Tag: fatburning

Mind and Body

Modern people are poor on time and rich on distraction.  We are all about multi-tasking and it would be great if exercise can be one of those things you can multi-task away, say while watching TV and playing with your phone.

Our muscles contracts and relaxes due to electro-chemical signals from our nervous system to our muscle.  This is the reason why our body twitch uncontrollably when we accidentally get electrocuted.  This mechanism is useful in physiotherapy.  Muscles that are not used tend to shrink. When our joints are injured, we cannot do regular exercise.  Pulsed electric frequency can be used to stimulate the muscles and prevent them from shrinking while our joints are recovering.

These days, these mechanism are being used, such as by a product that sounded like “sixpack” to promote a method of gaining muscles without breaking a sweat, allowing you to finally multi-task while gaining muscle!

What is the Problem?

Electrocuting yourself while binge watching netflix might seemed to be a good idea to get six pack abs.  But what exactly are you missing when you skipped the squat rack for electric pad?

Movement Proficiency

People that are properly trained in functional movement patterns (not to be confused with a misguided youtuber with similar handle) will learn how to  move in a joint conserving way.  For example, when they squat, they will know how to engage both the posterior and anterior chain of movement, using power from the hips and how to align the knees.  This skill will enable them to move in a joint conservative way while generating high power.  You will not learn this skill if you simply zap your legs.

My main bread and butter right now is training 70-80 year old grannies proper functional movement patterns as described in Prof. McGill’s Ultimate Back Fitness. These people are people with early knee osteoarthritis issues that have been to the best orthopedic surgeons, acupuncturist and physiotherapist money can buy in Hong Kong and still find it painful to walk, sit and climb stairs. The reliefs they are getting after several sessions with me are caused by their increased movement skills and this cannot be earned by simple muscle electrocution.

Neuromuscular Connectivity

Your skeletal muscles are connected with neurons to your brain.  This connection is what enables you to consciously move your body.  The more you train, the more refined would your connection be.  Think of martial arts masters, olympic weightlifters and powerlifters that are able to recruit high proportion of their muscle fibers at multiple joints to execute a single movement in harmony.  This is connection cannot be built when your training method doesn’t even involve your conscious mind.

Bone Density

It costs USD 22,000 / kg of items shipped to ISS. NASA and CSA is definitely spending way more money sending a glorified treadmill and squat rack into space when they could save a tonne of money in the short term simply sending those muscle electrocuting pads.

Your bone is actually alive.  It has blood vessels and neural network inside.  This is why your bone can heal after fracture.  Your bone can also increase in density with repeated loading-unloading such as squats and deadlifts.  Athletes, farmers and construction workers have high bone density due to this mechanism.  Just don’t expect this benefit if you are a couch athlete.

Conclusion

By all means, if your goal is simple cosmetics, then these type of devices can definitely help you. Unlike training with improper movement, this method of training have no risk of harming your joints.  But proper exercise have far more benefit than simply looking buffed.  You will not get those benefits without putting the actual work.

6 Best Conditioning for 6-pack Abs

First and foremost, I hate jogging for long periods. I think the word “conditioning” has been misused that led people to believe that its with either hour long jogging or hour long cycling and is usually reserved for fat people. The problem is that training for extended period triggers the release of cortisol, the hormone that triggers muscular protein breakdown. Hence why its very hard for long distance runners and cyclist to gain muscle mass. Not only that, long steady-state, low intensity cardio is not very efficient at burning your spare tire. So below are 6 forms of conditioning that works the whole body, does not require you to spend long period of time to get your heart rate up, increases your athletic performance, and best of all, help loose that spare tire:

Farmer’s Walk

Farmer_walk

This is probably seems like the least sexy of all exercise. You basically grab the heaviest pair of dumbbells or load the hex bar as heavy as you can, then start walking around with it. It will train your grip, shoulders, core and legs. Mind you, your core consists more than just your rectus abdominis (6-pack muscle) and obliques (the sides), it also consists of your QL (Quadratus Lumborum) that is usually neglected but essential for spine health. The farmer’s walk will help you train your QL and be more athletic. The issue I have with doing this exercise at commercial gyms are that they usually have neither a hex bar nor dumbbells heavy enough for me to use, and those that aren’t familiar with this exercise might give you a weird look. When you want to try this exercise, make sure that your shoulders are pushed all the way down (no shrugging) and your spine is in neutral position.

Sled Push

sled push

This is also a great exercise for those that wanted to loose weight as efficient as possible. If you want to increase your running speed, use less weight and push faster. If you want to increase your pushing strength for your rugby/American football game, load more into the sled. This training will build your shoulders, core and legs real fast and you will be gasping for air in minutes. One thing you must keep in mind is again, keeping the spine in neutral position and your knees in proper alignment, otherwise you will be visiting the physiotherapist real soon. No sled at your gym? Use your car!

Sled Rope Pull

So the first two exercises focused on gait and pushing, the third exercise will now focus on pull and stop-twist. Simply tie a thick and sturdy rope to the loaded sled or car, walk about 10 – 15 meters away, plant your feet and start pulling your weight. The key is to use your body twist to pull the rope instead of using your arms. Make sure your spine remains locked and the twisting is generated from the hips. If you pose like the image above, don’t blame me for the subsequent back problems. This conditioning will do wonders to your grip, lats, obliques and glutes.

Rope Slam

rope slam

A great full body conditioning for those with lower body issues (knee or ankle problem, obesity, etc). This training will do wonders to your grip, arms, shoulders, core and legs. Of course just like the great three training above, the main issue with this exercise is stupid trainers who don’t know how to do them properly, demonstrating improper technique to their clients. If you do this exercise with shrugged shoulders, or drive the energy from flexing your spine, be assured that you will be visiting a GP or physio soon.

Boxing

090814-N-1245S-007 PACIFIC OCEAN (Aug. 14, 2009) Aviation BoatswainÕs Mate (Handling) 3rd Class Hector Castro and Aviation BoatswainÕs Mate (Handling) 3rd Class Roman Vasquez train on a punching bag aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11 are underway on a scheduled deployment to the western Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gregory A. Streit /Released)

OK, so just hitting the punching bag in this case. Hitting the bag is a great way to work up your cardio and working the whole body. And the greatest knock out artists know how to use their stiffened core to fully transfer the hitting power from the hips to the knuckles. If your have pinched shoulders or weak wrist, your trainer should probably address your weak points first before allowing you to go at it.

Sprint

sprint

No, I’m not talking about a slow jog. I’m talking about a fast sprint with vigorous swinging arms. Run like you just stole something. Only by running like this would you be able to work the whole body and feel the pump in no time. Now you might say that the previous 5 conditioning exercises involved equipment you or your gym don’t have. But surely you can afford a pair of sneakers right? And compared to other forms of training above, a sprint is much safer and easier to do.

So there you have it folks, my favorite forms of conditioning that will help you loose weight, get more toned, and build whole body strength. After all, if you want to loose your belly fat, you must loose your body’s overall fat. Doing 1000 sit-ups a day will only get you spine disk herniation while these exercises above will burn far more calories in shorter time.