A Philosophy of Strength and Health

I was tootling around Facebook last night when one of my friends mentioned the Torvill and Dean ice dancing gold medal performance from 1984 . Of course, I had to watch it again; mesmerizing fluid movement. In the related video list, there was also a clip of one of their compulsory dances, a waltz, which is embedded below. They received three perfect scores for this performance: Ok, so most people don't realize I have a soft spot for artistic skating . My first structured team sport experience was as an artistic roller skater. From 3rd through 5th grade, I competed for the Kingsway Royals, in figures, dance and freestyle. There were kids as young as 6, up through high school age. We all had a USARA membership card. We had royal blue team uniforms for certain events and then we had our individual dresses (sequins anyone?) for solo competitions. It was the only time I would voluntarily wear a dress. My sister and I spent hours and hours at Kingsway Skateland, in team practic...

So I'm really into this thing about practicing what I preach. I cannot stand it when some obviously unfit healthcare provider tells me to that I should eat right, exercise and take a multi-vitamin. This actually happened to me last week at a check up, but that's another post. Thus, I spent some time this morning working on my hip, knee, ankle and shoulder mobility. Not just stretching, but using breathing and mindfulness to facilitate positions and movement. The breathing and mindfulness have become more important to me, as I am in my 3rd week of my intro to yoga class. And it is truly a beginners class, which is great for me. The instructor is very good with modifications and cues (verbal & manual). Now I know some of my strength/power peeps scoff at the whole yoga dealio; but my older, more experienced weightlifting friends get it. My GAIN colleagues get it. I hope my younger weightlifting peeps (and those Crossfit peeps who look to me for instruction and advice)...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor .

The 3rd generation of my website is now live. And I'm taking an intro to yoga class. Learn, grow, evolve, renew, rinse, repeat. Thanks Kelly, Lisa and Jill for your feedback and help.

This is J. He's a firefighter/paramedic from Crossfit St. Charles who is working with me on the lifts. Like many dudes, J has some flexibility issues that impair his ability to get into optimal lifting positions. He's got some ankle and IT band issues that affect his lower extremity position with lift off in the clean, as well as some hamstring and thoracic spine issues. The hamstrings are stiff and make it hard for J to hinge at the hips. His thoracic spine and shoulders are a bit forward from years of wearing heavy gear from his job; this isn't a fixed deformity yet, but it's getting close. When he lifts with a barbell (hands in front, pronated grip), stiff hammies combined with the forward-tending t-spine make it tough for J to get into a start position with good neutral thoracic and lumbar spine. All forward bending movement is initiated with flexion of the torso and t-spine, not with a flexion (hinging) at the hip. He cannot do a Waiter's Bow movement pr...