Nov 19

Exercising to Prevent Lower Back Pain

Lower back injuries are among the most common physical maladies affecting people’s functionality and experiences in their everyday lives.  The lumbosacral joint, the area of the body in which the fifth vertebrae of the lumbar spine connects to the fused vertebral bones of the sacrum, allows the body to perform complex movements.  The ability to bend over from the hips to pick up objects, stand upright, and interact with our environment by leaning forward, tilting to the side, or rotating from the hips are just a few mechanisms that occur thousands of times throughout the day without us realizing.  However, when an injury to the lower back in the form of a strained stabilizing spinal muscle, shifted vertebrae, or pinched nerve caused by a bulging disc occurs, these seemingly simple movements in everyday life can turn into living strife for something as easy as leaning forward to open a car door without an immediate pain signal in the lower back.

Consisting of an intricate complex of joints, intervertebral cartilaginous discs, nerves, and a substantial array of muscles attaching a matrix of bones in a sophisticated design,  the lower back and hip complex are located in a critically important part  of the body, right in the middle.  The upper half of our body consists of the skull, upper extremities, and torso.  The downstairs neighbor to the upper body is the lower body, consisting of the hips, legs, and feet.  Similar to if the middle portion bisecting an upstairs-downstairs condominium had significant structural damage to the beams holding up the second floor, stairs, or subfloor, the central structural support area of the lower spine and hips can become unstable, weak, and a threat to a person quality of life when the overall condition of the lower back area isn’t a top priority.

Fortunately, a weak lower back doesn’t need to be compared to the water damage, wood rot, or termite infestation that destroys the subfloor in the second story of a two-story home. Lower back pain is curable and can be improved with an understanding of the risk factors that create it. Appreciating and understanding how a safe, effective, and consistent exercise program has the potential to reinforce the structural integrity of the lower back positively influences our interactions in our normal everyday environments while reducing limitations stemming from pain.

We conduct assessments with our newer personal training clients to discover if pre-existing injuries are obstacles to the physical activities they want to be able to participate in.  Lower back pain in the form of bulging discs, former severe back injuries, sciatica, or fear of reinjuring their backs aren’t uncommon answers during this assessment.  In an effort to design an exercise prescription with an appropriate dose of movements aimed to create the best outcomes for an exercise participant presenting lower back problems, we not only choose stretches, mobility tactics, and strengthening techniques that promote a strong back with less pain, but we also actively remove exercises that exacerbate pain symptoms in the lower back and could potentially worsen the participant’s pain.

It’s not uncommon to enter a large gym setting or small group fitness class where other participants are conducting advanced exercises. We can view regular social media feeds on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok and observe a person who is the age of twenty to thirty years old holding a barbell loaded with weights over their head lunging across the room, followed by a clip of them hanging from a pull-up bar and lifting their legs to their nose.   The subtitles might read, “These are my favorite full-body strengthening techniques.”  As a fitness professional who has made the study of physical therapy, strength and conditioning, and fitness education my life’s work, my heart usually skips a beat, and a brief fainting spell usually occurs when I see these posts.  I’m sure there are good intentions from these fitness influencers.  However, it would be safe to assume that the influencer who is under the age of thirty and has the metabolism of a hummingbird so they can show off their washboard abs lifting a barbell of circa forty-five pounds over their head more than likely hasn’t suffered a setback of severe musculoskeletal injuries, in particular lower back injuries.

A fundamental and safe area to start in an exercise routine to manage lower back pain is to master bodyweight movements before even picking up a dumbbell, barbell, kettlebell, or other form of exercise equipment themed weight.  Focusing on mastering technique throughout exercise performance before pushing ourselves to a sense of physical exertion ensures we can move our bodies with less restriction.  For example, our ability to reach overhead, grab onto and hold objects in front of us, and bend down to pick up light objects is necessary for all humans.  Perhaps focusing on ensuring the spine is aligned correctly, and the muscles of the neck, shoulder blades, lumbar area, and glutes are activating when performing dynamic stretching technique at the beginning of an exercise session should be prioritized before delving into advanced movements, such as barbell Romanian deadlift, barbell back squats, or dumbbell chest press.  Furthermore, ensuring the core muscles located at the abdomen, posterior back, and hip region are strong and coordinated enough to get up and down from the ground is an important action that can’t be overstated.  Therefore, flexibility and mobility of the lower back should be prioritized before “working your core” and doing a set of crunches.  Perhaps a set of pelvic tilts, isometric glute bridges, or lower back knee tilt rotations could suffice as a suitable point of mastery to ensure we can perform the basic function of getting up from the ground and reinforce the muscles responsible for securing the lumbar spine and pelvis from becoming strained in future everyday life occurrences.

Lower back injuries are physically, mentally, and emotionally debilitating. It is critically important to appreciate what exercises best suit our current fitness levels in our everyday lives.  Before progressing into advanced exercises, ensure that awareness of back injury prevention and exercises appropriate to your current fitness levels are prioritized so you get the best possible outcome from a consistent exercise routine.

Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.

Nov 11

Staying fit throughout the end of the year

November brings chilly days with less sunlight than we’re used to in the summer months.  Adjusting our clocks back one hour sets the tone for the official start of stepping foot into the winter months.  Driving home from work, embracing a naturally lit street powered by the sun is now replaced by the glow of dim street lights. What was once a bright, warm environment transforms into gray-toned, cloud-covered skies.  As the world turns, creating a cooler setting for Northern California, we can expect to see our fair share of rain, mist, and fog for the next few months.

This cold and rugged winter environment, combined with the lack of light, introduces a few challenges society regularly adapts to. The lack of sunlight encourages people to stay inside more, under the security of the lightbulbs inside their warm, dry houses.  The idea of staying inside and bundling up under a blanket, grabbing a cup of hearty and comforting soup, and flipping on one of our favorite holiday flicks on streaming devices can be a nostalgic and refreshing experience as what we used to do as children coming home from school on a rainy winter day.  However, being confined to the activities inside our homes introduces a potential issue for our health:  we don’t move as much as we did during the warm and well-lit summer months.

These last two months offer a few other festivities that create a sense of joy, companionship, and overall achievement as we close out the year 2024.  Holiday parties, Thanksgiving week, and school end-of-year breaks bring about a plethora of holiday food, including gingerbread molasses cookies, Santa hat-shaped sugar cookies, and Lindt chocolates.  Additionally, ‘tis the season for baking and bringing treats to the workplace.  Why?  It’s dark and cold, so no one wants to go outside.  Sitting in front of a warm oven in the kitchen is an enticing alternative to raking leaves on damp and cold winter mornings.  Holiday treats such as cookies, cakes, and candies hit the break rooms and countertops.  Usually, these treats are a rich combination of butter, and insulin-spiking carbohydrates, in the form of sugar and flour, that we don’t enjoy as frequently throughout the summer months.  Combining decreased physical activity and a surplus of holiday-themed treat food not normally consumed creates a perfect scenario for the body’s ability to store fat, move less, and become bloated.  Therefore, remaining consistent with exercise and managing a healthy diet throughout the holiday season is critically important to our well-being.

Excess calories are converted into fat cells under our skin when the body consumes more food than can be processed for energy expenditure.  Additionally, the increase in carbohydrate-rich food has an increased potential to increase free-floating levels of insulin hormone throughout our blood.  Insulin is a potent anabolic hormone with productive properties for the body when the need to shuttle sugar into muscle cells for energy is present.  However, when the body is at rest, the body doesn’t necessarily need insulin for energy.

After throwing back some eggnog and hot chocolate paired with fruit cake, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, the body is primed to harness the carbohydrates and convert them to fat cells for storage.  Combining the copious overconsumption of carbohydrates, alcohol, and just too much food matter with a lack of movement, the body is a perfect instrument to store fat and increase circulating insulin levels.

A tactic we recommend to our personal training clients to manage the threat of the holiday season’s tantalizing treats and decreased physical activity is managing what time of the day food is consumed, particularly carbohydrates.  The body utilizes carbohydrates for energy throughout physical activity when the body is at a higher level of exertion.  It should go without saying that exercise stimulates the heart, and carbohydrates are chemically broken down and used as fuel for physical movement.  However, when carbohydrates are consumed later in the day and our activity levels slow down, they don’t have anywhere to be utilized.  As a result, unused carbohydrates convert to fat mass. In an effort to decrease the potential for carbohydrates to be converted into fat, perhaps limiting the amount of carbohydrates consumed in the later portion of the evening can be reduced.  By adjusting the tactics in which we consume starchy, bready, and sugar-based drinks and food to the earlier part of the day and abstaining at the later half, we can influence the likelihood for our body to utilize carbohydrates more efficiently and decrease the possibility of converting them to fat.

Thanksgiving and holiday cheer bring about companionship, a celebration of the end of a successful year, and overall cheer among our friends, family, and peers.  Giving thanks for positive aspects of our lives can be bolstered by enjoying a few alcoholic drinks and tasty sweets while laughing, smiling, and hanging out with the people we care about during this exuberant time of year.  But don’t let the egg nog flow too fast or make a habit of polishing off the last of the turkey left the next few days after Thanksgiving.  The ability to overeat during these festive times is at an all-time high during the holidays.  Therefore, the act of overeating mitigation should be prioritized.

Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.

Nov 06

Getting Into an Exercise Ritual

Regular exercise adherence improves our overall quality of life in an almost immeasurable way. Keeping our bodies fit assists in losing weight, decreasing the risk of cardiovascular or metabolic disease, and contributes to beneficial stress management to our psycho-emotional well-being.  Exercise continues to be a panacea for healing symptoms that threaten physical, emotional, psychological, and everyday life functionality.  So, why don’t more people exercise?

Sometimes, the idea of setting aside and ignoring our phone for a few moments, stepping away from the comfort of sitting on our couches to watch the latest streaming series on Netflix, or waking up that extra ninety minutes before we typically wake up on a work day doesn’t seem overly appealing.  Choosing exercise over a routine activity that is usually comforting and safe can be akin to simultaneously putting a plate full of steamed freezer-bag packaged brussel sprouts and a bowl of ice cream in front of someone after dinner.  What would one choose?  The comfort of creamy and scrumptious ice cream after a balanced dinner featuring a lean protein and a salad?  Or, another serving of cruciferous vegetables that some of us may have been forced to eat when we were youngsters at the dinner table under our parent’s surveillance?

For some readers, the idea of boiled brussel sprouts is in line with trying to forget about the nightmares Freddy Cruger engrained in children’s memories after watching Nightmare on Elm Street throughout the eighties.  It’s important to appreciate the barriers and challenges the idea of paving out time for consistent exercise creates for most of the the general population.  Even though exercise might induce a vision of less than fun experiences while sweating profusely and inflicting physical rigor on oneself, understanding that perseverance past our comfort zone and ingraining a routine of regular exercise has the potential to improve our lives substantially.  Moving past our comfort zone and feeling confident in getting through the initial apprehension toward exercise is a challenging yet attainable task.

A common misperception of exercise is that a session of exercise needs to be hours long.  A visit to the doctor’s office might include an interview including the question, “Do you exercise at least one hundred and fifty minutes per week?”  Additionally, local gym small group fitness classes last anywhere from forty-five minutes to an hour.  Furthermore, for those of us who scroll through social media, it isn’t uncommon to see a social media influencer with the physique of a Marvel comic book superhero filming themselves performing advanced exercise techniques with the recommendation that viewers should be performing three sets of twenty repetitions.  Daunting?  Time consuming?  Intimidating to the point the point of getting into exercise creates a feeling of sheer terror?  Sometimes, I don’t blame people for their apprehensions toward exercise.

A useful tactic we encourage our personal training clients to practice is picking a number that seems attainable for the quantity of movements they feel comfortable exercising.  For example, if one hundred total movements seems like a safe compromise that won’t bring back the taste of steamed brussel sprouts, perhaps that’s a good place to start.  An example of one hundred total movements might look like this:

  1. Arm crosses: Perform two sets of ten repetitions (twenty total movements)
  2. Hoola hoop hip circles: Perform two sets of ten repetitions (twenty total movements)
  3. Sit-to-stand squats: Perform two sets of ten repetitions (twenty total movements)
  4. Inclined push-ups from countertop height: Perform two sets of ten repetitions (twenty total movements)
  5. Calf raises holding hands in front of a wall: Perform two sets of ten repetitions (twenty total movements)

Believe it or not, performing these movements requires a significant amount of strength, neuromuscular facilitation, and balance.  Additionally, this example doesn’t require visiting a gym or signing up for a fitness class.  One can achieve these simple yet effective exercise tactics in the comfort of their own home.  If a routine like this that includes bodyweight movements and low levels of exertion is practiced one to three times per week, the body learns to adapt to the slight increase in exercise-induced stress imposed on it.  After a few weeks, these movements might become a little easier, motivation to try new things might arise, and a positive feedback mechanism might be introduced as an envigorating ritual just as comforting as having breakfast, drinking coffee, or feeding the cat.

Adherence is one of the biggest challenges to ingraining an exercise routine in our lives.  However, getting started might be more of a leap of courage.  It’s OK to be a little apprehensive about exercise.  However, evidence throughout research and literature shows that exercise solves more problems in our lives than most medications can cure.  Try looking for opportunities in which a ritual of exercise can be established.  The reward of giving yourself the gift of consistently practicing exercise is invaluable.

Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.

Nov 01

Building Resilient Hips for Everyday Life Functionality

Humans perform upper and lower extremity actions daily without thinking too much about it.  Starting from getting out of bed, the upper and lower body are involved in morning rituals as simple as walking to the kitchen to start a cup of coffee.  More sophisticated and physically demanding actions requiring coordination and dexterity, including walking up stairs, carrying objects, or performing manual labor at the workplace, require a person to perform upper and lower extremity movements competently.  The actions of how many times the arms are lifted from our sides and the legs stride back and forth while walking can be performed over ten thousand times per day.  Data collection from peer-reviewed articles researching human physical activity states that humans use their upper extremities more than their lower extremities on a normal day.   Optimal functioning of the upper extremities is necessary to conduct an efficient and functional day of human activity.  Even though the lower extremities might be used less than the upper extremities, it’s worthwhile to appreciate one of the most important gifts humans have been granted that gets us from point A to point B.  This is the gift of walking. Our lower extremities are responsible for our ability to be mobile.

Commonly identified parts of the lower extremities include our thighs, knees, shins, and feet.  Breaking this down into more granular analysis, it’s helpful to understand the names of the bones and how these bones comprise the joints of the lower limbs.  At the hip joint, the femur is the large thigh bone.  The femur’s proximal, or top portion, inserts into the hip joint located in the pelvic girdle.  The pelvis comprises multiple joints connecting the spine at the top portion and two ball and socket joints connecting the femurs.  Acting as a keystone in the body’s center, a substantial amount of connective tissue attachments hold the hip bones together, and nerves track through the hip area to coordinate the lower extremity’s movement.  Therefore, if our interest is to keep moving by being able to walk, climb stairs or hills, and get up and down off the ground, the hip joint is critically important to our functionality.

Hip flexion is one of the first movements involved in walking, going up and down stairs, or standing up from a kneeling or standing position.  Defined as bringing the femur closer to the abdomen, hip flexion can be an underappreciated movement.  Normal walking patterns require the leg to swing forward in each step.  If the hip flexors are deconditioned, gait can become afflicted, causing the legs to swing outward during walking, leading to a slew of issues, including the inability to walk in straight lines and musculoskeletal injuries leading to knee pain and increased risk of falling.  The hip flexors contribute to efficient travel upstairs, inclined sidewalks, and hills as the knee is lifted past the normal height of walking to place the foot on a heightened surface while walking forward.  When getting up from a seated or kneeling position, hip flexors assist in bringing the leg out in front of the body to place a foot on the ground to prepare for standing.  One could imagine living without the ability to move the thigh forward during walking could substantially challenge everyday life.

One of the simple yet effective tactics we employ with our personal training clients is the leg kick exercise. This exercise, when performed consistently, can significantly enhance neuromuscular coordination and hip strength, empowering you to improve your mobility and overall functionality.

Leg Kick Stretch:  Reach your hand in front of you.  While keeping your supporting leg straight, actively bring one leg in front of you to touch your hand as if you are performing a kicking motion.  Ensure that the kicking leg is kept as straight as possible. You should experience a slight stretching sensation in your hamstring and calf muscles and a brief sensation of muscular exertion of the anterior thigh muscles.  Repeat this movement for five to 10 repetitions on both legs.

By incorporating this simple movement into your routine, performing just one set of ten repetitions before your daily activities, you can potentially enhance your neuromuscular coordination and hip strength.  The key is consistency, and with regular practice, you can build lasting strength and improve your everyday functionality and mobility.

Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.

Oct 23

Optimal Posture While Sitting

Imagine living without tables, desks, or work benches.  Throw in the twist of removing an automobile that we sit down in to take us to our desired location in minutes.  Just for fun, put yourself in a fantasy world where the revolution of cell phones never crossed the mind of the brilliant inventors who created these iconic extrapolations of computers.  What would the world be like? And how would our bodies adapt to the environment where these revolutionary features that optimize human efficiency were never brought into this world?

The innovation of chairs has created valuable a tool for people to rest after standing for long periods. If we were cavemen in the Paleolithic era running from saber-tooth tigers, scavenging for berries, and maintaining a hut made of sticks and mud, we would be pretty tired at the end of the day.  After a long day of caveman-specific duties, humans would probably sit against a tree or lie on the ground.  Thanks to the invention of the chair, sitting on the ground is unnecessary.  We can squat backward and position our buttocks on an object that keeps our hips elevated off the ground and our backs supported.  This action of sitting allows our spinal stabilization muscles to rest and decreases the demand for the muscles of hip elevation when lowering the hips to a seat.

While chairs allow the human race to sit in cars, conduct work on computers, and converse with others at lunch or dinner, sitting in a chair for prolonged hours can contribute to suboptimal afflictions for the human body. Too much sitting can influence poor postural awareness, decreased muscle strength, and a plethora of potential musculoskeletal injuries to the neck, shoulder, and lower back.

Sitting down in front of our computers first thing in the morning with our monitors roughly two feet away from our faces at eye level is a proficient tactic in setting up an optimally functioning work environment.  Having a keyboard and mouse handy to perform advanced executive functions when answering emails, reviewing data on spreadsheets, or researching the interwebs makes work engaging and efficient.  However, this scenario can introduce the potential for neck, shoulders, and lower back injury.

Some of our personal training clients share that they sit for hours on their computers typing and clicking their mouse at the heart rate of hummingbirds.  Their finger and wrist muscles are active, but the spine stays stagnant. In addition, the desire to look closely at the content on the monitor influences people to lean forward and bend their neck, shoulders, and upper back without even knowing it.  After a few hours of rigorous computer work, the body structure sitting on the computer chair, which started as a structurally sound L-shape where the spine was straight and the eyes looking forward, has quickly transformed into a “candy cane” shaped spine with the shoulders hunched forward and a rounded back.  The result of a hunched back, caved inward shoulders, and convex-shaped lumbar spine introduces a boatload of potential injuries, including strained muscles along the back and shoulder, impinged vertebra to various sections of the spine, and overuse injuries that contribute to arthritis or building discs of the spine.

If our goal is to prevent the likelihood of injuries to the neck, shoulder, and lower back, the importance of postural awareness in seated positions can’t be overstated.  As a helpful cue to assist in activating the muscle of scapular stabilization and reinforce organizing the neck, upper back, and shoulder throughout exercise sessions, we remind our personal training clients to “park their shoulder blades down and back.”  This prompt is meant to coach the exercise participant to perform scapular retraction and scapular depression before performing a specific exercise, usually a compound upper-body pulling exercise, during their personal training sessions.

Scapular retraction triggers the shoulder blades to glide backward against the ribs and toward the spine.  Performing scapular retraction activates the trapezius and rhomboid muscles on the upper and middle portions of the spine and ribs.  This action opens the chest up, allowing the chest to avoid caving forward and assisting the head to sit in a relatively neutral position over the torso.  If the head is placed in a position perpendicular to the axis of the shoulders, the likelihood of the head caving forward is decreased, and neck and upper back injuries can be influenced to occur less often.  Additionally, performing the opposite action of shrugging is categorized as scapular depression.  Utilizing the muscles connecting from the bottom portion of the ribs to the bottom of the shoulder blades influences the opposite action of shrugging, which brings the shoulders away from the neck and down toward the armpits.  These two movements work the muscles of the posterior portion of the torso.

If we can strengthen the muscles opposite of the area of the body that is affected by poor sitting posture, we can contribute to stronger posture while sitting for hours at a time. Try to include a few exercises in your resistance training routine that target the shoulder blades and middle back. By exercising the muscles of scapular stabilization, we can encourage strong and healthy backs to endure years of sitting down in chairs.

 

Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.

Oct 17

Exercise is Boring

A visit to the dentist, a routine physical with your doctor, or a mind-numbing Zoom meeting with team members at the workplace is a less-than-enticing setting for some of us to participate in.  Who wants to sit in a dentist’s chair with their mouth wide open and have their gums prodded with foreign metal instruments?  Additionally, an annual doctor’s appointment to review cholesterol, insulin, and hormone levels in the body can be akin to the anxiety experienced of waiting to see the results of a minimum SAT score required to apply to a prestigious university.  While web conference technology such as Zoom has accelerated productivity in our career and educational system, the anticipation of sitting in a chair and staring at a screen for hours can be daunting.  Yoga classes, small group fitness classes, or personal training sessions can elicit similar scenarios involving a setting someone isn’t looking forward to being a part of.

For a gym rat like myself, I look forward to the sacred time I reserve to move my body, sweat, increase my heart rate, and breathe.  I enter this setting, putting my phone on silent and telling everyone important to me that I’ll be out of pocket for a brief time.  Barring family emergencies or uncontrollable extenuating circumstances like my home being hit by a meteor, these sixty to ninety minutes of exercise I set aside cannot be replaced by any other request for my time.  This session is more than therapy to me.  The ability to exercise utilizing the knowledge and skills from my life’s work of helping people feel happy, healthy, and strong to benefit my health and improve my life offers me an irreplaceable, engaging, and entertaining experience.  However, I understand and appreciate that there is another side of the spectrum in which people have the opposite perception of exercise.  Some people think exercise is boring, it hurts, and it’s simply a thorn in the side of someone with better things to do than check into the front desk at a local gym.

It should come as no surprise that compliance with an exercise routine benefits our livelihood.  Increased functional strength, staving off pain caused by injury or degenerative bone disease, and a positive outlook in life are just a few of the positive features regular exercise offers.  But for those of us who think that entering a gym to sweat, get dirty, and hang out with super fit people who we have nothing in common with is as undesirable as watching paint dry, what can we do to bypass that barricade of doing something that makes them shudder to the very thought of exercising?

A common misperception of exercise is that it must take hours of work per week to see a result of losing weight, getting stronger, and telling the doctors to leave us alone because we’re getting one hundred and fifty minutes of physical activity per week.  While our doctors are correct in the fact that we should all move around more to fend off the advancement of arthritis, metabolic disease, and cardiovascular disease, we don’t need to look at the act of exercising in such a strict manner.  A solution we offer to our personal training clients who detest exercise is to ensure they are consistent in their efforts to move more.  Instead of counting the minutes of exercise achieved in a week, another worthwhile solution might be to count the number of days one can achieve in a week.

Troubleshooting tactics to resolve a boring exercise setting might include choosing physical activities one enjoys and feeling fulfilled after completing them.  For example, many of our clients have dogs they enjoy walking and throwing a ball for at the park.  Perhaps ensuring that you walk two to three times per week can be an attainable physical activity goal.  Another suitable option people commonly overlook is cleaning a particular area of the house that has been on the back burner for a few months.  Taking time out to complete a task like garage reorganization, tidying up the home office, or hanging pictures requires squatting down to pick things up, reaching overhead, and maybe stepping up on stools.  Other hobbies might include recreational sports such as bocce ball, pickleball, or hiking.  Two days per week of dog walking, one week of house reorganization, and one day of a social sporting event influence movement in the human body and can last around an hour each event.  Looking at a calendar to fulfill specific tasks that are engaging, enjoyable, and someone looks forward to can replace a visit to the gym or signing up for a group fitness class.

Exercise is physical activity.  If the vision of wearing a sweatband, putting on gym-appropriate apparel, and entering a local gym sweating isn’t the most desirable thought, perhaps looking into other forms of physical activity specific to an individual’s sense of enjoyment would be more appropriate.  Humans are too sophisticated to have a cookie-cutter solution to getting more exercise.  However, let’s look into activities we enjoy. There’s more than likely a cross over of enjoyment and physical activity that can be applied to our weekly schedule that can help us live happy, healthy, and strong lives.

Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.

Oct 09

Consistent Practice for Strong Knees

“Are the first few minutes of getting out of bed just absolute hell?” my friend Kaus asked me while we were enjoying one of Model Bakery’s finest English muffins, which had been toasted and smothered in strawberry jam.  Kaus and I take leisurely walks every few weeks, discussing our hobbies, traveling adventures, and current events.  I especially enjoy Kaus’s thoughts about my professional growth as a business owner and leader among my fellow coaches.  He’s perpetually fascinated to see our fitness center grow not only as a business but as a culture with more clients, staff, and a presence in Napa’s community.

Regarding Kaus’ comments about his situation of taking a tour through the underworld first thing in the morning,  he happens to be about a decade older than me. Unfortunately, injuries and events in his life have produced musculoskeletal injuries to his joints.  Sometimes, his neck, shoulders, lower back, and knees emit pain and soreness throughout the day.  He mentioned that he feels like he got shot out of a cannon off a mountaintop first thing in the morning.  Therefore, advice on improving his physical well-being is a hot topic when we take our “walk-and-talk” adventures to our favorite eateries.

Joint pain appears in various presentations.  Arthritis, osteoporosis, or the atrophy of muscles and connective tissue surrounding joints and bones following the recovery of a substantial injury are just a few examples of suboptimal occurrences influencing the disruption of connective tissue.  Bone-on-bone contact and degeneration of cartilage around the articular surface in which joints rub together, pinched nerves, or deconditioned muscles are usual suspects that produce joint pain.  For Kaus, it is no surprise he feels this way in the morning when you hear about his former athletic career as a professional biker training for the Olympics.  Decades of competitive performance produced shoulder, lower back, and knee pain.

It’s challenging for me to relate fully to Kaus’ musculoskeletal pain he experiences in the morning because I haven’t been on this earth as long as him.  He’s a decade older than me and has endured ten years more stress than me.  However, I understand that strengthening muscles surrounding critically important joints mitigates pain and increases human performance.  Knee joints are among the most common areas that experience discomfort due to overuse and joint degradation.  Therefore, knee strengthening and injury prevention concepts can’t be overstated.  A simple and effective tactic we use with our personal training clients is consistently practicing exercises targeting muscle connective points around the knee joint.

Areas hindered by knee joint pain can occur in the front, back, sides, and within the knee.  For individuals experiencing advanced joint pain due to lack of cartilage or weakened tendons and ligaments, shifting knees throughout bending and straightening the knee, lateral movement, and stepping movements can create uncomfortable, loose, and shifty bone movement.  As a solution to strengthen those areas, it’s essential to identify the muscular attachments that protect areas of the knee prone to loose and shifty joint movements.  The hamstrings and hip adductors are two common muscles that act as brackets to hold the knee joint tighter.

The hamstrings originate from the bottom of the hip bone, beneath the butt cheek, and attach below the knee on the back of the shin.  Optimizing strength in the hamstring assists in limiting the anterior gliding of the knee and aids in bringing the leg backward throughout walking movements.  The hip adductors originate from the groin region of the inner thigh and attach to the inner portion of the knee.  Muscular endurance and enhanced structural integrity of hip adductors prevent the knee from shifting past its normal range of motion medially and laterally.  Now that we know these muscles are essential to knee strength and mitigating pain, we must identify tactics to apply productive muscular stress via exercise consistently.  Below are two exercises we conduct with our personal training clients for one set every during each training session:

  1. Side Laying Hip Adduction: Position yourself on your side with your feet stacked on each other, and cross your top leg over to the front of your body, where your top foot should rest flat on the ground.  Keeping the bottom foot flexed toward the body and the knee extended, lift the bottom leg until a brief muscular sensation is experienced in the inner thigh region.  Repeat this movement for five to 10 repetitions.
  2. Supine Isometric Hip Extension:  While flat on your back and your knees bent,  press your feet into the ground and lift the hips upward until a brief muscular sensation is experienced in the hamstrings and glutes.  Once your hips are extended upward, hold this position utilizing your glutes and hamstrings to stabilize the hips in an extended position for 10 to 30 seconds.

We perform these exercises at the beginning of every training session to induce muscular adaptation and optimize muscular strength and intramuscular endurance.

While it’s true that we might feel a few sensations of pain in the morning due to the onset of joint damage throughout life, these symptoms can decrease, and we can feel better.  We can reduce sensations of soreness in the morning by consistently practicing simple and effective knee-strengthening routines two to three times a week to reinforce knee health.

Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.

Oct 04

Resistance Training Improves Knee Health

Walking, getting in and out of cars, going up and down stairs, or kneeling to pick up objects are common activities in our everyday lives that our lower extremities allow us to do. However, activities that seem simple enough that someone should be able to do it with their eyes closed can be cut short by an affliction to the knee joint.  The introduction of knee pain and dysfunction appears in various presentations.

As we meet with our personal training clients for their initial consultations to learn more about their goals and visions for the future, we primarily focus on the history of injury their bodies have endured.  We need to know what limitations the exercise participant has due to what type of traumatic injury has occurred, the development of degenerative joint disease, or the history of corrective surgeries.  If we’re going to recommend an exercise prescription to an individual to enhance strength, decrease the likelihood of future injury, and improve the overall quality of life and functionality, it’s necessary to understand where we are on the road map in relation to an individual current standpoint in their fitness journey to achieve their goals.  One of the most common reports of injury appears at the knee joint. The introduction of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, corrective surgery, or joint replacement aren’t uncommon pain points that can be improved utilizing corrective exercise tactics.

One of the most sought-after services our exercise participants seek is guidance for performing resistance training techniques. These techniques are instrumental in mitigating joint pain, increasing functional strength, rehabbing a joint injury, getting back to everyday activities following corrective surgery, or prehabbing an area to enhance the effectiveness of physical therapy and the healing process when preparing for corrective surgery.  Understanding the planes of movement the knee joint is responsible for, what activities the knee contributes to everyday life functionality, and areas of weakness that can be improved upon from strengthening via exercise are crucial for implementing a lower extremity resistance training routine to enhance knee health.

The knee is a true hinge joint. Its job is to bend and extend.  It can’t rotate or glide forward or backward compared to the hip or ankle joint. The knee works harmoniously with the coordinated simultaneous movements of the trunk, hip, ankle, and foot. Along with essential ligaments, tendons, blood vessels, and nerve supplies, skeletal muscular attachment points are located on the knee’s front, sides, and back.  Lack of muscular size, strength, and neuromuscular coordination to the connective tissue and skeletal muscles can not only enhance the progression of degenerative bone disease but can also introduce the likelihood of future injury to occur as we age.  Therefore, understanding the need to strengthen the knee joint muscles is critically important.

To start off by understating exercises that are safe, simple, and effective foundational movements, choose exercises that focus on knee flexion and extension, as well as hip adduction and abduction, and serve as foundational strengthening movements that reinforce the structural integrity of the knee.  Flexion and extension are the bending and straightening of the knee joint.  The muscle that brings the shin toward the back of the thigh creates flexion in the knee.  The muscles of knee flexion are predominantly the hamstring muscles.  Knee extension is the straightening of the leg where the shin extends out in front of the body until it is roughly perpendicular to the thigh.  Quadricep muscle groups are responsible for knee extension.  Both the quadriceps and the hamstrings have muscular attachment points starting from the hip that travel to the knee joint on the front and back of the knee.  Therefore, strengthening these joints assist in maintaining stability not only in the straightening and bending of the knee but also as isometric anchor points akin to framing screws holding together two boards to decrease forward and backward shifting of the knee and thigh bone.

Other simple and effective muscles to focus on to reinforce knee strength are the hip adductors and abductors.  The abductors originate at the hip bone and attach to the outside of the knee joint.  Joint abduction means “take away from the midline” or to bring the lower extremity outward and away from the body.  Hip adduction is the antithesis of abduction, where the muscles attaching from the hip’s inner part attach to the knee’s inner portion and pull the thigh inward toward the body.  The abductors and adductors control the inward and outward motion of the leg and serve as critically important supporting components to mitigate medial to lateral shifting at the knee joint.

For a more in-depth description of exercises we focus on to enhance understanding of knee extension and flexion, as well as hip abduction and adduction, tune in for part two of this article on knee strength resistance training next week in the Napa Register.  In the meantime, perhaps researching a few safe, simple, and effective foundational strength training tactics focusing on knee joint health could shed some light on what movements might be missing in our exercise programs.  Bolstering our understanding of knee strengthening has the potential to help us live happier, healthier, and stronger lives.

Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.

Sep 28

Efficient Order of Operations in Exercise Sessions

“That’s just bad math,” my physics professor told me as I struggled to finalize a lengthy equation for calculating potential energy in one of our laboratory experiments.  “Use PEMDAS,” she chirped at me, slightly annoyed.  I recalled the fourth-grade lesson on multiplying numbers of more than two digits, long division, and the introduction of the dreaded parentheses and exponents.  This simple lesson empowered me to sit back down at my desk, rewrite the equation, and produce the correct answer by solving what was inside the parentheses, then apply my exponents, and multiply and divide from left to right.  After I submitted the laboratory experiment and received full credit, I can still recall today that accomplishing tasks in the incorrect order led to inefficiency and, ultimately, an undesirable result.  I always wanted to avoid scenarios that were caused by “bad math.”  Completing the correct order of operations is also crucial to achieving a successful exercise session.

During my time at Napa College, I needed to take a few extra prerequisites to apply to physical therapy school. It just so happened that general physics was one of the courses. That course equipped me with the necessary tools to understand angles in force production and double-checked my work as I slogged through the challenging math equations.  Similar to the teachings of Professor “Bad Math,” the services we offer to our personal training clients involve checking their work. As fitness professionals, we play a crucial role in guiding our clients’ exercise prescriptions, ensuring they are completed in the most efficient order to elicit the most optimal outcome possible from a bout of exercise.

Exercise sessions consisting of rigorous movements are complex and require concentration and focus.  The body produces a symphony of thoughts, feelings, and actions that transmit signals to our muscles via neurological electrical impulses traveling from our brain to our spinal cord and eventually to motor neurons to make our body move in a desired physical task.  Allocating time at the beginning of an exercise session to priming up this neurological response enhances the coordination of the brain to muscle function.  Ligaments, tendons, and skeletal muscle also function from oxygenated blood flow and carbohydrate delivery.  Without an efficient signal of neuromuscular coordination and muscle-fueling substrates delivered by the blood, we are more likely to achieve a suboptimal outcome from an exercise session.  We must strive to avoid “bad math” in our exercise efforts, as it can lead to inefficiency and undesirable results.  To achieve an optimal result in our training sessions, understanding the order of operations and the modes of exercise to perform throughout each session can’t be understated.

Below is a simple and practical example of our form of PEMDAS that we use to coach our personal training clients to ensure they achieve an optimal outcome from their training sessions:

  1. Start with a dynamic stretching routine: The body needs to slowly increase the amount of neuromuscular synapses, increase the heart’s beats per minute, and psychologically enter a mode of rigorous intensity throughout a workout session.  We don’t want to immediately step into a maelstrom of struggle by lifting weights, running, or putting ourselves in compromised positions requiring substantial energy expenditure and concentration.  Instead, start with five to ten repetitions that warm up the body’s major muscles, such as moving the shoulder joints, lower back, hips, knees, and ankles.

An example of an upper and lower extremity dynamic stretching routine might include:

Supinated Arm Crossing Stretch:   Lift your arms to armpit level.  Rotate your palms upward, perform a crossing motion across your chest, and reverse the motion to abduct your arms away from the midline of your body.  Repeat the motion once you feel a slight stretch in the pecs, shoulders, and biceps for five to ten repetitions.

  1. “Pendulum” Stretch:  Find a stable surface to lean forward and place your hands on, such as a wall or post.   Bring an extended leg slightly in front of your body with your toe pointed forward.  Gently swing your leg to the inside of your body and then again to the outside of your body.  You should experience a slight stretching sensation in your inner thigh region.  Repeat this movement for five to 10 repetitions on both legs.
  2. Perform compound-resistant training techniques before simple movements:  Movements in which force is produced from multiple joints are considered compound movements.  Examples for the lower body include squats, lunges, or step-ups.  Upper body compound movements include push-ups, chest press machines, or bench press.  These movements require a concentrated and intense stress response in the muscles.  Due to their advanced requirements of energy expenditure, concentration, and focus while in a compromised position, compound movement should be conducted before more simple movements.
  3. Perform assistance movements last: Assistance movements that require only one joint of the body to move throughout resistance should be performed later. Exercises such as dumbbell biceps curls or cable triceps press-downs don’t require substantial focus and energy expenditure, so they can be performed after the more concentrated resistance training movements.

Exercise is meant to offer a form of productive stress so the body can become stronger and more resilient to the demands of everyday life.  However, ensuring exercise in a safe and effective environment takes planning.  By following a safe and effective order of operations when exercising, we can get a positive and desirable outcome from our exercise sessions.

Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.

Sep 19

The Art of Putting on our Underwear and Everyday Functionality

“They all put their underwear the same way,”  my high school football coach proclaimed during his pre-game motivational speech.  This seemingly off-topic comment, a nugget of wisdom from our leader, left my teammates and I pondering its relevance to our upcoming game against Vallejo High School.   We were preparing to face a team known for their elite athletes, who ran sub 4.5 seconds forty-yard dashes and had full-ride scholarships to reputable collegiate football programs.  What could the coach have meant by the way we put our underwear on when compared to our opponents? What did it have to do with our performance on the field?

Let’s delve into the seemingly simple task of putting on a pair of underwear. It’s not just a matter of slipping it on and off.  A set of underwear has a circular entrance and two separate openings for our right and left legs to pass through.  A person must make a decision to either put the right or left leg in through the bigger opening meant for the hips, followed by the second decision to pass the other leg through the hip entry point and to the secondary thigh slot.  Who would’ve thought putting on underpants could be such an intricate task? It’s a task that requires a level of dexterity and coordination that we often take for granted.

What technique do we prefer when equipping our underwear?  Is it sitting on the edge of our bed first thing in the morning before starting the day?  Or, is it the tactic of standing one leg while bending over, grabbing the underwear, lifting the hip to fit one leg in through one of the thigh slots, then repeating with the other leg?  One of these techniques requires advanced spatial awareness, dexterity, coordination, and balance.  Sitting down and sliding one’s leg through the openings removes the need to think about the surroundings and transfer balance from one leg to another.  However, the ability to stand in the middle of a room without any objects to stabilize oneself, bend over at the hips, grab the undergarment with both hands, and efficiently transfer the center of gravity from one foot to the other while simultaneously lifting the thigh, bending the knee, and gliding the feet through the thigh slots requires an intricate computation of neuromuscular coordination and immediate decision making.

Standing on one leg while making decisions to move one or two other extremities is a seemingly simple action for some.  However, for individuals with deconditioned fitness levels, simply putting on a set of undies while standing up can pose a lofty challenge.  Balance can degenerate rapidly if not consistently practiced.  A lack of ability to correct imbalances can threaten functionality, productivity, safety, and overall enjoyment of life.  If putting on a set of underwear is a challenge first thing in the day, one could imagine that other challenging tasks requiring balance won’t be much easier.  Examples that require the mastery of efficient balance levels include stepping up and down stairs, getting in and out of a car, or interacting with our pets, children, or grandkids.  Identifying and correcting imbalances is critically important for a productive, safe, and fulfilling day of life.

If we look at the demands of standing up and sliding our underwear on first thing in the morning, the torso needs to bend over, which requires hamstrings and lower back muscles that are flexible enough to hinge over the hips down to the ground.  To step into the underwear entryway, one foot must be entered at a time, which requires lifting one foot and transferring weight from one to the other.  After both feet are in, the torso is elevated back to a vertical position while simultaneously pulling the undies up, which requires sufficient thigh, hip, and lower back strength.

While putting on your undergarment may appear to be a humorous example of human performance, it’s noteworthy to consider the importance of conducting this action proficiently at this current time and for the rest of our lives.  As time passes, the body is not the same as it once was as an injury-free and spry teenager.  Joint structures and muscular strength may have been altered due to injuries, lifestyle habits, or general age-related imbalances.  Therefore, it’s essential to notice the simple acts, such as putting our underwear on, that can significantly hinder our livelihood if taken away.

Going back to what our coach said about our team having the ability to put our underwear on the same way as our opponents, I think our coach was saying we’re on an even playing ground with our ability as humans.  We wouldn’t have been able to get to the point where we performed organized sports if we had trouble putting our underwear on.  Even though our opponents could run faster than ninety-five percent of our team and probably had more athletic potential, we still had something in common that didn’t make facing off against them too intimidating.

If muscular strength, coordination, or recovery from injury seem to be significant obstacles, focus on mastering the simple movement requirements, such as putting on socks, standing up, or putting on underwear one foot at a time without losing balance. Maintaining optimal performance in these simple movements has the potential to equip us with essential tools and aid us in living long, happy, and strong lives for years to come.

Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.

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