A Philosophy of Strength and Health

The Land of Smile Thai restaurant will leave you with a smile. The green papaya salad was fantabulous. I must become one with the Swimming (Rama) Angel next time. 9641 Olive Blvd, Olivette, MO. 314-989-9878.

It was good week for me. PB&J tested well; increased his VJ by 2.5" and SLJ by 7.5". When his VJ is normalized for his bodyweight and expressed as Watts, his average (2000+) and peak power output is good (8800+). The Thin Man (16. y.o., 6' 7" and 175 lbs, volleyball player) started training with me. He has a long way to go, but is a great kid and will do well if he is consistent and focused. Our initial work will focus on hip strength and mobility, along with general body awareness and ground-based footwork. And of course, we hope build some infrastructure, i.e. lean body mass, on that frame. It will be even more fun if his 6' 3" twin sister joins us. Had a great ride on Wednesday with a group of very strong women. I have a ways to go to get back into decent riding shape. Out of that group, I have at least two kick-ass women who want to do some off-season work with me. They will learn how to train effectively for their sport and not waste any ti...

A cat body at rest, tends to stay at rest. Especially when acted upon, i.e. snuggled by, her mom's favorite sweatshirt.

Paul Hodges was a terrific speaker. The dude presented 5 different times over 2 days. I'm sure he was exhausted. I didn't get a chance to ask, but I'm almost sure he was a Presentation Zen guy, as his supporting AV material was beautiful, but simple. He is not a pure TrA (transverse abdominis) guy, as I thought he was going to be. As is want to happen, many people have taken his work to the extreme. He appreciates quality of movement and knows that neither the multifidus nor the TrA are solely responsible for chronic back pain and dysfunction. He understands that a variety of movement strategies are optimal for maintaining musculoskeletal health. But he did kinda go after the general idea of "bracing" that is now embraced by the fitness/therapy/performance world. I spoke with him briefly after Saturday's session to try and get better idea of the motor control training protocols that his group used in comparison to a general exercise group, but our con...

I'm off to commune with the Mothership this afternoon and all day tomorrow. Should be interesting to hear Dr. Paul Hodges speak. And it will be nice to see Linda Van Dillen and Shirley Sahrmann again. My world view, particularly my view on back pain, has changed so much since I graduated. I'll try to keep an open mind, but I think it will be a challenge for me.

Ryan "PB&J" Pierson is working his tail off. We've had just just over 6 months of training, averaging 2 workouts a week, with several weeks off in the summer due to wisdom teeth extraction and AAU tournaments (drive me crazy). He has leaned out to 6' 10" and 238 lbs, from 247, as a 16 year old high school junior. He is still learning to train, developing base strength, mobility and body awareness, training vocabulary and gaining confidence back after his LE surgery (avulsion fx)and post-surgical pulmonary embolism in the summer of 2007. His knee no longer swells during basketball games, as it did last winter. His training plan has included a steady diet of squats (bw, back, front), lunges, lunge n reach, step ups, presses, push presses, incline presses, db snatches, body weight rows, and basic bilateral and unilateral landing and jumping mechanics. We are creating strength and learning how to express it. I don't normally like to post specific workout...

But the tree has suffered extensive damage and will have to be removed soon. We are not interested in having the rest of it end up crashing through our roof. Ideally, we will salvage the remains of the very tall ash tree and use it as firewood. Who's up for a wood-splitting party with the Weiss family and their arsenal of saws and mauls? Or we could play Roy Hobbs and make a few Wonderboy baseball bats. It was fascinating to watch the arborist work. Lots of planning and problem solving; immediate gratification from creating order our of chaos. Work outside in a physically invigorating and challenging environment. I'll admit, I had some serious thoughts about changing professions.

Had a great time roaming around the CWE , watching the racers go by. It was good to see my cycling peeps. Ring the bell, ring the bell, ring the bell!

Can you find Georgie in this picture from last year's Tour of Missouri?

Maybe Lance and Brett have been texting each other? These dudes just can't get enough of themselves. Mark Cavendish is on his way to STL . He is in the leader's jersey in the 2 nd Tour of Missouri . Nice. I hope to watch him zoom up Art Hill on Sunday. Mondays with Orie . Orie Shafer is tackling the Performance Menu workouts. It is a rare treat to work with someone who asks good questions, works hard and discusses Stephen J. Gould in between sets. Clock genes in Drosophila , Orie ? Those things actually sleep? I still have nightmares of their little red eyes from biology lab. Do they do any squats? :-)

Strength is an essential part of health and performance. Do you train for relative or absolute strength? Is optimal strength the same as maximal strength? Is the best measure or evaluation of strength always a barbell movement?

Fun with Dartfish an the ability to track objects. And no, you can't make it a smiley face.

Just in case you are wondering, he drives a pink '56 Cadillac.

It is great to see people doing more overhead movements lately, whether it be with barbell, kettlebell or gymnastic movements. Many people in the US, particularly male athletes, lack full shoulder ROM. Our obsession with strength and mass, in the form of bench pressing and bicep curling, sets our basic shoulder health back. And for whatever reason, many health professionals forget that the shoulder complex is perfectly capable of 180 degrees of flexion and abduction. Overhead movements are not inherently dangerous or bad for you; they will be painful if you have let gravity and limited activity contribute to postural issues and muscle imbalances. This only happens if you don't exercise the upper extremities through a full ROM and maintain strength and mobility throughout the shoulder girdle complex. Cartwheels anyone? But overhead movements are not just about being strong. It is not just about having big ol ' upper traps and shrugging with objects over your head. Stren...