Note to Self:  Remember to Train

by Tom Kennedy

This is why you sign up for, and do the Spartan WOD.

It is with great sadness that I was not able to video the Spartan race as planned, because I figured out immediately that the first obstacle was a mud pit, that would undoubtedly ruin the camera.  So, instead, I am writing this play by play account of the adventure.

First, I will give you my personal Pros and Cons of the event:

Pros
I had entry money.

Cons
My age, my refusal to exercise, a few pounds more than optimum, a history of orthopedic issues, and a general poor attitude.

Sadly, the line blurs between reality and my memory, and I couldn’t quite remember how much I hated any sort of exercise, especially running.  Now I remember. I decided to enter the race six months ago, giving me plenty of time to get
in shape for the event.  I must have gotten side tracked, because I can’t really remember being involved in any sort of a program that would get me prepared.

I might be willing to admit that my friend’s, Teresa’s advice of “You should probably get back on the treadmill” was possibly a better plan than mine, but at this point, we will really never know.  My plan became that I didn’t want to deplete my valuable energy stores or irritate any muscle cells until race day.

This proved to be an overestimation of my abilities, and an underestimation of the event.

The next time you hear me mention that I’m going to enter a Spartan race, just hit me in the nuts with a three iron.  My race experience rates somewhere between the Cherokee Trail of Tears, and The Bataan Death March.

I didn’t want to drink water because I thought that without water, I might actually die, instead of having to finish the course.

It started with our group of 200 “Spartans” heading to the mud pit.  Now, maybe I’ve watched a few too many episodes of Monsters Inside Me on TV, but I’m pretty sure that the absolutely foul smelling mud we were forced to plod through has left me with Impetigo at the best, or some brain-eating micro-organism at the worst.

After the mud, we were all in a tight group that narrowed down, until we were pretty much single file.  I was really moving!  I hadn’t jogged since 1997, but I guess that I thought I would just get right back into the swing of things.

Less than a quarter mile in, I was exhausted, and my middle back was aching.  Fortunately, we came to a rock climb that allowed me to rest a bit.  I don’t think that I ever reached jog speed again, but was in more of a fast walk mode, being mindful not to take my eyes off of the shoes or butt ahead of me.  I really have no idea what the course looked like, or where it went.  Just shoes and ass.

I got to one spot where we had to climb a rocky mountain face, and when I glanced to my right, I saw a Bighorn Sheep shaking his head “NO”.  He wasn’t even going to try it.  My lower back and C-spine held up really well for about the first seven minutes of the race, and then a dull ache remained throughout my odyssey.  It really didn’t hinder me much, and the two replaced knees, and the new hip held up perfectly.  They don’t want to bend as much, but there was no pain.  It might be that there was no pain because the brain can only think of one thought at a time, and my burning calves and thighs had my brains full attention.

I flew over walls, under logs, and through stuff.  I pulled chains, moved concrete stones, and picked up a bigass Caterpillar tire.  I helped people over walls and through cargo netting, and navigated more mud pits, barbed wire, and other nonsense.  Where I failed was whenever my arms had to go above shoulder level, I couldn’t get any strength out of my rotator cuffs.  Rope climb, monkey bars, traverse wall, were all my downfall, and I was told to do burpees.  Sadly, my shoulders won’t allow for burpees either, so I will owe about 120 burpees to the Spartan peeps sometime in the future.  Try and collect.

I had an “almost incident” when I couldn’t do a climb, and a snot nosed ”race monitor” started yelling at me that I had to do 30 burpees, and that if I didn’t do them, he would disqualify me.  I said, “Please don’t throw me in the brier patch”, and he just stared at me with a look of utter confusion.  Obviously, another product of the public school system.  When I left, he was fuming.

I obtained a hematoma on my shin, but I am very surprised there weren’t more serious injuries.  I was a little surprised that somebody hadn’t punched the formerly mentioned “snot nosed punk.”  Steep grades, up and down, with loose rocks and falling boulders…yes, I say boulders.  How many races does one run where he hears the words, “Look out, boulders coming down?”

So, you go up to the top of a steep ridge, and then another one after that, and then you are heading home.  I’m beat, but I can see the end is in sight.  Over another cargo net, climb a rope, and pick up sandbags for an up and down carry, and I’m finished!  As I’m dumping the sand bags, looking for the photographers, and television cameras, the closest race monitor yells out “halfway through, keep up the great job.”  Halfway through WTF, halfway through???  The next hill that I had to climb forced me to rest four times before I got to the top.  I think I fell asleep at one point. Then, I get encouragement from a morbidly obese runner chugging up the hill.  Really? Is this what my life has evolved to?  I staggered to the top of the ridge, and crept along it to the next obstacle.  Please bear in mind that for me, an obstacle was a safe haven where I could possibly catch my breath.  I loved the  obstacles!

Finally, with the finish line actually in sight this time, I made a big push, to look as if I had maintained that pace throughout the five miles.  I was very stud-like…still, no cameras or cheers…but stud-like, nonetheless!  I’m across the finish line, and they give me a cheesy medal, a Tee shirt, and a banana.  Then they took my shoes to give to someone in need of shoes.  I didn’t have the heart to tell them that these shoes were worn by someone who was passed by the entire cast of Biggest Losers.  I wouldn’t want to wear those shoes, even if I had to go barefoot.  This maybe putting a little more blame on the shoes than they deserved.

The first place guy finishes in just over fifty five minutes.  He was a fine tuned machine, and he pretty much breezed through the course along with a couple hundred more just like him.  Men and women both put on spectacular performances that should make their families proud.  Many of these athletes looked like they were willing to not work so they could stay in the gym and hone themselves for this kind of a sport.

I ask you…What is more impressive?  A person punishing themselves for fifty five minutes while covering this grueling race, or the person who punished himself to near exhaustion and perhaps, near death for…

wait For It…

TWO HOURS, FORTY THREE MINUTES

I knew you would see it my way.  Who is the guy who really gave his all?
Me!
And I did it all without shi##ing myself.

Tom

Post Script:        

I will only do this again next year if I actually get in shape for it.  Teresa is taking bets on this sore subject, and has so far displayed a somewhat negative attitude as to my ability to get off my duff and really prepare.  The gauntlet has been thrown, and I have a year to get ready.  My goal this year was just to finish, but next year, if all of the stars are in perfect alignment, I plan on shaving at least six minutes from my time.  Looking for team mates, but don’t delay.  Opportunities like this don’t come along very often.

Tags: spartan training

Integrating “Speed Play” into Your Training

Happiness is the interval between periods of unhappiness
– Don Marquis

How do you ensure to have a most pleasant interval of running?  Put it in-between two intensely unpleasant intervals of running.  It’s all relative at times, and one can only understand this through experimentation – in changing it up.  Too often runner neglect the usefulness of variety in their training intensities within a singular workout.

Often, you need to run 1-2 miles on your tradition routes before you can really gauge your energy levels.  Maybe at mile 2 you decide to just hang on hoping to make it home.  Maybe at mile 2 you are feeling like taking things to the next level.  When the case is the latter, you can always throw in some speed play into your training session as a means to add some variety to your experience, and speed focused conditioning for race day.

Fartlek — (“speed play” in Swedish) a training method that combines aerobic training (continuous efforts) with anaerobic training (interval efforts). Traditionally it is associated with running, but it can be integrated into any style of training and geared toward strength, endurance, or speed conditioning. The reference to ‘play’ indicates that these types of workouts can be tailored uniquely to the athlete in a way much less structure that traditional interval training.

By adopting ‘on’ and ‘off’ tempos and linking them to durations of time, you have the gist of a Fartlek workout.  1 minute on, 1 minute off.  2 minutes on, 2 minutes off…

Do ladders (counting up or down) or do pyramids (counting up and down) – you have some freedom to choose based upon who much time you have, and how much energy you have in the tank.

The following would be an example with how you can experiment with tempo on a temporal basis, integrating your 10k race pace and a 2 to 1 work to rest ratio.

2 minutes 10k pace

1 minute Recover

4 minutes 10k pace

2 minutes recovery

6 minutes 10k pace

3 minutes recover

This same method can be seen in the following 10-minute intervals with burpees.  Suddenly you are livening up your run workout, while simultaneously introducing fitness conditioning while simulating the run to burpee to run body movements so frequent in a Spartan Race.

1 minute of burpees

30 seconds of easy jogging

2 minutes of burpees

1 minute of easy jogging

3 minutes of burpees

1 minute and 30 seconds of burpees

If you are a math geek, you can see the permutations are endless.  Often enough, doing math is just the distraction one needs when things get particularly tough in a training session.  The trick is to not beat yourself up about ‘how you fartlek’, but to just use this broad technique to dial in your own running masterpieces of Spartan WODs.

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Tags: spartan training

The Top 5 Benefits of Alternative Locomotion:  Part 5 – Be a Kid

by Joe Di Stefano co-founder of Spartan Coaching

Need some catching up?  Here’s Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV

GET COMFORTABLE WITH BEING UNCOMFORTABLE

At a recent Spartan SGX Coaching workshop, following one of Dr Jeff Godin’s lectures on analyzing the specific demands of Spartan Race’s most troublesome obstacles, a seminar attendee named Jackie, said something that struck a chord. Her point was one that Dr. J and I have heard before but for some reason this time,  I really pondered it.
Jackie, chuckling, said, “you wouldn’t believe how easy these obstacles would be for my five year old!”

Wild. Isn’t it?

But how could that be?

How could a human being who has been capable of standing upright for fewer months than I have remaining on my car loan, actually be better on two feet than most of us?  Without getting into the nitty gritty bio-mechanical or structural differences between children and adults, let’s give the real reason.

We are born fearless.

We are born tough.

We are born strong.

And most importantly,….We are born to live for the moment.

Through conditioning from upbringing and social pressures, we learn to embrace fear, that pain should be avoided at all costs, and that pessimism is ultimately the most secure path to longevity, health, and dare I say,happiness. Our instinctual mindset when faced with an obstacle should not, by nature, be focused on what might happen if I try, but about how exciting an attempt would be. Ask a five year old child why she felt compelled to try and jump over that ten foot wide puddle there was no way she could leap, decode your answer to discover it was for none other than a slight chance of victory and the inevitable emotional high no matter the result. If we are all the same humans we once were, why don’t I see suits on Wall Street skying over bums and wet pavement?

Because that’s not socially acceptable, TRUE. However, the fact that we contain and limit our adventurous side habitually, destroys our body from the inside out.

Just watch a young child get up onto a full size chair. They brace the chair  with their hands and then at the hip flex, abduct, and internally rotate all and climb up effortlessly. As we get older, we do fewer and fewer activities that require 1/10 of that amount of hip functionality so the body gives it up. Don’t use it, you lose it!

At the grocery store, how often do you see someone over the age of 25 having a good time or even wearing a smile? Or how many people in that group ever ride the cart like a skateboard?

We have to be coached and instructed how to conquer even the most basic obstacles is not because we have gotten older, but as a result of losing our emotional connection to being human. The biggest difference between Jackie’s child and most of us is that her child lives for the moment. Most of us today are all stuck somewhere in the future or the past. We often times bury our human priority list to focus on more socially acceptable or financially rewarding priorities.

Get that back and life becomes your Spartan Race.

WORKOUT:

Stand up for 30 seconds every 15-20 minutes. Close your eyes and this will be surprisingly meditative in helping you regain presence and very beneficial to your productivity.

Do one thing today that you wouldn’t normally do. This might be jumping a puddle, riding the cart at the grocery store for a few feet, skipping to the coffee line, whatever! (Post your funny one’s to the comments section!)

Grab a friend, do this workout in public and try to be a kid again. Live for the moment, and get comfortable with being uncomfortable:

At a jogging track, skip at varying intensities for 5 minutes with opposite arm and leg moving in a coordinated rhythm. Try jumping for height, jumping for distance, “double time” by doing quick, low to the ground skips, etc. Then, complete one full, 400m lap:

Bear Crawl for 15 “One-thousandths”
Burpees 5x
Reverse Bear Crawl for  15 “One-thousandths”
Burpees 5x

Cool down / recovery: Skip at varying intensities for 5 minutes

Tags: spartan coaching, spartan training

The Top 5 Benefits of Alternative Locomotion:  Part 4 –  Distracted Cardio

by Joe Di Stefano co-founder of Spartan Coaching

Need some catching up?  Here’s Part I, Part II, and Part III.

What percentage of the American public is either thinking about getting in shape or is actively on the wagon right now? My guess is that it’s got to be over 75%…So why is it so hard? ….And what percentage of this hypothetical 75% do you supposed has been on the wagon before? ….

If you’ve been to one of our SGX seminars you know the real reasons why the failure rate is so high but let’s just look at this on a more superficial level….Most of the time, it didn’t work last time because losing weight or getting in shape for most is synonymous with major suck.  

“Major suck” means giving up all the foods you love and then dealing with the drug addict-caliber withdrawals from doing so, while you spend hours on stationary cardio equipment watching TV doctors who tell you that your unfitness is just more than likely genetic and so you might as drink wine every night to try and avoid heart disease.

So of course because of a variety of social and internal pressures, many throw their hat into the game, maybe even hire a trainer to show how serious they are. Whatever the case may be, ultimately many do the equivalent of showing up at the base of Mount Everest holding the flag they want to plant at the summit, wearing flip flops. They show up, they are serious, they are gung-ho…but ultimately most know from the start they are not going to succeed and act accordingly until they finally fall off the wagon.

So what if the major suck is optional?

Rather than stationary cardio machines and TV, both of which flood your mind with negativity and consume your precious (and in many cases very limited, will power) why not do something that’s going to work more muscles more synergistically, at higher intensities, that will build coordination, and that requires your full focus and attention. Something that you can also do for half as long to get twice the benefit and leave the gym with a clear, optimistic, and present mind?

Sounds good to me.

Distracted Cardio WOD #1:

Warm up:

Bird Dog x 100 reps total. then:

Power Skip x 50’

Reverse Skip x 50’

x 3, then:

Crab Walk x 25’

Reverse Crab Walk x 25’

x 3

Main Set:

4 rounds of:

Frog Hops x 50’

Bridges x 50 reps with 2 second hold per rep.

then, 4 rounds of:

Bear Crawl x 50-100’

Elephant Walk x 50-100’ (Butt in the air bear crawl)

Jumping Jack. x 60 seconds

Finish with 

Power Skip x 50’

Reverse Skip x 50’

x 3.

Tags: spartan coaching, spartan training

Animal Movement Exercise Glossary

by Joe Di Stefano co-founder of Spartan Coaching

Bear Crawl: Begin in a baby’s crawl position, lift the knees 1-2″ and maintain this posture as you walk in a coordinated left arm / right leg and vice versa sequence for 30-60ft

Bird Dog: Beginning in a baby crawl or “quadruped” position with the knees on the floor. Lift the opposing arm and leg, point and stretch to opposing sides of the room. Hold, then return to the starting position. Repeat on the opposite side and continue alternating for desired number of repetitions. For a more advanced progression, balance a water bottle on your lower back, if it falls off you know you were moving too much from your spine and not enough from your butt!

Dead Bug: Lying on your back with your arms and legs stretched straight up and down, simultaneously attempt to bring your right elbow and left knee together. Return to start position and repeat on the opposing side.

Elephant Walk: (aka “a not-so-strict bear crawl”) -From Bear Crawl position, allow your butt to lift into the air as high as is comfortable. Walk in the same coordinated, opposite arm and leg pattern as the Bear Crawl.

Lateral Ape: Beginning in a bear crawl position, “push” yourself backwards until your feet are flat on the floor and you are in a deep squat and “hands free” position. Now reach both arms to one side and shift as much of your weight into them as possible. Maintain this pressure as you “hop” your legs to that side. Continue in a fluid pattern and repeat on the opposing direction.

Tags: spartan coaching, spartan training

The Top 5 Benefits of Alternative Locomotion:  Part 3 –  Multiplanar.

by Joe Di Stefano co-founder of Spartan Coaching

click here for Part I and click here for Part II

The human body has three primary planes of motion, the sagittal plane, the frontal plane, and the transverse plane. All human movement can be categorized as occurring in in one of these planes depending on if it involves stressing the body as a left and right side, a front and back side, or a top and bottom; respectively.  In short, the human body can move forward/back, side to side, and up and down.

Most of us would likely agree that almost everything we do on any given day involves forward locomotion on two feet, lifting, pulling or pushing weights, lounging on a couch or working at a desk. Generally speaking, nearly every possible action or movement we can make in any one of these activities is dominated by the sagittal plane with mere brief incidental exposures to the other two.  Most of the time in life, whatever you are doing, it involves moving forward.

Taking a look at Spartan Race, the single most common injury we see are ankle rolls, which occur in the frontal plane after the joint loses a stability battle with rough terrain or an obstacle. Our second and third most common injuries are separation of the acromioclavicular joint of the shoulder from falling awkwardly onto an outstretched arm or injury to the rotator cuff muscles, usually the supraspinatus whose job it is to keep the ball at the top of the humerus in the shoulder socket. Both of these shoulder injuries typically occur in a combination of the three planes but whose pathology can be traced back to sagittal plane dominated posture, the resulting dysfunctional length-tension relationships among the muscles surrounding vulnerable joints, and the fact that we rarely train the body to deal with it’s own weight under varying conditions.  Ankle and shoulder injuries are common because our bodies are built and trained for forward, while these body parts are about all ranges of motion.

Most training programs, no matter how dysfunctional your flexibility, posture, or strength are will have you picking up weights on your first workout. This may get you feeling great, mainly because muscles are finally being used and previously dormant physiological processes are actually being kick-started but in the end typically you are reinforcing the postural problems created by your previously sedentary lifestyle and continuing your body’s tendency to favor the sagittal plane at the expense of the other two.  Alternative locomotion will exposure shoulders and ankles to multidirectional joint positions and stabilization requirements as well as multidirectional deceleration forces in controlled and varied postural positions. After training with these movements regularly expect to see improved posture, improved muscle function, and few aches and pains after your next race. You’ll also be stronger in most weight lifting exercises because much like trying to walk on a sprained ankle, if your body senses poor posture or high injury potential, it makes sure to only gives you enough strength to not get hurt.   Briefly put, animal movements get your stabilizer muscles strong enough to start lifting weights.

Traditional training programs are almost always dominated by overhead movements with little if any productive work done to reduce injury potential. In fact, the majority of people actually lack an ability to fully flex the shoulder to an overhead position! (A simple test: Stand tall, with completely locked elbows and straight arms. Lift your arms overhead…one of two things probably happened, one, you got “tight” prior to being fully overhead or two, you arched your lower back to achieve the last few degrees of flexion in the shoulder.)

Research has shown that up to 54% of asymptomatic individuals already have a cuff tear their body has not told them about yet. Let me rephrase, up to 54% of people with ZERO pain in their shoulder already HAVE a rotator cuff tear, add in the people with mild to severe pain prior to the race and the deck is pretty stacked! No amount of “strengthening” or standing external rotations with a thera-band are going to prepare you to survive a full body, deadweight hang that forces full flexion of the shoulder (regardless of if you just failed my test)…Add in the momentum of swinging from bar to bar and a splash of strength in internal rotation with your entire body weight hanging in the balance and basically…. we’re lucky anyone survives it.

Experimenting with alternative locomotion will stress the body in all three planes of motion without much thought or premeditation needed. In any given workout, these movements will expose the body to it’s own weight and force the shoulder to be stable despite being confronted with multidirectional forces acting on it. The hips and ankles hip have to be more mobile yet still incredibly supportive in foreign and awkward joint positions. At the same time, the core is being forced to stabilize the torso yet still transfer energy between the upper and lower body. Oh and by the way, these incredibly beneficial exercises are 100% free and you can do them in your driveway. At some point maybe I will touch on the stoic value of doing these in public, but not today. For now, let’s injury proof your body while adding fluidity and coordination to your athleticism!
Here’s a warm up to your workouts to test your skills:

Warm up:

Bear Crawl x 15’

Lateral Ape, Left x 15’

Lateral Ape, Right x 15’

Reverse Bear Crawl x 15’

Reference:

Sher JS, Uribe JW, Posada A, Murphy BJ, Zlatkin MB. Abnormal findings on magnetic resonance images of asymptomatic shoulders. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1995 Jan;77(1):10-5. PubMed PMID: 7822341.

Tags: spartan training, Sparting Coaching

3 Common Signs of Overtraining

Sleep is the best meditation.

– Dalai Lama

Sometimes after a hard weekend of racing, meditation — in any form — is a good idea. If you accelerate the intensity and durations of your workouts as the week progresses, Monday is a great day for recovery sessions, organization, visualization, and planning for the upcoming week.  Or, whoever said your workout for the day can’t be an extra hour of sleep? Maybe you need it? You might be overtraining.

If you are passionate about obstacle racing you are a prime candidate to let your enthusiasm carry you into ‘overtraining’ – this is when the volume and intensity of an individual’s exercise exceeds their recovery capacity.  What happens very often is that within a week or two, a person goes from sedentary to exercising 5-7 days a week.

There is a misunderstanding about training that is easy to fall into when training: more is not necessarily better.  Sometimes a recovery workout is just what you need to get back to a position to push hard again.

Here are 4 typical symptoms that a person who is pushing their boundaries too fast might experience.

Loss of enthusiasm for training – Suddenly your once favoriate activity is your least favorite chore.

Elevated resting heart rate – Many athletes check their heart rate first thing in the morning.  If it is elevated above their average, they see that as being indicative that they are not fully recovered and in need of more rest.

Decreased feelings of a full recovery – Whether it’s a persistent fatigue and muscle soreness, or a mental slump, if you are not feeling full throttle after your usual rest period, you might want to look at revising your workload.

Listen to your body, it might be telling you something.

Tags: spartan training

The Top 5 benefits of Alternative Locomotion Movements (aka Animal Movements):  Part II

by Joe Di Stefano of Spartan Coaching

click here for Part I

Eliciting a more balanced training effect.

“Body weight training” not so long ago was synonymous with doing a whole bunch of push ups and sit ups each night in front of the TV. Occasionally including chin ups for some but let’s face it most either did not have access to a chin up bar, did an entirely imbalanced ratio of push ups and sit ups to chin ups, or simply couldn’t do a single chin up so focused on the other two…as for legs, they either got the total shaft or were taken care of by “running”. Today “Body Weight” training for most has evolved, improved, and got a little more balanced but still many people do not balance the program anatomically. There are those that do of course, but sometimes only after incorporating outside equipment such as suspension trainers or other implements that continue to isolate specific movements or combinations.

Alternative locomotion, or animal movements, allow us to utilize the entire body in an athletic, fluid manner that forces all of the muscles to work as a single system. This helps us avoid a need to work the back, the middle, the top and the bottom which tends to develop “mirror muscles” but can actually impede athleticism and coordination while increasing injury potential in unforeseen or untrained scenarios, i.e. any Spartan event.

At the start of Day 2 of a recent SGX Workshop, where Day 1 included multiple workouts using Crab Walks, Ape Walks and some Bear Crawls all the trainers could talk about was how sore their butts, inner thighs, upper and mid back muscles were. How often is that the case in bootcamp?! People are almost always universally sore in the chest, shoulders, quads and abs! This makes it clear that our effectiveness to work the “anterior” or frontside, of the body far outweighs our ability to work the “posterior” of the body. In fact, the postural adaptations discussed in the previous post along with a human body that is incredibly efficient at compensation, most of us tend to use all the same muscles in almost everything they do! Which also explains why people literally “forget” how to squat, lunge, or pick something up yet can “relearn” simply without stretching a single muscle once they switch on some of those dormant muscle groups.

Since the posterior side of the body is ultimately the side of the body whose strength and function will dictates head to toe injury potential, it is critically important to incorporate training that trains it efficiently and in synergy with the rest of the body it is designed to protect.

A Spartan WOD on Motion by Spartan Coaches Part II

All motion is cyclic. It circulates to the limits of its possibilities and then returns to its starting point.

—Robert Collier

Cover 1 mile for time carrying a sand bag, dumbbell, or Lowe’s bucket full of sand or rocks.

Then:

Crab Walk, 50 ft

Sideways Ape Walk, 50 ft (left)

Sideways Ape Walk, 50 ft (right)

Reverse Crab Walk, 50 ft

Rest 1 minute, Repeat 3-5 times, then:

Match your previous 1 mile time from the warm up.

Lateral Ape: Beginning in a bear crawl position, “push” yourself backwards until your feet are flat on the floor and you are in a deep squat and “hands free” position. Now reach both arms to one side and shift as much of your weight into them as possible. Maintain this pressure as you “hop” your legs to that side. Continue in a fluid pattern and repeat on the opposing direction.

Tags: Spartan Coaches, spartan training

The Top 5 Benefits of Alternative Locomotion Movements aka Animal Movements

by Joe Di Stefino by Spartan Coaches

Part 1: Reacquaints your body with more evolutionary muscle activation sequences and patterns.

According to almost any source you can find, upwards of 80% of our population will have some form of back pain and/or treatment during their lifetime…with shoulders and knees lagging not too far behind. It is my contention that the vast majority of these injuries are caused by a sedentary lifestyle and are entirely avoidable, even those that are seemingly “freak” accidents, wear and tear, or even trauma.

Human beings evolved to be weight bearing and active for the majority of each and every day. This created a muscular system that fired in rhythmic and predictable patterns depending on what we asked of it. Being weight bearing also kept the joints strong and lubricated, the posture tall, and even things like digestion working properly. The less active we are and the more time we spend in a habitual position, typically seated, the more intensely all of these systems are impaired. Consider the foundational lesson of any university program on Exercise Physiology; The SAID Principle. The body essentially views everything we do on a regular basis as an “imposed demand” that it needs to “specifically adapt” to (Google search: SAID Principle). In other words, just as a professional baseball player trains their body specifically to play baseball with no regard for the influence it will have on their horseback riding, or a body builder pumps iron without worrying about the effects large muscles will have on their golf game, “practicing” sitting down for the majority of your time is literally pushing your body to get better at sitting down. If you rarely expose it to anything dramatically different, the body will willingly and intentionally sacrifice it’s ability to skip, jump, run, bend, twist, and even stand. People have trouble moving with fluidity and athleticism not because of tight hamstrings or a bad back but because they have sacrificed their innate functional abilities in training for their preferred activity, or “sport”.

This leads to the muscles that move your body into a seated, forward head, back breaking, perfect keyboard typing posture to be chronically over used and in many cases, almost permanently contracted. These chronically “tight” muscles, such as the muscles of the neck, are usually the ones that mysteriously hurt when we “sleep wrong”. They can also have a negative influence on opposing muscles which increase their injury potential. For example, if the hip flexor muscles are chronically “tight” and the gluteal muscles are dramatically underused, our risk for lower back pain or injury skyrockets…picking that pen up off the floor might be the last straw, but that was in no sense of the word an unavoidable, “freak” accident.

Most of us have joints that are literally drying up from lack of use. On top of that our guts are getting heavier and our postures are getting worse, all of which leads to pain, injury, injury-potential, and younger and younger people saying “i am too old for that”.

Bottom line, let’s get weight bearing, get moving, and impose demands on our body that are new and different. Here’s a good way to start:

Workout

Tags: Spartan Coaches, spartan training

LAP SWIM ETIQUETTE–FITTING IN AT THE POOL

by Erica Smith

Swimmer here.  I’m here to break the unfortunate news to you that swimmers (as we call ourselves–those of us who have the distinction of having been competitive swimmers in high school and/or college), are holding you in judgment for the suit you wear, the goggles you wear, and the way you conduct yourself at the local YMCA or community pool. As soon as we see you coming, we’ll start sprinting butterfly or doing extra-splashy flip turns to discourage you from sharing our lane. It’s not just swimmers behaving badly–I swear runners have taunted me in similar ways when I venture out of my territory and onto land.

Fortunately, there are ways that you can work out in peace without being taunted or judged by swimmers. First off, don’t ever show up wearing a scuba mask or ancient-looking goggles. I like Blue Seventy goggles–all models make excellent open water goggles, and you can wear them to the pool. Don’t wear swim trunks or a triathlon suit–you’re going to have to get yourself a real swimsuit made for pool swimming. Now, emerge from the locker room and walk across deck with confidence. If the lap lanes have speed designations (Slow-Medium-Fast), make sure you don’t overestimate yourself. Using fins doesn’t count towards your perceived speed. It’s taboo among swimmers to wear fins for an entire workout, and everyone knows WHY you’d be doing that.

Once you choose the appropriate lane, there are a few basic but very important rules you must follow:

1. If you are joining a lane with one swimmer, you must alert that person to your presence before you begin swimming, and ask whether your new lanemate prefers to “circle swim” or “split the lane.” Using proper swimming lingo will earn you points. Circle swimming means that you will swim counterclockwise, always hugging the laneline to your right. Splitting the lane means that you and your lanemate will each choose one side of the lane, and you will hug the same laneline going up and down.

2. Never, ever, ever veer into the middle of the lane for any reason. Pay attention to where you are in the lane at all times. Now is not the time to practice eyes-closed navigation drills. No one wants to get a concussion during a swim workout.

3. If joining a lane with multiple swimmers who are already circle swimming, you need not alert anyone to your presence, but you must join the lane in a way that does not interrupt anyone else’s workout (see guidelines below). If you join a lane with two swimmers who are splitting the lane, you must ASK both swimmers whether they will circle swim to let you join, BEFORE you begin swimming in that lane.

4. Never push off the wall right in front of a swimmer who is approaching the wall to make a turn. This is exactly the same as if you were running on a narrow track, and a slower runner stepped in front of you and forced you to stop.

5. Never push off the wall RIGHT on the feet of the swimmer right ahead of you. Always wait at least five seconds or until the swimmer ahead is past the flags.

6. Never touch the feet of the swimmer in front of you for any reason. It’s your fault for either pushing off the wall too soon, or not choosing the right lane. If you are doing a faster workout, you’re going to have to stop at the wall, wait until there’s enough space in between the two of you, and then start again. No one is looking for a negotiation about accommodating your workout.

7. If you do accidentally make contact while swimming, pick your head up to apologize. Or wait to apologize at the wall, whenever both of you stop.

8. If you are stopped at the wall to rest, make sure that you stay off to the side so that the end of the lane is clear for other swimmers to make turns. If you are blocking the wall with your body, don’t be surprised if a swimmer flip turns and their feet fly mere centimeters from your face. You’re not supposed to be there.

9. Hand paddles can be helpful for learning proper catch position in freestyle, but you should avoid using them in a crowded lap swim lane because of the likelihood of contact with other swimmers. It IS possible to break fingers or cause bloody gashes through contact with hand paddles.

Following these guidelines should ensure that you have a pleasant and fruitful experience at your local pool. Your new swimmer friends will appreciate your efforts!

Erica Smith was a NCAA All-American swimmer and is now an open water swimmer, writer, and professional swim coach specializing in open water training and racing.  She can be contacted at smitheureka@gmail.com.

Tags: spartan training