Random Friday

1. Interesting week, started off pretty crappy to say the least. Ending very well. My new car comes in early next week after a week long ordeal of maybe not getting one for a month. Long story....

I got a couple new clients that I'll get to see progress for the next six weeks which excites me. Tomorrow I have a break in my workday and help with a baseball camp with kids ages 9-10 which will be a nice change of pace.

2. Thinking of starting or currently participating in yoga? You may want to read this article.

3. I heard a couple people talking early this week about weather it was better to train once a day for 45 minutes or train three times a day for 15 minutes. I think more importantly should be what are you doing in those 45 minutes?

4. My roommate and I were watching a show yesterday with one of the trainers from "The Biggest Loser". Can't remember her name at the moment but it's people like this in the media that don't send good information to the public. A lady asked what a good way to take off weight from pregnancy would. I told my roommate if they perform a crunch I'm going to throw the remote at the TV. Well they didn't perform the traditional crunch but I probably should have thrown the remote. They proceeded to perform something called a Pilates 100.

Not that I disagreed with everything they during the show but for this specific example.....you don't need to specifically work your abdominals to see your abdominal. You should be performing multi-joint movements that will engage a lot of muscle at the same time. You're going to see whole lot more progress from 100 body weight squats compared to 100 traditional crunches. It is a hard concept to grasp for some but the sooner people do the sooner they will reach their goals.

5. Free Boot Camp April 15th at 6:00 pm and April 19th at 2:00 pm in West Liberty, Iowa at Kimberly Park. Hope to see you there.

6. I am featured trainer on the site Body Academy.

7. Go Jayhawks!

Regular Crunches

Some people know the importance of abdominal strength in helping to address someone in anterior pelvic tilt which in turn can lead to low back pain. But what some of these people don't understand is what a regular crunch can do to actually make their lower back hurt worse than it already does.

Regular crunches shorten the rectus abdominis. This may help with anterior pelvic tilt but in the end will depress the rib cage and pull people into a more kyphotic position at the thoracic vertebrae. This is not a good thing for upper back, neck, and shoulder health. This exaggerated kyphotic position at the mid back can lead exaggerated lordosis position at the lower back over time. Not to good on low back health.

Whats a better alternative to crunches? There is a crunch called a reverse crunch which target the posterior fibers of the external obliques. This allows you to address anterior pelvic tilt without affecting the rib cage. My favorite alternative would have to be the roll out or the plank. There a numerous variations to a plank that include side planks, plank with a weight transfer, or my new favorite the two arm rotating to one arm plank. Throw those swiss ball crunches out of your arsenal. Teach your body stability not flexion and it will thank you greatly.