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Is what you accomplished enough?
Was losing 10lbs enough?
Was climbing one mountain enough?
Was running one marathon enough?
Was winning one show enough?
If the journey to get to your goals create long term benefits,
then why would it be enough?
Like skiing, the goal is not to do one good run and go home. The goal is to have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets.
Personal trainer Shelley wears a pair of these every day and I've been meening to write a post about them for a while now.
What's the deal right?
Well, clinical studies, research and theoretical analysis all reveal that more injuries occur among the wearers of athletic shoes than among barefoot exercisers. What happens is that the body tends to stiffen up, decrease proprioceptive sensitivity and dissipate shock less effectively if you wear well cushioned shoes. The body assumes that the shoes will take the major role of stabilization and shock absorption so it decides to instinctively rely more on the shoes and less on the intrinsic protection mechanism. With these shoes you have the ability to use your toes and they are very thin in terms of cushion making your body feel barefeet.
So all in all, I give them two thumbs up for the functionality! Not sure about the look though.
This is a simple tip that can go a long way. Infact it would also help solve the sugarbesity going on with children. Here it is: Deserve the carbs you eat. Carbs are a source of energy and let's face it, our intake far out weighs our outtake. So if you have a computer job and you're sitting down most of the day, you don't really need much or even any carbs at that point. The brain is well fueled without it by the process of gluconeogenesis. So here's a rule that you can aply to help you stay on track: BEFORE you decide to eat any carbohydrate loaded meal you need to deserve it and have exercised your muscles hard to lower your blood sugar. It's simple but it works.
Health club attendance rates are horrible. But it's not your fault, the model is broken and is missing pieces to the puzzle. If only 25% are showing up how many are actually getting results? Accountability is one of the missing pieces to this puzzle. Here is an example of the US stats on members who attend their club 101.2 times in the course of a year:
Massachusetts 25.90%
California 21.80%
Colorado 21.20%
Virginia 20.30%
New Jersey 19.00%
Arizona 18.80%
Illinois 18.60%
Utah 18.20%
Florida 18.00%
South Carolina 18.00%
Texas 17.60%
Arkansas 17.30%
New Hampshire 17.20%
Maryland 17.10%
New York 16.90%
Wisconsin 16.90%
Kansas 16.40%
Washington 15.90%
Ohio 15.70%
Michigan 15.60%
North Carolina 15.50%
Georgia 15.20%
Connecticut 14.90%
Tennessee 14.90%
Iowa 14.80%
Indiana 14.60%
Louisiana 14.60%
Missouri 13.90%
Pennsylvania 13.60%
Kentucky 13.00%
Oregon 12.50%
Nevada 10.70%
Alabama 10.20%
Take out all the regular gym buffs that these statistics are counting and you get a whole wack load of beginners that just buy a membership and never show up. In fact it's their major profit center. The problem is there's a lot of people that really want to succeed but are just not in the right enviornment to make it happen.
Bench press just won't cut it. Done properly in a powerlifting style (with the elbows abducted at 45 degrees) the barbell bench press is predominantly a front delt exercise. The more you flare your elbows to the side (abduct to 90 degrees)the more it targets the chest but also the more prone your rotator cuff will be to injury. Oh the dilema.
So here's what you do:
Solution number 1: Move to dumbells. Your rotator cuffs may be categorized as a stabiliser muscle but so can the chest or many other muscles. When you use dumbells the chest also becomes a stabiliser and creates more recruitment of muscle fibers. EMG studies have shown that dumbelss activate the chest far greater than the a barbell.
Solution number 2: Pre-exaustion. Lee priest, a famous bodybuilder would always start his chest workout by pre exausting his chest on cable crossovers then move to a bench press. The idea is that you fatige a targetted muscle group with an isolation exercise and then move to a compound exercise. The link in the chain of least resistance will have the most impact.
Have a good chest workout!
