Summer Excercise

PMTS Forum

Postby jbotti » Mon Apr 05, 2004 7:47 am

I will second the commentary on flexibility. I am now in my fourth week of working in 25-30 minutes of focused stretching every day. I am no different than Piggyslayer and others in that I have a limited amount of time to work out and stretch. For years I neglected both weight training and stretching and all my available time went into endurance training. The result is that I was not very strong and I was very inflexible. The weight training I went back to about a year ago and I am no longer noticeably weak. Having said that, just because ones muscles have the strength to do something, without the appropriate felxiblity, many tasks will remain a challenge. At the most recent all mountain camp, I noticed how flexed Harald and Diana get while they ski in their release. That position was quite challenging for me. I have gotten religion. In a month my flexlibilty has moved from very poor to average. In 6 months I should be at above average. I will admit that 25-30 minutes per day is alot of time, especially when you factor in trying to do both aerobic and anaerobic exercise as well. Still, my flexility coach says that past the age of 50, there is little one can do to improve flexibility. His comment is that the last place I want to be is physically fit at 60, but without the flexibility to enjoy skiing, running , tennis or anything else in an active lifestyle. I agree.
Balance: Essential in skiing and in life!
User avatar
jbotti
 
Posts: 2184
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 10:05 am

Postby BigE » Mon Apr 05, 2004 12:19 pm

piggyslayer wrote: I never go very heavy, but I do go relatively heavy (for example 6 reps squats with barbell in the 3-hundreds, in my peak heavy period I may get close to 400lb barbell ? that is not very heavy considering that I weight 205-220 lb but it is decent).

The benefits of lifting for me are:

2. Joint/ligament health (I started to squat to improve health of my knee which was injured in ski accident some 8 years ago)
3. Stronger tendons stabilize joints even more.


There are many benefits. I agree with all of them. My knees were best too when I squatted. Now I use a machine and don't go deep.

400 pounds is very heavy. My particular damage occurred at under 200. And I weigh 240!

I Just want people to beware the territory below parallel. It's not the tendon/ligaments that I warn people about. It's the stress on the meniscus itself. The problem is that when the knee is deeply flexed, ALL of the force is concentrated directly on the back of the meniscus. It does not take much weight to make this an extreme force. The force on that point from your own bodyweight alone will triple well before you are even near parallel. That occurs at less than 45 degrees of inclination.

The best advice is to remain fully hydrated, so be particularly observant when low carbing. I have personally hurt myself in the gym ONLY when I've been low-carbing. I keep forgetting to greatly diminish the load.
BigE
 
Posts: 1519
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2004 11:42 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Postby piggyslayer » Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:56 pm

BigE,

Thanks for the post. I was considering writing something like this too.
I never over-flex (bend) if I go heavy. I tend to go deeper on my light workouts. Squat is the king of all gym exercises, but it can be dangerous too.

One more word of caution for people who what to try squatting:
I see many people placing the barbell very close to the neck. This feels natural at first, but is dangerous; under no circumstances should the barbell be supported using your neck or even kept very close.

Having a professional trainer check on your form is a must if you new to squats.
Piggy Slayer
let the piggy breathe
piggyslayer
 
Posts: 320
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 9:27 pm
Location: New Jersey

Postby BigE » Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:09 pm

piggyslayer wrote: I tend to go deeper on my light workouts. Squat is the king of all gym exercises, but it can be dangerous too.

Having a professional trainer check on your form is a must if you new to squats.


Form is so extremely important in ALL weight training exercises:

Here is a link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 0?v=glance

It's a great great book, emphasis is on remaining injury free.

When I read comments like "Go until failure", I take that to mean "Go until risk of failure to keep form". Failure should not be catastophic. I mean don't drop it/put your back out trying!
BigE
 
Posts: 1519
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2004 11:42 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Previous

Return to Primary Movements Teaching System

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 50 guests