Thursday, August 20, 2009
b2d down time - what healthy blogs do you enjoy?
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Dear b2d readers,
thank you for stopping by.
Over the coming week i'm going to be off the grid (and if i'm not, there'll be hell to pay), so will likely not be posting for that time. I anticipate withdrawl effects.
In the interim, i'd be keen to hear about any health-related blogs you like to follow that haven't already be linked here. You can see there are three places where Other Folks stuff is linked: great resources by other folks; funky folks' blogs, and digging.
I'm asking also because one of the favorite things i've seen on conditioningresearch.blogspot.com is Chris's google reader insert - which i've since emulated here. Awesome!
I use chris's reader feed a lot - often i don't agree with the sentiment in some of the articles posted :) - but so what? how else are we gonna learn new stuff?
So if you care to share, what are some blogs that inspire you? that you come back to regularly - in the health, fitness, wellbeing space?
Please leave your rec's in a comment.
With thanks,
mc
ps may i also note here that the first uk z-health/kettlebell workshop is going to be held in London(ish) all day, Sunday Oct 18. Hope to meet some of you there.
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Follow @begin2dig
thank you for stopping by.
Over the coming week i'm going to be off the grid (and if i'm not, there'll be hell to pay), so will likely not be posting for that time. I anticipate withdrawl effects.In the interim, i'd be keen to hear about any health-related blogs you like to follow that haven't already be linked here. You can see there are three places where Other Folks stuff is linked: great resources by other folks; funky folks' blogs, and digging.
I'm asking also because one of the favorite things i've seen on conditioningresearch.blogspot.com is Chris's google reader insert - which i've since emulated here. Awesome!
I use chris's reader feed a lot - often i don't agree with the sentiment in some of the articles posted :) - but so what? how else are we gonna learn new stuff?
So if you care to share, what are some blogs that inspire you? that you come back to regularly - in the health, fitness, wellbeing space?
Please leave your rec's in a comment.
With thanks,
mc
ps may i also note here that the first uk z-health/kettlebell workshop is going to be held in London(ish) all day, Sunday Oct 18. Hope to meet some of you there.
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Follow @begin2dig
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Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Arthrokinetic Reflex: Joint action affects Muscle Performance
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This post is about the arthrokinetic reflex. The term goes back to 1956 and suggests that something done to a joint can reflexively cause muscle activation or inhibition. Eric Cobb in Z-Health (overview) makes use of this concept to show how something as simple as head position can have a negative impact on muscle activation, and that conversely, joint mobilization (and better head position) can have an immediate benefit for freeing up muscle activation for improved strength performance.
There's some interesting ideas around how these reflexes relate to threat and threat modulation, but we'll come back to those at another point. Right now, let's see the effect in action.
Just to walk through the following video because the audio seems to be a bit low, here's what's happening.
First: demonstration of a classic issue in the Kettlebell Swing: head is way back when going for the hip snap. Why might this be a problem? that head position, that far back on the neck, may actually be reducing available power and consequently compromising the work a person wants to do.
How can we demonstrate this claim?
Second: Rikki Prince kindly volunteers for a hamstring muscle test, head in neutral position.
All that's happening in the muscle test is that i am meeting the force that Rikki is producing so that there's equilibrium.
Third: Rikki cranks his head back for the second hamstring test
In this case, i'm using the same force on Rikki's leg as previously used to balance his leg pushing up, and his leg goes down - right down - to the ground.
Now, one could say ha you're cheating, you're using way more force. First, in the video - does it look like i'm pushing hard? face it, i'm not a big person, and Rikki's considerably taller and larger and more muscular than i. Second, this test could be done with a machine where forces are calibrated - so if you have the apparatus by all means do so. Third, you'll have to believe me, yes, that Rikki wasn't faking it - this you can also test with yourself and a colleague if you learn the technique to match people's strength. I've done this with a room full of people and there's always one person who says "didn't work for me" - I'll take that one stat of 1 out of 25. But it usually turns out when retested by someone else, it's there.
I also was asked to demo this at the May 09 RKC Denmark cert. Kenneth Jay volunteered (shown left using mark cheatham as "the wall") - for those who have met him, do you think KJ would fake this test?
Fourth: Head back in neutral, re- test. In this case we see the leg is a lot stronger than just a moment before, and that's just from getting out of the head cranked position.
Fifth: Going further to clean up the muscle test, and re-test. Without giving poor Rikki a break we do two Z-health neck mobility drills - just to open up those neck joints more deliberately. We retest. The bigger wobble is now out of the leg, and we're as stable as we were when we started.
If i was working with Rikki further, i'd keep going to do a movement assessment to get at that little bit of rumble that was there at the start and is still present at the end.
Sixth: applying this reflex notion to the swing
At the end, a quick demo of a few swings with the head in neutral, using the eyes to look up, rather than the head cranking back. You can't see it, but i'd encourage you to try it: this technique of keeping the head neutral combined WITH the eyes charting the movement actually provides a double shot benefit for the swing. It FEELS much smoother and stronger and more effortless.
This double shot is discussed further with liberal illustrations and Eric Cobb quotations and b2d synthesis/analysis in terms of "efficient movement" in yet another application: the kettlebell front squat.
If you'd like more detail on the eye position in the swing, see Cobb's article cited above, and look for "eye position kettlebell swing experiment."
Take Away: the Arthrokinetic Reflex - works both ways
What we do with a joint has a reflexive effect on muscular activation/inhibition. ANY joint; All Muscles - pretty much.
So what this demo shows us three things + a heuristic
Related Posts
Thanks for reading. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
There's some interesting ideas around how these reflexes relate to threat and threat modulation, but we'll come back to those at another point. Right now, let's see the effect in action.
Just to walk through the following video because the audio seems to be a bit low, here's what's happening.
First: demonstration of a classic issue in the Kettlebell Swing: head is way back when going for the hip snap. Why might this be a problem? that head position, that far back on the neck, may actually be reducing available power and consequently compromising the work a person wants to do.
How can we demonstrate this claim?
Second: Rikki Prince kindly volunteers for a hamstring muscle test, head in neutral position.
All that's happening in the muscle test is that i am meeting the force that Rikki is producing so that there's equilibrium.
Third: Rikki cranks his head back for the second hamstring test
In this case, i'm using the same force on Rikki's leg as previously used to balance his leg pushing up, and his leg goes down - right down - to the ground.
Now, one could say ha you're cheating, you're using way more force. First, in the video - does it look like i'm pushing hard? face it, i'm not a big person, and Rikki's considerably taller and larger and more muscular than i. Second, this test could be done with a machine where forces are calibrated - so if you have the apparatus by all means do so. Third, you'll have to believe me, yes, that Rikki wasn't faking it - this you can also test with yourself and a colleague if you learn the technique to match people's strength. I've done this with a room full of people and there's always one person who says "didn't work for me" - I'll take that one stat of 1 out of 25. But it usually turns out when retested by someone else, it's there.I also was asked to demo this at the May 09 RKC Denmark cert. Kenneth Jay volunteered (shown left using mark cheatham as "the wall") - for those who have met him, do you think KJ would fake this test?
Fourth: Head back in neutral, re- test. In this case we see the leg is a lot stronger than just a moment before, and that's just from getting out of the head cranked position.
Fifth: Going further to clean up the muscle test, and re-test. Without giving poor Rikki a break we do two Z-health neck mobility drills - just to open up those neck joints more deliberately. We retest. The bigger wobble is now out of the leg, and we're as stable as we were when we started.
If i was working with Rikki further, i'd keep going to do a movement assessment to get at that little bit of rumble that was there at the start and is still present at the end.
Sixth: applying this reflex notion to the swing
At the end, a quick demo of a few swings with the head in neutral, using the eyes to look up, rather than the head cranking back. You can't see it, but i'd encourage you to try it: this technique of keeping the head neutral combined WITH the eyes charting the movement actually provides a double shot benefit for the swing. It FEELS much smoother and stronger and more effortless.
This double shot is discussed further with liberal illustrations and Eric Cobb quotations and b2d synthesis/analysis in terms of "efficient movement" in yet another application: the kettlebell front squat.
If you'd like more detail on the eye position in the swing, see Cobb's article cited above, and look for "eye position kettlebell swing experiment."
Take Away: the Arthrokinetic Reflex - works both ways
What we do with a joint has a reflexive effect on muscular activation/inhibition. ANY joint; All Muscles - pretty much.
So what this demo shows us three things + a heuristic
- squishing up a joint, like cranking back the head in a swing or lift, has immediate effect on muscular activation. In the case of squishing, we get inhibition.
- We see that going to a more open joint position (head neutral) has an immediate effect on muscle activation.
- We see also that that effect can be enhanced further with self-moblization around that joint.
- heuristic: maintaining optimal range of motion in a joint enables best strength performance/efficiency.
Related Posts
- If you're interested in more of these mobilization techniques, i'd recommend starting with the z-health r-phase and neural warm up package (described here).
- overview of z-health - neurological approach - article index
- If you'd like to learn about z-health theory and practice and have it more directly applied to kb work, and if you're gonna be in the UK on October 18, please come to the kb essentials and z-heatlh theory and practice workshop.
Thanks for reading. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The Advantage of an Office Door: A Work Up for a Carb Up
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Ever stolen a work out during the day, or snuck one in? Do you have to go to the gym to do it? At work, i have the privilege of an office with a door on it such that when it's shut, no one can see in, except the workers in the building going up right across from me. We wave at each other from time to time. when they're way hi up on their lego like structures. But now since they're all off for lunch, it is fine and proper to change my shirt and shorts for sweatable attire and commence a pre-lunch ritual: the carb burn pre load work up.
Yes work up: i am working up to a happy feeding time, knowing i'm not just eating cuz i'm a bit peckish; i'm refurbishing my muscles glycogen stores when they'll be happiest to receive them.
To achieve this today, i decide to do a 15:15 vo2max workout as per Viking Warrior Conditioning (reviewed here).
But then, mid workout, what happens? i start to feel a callus go - for those of you who do this kind of thing you know what i mean. I don't want a tear - i'm about to go away on a break and while i suppose that would be the ideal time to have a tear (if one must) i think i'd rather not. Band aids etc, no fun. Phooey.
So i do the a-typical smart thing and stop my vo2max work with a 12kg and transition gracefully into an on-the-fly adapted 8on 12 off session of swings for the next 11 minutes with a 24kg. Perfect form, perfect form. Every rep a perfect rep. My word, 12 secs post kettlebell seems much shorter post a kettlebell set than it does on the bike.
This protocol is based on one developed by Trapp and co for eliciting optimal fat burn in women of both athletic and not so athletic backgrounds. 20mins of 8/12 intervals seemed to be a sweet spot for fat burning.
As for the application of the above with a heavy kb, i can say after the 11th minute, it seems i may have found a way to test for a new max heart rate. Cuz that was higher than on a bike and not maximal. I was still standing. Hmm. On the fat loss, well i don't know. It's more effortful than on a bike. May try again with a 20kg, just to calibrate. Interesting enough to want to give it a go again.
Feeling very pleased to have done this work up.
Clean up; re-dress and regroup. Lunch becomes a happy happy thing. A definite re-fuel. Ideally if i'd been thinking straight i would have grabbed a lighter bell just to do some more cool down swings to get a bit more fat flamed off before it re-esterfies from sitting down again.
So what's the take away here:
If you'd like more info on feeding up and why post workout, and what that has to do with muscles, here' a bit more in a review i did of precision nutrition's individualization/carb tolerance.
Now for the post happy lunch cup of tea... Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Yes work up: i am working up to a happy feeding time, knowing i'm not just eating cuz i'm a bit peckish; i'm refurbishing my muscles glycogen stores when they'll be happiest to receive them.
To achieve this today, i decide to do a 15:15 vo2max workout as per Viking Warrior Conditioning (reviewed here).
But then, mid workout, what happens? i start to feel a callus go - for those of you who do this kind of thing you know what i mean. I don't want a tear - i'm about to go away on a break and while i suppose that would be the ideal time to have a tear (if one must) i think i'd rather not. Band aids etc, no fun. Phooey.
So i do the a-typical smart thing and stop my vo2max work with a 12kg and transition gracefully into an on-the-fly adapted 8on 12 off session of swings for the next 11 minutes with a 24kg. Perfect form, perfect form. Every rep a perfect rep. My word, 12 secs post kettlebell seems much shorter post a kettlebell set than it does on the bike.
This protocol is based on one developed by Trapp and co for eliciting optimal fat burn in women of both athletic and not so athletic backgrounds. 20mins of 8/12 intervals seemed to be a sweet spot for fat burning.
Metabolic response of trained and untrained women during high-intensity intermittent cycle exercise.
School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia. e.trapp@unsw.edu.au
The metabolic response to two different forms of high-intensity intermittent cycle exercise was investigated in young women. Subjects (8 trained and 8 untrained) performed two bouts of high-intensity intermittent exercise: short sprint (SS) (8-s sprint, 12-s recovery) and long sprint (LS) (24-s sprint, 36-s recovery) for 20 min on two separate occasions. Both workload and oxygen uptake were greater in the trained subjects but were not significantly different for SS and LS. Plasma glycerol concentrations significantly increased during exercise. Lactate concentrations rose over the 20 min and were higher for the trained women. Catecholamine concentration was also higher postexercise compared with preexercise for both groups. Both SS and LS produced similar metabolic response although both lactate and catecholamines were higher after the 24-s sprint. In conclusion, these results show that high-intensity intermittent exercise resulted in significant elevations in catecholamines that appear to be related to increased venous glycerol concentrations. The trained compared with the untrained women tended to show an earlier increase in plasma glycerol concentrations during high-intensity exercise.
As for the application of the above with a heavy kb, i can say after the 11th minute, it seems i may have found a way to test for a new max heart rate. Cuz that was higher than on a bike and not maximal. I was still standing. Hmm. On the fat loss, well i don't know. It's more effortful than on a bike. May try again with a 20kg, just to calibrate. Interesting enough to want to give it a go again.
Feeling very pleased to have done this work up.
Clean up; re-dress and regroup. Lunch becomes a happy happy thing. A definite re-fuel. Ideally if i'd been thinking straight i would have grabbed a lighter bell just to do some more cool down swings to get a bit more fat flamed off before it re-esterfies from sitting down again.
So what's the take away here:
- glad i've FINALLY gotten to a place where i can change an envisioned workout in order to keep working out, rather than obsessively have to stick with ONE routine because, who's keeping track again? oh? just me? right-o.
- doing short intervals with a heavy kb is an intriguing workout from both a cardiac and potential fuel burning perspective.
- remember to stash chalk at work, too: a few more minutes and that 24 would have been sailing out of the office towards the new building. Even though that's rather a pleasant thought - sort of like shooting a canon at an enemy battlement, the consequences would not be pretty.
- the snatch grip to avoid calluses in fast repeats is a skill to be learned - still
If you'd like more info on feeding up and why post workout, and what that has to do with muscles, here' a bit more in a review i did of precision nutrition's individualization/carb tolerance.
Now for the post happy lunch cup of tea... Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Monday, August 17, 2009
b2d readers request: blog features update - your experience/thoughts?
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Dear b2d readers,
Hello and thanks as always for reading.
I've recently added a few new features to Begin to Dig and would like to
Have you tried this yet? would you? or you don't tend to poke around a blog to look for previous posts?
Related Reading List. Inspired by Chris over at conditioningresearch.blogspot.com, i've added a reading list that features some of the articles i've found that are cool and relate to b2d.
Do you check out any of the articles in the list? Do you come to the site ever to see what's on it?
Twitter Feed. I suppose this is the one i'm most dubious about. but i'm pretty new to the experience so keen to take advice.
(Not so new) Promoted free stuff and cool stuff. This isn't a new thing, but i'd like to hear your experiences here.
Not sure if folks who drop by check out the stuff that i review and put in the review area or put in the "freebies" area . I try not to put anything up that doesn't have a review associated with it, and nothing goes up that's not stuff i use, too. But not sure if really readers have the time to whiz through any of these - if you find them helpful.
(Not so new) Articles Listing. Related to the above, i keep articles on the right from stuff in b2d that may be useful for reference. Is this useful? Do you ever go to the article listing to re-find something you've seen? or to find something new, of interest?
Thanks for your time.
That's about it, i think. Keen to hear your thoughts, and very much appreciate you taking time from your day to let me know. Again, really value your spending some of your time at b2d. Thanks for digging, grokking, subscribing or just dropping by.
one announcement: for folks in the UK area, i'm doing a first UK public workshop blending z-health practice and theory with kettlebells. It's Sunday Oct 18, 9:30-4. There's a pretty good description of the workshop at the host's, LKB. Perhaps meet some of you there?
Thanks again,
mc Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Dear b2d readers,Hello and thanks as always for reading.
I've recently added a few new features to Begin to Dig and would like to
- let you know about them
- get your thoughts about them (if you care to share).
Have you tried this yet? would you? or you don't tend to poke around a blog to look for previous posts?
Related Reading List. Inspired by Chris over at conditioningresearch.blogspot.com, i've added a reading list that features some of the articles i've found that are cool and relate to b2d.
Do you check out any of the articles in the list? Do you come to the site ever to see what's on it?
Twitter Feed. I suppose this is the one i'm most dubious about. but i'm pretty new to the experience so keen to take advice.
(Not so new) Promoted free stuff and cool stuff. This isn't a new thing, but i'd like to hear your experiences here.
Not sure if folks who drop by check out the stuff that i review and put in the review area or put in the "freebies" area . I try not to put anything up that doesn't have a review associated with it, and nothing goes up that's not stuff i use, too. But not sure if really readers have the time to whiz through any of these - if you find them helpful.
(Not so new) Articles Listing. Related to the above, i keep articles on the right from stuff in b2d that may be useful for reference. Is this useful? Do you ever go to the article listing to re-find something you've seen? or to find something new, of interest?
Thanks for your time.
That's about it, i think. Keen to hear your thoughts, and very much appreciate you taking time from your day to let me know. Again, really value your spending some of your time at b2d. Thanks for digging, grokking, subscribing or just dropping by.
one announcement: for folks in the UK area, i'm doing a first UK public workshop blending
z-health practice and theory with kettlebells. It's Sunday Oct 18, 9:30-4. There's a pretty good description of the workshop at the host's, LKB. Perhaps meet some of you there?Thanks again,
mc Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Lance Armstrong Training: almost with a kettlebell
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Well, the image in men's fitness made famous of Lance Armstrong swinging a kettlebell may not have been repeated elsewhere, but one could believe he does swing, based on the following workout sample on youtube.
It starts with dynamic movement of weight - sorta like a swing.
Solid: weighted step ups, stable rows (i like rows:details here), and my faves in this example, weighted adductor lunges, starting everything off with these nice effortful hang cleans.
There's a kb hiding in a corner somewhere.
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Follow @begin2dig
Well, the image in men's fitness made famous of Lance Armstrong swinging a kettlebell may not have been repeated elsewhere, but one could believe he does swing, based on the following workout sample on youtube.It starts with dynamic movement of weight - sorta like a swing.
Solid: weighted step ups, stable rows (i like rows:details here), and my faves in this example, weighted adductor lunges, starting everything off with these nice effortful hang cleans.
There's a kb hiding in a corner somewhere.
Tweet
Follow @begin2dig
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