Gravity Fx Fitness

Craig’s not quite the six million dollar man but he does have some added hardware from two lumbar disc fusions.  More than two years ago he had back surgery to remove not one lumbar disc, but two!

In the two years prior to his surgery, Craig hadn’t done much in the way of exercise because of the back pain.  So when he decided to come in and train it had been at least four years since he had done any sweating.

Because of his past injuries he was eager to try and regain basic muscular function but also had some fears of reinjuring himself, which is understandable.  I was confident we could help him but wanted to take things slow, building a good foundation.

After this kind of surgery it is important to work on core stability to help support his spine.  This would be vital for everyone but especially for someone as tall as Craig.  Most of my clients have to look up at me but I have to look up at him.  Meaning, he has a long torso and more need for spine stability than the average person.

Initially, we split his workouts between the studio and the warm water pool, which is heated to 94 degrees.  The warm water helps loosen up stiff muscles and joints that haven’t seen much movement in a long time.  The water also provides some stability to the joints, taking away the full weight of your body.

There were a few exercises in the studio that he felt some pressure in his back, so we avoided those positions or modified them.  Through use of the vibration platform and doing bodyweight squats on the TRX suspension trainer, Craig was able to greatly increase his range of motion in both his hips and knees.

This is especially important for those with past low back injuries.  If the hips aren’t flexible than you will try to make up for that loss with increased lumbar movement, which isn’t good.

With a back fusion like that, you lose the ability of those joints to move, so his other joints would have to provide more movement, causing them to likely wear out faster.

Obviously, that isn’t a good situation.  Craig has a very busy work schedule and has struggled to make it in for his workouts sometimes, which might have slowed down his progress those first couple of months, but he was determined to stick with it and has seen the benefits.

Exercise is crucial to releasing stress in a healthy manner, instead of relying solely on food, drink or smoking, as so many tend to do.  He has surpassed his expectations of what he could accomplish exercise-wise, but he still has room for improvement.

Being able to do simple things like mowing the grass, using the snow blower and such are no longer an issue.  I showed two exercises in the video; the sled, which he does very well with and enjoys and the ropes, which he really doesn’t care for but does it anyway.

Both of these exercises make you work hard and get your heart rate up, which means they’re good for you.  We didn’t have him do the sled pushing until recently and it might have been too dificult when he first started out.

Craig is proof that a progressive exercise program can provide benefits if you have the discipline, desire and patience to do the work.

Tweet This Post

Regardless of your opinion on these, they are going to keep physical therapists busier over the coming years.

There is definitely a positive effect of these various programs – getting people to exercise more intensely.  There is also a negative aspect to this growing phenomena – getting people to exercise more intensely.

Many research studies in the last decade have shown proof that intense exercise, particularly various forms of interval training, cardio strength training, getting more work done in a shorter amount of time, can keep the metabolism elevated for several hours after the workout and burn lots of calories.

Therein lies the rub, with the increased popularity of these programs comes the increased risk of injury, IF simple progressions are not followed.

The key to doing successful resistance training is to LOGICALLY follow a progressive method of increasing resistance – GRADUALLY increase the amount of weight/resistance, the amount of sets and/or repetitions…..

making sure that the individual is prepared for the training for that session.  I recently heard of a woman who had come in to physical therapy for elbow pain.  She had completed 120 pushups in her exercise class.

I’ve seen this woman and she is in incredible shape for a 50 year old.  She can probably run circles around many college age women….but unless she GRADUALLY built up to doing this number of pushups, no matter what kind of shape she is in, she will likely get injured…..and she did.

One of my clients told me of a friend of hers injured her knee recently in an exercise class doing 180’s – this lady is 61 years old and the only 180 exercise I’m familiar with is a 180 degree jump, which can be seen in a popular infomercial promoting a home fat loss program.

I asked my client if her friend is in really good shape and she said she wasn’t.   Many of my 50 something clients have had a past injury or two or three, making jump training something where the risk is not worth the rewards.

You might make the argument that people over 60 lose not just muscle strength and mass with aging, but also have a reduced amount of muscle power which is related to how quickly a muscle can generate force.  How quickly a muscle generates force can make the difference between falling and not falling.

Obviously, falling is not good.  So while I believe that there is always an exception to the rule, I don’t have any of my clients that age doing jump training.  Kettlebell swings are a much better way to generate muscle power without the joint forces and twisting of 180’s.

Last week I was having lunch at a local grocery store when a woman approached a couple sitting at a table near mine.  When one woman said something about boot camp class I tried to listen in without being obvious.

One of the women said something about her knees bothering her and going to physical therapy or needing surgery or something to that effect.  Upon leaving, she told the other woman that she hopes her back starts feeling better?!?

Am I making my point clear yet!!  All of these events happened within a period of ONE WEEK in Iowa.

So yes, while the best benefits happen when you push your body out of its comfort zone, make sure that you are READY for that level of intensity and you GRADUALLY built up to that point.

By the way, having a 430 pound individual run on a treadmill…to the point where he couldn’t keep up and fell on his knee, luckily not injuring it….is NOT a good idea!

Train hard but make sure to train smart, also.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post

Vibration training along with resistance exercises can provide increased bone mass to help prevent osteoporosis in women. A study published in 2004 in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research showed an increase in bone density at the hip, along with increased muscle strength and postural control in post-menopausal women.

Various studies have shown the ability of vibration training to build or maintain bone mass.  The study mentioned used a Power Plate vibration platform.

This type of training is not widely used in the United States but is more common in Europe.  Various sports teams and strength coaches have used these devices in the warm up and rehab of their athletes.

The platforms create reflex muscle contractions of between 25-50 times per second, depending on the frequency setting.  These multiple contractions can increase circulation, flexibility and enhance balance, while causing a positive hormonal release which can assist your metabolism to burn more fat.

It should go without saying, that you need to do resistance training in order to maintain bone density as you get older.  Use it or lose it applies to this, as well as muscle strength, which usually declines with age but even more so for those with sedentary lifestyles.

I’ve seen a positive change in bone mass while training a woman in her mid to late 60’s – my mother.  At age 63 she had a bone density test done and it said she had osteopenia, which is slight loss of bone mass.  She was given a prescription to help with this but she wasn’t able to tolerate it and stopped taking it after 10 days.

About two years later I started training her on the Power Plate, putting her in various static squat positions and doing bodyweight strength training off the platform, such as step ups and hip lifts (bridges) on a mat.   We did this twice a week for 4 months and she took her bone density test again.

This time her score had increased and I was slightly surprised that this occurred with this amount of training.  She stopped training and two years later her score had dropped again for the bone density test, which is not surprising.

Presently she has resumed training with me, doing the same type of workouts along with some time in the warm water pool to ease stress on her achy knees.  She has dropped 18 pounds in two months, which is pretty good at 68 years old.

She has a friend who recently tripped and broke her hip while carrying some items up a flight of stairs.  This woman is similar in age to my mother and not overweight.

The doctors told her that she could have stepped wrong off a curb and broken her hip, because her bone mass was so slight.  She didn’t just break a bone, she sheared it right off, leading to a hip replacement.

As someone who doesn’t have the best balance, has fallen before and has somewhat limited mobility, I am very happy with the progress my mother has made in the area of weight loss and she definitely needs to keep up with her exercise in order to minimize the risk of breaking her own hip in the future.

Different facilities around the country such as the Stand Strong clinics have adopted vibration training for this very reason – fall prevention.  Vibration platforms cause an increased accelerative force of gravity to go through the body.

For example, at 30 hertz in the low setting, there is 1.8 G occurring during the muscle contractions, which is almost double the force during normal bodyweight exercises.

They also help with balance by providing a slightly unstable surface to challenge your nervous system.  There are handles to hold for those who need additional stability.  Minimizing use of the handles will obviously translate to better balance training.

Single leg positions are also used for increased balance and strength training when appropriate for the individual.   Power Plate information.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post

Want to live long and healthy like Jack LaLanne?

There are no guarantees in life, but your best bet is with regular exercise that includes resistance training! Your muscles are the motors that power all your movements, so you better keep your motors (muscles) tuned up.

I’m currently training a couple that are 81 and 80 years old, respectively, so this gives me a little insight.  Since most of my clients are in their 50’s, they have aging parents that are currently dealing with health issues at this moment.

I’ve known this older couple for about thirteen years and they have been off and on massage clients of mine.  The husband started training with me about 5 months ago and when he first came in I was startled by how physically weak he had become and how poor his balance was.

He and his wife had been long time members of a healthclub, did ballroom dancing and did aerobic exercise in their basement, using a treadmill, elliptical machine and stationary bike.  They’ve both had some health issues the past couple years and had eased off on the strength training.

It’s well known that we tend to lose muscle strength and lean muscle tissue as we age.  It might not be quite as well known that this can be kept to a minimum with proper resistance work.  Muscle strength is important in order to keep your mobility as you get older, as well as keeping your bones strong, reducing the risk of falling and staying independent.

Let’s take Jack LaLanne for example.  While he had definitely not maintained all the strength and muscle mass that he had in his 40’s or 50’s, he did enough work to stay healthy and independent into his mid 90’s, without any long hospital stays or nursing homes.  Maybe there’s a message in that statement – that it takes work to stay healthy, though there are never any guarantees.

Back to my client, after 5 months his leg strength has improved greatly and so has his balance….coincidence?  Unlike most programs for the over 50 crowd, I put my clients in standing positions for the majority of their work, for a very simple reason.

Life’s activities occur mostly while standing so this provides the most carryover to your daily activities.  What are some of the most challenging movements for seniors – getting up from a chair, going up stairs and bending over to pick something up.  Coincidentally, I train all three of these movements with him.

The one exercise that we do lying down is a horizontal leg press.  We have gradually moved him up to 160 pounds with both legs and will probably not go much higher, seeking to maintain this, as the force going through his spine might create some issues.  He works on going up and down the stairs at his house to keep that function working well and we have him do step ups to reinforce that ability.

After listening to a podcast from a top strength coach I got the idea to have him do farmer’s walks, which is just holding some weights in either hand while he walks from one end to another.  This is a simple way to work on grip strength and build functional core strength.  We just started with this and he uses 12 or 15 pound dumbbells in each hand and we encourage him to look straight ahead to reinforce proper posture.

Since most people of this age have some posture issues, we work on rowing movements for the back of the body, with the hope of pulling them back to a more neutral position.  Not sure if this can be totally corrected with everyone of this age but I believe it can definitely be prevented in most people with proper training.

Bottom line, he is working hard to delay the effects of aging and he is definitely walking with much better balance and he is a little more independent, as well.  It takes work to stay youthful.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post

You better believe it and I’m going to give you 3 separate examples!

Some hard core types will say that you aren’t working hard enough if your workouts are “fun” and while I understand what they are saying, I respectfully disagree that you can’t have a laugh or two and still get results.

Example 1: about five years ago my nephews were outside on their trampoline and insisted I join them.  They had one of those circular ones with the enclosed net and at first I was afraid I’d be too heavy.  After feeling secure about jumping around, my second fear was of falling and crushing the little guy, who was about 4 at the time.

After chasing them around the circle and jumping continuously for more than twenty minutes, I was amazed at how much of a workout it really was.  I was breathing heavy, sweating a lot and really felt it in my legs.  No damage was done to either the trampoline or my nephews and yes, we had lots of fun “playing.”

Here you can see MMA legend Randy Couture getting in an amazing workout on a very unique field of trampolines.  Wish we had something like this where I live.  I bet we’d see a lot fewer overweight kids if we came up with more workouts like this.

I recently came across something unique that also looks like a great workout not just for kids but for adults, called Railyard fitness. This is based off an outdoor obstacle course called the “patch.”  I’ve seen video of professional and amateur athletes doing this course and this indoor version looks great, too.  Here is another video link that shows how it works  http://www.vimeo.com/8110858

Example 2: last Friday I was doing small group training with my usual 50-something clients.  I recently moved my business into a physical therapy clinic and am sharing their exercise room.  One of my clients was curious about the Bosu ball and started doing single leg squats in various positions to see how it worked.

At first, I was a little nervous that the therapists would think we were just clowning around but then I thought, no, its Friday, the therapists are dressed casually and my clients are also anticipating the weekend and I’ve created a unique setting where I’ve got two siblings and their respective spouses training together at the same time.

They get to spend time together and get a great workout, too.  Besides, she was “owning” that Bosu ball like she was standing on flat ground, instead of on an unstable surface.  Not a bad testimonial for the type of training we do.

Life is stressful enough anyway.  Group training seems like a good way to go for most people – shared misery when I really make them work hard!

Example 3: Last but not least is one of my elderly clients Dave.  He is 79 and has had some health issues the past few years and his mind is a little “fuzzy’ compared to several years ago.  He has some muscle weakness and we are working hard to build some more strength and improve his mobility.

He and his wife are long time massage clients of mine and one of their sons is the only one at the moment who can drive them to their many doctor’s appointments and errands, etc.  I’m training Dave and his son while his wife is receiving therapy in the clinic.  The other day when the two men came in I noticed that both their expressions were blank and I sensed an air of frustration.

The son is getting slightly worn down with the constant care for his father and struggling with the fact that his dad isn’t the man he once was.  So as I was working closely with Dave I through in some comments about bouncing up and down on the mini-trampoline and him being like a cowboy in a Western show.

That brought out a smile on his face and some joking.  From there on, every exercise we did had some reference to the desert or cowboys or the like.  Dave’s good sense of humor came out a few times and both men were smiling before too long.  So we managed to engage his mind as well as his body, making him think and join in on the conversation.

Both of them left in better spirits than when they arrived, so mission accomplished – a little play time along with the workout.  So while there are the rare hard core types that will push their bodies to the limit and beyond, just because……for the rest of the planet there had better be some enjoyment or comraderie involved if they are going to get involved and stay involved!

Just because you are a grown-up doesn’t mean you can’t still be a kid at heart and play a little now and then.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post

This past Saturday some of our members participated in the first annual QC Fitness Fest, a strength endurance competition which included sled push/pulls, tire flips, farmer’s walks and a reverse water ball toss.

I was proud of the participants and the other members who came out to support and cheer everyone on.  Everyone was asking about our T-shirts and who we were.

I think we did very well considering we hadn’t practiced some of the events and didn’t know the course rules prior to the competition.  I think its also great that not only can 50 – something clients do modified strongman events, but they can do them without getting injured.  Just some slight soreness for a few of us.

I was especially impressed with 58 year old Vince, flipping a tire the same height as him and 200 pounds heavier…..for fifty yards!!

I also got to meet John, a 65 years young fitness enthusiast who won the over 50 class for men.  At a time when most people in their sixties are already firmly planted in a lazy boy recliner, he is out staying fit.  I frequently pass him on the local bike path next to the Mississippi River.

He brought his bike along and was going to go for a ride later that afternoon.  Do you think if more people were like this we could drastically cut our healthcare costs?

Now this type of training isn’t something that they might be doing every day – flipping tires and throwing water balls – but by training those same movements, my clients were able to handle the events without injuring themselves.

My clients can function well at these type of things because they train movements that use multiple muscles at the same time, instead of isolating body parts while sitting or lying down.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post

This was a question I got recently from a 15 year old who had tagged along for his aunt’s training session. She was training with another 50 something friend and another man in my studio on a Saturday.

He is currently doing typical barbell lifts such as the bench press and squat and didn’t quite understand my training methods, which make use of sandbags, suspension trainers like the TRX, resistance bands, ropes and dumbbells.

I have a barbell tucked in a corner, which I use with some clients as a leverage press, but other than that, no barbell lifts.  At one point he asked her if they bench.  We do some dumbbell bench presses on a flat bench or on a stability ball, but my preference is some kind of pushup variation or presses using a flex band, in a standing position, which trains core stability.

Many people tend to think of barbells and dumbbells when “lifting weights” or some weight machine, like a lat pulldown.  When you realize that the point is to challenge your muscles with some type of resistance, than that resistance can take the form of your own bodyweight, sand, flex bands, or whatever.

He talked about doing weight training and I mentioned using heavy sandbags and how they can feel much heavier than a barbell.  He then picked a 140 pound sandbag off the floor using the parallel handles and found out what I was talking about.

A little later he asked me directly, “do you lift weights?”  Presumably, because I look like I do some resistance training (hopefully).  I told him I used to do all my training with barbells and dumbbells but now stick to what you see in my studio and think the results are about the same, with fewer injuries.

Obviously, if you are training for some type of strength competition that involves lifting weights, you need to train that way, but if you are just training for general fitness, general strength and fat loss, the previously mentioned tools work just fine, at least my clients think so.

When using sandbags, suspension trainers, bands and ropes, there are an almost unlimited number of exercise combinations that can be used.  Besides getting great results, this also prevents boredom from setting in.  Lack of time and boredom are the two biggest excuses people have for not exercising, so this is another reason for these methods.

Here are some of my 50 something clients who have lean, muscular bodies and can do all the physical activities they want with no problems.  They are happy with the results they get and it doesn’t hurt when someone in a store asks them how they got their arms in that kind of shape.

When they tell them about my studio it makes me feel good as well.  Proper nutrition goes a long way, also, but resistance training does a body good no matter what your age or gender you are.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post

If you’re not training for competition, you don’t need to train like a competitive athlete….

you don’t need to follow the training program of an endurance athlete or bodybuilder, if that’s not your goal.  Instead of spending more time walking on the treadmill,  kick it up a notch or two with the intensity.

Cardio strength training is a great way to lose more fat in the least amount of time.  Swinging ropes, lifting sandbags or doing bodyweight exercises on the TRX suspension trainer uses multiple muscles.

When you challenge your large muscles against some type of resistance and keep your heart rate elevated, you burn lots of calories – during the exercise session and AFTER (afterburn effect).

Here are Vicki and Julie pulling a weighted tire, elevating their metabolisms in the process.  Get more work done in a shorter amount of time.

If you are training for an endurance event, this type of training is a great way to supplement your other training.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post

Never seen anyone surfing in the Midwest?  Yesterday was an incredibly windy day in the Quad Cities and a couple of windsurfers decided to take advantage of the conditions.

Never tried it, but I did TRY to surf in Myrtle Beach once.  The operative word being “try.”  In celebration of an active lifestyle, here is something you don’t see everyday – windsurfing on the Mississippi.

Both of the guys looked to be over 50 from what I could see.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post

Women, are your arms ready for wearing tank tops or swimsuits? Summer is right around the corner and my female clients have earned the right to “bare arms!”

These sisters-in-law have worked hard since the first of the year and it shows.  What’s even better than looking great during the Summer months?  Only taking two hours per week to do it.

Vicki and Julie exercise at my fitness studio three days a week for approximately 45 minutes, including warm up and cool down.  Vicki’s husband Ted is Julie’s brother and these three are in their early to mid 50’s.

The workouts can be best described as cardio strength training – going from one  exercise to the next with minimal rest in between.  Some of the exercises are cardiovascular in nature, while others are more focused on resistance,

but they all keep the heart rate elevated and burn lots of oxygen, and thus plenty of calories – during the workout and afterwards (the afterburn effect).

These are not bodybuilding workouts, instead, they involve multiple muscles and create a lean athletic physique.  Using multi-joint exercises are the way to go if you are looking for a time-efficient workout and want sculpted arms.

The only isolation exercises for the biceps are the TRX biceps curls, but this requires you to maintain your body in a straight line, working your core and enhancing your posture.

Various rows with the TRX and dumbbells work the arms and back at the same time.  Pushups on and off the Power Plate help to sculpt the triceps, along with dumbbell bench presses on a stability ball.

Various sandbag and rope exercises further raise the metabolism.  Sprinting on a mini-stepper also creates an oxygen debt without any pounding on the joints.

These ladies are fairly active when not working in the studio, preferring to spend their spare time doing recreational activities, instead of walking on a treadmill or elliptical machine in a typical gym setting.

Bottom line, their routine gets more work done in less time, so they can spend more time with friends and family, often times fishing at the lake, trying to catch the big ones.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post