but the Roll-out

and the Stability Ball Pike/Knee-In

are, in my opinion, the most complete core exercise combination. Period.

Here’s why

They address the two primary functions of the core musculature unlike any other movement.
They are infinitely scalable. Beginners can modify the movements to protect their lower backs while advanced athletes can perform variations that completely tax their strength, balance and co-ordination.

This is the part of the post where I discuss the science behind the exercise, so if that is not your thing, please skip ahead to the videos.

Core Function and the Roll-Out

The two main functions of the core are:

The stabilization of the spine via abdominal compression
Movement – spinal flexion, extension, rotation, tilting the pelvis

Spinal Stabilization

Physiologists often use the analogy of the human spine being like the mast of a sailing ship.

The core muscles – Transverse abdominus, Rectus abdominus, External and Internal obliques, Multifidus, Quadratus lumborum, Iliopsoas, and the Erector spinae all work together as a group to support your spine from your pelvis to your rib cage. While they all work as a team, the Transverse abdominus is the key player.

While there is great debate about the best way to train the Transverse Abdominis (T.A.), there is a general consensus that any movement where you are forced to tighten you core against the demands of gravity or an outside source WILL be effective to develop the T.A.

One of the most popular T.A. dominant exercises is the bridge or plank.

The Roll-out and the Stability Ball Pike/Knee-In provide the same benefit as the bridge, but with the added benefit of being a dynamic, rather than static movement.

Core/Spinal Movement

Spinal Flexion is controlled mainly by the Rectus abdominus and the Iliopsoas. The most popular Spinal Flexion exercises are the crunch and reverse crunch.

The Roll-out produces the same movement as the crunch with the added benefit of spinal stabilization.

The Stability Ball Pike/Knee-In gives you the same benefits as the reverse crunch with the added stabilization.

Spinal Extension is controlled mainly by the Erector spinae and the Multifidus muscles. Spinal extension training is generally addressed by posterior chain movements like deadlifts, good mornings and bodyweight hip extension movements. As such, this section of the “core” will be omitted from this post.

Lateral Flexion is controlled mainly by the External and Internal obliques. Lateral flexion is usually trained by some form of side bends.

Rotation is controlled mainly by the Obliques, Multifidus and the Erector spinae. Spinal rotation exercises have been the flavor of the month for a little while now. One of the most popular is the wood chop.

You will have to forgive my lack of video (my digital recorder was stolen, hence the youtube videos), but if you can imagine, performing the Roll-out moving at various angles will give you an intense lateral flexion movement combined with forward flexion and stabilization.

With the Stability Ball Pike/Knee-In, you can combine spinal flexion and stabilization with lateral flexion and rotation by rotating and twisting the hips as you move the stability ball back and forth.

Scaleability

As you have seen in the accompanying videos, there are various ways to perform the Roll-out and the Stability Ball Pike/Knee-In.

With the Roll-outs, beginners could start on their knees with a stability balls. Increase the difficulty by moving their arms further away from their body. Graduate to the ab wheel, then a loaded barbell. Stretch tubing can be attached to the ab wheel in order to help you back to the starting position.

The variations are as endless as your imagination.

In a future post, I will v-blog a variety of different variations.

Conclusion

As I said at the outset, the Roll-out and the Stability Ball Pike/Knee-In are the best core exercises. I hope that I may have converted a few of the ab crunchers out there.

Give them a try.

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Structural Balance

April 14th, 2008

In my last post, The Components of Physical Fitness, I broke down physical fitness into it’s component parts and provided a brief introduction of each part.

In today’s post, I will investigate in further detail one of those components: Structural Balance

Last time, I said that this structural balance deals with the alignment and interplay of your skeleton, skeletal muscles, ligaments, tendons & fascia.

For example, are your hamstrings too tight? Is your pelvis in proper alignment? Is the fascia covering your diaphram too tight?

If your body is out of alignment in one place, there will be adaptations elsewhere. Whether those adaptations will result in pain and injury depends on factors that are largely out of your control.

Before I begin to look at this topic in more detail, I have to admit that of all of the aspects of physical fitness, this is without a doubt NOT my area of expertise.

That is why I always say that before beginning a new fitness program, it might be a good idea to visit some form of physical therapist or an osteopath for an analysis of your structural balance.

If that is not an option, the following set of links will guide you towards the collected knowledge of some of the BEST experts on physical fitness as it pertains to your structural balance.

Gray Cook – Athletic Body in Balance

Each of these individuals have a unique approach to putting your body into balance. If it is possible to meet with one of them for an assessment, I would highly recommend it. If not, read some of their articles, decide which of their styles makes the most sense to you and apply ONE concept. Don’t try to do everything at once.

Before trying to correct any postural flaws, you should take a few digital photos of your posture – standing & sitting, from the front, rear and both sides. Lift your arms overhead, squat, etc… You would be surprised how easy it is to see your own flaws in a photo.

Most likely, this is what you are going to see.

This example was taken from

Neanderthal No More III
The complete guide to fixing your caveman posture!
by Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson

Side View:

Client exhibits classic exaggeration of the double S-curve posture.

Forward head posture and chin protraction are evident.

Rounded shoulders combined with an exaggerated kyphosis are apparent in the upper thoracic region.

Significant anterior pelvic tilt with a concomitant increase in lumbar lordosis is also evident in the lumbo-pelvic region.

Anterior weight bearing is difficult to determine due to the cropping of the photo, but still seems to be an issue of concern.

This all to common postural flow is described in the following graphic taken from part 2 in Cressey & Robertsons’s Neanderthal No More series.

While posture #1 is the ideal, #4 is all too common. Primarily caused by hours of sitting and staring at television and computer screens, posture #4 has become all too familiar. Think about it, an hour sitting in the car driving to work, sittiong for most of your 8+ hours at work, driving back home and then finally dropping down onto the couch to watch some ‘must-see” tv. All this adds up to poor posture, misalignment, and eventually pain and disfunction.

Okay, enough doom & gloom.

This can all be corrected. Start with the links listed above. Take it slow. Your poor posture wasn’t created in a day and it won’t be corrected in a day.

Good luck.

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The Components of Physical Fitness

April 10th, 2008

What is physical fitness?

You will receive some very different answers depending upon who you ask.

To a person with a medical condition, physical fitness may be a day without pain or a day where they have the energy to walk down to the corner store. To the weekend warrior, it is being able to compete with his friends and still be able to go to work on Monday.

To an Olympic calibre gymnast, physical fitness is performing an Iron Cross. The flexibility of an accomplished yoga practitioner is a display of physical fitness. As is the endurance of a triathelete. Or the power of an Olympic style weightlifter. Or the speed of a sprinter. Or the agility of a badminton player…

They are all right and they are all wrong.

For their particular needs, there is an appropriate level of adequate fitness. The weekend warrior has no need to perform an Iron Cross. Or a gymnast to run a marathon.

The decathalete / heptahalete is supposed to represent the ultimate of physical fitness. While the other athletes are specialists, these multi-sports athletes train to develop the ultimate combination of the different components that make up physical fitness.

So that is where we will go. By breaking down physical fitness into it’s components, we will arrive at a better understanding of physical fitness.

The 5 Components of Physical Fitness

Muscular Strength

This component of physical fitness deals specifically with the performance of the body’s skeletal muscles.

Your skeletal muscles contract and stretch in order to produce movement. Simple.

How they produce that movement is less simple. Your body’s muscles are highly adaptable. They will react to the stresses that you place upon them. Sit on the couch and they will atrophy. Try and run fast and they adapt to produce faster contractions. Lift heavy objects and they will increase their ability to produce maximum strength.

One way to organize these different types of strength is in relation to time.

Maximum muscular strength is the ability to produce the most amount of force regardless of time. That big guy at your gym that is ALWAYS bench pressing may have a high level of maximum strength. He can produce a large amount of force (to move that heavy barbell) but he does it relatively SLOOOWWWLY.

Maximum muscular endurance is the ability to produce a smaller amount of force, but do it for a long time. A marathon runner has a high level of muscular endurance. His bodyweight requires less force to move than a heavy barbell, but he is able to move that weight for 2+ hours non-stop.

Maximum muscular speed is the ability to produce muscular movement very quickly. A hummingbird’s wings are the epitome of speed.

Muscular power is a combination of maximum strength and speed. An Olympic weightlifter is a great example of power. So are high jumpers and sprinters. Another way of looking at power would be to use our weightlifter friend from the gym.

If he bench presses 300 lbs but takes 3 seconds to perform the lift, his power output is 100 lbs. per second. However, if he drops the weight to 200 lbs and performs the lift in 1 second, his power output shoots up to 200 lbs. per second.

If that wasn’t confusing enough, different types of muscular strength rely on the development of the 4 other components of physical fitness.

Neuro-Muscular Co-ordination

This component of physical fitness deals with the communication between your brain, nervous system and your skeletal muscles.

While an in depth analysis of the nervous system is far beyond the scope of this post, I can break it down for you like this:

Your brain issues a command to your muscles. That command is carried via the nervous system (technically, the brain is part of the nervous system) to the muscles. The muscles perform the action if possible. Your nervous system relays the movement to the brain. The brain receives this feedback and issues another command. And so on and so on.

This is a highly trainable skill. Highly desirable as well.

A baby learns to walk by seeing others walk, processing this information in it’s brain and then issuing a command to the muscles to get up and walk. Initially this command will fail as the muscles do not yet have the ability to perform this action. However, the feedback is delivered from the muscles to the brain via the nervous system. The feedback is analyzed and another command is issued and another attempt by the muscles to walk is attempted.

Eventually, the baby will walk.

This neuro-muscular co-ordination is required when learning a new skill or improving a current skill.

Neuro-muscular co-ordination is usually described as agility or balance or simply co-ordination.

Structural Balance

This aspect of fitness has to do with the alignment and interplay of your skeleton, skeletal muscles, ligaments, tendons & fascia.

Are your hamstrings too tight? Is your pelvis in proper alignment? Is the fascia covering your diaphram too tight? Like that well known spiritual said, the leg bone is connected to the shin bone…

If your body is out of alignment in one place, there will be adaptations elsewhere. Whether those adaptations will result in pain and injury depends on factors that are largely out of your control.

Before beginning a new fitness program, it might be a good idea to visit some form of physical therapist for an analysis of your structural balance. An osteopath may be a good option as well.

Energy Systems

Energy system fitness refers to the ability of the body’s three sources of ATP (the main source of cellular energy) to produce that ATP.

The three sources or energy systems are the ATP-PC System (Phosphogen System), the Anaerobic System (Lactic Acid System) and the Aerobic System.

A common misconception about your energy systems concerns the dreaded “fat burning” zone. Many people are of the belief that if you stay well within your aerobic or fat burning zone, your body will burn fat instead of sugar. If you spped up and move out of the aerobic zone into the anaerobic, you will instantly stop burning fat. Not true.

These systems do NOT turn on and off. They are always on. Depending upon your demand for energy, one system may dominate over the other, but they are all working to provide energy for movement.

The ATP-PC system is most efficient for short bursts of activity. The Aerobic system is designed for longer duration, lower intensity activities. The Anaerobic sits in between these two systems. It is best designed for explosive activities of relatively short duration.

Basketball is an anaerobic sport as it alternates short duration, high intensity sprints with periods of lower intensity movements around the basket. These lower intensity activities allow the anaerobic system to recharge. This sport would improve the functioning of the anaerobic system at the expense of the development of the aerobic system. The same could be said for hockey and football.

An excellent illustration of different sports & how they rely on different energy systems can be seen here.

A more complete explanation of Energy System Fitness can be found here.

A how-to on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) can be found here.

Overall Health

Overall health refers to your mental health, emotional health, body composition & lifestyle. While outside of the scope of this post, these aspects of physical fitness will affect you on a systemic level.

The most physically fit athlete in the world will not be able to perform if his anxiety prevents him boarding a plane to fly to the Olympics in China. A lifestyle choice like smoking will have an negative effect on a triathlete’s performance. And it’s highly unlikely that you will be able to maximize your physical fitness carrying around 20 extra pounds of body-fat.

In future posts, I will be delving deeper into the 5 components of physical fitness along with suggesting exercises and training programs designed to maximize your potential.

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