The body is fascinating. I am typing this and eating almonds, and despite being extremely sedentary, my body is still working. Clearly not difficult work but there are still jobs to be done, like keeping myself in good posture, engaging my fingers to type, and digesting my food. Although the intricacies may not excite everyone, I believe there is benefit for those who invest a certain amount of time and energy into transforming the body to understand an overview of its efforts.

 

I will continue to dive in a bit deeper to specific muscles and their role, provide a few tips for relieving pain without a massage, and similar topics that pop into my head or that you request. The thought of summarizing something so complex seems daunting, but my hope is that if you know nothing about the body you learn something and if you know it all you are reminded that the body is neat. Let’s get to it.

 

The muscular system consists of skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle cells. Cardiac and smooth muscles are part of the autonomic nervous system and work involuntarily. Cardiac muscle cells are found in the heart and smooth muscle cells line the walls in hollow organs such as the stomach and passageways such as arteries. In the skin these cells cause your hair to stand up when you are cold or scared, aka goosebumps. Skeletal muscle cells are under voluntary control of the somatic nervous system and are composed of bundles of cells called muscle fibers. Muscle fibers are composed of many myofibrils which contain sarcomeres. These are the block-like units that appear adjacently down the entire myofibril and each have alternating thick filaments (myosin) and thin filaments (actin). The myosin latches onto the actin pulling it so the proteins slide past each other. This causes the sarcomere to shorten thus creating a muscle contraction, known as the sliding filament mechanism.

 

I’m going to stop there with the actual contraction of muscles. I hope that gave you a glimpse of the internal happenings of muscle cells, but now I want to introduce something a little less #science-like and a bit more practical if you want to get the most out of training.

 

If you have worked with any of our coaches or trainers, I am sure you have heard the terms isometric, eccentric, and concentric contractions. I would like to bet they even taught you the meaning and benefit of each. But, if you haven’t used them yet or don’t quite get it, let’s take a peek now.

 

Isometric: the muscle fibers do not change length during contraction. Examples are exercises with a pause or a plank. Training isometrics are beneficial because they require you to maintain the proper position even when you are “on the breaks”.

 

Eccentric: the muscle fibers lengthen during this phase. An easier way to think of it is the part of the movement when your body wants to accelerate. Lowering the arm from a biceps curl, the downward motion of the squat, or the upward phase on the leg curl machine are a few examples. Training this phase of the movement can be done with negatives, or slow eccentrics, by using a count to slow the movement down. This is helpful for maintaining tension even when you are “stepping on the breaks” and for beginners learning the movement. Oftentimes, the eccentric phase will be prescribed for rehab exercises, although they do not always need to be slow reps.

 

Concentric: the muscle fibers shorten, creating the force to move an object. If training speed work, it is performed during this portion of the movement as we “step on the gas”. Examples are the upward portion of the biceps curl, standing up from a squat, and pulling yourself up during a pull-up.

Have you ever wondered why muscles received their name? Most are very easy to figure out and can be helpful during training. Muscles are named for a variety of reasons but here a few of the most interesting:

 

Arrangement of the muscle fibers: the fibers run lengthwise through the muscle and can be named dependent on their direction. Example: the deltoid is rounded and triangular on the shoulder. The transversus abdominis is the deepest abdominal muscle that runs horizontally across the abdomen. Knowing the direction of the fibers can help guide you in the action of that muscle and exercises to target it best.

 

Number of origins: The origin of a muscle is the attachment site that does not move and some have more than one. You might be able to guess. The (bi)ceps with the long and short head; the (tri)ceps with the long, medial, and lateral heads; and the (quad)riceps with four parts named the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. This can be helpful because although we typically group the three heads of the triceps into one word, each section can be targeted better through different movements. If you want bigger or more useful muscles, it helps to make them well rounded.

 

Location of origins and insertions: insertions are the movable attachments. An example of this is the sternocleidomastoid, a neck muscle that originates on the sternum and inserts on the mastoid (a part of the temporal bone near the ear). With any muscle, the insertion is pulled toward the origin when a muscle contracts, which can help guide you to the movement of the muscle.

 

Size of the muscle: examples are the gluteus maximus (the largest muscle in the body) or the extensor digiti minimi (the muscle that extends the pinky finger).

 

They can also be named for their action, but instead of listing a few examples I want to talk about those actions.

 

Flexion: a movement that decreases the joint angle (think biceps curl as you bring your wrist closer to your shoulder or hip flexion as you bring your knee closer to your chest).

 

Extension: a movement that increases the joint angle (think triceps extension as you straighten your arm or hip extension as you bring your hips through in a bridge).

 

Abduction: a movement that brings a limb away from the body (clamshells, side steps, or lateral raises). Adduction: a movement that brings the limb close to the body (return from abduction or cable crossover).

 

Elevation: a movement in the upward direction (shrugging).

 

Depression: return from upward movement.

 

Rotation: think rotator cuff exercises such as internal rotation and external rotation.

 

Performing any of the above actions will consist of the primary mover, the opposing muscle, and the helpers – and they all have special names. I will use the classic bicep curl as an example. The bicep, which is the muscle on the front of the arm performs elbow flexion, so it is the agonist; however, the triceps which is the muscle on the back of the arm performs elbow extension, so it is the antagonist in this situation. The brachioradialis and brachialis, two forearm muscles help the biceps move through elbow flexion so they are called synergists. I will redefine as needed again, but I will most certainly use these terms in the next few blogs.

 

Well, that covered a lot and very little all at the same time. The body is complex and it can seem overwhelming, but knowing even a little can make it seem less arduous. I encourage you to learn more about the body and here is my recommendation: each day you train, take a few minutes to search the exercises you plan to do and answer a few questions. What muscles are used during the movement? What are the actions? What is the antagonist and synergist of the agonist? If you are extra curious, read more, ask any of us your questions, and continue to learn. The more you know, the more effective your time in the gym will become, which is always valuable. 🙂

If you’ve spent a bit of time around a barbell, there’s a good chance you’ve either heard of or have incorporated tempo training into your program. If this is your first time hearing about it, then welcome. Tempo training can be extremely beneficial when it comes to building strength, muscle mass, and preventing/ overcoming injury. First, let’s dive into exactly what we mean when we refer to the term tempo. When used while performing a particular movement such as a squat, benchpress, deadlift, etc., the tempo refers to the amount of time that our body is performing an eccentric, isometric, and concentric contraction. In other words, this is the amount of time that it takes us to lower the bar and then return it to the starting position.

 

If you are following a training program that utilizes tempos, you will most likely see it written next to the movement that you are performing in the form of three numbers. For example: Barbell tempo front squats (3:2:1). In this example, the first digit refers to the number of seconds required for the eccentric (lowering) phase. The second refers to the isometric (pause) phase. And the third refers to the concentric (upward) phase. So, with a 3:2:1 tempo, the individual would lower the weight for a 3 count, pause for a 2 count, and drive the bar upward in a 1 count. This is just one of the many combinations you can use when incorporating tempos.

 

So what makes this method so beneficial? Although there are many benefits, the simplest answer would be that it increases the time under tension during the movement. Through this, you have the ability to improve in areas such as muscle hypertrophy, body awareness, motor control, and stability. On top of that, it’s a great way to challenge yourself and add variety to your training. Personally, I have seen all of these benefits from incorporating tempo work into my programming. As a high level powerlifter, it has allowed me to address my weaknesses within my lifts, gain a better understanding of my form and technique, and has helped me to prevent and overcome injuries in the past.

 

Now let’s go ahead and discuss how we can incorporate them. First and foremost, understand that tempos can be performed with any lift, not just the squat, bench press, or deadlift. They can be performed with free weights, machines, and even bodyweight exercises. There are 3 main ways to implement them into your training. Slow eccentrics, pause reps, and speed work.

 

Slow eccentrics: The eccentric portion of a lift typically places the most amount of stress on your muscles. So by using a slow tempo, you have the ability to improve hypertrophy and strength. It also allows you to focus on controlling the weight as it is being lowered, which will help to improve your technique. To achieve this, incorporate eccentrics of anywhere from 3-5 seconds, and start with using around 60% of your 1 rep max.

 

Paused reps: Pausing a rep at the bottom of the movement will teach you how to stay tight and control the load at what is considered the toughest point of the lift. With pauses, a tempo of 2-3 seconds is usually ideal, and like with slow eccentrics, starting with 60-70% of your 1 rep max is best.

 

Speed work: Working on explosive speed can allow your body to produce greater force over time, which will increase overall strength, speed, and muscle mass. When performing speed work, the load should move throughout the concentric portion of the movement as quickly as possible while also staying under control. Because of this, the tempo would look something like (2:0:0). As with eccentrics and pauses, start with 50-60% of your max.

 

The best way to learn what works best for you is to try it out for yourself and see. Regardless of what you go with, you will see nothing but benefits from incorporating tempo training into your routine.  

With all these Instagram Influences out there I wanted to dig back and showcase one of the real O.G. influences of the fitness & wellness culture. This evangelist of wellness went from a self considered sugar-holic to the World Renowned Godfather of Fitness. At 21 he opened one of the first health clubs, at 39 he started what would be the longest (34 years) running television exercise program, at 54 he beat Arnold Schwarzenegger (21) in an unofficial contest, at 70 he was handcuffed and towed 70 rowboats from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary (1 mile). If you’ve ever used a leg extension machine, Smith Machine, the weight selector on cable machines, then you have used one of his inventions. This shadowy icon of wellness is no other than Jumpin Jack Lalanne.

 

Long before Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons, Tony Little and Shaun T, Jack published numerous books and hosted countless TV shows about the benefits of regular exercise and a good diet. Jack was an advocate for everything in moderation when it came to a good diet. He personal was believer in a plant based diet with the addition of fish, vitamins (which he had his own line of) and juicing (The Tiger Juicer if anyone remembers those infomercials). He blamed added sugars and process foods for many of America’s health problems. When exercising, Jack believed in vigorous exercise with weights or body weight movements until muscular fatigue set in. Most Doctors back then believed this would leave him muscle bound and un-athletic and could give men who follow his program heart attacks due to exercise. Well we know now that exercise and movement is one of the best ways to battle against heart disease and Jack regularly did acrobatic feats to prove his athleticism and defeat his critics.

 

“Dying is easy. Living is a pain in the butt. It’s like an athletic event. You’ve got to train for it. You’ve got to eat right. You’ve got to exercise. Your health account, your bank account, they’re the same thing. The more you put in, the more you can take out. Exercise is king and nutrition is queen: together, you have a kingdom.” Jack LaLanne

 

At his home on January 23, 2011 the 96 year old Lalanne passed away due to respiratory failure from pneumonia, he had been exercising up til that day.

 

Do yourself a favor, take some time and check this real influencer out and learn a thing or two from his teachings. Now since you have been siting down too long reading this blog, get up and give me 20 squats!

 

Get up & Move,

CeJ

For the past few years, I have had this recurring dream, where it is the end of a vacation and I am scrambling to get to the beach because I realized that I stayed in my hotel room for the entire trip. I am bargaining for more time as I unpack and repack my suitcase because I didn’t get a tan, I didn’t have any fruity drinks, I accomplished nothing, and I wasted my precious vacation time. Dream me laments about how irresponsible I was with my use of time and at the end of each dream, I am promising myself I won’t stay cooped up like that again. 

 

COVID-19 has given us an unexpected vacation in a sense. A vacation from our day in and day out, normal routine. For most people, their routine has been shaken up, but it is not a vacation. It is an absolute nightmare, with work harder than they could ever imagine, with anxieties running high constantly, and uncertainty about what will come next. For others, it has been a time to slow down in a lifestyle that demands us to keep moving faster. 

 

It is difficult to reconcile the spectrum of situations individuals are experiencing and that they are also taking place simultaneously. I have wrestled with those feelings over the past few months, knowing both people in the healthcare field on the front lines, but also feeling grateful to spend time with my partner and with my dog, who I know doesn’t have much time left. 

 

As we move from red to yellow, and eventually from yellow to green, my dream anxieties are mixing with my waking anxieties. My brain is saying things like, “You have had all these weeks at home and nothing to show for it.” And, “Why didn’t you paint the kitchen? Why did you lay on the couch in a blanket for all that time? You could have organized the basement, and read your stack of books, and finished making your quilt.” 

 

These are things I am working through with my therapists (yes, that is plural), my friends, and my partner. They tell me – and they are right – that this is not a vacation, this is a FFF (flight, fright, freeze) situation. We are in constant survival mode, with warning alarms blaring. Does painting my kitchen help me survive? No. Does spending time on the couch with my old dog help me survive? Probably yes, in an emotional sort of way. 

 

How do we keep some semblance of normalcy while we are told simply going to the grocery store (to get life sustaining food) isn’t safe? A few weeks ago I went to Rite Aid, and by the time I got in line, I worked myself up to the point where I had to leave my things on a random shelf and walk out without buying anything. 

 

So with the Rite Aid situation in mind, I want to list some things that I did successfully to prove to myself that I was productive – and maybe it’ll help someone else who is struggling with this.

 

Things I did during COVID-19

• Read 6 books, and counting (I am 7 books ahead on my 2020 reading challenge!)
• Made masks for friends and family
• Continued therapy with my couple’s therapist and personal therapist
• Worked on difficult things from therapy
• Dabbled in painting (watercolor is really hard)
• Cleaned our house, made it a big mess, and cleaned it, and made it a mess….
• Dug out and gave away a stupid amount of rocks from our garden
• Spent quality time with my partner and my pets
• Played hours of Homescapes
• Binge watched Designated Survivor, Mrs. America, and Little Fires Everywhere
• Worked with my psychiatrist to try a different medication 
• Learned how to use Procreate (sort of) on my iPad 
• Repotted plants
• Retrained myself to sleep in
• Attended two virtual Creative Mornings
• Attended a virtual talk with Margaret Atwood

 

As I am reflecting on this, I definitely still feel like I didn’t accomplish anything important during this time and that I *should* have been more *productive* by normal societal standards. (Lol, what is normal?)

 

However, would I have read 6 books in 8 weeks with my pre-COVID schedule? Definitely not. 

 

Would I have attempted to learn how to paint? Nope. 

 

Would I have had time to watch 60+ episodes of TV? Not without losing a lot of sleep. 

 

Going forward, I will still be reading, I might still paint something, and I will definitely still be watching TV. I am hopeful I can do these things without feeling guilty for wasting “vacation time” and call tell my a**hole brain to suck it. 

 

Note: I have an immense amount of privilege in that I’m healthy, housed, & financially stable at the moment. My feelings on the state of things from that lens will have to wait for another day.

 

For the cats, 

Catlyn

 

Are you Working out or Training? We’ve all heard both of those terms used hundreds of times, but what do they really mean, and is there a difference? These two terms can be both subjective and objective in their own ways. Neither one of them is better than the other, and they both hold a purpose in your daily routine. It really comes down to the individual and their overall goals. To dig a little deeper, let’s define the two.

 

Training is the term typically used when there is a competitive goal that is planned for a specific day or event. Typically, a program is designed and organized around that day with the purpose to yield the best results possible. With this, you would design your program by starting from the day of the event and working backwards. Each training session would include purposefully selected movements with the intent of achieving a specific goal for that given day. On the flip side, working out is typically used when there is no competition or event planned, and you simply want to stay active, feel good, and work towards accomplishing some personal goals. You may still have a timeline for specific things, but you are mainly enjoying the process, and going with the flow. Workouts typically aren’t planned backwards for month in advance. They can be planned a week at a time, a day at a time, or even on the fly. That’s the beauty and joy of workouts. You can be as creative and individualized as you want. 

 

So now the question is, when is it necessary to train, and when should you be working out? Well, that’s something only you can answer, and it depends solely on your priorities and goals. I do however recommend that at one point or another every individual train to participate in some sort of event or competition. This can be as laid back or as serious as you want. A 5k all the way up to a marathon (or beyond). A local push/pull charity meet or a full powerlifting meet half way across the country. Either way, participating in a competition will provide you with a great opportunity to set goals, challenge yourself, and overcome obstacles in a way that can only only be achieved when you put yourself outside of your comfort zone. By signing up and circling the date on a calendar, you understand that you have a specific amount of time to focus all of your attention to achieving your goals. There’s no better feeling than when you cross the finish line the day of the event, and realize that you achieved exactly what you set out to do.

 

However, it is unrealistic to train this way year round. Every individual needs down time in order to rest, recover, and reset the body and mind. This is where working out can be very beneficial. Take this pandemic for example. With the closure of gyms and businesses, now is a perfect time to have fun and challenge yourself in new ways. Your workouts can be completely different from anything that you’ve ever done. They should be fun, low stress, and an opportunity to set some new personal goals. No one knows how long this will go on, and there are no scheduled competitions in sight. If you were one of those people who had a competition scheduled, understand that it may be quite some time before you’re able to compete again. There’s no sense in continuing to train hard for something that is still uncertain. Step back, take a break, and focus on things that you have potentially been missing out on. Wake up and plan your workout on the fly. Get creative, try something you’ve never done, and go with the flow. 

There are plenty of people who you could find to work out with, but true training partners are worth their weight in gold. It’s important to understand that choosing to train with someone else is not required in order to make progress, but it is absolutely necessary to have a great training partner in your corner if you want to be your best. Below is a list of 5 of the most beneficial qualities of a great partner in crime.

 

1)Help with your form, and see things you can’t:

 

Contrary to popular belief, a training partner’s main job is not to yell and scream motivational sayings while you’re in the middle of your set. In fact, a training partner’s most important job is to make sure that you are always on point and dialed in. Even the most experienced lifters benefit from having someone to keep an eye on their form and technique. During a set, it can be easy to lose focus of what your body is doing throughout each repetition. This is where your training partner can give you helpful cues (verbal or physical) in order to keep you as safe and efficient with your movements as possible.

 

2)Push you harder than you would push yourself:

 

A good training partner will always find a way to bring out the best in you. There will be many, many days that you just don’t feel like pushing yourself as hard as you could or should, but your partner will make sure that you give everything that you can in that moment. There are indeed times that it is beneficial to train on your own, but there is no doubt that you will achieve more with the help of a great training partner than you could on your own.

 

3)Keep you in check: 

 

I am very fortunate to have a handful of great training partners. One of the things that I’m most thankful for is their willingness to tell me when I’m wrong, and when I need to be better. One of the worst things that someone can do is to see things that you could do better, but chose not to bring it to your attention. This is where trust and respect really come into play. When your goal is to be the best that you can, you cannot be scared to tell someone things that they may not want to hear. If you know that it will benefit them and their overall goal, then it should be said. This will lead to a tighter bond and stronger relationship in the long run. 

 

4)Motivate you through their performance:

 

One of the best things that I’ve done for myself was to find people who were better than I. This is no different than with our professional life. If we want to be better at our job, we study under someone who has more experience, and who has accomplished the things that we want to accomplish. When you are training with people who are better than yourself, you should constantly be doing everything in your power to keep up, get to where they are at, and even surpass them. This will not only keep you motivated, but it will help you learn much more than you would on your own.

 

5)Build a relationship:

 

One of the greatest things that I have gained from training with others are the relationships that I have built along the way. To this day, some of my best friends started out as simple training partners. When you spend hours throughout the week, shoulder to shoulder with someone who is pushing you to be your best with the same goals as yourself, there is a bond that is built that is unmatched. In a way, you are trusting them with your life, and they are doing the same with you. It is your responsibility to trust and look out for each other, while having fun and building a great friendship along the way.