I recently joked in a post on social media that many people, once they get north of 45 years of age, start to wish they worked more on their mobility when they were younger. Visions of six pack abdominals and developed glutes drop in rank to aspirations of squatting deep and the ability to get off the floor without using your hands. When I perform consultations at the studio, “improve mobility” is rarely the top goal, but is included as something they wish to work on. I don’t use that initial meeting as an opportunity to lecture people on the value of movement, but rather as a time to listen to what they want. It’s after a few workouts at the studio that I can start to show how focusing not purely on one’s movement, but the quality of that movement, is the foundation of everything.

     Wikipedia defines pathology as the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. Poor movement can lead to pathology. To prove a simple example for context, if you continually move and live with your head in a forward position, shoulders pulled forward and the upper back area rounded, your body will adopt that position as it’s default position. In short, poor posture will become your new normal. This has been a daily struggle for me, as I remind my teenage son to fix his posture. 

The nervous, skeletal, and muscular systems will change their alignment and function over time based upon repeated faulty movement patterns. A person with a forward head position will have problems lifting their arm overhead over time. In 2013, the physical therapy world adopted movement as a system. 

     Reading this and looking at the above diagram may have prompted you to sit upright. It’s not uncommon for me to get buy-in from people when I explain how movement can change your body. The part that frustrates people is when I explain that the error happened over time, and it’s going to take time to fix the issue. It can be problematic when I attempt to explain to someone who has developed chronic back problems, that it’s going to require more than 3 sets of planks to fix their back. Minus the time we sleep (assumed eight hours a night), we have 112 hours a week. It requires more than those 3 hours you spend at the gym to ingrain a true correction in movement. You need to be aware of your posture and alignment when you’re sitting, standing, and walking. The good news is that fixing movement doesn’t have to feel like a HIIT (high, intensity, interval, training) workout or require equipment. Fixing movement demands you to be attentive to how you move throughout the day. I’ve made this mistake myself. I’ve performed farmer carries (walking while holding weights in both hands at my sides) in a workout with perfect posture, to finish and leave the studio walking in the parking lot with bad posture. To use a cliché, to click save on the word document, I need to be aware of my walking pattern all the time, not only during my workout. In the business of Big box gyms, it became an accepted protocol to have a lot of treadmills in your facility. Everyone knows how to walk, and walking is not intimidating to someone new to a gym. As stated by world renowned physical therapist, Dr. Shirley Sahrmann, “Many people don’t know how to walk well.” 

     It’s during physical therapy that some people feel they are wasting their time. The person rehabbing a knee surgery doesn’t understand how performing circles with their ankles is going to help them, or the person who just had shoulder surgery can’t comprehend why standing and adjusting the alignment of their ribcage is doing anything. Fixing movement isn’t supposed to burn or hurt. Exercises are not done typically to fatigue. It should be subtle. It needs to be re-enforced over and over, all day, and takes time to repair, but it can be repaired. Movement is a system of systems. It’s more than training a muscle in isolation. It includes lifestyle. Everything is interconnected.  

     In our new world of binge-watching television and staring at our smart phones for hours at a time, remember to move often and focus on the quality of how you move. Your body will be glad you did. If you are interested in getting a Functional Movement Screen (FMS), email me Doug@janddfitness.com to schedule your assessment. 

     After opening the studio in 2015, I wanted to create a fun competition for my members that would put their earned fitness improvements on full display. I’m proud to admit that the workouts we provide at our studio do improve mobility, strength, and help promote fat loss. Some people may improve at a faster rate than others, but overall, if you are consistently (I stress consistently) completing your workouts, you should see improvements. The issue is that it’s hard sometimes to see improvements in the mirror. If you wish to get leaner, it’s like looking at a roll of paper towels and tearing off a layer every day. You may not notice a difference in the circumference of the roll, until after 3 months, you put the roll beside a new roll. How about strength gains? We all tend to forget our starting point. That’s why I created the Torch Challenge in 2015.

     The Torch Challenge was an annual event where members of the studio competed against one another in 4-5 distinct categories. The events changed throughout the years, but to name a few we had in past years:

       »  The maximum number of inverted rows you could complete in 30 seconds using the TRX

           suspension system.

       »  Maximum amount of overhead presses you could compete in 30 seconds with an Ultimate

           sandbag.

       »  Total distance of pushing a weighted sled.

       »  Maximum wattage output on the Assault bike.

The event was rewarding for me and the team, but I decided to discontinue it last year.

     My reason for stopping the Torch Challenge was that it started to diminish one of my tenets at the studio. At the studio, we don’t promote a competitive atmosphere. I don’t want a beginner joining our studio, with the additional stress and anxiety that they need to keep up with the other members. When you join the studio, you are in a competition of one! You win by showing up and getting better. The only person you need to compete with is your old self. When I started to observe the negative effects the Challenge started to have on my members, I decided it was time to shelf the Challenge.

     I recently purchased Dr. Peter Attia’s book, Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity. I strongly recommend this book. In the book, Dr. Attia defines the difference between medicine 2.0 (what we currently have) and medicine 3.0, which he hopes to usher in. Medicine 3.0 is all about taking preventive steps to improve your health. Don’t wait until you see the bad biomarkers to address a

problem, take a proactive stance, and get ahead of it. Exercise plays a huge role in that process, and he has coined this goal of working towards the “Centenarian Decathlon.” Dr. Attia states, “The Centenarian Olympics is a framework I use to organize my patients physical aspirations for the later decades of their lives, especially their Marginal Decade (the last decade of your life).” Some of the events he lists are:

        1.       Hike 1.5 miles on a hilly trail

        2.       Get up off the floor under your own power, using a maximum of one arm for support.

        3.       Lift a twenty-pound suitcase into the overhead compartment of a plane.

     In order to make progress, you have to keep score. To know you’re getting better, whether strength, body composition, or mobility, you need to continually assess. Inspired by Dr. Attia, I recently decided to bring back the Torch Challenge, but this time it will be different. There will not be a prize for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. There will not be an afternoon when we schedule the event. What I plan to do is create a list of events that members will be able to do, to see their improvements. People will be able to schedule a time to complete the events, and the only observer will be their coach tracking their reps and numbers.

     We offer a unique experience at J & D Fitness Personal Training and the Torch Challenge 2.0 will be a fantastic way to highlight that for our members.

     I’ll see you at the studio.