Brain Rules!

I just wanted to inform anyone and everyone about a wonderful new book and website I learned about in a Podcast interview by Dr. Ginger Campbell (she interviews some great individuals about various aspects of neural/brain science):

http://brainsciencpodcast.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/37-medina/

The interview was with Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist with a passion for applying the little information we actually know about how and in what settings our brains function best. His latest book is called Brain Rules/12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School. Here's his website which contains info on how to get the book and also has short videos on each of the 12 brain rules: http://brainrules.net/

This is a fantastic example of practical and applied brain science at it's best! Spread this website to everyone you know!

Been a While!

Wow! I can't believe it's been months since I've last posted a blog. I've been burried with work, family obligations, and two on-line courses I'm taking in preparation for applying to a Physician's Assistant school here in Arizona.

The classes I'm taking are Microbiiology and Statistics; not exactly easy classes to take on-line!

My fitness and track and field training is still continuing, although not always as regularly as I'd like. Also, my son Aidan is in his first season of coach-pitch little league baseball; it's a blast!

I've got some blog ideas I'll hopefully be blogging about soon......

2008 Track & Field Schedules

For those who might be interested, here's the list of meets for Open and Masters track & field athletes in Arizona: Anyone interested in getting involved in track (especially sprints!) should try it out; I'm always looking for new recruits!

2008 Schedule

January 19 Sat Tucson Senior Games (Seniors) 8:00 A.M. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

January 19 Sat. Lumberjack Invitational (Open) 8:00 A.M. Northern AZ University, Flagstaff, AZ

January 26 Sat. Puma Indoor Invitational (Open) TBA Paradise Valley Community College

February 2 Sat Mountain T Invitational (Open) 8:00 A.M. Northern AZ University, Flagstaff, AZ

February 9 Sat Gaucho Indoor Invitational (Open) 12:00 P.M. Glendale Community College

February 16 Sat PV Indoor Invitational (Open) 10:00 A.M. Paradise Valley Community College

February 16&17Sat&Sun Arizona Senior Olympics (Seniors) 8:00 A.M. Copper Canyon High School, Glendale, AZ

February 24 Sun Arizona Indoor Classic (Youth & Adult) 8:00 A.M. Northern AZ University, Flagstaff, AZ

March 8 Sat Grand Canyon State Games (Adult only) 8:00 A.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ
(SISU Challenge)

March 8 Sat Bobcat Relays (Youth & Adult) 8:00 A.M. Horizon High School

March 15 Sat Arizona Relays (Open) TBA Central Arizona Community College

March 17-22 Fri-Sun WMA World Indoor Championship (Master only) Clermont-Ferrand, France

March 21 Fri. Glendale Invitational (Open) 4:00 P.M. Glendale Community College

March 28-30 Fri-Sun Masters Indoor Nationals (Master only) Reggie Lewis Center, Boston, MA

April 5 Sat Puma Outdoor Invitational (Open) TBA Paradise Valley Community College

April 11 Fri Mesa Classic (Open) 1:00P.M. Mesa Community College
April 12 Sat Sun Angel Classic (Open) TBA Arizona State University

April 19 Sat. Arizona Flames Invitational (Adult only) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

April 25 Fri UCSD Triton Invitational (Open) TBA UC San Diego,


May 17&18 Sat&Sun Arizona State Championships (Youth & Adult) 8:00 A.M. TBD

May 24 Sat. Masters Invitational (Adult only) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa AZ (AZTECH Invitational 5000m)

June 7 Sat USATF Weight Throw Pentathlon(Adult) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

June 7 Sat All Comers Meet (track only) (Adult) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

June 21 Sat Grand Canyon State Games (HS & Adult) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

July 9 Wed All Comers Meets (HS & Adult) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

July 16 Wed All Comers Meets (HS & Adult) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

July 19-20Sat&Sun Masters West Region Championship (Adults) TBA

August 7-10Thur-Sun. Masters Outdoor Nationals (Masters only) Spokane, WA

August 28-31Thur-Sun North, Central American & Caribbean World Masters National Training Center, Clermont, FL

September 5 Fri National Masters Weight & Superweight Championship Seattle, WA

September 6 Sat National Masters Ultra-Weight Championship Seattle, WA

Entry guidelines for meets:

1. All Ages USATF track meets (Indoor Classic & AZ State Champs) will have to be entered at www.coacho.com. There is a deadline. Be on time!

2. For entries into Open & Junior Colleges use www.directathletics.com.

3. For entries into Glendale JC meets email cran@msn.com.

4. For Grand Canyon State Games go to www.gcsg.org

It's A Girl!

I just wanted to give a huge CONGRATS to my twin brother Franz and his wife Yoanna!

On Saturday, December 29, 2007, Yoanna delivered their first child together; a beautiful baby girl named Marriana! She was 7.2 lbs. and 19.5 inches long!

I'm sure my brother will be posting more photos of the entire family soon on his blog!

Congrats again!

Happy New Years everyone!

Not Your Average 58 Year-Old! (Volume 1)

I wanted to blog a little about one of my clients, Patrica (Pat). Pat is 58 years old and for about a year now , has been training under my guidance for Masters Track & Field Sprints (100 & 200m). She's been a client of mine for almost 2 years. About 7-8 weeks ago we started her off-season sprint training, though she has been strength training semi-consistently all year. She's stronger than she's ever been and all the strength training is really starting to pay off in the sprints.

Because Pat has a very sizeable back yard, we are able to do all of her off-season sprint training at her house (along with her strength work). The grass field is also on a slight incline making it ideal for the off-season goals of improving acceleration and drive mechanics. Here are some videos of her sprinting lately; a great inspiration for ladies of any age!

On this particular day, we (I often sprint with her) performed 4 x 20 yards and 3 x 40 yards with 1.5-2.5 minute recoveries respectively. Our rest times are a little less than they would be on a track since 1)this is grass, and 2) it's a slight hill. Both of these lead to slightly slower sprint times which reduce the intensity of the runs and thus, lower the recovery requirements.

In this next video series, you'll see Pat performing some contrast sprints with a weighted sled; very effective for improving acceleration mechanics and strength for the start. The first and last sprint on our sled day is always performed without resistance. The distance here is about 25 yards.

The Importance of Words

Words.....have you ever thought about the power of words? Personally, I have been very affected (both positively and negatively) by another person's words; espescially when coming from an authority figure (a coach, teacher, or parent). This post will highlight the importance of thinking carefully of the words we use when dealing with clients, friends, loved ones, etc.

As a Fitness professional and a bodyworker, I am constantly dealing with many different types of people. Some are often in great pain or in a state of dis-stress. After studying the work of Australian-based Physiotherapist, David Butler, I have again been reminded of the power of words when it comes to explantions, especially with my clients in pain. But let's face it, who doesn't have some sort of regular aches and pains? And just because you have some discomfort, does it mean that you're necessarily injured?

Often, clients of mine will come in with laundry lists of medical diagnoses that have completely demoralized them. Phrases like "degenerated," "herniated," "compressed or slipped discs," "arthritis" and "bone on bone" to name a few can conjure up terriffying images for people of their present condition. For many, these descriptions can actually set up a worsening or "awfulizing" of the condition that lead to restrictions in movement due to fear of re-injury. This leads to de-conditioning that makes the person more susceptable to further injury; not good!
I often combat this information (epsecially if it is based on imaging studies: X-Rays, MRI's, and CT Scans, etc...) by mentioning the credible research that shows that many non-symptomatic individuals have the same "horrible" and "grusome" stuff show up on imaging studies; and that "wear and tear" is a normal and inevitable part of aging, yet it doens't have to hurt that much.

While watching a Mel Siff video a while back of a talk he gave at the 2001 or 2002 SWIS conference in Canada, I was taken by a study he mentioned done by an Italian researcher. The study basically concluded that any exercise that was perceived by an individual as dangerous, makes it that much more likely that he or she will get injured or have pain when performing the exercise; sort of a self-fullfillng prophecy of sorts. The same kind of thing happens with food: people don't look at food anymore and think food; they think "trans fats" and "good carbs" and "bad carbs" along with proein, fat, fiber issues. While some of this nutritional education is needed (given the present dietary state of the Western World), some of it has probably led to more and more grief and less pleasure when eating even healthier foods.

This is why we need to be very careful with how we word our statements because they can have either very positive or very negative effects. An example of this is taking the corrective exercise stuff too far...Back in the late 90's, my brother and I were really sucked into the Paul Check stuff, which is actually great stuff minus a few parts. The few parts that really stuck out as negative were the ridiculous all day assessments that the Chekerians performed which basically showed how messed up (and therefore dysfunctional) you were. It was kind of demoralizing and made some people paralyzed (paralysis by analysis), depressed, and utterly afraid to move.

Now from this information you were then given the supposed Holy Grail of exercise to help your problem, but the results were not always so great (those who've done lots of corrective exericse know what I mean). In reality, many people do need some "corrective" actions for helping certain physical (and mental) issues/problems. These actions need to be made in a postive and supportive context however for the effects to be postive.

RKC Here I Come!

After several years of waiting, I am excited to FINALLY be taking the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certification) Course. Afterall, my twin brother Franz is a team leader as is my friend Josh Henkin. This upcoming course will take place in San Jose, CA from February 15th-17th.

One of the things I respect about this course, is that it is the only fitness certification that actually has practical fitness tests to pass. For one, you must demonstrate the ability to teach a total beginner how to use kettlebells safely. Additionally, you must complete a rigorous fitness test called the "Snatch Test." The snatch is an exercise with the kettlebell that involves bringing the kettlebell from between your legs to an overhead position in one fluid movement. It is a derivative of the Olympics lift of the same name.

Depending on your weight and sex. there's a specific amount of snatches you must complete between the two arms. For me, I need to be able to perform 56 between my two arms, switching only once during the test and never placing the bell on the groud.

On Saturday (November 24th, 07) I tried the snatch test after a few weeks of slowly ramping up my kettlebell lifting. The results were not overly impressive as I completed 24 reps on the right and only 20 on the left. I was a little fearful of ripping open my calluses on my hands so that stopped me from going to total fatigue on either arm (as a massage therapist, I can't afford to have ripped open hands). I really pooped out though while doing the second arm. However, I felt like I could of easily performed 30 reps on the first arm (right arm)if I had really pushed it.

All in all, the test was very humbling as I'm not too versed in performing feats of strength endurance since my forte is all out efforts (sprinting and maximal strength training mostly). However, I like the challenge; and the deep burning in my lungs let me knew just how much of a stress this movements places on the entire human organism. The 10 minute nausea after the test was nice too!

I plan on testing again next Friday to see if I can improve upon my first test. After that, I'll test every 3 weeks or so until I go to the certification in Feb. This strength endurance feat for me falls slightly out of specificity for my goals of sprinting some fast times this upcoming 08 track season; therfore, I always do my kettlebell lifting after my general strength work (max lifting with barbells). However, I feel that the snatching will build up a kind of work capacity that I've never really had before; and that I am excited about and will have to see if it helps my sprinting.